Template:Appearances
This page lists the locations of all ~570 skull gems in Jak II. A skull gem is a glowing yellow gem obtained from killing metal heads. Collecting skull gems is related to trophies titled "Head Over Heels", "Head Cheese", and "Head Master". Collecting 50, 250, and 510 skull gems unlocks a bronze, silver, and gold trophy, respectively.
Pumping station
Find pumping station valve
- 1–3/10 – Upon entering the location you will see three manic heads a little further ahead on the beach.
- 4/10 – The next manic head you encounter right after the first two znorkle tooths (after the turning pipe).
- 5/10 – And on the metal platform after that one is the fifth.
- 6/10 – As you go round the cliff here you will encounter the sixth, together with two znorkle tooths.
- 7–8/10 – And shortly after the glubs after that one, when you jump down a ledge, are two more.
- 9–10/10 – At the steps to the valve you will encounter the last two.
Protect Sig at the pumping station
- 1–2/22 – Once you approach Sig he will automatically attack the enemies in front of you, there are two juice goons amidst the znorkle tooths.
- 3–4/22 – After Sig blows the tanker you can find another two juice goons on the bridge ahead.
- 5–9/22 – After Sig kills the first trophy Metal Head, follow him to the beach where five juice goons will attack you.
- 10–11/22 – After killing the second trophy enemy the next two juice goons can be found on the next metal bridge.
- 12–14/22 – After killing the third trophy Sig will hop on some platforms onto a beach section, there are three juice goons here.
- 15–22/22[a] – When you finish the fourth trophy, Sig moves onto the larger segment of the beach and you will be ambushed by two juice goons. Shortly after, Sig's gun will break down and you are forced to defend him as more juice goons keep spawning up until a maximum of eight, though you will only have to fight two at a time. Sig will rejoin you for the final two or so.
Find pumping station patrol
- 1/29 – There will only be a single spyder gunner once you enter the area.
- 2–3/29 – Jumping onto the metal platform and going right leads you to two juice goons.
- 4–6/29 – Moving forward and down onto the beach again you can see three more spyder gunners towards your left, across the water.
- 7–10/29 – Jump onto the newly raised turning metal things and climb onto the path at the cliff. The last four metal heads, two spyder gunners and two juice goons are in the final area.
- 11–15/29[a] – After the cutscene you will ambushed by an average of 15 metal heads (juice goons and spyder gunners). Ashelin will be fighting with you.
Sewers
Destroy turrets in sewers
- 1/17 – The very first grunt appears in a unique scene shortly after destroying the first sentry gun. Once you walk past the metal grating covering the pipes the camera will zoom in and the grunt will lunge at you but hit the grating. You only need to hit it once to get the skull gem.
- 3–4/17 – After a few normal enemies you will encounter a dark room, press the button on the floor to reveal three grunts.
- 5–12/17 – When you destroy the second turret you can walk onto a metal pathway. It will collapse leading you into a room filled with eight grunts.
- 13–15/17 – After some more normal enemies you will come upon a dark tunnel with three more grunts near the end.
- 16–17/17 – After beating the final turret and heading to the starting area, you will be ambushed by the last two grunts.
Escort men through sewers
- 1–3/21 – After going down the elevator there will be three hoseheads in the hallway around the corner.
- 4–6/21 – In the next room you will be ambushed by a total of eight hoseheads, only three have a skull gem.
- 7–10/21 – After blowing up the debris anf going through the tunnel, you will see two more hoseheads at the end of the path. At the same time another two will spawn behind back at the previous room.
- 11–14/21 – After going down the elevator, wait till Jinx and his team have gone halfway through the path, two hoseheads will appear in front of them, as well as two behind them.
- 15–17/21 – Moving forward you will be able to take down another three hoseheads, right around the corner at the end.
- 18–20/21 – The next three hoseheads are in a similar position as the previous three, go around the corner and you will see them at end.
- 21/21 – The final attack begins straight after a cutscene, you will be ambushed by a huge amount of hoseheads. However, only one has a skull gem.
Strip mine
Rescue Vin at strip mine
Note: The strip mine area will randomly spawn stingers at some areas when you pass by them, it appears that they use the same seed as previously spawned stingers as they will often not spawn with a new skull gem. However, in some cases it is possible they use a new seed and thus do drop a skull gem. Due to this, the total amount of skull gems can vary slightly from 47 to about 53, though more is likely possible if you correctly manage to exploit the seed mechanic.
