Equipment

Summary
In Halo 3, Spartans, Elites and Brutes can carry one item of equipment (deployed using the “X” button on the default setting of the Xbox 360 controller. The type of equipment varies dramatically in its purpose, functionality, and appearance. Each piece of Equipment has its own advantages and disadvantages, and when used strategically, can turn the tide of a battle.

Overview
The philosophy of equipment is simple: to add a variety to the combat in Halo 3 without unbalancing the game. The simple fact is that Equipment items, once deployed, can be used by both attackers and defenders. For example, someone on your team might accidentally activate a Trip Mine (an explosive) that you set, and the Bubble Shield - which is a spherical shield made up of small hexagons – cannot be penetrated by either projectiles or grenades, but players and vehicles can pass through it. Equipment can, when used correctly, be of great use to players. Equipment can be utilized by the player in both Multiplayer and Campaign.

To make Equipment more balanced, it takes longer to deploy than in the Halo 3 Beta, but players can throw it farther. It is not entirely clear which faction, Human or Covenant, manufactures each piece of Equipment, but only Covenant enemies are seen using them in the Campaign.

Most theories say that the Forerunner made some of the equipment, which is true in the case of the Auto turret, but no one knows for sure which factions made which Equipment. Most Equipment seems to not be human-made, so most Equipment may be manufactured by the Covenant.

List of Equipment
Available in matchmaking and multiplayer:
 * Bubble Shield
 * Power Drain
 * Gravity Lift
 * Trip Mine
 * Regenerator
 * Active Camouflage
 * Overshield

Not available or no longer available in matchmaking:
 * Radar Jammer
 * Flare
 * Deployable Cover

Campaign only:
 * Automated Turret (Campaign Only)
 * Cloaking (Campaign Only)
 * Invincibility (Campaign Only)

