If anyone has read my other two threads concerning Halo 5 and my ideas for it, you'll know that I think about this stuff...a lot. So I'm putting together an updated thread, right here, that will basically be a much more comprehensive list of all of the ideas I have.
Here are my previous two threads, if you want to see them raw.
http://halocustoms.com/threads/halo-5-ideas-take-a-look-need-opinions.9945/
http://halocustoms.com/threads/suggested-covenant-races-and-flood-return-halo-5.10220/
I'll color coordinate it all here for you:
Standard coloring denotes features already in-game
Blue coloring denotes returning features
Red coloring denotes my personal ideas
Green coloring denotes concept art ideas
Yellow coloring denotes ideas found in Halo 4's code
Pink coloring denotes ideas from Halo Wars
The asterisk (*) denotes dual-wieldable weapons
And now to begin...
Automatic Loadout Weapons:
Assault Rifle
Silenced SMG - short scope, high ROF, decent size magazine
Storm Rifle
Suppressor
Forerunner Pulse Rifle - fires pulse projectiles that do more damage to organic material than shields, short scope, medium ROF, decent size magazine
Brute Storm Rifle - Brute version that fires faster, but has less overall ammunition and overheats faster
Brute Heavy Spiker - high ROF, medium magazine
Precision Loadout Weapons:
Designated Marksman Rifle
Battle Rifle
Covenant Carbine
Light Rifle
Needle Rifle - full auto feature disabled
Brute Spike Rifle - fires Spikes at high speeds toward the enemy, with pretty good accuracy
Forerunner Particle Rifle - fires superheated photons, similar firing to the Light Rifle but with less damage to shields and more damage to organic material, as well as only firing 1 shot per pull of the trigger
Secondary Loadout Weapons:
*Magnum
AutoMag
*Plasma Pistol
*Mauler
*Fuel Rod Pistol - Fires carbine-like projectiles (mini fuel rods)
Boltshot
*Bishop Beam
*Burst Pistol
Grenades:
Fragmentation Grenade
Plasma Grenade
Spike Grenade
Pulse Grenade
Firebomb Grenade (or UNSC Thermite/Napalm Grenade)
Gravity Grenade - blasts out a gravity field (like the gravity hammer) with moderate damage
Remote Detonator - thrown once, then can be detonated with another trigger pull
Stasis Grenade - sticks to a target and slows them down, or generates a stasis field where it lands
Heavy Ordnance:
Rocket Launcher
Fuel Rod Cannon
Incineration Cannon
Spartan Laser
Grenade Launcher
Plasma Launcher
Concussion Rifle
Pulse Launcher - fires pulse grenades with a small arc
Brute Shot
EMP Cannon - charged, then fires to EMP vehicles, only drains shields of Spartans, no damage to health, small magazine
Stasis Cannon - creates a localized stasis field on contact, small magazine
Railgun
Sticky Detonator
Standard Ordnance:
Needler
*SMG
*Plasma Rifle
*Brute Plasma Rifle
*Spiker
Sniper Rifle
Beam Rifle
Binary Rifle
Plasma Repeater
Focus Rifle
*Pulse Beam - Forerunner SMG that fires pulse projectiles at a high rate, but with low damage
Sentinel Beam
Sentinel Major Beam - carried by few others than the Sentinel Major, it's high DPS is countered by it's fast overheat time, and is seen very rarely.