- 6/50 – In the first open space you will be attacked by three stingers, with three grunts coming down the hill up ahead as well.
- 7-16/50 – After the grunts, turn left and a metal jacket will attack you from the front. Behind it is a small moving walkway, in the vicinity of which reside four grunts and five stingers. Avoid heading up the walkway as more enemies will spawn continuously in the area up ahead.
- 17-19/50 – Turn right and three stringers will ambush you at the cliffside, next to the large structure which holds up the rail system above you. Metal jackets will also spawn, high up in the sky, and though they can be called it is best to avoid them for now.
- 20-21/50 – Return to the walkway and go left, a lone grunt stalks the area in front of the eco well.
- 22-25/50 – In front of the well, turn right and look for the two grunts in this small passage. Two stingers will also spawn.
- 25-41/50 – Return to the walkway and continue into the passage between the two hills, a large number of stingers and grunts will ambush you from the beginning of this path to the building at the end.
- 42/50 – One grunt is waiting at the spot between the two slanted conveyor belts.
- 43-45/50 – Three grunts await you at the top of the building.
- 46-48/50 –As you move onto the mine carriages one metal jacket, followed by two more after that one, will attack you.
- 49-50/50 - At the other side, where Vin is hiding, are the last grunt and stinger.
Drill platform
Destroy eggs at drill platform
- 1–4/77 – Approaching the first square space will result in four ginsu's flying onto the area.
- 5–10/77 – The next platform has six ginsus.
- 11–16/77 – Entering the turret will lead to six wasps attacking you.
- 17/77 – Go through the wall you just destroyed and you will have to fight a centurion.
- 18–27/77 – In the big open area after the centurion there's a swarm of 10 ginsus.
- 28–31/77 – After moving on a little and hitting the lever and jumping on the platform, you will be ambushed by four ginsus.
- 32–35/77 – The next platform has four ginsus as well.
- 36–41/77 – After the wasp destroys the bridge, a total of six ginsus are awaiting a little up ahead.
- 42–43/77 – Use the elevator to go up and fight another two ginsus.
- 44–52/77 – Enter the turret and nine wasps will attack you in succession.
- 53–60/77 – After destroying the eggs, use the elevator to go down and eight ginsus lie in waiting at the bottom.
- 61/77 – Go through the wall you just destroyed and fight a second centurion.
- 62–65/77 – After swinging on some pipes and landing on the next area, four ginsus will attack you.
- 66–75/77 – Once you enter the final turret, ten wasps will attack you.
- 76–77/77 – Destroy the last of the eggs and use the elevator to go down, the final two ginsus are at the bottom.
Destroy ship at drill platform
- 1–4/4 – After defeating the 40 hover guards the gunpod will move towards the next platform and come to a halt. Upon exiting it you will be attacked by four ginsu's.
Destroy drill platform tower
- 1–2/9 – After placing the titan suit on the elevator and jumping up the platform, there's two grunts in front of you next to the levers.
- 3–4/9 – A few rooms further you will encounter two grunts on two separate platforms, separated by gaps.
- 5–9/9 – Once you enter the control tower you will automatically be attacked by five more grunts.
Mountain Temple
Find lens in Mountain Temple
- 1–2/27 – Once you exit the elevator you will see two manic heads.
- 3–6/27 – Go left after the first two and you will have to fight a centurion, after defeating him and moving near the ledge, three hoppers will ambush you from a little higher up.
- 7/27 – Once you enter the next large open area you will have to fight a ram head.
- 8/27 – After the ram head, climb the platforms sticking out to encounter another centurion.
- 9–12/27 – After a series of jumping platforms you will stumble upon another small pool, four hoppers will jump out and attack you.
- 13–19/27 – After the pool a total of six manic heads will attack you, there's a centurionat the end of the path as well.
- 20–27/27 – Once you press the button and climb onto the next area you will be ambushed by a total of eight hoppers.
Find gear in Mountain Temple
- 1–3/8 – Using the moving platform from the last mission you will have been returned to the big temple near the start. There are three hoppers in this room.
- 4/8 – Take the middle path and make your way down to the big open area, a ram head will attack you.
- 5–8/8 – When you climb up the cliff and enter a tunnel, you will encounter four manic head.
