Halo Reach armor abilities guide

Drop Shield

Above: The Drop Shield is actually much more effective if you’re inside it 

What is it?

The Drop Shield is a deployable energy dome that blocks all enemy projectiles. Think of the Bubble Shield from Halo 3 only you can utilize it repeatedly as long as you…well, you know…don’t die. In addition, the dome will regenerate wounded players back to full health while they take cover.

Do’s

Medic!!

Picking the Drop Shield armor ability essentially makes you the team medic. Own up to it. Your half-dead team will thank you.

Follow the majority of your team and throw down the Drop Shield in areas close to the action. This offers a nice fallback for everybody to take cover and recuperate.

Above: Reload, regenerate, retaliate 

Distress Signal

If you are taking sniper fire, throw down that Drop Shield! This might seem a little obvious, but the shield will essentially act like a signal flare for everyone else to see. A giant glowing bubble is a little hard to miss. Best-case scenario, the sniper will get pissed and waste their entire mag trying to bring the shield down to kill you giving away their position in the process.

Don’ts

The Coffin

Don’t ever throw down a Drop Shield directly on your teammates in a heated firefight without some sort of advance warning. Unless there is an explosive projectile rocketing towards your positions, don’t do this. Ever.

Creating a tiny box around yourself and your team while everybody is throwing grenades can lead to hilarious results, but it isn’t going to win you any friends. This goes double for players who have heavy ordinance like rocket launchers. Keep your distance.

Hologram

Above: None of these dudes are real…or are they? 

What is it?

The Hologram armor ability affords you the opportunity to be a real bastard. When activated, the armor ability creates a holographic copy of yourself that runs straight to a location that you designate. The Hologram’s lifespan is ten seconds.

Do’s

The Sacrificial Lamb

Inspecting rooms and dark corridors can be pretty nerve-racking considering that an enemy player with God knows what kind of weapon is waiting in ambush. Solve this problem by sending a hologram in your stead. If it gets blown to Hell by a rocket…well, don’t go in that room.

Above: “Whaa?”

Plasma Sword Doppelganger

Having two dudes running at you brandishing plasma swords is a Hell of a lot scarier than one. Advance towards your opponent while simultaneously creating a hologram; then, veer slightly to the left or right. This will confuse the poor fool regarding which one’s actually you.

Don’ts

We honestly can’t think of any “wrong” ways to use Hologram, so here’s a picture of some puppies!

Above: Awwwwwww!