Every skull in the first four Halo: Campaign Evolved missions — Pillar of Autumn, Halo, Truth and Reconciliation and Silent Cartographer — with exact routes.
Halo Campaign Evolved Skull Locations — Pillar of Autumn, Halo, Truth and Reconciliation, Silent Cartographer
The first four missions of Halo: Campaign Evolved hide 12 skulls between them — three per mission. Most are simple ledge grabs; a few (Grunt Funeral, Endurance Spec, Iron) demand grenade jumps or awkward platforming. Every skull in this set whispers/hisses when you're close, so keep your ears open.
Official source: Skulls & Campaign Remix — Halo Waypoint — three Skulls hidden in each of the ten original campaign missions.
This page covers missions 1-4; missions 5-8 are on the skulls-2 page and missions 9-13 plus the prequel on the skulls-3 page.
The Pillar of Autumn (3 Skulls)
Speed Limit — the cryo room catwalk
Effect: Disables sprint. Where: the very first room, seconds after you gain control. Turn around from the cryo pods, jump onto the two round containers in the back-left corner, hop up to the catwalk, and walk to the far end near the viewing window. The skull sits on the walkway floor. (Rally Point Alpha.)
Magnified — the armory lockers
Effect: Assault rifle magazines become 60 rounds. Where: after a marine tells you Cortana needs you at the bridge, he leads you into an armory. The skull is on top of the weapon locker rack near the middle of the room. (Rally Point Alpha.)
Perspective — under the bridge pilots
Effect: Switches the camera to third-person. Where: after the cutscene where Keyes gives you Cortana on the bridge, turn around, go back into the bridge, and drop down below the two pilot seats. The skull is in the small alcove to the left of the ladder. (Rally Point Bravo.)
Halo (3 Skulls)
Give & Take — the river cave
Effect: Firing drains your shield; dealing damage recharges it. Where: during the three-lifeboat section, find the river in the central valley and follow it upstream into a cave under a rocky overhang. The skull is behind a large rock on the water's edge, left side. (Rally Point Charlie.)
Grunt Funeral — the spire grenade jump
Effect: Grunts explode like plasma grenades when they die. Where: at the lifeboat crash site near the cliff where marines hide underground. Clear the Covenant, then climb the main Forerunner spire in the middle of the area. Walk up the ramp, stand in the nook, and throw a frag grenade into the corner behind you, then jump just as it explodes to launch yourself onto the higher ledge. Walk up the narrow ledge to the skull. It is much easier with the Acrophobia skull active (fly up instead).
Throw the frag at your feet, turn toward the ledge, and jump just before the explosion. Crouch mid-air to tuck Chief's legs. Don't use plasma grenades — the short fuse will just kill you. If you run out of frags, reload the checkpoint and retry.
Floor Is Lava — the rockslide lookout
Effect: Continuous damage while touching the ground. Where: at the right-most lifeboat crash site (the rocky outcroppings). Climb to the top of the largest grass-covered rock (where a marine with a sniper rifle perches), sprint-jump across to the grassy platform on the right, then drop down onto the smaller rock formation below. The skull is on top. (Rally Point Charlie.)
The Truth and Reconciliation (3 Skulls)
Iron — the cliff edge by the gravity lift
Effect: Solo death restarts the level; co-op death resets to the last checkpoint. Where: just before you take the gravity lift into the Covenant ship, head to the far side of the lift by the cliff edge. Look for a small tree on the cliff and a white light in the ground; the skull is on a tiny ledge below the cliff. Drop down to grab it — there's no way back up, so die or reload after.
This is the skull that defines LASO: with Iron active, one death while solo restarts the entire mission. Every LASO loadout includes it, and it is why LASO runs are checkpoint-by-checkpoint affairs.
Endurance Spec — the vehicle bay pillars
Effect: UNSC vehicles cannot be damaged. Where: early aboard the ship, you enter a large room on an upper walkway with two destroyed Wraiths and Covenant below. Walk to the far end, follow the curve right, jump onto the purple container near the edge, then bunny-hop across the three curved support struts. The skull sits on the third strut. It is finicky — fall and you can loop back up via the corner door. Acrophobia makes this trivial.
Foreign — the hangar locked door
Effect: You cannot use weapons from the enemy faction. Where: in the large hangar bay, rush to the back-right corner from where you entered and wait for Covenant to spawn from a locked door. When it opens, run inside before it closes, and grab the skull in the alcove on the left. If the door locks, you'll need to restart the level.