Find shard in Mountain Temple
- 1–3/27 – Once back at the temple room near the start, enter the final doorway leading into a small canyon. There are three manic heads here.
- 4–25/27 – After the manic heads you will be ambushed by a swarm of hoppers, reach the end of the tunnel to stop them.
- 16/27[c] – After the hopper swarm, jump down to face a centurion. Note that although this is indeed a swarm, the possible amount of skull gems available caps out at 22. The hoppers will keep spawning, but once they do not drop any more gems it is save to pick up those you had to avoid till now.
- 17/27 – Moving on, once you solve the cube–pathway puzzle you will face the final ram head on a big precursor platform.
Dead Town
Protect site in Dead Town
- 1–5/42 – At the very start, four stingers will appear out of the sand and attack you. After the stingers you will see a grunt straight ahead.
- 6–7/42 – Climb up on the scaffolding and there are another two grunts on the wall.
- 8–10/42 – Moving on you will be attacked by a sling blaster, with two grunts in its vicinity.
- 11–18/42 – The next big open space has another two sling Blasters, once you approach them a total of six stingers will attack you as well.
- 19–20/42 – Climb on the wall and two more grunts will attack you.
- 21–28/42 – The next big open area features a rapid gunner as well as three stingers, defeating the gunner will result in four grunts attacking you.
- 29–34/42 – In the next room there's one gunner on the floor to the left, behind him in a corner, on a higher platform is another gunner. Behind the second gunners position is a room with four grunts that attack you when you advance onto his position.
- 35–40/42 – Once you exit the previous room you will be attacked by five stingers and a single grunt.
- 41–42/42 – Defeat the previous attack and a little way around the corner are the final two sling Blasters.
Get Life Seed in Dead Town
- 1/7 – After breaking the first wall, a lone grunt will attack you.
- 2–3/7 – There are two grunts right after the second wall.
- 4/7 – After moving the concrete block into position and jumping onto the higher ledges you will enter a hallway, there's a rapid gunner at the end.
- 5–6/7 – After the second block you have to move you will come upon a square are with two more rapid gunners.
- 7/7 – The last rapid gunner is found shortly after you knock down the first pillar.
Haven Forest
Catch scouts in Haven Forest
- 1–5/5 – There's a total of five scouts in this area. One is in the first open space you arrive, another is running around over the lake (flying over the bridges and logs). A third is found slightly ahead, the fourth is in the area with the two large bridges and the grind–rail connecting them. The last one can be found in the area around the large tree.
Hunt Haven Forest metal heads
- 1–30/30 – Due to the nature of this mission (relatively wide open area, metal heads that can wander from one area into another, clear maximum amount of gems, locations on the map) the exact locations of the metal heads and their gems isn't listed. The only six metal heads, spyder gunners, that stay in one area can be found in two locations (three each). The first one is straight in front of you when exiting the small tunnel if you follow the river. The other tree are behind the Great Tree in the forest.
Take note that the cloakers can use the tunnel behind the Great Tree to enter the starting area. In average there's around ten to fifteen (counting the ones that will come through the tunnel) cloakers here. Another five (or more depending on your initial kills in the starting area) in the area around the tree and the last five can be found in the area between the lake and the two bridges leading up to the tree.
Haven City
Intercept tanker
- 1–16/16[a] – Approaching Ashelin will start the mission, a group of 16 metal heads (grunts and juice goons) will appear out of the tanker one by one, though the mission starts with five who already climbed out.
Invasion
Due to the nature of the invasion there is an infinite amount of metal heads (stingers, grunts and cloakers, though the latter never drop gems) appearing throughout the city, and an equal number of guards killing them, generating skull gems within your vicinity. Although swarm mechanics do apply, in fact as soon as one gem is picked up none of the metal heads will drop another, the skull gems will forcibly disappear on their own if you do not stay close to them and might even vanish on their own regardless. Considering this, it is possible to stay in one place and try to kill metal heads as they come near you while relying on the swarm mechanic to cause them to drop gems and avoid picking them up yourself. Despite all this, you will eventually run out of ammunition and health, as thus, the likeliest maximum amount of gems one can collect lies around the number of 10.
Defend stadium
Although swarm mechanics do partially apply, as respawning metal heads continue to drop gems as long as they are not picked up, the gems disappear completely at the end of the mission. As thus, one must carefully balance killing the enemies and defending the older Samos and younger Samos while also picking up the gems without trying to void the swarm mechanic and causing metal heads to respawn without a skull gem. The potential maximum of gems lies in the forties, though the more likely final amount while still successfully completing the mission is around 20 to 25.
