Nightdive’s new edition of the classic PC game System Shock has a few new features, including a series of cameos by Nightdive’s official mascot Skully. Here’s where to find Skully on every deck of Citadel Station and how to unlock the Head Hunter achievement.
System Shock Remake: How to Unlock the Head Hunter Achievement
Skully is hidden somewhere on each of the 10 decks on Citadel Station. In order to get credit towards Head Hunter, you must get up close and interact with him, which changes the color of the skull inside his helmet.
He’s made himself difficult to find, however. Skully is always found in some hard-to-spot overhead compartment. Skully’s compartments are also frequently but not necessarily marked by a particularly enormous, slightly inexplicable bloodstain on a nearby wall.
- Deck 0: Reactor
- Deck 1: Medical
- Deck 2: Research
- Deck 3: Maintenance
- Deck 4: Storage
- Deck 5: Flight Deck
- Deck 6: Executive
- Deck 7: Engineering
- Deck 8: Security
- Deck 9: Bridge
How to Get the Turbo-Motion Boots
You need to be able to hover to reach Skully, which means you need the Turbo-Motion Boots. I found that I was able to get a couple of Skullies with v2 of the Boots, which I found early on in the Storage Deck, but you need v3 to get to them all. Fortunately, the v3 Boots are lying right out in the open in the Engineering Deck’s Delta Quadrant (below).
Once you’ve got the best Boots, you can backtrack through the rest of Citadel to get the first 8 Skullies. As a mildly spoilery word of caution, though, the Security Deck is a (completely unlabeled) point of no return. Once you leave the elevator room on Security, you don’t seem to be able to return to the rest of Citadel Station, and once you’ve reached the Bridge, you definitely can’t. If you’re aiming for Head Hunter, find the first eight Skullies before you head to Security.
Deck 0: Reactor
There’s a warren of tunnels on the west side of the Reactor Deck, which are reasonably far away from any of the crucial local systems. The hidden alcove with Skully in it is almost exactly on the map’s westernmost point. Your auto-map will likely pick it up on your way past.
Deck 1: Medical
On the north end of the maintenance tunnels on the west side of the map, keep an eye on the ceiling. Skully is hidden in the ductwork near the small room that connects the tunnels with Alpha Quadrant.
If you start in Alpha Quadrant, go through the door and down the two ramps in the tunnels. If you look up from the top of the second ramp, you’ll spot the alcove with Skully in it.
Deck 2: Research
Return to the formerly-radioactive room on the west side of the Gamma Quadrant. If you go to the south end of the room and look up, Skully is found on the right side of the pit in the center of the room.
Deck 3: Maintenance
Once you’ve unlocked the four maintenance tunnels, go into Gamma Maintenance on the south side of the map. Skully is hidden on the northwest end of the tunnels.
Deck 4: Storage
Face the recycle station and turn 180 degrees. If you look up and to your left, you should see a big bloodstain on the wall, which leads up to a short, unlocked door near the ceiling.
Climb the stack of boxes beneath it and hover up to the door, then crouch in midair to fit through it. Skully’s on the other side.
Deck 5: Flight Deck
The Flight Bays aren’t labeled by number on your map, but do have numbers on their walls. Flight Bay 1 is the one with the wrecked shuttle in it, north of the ritzy executive area.
If you jump onto the roof of the shuttle and face south, you can take a running hover-jump towards a gap in the safety railing on the balcony (circled and brightened above). This even works with v2 Boots as long as you hit the gap. There isn’t much up here, but if you open the door to the west, you’ll find our man Skully.
Deck 6: Executive
This is arguably the easiest Skully to find on a blind run. In Beta Quadrant, in the hallway that leads up to the lounge and casino, one of the doors along the north side of the hall leads to a library. If you explore that room, your automap will pick up a hidden room against its back wall.
Once you’ve got the v3 Hover Boots, you can float up through the hole at the top of the bookcase and investigate that compartment to find Skully.
Deck 7: Engineering
The Engineering Deck is confusing and difficult to navigate, but the secret sauce is to grab the Turbo-Motion Boots v3 right away, as above.
Once you’ve got them, you can hit up the Core, which is found almost directly east from the elevator to the Executive Deck. You can use a ladder to reach the Core’s second floor from the ground level, but need the Boots to get high enough to reach the third.
From the third floor, hover up into the rafters above the Gamma Quadrant exit from the Core. Skully is up near the ceiling. It’ll probably take you a couple of tries. If you’re having trouble with it, head into Beta before you start to unlock this level’s infirmary, which contains a power station.
Deck 8: Security
Skully’s hanging out in a hidden room on the Security Deck’s central pillar. It’s only accessible right when you’re about to exit the area, once you’ve enabled the second force bridge.
From outside the northern door that’ll take you to the Bridge Deck elevator, turn around and face southeast to spot the ledge in question (circled above). Hover over to it to find a concealed, unlocked door. Skully’s on the other side.
Afterward, you can return to the far side of the bridge with the Hover Boots v3. Otherwise, you have to drop back down to ground level and retrace your steps back through the central pillar.
Deck 9: Bridge
From the elevator, head west to find this deck’s armory, which like most of the armories on Citadel, is labeled with a grenade icon on the wall. Inside, look for the blood-covered ledge on the wall opposite the Modkit Station. While you still need the Boots to get inside, this is arguably the most obvious Skully of the lot.
Unlike every other Skully, there’s actually some loot in the room with him. You’ll find a couple of railgun cartridges as a reward for spotting the final Skully.
That’s how to track down all the Skully mascots in the 2023 System Shock remake and unlock the Head Hunter achievement. For more tips, check out our guides hub.
