Call of Duty: Ghosts

The bane of almost every Extinction player's existence are challenges. Yes, they are back with a vengeance.

Challenges are additional objectives given to you upon each attempted destruction of each hive (in addition to your first encounter with the Breeder) with high degrees of variation and difficulty. To expound on this:

• Some challenges are easy, some are hard, and some come towards the end and are extremely ‘cheap’ using AI parlance.
• There are patterns in the challenges and their timing. However, they are not consistent.
• Some of these “quantity-based” challenges are dependent on the number of players (1-4).
• Some of these challenges are common, and a few are rare but they do appear.

With all the above in mind, the key is to be mentally prepared for any unpredictability. With that said, here are some types of challenges. It is best to approach this using a team of four players given the variation in types of challenges and the variation in loadouts amongst different players.

1) Kill (X number of) Aliens using (X type of weapons) before the hive is destroyed: The first variable, X number of, is dependent on the number of players (15 to 25 kills, depending on how many players are on the map). The second variable is independent, meaning the type of weapon the challenge will require will be random. Very often, but not always, you will get pistol-kills challenges in the first area but given the frequent and unpredictable nature of this challenge, it is best to upgrade your pistol ability three times to be allowed an extra, third weapon (thanks to General-Battye for this tip!). Another big issue faced by many is not knowing where weapons are, so with that in mind: I) SMGs: 1) Vector CRB (first one): It costs $1,500 and it is located on the rooftop of the centre building of the first area, at the far east end of the rooftop (assuming the starting point of the map is south).
2) Vector CRB (second one): It also costs $1,500 and it is located at the crate in the middle of the second area. It is by an electric trap.
3) Vepr: It costs $1,500 and is in the third area. It is on the roof of a room to your left-hand side if you enter. II) Assault Rifles: 1) Maverick: It costs $1,500 and is dropped by the soldier you encounter at the beginning of the map. (Warning! As soon as you clear the fourth hive in the first area, this gun disappears)
2) ARX-160 (first one): It costs $2,000. It is located in the upper level catwalk on the right-hand building in the second area. It should be at the end of the catwalk by an intel.
3) ARX-160 (second one): It costs $2,000. It is located in the upper levels of the third area (Weapon Facility). You need to climb up to the mezzanine of the central building/room, and you’ll find it on that level by the stairs to the highest floor (also a location of a hive). III) Shotguns: 1) MTS-225: It costs $1,500. It is by the garage door of the first area’s main building, facing the opposite direction of the entrance point.
2) Bulldog: It costs $1,500. It is located in the very second room upon entering the third area (Weapon Facility). It’ll be on the floor across from the obelisk. IV) Light Machine Guns (LMGs): 1) LSAT: It costs $3,000. It is located in the first area, on the roof of the first building, inside a far-left room that is (always) blocked by a hive.
2) Chain SAW: It costs $3,000. It is in the second area (Compound). It is in the middle room of the northernmost edge of the area and it is (always) protected by a hive. V) Sniper Rifles: 1) SVU: It costs $2,000. It is located in the first area. It is in the middle of the main building’s rooftop, leaned against the wall. It is located between the first Vector CBR and the LSAT room.
2) VKS (first one): It costs $1,500. It is located in the first area. It is in the north-northeast/far righthand part of the first area, nearby a hive location. It’s leaning against a “Alaska Lights Industries” generator.
3) VKS (second one): It costs $1,500. It is located in second area (Compound). It is the northwest part of the second area, by a crate.
4) L115: It costs $2,000. It is located in the third area (Weapon Facility). It is in the final room right before the torn wall into the Weapon Facility. 2) Keep shot accuracy at 50% or higher until the hive is destroyed: Very easy. Make sure one person takes one shot at a Cryptid to get the accuracy to 100% (or 50% if there are missed shots). Keep the accuracy that way by relying on melee kills thereafter until the hive is down.

3) Don't go into last stand until the hive is destroyed: Simple. One goes into last stand when their health bar is depleted. Thankfully, this challenge appears only in the first area but it may get overwhelming, what with the Scorpion ambush and the occasional seekers. Since your upgrades will be low, it’s best to stay cautious.

