Our Halo 4 Skulls Guide will show you what (dis)abilities the Skulls activate. There’s no Halo 4 Skulls locations guide, they are all located in the menu, because all 13 Halo 4 skulls are unlocked from the start of the Xbox 360 game this time around! Like it was in Halo: Reach.
Turning on Skulls to increase difficulty with game-modifiers during the Halo 4 Campaign will help unlock the following Achievement:
* “Skullduggery” (15 Gamerscore Points) — Complete any Campaign mission with 3 or more Skulls on Heroic difficulty mode or harder.
Index of Halo 4 Guides:
- This Page: Halo 4 Skulls Guide
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- Next Page: Halo 4 Spartan Ops Walkthrough
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Halo 4 Skulls Guide
The 343 Industries Community Manager Jessica Shea, via Halo Waypoint, confirmed that:
“Skulls are a longstanding tradition in the Halo series and one we’re excited to continue. Modifying gameplay and multiplying difficulty, the Skulls in Halo 4 will behave like the ones you already know and love from Halo: Reach. In Halo 4, they will be available in Campaign and are automatically unlocked from the start. For the uninitiated, you can find the names and descriptions below.”
1. “Black Eye” Skull — Activation enables: “Shields don’t recharge unless you melee enemies.”
2. “Blind” Skull — Activation enables: “The HUD and the first person arms and weapon are hidden.”
3. “Catch” Skull — Activation enables: “Enemies are grenade happy!”
4. “Cloud” Skull — Activation enables: “Motion sensor is disabled.”
5. “Cowbell” Skull — Activation enables: “Acceleration from explosions is increased.”
6. “Famine” Skull — Activation enables: “Weapons drop much less ammo.”
7. “Grunt Birthday Party” Skull — Activation enables: “Headshot a Grunt, HAPPY BOOM TIME!”
8. “Iron” Skull — Activation enables: Co-op: “Back to previous checkpoint on death. Solo: Restart mission on death.”
9. “IWHBYD” Skull — Activation enables: “Rare combat dialogue becomes more common.”
10. “Mythic” Skull — Activation enables: “Enemies have increased health.”
11. “Thunderstorm” Skull — Activation enables: “Major upgrade to the capabilities of enemies.”
12. “Tilt” Skull — Activation enables: “Enemy resistances and weaknesses are increased.”
13. “Tough Luck” Skull — Activation enables: “Enemies always go berserk, always dive out of the way, and never flee.”
You can see all of the Halo 4 Skulls with their symbols below. – Click the thumbnail for the full-size image:
New Skulls are: None.
Returning Skulls are: Halo Anniversary’s Black Eye, Halo 3’s Blind, Halo 2’s Catch, Halo: Reach’s Cloud, Halo: Reach’s Cowbell, Halo 2’s Famine, Halo 2’s Grunt Birthday Party, Halo 2’s Iron, Halo 2’s IWHBYD, Halo 2’s Mythic, Halo 2’s Thunderstorm, Halo 3’s Tilt, Halo 3’s Tough Luck.
Removed Skulls are: Halo 2’s Envy (Active Camo), Pinata (Beating enemies gives you candy), Boom (x2 explosion radius), Foreign (Cannot pickup Covenant weapons), Bandanna (Infinite Ammo & Grenades), Fog (Disables motion tracker), Malfunction (Random HUD parts disappear), Recession (Ammo empties x2), Eye Patch (Disables auto-aim weapons), Grunt Funeral (All killed Grunt methane tanks explode).
Tip: As always, Skulls can be turned on in the Mission Setup Menu.