I’m not a Halo master but I am a Halo veteran. I’ve played Halo since Halo 1 and every Halo game since. I also played a large amount of the beta so I have a little insight in to the multiplayer game play. The largest change to the multiplayer comes with the mix in of armor abilities. Halo: Reach provides 7 different armor abilities. While they are all pretty awesome two stand out as the most useful and often used. I want to briefly discuss the best use of these two abilities.

The first is Amor Lock. Armor Lock provides a short length of time that the player becomes immobile but invincible. Unable to attack or defend but able to survive anything thrown at them. While this seems like a great thing for short term encounters it rarely ends well if you don’t have a buddy around to bail you out when the effect ends. The key to Armor Lock is in understanding the ability combined with other players expectations. Use Armor Lock for short, random intervals. Most players expect that you will Armor Lock the entire duration of allowed so don’t use all that time. Feigning an Armor Lock only to bum rush your opponent is a great way to draw them off guard. Like wise remembering you have it available to pop right at the moment before a grenade goes off may mitigate the damage that means the difference between a kill and being killed. Practice awkwardly timed Armor Lock usage.

The second is the jetpack. Every one loves the jetpack. Flight free of wings and run ways, soaring with the birds, feeling the clouds all around you, being shot down and dying in a flaming ball of wreckage. It’s all very exhilarating. But that last part is what you really want to cut out. You’ll find your self very tempted to simply fly up and start an all out aerial assault but typically ends very quickly. Most times its best to think of the jetpack as a sort of super jump. It’s best use is to gain access to areas you wouldn’t other wise be able to get to in a timely manner. Like when that sniper is on the ledge that you happen to be walking under but you can’t quite get an angle with out drawing his attention. Or as a method to exit a hairy fire fight by jumping over a rock that would otherwise take to long to run around. Moderate your flight time and you’ll find that more often than not you will be able to keep your seat in the lounging position and your table trays unlocked.

I learned these lessons the hard way so you don’t have to. Happy hunting Spartans!