- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PST
[color=red]EVERYTHING THERE IS TO KNOW ABOUT THE SKULLS[/color]
[color=blue]_________________________________________________ [/color]
[color=yellow]To all the Newbs Who are just learning and have questions!![/color]
(*whenever I refer to "the thread" I am referring to the HIDDEN ITEM FOUND!!!! thread, which is where this information was all originally posted. That thread is now INCREDIBLY long, and it is difficult to wade through. Hopefully this helps.*)
[color=red]BACKGROUND INFORMATION[/color]
It all started with Pirate177 posting that he had found an easteregg on the Outskirts level. He found a secret area that contained a Binocular-Scope, 4 grenades, and an oddball skull that, when picked up, made his HUD and weapons dissapear from view. It was a very significant find, and there was a lot of excitement surrounding this new secret. What did it mean? Could it unlock anything? How do I find it? Eventually many people started posting about many different questions they had. Some people believed that the Blind Mode created by this skull was for Red vs. Blue, the popular internet halo series. Later the thread as a whole decided that this was not true, because Red vs. Blue uses multiplayer to film their movies and this new blindness didnt seem to carry over to multiplayer. Later on people started to believe that Pirate117 is actually a Bungie employee, and he was just pushing us in the right direction. This is unsubstansiated, and while it could be true, there is certainly no proof that he is. Regardless, there was still this secret item and the items near it.
The thread came to the conclusion that the other items, besides the skull itself, were clues. They mean [color=yellow]"Search for Skulls."[/color] Search, coming from the scope, 4 or for, and the skull. (As a side note, the scope, when looked through, has an 8 instead of a crosshair at the 10x magnification. While this may not be significant, some believe it is important to the skull search.) Pretty soon information on other skulls began to trickle in. As more and more people began to extensively explore all of the levels in Halo 2, more and more skulls were found. Of course there was the occasional person that decided to post a fake skull, but some people began to compile lists of the skulls and they began to confirm them themselves. Eventually the fake skulls were weeded out, and we find ourselves here.
[color=red]WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO LOOKING FOR THE SKULLS[/color]
Each skull seems to affect a different aspect of the game, some make gameplay more difficult, some make it easier, and others make it just plain fun. The problem, however, is that most of the skulls are found in the Legendary difficulty. This makes it very difficult for many players to get to the skulls. The skulls can be found individually, or they can be combined together. Each skulls effect will stack with the effects of other skulls, regardless of whether or not you drop the original skull.
[color=yellow]Each skulls effect will last for either, a very long period of time, or until the player turns off his or her XBOX, at which point the powers or disabilities are erased, and the player must find the skulls again to reactivate them.[/color]
So far there have been 17 reported skulls, and only 15 of these have been confirmed. Many believe that there are only 15 skulls, one for each level in Halo 2. It is not known as to whether or not the skulls actually have a larger meaning or purpose, nor do we know whether or not there are more than 15 skulls.
[color=yellow]There is no known reward for collecting all of the skulls, nor is there anyone who I am aware of that has completed the game with all of the skulls.[/color]
[color=red]SKULL INFORMATION[/color]
[color=yellow]CONFIRMED[/color]
[color=yellow]Key:[/color]
(#) Level Found < (Apparent Original Finder) based on who posted it first in the thread, HIDDEN ITEM FOUND!!!! There are lots of posts to go through, and some finders I couldn’t find, it is also possible that I made some errors. Feel free to post any corrections. >
Directions:
Difficulty:
Word:
Effect:
Status:
1) Cairo Station < bugaboo >
Directions: In the large room after the armory, you need to use a duck-jump to get onto a light fixture on the right wall (right of the room when u enter) and then jump from there onto the higher area. There is a series of diagonal beams. Walk up one near to the end of it and use it to duck-jump onto one of the rails. You can fall between the rails, so be careful. Once on the rail, walk down it until you can jump onto the highest platform. Then bash the trashcan.
