Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary skulls

This article is about the skulls in Halo: Anniversary. For skull in general, see Skull.

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Skulls are game modifiers featured in Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary with the appearance of a human skull. Like in Halo 3, they must be hunted down within the campaign levels to gain access to them. The skulls are not visible in Classic mode.

Unlike skulls in other games, which must be picked up, the Anniversary skulls are collected by walking over them. In the original Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, once collected, the skulls disappear permanently. In Halo: The Master Chief Collection, the skulls reappear every time a mission is replayed. During updates released as part of the MCC Insider Program, the Master Chief Collection version of Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary now has several additional skulls not implemented in the Xbox 360 version of the game.

Unlike other games, skulls will spawn on any difficulty, instead of certain difficulties such as Normal or higher.

List of Skulls

List of Gold Skulls

Iron

Level: The Pillar of Autumn.

Location: This skull is located in the very beginning of the level, at the back of the Cryo deck. If facing away from the observation platform (where Sam is killed) it is on the left side of the room, behind a stack of crates that are behind the targeting lights.

Effect: When activated, this skull will restart the level if the player is killed, or reload the last checkpoint if multiple players are killed playing co-operatively.

Iron Skull location video here

Mythic

Level: Halo

Location: After defeating the first Covenant wave, walk directly towards the waterfall from the escape pod. It is behind the large boulder on the right in the water.

Effect: When activated, the health of Covenant infantry will be doubled.

Mythic Skull location video here

Foreign

Level: Truth and Reconciliation

Location: At the bottom floor of the Hangar, in the hallway where the Hunters ambush the Marines.

Effect: When activated, players will no longer be able to pick up Covenant weaponry.

Foreign Skull location video here

Famine

Level: The Silent Cartographer

Location: When you land on the beach, go backwards rather than towards the Covenant. The skull is situated on top of a hill with a winding path up the back of it (the hill which the Pelican crashes next to). The skull is right on the corner inbetween three bushes.

Effect: When activated, weapons dropped by the AI - ally or enemy - would have half the ammunition they normally would.

Famine Skull location video here

Bandanna

Level: The Silent Cartographer

Location: At the end of the tunnel, on the ceiling in the security console chamber. A grenade or rocket jump is usually necessary. An alternative method is for the first player to crouch on the window strip in the tunnel below the skull, then having a second player kill himself and subsequently respawn on top of the first player. The skull would then be instantly acquired.

Effect: When activated, players will have unlimited ammo and grenades, but will still have to reload.

Bandanna Skull location video here

Fog

Level: Assault on the Control Room

Location: After crossing the first bridge and taking the elevator down to the ground floor, the skull will be on a raised platform in the center of this room and will be surrounded by fog. It will require a grenade jump to reach it.

Effect: When activated, the player's motion tracker will be disabled.

Fog Skull location video here

Malfunction

Level: Assault on the Control Room

Location: When you enter the tunnel and you come to the large room with a gorge, you will notice pipes that stick out of the gorge in the middle on both sides. The skull is on one of the pipes sticking out of the gorge's walls.

Effect: When activated, one random part of the Heads-up display will disappear after every respawn. The effects of the skull are not cumulative; only one aspect of the HUD (reticule, ammo counter, shield indicator, health monitor, motion tracker) is inactive at any given time.

Malfunction Skull location video here

Recession

Level: 343 Guilty Spark

Location: Located to the left of the Facility in a little drop behind a shade turret. When you cross the fallen tree, you'll see a shade turret blow up and assault rifle fire coming from the structure. Instead of going inside, immediately go to the left and keep against the back wall. You'll come to a turret with a small drop behind it. Slide down the drop carefully and the skull will be waiting for you at the bottom.

Effect: When activated, every shot the player fires would deplete two rounds instead of one. For plasma-based weapons, the depletion rate is doubled.

Recession Skull location video here

Black Eye

Level: The Library

Location: In the back of one of the vents before entering the Index chamber for the first time. (Warning: Grenade jump necessary.) On the first floor at the beginning of the level, you will notice squarish openings in the ceiling that the flood use to enter the level. Before entering the round, yellow room, find the vent closest to that door and do a grenade jump into it. The skull will be waiting for you.

