Complete Guide to Locating All Skulls in Halo: Campaign Evolved

Hunting down all the skull locations in Halo: Campaign Evolved is quite the challenge. The original game had just ten skulls, but now there are a whopping 39 to discover, including a bonus skull that unlocks after you collect your first three. That means you’ll be on the lookout for three skulls in each mission, each one unlocking unique modifiers for your campaign experience.

Some skulls require you to tackle higher difficulty levels, utilize other skulls, or even perform tricky maneuvers like grenade jumps, so prepare for a bit of a grind.

In total, there are 39 skulls to track down in Halo: Campaign Evolved. Once you find three, you’ll automatically unlock an additional three skulls exclusive to the Campaign Remix mode.

Each mission contains three skulls, including the bonus ones. I’ll break down their locations, effects, and the best Rally Points to use for easy access.

As soon as you exit the cryo pod, look to your right on the raised platform above the door. Head into the alcove with the cryo tank, climb the slope at the back to jump on top, then leap onto the platform to your right to find the skull.

After grabbing the first skull, continue through the mission toward the bridge until the door opens and an Elite surprises you. Move down the corridor, past the marines at the barricade, and into the room filled with weapon racks. The skull is sitting atop one of the racks to your left.

Once the cutscene on the Pillar of Autumn’s bridge concludes, head back inside. Locate the two pilots in the cockpit behind Captain Keyes, then drop down into the space below them to find the skull.

After you emerge from the underground section with the Warthog, keep going, turn left over the river, and follow the trail to a Forerunner structure where you need to rescue some marines underground. Climb the stairs to the top level of the structure; the skull is on the middle section halfway up, near where the pillar of light emerges. You’ll need to jump as high as you can and then perform a grenade jump to reach it.

From where you come out of the underground with the Warthog, follow the river on the left until it splits, then veer right until you reach a cave. As you pass under some glowing green fireflies, you’ll see the skull hovering above a rock to your left.

After exiting the underground with the Warthog, head right to the crash site filled with large rocks and Jackal snipers. Ascend to the top of the grassy area near the marine sniper, jump right onto another grassy rock, then drop down onto the big rock below to find the skull.

When you reach the grav lift leading up to the ship, go to the opposite side and look for a light illuminating a cactus and a tree by the cliff edge. Step onto the rock just to the right of the light and look down to spot the skull on a lower ledge. You may need to kill yourself to respawn back up.

This skull is one of the trickiest to grab due to its location, so I recommend getting the Acrophobia skull from Silent Cartographer first. After entering the ship and defending the room, you’ll need to let the marines into a hangar. The skull is located on the upper level. Go to the far end of the walkway and look back across the hangar to see a crate and a series of pillars you can jump between, with the skull at the far end. This is difficult to reach without Acrophobia active, as it allows you to fly briefly.

A bit further along, you’ll enter a hangar where a Covenant dropship will close its doors and take off as you arrive. Head to the far right corner of the room, where there’s a locked door, and wait for the reinforcements to arrive and open it. Go inside and grab the skull on the left. It’s uncertain if this door remains open, so make sure to check it out as soon as you enter.

After clearing the landing zone of enemies and circling around the island to the entrance of the Forerunner structure, you’ll find a cave just to the right of it. The skull is located just inside on the sand in the sunny area at the center of the cave.

When you reach the plaza area with the two Hunter enemies to open the security door, climb the sloping structure in the center (from the right side) and ascend to the far end to find this skull.

After entering the main facility and defeating the two Hunters in the room, you’ll head down a staircase with a hologram in the center. Look over the edge directly below you to spot a skull on the right side. Drop down and grab it.

Once you get the Scorpion tank, drive it through the valley and tunnels until you reach the bridge across the ravine with turrets. Turn left at the other end, drive to the icy wall, then jump on top of your Scorpion to reach the cave halfway up its side where the skull is located.

When you finally arrive at the entrance to the Control Center Ziggurat after the lengthy section with the Scorpion (directly below the bridge you crossed at the start of the mission), you’ll see a strange Forerunner ravine structure with bridge-like struts on top. The skull is on the third strut back toward the cliff.

As you make your way to the control room, you’ll step onto a bridge outside where two Banshees are parked. Cortana will prompt you to commandeer one. Walk along the bridge to about halfway, where it crosses above the Forerunner structure below, and drop down on the left side. In the channel there, you’ll find the skull wedged in a pile of snow.

Continuing from the crashed Pelican, you’ll find a crashed Covenant dropship stuck in a tree. Turn left here and climb the slope, then turn right at the top, hopping over the rocks just past the tree where its roots are sticking out. You’ll know you’re in the right spot when you see a strange Flood stalk growing out of the tree. The skull is on a rock to your left, overlooking the fallen tree you need to cross to continue the mission.

After navigating through the initial rooms of the Forerunner structure, you’ll encounter a marine who has gone rogue and tries to shoot you with a magnum. Take him out, and he’ll drop the skull.

Towards the end of the mission, you’ll take an elevator up, meet some marines, and have to defend a tower door against the Flood while waiting for evacuation. Instead of engaging the enemies, head to the right of the large tower with the door and run until you find a fallen tree resting against a ledge. Climb the tree and jump onto the left side of the rock to find the skull.

Just after Guilty Spark leaves, you’ll pass through a short tunnel and emerge on the other side, where he’ll reappear with sentinels to assist you. Turn right and jump onto the sloping strut next to the door you came through, then walk up to the top to find the skull.

