From Halo Bulletin 8-15-12:

Operator Specialization: Spartan optimization for the operation and control of a wide-range of vehicles; space, air, ground, and sea.

Wheelman Armor Mod: The Wheelman armor mod gives Spartans the skill to coax every bit of stamina and durability out of vehicles they are piloting.

Wheelman armor – which features cylinder packs that could be preplaced with more oxygen or cooling material depending on the mission – makes you suffer the negative effects of an overcharged Plasma Pistol burst for less than the normal time. Vehicles you drive are also more durable over a longer period of time. You can still get hijacked, but the window for that is smaller.

HFFL’s thoughts:

Objective: Wheelman/Driver boost-take slower damage to the vehicle you are currently driving

Subjective: AWESOME! This is a Wheelman’s dream! Couple this with another who has the “Pathfinder” mod on and your hog gets a LOT stronger. This mod is definitely one I’ll use time and again as I love driving people to perfections. This is going to just make it that much easier!

Armor: For those of you who wanted a Noble 1 “Carter”/Security/Gear of War armor set, this is for you. I mean that actually as a compliment. I really REALLY like this armor set. One of only two of the specializations that have a larger visor. This set feels and looks more spartan to me than most of the others, even with those “Gears-like” circles on the chest.

Emblems: IHmm, not enough “Gears of War” references? Well then take a look at the emblems for this mod. Two clearly have gears in them. The bottom is a gear, just with a lot more “teeth” than normal. Again, though, this isn’t at all a knock on the emblems. In fact I can see this set of armor being worn by “Gears” fans who also play Halo. So it’s all good.

From Halo Bulletin 8-15-12:

Pathfinder Specialization: Spartan optimization for deep, unconventional deployment within unknown enemy territory and with little to no assistance from command.

Gunner Armor Mod: The Gunner armor mod decreases the time of weapon overheat when occupying a vehicle weapon position and increases Spartan speed while carrying a detached turret.

The Gunner armor mod – which was designed to explore alien worlds – has two major functions: One, when you’re on a mounted anti-infantry gun (Warthog and the secondaries of Wraith, Scorpion, etc.), the guns overheat less quickly, allowing you to fire longer at the maximum rate of fire. And two, when you pull the gun off an emplaced mount, you move faster, allowing you to use those guns more effectively offensively instead of just defensively. You still won’t be able to use Armor Abilities or Sprint, but you can move faster, bringing some heavy firepower to any offensive attack.

HFFL’s thoughts:

Objective: Mounted weapons overheat slower, move quicker than normal with ripped off turrets

Subjective: Yes! This mod has some uses for me. Mostly as a gunner. I’m both a driver and gunner, so the ability to slow down the amount of time it takes for my gun to overheat is going to help rack up those kills with less worry about having to wait for cool down. I’m not big on ripping off turrets and walking around with them though. You’re a big target, even if you can move faster.

Armor: I like it. Shoulder armor is tough looking. Now about that “Cylon” helmet? It’s not too bad, but maybe the helmet is just a smidge too wide? Well for me anyway.

Emblems: Hmm, these one kind of perplex me. I do like the one at the bottom.

From Halo Bulletin 8-15-12:

Stalker Specialization: Spartan optimization for target shadowing missions which require tactical invisibility despite operating at an extremely close range to the target itself.

Nemesis Armor Mod: The Nemesis armor mod allows users to target and track down previous attacking enemies, highlighting them on the armor’s passive sensors.

Nemesis armor – which features lines that are both strong and stealthy – gives you an icon on your HUD of the last person that killed you. While some people utilize it to get revenge, others use it to avoid that person (for obvious reasons). It’s also useful when playing defense for seeing where an offensive player is going. On maps with limited visibility, Nemesis can provide a short window of intelligence in the movement of enemy players or teams, allowing a respawning team to react and steal a match. In play testing, we’ve seen players trusting the extra information implicitly and falling for feints or being target fixated with the extra information and being lured into unfavorable situations. As with everything in Halo, this upgrade allows you to tailor your play to your style but remember that the enemy team is aware of the ability and will be countering and often using it or another option to tip the scales back in their favor.

