I was doodling some ideas to try and make all the Forerunner classes more recognizable. Bear with me here. I based them on the
Seven Archangels which are a prominent theme throughout several Western religions, more specifically the Eastern Orthodox tradition. The seven are Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, Uriel, Selaphiel, Jegudiel, and Raguel. Each Forerunner class has several attributes:
Angel - The angel they're based on.
Class - Their formal "title" in native Ecumene, with an -or suffix.
Nickname - A less formal title for easy identification, such as "Sentinel" or "Knight."
Note that in Latin, "Arch" means Chief. "Arch" is the formal descriptor, while "Chief" is used for the nicknames. For example, an Arch-Governor is a "Chief Knight," or a Promethean Knight Major. Each enemy class has two rankings, save for Sentinels and Watchers.
Selaphiel is known for prayer and sacrifice, so I assigned that title to the Aggressors, or
Sentinels. There are three ranks. Minor (Oscillator), Major (Oscillator Alt-Fire and Shielding), and Revival. A Revival Sentinel, similar to a Pawn in chess, is speedy and does not attack you. Instead, it makes a beeline for the "digital soul" left behind by the Knight farthest from it. If it makes it to the soul, it will initiate the revival process Halo 4-era Watchers do now. Watchers can no longer revive enemies.
Raphael is known as a healer, so naturally I gave that title to Venerators, or
Watchers. They cannot perform attacks, and instead come in 5 varieties to accompany the 5 Knight classes. Active Camo, Overshield, Damage Boost, Speed Boost, and Spotter. They "project" this ability onto their Knight, meaning it's incredibly visible. Knights get Damage Boost, Boltshots (Snipers) get Overshield, Hackers (Melee) get Speed Boost, Phasers (Grenadiers) get Active Camo, and Dreadlocks or Dread Turrets (Heavy, almost immobile) get Spotters. Spotters don't give their Knight a powerup; instead, Spotters will constantly follow you and give an annoying droning noise to alert your presence to enemies. In addition to this, however, they're used as "guiding systems" for the Dreadlocks, given that they're turrets and all. Dreadlocks become less accurate if you kill their Watcher. Also, uniquely, Watchers operate on "prison bitch" rules - if you kill a Knight but not its Watcher, the Watcher will actually follow you and give you the powerup. You can only have one at a time, though.
Michael is "One who is like God," or "Prince of the First Rank." That title is given to Governors, or more simply just
Knights. Knights are the infamous skull-helmet thing I use here and there. Knights dual-wield Light Rifles, while Chief Knights use Phase Rifles (essentially Promethean DMRs).
Jegudiel is often depicted with a whip, or holding the Sacred Heart in his hand. As such, I give that title to Laudators, or
Phasers. Phasers are grenadiers; they use a Gravity Gauntlet to get around to different positions and will throw Promethean grenades at you. They can use all the Gravity Gauntlet's features (but can't pick up weapons), meaning they can stop you from getting Rockets, stun you, etc. Chief Phasers dual-wield a Gravity Gauntlet and a Phasebuster, which is essentially a Promethean Sticky Detonator.
Uriel translates to "God is My Light" and is often depicted wielding a flaming sword, so that title is given to Persecutors, or
Hackers. They start out "dormant," simply wandering the battlefield to disintegrate stray corpses, weapons, vehicles, etc. If they catch sight of you, however, they berserk and whip out an Energy Stave (literally just dual energy swords). This is their only means of attack, but they should be regarded as giant Brute Chieftans - they have fairly high health but it's possible to sidestep their attacks. Chief Hackers triple-wield: one Energy Stave (two swords), and two alt-fire Energy Staves (which are just Promethean Gravity Hammers).
Gabriel is known for blowing his horn to signal the apocalypse, and is inspiration for the Tenor, or
Boltshot. Boltshots are Promethean Snipers, wielding a Crossbolt with deadly efficiency - a Crossbolt is essentially Halo CE's beam towers out of the campaign, but turned into a handheld, instakill weapon on par with the Spartan Laser. Unlike Jackal Snipers they constantly run around the battlefield to cling onto walls, trees, ceilings, etc. to get vantage points and rarely stay in the same place. The charging noise of the Crossbolt is incredibly loud and you're going to want to find cover when it starts, so the symbolism is probably the most accurate out of the bunch. Chief Boltshots dual-wield Crossbolts.
Raguel is known for balance, harmony, vengeance and justice, which is why he's provided inspiration for the Orator, or Dread-Class Turret. Or, more simply, the
Dreadlock. The Dreadlock is the heavy or "Hunter" of the Promethean classes, but with more firepower compensated by having less movement. A Dreadlock is practically the size of a Mantis, and is by far the largest infantry-class enemy. Dreadlocks use dual Pulse Beams (the large beam turrets you see in campaign all the time), with an incredibly deadly level of accuracy if their Spotter is left intact. Once their Spotter is destroyed, they become much more manageable. Once the Spotter is destroyed, one of two turrets will emerge from the Dreadlock's body cavity and go behind it in attempt to cover 360 degrees. If you can damage this turret enough, it will "detach" from the main Dreadlock, and you can use it against the enemy. Chief Dreadlocks will dual-wield Incinerators, which are basically the Incineration Cannon, but converted into a mounted Turret with up to 5 shots.
As far as rank identification goes, each Knight class has a Minor color and a Major color. Minors project a halo in front of their helmet, similar to the Binary Rifle Knights in Halo 4 or the Prophets in past games. It is a universal indicator of a minor-ranked Knight. Major-rank enemies will have a vibrant, circular aura surrounding their entire helmet, similar to the "halos" used in the Renaissance era. For example:
Note that the helmet designs are nowhere near meant to be finalized, they're just mockups.
And keep in mind the names of the seven archangels wouldn't be mentioned at any point in the game, of course. It's just meant to provide some clever touches.
