Cheats

Cheat: Free Reactors (Anders Only)

When playing as Anders, you can get five free reactors. Build one reactor and fill out your base with supply pads. Upgrade the supply pads and gather 2,600 supplies. Recycle 3 heavy supply pads and start to build 3 reactors — then immediately Cryo Bomb your own base. Once you reactor level in the upper right corner goes to 4 then, stop the 3 reactors from building and recycle them. Your money will be returned, and the you’ll have your reactor level and 4 reactors.

Unlockable: Gamertag Pictures

You can unlock Halo Wars Gamertag pics by performing the actions listed below:

• Professor Anders – Complete the Campaign on any difficulty
• Sergeant Forge – Load up Halo Wars on your profile

Unlockable: “The Real Winner” Achievement

Look just north of the starting point for a tower with the level’s Black Box at the bottom. Down here is a door which Adam, a small child, is trapped behind. Open it by highlighting it and clicking A and clear a path to the transport for him (he goes down in one shot, so watch out!) and you’ll get the Achievement.

IGN GuidesHint: Skulls

The Skulls for each level of Campaign mode will only appear once a “kill requirement” is met (e.g. “Kill 100 Grunts”). This requirement is listed for each Skull below, in addition to the Skull’s location. Aside from the first mission, all of these Skulls can be found on Easy. Skulls can be activated from the pause menu and each one has a unique effect on gameplay (also listed below).

1) Alpha BaseLook Daddy Skull // Kill 100 Grunts

Do this one on Heroic or Legendary or there just aren’t enough Grunts to kill. The Skull appears across the frozen pond from the entrance to Alpha Base, at the end of the level.Skull Effect: When Grunts die their methane tank always shoots off

2) Relic ApproachGrunt Birthday Party Skull // Kill 20 Jackal Snipers

These guys appear on pads on mountains, sniper towers and landing pads. Before advancing through the gate to the end of the level, search the remainder of the level for Jackals. There are plenty even on Easy. The Skull appears at Alpha base, by the entrance you took in the last level (south).Skull Effect: Grunts Explode into confetti.

3) Relic InteriorCowbell Skull // Kill 45 Hunters

You’ll be able to rack up your Hunter count at the very end of the level, where they spawn infinitely from doors just before the exit tot he landing zone. Kill 45, then reverse with everyone to where you met the troops, in the center of the artifact. You’ll have to backtrack amidst lots of Grunts and other respawning enemies.Skull Effect: Destruction physics multiplied.

4) Arcadia City Wuv Woo Skull // Kill 50 Elites

You’ll have to augment your bases with turrets and patrol the streets with hornets to kill the 50 elites (with energy swords). The skull is near the base spot in the east, between your open spot for a base and the enemy base. There’s a park southeast of the broken highway and the skull is here — the furthest southeast corner of the map.Skull Effect: Scarabs shoot rainbow beams made of pure love.

5) Arcadia Outskirts Fog Skull // Kill 5 Wraith Tanks

These purple tanks will continue to assault your bases so while you are out exploring, arm your bases with a couple of Rail-augmented turret guns to wipe out any Wraiths that appear. This requirement should come easily — and hey, you have all the time in the word. Now, follow the strip of highway along the southern part of the level past the southwest base to find the skull. There are plenty of enemies up here, so bring some air units and warthogs and make it quick. The freeway bends away from the two lane strip at the southern end of the map, but you should stick to the two lane. Follow it to the westernmost corner of the level, the skull is here, near the large buildings.Skull Effect: No minimap. Final score will increase.

6) Dome of LightSickness Skull // Kill 50 Banshees

Banshees should be no problem here, even 50 of them. Just outfit your base with Missile turrets and it will pick them off one by one. Leave a Wolverine anti-air unit at each Plasma Rhino position point to help pick off more or the ODSTs will get them all. After you get 50, about face at the base and grab the skull in the garage.Skull Effect: All players have 50% fewer hitpoints. Final score will increase.

