Combat & Challenges

Cumulative across the whole campaign. Use precision weapons — the Magnum, Battle Rifle and Sniper one-shot Grunts and Jackals in the head. Grunts are everywhere, so just favour headshots and this pops naturally.

Grunts wear a methane tank on their back — shoot the tank (not the head) and it ruptures. Do it to 100 Grunts; the counter carries across missions, and the Grunt-heavy early levels chew through it fast.

Hunters have an exposed orange back under their armour plates. Get behind one and shoot or melee to knock a backplate off — you do not have to kill it. Cumulative, so chip away at every Hunter pair you meet.

Flood forms come apart easily — shoot their limbs and tentacles off (a shotgun or automatic weapon shreds them). 343 Guilty Spark and The Library are wall-to-wall Flood, so this counter fills almost on its own there.

Board an occupied enemy vehicle (Ghost, Wraith, Banshee) and hit the hijack prompt to yank the driver out. Ghosts on Silent Cartographer and the Control Room missions are the easiest targets — jack, drive, repeat until you hit 10.

Shoot components off vehicles — Ghost wings and canopies, Wraith plating, Banshee wings. Focus fire on parked or enemy vehicles and pieces fly off without needing a kill. Cumulative across the campaign.

A full pacifist run of The Silent Cartographer — no firing a weapon, no grenades, no melee, no deaths and no restarting the mission. You evade everything:

• Hijack a Ghost early and use it purely for mobility; its boost gets you past danger fast.
• Stick to the beach and outer paths, sprint past the interior fights, and slip through to each objective.
• Play it on Easy so stray hits do not kill you. One death or restart voids the run.

Beat one mission on Heroic or Legendary without your health bar taking a hit — your shield can drop and recharge all it likes, but the moment damage carries through to health the run is void.

• Pick a short, low-threat mission like Pillar of Autumn or The Silent Cartographer.
• Fight cover to cover and let your shield fully recharge before pushing.
• Grab an Overshield if you find one, and back off the instant your shield pops.

Late in the mission an Elite runs for a Banshee — it is a short foot-race. As soon as the Banshee is in view, sprint straight for it (ignore the fight) and board it before the Elite does. If the Elite gets there first, restart the checkpoint and rush harder.

Clear the opening floor of 343 Guilty Spark — the Covenant section before the Flood are unleashed — without taking a single hit to shield or health. Move slowly, pick off Grunts and Jackals from range with headshots, and use cover so nothing lands a shot. Lower difficulty makes enemies less accurate.

The finale is the Warthog escape drive. Finish it without being thrown from the vehicle — no hard crashes into walls or explosions that boot you out. Take the jumps straight, ease off the boost before tight corners, and favour a clean line over speed. If you get ejected, the checkpoint lets you retry.

Jiralhanae are Brutes. Beat this new mission without killing any of the rampaging Brutes it throws at you — evade, run past, or use the environment, but do not land the killing blow on one. Be careful with explosives and vehicles, which can kill a Brute without you meaning to.

A scripted easter egg: eliminate Captain Keyes, and his six Marines turn on you to avenge him. Lead all six into the Autumn's observation pen and seal them inside — bunch them up, bait them into the room together, then slip out and trap them.

Find the Thirsty Grunt easter-egg NPC and listen to his full monologue about his eating habits without interrupting (do not shoot him). Stand near him and let the dialogue play to the end and the trophy pops.