4) Don't bleed out until the hive is destroyed: Bleeding out happens after your health bar is depleted AND your timer runs out when you go into Last Stand. If one does go into Last Stand, make sure they are revived immediately. Otherwise, staying alive is key.

5) Protect a random player from going into final stand: Shen the timer on the challenge announcement popup runs up, a random player from the team will be designated. When that happens, said random player will have a green sign that says “Defend.” Make sure they are defended, by constant supply of armour and proximity to Medics

6) Kill 10 aliens using Traps: Traps on this map are either electric fences (small purchasable generators) or fire traps (oil drums). Activate them and make sure you are situated where enemies will have to go through the traps to get to you.

7) Kill 10 aliens using Turrets: Another easy challenge. You can either deploy use sentries, portable turrets, Vultures (they do count for this challenge) or purchase a ‘mounted’ turret ($850). Kill ten enemies with any or all aforementioned combinations and you’re set.

8) Kill 25 aliens while prone: Going prone means lying flat on your stomach: You do that by pressing to crouch, and again press and hold to go prone. From there start shooting. While prone, you need to kill using your equipped weapon. Kills incurred from deployed artillery while prone (i.e. sentries) and traps do NOT count.

9) Kill 15 Scouts with melee damage before the hive is destroyed: this appears in the first area: It is as simple as it’s stated. Use to stab until the attacked enemy is down. Scouts take two stabs to kill (three with "Do Less Damage" Relic equipped. Make sure you and your teammates get 15 melee kills before the hive is destroyed.

10) Kill 5 aliens while they are in the air before the hive is destroyed: This is not as difficult as it may seem. It is a challenge that will come up later. While precision is key, it is not necessary. A neat trick is to activate the fire traps. The damage from these traps is incremental. So when they are on fire, they will continue to charge and jump. While midair, the damage from the fire will finally deplete the Cryptid's health and they will be killed while they are in the air!

11) Kill a Scorpion with melee damage before the hive is destroyed: This is a challenge that you will most likely get in the Weapon Facility. Simply and relentlessly melee the yellow glowing bulb on the back of the Scorpion. Damage incurred from other sources do not count so long as the killing blow is from a melee (Thanks to Jerry Appleby for the tip!)

12) Find and kill the Leper in 30 seconds: Extremely rare but nonetheless game-breaking challenge. The Leper is a Cryptid between the sizes of a Scout and a Hunter (closer to Hunter). Feral Instinct might help. Just make sure to focus on killing any Hunter-looking Cryptid. However, if the Leper dies from Turrets or traps, the challenge is nullified as the challenge requires you to find and then kill him.

13) Don't reload your weapon for 60 seconds: Often nullified by mistake, this challenge requires you to not reload your weapon in any way, shape or form. This includes manual reloading, auto-reloading by emptying your clip or picking up ammo from the ground. Resort to non-ammo abilities, traps, and melee until the 60 seconds limit pass.

14) Don't use any abilities for 90 seconds: To put it in simple terms, do not use the d-pad. If you accidentally do so, do not press the button to activate them (depending on your controller scheme). Rely on regular shooting and traps for protection until 90 seconds have passed.

15) Don't spend any money for 2 minutes: Not only are you not allowed to use your d-pad to get abilities (i.e. ammo), but you are also not supposed to spend your money on anything, including traps and new weapons. You are essentially limited to what you have until 120 seconds have passed. This is exacerbated by the fact that this is a 'later' (usually second area) challenge when things get rough. Rely on what you have, be mindful not to buy anything until two minutes have passed. 16) Do not take any damage from exploding Seeker aliens until the hive is destroyed: One of the hardest challenges after the Leper challenge. The Seekers are small red, glowing Cryptids that explode upon demise or self-destruction. The problem is that the Seeker's explosion radius is so wide that it is hard to keep a distance. Knowledge is your only weapon here: you need to know that a) they spawn from meteors and b) during the whole drilling processes, 7-10 will appear. Activate distant traps and run away from meteor drop points and maybe you'll get lucky and actually pass this challenge!