7) Scarab Rebel Sympathizer Skull // Kill 10 Locusts

Locusts are the equivalent of heavy tanks of the Covenant and walk on four legs. You can find these (there are 10 exactly) roughly nearby the Scarab’s 7 nodes, with a few extras on the far east and west sides of the map. Kill these, then search the northwestern-most power node site for the Skull. Knock out some nodes while you hunt Locust or it’ll be much more difficult. Gauss Cannon-augmented Warthogs are your best friends.Skull Effect: Non-player units get 25% more hitpoints. Final score will increase.

8) Anders’s SignalRebel Supporter Skull // Kill 750 Infection Forms

This kill requirement is pretty high, and achieving it can be tedious. You’ll get the most kills out of the little swarms, but any other infection forms count, so long as they have legs. The best way to do this is to go about your business killing everything in your path, and, once you get a base, equip it with incindiary Turrets to rack up the kill count. Continue patrolling for any alien lifeforms until your count reaches 750. Now, head to the northern-most point of the map in the center, The skull is in a little valley across a chasm.Skull Effect: Non-player units do 50% more damage. Final score will increase.

9) The FloodRebel Leader Skull // Kill 20 Flood Stalks

The Flood Stalks are the bulbous, small stalks that litter the map. They don’t fire or do much of anything, they just passively await your Hornet fire. Get a dozen Hornets and explore the map, taking these out — there are more than 20 available. After you meet the requirement, head back to your base and summon a Pelican drop to take some troops or Warthogs over to the Skull site. It;s due east of the base, just a screen away. You can’t get to it via ground paths, so the Pelican drop is essential.Skull Effect: Non-player units start with extra veterancy. Final score will increase.

10) Shield WorldCatch Skull // Kill 350 Swarms

Swarms are the flocks of bird-like Flood that will continually assault your base on this level — but hey, that makes things easy. Equip the base with Missile Turrets and leave some anti-air Wolverines around to make short work of them. You’ll encounter a lot of swarms during your last rush to the evac point, but the Skull should be collected before this point. We experienced a glitch that made it so we couldn’t build more Hornets after the final evac was initiated / bungled, and you need Hornets to grab the Skull. It’s on an island northeast of the base, just past the first pylon. Bring a few Hornets — have these built ahead of time and waiting at the base — to grab the Skull.Skull Effect: All player units recharge unit abilities in half the time. Final score will decrease.

11) CleansingSugar Cookies Skull // Destroy 100 Sentinels

The Sentinels are the flying bots that help you clean the hull. Destroying these effeciently means Turrets, and lots of ’em. Augment them with anti-air missiles too. This level completes when you clear the flood off the ship — namely the Dens and Launchers. So don’t finish those off until you’ve met your Sentinel quota. After this, head to the very front of the ship, northeast side of the map, where there’s an observation deck between the two sides jutting out. Grab the Skull floating in front of the windows.Skull Effect: All player units have 50% more hitpoints. Final score will decrease.

12) RepairsBoomstick Skull // Kill 12 Spirit Transports

The Covenant transport ships can only be destroyed when landing, so be sure to build plenty of Missile augmented turrets to catch them early. Repair the outer hull turrets as well, and place a Spartan, Hawk and a Wolverine at all the spots you see them landing. This isn’t so hard, as they relentlessly show up. After you kill 12, grab the Skull on the main structure at the front end of the ship, in the northeast. This is hovering above what appears to be the bridge or observation deck at the front of the ship.Skull Effect: 5% chance any non-player unit blows up upon death with explosive area of effect damage. Final score will decrease.

13) BeachheadPain Train Skull // Kill 10 Bomber Forms

All the Bomber Forms, the giant puffy floating Flood forms, are in the far west corner of the map. Here they are being churned out by Flood Dens. Take a pack of Vultures over before conquering the 4th and final Covenant base and clear out 10 of the Bomber Forms before taking out the Dens. The Skull will then appear here in the far west corner at the base of the Forerunner structure with all of the Flood Dens.Skull Effect: All player units train 50% faster. Final score will decrease.

