The Armory

The Armory is what happens when Armored Core's armor customization and Call of Duty's player investment are thrown in to a blender and lit on fire. Players spend earned Credits, or Cr, in order to buy armor permutations and variants to badassify and upgrade their Spartan III.

Features
As opposed to Halo 3's simple armory that featured only helmets, chest pieces and shoulder pieces, Halo Reach features far more. In addition to helmets, chest pieces and shoulder pieces, we also get wrist pieces, knee guards, utility pieces, armor effects, alternate colors for the visor and alternate voices for firefight.

Not only do we have more categories to pick from, but there are a plethora more options in each category than there were in Halo 3. In Halo 3, there were a total of eleven armor systems In Halo Reach, you start with at least twelve systems being visible. There are dozens upon dozens of armor systems to choose from.

The Spartan that you make in the Armory is used universally across Reach. That means that you use this Spartan in Campaign, Firefight, and Multiplayer. Firefight voices apply only to firefight. In campaign, Noble 6's voice will change depending on the gender used by the player.

How it works
There are a few things that I should explain before continuing. There are a few different "statuses" or "modes" that a piece of armor could be in: Unlocked, Available, Visible, and Locked.

Unlocked
Unlocked armor is armor that you can wear. You start with the Mark V [B] armor by default and unlock armor by purchasing them from the armory using cR, using a code (most likely obtained through pre-order), or by completing various achievments in Reach and other Halo games and then updating your career in Halo: Waypoint.

Available
Available armor is armor that you can purchase, but you have not purchased. This may be considered a subcategory of Visible armor.

Visible
Visible armor is armor that you can see in the armory, but cannot yet purchase. This is most likely due to you not having a high enough rank to purchase said armor. Armor can be made visible through ranking up and by making other purchases.

Locked
Locked armor is armor that is not yet visible to you, either due to not having a high enough rank or not making the purchases required to see it.