17) Spend $10,000 (or $20,000) before the hive is destroyed: In other words, go nuts with your money! The amount to be spent is a random amount (either 10k or 20k). The key is spending, spending, spending. Also of importance are traps; not only are they affordable, but killing with Traps gives you money to to spend even more. If it's $20,000, you'd be surprised by the high chance that you do not make it, so spend and keep spending. It is a simple rule that is often forgotten!

18) Keep the drill health at 50 or higher until the hive is destroyed: it is ideal to have an Engineer class but you cannot foresee the future. Keep your tactics and go on normally while keeping an eye out. This challenge is easy but if a Hunter gets a hold of that drill, its health will go down faster than a crack addict in a prison rodeo. So if a Cryptid attacks the drill, killing it should be priority.

19) Kill 10 aliens while at full health before the hive is destroyed: (on solo, it's 3 aliens). Another easy challenge. Your health bar (green bar) should be full when you kill a Cryptid. Make sure to meet this condition when you kill 10 Cryptids. Vests add extra protection and this challenge is not contingent upon a full shield bar so use that to your advantage.

20) Kill 8 aliens by having each player cause damage before the hive is destroyed: (On solo or with a player count of less than 4, the requirement is 5 aliens). It's hard to make sure which Cryptid you shot, so it is best that you tell your teammate to shoot every Cryptid at least once. A Cryptid that is undamaged by you will have a white glowing aura around him, so shoot them too without killing them.

21) Kill 10 marked Aliens before the hive is destroyed: (on solo it's 3 aliens). "Marked" means Cryptids with a glowing white aura around them. These are the ones that you must kill. Avoid traps as they may inadvertently kill an unmarked Cryptid before you kill the ten marked ones. What makes this challenge challenging is the fact that unmarked Seekers will self-destruct and they will nullify the challenge, so a great deal of luck is involved here, and as such you must kill the marked Cryptids as quick as you can before Seekers spawn.

22) Kill 10 Aliens at a range of 65 ft before the hive is destroyed: Another difficult challenge rendered easy. The game will show you which Cryptid as at 65+ ft. distance by marking it with a white aura. Make sure those are killed. A neat trick is to activate distant traps and maintain a long distance from said trap (while keeping in mind that the distance is determined by the location of the Cryptid's death vis-à-vis the location of the trap activator!). Thanks to Jerry Appleby for the tip!

23) Kill 10 Aliens while standing in the circle: When this challenge appears, a circle will appear on the map. This circle will have a white, glowing, rotating edge. It is usually but not always near the hive you have to destroy You need to stand within this circle and kill 10 enemies. Outside traps kills do count if the kill occurs while the trap activator is inside in the circle (thanks to Jerry Appleby for the tip).

24) Kill 10 Aliens in 30 seconds: Go all out. Activate traps, deploy turrets/Vultures and shoot at smaller enemies. The only random but likely problems is that not enough enemies spawn within a time frame that makes this challenge doable, so a high degree of luck is involved!

25) Kill 10 Aliens without taking any damage: Perhaps the rarest of all Challenges, and the most dependent on luck. Your only option, other than restarting the game, is to use the flare, deployable sentries and vultures, while camping away in an area secluded by a useable trap. Given that Seekers are the most likely to inflict damage, given their wide explosion radius, it is best to shoot at the meteors as soon as the crash, to prevent them from spawning (you'll be effectively killing the ones inside the meteor as you are awarded with points and the counter for the 10 Aliens goes up).
  The remaining two challenges are related to the first encounter with the Breeder only and they do not appear anywhere afterwards. These are: 26) Defeat the Breeder in 90 seconds or less: Use manned turrets (either deployed or mounted). And if using a hand weapon (AR or LMG), make sure you shoot at close proximity to the Breeder (ideally by the yellow snow vehicle).

27) Destroy 10 Breeder eggs before they hatch: during the Breeder's multifarious attacks, he will launch yellow glowing orbs (two at once usually) intermittently. Make sure to shoot at them and destroy them before they hatch, as they hatch a few seconds after they land!

Once you complete the challenges, as the Trophy description says, you must defeat the final Breeder. Only then will you get the Trophy.