Forged maps only:
 * Custom Powerup

Equipment Abilities

 * Bubble Shield - The Bubble Shield releases a spherical shield around a center generator, for a limited time. No bullets, grenades, or any type of explosion can pass through the shield from inside or out way, but vehicles and players (ally and enemy) can pass through. The Bubble Shield's generator is also very weak after it is deployed, and can be destroyed with a melee attack or a few rounds from any given weapon. Skilled players can also exploit the bubble shield from deflecting their own shots by walking just close enough to the edge of the shield that the barrel of their gun is outside of the shield and fire at enemies that way. However this method has a flaw; it is true the player will be safe from enemy guns. However, the explosive yield of a grenade is more than enough to cut this technique.
 * Power Drain - When deployed, the Power Drain produces a blue energy field that will generally drain everyone's shields within range and if thrown near a vehicle in motion, an EMP (ElectroMagnetic Pulse) effect occurs, similar to the EMP effect of a charged Plasma Pistol shot. This causes the vehicle to stop and, again drains the energy shields of any kind. The vehicles weapons systems are still functional. However, if players stray too close to the power source, it will eventually explode, and the explosion can kill them if they are standing too close to the explosion. Players who know how to use it well can stop enemy vehicles in their tracks, making them easier to board. It is also very useful in close-quarters combat, as a strategic toss will result in a weakened foe.
 * Radar Jammer - When deployed, ghost contacts will appear, and move around in random directions, on the motion sensors of anyone within the area of it, causing confusion. Moving out of range of the Radar Jammer will cause the contacts to disappear. It is often used in conjunction with Active Camouflage, to confuse foes further. The Radar Jammer was removed from online Matchmaking in an update.
 * Flare - Creates a blinding light, resulting in all players within range losing their sight for a short amount of time. Turning away from the power source or blocking it out in some way lessens the effect. The flare also makes players unable to see their radar. It was also used in online matchmaking, but after an update, it was removed due to causing lag.
 * Deployable Cover - Once deployed, this creates a relatively large energy shield, which can temporarily protect those hiding behind it, while allowing them to shoot through it with projectile weapons. In Custom Games and Forge, it lasts only for a short time, whereas in Campaign, it can last infinitely, although it can be easily destroyed by damaging the base unit. The Deployable Cover can also be utilized to reach higher places when jumping on it. Only Human projectile weapons can shoot through the back side of it; Covenant Plasma weapons cannot fire through it.
 * Regenerator - This creates a small green energy field, that is similar to the power drain's. Instead of draining players' shield, it regenerates the shields of anyone within its radius. Its effect can be described as the exact opposite of the Power Drain; however, if a Power Drain is placed next to a Regenerator, the Power Drain has a stronger effect than the Regenerator.The Regenerator does not protect players against any powerful weapons that do a lot of damage in a short time. A headshot from a Sniper Rifle, or a hit from a Rocket Launcher, for example, will kill players in a Regenerator, due to their ability to inflict more damage in less time.
 * Invincibility - This causes a player's shields to become invulnerable for a short time. It acts much like an Overshield, but instead of a dull yellowish shield color, invincibility is noticeable by a bright, vivid blue color. It can only be found in the Campaign, carried only by Brute Chieftains. Players using the Invincibility Equipment are very easily seen, even if they use an Active Camouflage Equipment in conjunction with it. Players can still die when using invincibility from falling a long distance. The Arbiter and other invulnerable characters can still kill players instantly if killed enough times to make them hostile. Invincibility Equipment can only be obtained by Weapon Chieftains.
 * Gravity Lift - Once deployed, the grav-lift projects a bluish-purple anti-gravity beam which can propel players or light vehicles into the air, much like The Covenant's Ghost, Banshee and Wraith anti-gravity, as well as Sniper platforms, but on a smaller, more portable scale. It is useful for quickly getting to higher places players would otherwise not be able to reach. It dissipates after about 45 seconds. The Scorpion and Wraith cannot be lifted, due to their immense weight. It is excellent when trying to reach a high vantage point, and can be deployed in front of an oncoming vehicle to avoid being Splattered.
 * Trip Mine - Once deployed, as said in its name, it is an explosive charge which reacts and explodes to movement near itself. It can also be remotely detonated by shooting it. When deployed, it lets out a beeping warning signal and a soft orange glow, which attentive players will see as a sign that it is activated. The trip mine in the Halo 3 beta was much more powerful and stuck onto vehicles. Skilled players can deploy the mine upside down so the light will be dimmer and darker, and therefore be less obvious to enemies. Trip Mines cannot be detonated if players crouch-walk over them, although Trip Mines are often used in conjunction with ambushes. Trip Mines are specifically used to get the Achievement, We're in for some Chop, in which a player must destroy an enemy vehicle with it. It will instantly kill some vehicles as well as players if they get too close to it.
 * Active Camouflage - The Active Camouflage or Active Camo will give its user near-invisibility for a short time. Weapons fire or radial damage will lessen the effect of the Camouflage, making the user more visible. When picked up, the Active Camouflage is activated instantly. Invisible players are still visible on the motion tracker. Using Active Camouflage and an Overshield at the same time renders the player completely visible to others.
 * Overshield - The Overshield gives the user an extra layer of shielding which will slowly weaken when exposed to any form of damage. When activated, the shield will slowly begin to deteriorate until the player has normal shields. When the overshield is picked up and until it is fully charged the player is completely invincible from anything short of assassinations or the guardians.
 * Custom Powerup - A Custom Powerup cannot be found in any maps by default, and must be placed in the map on Forge. It affects the user in various ways: good (faster speed, lower gravity, one-shot kills, invisibility, invincibility, etc.) or bad (reduction in health, slower speed, lower damage resistance, higher gravity, instant death, lower damage done, bad weapon respawn, etc.). These settings can be activated or deactivated in the custom power up settings area in the game variant settings area.

Tips

 * Place a Bubble Shield and position a Sniper Rifle so only the end protrudes, therefore being able to snipe people without getting hurt. Another clever method is to drop a bubble shield at an approaching enemy in possession of a missile pod, Rocket Launcher or Spartan laser, possibly resulting in the enemy committing suicide. An extremely good tactic during a Free for All game is to get the Energy Sword or Shotgun and the Bubble Shield and deploy the Shield right in the middle of the map, and those foolish enough to attempt to kill you will soon be respawning. Bullets can't go in or out. Vehicles can still try to splatter you. The Bubble Shield blocks explosions as well. Also, you can deploy a bubble shield, wait for someone to enter, and stick them and jump out for an almost guaranteed kill.


