Halo Wars guide to black boxes, skull locations, gold scores and achievements

9 March 2009

Posted by:Ferry

Take the following steps to get all the black boxes, gold rank scores, skull locations and gamerscore achievements in the new Halo Wars RTS on Xbox 360.

The black boxes that can be found in each level unlock new Halo History entries, which goes toward getting the 100% achievement.

Unlockable – How to Unlock
* Black Box 01 – Alpha Base Under the last bridge before entering Alpha Base
* Black Box 02 – Relic Approach Top left of the map, behind a Covenant shield
* Black Box 03 -Relic Interior On the small ramp on the left side right at the start, before going inside the Relic
* Black Box 04 – Arcadia City Just north of the starting point, right next to the skyscraper where you can save Adam
* Black Box 05 – Arcadia Outskirts Go down the first ramp as you are fleeing from the Covenant, it’s behind a downed Pelican
* Black Box 06 – Dome of Light Far left of the map, to the left of where you transport the third Rhino tank
* Black Box 07 – Scarab Far right side of the map, in a small alcove with supply crates
* Black Box 08 – Ander’ Signal Near the big brute fire line at the start, on a ridge to the right
* Black Box 09 – The Flood Straight out from the base ramp on the other side of the map
* Black Box 10 – Shield World Alongside Bravo platoon, which is the middle platoon you pick up
* Black Box 11 – Cleansing Left rear of the ship, on wings that slant down…you’ll need a flying unit
* Black Box 12 – Repairs Left edge of Spirit of Fire, not far from the Power Core building, on the left side
* Black Box 13 – Beachhead On a ledge near the second set of teleporters, near the Covenant base
* Black Box 14 – Reactor Up and left at the top of the first ramp, on the edge of the ramp
* Black Box 15 – Escape Directly opposite the starting point on the north edge of the map, between the Flood and the Covenant base
* All Others – Win a match on each Skirmish map and win Skirmish with each leader

The skull name is followed by its location:
* Boomstick (Mission 12: Repairs) – Kill 12 Spirit Transports – take a Hawk to the Lower 2 Airlocks and it its right up the Little ramp in the Air
* Bountiful Harvest (Mission 14: Reactor) – Kill 20 Vampires – head to the Second Covenant Base and its in the Far corner at the bottom of the next ramp
* Catch (Mission 10: Shield World) – Kill 350 Swarms – get at least 2 Hornets and fly East of you base past the First Tower to a Plateau with covered with Flood Eggs it is in the center
* Cowbell (Mission 3: Relic Interior) – Kill 45 Hunters – take a Grizzly, Anders, Forge and Your Marines Back to where they were held up on the central pad
* Emperor (Mission 15: Escape) – Kill 3 Scarabs – Head the to Very North of the Map and its dead Center of all the flood
* Fog (Mission 5: Arcadia Outskirts) – Kill 5 Wraiths – get a Warthog and rush back up the Tracks to the left of your Main Base and just keep going straight past the split in the Tracks
* Grunt Birthday Party (Mission 2: Relic Approach) – Kill 20 Jackals – head back to Alpha Base with a Worthog its in the south end of the base
* Look Daddy! (Mission 1: Alpha Base) – Kill 100 Grunts – get a Warthog and rush back to the front gate of Alpha base the skull is where the Marines were held up
* Pain Train (Mission 13: Beachhead) – Kill 10 Bomber Forms – head back to the Beginning of the Map by the First Teleporter and head down the Path to a Flood nest and its right next to it
* Rebel Leader (Mission 9: The Flood) – Kill 20 Flood Stalks – just to the North East of your Main Base is a downed Pelican. Just take a Warthog to claim it fast and easy
* Rebel Supporter (Mission 8: Anders’ Signal) – Kill 750 Infection Forms – head to North Side of the Map where you got the Elephant, head east towards a cliff, But you’ll see a ridge. Go into ridge
* Rebel Sympathizer (Mission 7: Scarab ) – Kill 10 Locusts – get a Warthog and take it to the Top Left of the Map where there was 2 Locusts and a Power Nod its right there
* Sickness (Mission 6: Dome of Light) – Kill 50 Banshees – take a Squad of Marines to the Hanger Behind your Base its right there
* Sugar Cookies (Mission 11: Cleansing) – Kill 100 Sentinels – take a Hornet to the front end of the Spirit Of Fire and it is right on the nose of the Ship
* Wuv Woo (Mission 4: Arcadia City) – Kill 50 Elites – where you Set up Base Two in the Streets there are some stairs Next to it leading to a Bronze Statue Its next to the Statue

If the description doesn’t help out enough, here’s a video showing each skull location.

