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Boarding Action collectibles at a glance
| Order | Collectible | Type | Landmark | When to look |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Malfunction | Skull | Covenant dropship, nearby door and turret passage | After defeating the two white Hunters at Rally Point Alpha |
| 2 | Johnny Ammo Seed | Skull | Johnson’s training room and the overhead purple cylinder | In the palace-like section, from the second-floor upper route |
| 3 | Leadhead | Skull | Back-left door beside a later gravity lift | In the lift-preparation room, before using the lift |
| 4 | The Path | Terminal | Short halls beside the upper end of the gravity lift | Immediately after riding the lift |
The three Skulls are the gameplay collectibles, while The Path is the mission’s lore Terminal. In practical terms, the first two searches happen away from the obvious forward route, Leadhead is a pre-lift detour and The Path is a post-lift backtrack. Remembering that pattern is more useful than memorizing a numerical collectible count.
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Before you start the search
All four items use the mission’s Interact command. The default input is X on Xbox, Square on PlayStation, and E on keyboard. A collectible that is close enough produces an audible cue, so lower background noise or pause briefly when you suspect a side path contains an item. Environmental detours are intentional clues: doors, ledges and corridors that sit outside the objective route are often where the hidden items are placed.
Skulls are gameplay modifiers. Terminals are lore entries; once The Path is unlocked, its text can also be read from the Collectibles menu. You do not need to finish the mission before activating an item, but interact with each one as soon as you reach it so a later checkpoint cannot leave the collectible unregistered.
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For the cleanest sweep, treat every landmark as a stopping point. Finish the nearby fight, check the side route, wait for the interaction confirmation and only then resume the marker. This prevents the two most common errors: walking past the dropship after the Hunter fight and riding the later lift before opening the back-left door.
Step-by-step route to every Boarding Action collectible
1. Malfunction Skull: the detour after the white Hunters
Malfunction is the first collectible and is easy to miss because the correct route points away from the next objective. At Rally Point Alpha, defeat the two heavily armored white Hunters. Do not immediately follow the objective marker once the fight ends.
- Turn away from the normal objective route and drop down toward the area containing the Covenant dropship.
- Look for the nearby door by the ship and enter it.
- Inside, follow the passage that runs behind the turret.
- Continue until the passage reaches the small bridge or ground section. The Malfunction Skull is on this route.
- Use Interact when the prompt appears, then wait for the collection confirmation before returning to the objective path.
The dropship is the strongest visual check. If you are still moving through the main route with no ship, door or turret in sight, you have not taken the detour yet. The important timing is the Hunter encounter: this side route is available directly after that battle, before you commit to the next objective.
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Do not mistake the turret passage for another combat lane and turn around too early. The route is short: ship, door, passage behind the turret, then the small bridge or ground area where the Skull sits. Once the item is collected, retrace the route to the objective rather than searching for a second Malfunction location elsewhere in the mission.
2. Johnny Ammo Seed Skull: the upper route near Johnson’s training room
Johnny Ammo Seed is in the palace-like portion of the mission. Your most reliable landmark is the room Johnson identifies as a training room. A horizontal purple cylinder hangs overhead, making the room recognizable even when the surrounding architecture looks similar.
- Enter the training-room area and clear the room so you can move around without being forced back into combat.
- Reach the second floor.
- From the upper level, turn back toward the area you came from rather than continuing deeper into the palace.
- At the rear of the room, identify the two exits. Take the left-hand exit.
- Follow the elevated route and inspect the ledge or path ahead. Johnny Ammo Seed is positioned along this upper passage.
- Interact with the Skull, then return to the main route.
The purple cylinder is a better reference than a room number because it remains visible from the training-room approach. If you find two rear exits but choose the right one, you have taken the wrong branch; turn back and use the left exit to reach the ledge. This Skull’s placement is slightly less visually obvious than the others, so listen for its audio cue while walking the elevated path.
The key orientation is “second floor, back toward the previous area.” Players who keep moving forward can pass the correct turn without ever seeing the ledge. From the upper route, scan along the edge rather than dropping back to the lower floor. The Skull is placed on that elevated path, not in the central training-room floor.
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3. Leadhead Skull: the corridor beside the later gravity lift
Leadhead appears when the mission begins preparing you to reach the Triumph of Tolerance’s upper decks. You will enter a room built around a gravity lift. The objective encourages you to use that lift, but the Skull is available before you do.
- Advance until you reach the lift-preparation room.
- Stand near the gravity lift and look for the door at the back-left side of the room.
- Enter that door before activating or riding the lift.
- Follow the corridor all the way to its end.
- Interact with Leadhead when you reach the corridor’s terminal area.
Do not confuse the lift chamber with the upper lift exit used for The Path. Leadhead is on the lower approach, through the back-left door in the preparation room. If you ride the lift first, turn around at the upper section and use the instructions for The Path below; the two collectibles are close in mission order but occupy different sides of the lift sequence.
“Back-left” is measured from the room as you face the lift, so pause and reorient if the door seems to be on the opposite side. The destination is a corridor, not the lift platform itself. Follow it to the end instead of checking only the first doorway, then collect Leadhead before returning to the lift.
4. The Path Terminal: just off the upper gravity lift
The Path is Boarding Action’s only Terminal. It is located after Leadhead, at the upper end of the same gravity-lift sequence.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems- After collecting Leadhead, use the gravity lift to reach the upper section.
- As soon as you arrive, turn back instead of following the objective marker.
- Check the short hallways behind the nearby doors around the lift exit.
- Enter the side hall that sits just off the upper lift section. The Path Terminal is there.