HFFL’s thoughts:

Objective: Radar showing who previous attacked you.

Subjective: Hmm, I see this mod being exploited for all kinds of douchbaggery. Yet, I can see a downfall in that. Someone who is so focused on killing that person that just killed them may likely fail to see other things going on around them and be killed again. This is one mod I’m likely to stay away from. It will be one of the last mods I choose during reenlistment. It’s rare when I deliberately want to seek out someone for revenge. It happens, but I know it takes my concentration out of the whole game and hurts the team.

Armor: Another good looking set of armor…oh but wait for it…the helmet. Sigh. Why did we lose large visors? I can easily see where this helmet could have had a much larger visor.

I give you two examples. One with more visor, the other with even more visor…

In my own humble opinion, either of those two make for a better looking helmet. I mean really, how the hell are these spartans supposed to see during combat? You can’t rely on armor alone. You need to use those military skills you’ve trained for all your life. Much of that includes actual vision…LOL.

Emblems: “Nick Eared Fox” is cool. I really like the “Triangle Eyes of Terror” Wait what? who writes this stuff? Oh me, okay never mind.

From Halo Bulletin 8-15-12:

Rogue Specialization: Spartan optimization for single-operative missions which require a lone Spartan to be deployed on their own for incredibly long durations of time, even years if required.

Stability Armor Mod: The Stability armor mod allows users to increase their aiming stability when being fired upon.

The Stability armor mod – which features several sharp fin elements and sharp angles – makes you flinch less when you’re zoomed in and getting hit. It will be valuable to players that prefer using precision weapons and often find themselves engaged in long-range battles. If two similarly skilled players, both with DMRs and using scopes go head-to-head, the person using Stability has a small advantage. Skill and steady hands will still win the day but Stability allows you to keep your aim on target when facing multiple bullet strikes. Similarly, the player with DMR and Stability will have a larger advantage over a player with AR at long range. But (and yes, there’s always a “but”) the player they’re fighting may have made a choice for a different mod in that slot, which may come into play with an additional grenade or something else. Victory is never guaranteed…

HFFL’s thoughts:

Objective: Stability of shot while being fired upon.

Subjective: I definitely like this mod. I’ve grown much more accustomed to shooting from ranged  distances rather than close up. So this mod is one I’ll likely use often.

Armor: This armor is KICK ASS! Beefy shoulders, but not overwhelming and YES the helmet is AWESOME! Finally one of the specializations with a proper larger visor. I’m definitely more partial to the red/orange/silver visor than the plain gold.

Emblems: OMG, 343, you created this mod for me didn’t you? Okay seriously though, these emblems are great. The Howling Wolf (Hmm, sounds like a good name for a gaming group) is a much improved version over the previous iterations. The “Skull Fox” emblem (not it’s real name, but what I’m calling it) just screams to be used.

Of the 5 specializations I’ve discussed thus far, THIS is the one I’m most likely to use. Not just for the mod, but for the armor and emblems. It’s the whole package to me.

From Halo Bulletin 8-15-12:

Tracker Specialization: Spartan optimization for long-range target tracking (trans-continent and off-world), particularly in scenarios where conventional tracking has failed or such a substantial time has passed that the trail has gone cold.

Requisition Armor Mod: The Requisition armor mod allows users the ability to recall their own ordnance requests in order to acquire more helpful weapons in the field.

The Requisition armor mod – the helmet of which has a scanning device on the front of the visor – allows you to choose a new set of personal ordnance when personal ordnance is granted. When the menu for a personal ordnance appears on your screen, hitting left, down, or right on the D-pad selects the relevant option. When you have Requisition and hit “up”, you receive a new random selection of choices. This armor mod doesn’t have knowledge of what ordnance had previously, so while you’re not guaranteed better choices, you’re more likely to get the weapon you’re good with or your favorite power-up, if you didn’t get it the first time around.

