Gears of War: E-Day Collectibles

Collectible totals by Act

The 140 total is confirmed by adding up independent per-Act guides, which agree chapter by chapter. Some early guides listed lower numbers for Acts 1 and 2, but those pages were still marked as incomplete. The counts below are the ones that add up correctly.

Act 4 is the heaviest stretch for completionists, with the most collectibles and Hard Cases of any Act. Act 1 is the lightest, which makes it a good place to learn how the hunt works.

Four kinds of completion items

The campaign tracks four separate things, and picking up one never counts toward another. A full checklist marks around 300 locations in total once all four are combined. Here is what each one is and which achievement it feeds.

Supply Cache totals vary between guides, because some count the stations while others count the unlockable items. For that reason we do not list a number. Note that visiting every cache does not by itself complete Quartermaster, which requires unlocking all of the items.

Act 1 collectibles by chapter

Act 1 has 13 collectibles spread across its four chapters. The first is right at your feet: after the cutscene that introduces melee, look down for it. Another, a worker's helmet, sits in a small side room on your left as you pass through the indoor pipe areas on the way to the police station.

Act 2 collectibles by chapter

Act 2 holds 38 collectibles, and most of them are in chapter 2, Hold the Line. That chapter is split into three parts, and the middle part alone has 18 collectibles and 18 Hard Cases. Flyboys, by contrast, has none at all.

Acts 3, 4 and 5

Act 3 has 36 collectibles spread across its six chapters. Act 4 has 41, concentrated in two long chapters, while Act 5 wraps up with 12. Here is the Act 4 split, which is where most players need help.

Hope and Ruin and Tough As Nails account for 27 of Act 4's 41 collectibles. If you are short at the end of the Act, start your cleanup there. Our walkthrough lists every chapter in order if you need to orient yourself.

How to find collectibles

Listen first. When a collectible is nearby, a distinct audio chime plays, and it is the most reliable signal the game gives you. When you hear it, stop and sweep the area before moving on.

Then scan. Pressing LB uses the Tac-Com scan, which highlights items within a short radius around you. Combining the chime with a scan finds almost everything without a guide.

Collectibles are environmental objects such as helmets, badges and newspapers, along with documents. They are lore only and have no effect on gameplay. Hard Cases, which do affect gameplay through weapon mods, are counted separately.

Hard Cases and weapon mods

Hard Cases are the yellow cases scattered through both linear corridors and more open areas. Unlike lore collectibles, they directly affect your loadout, because each one contains a weapon mod. Every weapon has four mod slots, so the cases you find shape how your guns perform.

There are 125 Hard Cases in the campaign, and the Relax. I'm the Map. achievement asks you to find all of them. They cluster heavily in Act 2's Hold the Line, Act 3 and Act 4, which together hold the large majority. Picking one up never counts as a collectible, and vice versa.

Because mods make fights easier, it is worth grabbing Hard Cases on your first run rather than saving them for cleanup. The Tac-Com scan highlights them along with other nearby items.

Secondary objectives

Secondary objectives are optional side missions inside story chapters. They add extra story context and reward you with weapon mods. There are 17 of them across the campaign.

Most are found in Act 2 and Act 4, with seven each, while Act 3 has three. Act 2's Hold the Line alone contains all seven of that Act's objectives across its three parts. Completing every one on any difficulty unlocks the Side Piece achievement.

Achievements tied to completion

The first four can all be done on the easiest setting, which makes cleanup quick. For Whom the Bell Tolls is the exception and requires a full Insane run with everything collected. If you are aiming for it, track your War Journal carefully on that playthrough.

Missed one? How cleanup works

Nothing is lost for good. From the campaign menu you can replay any chapter and pick up what you missed. Your progress is saved in the War Journal, which sorts collected items by Act and chapter.

Check the War Journal against the tables above to see exactly which chapters have gaps. Because Memories From E-Day works on any difficulty, you can do your cleanup on the lowest setting. Side Piece, for secondary objectives, also accepts any difficulty.

Detailed video guides that show every location in order are available for each Act, which is the fastest way to finish. Expect full completion to add roughly 4–5 hours to a normal run, as covered in how long to beat.