CQC Ordnance:
Shotgun
Scattershot
Energy Sword
Energized Machete - tempered to clash with Hardlight and Plasma, has a lunge, when charge is depleted the blade breaks apart
Hardlight Blade - The Promethean Blade Arm will fall off a Promethean and become a melee weapon with a charge until the hardlight dissipates, certain Sharquoi ranks will also carry them
Gravity Hammer
Turrets:
Machine Gun Turret
Hunter LMG - smaller, .30 Cal, higher ROF but less damage, Marines and Spartan-IV's will carry these into battle and set them up
Missile Pod
Flamethrower
Gauss Turret - These Gauss Cannons will be stationary defenses on certain levels
Plasma Cannon
Light Plasma Cannon - smaller, higher ROF but less damage, Grunts and Skirmishers will carry these into battle and set them up
Plasma Torch - sprays superheated plasma which clings to surfaces
Assault Cannon - can be collected from Hunter Champions, these weapons fire a very powerful Fuel Rod, but have a small amount of ammunition
(The Hunter LMG and Light Plasma Cannon will drop as ordnance and can be carried to positions, then set up to fire, but cannot be fired from the hip, they are required to be set up)
Armor Abilities:
UNSC Armor Lock - only used by Spartans in Campaign
Hologram
Active Camouflage
Hardlight Shield
Regeneration Field
Drop Shield
Evade
Auto-Turret
Promethean Vision
Jet Pack
Thruster Pack
Teleport - allows short, linear teleportation in any direction
Hacker - disables armor abilities at any range with a micro-EMP
Equipment:
Trip Mine
Bubble Shield
Flare
Regenerator
Radar Jammer
Energy Drain
Portable Gravity Lift
Stasis Mine - generates a stasis field in the area when tripped
Deployable Cover
Drones - deploys two constructor drones that follow you until destroyed or you die
Seeker Drone - UNSC drone that flies around you and supports you in combat until destroyed or you die (after I posted the original thread, 343i did use a Seeker Drone in Spartan Assault)
Deployable Sentry - the AutoSentry from Halo 3, this turret will target and fire a Sentinel Beam at enemies until destroyed
Tactical Packages:
TBA
Support Upgrades:
TBA
Assault Packages:
TBA
UNSC Vehicles:
Warthog - Normal, Gauss, Rocket, Troop
Mongoose
Doozy - seen in concept art, two-seater hover bike with a .30 Cal tailgunner (can be renamed)
Scorpion
Mantis
Hornet/HAWK - HAWK would only return for space combat
Falcon - Standard, Assault, Variable
Pelican/Vulture - Vulture would only return for space combat, campaign, and target designations
Broadsword/Sabre/Longsword - would only return for space combat
Elephant
Mammoth
Covenant Vehicles:
Ghost
Spectre
Wraith - Normal and AA
Shade
Phantom - Gunboat, Standard, Assault (Gunboat only for space combat)
Spirit - Standard, Assault (now pilotable)
Revenant
Chopper
Prowler
Gorgon - walker seen in concept art, can be re-designed and used as a Covenant answer to the Mantis
Banshee - Standard, Space (only for space combat)
Locust
Scarab
Harvester
Lich
Vampire
Air Artillery - seen in concept art, Covenant mobile artillery (not drivable)
Shadow
Promethean Vehicles:
Chariot - Medium Hovercraft, mounts a turret and seats 4 (driver, 2 passengers, and a gunner)
Skimmer - Hovercraft, fires twin hardlight gatling guns
Scylla - Tank, fires a Particle Cannon, has a Pulse Turret on it
Atlas - Walker, fires a Particle Cannon and a Pulse Gatling Gun
Fury - Aircraft, fires dual hardlight gatling guns and an Incineration Bomb
War Spinx - Massive constructs, not pilotable
Assassination Weapon Choices:
Combat Knife
Kukri
Brute Combat Knife
Energy Dagger - extendable energy dagger from Reach
Energy Cutlass - Jackal knife weapon
Curveblade - Elite knife weapon
Hardlight Dagger - extends a hardlight blade like the Energy Dagger
Hardlight Knife - a hilt that generates a hardlight blade when used
Loadout Choices:
Personal Name
Armor Setup
Primary Loadout Weapon
Secondary Loadout Weapon
Grenades
Armor Ability
Assault Package
Tactical Package
Support Upgrade
Standard Features:
Sprint
VISR
Lowering Weapons
Dual Wielding
"No Weapon" Option
Gametypes:
Slayer
Race
Capture the Flag
Infection (Flood)
Territories
Dominion (Lockdown)
Invasion
VIP
Extraction (Conversion)
Juggernaut
Assault
Regicide
Oddball (Grifball, Ricochet)
Stockpile
Headhunter
King of the Hill
Firefight
Spartan Ops
Grief
Custom Campaign
Skulls:
Skulls are now found in campaign again, as well as Spartan Ops. Also, a new feature called "Evolution" would allow you to unlock a second skull after you unlocked the first. This creates a challenge to unlock every skull, which would result in achievements, armor, emblems, stances, etc.
