Halo Infinite: 343 Industries explains how armor coatings work

What you need to know

• In a new blog post, 343 Industries has given a detailed explanation about what armor coatings are and how they will work in Halo Infinite.
• Specifically, armor coatings are special shaders that allow 343 Industries to apply different colors, materials, or patterns to pieces of armor.
• There will be similar types of coatings for weapons and vehicles as well, and players can expect more
• 343 Industries also showed off the Red Shift armor coating, which can be obtained by getting any Halo or Xbox merch from GameStop between November 9 and December 13 and then redeeming the code it comes with online.

In a new blog post, Halo developer 343 Industries provided some new details about how Halo Infinite's armor coatings work, which is something many have been curious about since the developer teased the Monarch armor coating. According to 343's Lead Player Investment Designer, Christopher Blohm, coatings are "a seven-layer shader that allows us to put any artist-authored color, material, or pattern into seven channels and apply it to in-game items like weapons, armor, and vehicles." These coatings will replace the primary and secondary color system that was present in previous Halo games.

This is interesting for a few reasons. Firstly, it marks the first time in Halo history that players will be able to change patterns on their armor (aside from emblems) and what material it's made out of. Options like these have become more popular in recent years (Destiny 2's shader system comes to mind) so it's cool to see that Halo is embracing these customization options as well, although I have to admit I'm not a fan of color choice being tied to them.

Secondly, we also now know that coatings aren't just for armor — there are going to be coatings for weapons and vehicles as well. In the blog post, 343 Industries shared a look at the Azure vehicle coating on a Warthog, which you can see below.

The developer also gave fans a sneak peek of the Red Shift armor coating in the post, which you can see above. This coating can be obtained by purchasing any Xbox or Halo merchandise from GameStop between the dates of November 9 and December 13, 2020 and redeeming the code you get with it on the Halo Waypoint code redemption page. The armor coating will be instantly available to you in Halo Infinite when the game comes out.

What do you think of how coatings work in Halo Infinite? Personally, I'm excited to see how deep the customization options go, even if it will feel weird to not have a traditional type of Halo customization in the new game. Halo Infinite is currently expected to release in 2021 on the Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One family of consoles, and on WIndows 10 PCs. While you wait, we highly recommend checking out the Master Chief Collection.