After defending the lift from Flood dropping onto it, circle around to the left or right to reach the next door where Guilty Spark will be waiting. You’ll need to defend this door while he unlocks it. When facing the door, turn around, and you’ll spot a pedestal sticking out of the far wall a little way up with the skull on top. Climb the sloping strut to the side, hop across to the blocks in between, and then jump to the pedestal itself.

At the start of the fourth section, when you arrive at the bottom of the third big elevator, go straight ahead, down the stairs, and turn left before reaching the sentinel beam to find the skull in a small alcove.

After exiting the Halo control center and descending to the bottom level where the Banshee is waiting, get inside and use it to fly back up to the large crest structure sticking out in front of the light pillar above the control center. Fly to the top to find the skull and time your jump out of the Banshee to land on the platform.

After destroying the first conduit, you’ll emerge at the bottom of the valley (where you’ve been before in Assault on the Control Room) and see three bridgelike arches ahead. Cross the middle one to the other side, then head right to spot the skull on a pile of snow amidst the Flood growths.

After the previous skull, you’ll need to fly to the top of a valley onto a platform where some Banshees are located, with two doors built into the valley walls on either side. Activate the terminal on the platform and head through the door directly opposite (the one that’s on the opposite side of where the objective marker is directing you).

Without a doubt, this is the hardest skull to obtain in Halo: Campaign Evolved, partly because you need to be on Heroic difficulty for it to appear. This skull is timed and will despawn if you take too long. From the start of the level, you need to act quickly.

The challenge lies in the increased difficulty, the time constraint, and the skull’s location right before the end of the grav lift, meaning you only have one chance to grab it as you pass by. Playing in co-op can help increase your chances of survival and snagging the skull.

After boarding the ship, you’ll enter the upper level of a bay filled with ghosts and wraiths, where Cortana comments on the Flood gathering bodies in the corners. Drop down and look for the open doorway at the far end, blocked by a destroyed Wraith and some Covenant crates. Blast them out of the way with a grenade and head up the corridor to find the skull by the locked door on the left.

After the cutscene with Keyes, turn around and melee the Flood growth he’s in until the skull drops out onto the floor in front of him.

Once Guilty Spark halts the countdown at the bridge, you’ll continue through the ship and arrive in a cryo pod bay that resembles the one you started the game in, with four pods in the center facing each other. The skull is in the back left corner of the room on top of a pillar. You can jump to this from the walkway.

When you enter the engine bay, go right up the slope, continue along the platform, and go through the door on the right. Follow the path up to the next floor, then turn left through the doorway and up to the next floor. Go straight, turn right to where the far terminal is sticking out, jump across to the lower platform, then turn left and drop down between the pillar and the wall to spot the skull. This is quite complex, so refer to the video if you get confused.

During the final Warthog escape, keep following the main track until you reach the winding tunnel with pillars. You’ll pass one vent shortcut on your right; take it and continue along the main corridor until you spot a second vent shortcut on your right. Go down this about halfway, then get out and look to your right to see the skull on the ground.

When you meet up with Johnson in the room with the grav lift and fight the two Hunters, after progressing through the hangar via opposing walkways, head right down the walkway Johnson came up from and follow it. Go down the stairs, past the ship on the left, and through the door, then right past the turret onto the walkway, where you’ll find the skull on the ground overlooking the room with the dropship you started the mission in.

This skull is on the third level of platforms in the white and gold room just after you start Change of Plans. To reach it, progress into the next training room with the gold energy sword Elites, climb the stairs at the far end, follow the platform around to the opposite side of the room, head left through the tunnels, and emerge into the third floor of the previous room (where Johnson was sniping from). The skull is on the walkway (by a bunch of Elites) with the purple torch just ahead of you, so carry straight on, then turn right to find it.

After meeting the Prophet and surviving the ambush, you’ll return to the room where you originally entered the Gene Forge. After this, you’ll get an objective to reach the upper decks and find yourself in a small room with a grav lift at its center, fighting waves of Brutes and Elites. Once you’re done, don’t go up the lift; instead, head through the door on the left side of the room to spot the skull a little way in.

This is one of the more complex skulls to grab, as it involves breaking a golden Elite’s shield three times throughout the level. Once that’s done, make your way up to the central podium where the skull will spawn in the center.

When facing the Wraith in the Covenant base area, turn around and look towards the door with two torches on either side above. These contain fuel barrels you can blow up, opening the door and revealing the skull inside.

After crossing the gravity bridge and Chief mentions to Williams “not being able to choose who we are,” the door will open into the next area with a couple of Elites with needle rifles ahead. The skull is directly above you on the left torch above the door. Climb around the tree to the left and hop onto the tree to get onto the cliff where the skull is.

After fighting the Hunters in the room with the alien plants, continue through the area until you reach a bridge across a chasm, with a smaller bridge off to the left (which two Elites will come running along). Head through the door to your left and go along the smaller bridge to the door at the far end, where you’ll find the skull to your left.

After descending from the ship’s bridge to meet up with Williams, you’ll pass through several rooms you’ve already been through before reaching a large room with some plants. As you descend a short staircase with a torch on the left, you’ll spot a rock-like natural structure with the skull on top. You have to jump to this from the central platform and then jump to grab it.

After reactivating the power on the moving platform, continue under the bridge into the next room, where you need to jump off the platform and run over to the far left corner to grab the skull before the timeout countdown gets you.