Skulls now have 4 tiers, Onyx (gameplay is much more difficult), Gold (gameplay is more difficult), Silver (gameplay is more entertaining), and Bronze (gameplay is easier). While using Bronze skulls, you cannot unlock achievements, weapons, armor, emblems, stances, skulls, etc.
Also, in advance, the Quake, Isolationist, Fireworks!, Plague, Augment, Fade, Bounty, Grind, Commander, and Haunted are all my ideas, as well as the re-imagining of the functions of the Cloud and Envy Skulls.
IWHBYD - rare dialog is more frequent and vice-versa
Iron/Wuv Woo - death resets the level/beam weapons fire rainbow-colored beams that explode into hearts on contact, explosive projectiles are rainbow-colored and explode into hearts on contact
Famine/Recession - dropped weapons have considerably less ammo/every shot takes twice the ammunition required
Cloud/Fog - fills your radar with false positive signals/radar is disabled
Thunderstorm/Mythic - all enemies are promoted to higher ranks/all enemies gain double health, and most enemies get at least light shielding
Catch/Quake - enemies throw grenades more often, and carry grenade-based weaponry more often/enemies carry heavy weapons more often
Eye Patch/Black Eye - auto-aim is disabled for all weapons/health and shielding only regenerates when you melee an enemy, they regenerate more when you beat down an enemy, and they fully regenerate when you assassinate enemies
Tough Luck/Tilt - enemies evade danger more easily, Brutes berserk more often, Grunts kamikaze more ofter, Prometheans rush and teleport more often/shields deflect bullets and other solid projectiles
Angry/Envy - enemies fire faster and more frequently/enemies have unlimited ammunition and no need to reload (or discharge an overheat) and are more accurate
Ghost/Whuppopotamus - enemies do not flinch from any attack/enemy AI is made far more intelligent
Cowbell/Boom - physics forces doubled, melee attacks carry a knockback and explosions send you flying further, but damage is not affected/explosion radius is doubled
Grunt Birthday Party/Grunt Funeral - confetti explosions when you headshot grunts/plasma detonation of the grunt's body when you kill them
Foreign/Isolationist - your allies cannot use alien weaponry/you cannot use alien weaponry
Malfunction/Blind - after every death, a random part of the HUD will vanish/HUD is disabled, player can only see their weapon, no reticule
Pinata/Bandanna - when you melee kill an enemy, they drop grenades. When you assassinate an enemy, they also disintegrate/gives the player infinite ammo and grenades
Look Daddy!/Fireworks! - when grunts die, their methane tanks always shoot off and explode into confetti/melee kills launch enemies into the air, where they explode into confetti
Sickness/Plague - all allies have 50% less health and shielding/you have 50% less health and shielding
Sugar Cookies/Augment - all allies have 50% more health and shielding/you have 50% more health and shielding
Boomstick/Fade - bodies will randomly explode after death/all enemies and allies disintegrate when killed
Bountiful Harvest/Bounty - allies regenerate health and shields faster/you regenerate health and shields faster
Pain Train/Grind - allies run faster and are considerably more battle-aware/your sprint speed is increased and your radar range is extended
Commander/Emperor - allied armor abilities regenerate 50% faster and reloads only take 1/2 time/allied armor abilities regenerate instantly and allies reload instantly
Haunted/Assassin - Unlocks hidden ghostly armor, gives all enemies poor camo (unless they're using their own Camo modules)/all enemies now have active camouflage
Total: 11 Onyx Skulls, 14 Gold Skulls, 11 Silver Skulls, and 9 Bronze Skulls.
