A Preference for Pain Achievement in Halo: The Master Chief Collection

As with any of the playlists dedicated to the Halo 3 Campaign, the LASO Campaign playlist will task players in completing all nine missions on the Legendary difficulty with all skulls on. Take note however that the developer has selected a preset number of skulls for this Campaign, so all the skull modifiers aren’t technically activated. With that said, this achievement can be earned in either Solo or Co-Op play.

What’s more, it’s important to remember that only scoring skulls will be activated. These generally reward players with higher score multipliers and bonuses to base enemy values (for Par Score achievements). Non-scoring skulls on the other hand are sometimes neutral, such as Grunt Birthday Party, or considered “cheat skulls” such as Bandana and Scarab Gun. Below, you can get a glimpse of all the skulls that will be activated in the Halo 3 LASO Campaign playlist.

• Black Eye - Your shields only recharge when you melee enemies. Bash your way to better health!
• Blind - HUD and weapon do not display onscreen.
• Catch - Enemies throw and drop more grenades.
• Cowbell - Acceleration from explosions is increased.
• Famine - Weapons dropped by AI have half the ammo they normally would. You might want to pack an extra magazine.
• Fog - The motion tracker is disabled. You'll miss those eyes in the back of your head.
• Grunt Birthday Party – Grunt headshots lead to glorious celebrations.
• Iron - Death carries a heavy price. Dying in co-op resets you at your last saved checkpoint. Dying solo restarts the level.
• IWHBYD - Rare combat dialogue becomes more common.
• Mythic - Enemies have increased health.
• Thunderstorm – Upgrades the rank of most enemies.
• Tilt – Enemy resistances and weaknesses are increased.
• Tough Luck – Enemies always go berserk, always dive out of the way, never flee.

As a few general tips, keep the following suggestions in mind when tackling this achievement. First, take combat slowly and try picking off enemies from afar with short controlled bursts of medium-ranged weapons like the Battle Rifle or Covenant Carbine. Since your HUD and weapon will not appear on screen, it may take some time in getting used to the “blinded” touch. Also, choose your shots wisely and always aim for vulnerable weak spots since ammo is scarce on the battlefield, and enemies will have increased health and resistances. Second, since deaths will revert your progress to the mission-start, it’s highly recommended to attempt this achievement in Co-Op play. Lastly, enemies are going to be agile in combat, diving away from your shots and throwing a lot of grenades, so don’t forget the basics of cover, and when necessary, close-quarters combat, especially since shields will only recharge upon melee attacks.

For an in-depth, text-based guide in completing Halo: 3's LASO playlist (either by yourself or through Co-Op play), please refer to THIS GUIDE. A huge thanks goes to Mythic Tyrant for making such a guide available to the Halo community.

Overall, with enough persistence and skill, the Halo 3 LASO Campaign playlist shouldn’t be too hard if you follow Tyrant's walkthrough. Just take the missions slowly and once the ninth mission has been completed through this playlist, the achievement will unlock.