14) ReactorBountiful Harvest Skull // Kill 20 Vampires

These horseshoe shaped purple aerial attack vehicles will show up in pairs to attack your bases and Elephant / Core throughout the level. Wait before taking out the last base at the top of the ramp until you have downed 20. Use those Missile upgrades for your Turrets! The Skull appears behind your third base point, halfway up the tall series of ramps leading to the core drop off point. It’s in the northern corner on the platform with the baseSkull Effect: Supplies come in 25% faster. Final score will decrease.

15) Escape Emperor Skull // Kill 3 Scarabs

Scarabs are the uber units of the Covenant. These giant purple walkers will spawn slowly throughout the level from the Covenant base the northwest of the start point. There should be one already patrolling the shielded center area by the time you have some Vultures in the air, so use them to open both Interlocks of the first set of shields and drop the Scarab into the abyss. This takes a bit of positioning but isn’t that difficult. If you set up a base on the directly opposite side from where you start, due north, you should be able to catch any further Scarabs. Fortify this base with Vultures and Railgun Turrets to help. Drop Mac Blasts and Carpet Bombs to make short work of them. The Skull will appear in the northeast boundary of the map, between two interlocks and behind the Flood boss. Grab it with some Vultures or ground units.Skull Effect: All player powers recharge in half the time. Final score will decrease.

IGN GuidesHint: Black BoxesThere is a Black Box hidden in each mission of Campaign Mode. These locations are listed below. The remaining Black Boxes can be unlocked by beating Skirmish Mode with each of the 6 leaders (Arbiter, Prophet, Cutter, Brute Chieftan, Forge, and Anders) and by winning a Skirmish match on each Skirmish map. Black Boxes unlock text in the Timeline

1) Alpha BaseThis one is under the bridge just before the skirmish outside the entrance to Alpha Base. Set your cursor on it and your men will find their way down to collect it via the ramp on the side.

2) Relic ApproachThere are multiple power barriers in this level, two with Warthogs behind them, one leading to the end of the level past the enemy base, and one to the northwest, with the Black Box behind it. Beware the snipers in this area.

3) Relic InteriorBefore even entering the giant relic, at the very start of the level, reverse course with the Grizzly tanks and find a secret path alongside the structure. A downed Pelican is at the end, along with your Black Box 3.

4) Arcadia City Move just a smidge north of the starting point to collect this Black Box. Easy!

5) Arcadia Outskirts There is a reactor you can capture in the eastern part of the level — it has a statue next to it. Just west of this is a grassy depression with the Black Box at the bottom. You can grab this safely after establishing a base or two. Grab the reactor while you’re there with some infantry units!

6) Dome of LightThe third Plasma Rhino position can only be reached via pelican drop. Head over there to grab the Black Box too, in the lower part of this isolated area.

7) Scarab The Black Box is in a pocket similar to that in which you find the Skull — in the northeastern-most corner. Surrounding it are many, many supply boxes. Score! Take a fleet of Warthogs to the far right of the map to find it quickly.

8) Anders’s SignalThis box is near the start of the level. After carpet bombing the apes and getting a Spartan squad, head to the little plateau to the northeast to find this Black Box. You can collect this just a few minutes into the level.

9) The FloodHead due north from the front hanger door of your base with a swarm of Hornets to find Black Box 9. It’s across the level at the edge of the map.

10) Shield WorldThis Black Box is in the supply stash behind the second group of evac-needing troops. It’s in the northwest part of the map, along the edge.

11) CleansingThis Box is located on the side of the hull, due west from the center of the map. Take some Hornets over to grab it.

12) RepairsThis Black Box is in almost exactly the same place as 11. Just head to the westernmost part of the map and look for the box on the side of the hull.

13) BeachheadAfter you take out the 3rd base, and before you enter the teleporter up to the 4th, check the hills to the north of the 3rd base for a Black Box. This one can only be picked up with Hornets or Vultures.

14) ReactorThere is a raised area just west of the starting base. Up here is a Black Box in the brush. Use a Vulture or Hornet to nab it.

15) Escape This Box is by the base site on the north side of the map. It’s actually sitting near to the shielded center structure, right out in the open. Just follow the edge of the central shielded structure with the Interlocks counterclockwise from the start and you’ll find it a bit more than halfway around.

All of these chaets are from www.ign.com