Gold scoring par times require you to meet the following criteria:
* Mission 1: Alpha Base – 27000+ 5-12 minutes
* Mission 2: Relic Approach – 70000+ 15-30 minutes
* Mission 3: Relic Interior – 45000+ 8-18 minutes
* Mission 4: Arcadia City – 50000+ 21-23 minutes
* Mission 5: Arcadia Outskirts – 40000+ 21-23 minutes
* Mission 6: Dome of Light – 45000+ 15-30 minutes
* Mission 7: Scarab – 32000+ 12-24 minutes
* Mission 8: Anders’ Signal – 30000+ 18-30 minutes
* Mission 9: The Flood – 35000+ 18-30 minutes
* Mission 10: Shield World – 55000+ 23-32 minutes
* Mission 11: Cleansing – 30000+ 23-30minutes
* Mission 12: Repairs – 32000+ 10-20 minutes
* Mission 13: Beachhead – 40000+ 20-60 minutes
* Mission 14: Reactor – 30000+ 15-30 minutes
* Mission 15: Escape – 30000+ 20-33 minutes

You can unlock 50 Achievements in the game to get a total of 1,000 Gamerscore points. Here’s the full list of them all…

Achievement (Gamerscore points) — How to unlock it.
1. 2 Bugs are Better Than 1 (10) Win a Skirmish Game with Dual Scarabs
2. 24 Hours of Quality (20) Play Halo Wars for at least 24 Total Hours
3. Adjudicate the Arbiter (30) Complete the Campaign on Heroic Difficulty
4. Alas, Poor Andrew Thomas (5) Collect your first Skull
5. Backscratcher (10) Complete any Campaign Mission in Co-op Mode
6. Basically Naive (10) Obtain the Recruit Rank on Xbox LIVE
7. Battened Down the Hatches (5) Mission 11: Save all the Airlocks
8. Beaming with Pride (5) Mission 13: Destroy 25 units with the Scarab
9. Big Al’s Scooter (10) Win a Heroic Skirmish Game against the AI in under 10 minutes
10. Covenant “Hot Drop” (5) Mission 3: Kill at least 5 Covenant Units with the Bridge
11. Crushed Colors (10) Improve your Score in any Campaign Mission
12. Detour the Great Journey (50) Complete the Campaign on Legendary Difficulty
13. Didn’t Get To Second Base (5) Mission 14: Don’t claim an extra base
14. Empire Builder (5) Win a game in every Skirmish Game Mode
15. Endless Fun (5) Mission 2: Destroy every Methane Tank
16. Epic Grinder (40) Obtain a Lifetime Campaign Score over 1,000,000
17. Everything’s Better with Bacon (5) Mission 1: Ram 50 Grunts with Warthogs
18. Gallivant around the Galaxy (25) Win a game on every Skirmish Map
19. Graverobber (30) Collect all Skulls
20. Halo Academic (15) Unlock 20 Timeline Events
21. Halo Historian (40) Unlock All Timeline Events
22. Handy with Tools (5) Mission 12: Repair the Power Core in less than 4 minutes
23. He’s Got The Jack (5) Mission 5: Jack 6 Covenant Vehicles
24. Ice Warriors (40) Completed Act I on any difficulty
25. Key to Pirth (50) Completed Act II on any difficulty
26. Meet Sergeant Forge (10) Completed Mission 1 on any difficulty
27. Micro Manager (5) Mission 7: Do not destroy any Power Node
28. Momma’s Boy (5) Get a Gold Medal on any mission
29. Mr. Punctual (15) Finish all missions under Par Time on Heroic difficulty
30. My Virtual Friends Love Me (10) Win a 3v3 Skirmish game with 2 AI Allies
31. N00b n0 M0r3 (10) Win a Matchmade Skirmish Game on Xbox LIVE
32. No Way Home? (70) Completed Act IV on any difficulty
33. Officer on Deck (30) Obtain the Lieutenant Rank on Xbox LIVE
34. OMG BFF FTW (40) Complete entire Campaign in Co-op Mode
35. Own Worst Enemy (20) Get a Gold Medal with all Debuff Skulls Active
36. Penny Pincher (10) Get a winning High Score with 10 or less Squads against the Heroic AI
37. Playin’ the Field (15) Win a Skirmish Game with every Leader
38. Ramblin’ Man (5) Mission 8: Use Elephants to train 100 Infantry
39. Ready for the Sequel (75) 100% Completion
40. Rhino Hugger (5) Mission 6: Successfully protect every Rhino
41. Running the Show (50) Obtain the General Rank on Xbox LIVE
42. So Lonely at the Top (20) Win and have the Highest Score in a Matchmade Skirmish Game on Xbox LIVE
43. Sweet Naptime (5) Mission 9: Put every Colony in Hibernation Mode at the same time
44. The Procrastinator (5) Mission 10: Disrupt all Tractor Beams
45. The Real Winner (5) Mission 4: Save Adam
46. Thinkin’ about My Doorbell (5) Mission 15: Open the Doors in order
47. Titan (15) Get 20,000 points in any Skirmish Game
48. Ugly is only Skin Deep (70) Completed Act III on any difficulty
49. Walk-Off Winner (30) Use one of the 6 Major Leader Powers to destroy an enemy’s last unit
50. Wall of Recognition (30) Get a Gold Medal on every Campaign Mission