- Press Interact to unlock it. Its written lore will then be available in the Collectibles menu.
The key is the reversal: the objective route leads forward, while The Path is behind you and slightly to the side after the lift ride. Search the nearby doors rather than looking for a long detour. If you hear the collectible sound but cannot see the Terminal, sweep each short hallway around the lift’s upper landing before moving on.
The Path is not in the same lower corridor as Leadhead, even though both collectibles use the lift room as their landmark. Think of the sequence as two checks: back-left door before the ride for Leadhead, then turn around and inspect the short halls after the ride for The Path.
What the collectibles do
Skulls
Malfunction, Johnny Ammo Seed and Leadhead are Skulls, so each contributes to the game’s Skull collection and activates a gameplay modifier when selected. Halo Support states that every mission contains three Skulls and that Halo Campaign Evolved has 39 Skulls in total. Boarding Action’s three Skull locations therefore complete that mission’s Skull set, but they are only one part of the overall collection.
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Collecting any three Skulls unlocks the Adaptation, Armistice, Reload and Campaign Remix options. Those unlocks are tied to the number of Skulls collected, not to a particular one of the three Boarding Action items. In other words, you do not need a specific Boarding Action Skull to trigger those options; any three collected Skulls count.
The Path Terminal
Terminals serve a different purpose. The Path adds a written lore entry and does not function as a Skull modifier. Halo Support lists 13 Terminals across the game and identifies The Path as the Terminal assigned to Boarding Action. Activate it in the mission to add the entry to the Collectibles menu.
This distinction also explains why the mission route has four items but only three Skull modifiers. The Terminal is still required for full Boarding Action collectible completion, but it advances the lore collection rather than the Skull total.
Completion rewards and achievement tracking
Boarding Action is complete from a collectible perspective when you have activated all three Skulls and The Path Terminal. Finding the full set contributes to the Souvenirs achievement or trophy. The achievement requires the mission’s Skulls and Terminal together, so collecting only the three Skulls is not enough.
Because the four items are split between combat aftermaths, an upper ledge and two sides of a gravity-lift sequence, the safest approach is to collect them in the order listed here. That order follows the mission’s natural progression and prevents the most common mistake: advancing past a lift or Hunter encounter before checking the nearby side route.
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- After the Hunter battle: return toward the Covenant dropship and search for the door and turret passage. The Malfunction route is behind the objective path.
- In the palace section: locate the training room with the horizontal purple cylinder, then use the second-floor left rear exit. Johnny Ammo Seed is on the elevated route, not the main lower passage.
- At the lift-preparation room: inspect the back-left door before using the lift. That corridor leads to Leadhead.
- At the upper lift landing: turn around immediately and search the short halls behind the nearby doors for The Path.
- When searching any of these areas: use the audio cue and the Interact prompt as confirmation. If neither appears, you are probably on the wrong branch or have not reached the collectible’s exact side passage.
You can use the Collectibles menu to verify which entries have registered. A mission sweep is most efficient when you pause at each landmark, collect the item, and only then resume the objective marker. If you are replaying only to clean up collectibles, this ordered checklist tells you where to stop without searching unrelated rooms: white Hunters and dropship, training room and purple cylinder, lower lift corridor, then upper lift hallways.
Quick comparison: Skull or Terminal?
| Collectible type | Boarding Action examples | Primary function | Collection result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skull | Malfunction, Johnny Ammo Seed, Leadhead | Gameplay modifier | Adds to the Skull total and counts toward three-Skull unlocks |
| Terminal | The Path | Written lore entry | Adds the entry to the Collectibles menu and counts toward Souvenirs |
The table is useful when checking progress: three Skull entries alone do not equal a complete mission sweep. The Path must also be activated for all four Boarding Action collectibles and the Souvenirs achievement or trophy.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many collectibles are in Boarding Action?
There are four: three Skulls—Malfunction, Johnny Ammo Seed and Leadhead—and one Terminal, The Path.
Where is the Malfunction Skull?
After defeating the two white Hunters at Rally Point Alpha, turn away from the objective, drop toward the Covenant dropship, enter the nearby door and follow the passage behind the turret to the small bridge or ground area.
Where is Johnny Ammo Seed?
In the palace-like section, use Johnson’s training room and its horizontal purple cylinder as landmarks. Go to the second floor, turn back toward the previous area, take the left of the two rear exits and follow the elevated ledge.
Do I collect Leadhead before or after the gravity lift?
Before. In the lift-preparation room, take the back-left door beside the lift and follow the corridor to its end.
Where is The Path Terminal?
After collecting Leadhead, ride the gravity lift. At the upper section, turn around and check the short hallways behind the nearby doors; The Path is just off the lift landing.
What controls activate these collectibles?
The default Interact control is X on Xbox, Square on PlayStation and E on keyboard. A nearby collectible also gives an audible cue.
Do the three Boarding Action Skulls unlock every Skull modifier?
They complete Boarding Action’s three-Skull set. Any three Skulls collected across the game unlock Adaptation, Armistice, Reload and Campaign Remix; the unlock is based on the total count, not these specific three.
Is The Path required for the mission achievement or trophy?
Yes. Souvenirs requires the complete Boarding Action set, so activate The Path as well as all three Skulls.
The Bottom Line
Follow four landmarks in order: the dropship after the white Hunters for Malfunction, the purple-cylinder training room’s upper left exit for Johnny Ammo Seed, the back-left lift corridor for Leadhead, and the short halls behind the upper lift for The Path. Activate all four to complete Boarding Action’s collectibles and count the mission toward Souvenirs.
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