Covenant Characters

You will encounter several different varieties of Covenant in each Firefight match. Each one has its strengths, weaknesses, and usefulness. Here's a detailed breakdown of the common infantry:

The Grunt is the most common enemy in all of Halo. They wield plasma pistols and needlers, and also carry plasma grenades, especially when the Catch skull is on. Because they have no armor, they are most efficiently killed with a single headshot. Use the human pistol, or Covenant carbine. The human pistol is slightly easier to get headshots with, but has less range and less ammo than the carbine. On the earlier levels, Grunts can be killed with a single melee. The Grunt also comes in a "suicide" variety, where it will light a plasma grenade in each hand and charge at you. The grenades will not blow up until it gets close, you kill it, or you throw another grenade at it. Grunts usually travel in groups of four with a Brute or SpecOps Grunt in back. They will turn and run scared if the leader is killed however, which makes killing them harder because their head is no longer exposed. It is most efficient to kill the Grunts first and then work on the leader, Grunts are slow and will often lend themselves to a string of headshots by funneling single-file through a walkway. Grunts are very useful in Firefight because they drop lots of plasma pistols which are of critical importance.

In Firefight, there are also SpecOps Grunts which perform special tasks. They can be identified by a different armor color, but are more easily identified by the weapon they are carrying. They are most devastating when carrying a Fuel Rod cannon, the Covenant equivalent of the human rocket launcher. SpecOps Grunts can also man turrets or drive Ghosts. They are no different than regular Grunts however, in that they can be killed with a single headshot. When carrying a Fuel Rod cannon, SpecOps Grunts should be a targeting priority because they are easy to kill but can inflict massive damage. SpecOps Grunts will tend to linger in the background, lobbing damage from afar.

Jackals are easily distinguished by their very distinct round energy shield. They most often carry plasma pistols. They travel in packs of four and tend to run relatively quickly. Though they can be killed with a single headshot, they are hard to kill while running because their head moves a lot. They are most easily killed when they have taken a defensive position and hide behind their shield. The shield can take tons of bullets without damage, so don't bother. The shield can be destroyed with a single overcharged plasma pistol round, which will stun the Jackal and enable a clear headshot. The shield also has a notch which the Jackal uses to shoot through. A single shot through the notch will also stun the Jackal, causing it to stand up and also enable a clear headshot. In either case, it should only take two shots to kill a jackal.

Jackals also come in a Jackal Sniper variant. Snipers do not carry shields, and can be found at distance by looking for the blue dot of their night vision goggles. In Firefight, a foursome of regular Jackals will tend to be accompanied by a Jackal Sniper carrying a Covenant carbine or Beam Rifle. Because the Jackal Sniper does not carry a shield, it is easily killed with a single headshot. The Jackal Sniper should be prioritized over the regular Jackals in its group because it's the easiest to kill, but can do the most damage with its ranged weapon. On some Firefight levels, Jackal Snipers will spawn in high perches and continually pepper your team with sniper fire. Though they are not required to pass the wave, it is a good idea to take care of them so you don't have to worry about death from above. The Covenant carbine they carry is useful if you run out of pistol ammo. The Beam Rifle may be useful depending on situations.