I strongly agree with your opinion, as I too feel similar about the Elites. However, the Elites are getting quite lively in Reach, as they have their own racial statistics and abilities that outrank the spartans (keep in mind that the spartans we see in Reach are not like the spartan we saw in Halo 1-3). Elites had very boring and insignificant armor pieces (except for the Assault) in Halo 3. Not to mention, Elites looked far better in Halo 2 than Halo 3. So I agree with you, AgentExeider.