Click HERE to see this thread with all of the graphics, features, and links.

Okay, so its:

John-117 aka Master Chief- Assault Rifle, Spartan Laser.
Linda - the unbelievablely phenomenal sniper. Sniper rifle, SMG.
Fred - second in rank to Chief, really tough, been through alot. Battle Rifle and Jackhammer rocket launcher.
Kelly- same here, been through alot and the fastest Spartan. Assault Rifle and Shotgun.

The top 4 Spartans imo all in Mark VI armor, Blue Team.

and:

Arbiter- with updated armor and shields.
Councilor- no headdress, regular helmet but with same shields.
Rtas Vadum- Spec ops commander.
Zuka Zamamee- Spec ops officer.

Some of the best Elites I know of.

Weapons available for the Elites: Energy Swords, Plasma rifles, Carbines, Beam Rifle, Fuel rod cannon and cloaking.

All grenades for both sides.

Slayer on High Ground, no weapons laid out, just what they have.

Arbiter's probably the best Elite out of all of them, if he got his old armor back (the Zealot-rank gold) he would be a force to be reckoned with. However he and Vadum are the only ones who can think using their heads and not using their spirits; a councilor despite being insanely strong hasn't exactly shown too much in the area of strategic knowledge. Vadum has the experience and intelligence of a leader.

I'm not sure why you put Zamamee in there, as he got shot down by Chief aboard the Pillar of Autumn originally when he was in prime condition...accompanied by his own tac-squad too. He hasn't exactly shown that he's smart.

You forgot the most important thing, the Elites you listed, they don't have nearly the experience that the Spartans do in terms of teamwork. You just pitted Blue Team against four Elites. Isn't this a little unfair?

Originally posted by DarkC
Arbiter's probably the best Elite out of all of them, if he got his old armor back (the Zealot-rank gold) he would be a force to be reckoned with. However he and Vadum are the only ones who can think using their heads and not using their spirits; a councilor despite being insanely strong hasn't exactly shown too much in the area of strategic knowledge. Vadum has the experience and intelligence of a leader.

I'm not sure why you put Zamamee in there, as he got shot down by Chief aboard the Pillar of Autumn originally when he was in prime condition...accompanied by his own tac-squad too. He hasn't exactly shown that he's smart.

You forgot the most important thing, the Elites you listed, they don't have nearly the experience that the Spartans do in terms of teamwork. You just pitted Blue Team against four Elites. Isn't this a little unfair?

But doesnt the Coucilor have the most kills and the highest rank u can achieve as an Elite? Who is another Elite you can think of that would be better?
and Zamamee was really the only other Elite I could think of that was a notable Spec ops Elites. And I know Vadum and Arbiter hate each other, but they have to put aside their differences here, or die.

The Halo graphic novel depicted Vadum and Arbiter as friends. Not sure where you got your info from.

The Elite Councilor is the strongest and most durable of the Elites, rivalling the Field Master rank (Gold) simply because of their upgraded armor components. The chancellors deal more with politics more than combat, which is why they're armed with a traditional plasma sword. They're too zealous to be really effective in combat (as they just charge head on towards the enemy). Remember, kills do not decide rank in the Covenant heirarchy.

Personally I think Xytan Wattinree would have evened the playing field a lot. He's the Covenant's equivalent of the Master Chief.

Originally posted by DarkC
The Halo graphic novel depicted Vadum and Arbiter as friends. Not sure where you got your info from.

The Elite Councilor is the strongest and most durable of the Elites, rivalling the Field Master rank (Gold) simply because of their upgraded armor components. The chancellors deal more with politics more than combat, which is why they're armed with a traditional plasma sword. They're too zealous to be really effective in combat (as they just charge head on towards the enemy). Remember, kills do not decide rank in the Covenant heirarchy.

Personally I think Xytan Wattinree would have evened the playing field a lot. He's the Covenant's equivalent of the Master Chief.

Well I just read a quote on halo.wikia by Vadum to Arbiter: "These are my brothers my Elites, their lives matter to me, yours does not." Is the graphic novel canon, and if so when does it take place? And it says on halo.wikia that Elites are ranked based on numbers of kills and since the Councilor is the highest rank, then they'd be pretty badass.

http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Councilor#Combat

But I'll look up that other guy u mentioned.

