Hack 12. Activate the Ammunition Handicap

Play the campaign with less ammunition.

To activate this skull, you will need to play the Oracle level on Legendary difficulty until you reach the mission objective "Escape the Infested labs." The notification text for this skull is "Famine."

The spawn spot for this skull boasts the most disturbing imagery in Halo 2. Like a scene from CSI, there are mutilated bodies all over the place.

The Famine skull is relatively easy to get. However, it becomes much easier if you first activate the Grunt Birthday Party skull [Hack #11]. The Flood combat forms do not have shields, so a single Carbine headshot will cause them to explode. You just need to find the Flood equivalent of "head."

Near the beginning of the Oracle level, you will ride a descending platform. After reaching the bottom, you will come to a hallway where you'll see a handful of dead bodies. Continue into the next room, and you will find yourself on the second floor of a chamber that has many large windows. From this vantage point, you can look across at the far portion of the room's upper level (see Figure 2-18). If you look down, you will see two platforms in the middle of the room. Four tall posts surround each platform.

Figure 2-18. Looking across at the Famine skull location

If you have not yet cleared the room, turn on your Active Camouflage and then leap to the center platform. From the platform, jump up onto one of the posts on the far side of the room (see Figure 2-19). Once you are standing on the post, you can hop to the column between the windows. Shoot out one of the windows and then jump up to the far platform.

Figure 2-19. Use the struts in the center to jump up to the other side

Once you have jumped to the platform on the other side of the room, turn to your left. A hallway mirrors the one that you used to enter the area. Walk all the way to the end of the hallway and you'll find four Flood Elites writhing on the floor. The Famine skull is in the middle of these poor souls (see Figure 2-20). Once you activate this skull, all the weapons you find will have less ammunition, so aim carefully!

Figure 2-20. The disturbing spawn spot of the Famine skull