UNSC:
Spartan-IV - You will still play as your Spartan-IV in matchmaking, firefights, Spartan Ops and custom campaigns, and Spartan-IV allies will assist you in-game
Marines - will feature in campaign, Spartan Ops, custom campaigns, and firefights
ODST - the ODST's will return in campaign, Spartan Ops, custom campaigns, and firefights
Characters - will feature the entire ODST squad from Halo 3: ODST, now trained and augmented as Spartan-IV's, and they will feature heavily in Spartan Ops. Jun-A266 will also return as a high-ranking Spartan-IV.
Covenant:
Elites: Storm Minor (blue), Storm Major (red), Storm Ultra (silver), Storm Ranger (silver), Storm Warrior (gold), Storm Commander (blue and red), Storm Zealot (silver and red), Storm Honor Guard (red and gold), Storm Guard Ultra (silver and gold), Storm Stealth (black)
Grunts: Storm Minor, Storm Major, Storm Imperial, Storm Ranger
Jackals: Storm Minor, Storm Major, Storm Sniper, Storm Ranger, Storm Champion
Hunters: Hunter Minors (blue), Hunter Majors (red), Hunter Champion (Gold), Drinol Warrior (blue and red), Drinol Ultra (gold)
Drone: Drone Minor (green), Drone Warrior (lighter blue), Drone Major (red), Drone Commander (gold), Drone Stag (technically Ultra) (dark blue), Stag Warrior (green), Stag Major (red), Stag Commander (dark blue), Stag Champion (gold)
Brutes: Brute Minor (light blue, blue), Brute Major (red), Brute Ultra (indigo), Brute Stalker (black), Brute Ranger (blue, red), Brute Chieftain (crimson), Brute Commander (blood red)
Sharquoi: Soldier (green), Scout (black), Captain (blue), Warrior (blood red and silver), General (gold and silver), Commander (deep red), Pilot (blue and green), Assault (dark green and black), Marine (black and silver), Master (black and red), Champion (blood red and gold)
Prometheans:
Crawlers: Crawler Warrior, Crawler Sniper, Crawler Alpha, Crawler Support
Watcher: Watcher, Watcher Support
Knight: Knight Warrior, Knight Lancer, Knight Commander, Knight Battlewagon, Knight Master (merge of A, R, F, L in concept art), Knight Heavy (merge of E and L in concept art), Knight Support (B in concept art)
Sentinel: Sentinel Warrior, Sentinel Major, Sentinel Protector, Super Sentinel, Strato-Sentinel, Enforcer, Enforcer Major, Constructor
Flood:
Infection Form
Carrier Form
Combat Form (Human, Elite, Brute, Sharquoi)
Pure Form (Stalker, Ranged, Tank, Airborne[Swarm]) - The new Airborne Form looks similar to the Swarm Form from Halo:Wars, and will cling to surfaces and dive down on enemies
Thrasher Form - these massive beasts charge and swipe at enemies
Bomber Form - Much larger, rains Flood dispersal pods down on the battlefield, fills a role similar to a Pelican or Phantom
Transport Form - like a Flood version of a tank, these nightmare abominations carry other Flood to the battle and has a much larger, explosive version of the Flood Ranged Form's weapon.
Juggernaut Form - A huge, tentacled monster that was cut from Halo 2, these slow-moving hulks can grab nearby objects (and enemies) and toss them at enemies at range, as well as bash and whip whatever gets within their large range. (mutated form of a Drinol, seeing as these are mutated by capture and then general biomass covering)
Infector Form - a short flood variant that fires flood spores at the enemy, and can cling to surfaces. (Mutated form of a Stag Drone)
Stealth Form - a flood variant that incorporates active camouflage modules into itself, allowing it to stay cloaked at most times, but can be seen with a VISR.
