Jiralhanae Chieftain

Were you looking for the rank War Chieftain or Chieftain of the Jiralhanae, the rulers of the Jiralhanae?

"The pack will feast on you!"

- Jiralhanae Chieftain to the Master Chief

The Jiralhanae Chieftain, also known as the Alpha Jiralhanae, is a Covenant Chieftain rank for the Jiralhanae race. It is one of the highest in the Jiralhanae hierarchy in social aspects and military rank.

Overview
In Halo 2, the first and only Chieftain presented was Tartarus, the highest-ranked Chieftain/commander of the Jiralhanae, who was killed by Thel 'Vadam and his Sangheili allies on Installation 05. He used a powerful and unique Gravity Hammer, called the "Fist of Rukt", in this battle. His uncle Maccabeus was the Chieftain who preceded him and was the previous wielder of Fist of Rukt. Maccabeus' death was at his young nephew's hands, as is the tradition within the Jiralhanae culture, a fight to the death over position within the pack. The same can be said for all Brute chieftains, unless the previous chieftain fell in battle, however contestants may have had to fight to the death for the position if this was the case, so the situation would have stayed the same.

In Halo 3, more Chieftains are shown, commanding their troops in a "pack" and enforcing that particular group mentality. Prior to the game's release, the video documentary "Et Tu Brute?" revealed their role in the game along with the overarching fact that the Brutes had replaced the Elites. They wear very elaborate gold or red Power Armor, breast-plates, and an even more intricate headdress. The Brute Chieftain may hold a rank similar to the Elite Zealot. In Halo Wars, only one Chieftain appears, which is the Jiralhanae Army Commander.

Armor
These Jiralhanae Chieftains are clad in ornate red and black armor. While it cannot take as much damage as the bronze, gold-colored armor worn by War Chieftains, it allows greater speed and mobility. Their power armor cannot be stuck by Plasma Grenades, Spike Grenades, or Needler projectiles. However, their armor can be stuck by Incendiary Grenades.

Unlike the Power Armor worn by regular Brutes and Brute Captains, a Chieftain's armor does not fall apart once the shields are disabled. Additionally, their heavy helmets protect them from headshots, and it requires a handful of shots to the head from a precision weapon to knock off their helmet and leave them vulnerable to a fatal headshot.

A Brute Chieftain's shields are stronger than those of a standard Brute, but slightly weaker than a Brute Captain's. On any difficulty it only takes 1 Particle Beam Rifle or Sniper Rifle shot to disable their shields, while Brute Captains require 2 shots on Heroic or Legendary to bring their shields down. On Heroic a Brute Chieftain's shield can be brought down with 12 MA5C Assault Rifle bullets or 8 Plasma Rifle bolts. However, even unshielded a Brute Chieftain has extremely high durability and can survive incredibly high amounts of damage; on Heroic it takes 43 assault rifle bullets, 5 Particle Beam Rifle shots, or 5 Brute Shot direct hits to kill an unshielded Chieftain, whereas any other Brute rank dies after only 1 beam rifle shot or 1-2 Brute Shot grenades once their shields are disabled. Additionally, their Power Armor grants Chieftains exceptionally high resistance to energy weaponry; even unshielded, a Brute Chieftain can withstand more than 200 plasma rifle bolts before falling, while most standard Brutes die after a little over a dozen plasma rifle bolts once their shields are gone.

Equipment
Their primary armament is the Gravity Hammer. Brute Chieftains are the only enemy, aside from the occasional Flood, who uses this weapon. On all level modes, they carry and almost always use the Invincibility power-up. It is also possible for them to carry a Regenerator, Flare, or Power Drain. On their left arm, the armor is thicker to deliver bone-crushing melee attacks.

Tactics
Jiralhanae Chieftains will be closely guarded by two or more Jiralhanaes, only leaving the security of the pack when they feel it is tactically sound or simply when they thirst for blood. Then, they will run at the Master Chief (or Arbiter if co-op). Chieftains generally hang back and allow their entourage of Brutes to do the fighting, only charging forward to attack after several of their Brute pack subordinates have been slain.

If they run for you, turn and run as fast as you can. More often than not, unless you've managed to kill them within the first few seconds, they will activate their Invincibility if they are carrying one and you will not be able to kill them until it wears off. Chieftains can close distances quickly, and will not hesitate to smack anything out of their path. In the novel Contact Harvest, Tartarus likely wore this or a similar armor before he killed Maccabeus and obtained the same armor as War Chieftains wear. Though being weaker than the more ornate War Chieftains they are far faster and much deadlier in close combat, and they still boast extremely powerful shields and armor.

