Halo

The Halo is a special item that can be earned in some interactions with a Voice during a mission.

Description
The Halo is a glowing ring that sits above the player's head. It changes color in sync with the Chosen Shirt and can be equipped in the Wardrobe in the Accessories category.

The origin of the Halo, its purpose, and its meaning have been theorized by players since the first Halo was given during the Closed Beta. One player asked THEE-I-DARE about the origin of the Halo during an interaction, and TID explained:

The "prison" THEE-I-DARE is referring to is Saturation Control. However, players who visit Saturation Control may not always receive a Halo, and players who have an interaction may get a Halo and never visit Saturation Control. Since receiving a Halo is a sign of marking from a particular Voice, this also means multiple Voices can award players a Halo in interactions. Players who receive multiple Halos from Voices will only see a singular Halo item in their Wardrobe. When asked how to remove these marks, THEE-I-DARE says you can offend or renounce the Voice that gave it to you, but you can't renounce SPEAK-AS-ONE while you live in Redacre.

Despite its emanating glow, the Halo is not visible to Lucids or The Shape. Players can wear the Halo without fear that it will compromise their ability to remain hidden from AI, but Stalkers will still be able to see the glow.

Halos are an optical illusion, a trick of perception. THEE-I-DARE says it is not hard to change what you see.

While SPEAK-AS-ONE will give Voice Masks to followers, they never give out Halos or Chosen Shirts. Any halos found after an encounter with SPEAK-AS-ONE are from another Voice that was secretly watching and wanted to intervene because they saw "potential about to go to waste".

Earning a Halo
Halos can be earned by players in multiple ways.

Player Interaction
The most common method is having an interaction with a Voice. After the mission ends and players return to the Hideout, they may find a reward crate that contains a Halo. These Halos are given as gifts from the Voices. As such, they are not guaranteed to be given after every interaction.

Around the time of 's 1.0 launch, The Captive had brought players to Saturation Control and these players would often receive Halos. A developer from later clarified "if the Captive talked you out of satcon, in-canon your halo comes from one of the other voices".. The same applies to SPEAK-AS-ONE interactions granting Halos - another Voice awarded the halo to the player, according to the developer.. It was noted, however, the player's headcanon can differ and be what the player desires.

Cursed Ciphers
Players are able to earn a Halo from picking up Cursed Ciphers. If a group picks up four unique ciphers with no duplicate curses, party members will each be awarded a Halo.

Trivia

 * Before the introduction of the Accessories category, the Halo was considered a Style & Color option. Equipping the Halo overrode any hairstyle the player equipped, making the player bald.
 * The first Halos were given to players during the Closed Beta.