Difficulty: [color=red]Legendary[/color]
Word: [color=red]Thunderstorm[/color]
Effect: [color=red]All Grunts and Elites have white-armor, and the stats of their white-armored counterparts[/color]
Status: [color=red]Confirmed[/color]
2) Outskirts < Pirate 117 >
Directions: At the beginning of Outskirts jump on top of the light on top of the door with a crouch jump, then jump to the left platform. Turn to your left and go down the long dark corridor and pick up the skull; it will say blind and your screen will flash black for a while. In this mode you can’t see your weapon, body, shields, ammo, or radar.
Difficulty: [color=red]Any[/color]
Word: [color=red]Blind[/color]
Effect: [color=red]No HUD or weapons on screen[/color]
Status: [color=red]Confirmed[/color]
3) Metropolis < Anti Elite >
Directions: Right after u get out of the sewers (Tunnel), there is a big area and 2 ghosts, kill every thing first, then go to the middle of it where u see a arc that leads up onto a building, throw a grenade down and jump by it to get enough height to start climbing it. When you get to the top take a left and hug the wall around the structure and the skull will be there, it says, "catch".
Difficulty: [color=red]Legendary[/color]
Word: [color=red]Catch[/color]
Effect: [color=red]Allies throw many grenades, with great accuracy[/color]
Status: [color=red]Confirmed[/color]
4) The Arbiter < Twelve Large >
Directions: The very first time you get a banshee, fly down, below you is a large beamlike structure (not to be confused with the one directly below you that turns and goes vertical) running from the arm of the station you just came out of to one exactly like it on the side opposite. Below this structure are 3 cylinders hanging down, with cylinders of light shooting out of the bottom that look like they are what keeps the station floating. If my explanation is too vague, they are the absolute lowest parts of the station. Now go to the middle engine and land on the top part of it. This and the other engines connect to the large structure mentioned earlier. The tops of the engines come up to meet the structure at an angle, where this angle is under the connecting structure and coming up to meet it, there is a place to walk (like being under a bridge). Beneath one side you will see the six grunts with the skull in the middle.
Difficulty: [color=red]Legendary[/color]
Word: [color=red]Grunt Birthday Party[/color]
Effect: [color=red]Enemies will explode like a plasma grenade when shot in the face, even when dead. This will not work against a shielded enemy until their shields are down.[/color]
Status: [color=red]Confirmed[/color]
5) Oracle < >
Directions: After getting off the long elevator ride, you will come to a room where convent and flood are fighting below you, and you have to break the glass to get to where they are fighting. If you crouch/grenade jump up on the opposite side of where you came down, the skull should be up there.
Difficulty: [color=red]Legendary[/color]
Word: [color=red]Famine[/color]
Effect: [color=red]Set weapon pick-ups have only half full ammo. Works with both Human and Covenant set weapons.[/color]
Status: [color=red]Confirmed[/color]
6) Delta Halo < Twelve Large >
Directions: I found another one in the ruins on Delta Halo. Current mission op: Push through Covenant-held ruins. When you first come out of the big building and see the turret and 5/6 shield up on the wall there is a wall over to the left hand side with the two grunt turrets on it, the big block and door are at the far end of that wall... In the room that the block is *ahem* blocking there are two dead grunts and two plasma swords... There's a door being blocked by a rock. Jump on the rock. Then jump on the ledge that's located above the blocked doorway. Turn left and jump up on another ledge. Grenade jump up to where you'll find Two Red Elites - That become cloaked, surrounding a skull. Pick it up, and it reads Envy. For the ENVY skull, you must play it on Legendary, it makes it so the when you press the white button, you cloak. This cloaking only lasts a few seconds (just like the Arbiter's armor) and can be used on any level and any difficulty after you get it.
Difficulty: [color=red]Legendary[/color]
Word: [color=red]Envy[/color]
Effect: [color=red]Cloak instead of Flashlight, 5 second cloak with 10 second recharge. (Apparently there is a difference in the amount of time you can cloak depending on what difficulty you are playing.)[/color]
Status: [color=red]Confirmed[/color]
[color=yellow]CONTINUED IN THE NEXT POST[/color]
[Edited on 11/22/2004 7:17:03 PM]