I can't put an explanation up, I'm at the limit for characters on the thread. But that's pretty much everything!
Here are my previous two threads, if you want to see them raw.
http://halocustoms.com/threads/halo-5-ideas-take-a-look-need-opinions.9945/
http://halocustoms.com/threads/suggested-covenant-races-and-flood-return-halo-5.10220/
I'll color coordinate it all here for you:
Standard coloring denotes features already in-game
Blue coloring denotes returning features
Red coloring denotes my personal ideas
Green coloring denotes concept art ideas
Yellow coloring denotes ideas found in Halo 4's code
Pink coloring denotes ideas from Halo Wars
The asterisk (*) denotes dual-wieldable weapons
And now to begin...
Automatic Loadout Weapons:
Assault Rifle
Silenced SMG - short scope, high ROF, decent size magazine
Storm Rifle
Suppressor
Forerunner Pulse Rifle - fires pulse projectiles that do more damage to organic material than shields, short scope, medium ROF, decent size magazine
Brute Storm Rifle - Brute version that fires faster, but has less overall ammunition and overheats faster
Brute Heavy Spiker - high ROF, medium magazine
Precision Loadout Weapons:
Designated Marksman Rifle
Battle Rifle
Covenant Carbine
Light Rifle
Needle Rifle - full auto feature disabled
Brute Spike Rifle - fires Spikes at high speeds toward the enemy, with pretty good accuracy
Forerunner Particle Rifle - fires superheated photons, similar firing to the Light Rifle but with less damage to shields and more damage to organic material, as well as only firing 1 shot per pull of the trigger
Secondary Loadout Weapons:
*Magnum
AutoMag
*Plasma Pistol
*Mauler
*Fuel Rod Pistol - Fires carbine-like projectiles (mini fuel rods)
Boltshot
*Bishop Beam
*Burst Pistol
Grenades:
Fragmentation Grenade
Plasma Grenade
Spike Grenade
Pulse Grenade
Firebomb Grenade (or UNSC Thermite/Napalm Grenade)
Gravity Grenade - blasts out a gravity field (like the gravity hammer) with moderate damage
Remote Detonator - thrown once, then can be detonated with another trigger pull
Stasis Grenade - sticks to a target and slows them down, or generates a stasis field where it lands
Heavy Ordnance:
Rocket Launcher
Fuel Rod Cannon
Incineration Cannon
Spartan Laser
Grenade Launcher
Plasma Launcher
Concussion Rifle
Pulse Launcher - fires pulse grenades with a small arc
Brute Shot
EMP Cannon - charged, then fires to EMP vehicles, only drains shields of Spartans, no damage to health, small magazine
Stasis Cannon - creates a localized stasis field on contact, small magazine
Railgun
Sticky Detonator
Standard Ordnance:
Needler
*SMG
*Plasma Rifle
*Brute Plasma Rifle
*Spiker
Sniper Rifle
Beam Rifle
Binary Rifle
Plasma Repeater
Focus Rifle
*Pulse Beam - Forerunner SMG that fires pulse projectiles at a high rate, but with low damage
Sentinel Beam
Sentinel Major Beam - carried by few others than the Sentinel Major, it's high DPS is countered by it's fast overheat time, and is seen very rarely.
