Halo 2: The Great Journey achievement guide — MCC

Halo 2: The Great Journey achievement guide — MCC **Final-mission and boss spoilers. This covers Halo 2 in The Master Chief Collection.** The Great Journey has a couple of very different jobs for you. Finish the campaign, deal with Tartarus, and then go climbing around the outside of the control room for a skull and a toy. Trying to squeeze all of that into a first-time speedrun is asking for a frustrating evening. I'd separate the mountain climbing from the timed finish. The score target is also much lower than some old guides make it sound, so there's no need to load up a punishing pile of skulls just because somebody used that setup years ago. **The six mission targets** - **The Great Journey:** complete the mission. Easy counts in MCC. - **Are We There Yet?:** finish below the **15-minute** par time. - **Frequent Flyer Miles:** beat the **8,000-point** par score. - **Obsessed:** activate terminal **13**. - **Pyrrhic Solution:** collect the Didact toy. - **Skulltaker Halo 2: Black Eye:** pick up the Black Eye skull on **Legendary**. Frequent Flyer Miles is a score achievement. It doesn't ask you to fly a particular distance or spend the entire mission in a Banshee. There is no additional mission-specific achievement requiring a no-damage Tartarus fight, a melee finishing blow, or a particular weapon against him. Killing him is part of completing the mission, not an excuse to add conditions the achievement doesn't have. **Obsessed: inside the prison, not the control room** When you reach the room with imprisoned Covenant allies, go to the upper level and check the cells on the right. The terminal is inside the center-right cell, also described as the second upper cell on that side. Destroy the energy barrier blocking access, enter, and inspect the back wall. In Anniversary graphics, interact with terminal 13 to earn Obsessed. You can do this on any difficulty. Don't assume freeing the prisoners activated the terminal, and don't leave the building thinking the final terminal must be waiting next to Tartarus. This stop comes before that part of the mission. **Black Eye: outside and above the control room** Play on **Legendary** for the skull achievement. During the Scarab escort section, use a Banshee to reach the exterior of the control-room building rather than going straight through the entrance Johnson opens. The route uses the angled beam above the entrance, the curved exterior wall, and the area around the back of the structure. Land carefully on the beam, climb it, then move onto the curved wall to your left. Work around the upper exterior toward the grassy area behind the tower. Where the grass meets the building, climb the steep rear support. At its landing, look for the skull on the illuminated white panel and pick it up. Classic graphics can make the walkable surfaces easier to judge. Take the climb slowly; this is a poor place to keep jumping forward without checking where you'll land. You do not need the Black Eye modifier switched on to collect Black Eye. The physical pickup and the gameplay setting are separate in MCC. Don't make the whole mission harder by enabling a modifier you thought was a collection requirement. **Pyrrhic Solution: save the Spectre if you're using the driving route** The Didact toy is higher up on the mountain behind the control-room structure. For the established vehicle route, take the **Spectre near the start** and leave it below the cliff when the mission sends you into the building on foot. After meeting Johnson at the Scarab, return to the parked Spectre. Drive toward the control room, then go out toward the water on the right while facing the building. Look for the raised rock route that leads around behind it. Follow that route and use the Spectre to climb the steep mountain to its summit. Use Classic graphics to judge the terrain while driving. At the top, change to **Anniversary graphics** and walk over the toy. Pyrrhic Solution works on any difficulty. The Spectre is the tool for that route, not an achievement requirement. MCC's Acrophobia modifier provides an alternative way to reach the toy, and players have specifically reported unlocking Pyrrhic Solution with it. That does **not** make it a valid setup for your par-time or score attempt. Keep the assisted collectible run separate. If you've lost the Spectre, don't spend your entire timed run trying to improvise a mountain climb. Come back with the collection route planned from the beginning. **Are We There Yet?: leave time for Tartarus** For a time-only attempt, Easy with no optional modifiers is the simple choice. Enable the timer and learn the route before worrying about advanced skips. Move through the opening vehicle section and interior fights with a purpose. Use the Arbiter's camouflage when it helps you cross an exposed stretch, but don't assume every door will open just because you've reached it. During the Scarab escort, clear threats along Johnson's path. Flying all the way to the control room and waiting won't necessarily make him catch up while enemies remain behind you. Watch the Scarab's progress instead of treating the escort as empty travel time. Once inside the final arena, keep your distance from Tartarus's hammer. Johnson's shots bring down his shield; use that opening to attack, then stop wasting ammunition when the protection returns. Keep an eye on the other Brutes so a good boss position doesn't turn into being surrounded. There isn't a special speed-achievement weapon requirement. Use something you can keep on target during the vulnerable window. A reliable fight is worth more than attempting a trick you've never practiced with seconds left on the clock. The 15-minute target covers the mission, not just reaching Tartarus. Skip the collectible detours and aim to arrive with room for the fight. **Frequent Flyer Miles: the target is 8,000** Normal is a reasonable starting point for this run. Enable scoring, keep score-disabling helper modifiers off, and earn points throughout the mission instead of arriving at the boss hoping he will make up the entire difference. The opening vehicle fights and the escort's enemy vehicles give you opportunities to build a score. Use the vehicle weapons available, clear threats without needlessly trading away your health, and avoid turning every encounter into a risky close-range attack. Watch the actual score. Once you've cleared the threshold, you still need a successful finish, and careless deaths can damage your margin. Give yourself a buffer rather than aiming to scrape through at the exact number. You do not have to beat the time and score targets in the same run. If you miss one but earn the other, keep that progress and change the next attempt to match what's still missing. **Before you call the campaign finished** This is also a good point to check the larger lists: - **Walking Encyclopedia:** all 13 Halo 2 terminals, not just this last one. - **Toybox:** all eight toys. The Didact only finishes the set if the earlier seven registered. - **Trophy Collector:** all 15 Halo 2 skulls, including the separate Armory pickup and both Outskirts skulls. - Campaign-wide difficulty, par-time, and par-score achievements: every required mission must have its own qualifying record. Finishing the last level doesn't fill in a missed collectible or an unfinished earlier mission. Check those individual gaps before replaying the finale for something it can't award by itself.