As for the variety of metal heads; there will be stingers from the gardens to your left, they may swerve around and come from the front or rear. Grunts will spawn at the top of the steps to your right and will meet you at the bottom or come up from behind. Lastly, hoppers will spawn from the fountains and often quite close to Samos and Samos.
Dig site
Get seal piece at dig
- 1–5/63 – Use the big elevator platform to enter the dig site, here you will immediately encounter five stingers.
- 6–7/63 – Right after the stingers you will enter the first cave, there are two manic heads on the walkway.
- 8–12/63 – After beating the manic heads, use the jet board to go down the pipe. Below you five stingers will burrow out of the ground.
- 13–16/63 – When you've defeated the previous stingers, go forward and you will encounter two manic heads and a little behind them two stingers (right next to the first button).
- 17–19/63 – Go back a little and jump the first spinning log–trap, a few steps ahead are another two manic heads and a sling Blaster.
- 20–21/63 – Go back again a little and this time go right into the corner, use the metal structures to make your way down to the second button. At the bottom there are two manic heads on your left.
- 22–25/63 – After going left, go right, four stingers will spawn. Note that after the original four there shall continually spawn a new stinger.
- 26–32/63 – Move left and jump over the lava–filled gap. In this larger patch of ground there are seven skull gems, though you will have to walk around and wait until all the stingers have spawned. There will also be stingers without gems that spawn together with the ones with gems, note that they shall continually respawn as well.
- 33/63 – Make your way to the makeshift walkways again and the last sling Blaster will be close by.
- 34–38/63 – Go back to the spot where you killed the first sling Blaster, and a little further ahead is another patch of ground with five stingers (these respawn as well).
- 39–48/63 – After you swung your way over the lava with the trapeze, approach the big log. In the patch of ground at the bottom here is a continually respawning amount of stingers. Five will have skull gems, the steps right after the stingers have five manic heads as well.
- 49–51/63 – Moving forward you will encounter another three stingers.
- 52–53/63 – Past the sinking rocks is a small area with another two stingers.
- 54–62/63 – Once you made your way back to the first cave, jump down onto the ground. There's a total of nine stingers with skull gems in this area, as well as the ones without that respawn.
- 63/63 – Make your way back up to the scaffolding and play as normal, you will encounter the last sling Blaster after the second spinning set of platforms.
Underport
Find Sig in Underport
- 1–2/10 – The first two squid heads are found after the second mine, above the area up the stairs.
- 3–4/10 – The second two are in the room with the many mines (the one after the third air spot).
- 5–7/10 – In a little while you will come upon a long bridge, there are three squid heads swimming around in this room.
- 8–9/10 – In the next room there's another two squid heads.
- 10/10 – The last squid head is in the last room, before the exit.
Escort Sig in Underport
- 1–3/3 – After the second puzzle Sig will tell you to solve the third, in the meantime he will fight off an infinitely amount of respawning grunts. The first three have a skull gem.
Metal Head nest
Note: This location cannot be revisited, therefore all gems can only be acquired during these two missions.
Break barrier at nest
- 1–5/15 – At the start of the area, walk forward a little and you will be attacked by four mantises as well as a flying spider.
- 6–15/15 – After turning the crank and jumping up the wall, you will be attacked by 6 more mantises. A little further and atop the steps is another flying spider and three more mantises.
Attack the Metal Head nest
- 1–11/50 – Be aware this is a long open pass and every few steps you will trigger more enemies to spawn, in the first section you will have to fight a total of nine mantises and two flying spiders.
- 12–22/50 – Up ahead four more spiders and seven mantises will attack you.
- 23–32/50 – In the pass below with the lone grunt elephant blocking the thing path around six mantises will attack you, with four more flying spiders behind the elephant coming to attack you.
- 33–39/50 – Seven more mantises attack you as you head up the path after the spiders.
- 40–50/50 – Right before the entrance to the hear of the nest you are assaulted by the last ten mantises.
Defeat Metal Kor at nest
- 1–17/17 – During the fight with Metal Kor he will spawn several stingers in his first phase, as well as wasps in the second phase. There should be about ten skull gems for the stingers and seven for the wasps.
Notes
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