Armor Cores (as they are) limit customization and don't offer the values 343 promised. Here's a constructive proposal

Games Halo Infinite
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TLDR at the bottom.

343 promised that this game would offer more customization freedom and flexibility than any other Halo, but it doesn’t feel that way. I firmly believe all of our Spartan armor should be able to be fully mixed and matched. Every Halo game since H3 has allowed you to express yourself without limitations. If you wanted to imagine you were the samurai version of the Master Chief, you could do that. If you wanted to feel like Ghost Rider with a flaming head, you could do that.

The closest we’ve ever had to armor cores in previous games were the separate customization options for playable elites, which made sense because they’re physically shaped differently. But all Spartan armor was interchangeable. This concept has been consistent across all games but this one.

Some common arguments in opposition to the removal of armor cores in their current iteration, and my reasons for disagreeing:

-It wouldn’t be lore friendly/immersive to see Mk7 Spartans with katanas

Multiplayer has never been immersive and I think it’s actually one of the things that makes Halo customization memorable, as someone who has played since 2001. You’ve always been free to make up your own head-canon. Again, we’ve had katanas, flaming heads, fart clouds, confetti headshots and more in previous titles. Now we have sakura blossoms, cyberpunk hologram fx and a whole samurai themed set that is literally designed to not be lore friendly. And literal cat ears.

-They would clip with armor from other cores

There are many examples of cross-core functionality already in the game that show there are little to no clipping issues. There are bots who have this functionality already. There are also modders who have been able to create cross-core spartans and have shown that visual glitches are minimal.

-People would make stupid combinations and make the game look silly

Currently, we have a cyberpunk floating holo-visor that can be attached to Noble Team armors, as well as the Yoroi samurai armor core. Not to mention the cat ears. That’s already about as silly as combos get and we’re bound to see more. I do not believe armor freedom would change this sentiment. Why should some people’s aesthetic tastes be allowed to limit what other folks can wear? What’s looks bad to some may look amazing to others.

-I like being able to switch between armor presets

I like this as well but I think creating armor presets should be a separate, local option, and not at the expense of player freedom

Right now, armor cores honestly feel like a way to sell us multiple versions of the same items. We’re already seeing it with coatings. We just got the Firefall helmet for Mk7, which just feels like a slightly modified version of the ODST helmet that is already on the Mk5B core. We’ll likely later get the Mk5 helmet for the Mk5B core and then the Mk5Zeta helmet for the Mk7 core.

This feels restrictive, it feels anti-player, and it feels wrong.

My Solution
If I were to redesign armor cores, I would only make cores for armor that drastically changes the player model geometry. Like, an elite armor core- a perfect way to reintroduce playable elites. There could also be a brute core, a forerunner core.

It would be an interesting way to introduce fracture cores as well. A Shinobi armor core that gives you a thinner body and introduces cloth and fabric as the main customization components- something that geometrically couldn’t be copy/pasted onto a Spartan. Imagine a Brotherhood of Steel core where you’re literally wearing Fallout power armor, which is shaped bulkier and entirely different than how Spartan armor sits. Maybe a Doomguy core that literally shows the skin beneath the armor, rather than a Spartan exoskeleton.

Armor cores could be so much more and offer unique, valuable customization experiences. Right not, they feel like needless shackles that reinforce double purchases in the store. If the core system could see a full rework like this, I truly believe the sentiment towards the store might die down a bit, because people would have significantly more options to play with. I get that 343 needs to make money with the F2P model and I don’t fault them for it. But when people don’t feel like they’re being arbitrarily limited, they’re generally more willing to spend a little extra.

To 343: I know you guys work hard despite the insults and I appreciate that you guys have been communicating. Please keep making this game better for us. I look forward to seeing more updates.

TLDR: Armor cores limit our options and seem to be a way to sell us duplicate items (like the Firefall helmet, and many coatings so far). With all the wacky pre-existing options we have, we should be able to mix all armor sets together to allow players to make super unique combos. Armor cores could be reworked and would be a great way to introduce other playable races, as well as non-canon cores based on other Microsoft owned franchises.

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The near entirety of the Yoroi set disagrees

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Lol my freaken chest armor clips with itself. If it was about clipping they wouldn’t have released this game.

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What chest is it on what core?

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There is a lot of clipping within cores. All the big shoulder pieces clip for example.

I really think there should be cross core customization between mark v and mark vii. I’m not sure about yoroi and mark v / vii mixing.

