Field Master

Field Master is a position/office for Covenant Elites. Field Masters command at least one Legion.

Rank
The Field Master is equivalent to the UNSC Marine "General" or "Colonel". Field Masters command entire armies, battalion strength or greater. Unlike human "Generals", Field Masters take a much more active role in combat, as in charging into the battle with their troops rather than giving orders from a HQ miles away from the conflict. They are in charge of all warriors of any race within that army, as well as all armor, air support, and material utilized by that army. An example of this is Noga 'Putumee, who led forces against the humans on Installation 04.

Zealot Field Masters usually worked alone in both games. Waiting for you to kill everyone else, then they'd attack by themselves. In Halo: Combat Evolved, Zealot Field Masters were a fairly common sight on any difficulty, usually guarding places of importance. On average there were probably two to three Zealots on any one map. Although, Field Masters in Halo 2 were much more sneaky, and only appeared on Legendary.

In Halo 2, during the levels Sacred Icon (Level) and Quarantine Zone (Level), the player comes across a band of elites being led by Rtas 'Vadumee. He appears to be the highest ranking elite there, before Arbiter (character) arrives, and thus probably would've held the title "Field Master".

However, it is also true that perhaps a Zealot was present at some other location, but never featured, and 'Vadumee's unit was merely a detachment of his (or perhaps 'Vadumee had a Zealot superior that was killed during the battle and thus he temporarily took over the role of field master).

The Arbiter could also be looked at as a rank that could potentially hold the title of Field Master. Councilors, should one of them ever decide to take part in military operations, would probably also hold the title of Field Master, even having Zealots being subordinate to them.

Physical
So far, only Zealots have been featured as Field Masters. They have no changes in their golden armor to distinguish them from other members of their rank (for example, it is impossible to tell a Zealot Field Master apart from a Zealot Ship Master based on their armor alone). Should other ranks take on the position of Field Master, it is likely no changes to their armor would be made.

Known Field Masters

 * Noga 'Putumee

Related Links

 * The Arbiter
 * Councilor
 * Zealot
 * Ultra
 * Elite