CQC Ordnance:
Shotgun
Scattershot
Energy Sword
Energized Machete - tempered to clash with Hardlight and Plasma, has a lunge, when charge is depleted the blade breaks apart
Hardlight Blade - The Promethean Blade Arm will fall off a Promethean and become a melee weapon with a charge until the hardlight dissipates, certain Sharquoi ranks will also carry them
Gravity Hammer
Turrets:
Machine Gun Turret
Hunter LMG - smaller, .30 Cal, higher ROF but less damage, Marines and Spartan-IV's will carry these into battle and set them up
Missile Pod
Flamethrower
Gauss Turret - These Gauss Cannons will be stationary defenses on certain levels
Plasma Cannon
Light Plasma Cannon - smaller, higher ROF but less damage, Grunts and Skirmishers will carry these into battle and set them up
Plasma Torch - sprays superheated plasma which clings to surfaces
Assault Cannon - can be collected from Hunter Champions, these weapons fire a very powerful Fuel Rod, but have a small amount of ammunition
(The Hunter LMG and Light Plasma Cannon will drop as ordnance and can be carried to positions, then set up to fire, but cannot be fired from the hip, they are required to be set up)
Armor Abilities:
UNSC Armor Lock - only used by Spartans in Campaign
Hologram
Active Camouflage
Hardlight Shield
Regeneration Field
Drop Shield
Evade
Auto-Turret
Promethean Vision
Jet Pack
Thruster Pack
Teleport - allows short, linear teleportation in any direction
Hacker - disables armor abilities at any range with a micro-EMP
Equipment:
Trip Mine
Bubble Shield
Flare
Regenerator
Radar Jammer
Energy Drain
Portable Gravity Lift
Stasis Mine - generates a stasis field in the area when tripped
Deployable Cover
Drones - deploys two constructor drones that follow you until destroyed or you die
Seeker Drone - UNSC drone that flies around you and supports you in combat until destroyed or you die (after I posted the original thread, 343i did use a Seeker Drone in Spartan Assault)
Deployable Sentry - the AutoSentry from Halo 3, this turret will target and fire a Sentinel Beam at enemies until destroyed
Tactical Packages:
TBA
Support Upgrades:
TBA
Assault Packages:
TBA
UNSC Vehicles:
Warthog - Normal, Gauss, Rocket, Troop
Mongoose
Doozy - seen in concept art, two-seater hover bike with a .30 Cal tailgunner (can be renamed)
Scorpion
Mantis
Hornet/HAWK - HAWK would only return for space combat
Falcon - Standard, Assault, Variable
Pelican/Vulture - Vulture would only return for space combat, campaign, and target designations
Broadsword/Sabre/Longsword - would only return for space combat
Elephant
Mammoth
Covenant Vehicles:
Ghost
Spectre
Wraith - Normal and AA
Shade
Phantom - Gunboat, Standard, Assault (Gunboat only for space combat)
Spirit - Standard, Assault (now pilotable)
Revenant
Chopper
Prowler
Gorgon - walker seen in concept art, can be re-designed and used as a Covenant answer to the Mantis
Banshee - Standard, Space (only for space combat)
Locust
Scarab
Harvester
Lich
Vampire
Air Artillery - seen in concept art, Covenant mobile artillery (not drivable)
Shadow
Promethean Vehicles:
Chariot - Medium Hovercraft, mounts a turret and seats 4 (driver, 2 passengers, and a gunner)
Skimmer - Hovercraft, fires twin hardlight gatling guns
Scylla - Tank, fires a Particle Cannon, has a Pulse Turret on it
Atlas - Walker, fires a Particle Cannon and a Pulse Gatling Gun
Fury - Aircraft, fires dual hardlight gatling guns and an Incineration Bomb
War Spinx - Massive constructs, not pilotable
Assassination Weapon Choices:
Combat Knife
Kukri
Brute Combat Knife
Energy Dagger - extendable energy dagger from Reach
Energy Cutlass - Jackal knife weapon
Curveblade - Elite knife weapon
Hardlight Dagger - extends a hardlight blade like the Energy Dagger
Hardlight Knife - a hilt that generates a hardlight blade when used
Loadout Choices:
Personal Name
Armor Setup
Primary Loadout Weapon
Secondary Loadout Weapon
Grenades
Armor Ability
Assault Package
Tactical Package
Support Upgrade
Standard Features:
Sprint
VISR
Lowering Weapons
Dual Wielding
"No Weapon" Option
Gametypes:
Slayer
Race
Capture the Flag
Infection (Flood)
Territories
Dominion (Lockdown)
Invasion
VIP
Extraction (Conversion)
Juggernaut
Assault
Regicide
Oddball (Grifball, Ricochet)
Stockpile
Headhunter
King of the Hill
Firefight
Spartan Ops
Grief
Custom Campaign
Skulls:
Skulls are now found in campaign again, as well as Spartan Ops. Also, a new feature called "Evolution" would allow you to unlock a second skull after you unlocked the first. This creates a challenge to unlock every skull, which would result in achievements, armor, emblems, stances, etc.
