A primary and important race in the Covenant hierarchy, Elites often fill positions of leadership or authority, such as unit commanders, bodyguards, and generals. They are enormously strong, fast, and agile as well as gifted battlefield tacticians, easily matching or surpassing the Master Chief in these respects. Like the Master Chief, they employ recharging personal shields and can make use of invisibility cloaks. They are capable users of a huge variety of weapons, including human weapons, and are the species most frequently encountered operating vehicles, particularly Ghosts, Wraiths, and Banshees. Their occupations in the Covenant military are often explicitly ranked; they are commonly specialists such as pilots, long-range snipers, grenadiers, or assassins, and their rank or unit may be distinguished by the color or appearance of their body armor, headgear, or weaponry.