HFFL’s thoughts:

Objective: This mod gives you a “Do-over.” Don’t like your ordnance drop coming in, use this to change it.

Subjective: Considering what has been promised as a fast paced game, I’m not yet convinced this is a good mod. I definitely see it’s usefulness, especially in slower paced games where tactics are involved, instead of straight slaying though.

Armor: This armor is very good. Ah, but yes, that helmet. Take out those three white dots and make that whole area the visor, and it would look better. More “Recon” in style. Still it’s one of the better ones, IMO.

Emblems: Okay, these I really dig. (Yeah, that’s a ’70s term you young’ins…) From the ringed planet with satellites to the “Daily Planet” emblem at the bottom, I like them all.

From Halo Bulletin 8-15-12:

Engineer Specialization: Spartan optimization for the subversion, repair and reconstitution of a wide range of technology, including Covenant and Forerunner complex networks.

Drop Recon Armor Mod: Armor mod allows users to predict the location and time of an Ordnance Drop through an external suborbital monitoring system.

The Drop Recon armor mod – the helmet of which has four socket connections for add-ons, depending on the task – lets you know that Infinity Ordnance is coming and what the Infinity Ordnance is. You see the waypoint and type of weapon that is coming down prior to the weapon entering the game (the specific time is still being fine-tuned). Organized teams will find this armor mod useful because, with communication, there is the likelihood you can beat everybody to the weapon spawns your team finds most desirable.

HFFL’s thoughts:

Objective: The Engineer’s mod gives you the tactical advantage of knowing the location and time of an Ordnance drop.

Subjective: Okay, first I’m really curious if we’re able to switch mods during games? If so, this one could be useful a little later in games as people start to rack up more kills. During the beginning of games it’s kind of useless since Ordnance drops occur when people tally up a specific amount of kills.

Armor: The armor looks “strong.” Though the helmet, for which I put the heaviest amount of criticism on for all of these specializations, doesn’t quite work for me. Why that little “Brazilian” strip of a visor? Rather that whole are where the four circles are and the visor could have been a bigger visor, thereby highlighting the helmet more.

Emblems: The emblems for this specialization fit it to a “tee.” I like the screw emblem the best of the Engineer emblems.

From Halo Bulletin 8-15-12: 

Pioneer Specialization: Spartan optimization for deployment into uncharted, hostile territory (such as uncolonized worlds or Forerunner constructs like Requiem) for the purpose of gathering/relaying information.

Fast Track Armor Mod: The Fast Track armor mod allows Spartans to gain more experiential data from each encounter, effectively ranking up quicker during the process.

The Fast Track armor mod features armor that has wiring which runs throughout the armor to control temperatures in extreme conditions. Gameplay-wise, it gives the player more post-game experience. In-game, if you get 10 points per kill, you don’t get more at that exact moment, but after the game it modifies the amount of experience your Spartan earns to increase the speed at which you rank up. It’s not for everybody because it takes up a primary spot (that could be used for something like carrying an extra grenade or sprinting longer). And, in case you were wondering, you can’t change to it at the end of a game and get more experience for the entire match. Yes, we’re on to you…

HFFL’s thoughts:

Objective: Plain and simple it’s an EXP booster. Though don’t try to switch to this mod at the end of a game to boost the whole game’s experience. 343 has that taken into account and built in a fail safe that will only allow for more experience while the mod is active.

Subjective: I actually like this one and can see it being used often for those of us who want to get a lot of experience quickly.

Armor: The armor itself is okay. No complaints…but for that big “Cyclops” eye on the helmet. My face kind of wrinkles up on that one.

Emblems: Decent emblems. I like the one immediately under the “PR” symbol. Kind of looks “Transformer-ish” and that’s a good thing to me.