Skulls now have 4 tiers, Onyx (gameplay is much more difficult), Gold (gameplay is more difficult), Silver (gameplay is more entertaining), and Bronze (gameplay is easier). While using Bronze skulls, you cannot unlock achievements, weapons, armor, emblems, stances, skulls, etc.
Also, in advance, the Quake, Isolationist, Fireworks!, Plague, Augment, Fade, Bounty, Grind, Commander, and Haunted are all my ideas, as well as the re-imagining of the functions of the Cloud and Envy Skulls.
IWHBYD - rare dialog is more frequent and vice-versa
Iron/Wuv Woo - death resets the level/beam weapons fire rainbow-colored beams that explode into hearts on contact, explosive projectiles are rainbow-colored and explode into hearts on contact
Famine/Recession - dropped weapons have considerably less ammo/every shot takes twice the ammunition required
Cloud/Fog - fills your radar with false positive signals/radar is disabled
Thunderstorm/Mythic - all enemies are promoted to higher ranks/all enemies gain double health, and most enemies get at least light shielding
Catch/Quake - enemies throw grenades more often, and carry grenade-based weaponry more often/enemies carry heavy weapons more often
Eye Patch/Black Eye - auto-aim is disabled for all weapons/health and shielding only regenerates when you melee an enemy, they regenerate more when you beat down an enemy, and they fully regenerate when you assassinate enemies
Tough Luck/Tilt - enemies evade danger more easily, Brutes berserk more often, Grunts kamikaze more ofter, Prometheans rush and teleport more often/shields deflect bullets and other solid projectiles
Angry/Envy - enemies fire faster and more frequently/enemies have unlimited ammunition and no need to reload (or discharge an overheat) and are more accurate
Ghost/Whuppopotamus - enemies do not flinch from any attack/enemy AI is made far more intelligent
Cowbell/Boom - physics forces doubled, melee attacks carry a knockback and explosions send you flying further, but damage is not affected/explosion radius is doubled
Grunt Birthday Party/Grunt Funeral - confetti explosions when you headshot grunts/plasma detonation of the grunt's body when you kill them
Foreign/Isolationist - your allies cannot use alien weaponry/you cannot use alien weaponry
Malfunction/Blind - after every death, a random part of the HUD will vanish/HUD is disabled, player can only see their weapon, no reticule
Pinata/Bandanna - when you melee kill an enemy, they drop grenades. When you assassinate an enemy, they also disintegrate/gives the player infinite ammo and grenades
Look Daddy!/Fireworks! - when grunts die, their methane tanks always shoot off and explode into confetti/melee kills launch enemies into the air, where they explode into confetti
Sickness/Plague - all allies have 50% less health and shielding/you have 50% less health and shielding
Sugar Cookies/Augment - all allies have 50% more health and shielding/you have 50% more health and shielding
Boomstick/Fade - bodies will randomly explode after death/all enemies and allies disintegrate when killed
Bountiful Harvest/Bounty - allies regenerate health and shields faster/you regenerate health and shields faster
Pain Train/Grind - allies run faster and are considerably more battle-aware/your sprint speed is increased and your radar range is extended
Commander/Emperor - allied armor abilities regenerate 50% faster and reloads only take 1/2 time/allied armor abilities regenerate instantly and allies reload instantly
Haunted/Assassin - Unlocks hidden ghostly armor, gives all enemies poor camo (unless they're using their own Camo modules)/all enemies now have active camouflage
Total: 11 Onyx Skulls, 14 Gold Skulls, 11 Silver Skulls, and 9 Bronze Skulls.