The Silent Cartographer (3 Skulls)
Bandana — the cave past the facility
Effect: Infinite ammo and grenades. Where: after the beach landing, drive the Warthog toward the first interior structure but don't go inside. A small cave tunnel sits just past the building entrance; head to the end and the skull lies in a clearing of light. (Rally Point Alpha.)
Acrophobia — the Hunter arena structure
Effect: Hold the jump button in mid-air to fly. Where: the circular above-ground arena where two Hunters guard the way to the security override. Climb the sloped edge of the metallic structure in the middle, turn around, jump onto the central section, and walk the horizontal beam to the raised section against the rock face (partly covered by a tree).
Acrophobia is the single most useful collection tool in the game. Once you have it, Grunt Funeral, Endurance Spec and several later skulls become trivial — fly straight up instead of grenade jumping. It is a common early goal on collection runs.
Hip Fire — the ramp gap ledge
Effect: All weapon zoom/ADS disabled. Where: in the underground facility, after disabling the security system and fighting the two Hunters in the wide room, approach the large well-lit sloped staircase. Don't walk down — look over the edge and drop carefully onto the small ledge below, where the skull waits. (Rally Point Charlie.)
Collectible Route Tip
All four missions pair their skulls with one terminal each (Approach, Forgotten, Inquisitor, Status Update) — grabbing skulls and terminal in one pass per mission clears that mission's 20G achievement and feeds the 50G Collector's Addition. Terminal spots are in the terminals guide, and the full checklist order is in the walkthrough.
Nothing is missable. Completed missions can be replayed from the mission-select screen with the nearest Rally Point, so you can pick up a missed skull in a few minutes without replaying the whole level.
FAQ
Where is the Bandana skull in Halo: Campaign Evolved? The Silent Cartographer, in a small cave just past the first interior structure after the beach landing — it grants infinite ammo and grenades.
How do you get the Grunt Funeral skull? On Halo, at the cliff-side lifeboat rescue. Climb the central Forerunner spire and grenade-jump onto the higher ledge, or fly up with Acrophobia. The skull makes Grunts explode on death.
Where is the Acrophobia skull? The Silent Cartographer, atop the metallic structure in the two-Hunter arena. It lets you fly by holding jump, and it's the best skull to get early for collection purposes.
How do you get the Iron skull in Truth and Reconciliation? Just before the gravity lift into the Covenant ship, look over the cliff edge by the small tree to spot it on a ledge below. Drop down to collect it, then die or reload to get back up.
What does the Foreign skull do? It stops you from using enemy-faction weapons. It's in the T&R hangar: wait for the locked door to open, rush inside, and grab it before the door closes.
Related Guides
- Halo: Campaign Evolved Skulls — All 42 Skulls & Effects
- Halo: Campaign Evolved Skull Locations — Missions 5-8
- Halo: Campaign Evolved Skull Locations — Missions 9-13 & Prequel
- Halo: Campaign Evolved Terminals — All 13 Locations
- Halo: Campaign Evolved Missions 1-3 Walkthrough
- Halo: Campaign Evolved Achievements Guide
Official resources: Skulls & Campaign Remix (Halo Waypoint) · IGN — All Skull Locations · Halopedia — Skulls · GamesRadar skull locations
Last Updated: August 13, 2026
More Halo: Campaign Evolved Guides
Campaign Remix in Halo: Campaign Evolved: how to unlock it (any 3 skulls), what changes — randomized enemies and weapons — and whether it's worth playing.
Halo: Campaign Evolved co-op and crossplay: 4-player online co-op across PC, Xbox and PS5, cross-progression via Microsoft account, and console split-screen.
All Halo: Campaign Evolved editions compared: Standard $49.99, Premium $69.99 and the sold-out Collector's Edition, plus the $20 Premium Upgrade.
Is Halo: Campaign Evolved on Game Pass? Yes — day one with Ultimate and PC Game Pass. Which tiers include it, and how the Game Pass version compares to Steam.
The complete Halo: Campaign Evolved guide: what the UE5 remake of Combat Evolved is, all 13 missions, 42 skulls, and whether it's worth it in 2026.
How long is Halo: Campaign Evolved? Main story ~8 hours, main + extras ~12, 25-30 hours for 100% — with per-mission estimates and honest caveats.
All 13 Halo: Campaign Evolved missions in order: the 10 classic missions plus 3 Operation METEORITE prequels, with collectibles, length and difficulty notes.
Walkthrough and combat tips for the first three Halo: Campaign Evolved missions — Pillar of Autumn, Halo and Truth and Reconciliation: key battles and loadouts.