Combat skin

Combat Skin is a Forerunner term used to talk about body armor. In has a classification system from Class 1 to at least Class 12. There may be more higher classes after 12. According to 343 Guilty Spark, the MJOLNIR armour is ranked on this scale as Class 2.

Armor of the Forerunner
Not much is known about Combat Skin. It first comes up in Halo in the level Library when 343 Guilty Spark wonders why the Master Chief had brought "such ineffective weapons" to combat the Flood, and recommends that the Chief upgrades from the MJOLNIR armor, which, according to some Forerunner ranking system, the criteria of which is not gone into, is only Class 2. (Note: This takes place before the upgrade mentioned in the beginning of the Halo 2 game). Guilty Spark suggests Master Chief that he upgrade to a Class 12 Combat Skin, which he says is necessary to combat the Flood.

What Does the Class System Mean
Due to the fact that not much information is known about Combat skin, there is some debate on what exactly the Combat Skin refers to. The confusion is made worse by various quotes from the halo Universe:

As shown above, 343 says that Master Chief should upgrade his armor, thus referring to Combat Skin as a type of armor where the MJOLNIR armor is Class 2. However, 343 later talks about the Flood changing the atmosphere and says "Your Environment Suit should serve you well..." implying that the MJOLNIR armor in Forerunner terms is an Environment Suit. This could also mean that a Class 12 Combat Skin isn't stronger than a Class 2, simply a Class 12 is the ideal Skin for combating the flood, while the Class 2 works well as an Environment Suit. The differing nomenclature has led some to believe that the two items 343 refers to are different, i.e. your armor is what he refers to as the 'Environment Suit', and your 'Combat Skin' is the Chief's flesh and body. However, this too is contradicted when in Halo: The Flood the Master Chief, upon hearing this he should upgrade from Class 2 to 12, thinks, "If there's a battle suit six times more powerful than the MJOLNIR armor, I'll be first in line to try it on," perhaps implying that the Combat Skin classes are indeed ranked according to strength, although this is simply the Chief's opinion on the meaning. It could also suggest that the Master Chief's armour is a class 2 combat skin, but serves as an 'Environment Suit' as well.

Another set of theories is that 'Combat Skin' seems to be ranked on power. One could also assume it's a synonym for 'Environment Suit', or possibly a suit of armor can be one or both of these. For example a class 2 and a class 12 could serve the same purpose as an 'Environment Suit', while the class 12 is just much more powerful as a 'Combat Skin'. Class 12 'Combat Skin's could be better in both categories, and perhaps the 343 was just implying it was better than nothing. Bungie would probably go with the most literal interpretation, that being that the suits are ranked on power in general, 1 being the least powerful and 12 being the most powerful.

Related Links

 * MJOLNIR armor
 * Semi-Powered Infiltration Armor
 * Elite Personal Energy Shield
 * Body Suit