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Counter-Chieftain Tactics

 * Brute Chieftains, as fitting their "commander role", have incredible physical strength and agility, more so than their lesser brethren. Avoid going into melee combat with a Chieftain, and even when facing off against a War Chieftain, take care not to get hit. However, if you do get yourself in the situation, do not try to melee him; if you are foolish enough to try and melee him, he will quickly deliver a deadly, final blow. Run away as quickly as possible once you see him trying to get close enough to melee you. Shoot him enough times with one of your weapons, until his "shielding" or power armor breaks, and try to save grenades up until this fight to "stick" him with one.
 * Another way, however hard, is to circle round the back of the Chieftain, wait for them to do their backwards melee attack, and again circle round them while their still turning round to where you used to be. This gives you ample time for an assassination.
 * One of the best ways to kill a Chieftain is to charge at them from a distance. They will begin to leap at you; use the time when they are crouching down to leap to get up close to them. When they leap, if you did it correctly, they will go way past you, giving you time to do an assassination.
 * A hammer-wielding Chieftain will often utilize the invincibility power-up while charging at you if you're firing and back-pedaling at the same time. However, if the player is able to kill the Chieftain before he activates it, the player can use the Invincibility to great gain.
 * Even when Chieftains utilize the Invincibility power-up, an assassination will still kill them.
 * Another good tactic to deal with Chieftains is to shoot its helmet/headdress off and shoot it in its head.
 * A good way to kill a Chieftain is to use Cloaking and assassinate them. This way you are unharmed, but you can also pick up their Invincibility, since they did not have time to activate it. However, you should be careful not to alert any of the surrounding Brutes. If they know that you are there, and even if they cannot see you, the Chieftain can sometimes sense where you are even if you are cloaked and will turn around in your direction, although he does not attack. This will make it harder to get behind him and if you touch him, he will hit you and you will temporarily lose your cloaking, allowing them to see and attack you.
 * Probably the easiest way to kill a Chieftain is to use a Spartan Laser on him. This will kill the Jiralhanae instantly, allowing you to pick up his Invincibility and, if you want, his Gravity Hammer. It is easier to do this as soon as you see them while they are taunting and growling at you, for on Higher difficulties, they will activate their invincibility as the laser hits them. On Halo 3, this can only be done on "The Covenant", as it is the only Halo 3 level where you spawn with a Spartan Laser.
 * Although you cannot stick him, you can stick the Chieftain's weapon, which usually is the Gravity Hammer. It's quite difficult, but it will kill him immediately. This does not work on Legendary.
 * When facing a charging hammer Chieftain, jump up as they try to hit you with their hammer and the blow from the hammer will push you away from the Brute, giving you more time to damage him, and ultimately kill him. Make sure you're not on an edge or the blast from the hammer could knock you over the edge, killing you.
 * Incendiary Grenades are a good way to kill a Chieftain, although on Legendary, this is not a guaranteed one hit kill, as he can easily activate his Invincibility and negate the effects of your grenade.
 * If the Chieftain is alone, you may attempt to lure him into a close range fight and melee him before sidestepping. The Chieftains are surprisingly slow to recover after a melee/hammer attempt, so you can kill them with multiple melee hits by edging around him/jumping over him every time he attempts to melee/hammer you.
 * When the Chieftain jumps and performs the over-head lunge, you can, with the right timing, jump and jump off of the Chieftain, gaining greater height, allowing you to live longer.
 * When you have missed the assassination after avoiding the standard attack, do not run away, but if possible, get close to the Chieftain. The Chieftain will attempt to do the 180 swing attack and it is possible to avoid the attack by strafing.
 * Another good way to kill a Chieftain is to dual wield Spikers. Chieftains seem to have a vulnerability to the spikes. Enough spikes will slow down the Chieftain, if not stop the Chieftain's charge.

Trivia

 * During the early development of Halo 3, the Brute Chieftain was seen wielding an Energy Sword. This was probably taken out due to the fact that Brutes prefer the crude Gravity Hammers over Energy Swords, and because of the Energy Sword being an Elite-exclusive weapon.
 * Chieftains are arguably stronger than Hunters due to their special armor, Gravity Hammers, and extreme durability. They do, however, have two weakness that the Hunters do not have: a melee hit at the back would be an instant kill; and once their headpiece is removed as they are susceptible to head shots. The latter of these is emulated, however, by the Hunter's vulnerability to shots at its waist.
 * Despite the seeming weakness of their Power Armor's shields, the armor at full charge is largely equivalent to a Brute Ultra, being able to withstand at least one melee attack, and is only divested of the shield after a barrage of small arms fire or a sniper or beam rifle shot.
 * Brute Chieftains are voiced by John DiMaggio in both Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST.
 * If a Chieftain is transformed into a Flood Combat Form, their armor will become that of a Jiralhanae Minor. This is because the game engine does not have any code to transform the Chieftain into a Chieftain Combat Form. This can be easily observed in the Citadel of The Covenant, where the Flood temporarily ally with the Master Chief and attack the Covenant. In Halo 3: The Official Strategy Guide, there is a mistake in the last page, where there is a War Chieftain wielding a Gravity Hammer. There are also images of an ordinary Brute Chieftain wielding a Plasma Cannon and a Fuel Rod Gun.
 * In the Halo 3 level, "Sierra 117", a Chieftain is seen hanging onto the side of a Phantom, in the clearing with a crashed Pelican down the cliff. Oddly, this Chieftain can be stuck with Plasma Grenades, but shows no reaction to it, and is immune to the blast.
 * In Halo 3: ODST, a Chieftain uses the blade on the back of his hammer to puncture Romeo's lung. This is the first time the blade of the Gravity Hammer is seen in use.
 * In Halo Legends's The Babysitter short, a blue armored Jiralhanae Chieftain is seen throughout the short wearing armor similar to that of the Jiralhanae Army Commander.
 * Apart from pack leadership position the Jiralhanae Chieftains are spiritual leaders. Maccabeus, while the Chieftain of the Rapid Conversion would lead his pack in religious sermons, like the Progression of the Ages and blessing pack meals. Also during the The Covenant (Level) at several points chieftains can be seen giving sermons to their packs in the Jiralhanae language.