Halo 3 in MCC: both Sierra 117 skulls, without missing the setup

Halo 3 in MCC: both Sierra 117 skulls, without missing the setup Halo 3 in The Master Chief Collection. Mission spoilers. Sierra 117 has two hidden skulls: **Blind**, near the opening river encounter, and **Iron**, at the dam where Johnson is being held. There is **no terminal in this mission**. Halo 3 doesn't follow the Anniversary games' pattern of putting a terminal in every combat level. Neither skull needs a grenade jump, a vehicle trick or a flight modifier. The main thing is starting correctly and taking the detours before moving on. **Before you load the mission** Select **Sierra 117**, choose **Normal or harder**, and start from **Mission Start**, not a later rally point. Normal is enough; you don't need to carry over Halo 2's mostly-Legendary skull-hunting rule. Starting at the beginning matters even if you're only missing Iron near the end. Don't load a late rally point, get to its ledge and assume an empty corner means the guide has the wrong location. Leave optional skulls off for a straightforward collection run. You do not need Blind or Iron enabled to collect their physical pickups. Their availability in MCC's modifier menu is separate from earning their collectible achievements. Also, Halo 3 has no classic-versus-Anniversary graphics switch. There isn't a hidden remastered layer you need to enable to see these items. **Blind: the rock overlooking the water** This is early in **Walk It Off**, before the mission moves much farther into the jungle. 1. Follow the opening route down to the river encounter. Fight through the Covenant around the water and the Phantom reinforcement area. 2. Once the immediate enemies are dealt with, move downstream toward the waterfall and the cliff overlooking the larger body of water. 3. The normal route continues left. Before taking it, explore the **right-hand cliff edge** instead. 4. Look down for a projecting rock below the upper edge. The skull is on that rocky outcrop overlooking the water, not out in the water itself. 5. Move onto the outcrop carefully, face the skull and use your pickup/interact control to take it. The useful landmark is that first waterfall-and-cliff area. If you've kept pushing deeper along the main jungle route, you've gone beyond the intended stop. Don't make a running leap straight off the cliff. Locate the rock first, then make the short move onto the visible surface. Clearing the nearby enemies before doing this also means you aren't trying to line up the landing while taking fire. The MCC award is **Skulltaker Halo 3: Blind**. Unlike the original release's distinction between gold and silver skull awards, MCC has an achievement for this pickup. Looking at it or having the modifier selectable isn't the same as claiming it. Afterward, return toward the encounter area and take the normal leftward route to continue. You don't have to carry the skull through the rest of the mission once the pickup has registered. **Iron: the high ledge at Johnson's prison** Iron is much later, during **Quid Pro Quo**. You'll reach the dam complex and see the Covenant positions around the bridge and the building holding Johnson's group. Take care of the enemies covering your route before climbing. The skull isn't on a timer, so there is no benefit to balancing on a narrow ledge while Brutes are shooting at you. 1. Cross the bridge toward Johnson's side of the complex. 2. At the far side, don't immediately turn toward the prisoners. Move to the **right**, toward the raised machinery and pipes beside the building. 3. Climb onto that low block of equipment, then jump up to the building's higher ledge or balcony. 4. Follow the ledge along the building toward its opposite end. From the climb-up side, this takes you left along the face of the structure. 5. At the far end, inspect the tucked-away corner behind the projecting pillar. The Iron skull is concealed there. 6. Pick it up with your interact control and check for **Skulltaker Halo 3: Iron**. The climb is on the machinery at the end of the bridge, not inside Johnson's prison. If you are standing beside the prisoners looking around the floor, return outside and look up along the neighboring building's ledge. Do the detour before boarding the extraction Pelican. You can then get back down, finish the rescue and complete the level normally. Don't turn the skull hunt into an attempt to carry Iron aboard the aircraft; the achievement is for claiming it, not delivering it to extraction. **What to check if something is missing** If either skull is absent, first check the difficulty and starting point. Restarting from Mission Start on Normal or above is the clean setup; a late rally-point load is not an equivalent shortcut. If you fall before collecting one, an available checkpoint may let you retry, but its position depends on where the game last saved. Don't assume you'll always be returned directly beside the pickup. If the mission has already ended, revisit it with the correct starting setup. Keep Blind and Iron as separate ticks on your checklist. Then leave the terminal column blank for Sierra 117. The seven regular terminals are later, in The Ark, The Covenant and Halo. MCC also counts the separate Cortana terminal on Cortana for its eight-terminal award, No Stone Unturned. None is hidden in this jungle.