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There are examples of armor customization we already have that show clipping issues. I guess what I’m trying to say is the cross core Spartans that modders have created don’t have any more issues than the gear that we already have, so the clipping argument feels redundant. Out of the images I’ve seen so far, there seems to be minimal issues on that end.

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It’s the opposite, I’d say.

  • No primary, secondary or detail color options.
  • Armor cores locking items.
  • Colors being sold.
  • Knees, wrists, gloves, etc. not being individual.
  • Emblems having less color options.
  • Less emblem customization options.
  • No Elites.
  • Only one attachment for each piece.
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Don’t forget 1/3rd of the current armour cores not being affected by the BT Slider (Yoroi is unchangeable as of right now)

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yoroi looks ridiculous like some cheap cos play made out of cardboard

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Agreed, the cores are such a horrible implementation for cosmetics.

I will literally not spend a single cent until they are either removed or all accessories, colors, etc. are universal.

Like I love the 80’s, last week’s featured store items made me moist… But I will not purchase them as they will likely not be compatible with season 2 cores… Such a shame.

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i never thought about that, and just thinking about it makes me cringe. they could in theory make us buy/ earn through challenges every armor coating each time they drop a new battle pass

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Armor Cores is a cool concept on paper…

Have Gen 2 armor core and keep those armor sets to just the Gen 2 armor core…

Have the Gen 3 Armor core and do the same.

Gen 4, so on and repeat…

But apply those concepts and give the player less than 15 - 20 options to customize there character despite have Halo 1, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 4 Halo 5 and Halo Reach as Blue prints for the amount of armor you can have in each armor core ; just to use hardly nothing of them…

Not to mention what they gave us, 99.9% is locked behind a paywall, which 98.9% of that isn’t even in the game yet ; the files, yes, but in game, no.

Like yo, 343 Industries didn’t just drop the ball with Infinite, they straight up kicked it to the curb and hoped for the best…

That best is us, the player / fan base complaining on the forums on how to fix the game

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why is it that nobody bitched about the commando shoulder clippin in og reach but now clippin is the worst thing ever

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That’s 1000% the reason they did this no matter what other BS excuse they try to sell us otherwise.

Hell, I’d be simply content with Mark 5 and & Mark 7 armour cores being merged into one. the Samurai armor annoys me just to even look at it. I don’t care for it at all.

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I like 80s music, movies and the aesthetic from that, but the textures didn’t look very good.

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It’s a nah for me.

Cross core items seem cool, but really don’t make sense, particularly in terms of physical configuration. Coatings? Absolutely should be cross core.

Non-canon cores? If you want Gears of War armor… play gears of war?

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Yeah, just imagine having to buy/earn the same armor coating once there are 10+ cores. Or worse, most of the cores just collect dust with no access to the new stuff. Like MK V right now! Seemed cool at launch right? But it’s getting nothing new. Isn’t that great?

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We have seen armor pieces work across cores in the past, at the very least with helmets. And there’s no reason something like a side pouch couldn’t fit in a different core. Also, gloves don’t interact with any of the core outside of the undersuit, which is gen 3 for all cores. And a lot of other attachments fit perfectly fine across both MK V and MK VII.

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That’s a fair point! I suppose I had been thinking that things like the Tenrai armor wouldn’t mesh well physically with Mark V but I have no science to back that up lol.

The thing I really do like about the armor cores is lining up all three suits of armor in the armor hall lol. That could also be achieved just by unlocking armor racks or something over time.

Which overall is really how the progression should have gone. From the beginning there should have been an XP based rank system, which could earn you universal armor textures (color should have been selectable from day one,) and earn you new “Armor racks” so you can have multiple pieces of armor at once. I think universal utilities and stuff could also fit into this category.

Then the battle passes could just have provided more options. The Mark VII core should have started with a variety of attachments that were all free. Then they could milk everyone for $10 to be able to get a new core with MK V (B) stuff.

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Yeah, I like a lot of what you’re proposing. And I do admit that you’re right on Yoroi not meshing well with the other cores. You can try this out yourself if you use the waypoint glitch. Coatings have some minor issues, but I say if players are okay with how they look who cares? Chest attachments don’t really work. The sword belts actually fit quite nicely crosscore. I haven’t tried wrist attachments. Shoulders don’t really work (they float/clip). Kneepads I haven’t tried, but even if they did work I’m fine with those being core locked as they seemed designed to fit into the boots. So unless you could choose your boots I’m okay with how they are. I know crosscore has issues. I won’t deny that. My main problem with it is nothing works right now, when a lot could.

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