Originally posted by braz
Well I just read a quote on halo.wikia by Vadum to Arbiter: "These are my brothers my Elites, their lives matter to me, yours does not." Is the graphic novel canon, and if so when does it take place? And it says on halo.wikia that Elites are ranked based on numbers of kills and since the Councilor is the highest rank, then they'd be pretty badass.

http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Councilor#Combat

But I'll look up that other guy u mentioned.
Yes the graphic novel is canon, it's endorsed by Bungie studios.

That line doesn't necessarily mean hatred towards the Arbiter, nor the other way around. Vadumee was just telling Arbiter that while their goals were similar, neither answered to the other. He also implied that the fate of the Arbiter, as decreed by the prophets earlier, is not his concern.

Remember, the Arbiter used to be his commanding officer. He needed to assort his independence and own authority.

Halopedia is not canon as someone had to remind you; nowhere I've read in any piece of Bungie-endorsed Halo lore or fiction explicitly describes the Elite heirarchy as being such. It's most likely fan speculation; probably true to some extent, but not confirmed fact.

While the high ranked Elites are tougher and more smarter (for the most part) than their minor counterparts, kill-based ranking doesn't make sense a lot of the time, especially if you look at the way Councilors attempt to attack their enemies. Also, the higher ranks get better armor.

According to your speculation they're the highest rank, so they should be smarter than to simply charge in blindly and flailing a plasma sword, right? (It's mostly what they do in the last level of Halo 2) Granted they're badass, but they're somewhat stupid in actual combat, strategy wise. The system just has many faults in it. Zealous elites don't generally get a lot of kills...the smart ones do.

Originally posted by DarkC
Yes the graphic novel is canon, it's endorsed by Bungie studios.

That line doesn't necessarily mean hatred towards the Arbiter, nor the other way around. Vadumee was just telling Arbiter that while their goals were similar, neither answered to the other. He also implied that the fate of the Arbiter, as decreed by the prophets earlier, is not his concern.

Remember, the Arbiter used to be his commanding officer. He needed to assort his independence and own authority.

Halopedia is not canon as someone had to remind you; nowhere I've read in any piece of Bungie-endorsed Halo lore or fiction explicitly describes the Elite heirarchy as being such. It's most likely fan speculation; probably true to some extent, but not confirmed fact.

While the high ranked Elites are tougher and more smarter (for the most part) than their minor counterparts, kill-based ranking doesn't make sense a lot of the time, especially if you look at the way Councilors attempt to attack their enemies. Also, the higher ranks get better armor.

According to your speculation they're the highest rank, so they should be smarter than to simply charge in blindly and flailing a plasma sword, right? (It's mostly what they do in the last level of Halo 2) Granted they're badass, but they're somewhat stupid in actual combat, strategy wise. The system just has many faults in it. Zealous elites don't generally get a lot of kills...the smart ones do.

But when does it take place(HALO the GN)? For the halopedia thing, I just dont have much else to go by for quick reference, so I use that. Because I know some about the HALO universe outside the games, but not quite everything. To be honest, the kill rank deal didnt really work out too well for me, it was someone on another site that told me about it and I saw it on halopedia, so I just went with it. To me, it made sense that the Spec Ops Elites would be some of the best in battle strategically and combat-wise, but this guy says, 'Spec ops Elites arent that great, the higher rank u go, the better they get at fighting.' While that may be true to an extent because of their strength or shields, it isn't entirely because how they attack is rather dumb.

Originally posted by braz
But when does it take place(HALO the GN)? For the halopedia thing, I just dont have much else to go by for quick reference, so I use that. Because I know some about the HALO universe outside the games, but not quite everything. To be honest, the kill rank deal didnt really work out too well for me, it was someone on another site that told me about it and I saw it on halopedia, so I just went with it. To me, it made sense that the Spec Ops Elites would be some of the best in battle strategically and combat-wise, but this guy says, 'Spec ops Elites arent that great, the higher rank u go, the better they get at fighting.' While that may be true to an extent because of their strength or shields, it isn't entirely because how they attack is rather dumb.
It ranges from mid Halo: CE to just before the events of Halo 2.

And yes, the promotion by kills alone is rather absurd. I think it's similar to that, but it's by experience rather than kills; which is why some gold elites become Ship Masters, some become Field Masters, etc. Vadum was the highest ranking elite in the Sol system during their alliance with the humans, so he was "field promoted" to Shipmaster.