UNSC:
Spartan-IV - You will still play as your Spartan-IV in matchmaking, firefights, Spartan Ops and custom campaigns, and Spartan-IV allies will assist you in-game
Marines - will feature in campaign, Spartan Ops, custom campaigns, and firefights
ODST - the ODST's will return in campaign, Spartan Ops, custom campaigns, and firefights
Characters - will feature the entire ODST squad from Halo 3: ODST, now trained and augmented as Spartan-IV's, and they will feature heavily in Spartan Ops. Jun-A266 will also return as a high-ranking Spartan-IV.
Covenant:
Elites: Storm Minor (blue), Storm Major (red), Storm Ultra (silver), Storm Ranger (silver), Storm Warrior (gold), Storm Commander (blue and red), Storm Zealot (silver and red), Storm Honor Guard (red and gold), Storm Guard Ultra (silver and gold), Storm Stealth (black)
Grunts: Storm Minor, Storm Major, Storm Imperial, Storm Ranger
Jackals: Storm Minor, Storm Major, Storm Sniper, Storm Ranger, Storm Champion
Hunters: Hunter Minors (blue), Hunter Majors (red), Hunter Champion (Gold), Drinol Warrior (blue and red), Drinol Ultra (gold)
Drone: Drone Minor (green), Drone Warrior (lighter blue), Drone Major (red), Drone Commander (gold), Drone Stag (technically Ultra) (dark blue), Stag Warrior (green), Stag Major (red), Stag Commander (dark blue), Stag Champion (gold)
Brutes: Brute Minor (light blue, blue), Brute Major (red), Brute Ultra (indigo), Brute Stalker (black), Brute Ranger (blue, red), Brute Chieftain (crimson), Brute Commander (blood red)
Sharquoi: Soldier (green), Scout (black), Captain (blue), Warrior (blood red and silver), General (gold and silver), Commander (deep red), Pilot (blue and green), Assault (dark green and black), Marine (black and silver), Master (black and red), Champion (blood red and gold)
Prometheans:
Crawlers: Crawler Warrior, Crawler Sniper, Crawler Alpha, Crawler Support
Watcher: Watcher, Watcher Support
Knight: Knight Warrior, Knight Lancer, Knight Commander, Knight Battlewagon, Knight Master (merge of A, R, F, L in concept art), Knight Heavy (merge of E and L in concept art), Knight Support (B in concept art)
Sentinel: Sentinel Warrior, Sentinel Major, Sentinel Protector, Super Sentinel, Strato-Sentinel, Enforcer, Enforcer Major, Constructor
Flood:
Infection Form
Carrier Form
Combat Form (Human, Elite, Brute, Sharquoi)
Pure Form (Stalker, Ranged, Tank, Airborne[Swarm]) - The new Airborne Form looks similar to the Swarm Form from Halo:Wars, and will cling to surfaces and dive down on enemies
Thrasher Form - these massive beasts charge and swipe at enemies
Bomber Form - Much larger, rains Flood dispersal pods down on the battlefield, fills a role similar to a Pelican or Phantom
Transport Form - like a Flood version of a tank, these nightmare abominations carry other Flood to the battle and has a much larger, explosive version of the Flood Ranged Form's weapon.
Juggernaut Form - A huge, tentacled monster that was cut from Halo 2, these slow-moving hulks can grab nearby objects (and enemies) and toss them at enemies at range, as well as bash and whip whatever gets within their large range. (mutated form of a Drinol, seeing as these are mutated by capture and then general biomass covering)
Infector Form - a short flood variant that fires flood spores at the enemy, and can cling to surfaces. (Mutated form of a Stag Drone)
Stealth Form - a flood variant that incorporates active camouflage modules into itself, allowing it to stay cloaked at most times, but can be seen with a VISR.
I can't put an explanation up, I'm at the limit for characters on the thread. But that's pretty much everything!