Chapter 2, Challenge 6: complete the chapter without alerting anyone
Three targets, no witnesses, and the most-restarted challenge of all 36. The route is not the problem. The problem is that the game never tells you what “alerting” means.
The developers have named this one
IllFonic lists this as one of four story challenges players keep failing, and says it can be done:
“While from a technical standpoint, all of the challenges in the singleplayer story mode are now completable, we understand that several continue to give players consistent difficulties.”
So it is not flatly broken, but it is not easy either. IllFonic has said it may make it easier; Patches 1.0.3 and 1.0.4 did not touch it, so the method below still applies.
The three targets, and what to wait for
Almost every failed run is a timing failure, not a routing one. Each target has a moment where their back is turned and nobody else is looking, and the rest of their routine is a trap.
Target 1Ericin the hardware store
Wait out his sweeping routine from outside the back door. He picks up the broom, turns his back, and that is the grab.
Target 2Rachelin the cemetery
Only take her while she is stopped at a gravestone, never while she is walking; the walking grab is what botches. Wait, too, for the man relieving himself at the tree to finish and wander off. He ruins a lot of runs.
Target 3Tanyain the record shop
Most runs cut the power at the side of the building and take her at the fuse box. If that keeps failing, leave the power alone and take her inside instead.
Rachel’s three friends are not targets. You can leave them alive, and killing one does not fail the challenge. They matter only as eyes.
Two kill orders, and the one to try first
The challenge text says nothing about order, yet changing the order is what finally gets most stuck players through. Take Rachel before Tanya. Tanya-first attempts are the ones that fail most.
Eric, Rachel, Tanya, step by step
- Take Eric through the door behind where he sweeps. Stalk him, wait outside that door, walk in slowly while he is sweeping and grab him from behind. Confirm the surprise line before moving on.
- Go to the cemetery next, not the record shop. Wait for Rachel’s friends to clear off, stalk her to the first tier, and grab her mid-animation, leaning at a gravestone or smoking by the car. Hide her body.
- Cut the power, wait for Tanya to go to the fuse box, stalk to the first tier and grab her before she turns. Leave her body where it falls, shape-jump to Judith Myers’ grave, and the cutscene ends the chapter.
Leaving Tanya’s body where it falls is part of the method. If that run still fails, try hiding her in the dumpster instead.
Why the same run passes for one player and not another
The surprise line is almost always needed, but it is not the whole rule. These are the ways a run that looks clean still goes wrong.
Surprise on all three, and it still failed
The most common complaint. Some players get both the surprise and the stealth-kill lines on every target and still see no completion at the end, even after dozens of attempts.
Passing without it
The reverse happens too. The line can fail to appear on Eric and the challenge still completes at the end of the same run: I'm kind of worried though that the cuz the first kill Eric didn't say surprise even though I surprised him.
The feed is a good guide to what the game is checking, not the check itself. If the line is missing on one kill but you know you were unseen, finish the chapter before restarting.
A voice line may break it
If a target says something before the grab, the run may fail even with surprise and stealth on all three. It does not happen every time, so treat a target speaking as a warning sign rather than a certain fail, and grab earlier on the next attempt.
The chapter reloads instead of finishing
If the chapter restarts from the beginning when you reach the gravestone, that is the story-mode saving problem, not your run. Patch 1.0.4 fixed crashes after finishing a story mission; if it still happens, see the note on the challenge hub.
I think the fact that the community is split between people this works for and doesn't is the most infuriating part.
Things you can stop worrying about
- Skipping cutscenes does not fail it.
- Shape-jumping to the grave at the end is fine; plenty of successful runs finish that way.
- A grab animation that visibly fumbles on Rachel can still count.
- The detection diamond rises a little whenever you approach from behind. Keep it below half; it does not need to stay at zero.
Watch a clean run
Uncut, including the waiting
Halloween: The Game - Chapter 2 Challenge 6 Uncut Guide (How I Finally Did It)
Jacob Fox
Uncut matters here. Edited guides cut the waiting, and the waiting is the challenge. This run leaves in the standing around outside the hardware store and the pause at the tree in the cemetery.
Common questions
What is the surprise prompt in Chapter 2 Challenge 6?
When you grab someone who never saw you coming, the XP feed on the left of the screen adds a line reading surprise. Treat that line as proof the kill was clean, and restart the chapter when it does not appear.
Which order should you kill Eric, Rachel and Tanya in?
Eric, then Rachel, then Tanya works most often, especially if Tanya-first attempts have been failing. Eric, Tanya, Rachel also passes. The order is not in the challenge text.
Do you have to kill Rachel's friends?
No. You can finish the challenge without touching them, and killing one does not fail it either. They only matter as witnesses.
Does skipping the cutscene or shape-jumping to the grave break the challenge?
No. You can skip cutscenes and shape-jump to the final gravestone and still complete it.
Can you restart from the checkpoint or do you have to restart the chapter?
A checkpoint restart sometimes keeps your earlier kill and the challenge still completes, but resumed runs fail more often. If a run is already shaky, restart the chapter from the menu.
Is Chapter 2 Challenge 6 bugged?
Partly. Clean runs with the surprise line on all three targets still fail often enough to be a known problem. IllFonic has named it as one of four story challenges it may make easier, but no patch has changed it yet.
Keep going
All six Chapter 2 challenges
The register execution, Slab at the tree, the shelf in the hardware store and the rest.
Chapter 5, Challenge 6
The police car challenge that looks broken because the tick arrives at the exit.
Stalk tiers and executions
What the stalk meter is doing, and which executions need which tier.