 * Don't activate Power Drains against Grunts, Drones or Hunters, as they don't have energy shields therefore the Power Drain is a waste of time on them. The only thing that would make a Power Drain useful against Grunts is that you can try to stop them in their Ghosts.
 * If you use the two Auto Turret's while defending the door on the new Installation 04 in Halo 3, this makes fighting the Flood far easier on Normal or Easy. However, you need to destroy them before continuing because after you kill 343 Guilty Spark, they will try to kill you along with the Sentinels. They are especially lethal on legendary, with the beam only needing a few second to kill.
 * You should deploy a Trip Mine in a close quarters area, or near or under explosive items like vehicles, for these both increase the chance of seriously hurting multiple players. Be sure to warn your team when and where you have deployed a Trip Mine to prevent a possible needless betrayal. Also deploy the Trip Mine in an area that is hard to see as it has lights on it making it easy to avoid. Trip mines also make a ticking noise the closer you are to them. Placing Trip Mines and throwing a grenade can cause massive damage to an enemy just outside of the trip range.
 * You can use a Deployable Cover to help you get to higher places by using it as kind of a step stool, like for getting skulls in Campaign. If you deploy one while jumping and looking down, then in mid-air back up a bit, you can catapult yourself around the map. This is very hard to do though.
 * Use Invincibility in packed areas such as a group of Brutes to keep you from dying and getting through more easily.
 * On multiplayer maps with a central lift such as Blackout and Guardian, place a Bubble Shield at the top of the lift. Then, throw a Plasma Grenade up the bottom of the lift. This will trap the plasma until someone uses the lift or the bubble shield dies. Anyone going up the lift will be stuck.
 * Use Cloaking to be stealthy and maybe try to get a few assassinations on some enemy troops. Don't needlessly shoot someone, you are invisible remember!
 * Use the Flare to blind people to easily get from one place to another.
 * If you deploy a Grav Lift just before a speeding vehicle is about to hit you, the vehicle will "jump" over you, or simply splatter your head in some cases. Try making them go off a cliff.
 * If you have been seen by an enemy, run to some cover and throw a Flare to blind the enemy and you can either run or fight them while they are not looking at your direction.
 * Use a Bubble Shield if you have been shot or you are getting shot to take cover and recharge your shields, but be warned that they can still enter it and finish the job.
 * If you deploy a Trip Mine at the indent of an enemy machine gun turret, enemies might step on it as they go through, thus depleting their shields. The enemy is now vulnerable to a quick Magnum shot or Battle Rifle burst to finish him/her off. Note: If playing a team based game, be sure to alert your allies of the trap set intended for your enemies.
 * Use Regenerators if your shields are depleted and you need recharge your shields very quickly.
 * If an opponent has a Rocket Launcher, a Spartan Laser or a Fuel Rod Cannon, and they are at close range and are about to fire at you, deploy a Bubble Shield, if done correctly the enemy will hit the shield while very close and end up committing suicide.
 * Throw a Power Drain at an enemy who has deployed a Regenerator, and it will overpower the Regenerator and instead, drain their energy bar. Shoot at them then to kill them with ease.
 * Don't use the Flare on enemies in Campaign because it doesn't blind them.
 * Deploy a Trip Mine at a rapidly approaching vehicle to destroy it, but try to avoid the blast and get away from the Trip Mine since it could drop your shields and result in vulnerability to enemy fire.
 * If you can tell that a grenade is coming your way, then deploy a Bubble Shield. Odds are that the grenade will bounce off of the shield and back to the owner of the grenade, damaging/ killing / sticking him/her, and leaving them with weak shielding, allowing you to take them out very quickly.
 * A little known fact about the Trip Mine is that it is very similar to a real player using radar. If you crouch or move slowly, as long as your dot does not show up, the Trip Mine will not recognize you. Use this tip to pass tight areas where one was deployed, or if you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
 * The power drain can kill the enemy if it explodes very close to them.
 * You can throw a Trip Mine at someone and it will be like a grenade and blow up the enemy. Only do this when you are desperate and you are about to die, this procedure drains your shields but damages all enemies within a 5.5 meter radius.
 * While fighting against the Flood, deploy a cover in a hallway and the Flood will not pass through and you can run or pick them off.
 * On Crow's Nest, there is a room that contains lots of goodies such as SMGs, Magnums, Assault Rifles, etc. in the part where you have to clear the hangar for the Pelican to launch, go up all of the stairs and the room is blue with a lot of laptops. The equipment that can be found there includes Regenerators, cloaking devices, Bubble Shields, Trip Mines, Deployable Covers, Power Drains, and Flares.
 * Power Drains have the ability to pass through Bubble Shields.
 * A good tactic with the Trip Mine is to go to the other team's base and throw it under their vehicles. Try to communicate this to your team if you do.
 * If an enemy has deployed a Bubble Shield, they can still be killed safely. Throw a Spike Grenade at the very base of the dome, getting it as close as possible. If done correctly, sometimes the spikes will penetrate the shield upon detonation, killing whomever is inside.