Effect: When activated, the only ways players are able to recharge their energy shields after taking damage are to either melee an enemy or use a medkit.

Black Eye Skull location video here

Eye Patch

Level: The Library

Location: Behind the Index on the final platform. Instead of running onto the platform to grab the Index, go around while remaining as far from the Index as possible. The skull will be waiting on the ground right behind it.

Effect: When activated, auto-aim will be disabled.

Eye Patch Skull location video here

List of Silver Skulls

Grunt Funeral

Grunt Funeral Skull

Level: Exclusive preorder promotion.

Effect: When activated, every Unggoy's methane tank will explode similar to a plasma grenade when killed. In addition, any weapon they were holding upon death disappears with them after detonation, making it harder to find charged Plasma Pistols and loaded Needlers.

Boom

Level: Halo

Location Hint: Apparently even the Forerunners needed indoor plumbing. Before driving your Warthog into the underground Forerunner facility, look straight up to see a series of pipes. Walk along the cliff edge and jump to the pipe mesh.

Effect: When activated, all explosions' damage radius will increase two-fold.

Boom Skull location video here

Piñata

Level: Two Betrayals

Location Hint: Don't rush, take some time to explore. After that last fight, you earned some time off. After you capture the last Banshee, fly it past the third generator room back to where you emerged from the chasm tunnel. Search the top of the underground entrance.

Effect: When activated, hostile infantry will drop a plasma grenade with each melee.

Piñata Skull location video here

Grunt Birthday Party

Level: The Maw

Location Hint: Foehammer's last stand. Use your Warthog to get up on one of the railings where Foehammer goes down at the end of the mission.

Effect: When activated, Unggoy will explode in a shower of confetti with a headshot.

Grunt Birthday Party Skull location video here

Halo: The Master Chief Collection-exclusive skulls

These skulls are only available in the version of Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary included in Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Like all skulls in MCC, these skulls are automatically unlocked.

Anger

"Enemies fire their weapons faster and more frequently."

Blind

"HUD and weapon do not display onscreen."

Catch

"Enemies throw and drop more grenades."

Ghost

"AI no longer flinch from attacks."

Sputnik

"Mass of objects is decreased, making them more easily displaced."

That's Just... Wrong

"Increases enemy awareness of player."

Thunderstorm

"Upgrades the rank of most enemies."

Tough Luck

"Enemies always go berserk, always dive out of the way, never flee."

Trivia

• When playing co-op in the original Anniversary whether or not the skulls appear depends on whether Player 1 has claimed them yet. If Player 1 has already collected a skull it will not appear, regardless of whether or not Player 2 has collected it. Thus when playing co-op it is important that a player who still needs to unlock skulls plays as Player 1, and a player who has already unlocked the skulls is Player 2. In The Master Chief Collection the skulls appear every time regardless of whether one or both players have already collected them.
• Unlike in Bungie games, players can still revert to their last checkpoint when using the Iron skull.
• If both the Piñata and Grunt Funeral skulls are active, Grunts will not drop grenades when meleed. The Piñata skull remains in effect for all other enemies.
• The description for the Boom skull advises "Light fuse, run away." This is a reference to the second chapter of the level The Maw.
• The Bandanna skull is a reference to the Metal Gear franchise, in which every game has an unlockable bandanna that grants the player infinite ammunition.
• Unlike previous iterations, the Grunt Birthday Party skull can be set off by headshots from non-precision weapons (i.e. Assault Rifle, Plasma Pistol, etc). It merely requires that the final fatal shot strike the Unggoy's head.
• This is the only Halo game (other than Halo Wars, Combat Evolved and Spartan Assault) that does not feature the IWHBYD Skull.
• According to one of the 343 Sparkasts, there was a skull that was cut from the final game. Its effect was that weapon sound effects would be replaced with 343 employees saying the sound, such as "bang".
• Note that player must obtain a skull with the Anniversary layout as if player is using a Non-Anniversary version, the skulls won't appear.