=Trivia=
 * The Bubble Shield is in effect before the deploying animation finishes.
 * The Overshield also makes you invincible for three seconds, though the player can still be assassinated during this state.
 * Though many of these are available in Multiplayer, the Automated Turret, Cloaking, and Invincibility are exclusive to the Campaign for balancing reasons.
 * In the January 2008 issue of EGM, in an interview with Brian Jarrard and Tyson Green, it was revealed that there was a piece of equipment cut from the final game known as The Vortex. It was said to be deployed the same as a Power Drain, but would instead create a mini black hole that would "suck" in any object within range, and diverting its course into the black hole, and away from your face. It was even able to affect nearby objects such as the Fusion Coil and even other players. The design was cut due to the fact that it was too "expensive" from a networking and performance standpoint.
 * When you try to drop a Gravity Lift on a vehicle or an object (like a crate on Forge), the equipment will go through the object and end up underneath it.
 * Although covered by the Active Camouflage, an Auto Turret can still detect you.
 * While using Active Camouflage and mounted on a Warthog turret, you can shoot and your Camouflage is not disturbed at all, unlike firing normal weapons in Campaign and Multiplayer.
 * There are pieces of equipment that appear before they are said to first appear in the Halo 3 Official Guide, such as the two Cloaking in Crow's Nest.
 * A Gravity Lift can be spawned in Forge as deployable or as deployed.
 * You can jump on top of the barrier emitted by the Deployable Cover. It also works to make a single or double box float if spawned inside one.
 * After you have deployed a Trip Mine, it is activated after 1.2 seconds and any motion near its vicinity will set it off, be it from you, your team members, or your foe.
 * Shooting anything Plasma-related through a Deployable Cover will drain the cover's energy.
 * Projectile weapons can be fired through Deployable Covers if you are standing behind it, but energy or plasma weapons will cause the shield to take damage.
 * Radar Jammers and Flares are no longer usable in Matchmaking, due to glitches.
 * The Regenerator's generator can take heavy punishment, withstanding three times the amount of damage it takes to kill you.
 * Shooting a Trip Mine, Radar Jammer, Power Drain, or Bubble Shield will cause it to explode.
 * When you throw a Bubble Shield, it is invisible for few milliseconds, but the generator isn't and the shield still works even though invisible.
 * There is a glitch in campaign where you get in the back of a Pelican and walk to the door to the cockpit, and if you throw a Deployable Cover, the Pelican will crash.
 * If you deploy an Auto turret in the level Halo, it turns against you after you kill 343 Guilty Spark.
 * If you have a Radar Jammer (Power Drains and Flares also work), you can look straight down, hit X, and then A an instant later, if you do it right, then you will jump off the equipment, making it useful for getting to high places.
 * In the Forge, you can manipulate the game so that you can spawn equipment continuously. Press the X button (default configuration) on the item, pressing X again and changing the Run-Time Minimum to the same number as the Number on Map while cause the item to spawn immediately after being picked up.
 * One of the easiest ways to defeat someone who is using a Bubble Shield is to throw a gravity lift into it. It will lift the Bubble Shield, exposing the player to enemy fire.


 * You can do a double jump by jumping, deploying equipment and jumping right after the equipment is deployed.
 * Frag, plasma, spike, and firebomb grenades are listed under equipment in forge so if you destroy a enemy vehicle with a grenade you should get the "We're in for some chop" achievement, but you don't.