You’re running through a burning Zurich, bullets are flying everywhere, and your cyber-core is recharging. Most players just want to finish the mission and see the credits roll. But for the completionists—the people who actually want that Platinum trophy or the "Curator" achievement—the game becomes a scavenger hunt. Black Ops 3 collectibles aren't just random junk. They’re bits of lore, weird military trinkets, and sometimes just strangely placed bottles of booze that tell a story about the world Treyarch built.
Honestly, finding them all is a pain.
There are 56 of these things scattered across the campaign. If you miss one, you’re replaying the whole mission. That’s why you’ve gotta know where to look before you trigger the next cutscene.
The Grind for the Platinum
The "Curator" trophy is one of the biggest roadblocks to 100% completion. You can't just find a few. You need all of them. Each mission has a specific number, ranging from two to six items. Some are sitting right on a desk in plain sight. Others? They’re tucked behind a crate in a room you have no reason to enter.
Why bother? Because it unlocks the "Decorated" calling card, which is basically the ultimate bragging right in the BO3 community. It shows you didn’t just play the game; you picked it apart.
Mission 1: Black Ops
In the very first mission, you’re looking for five items. The first one is a NRC Comms Plug. It’s in the computer room right after you get off the elevator. Don't just rush to the objective. Look at the consoles. Later, when you’re in the interrogation room, grab the Dud SVD Sniper Round. It’s an easy miss because the room is dark and everything is exploding.
The pacing here is weird. You go from intense stealth to total chaos. If you’re not careful, you’ll trigger the extraction sequence and realize you missed the NRC Technical Manual sitting in the secondary hangar. Go back. Get it.
Why Black Ops 3 Collectibles Actually Matter for Lore
Treyarch loves environmental storytelling. If you actually look at the items you pick up, they flesh out the NRC (Nile River Coalition) and the Winslow Accord. You find things like Electronic Plant Husk or Bio-containment Canister. These aren't just "collectibles." They represent the ecological and technological collapse the game’s plot hinges on.
It’s about the DNI (Direct Neural Interface). The collectibles often reflect the mental state of the characters or the propaganda being fed to the masses.
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Mission 3: In Darkness
This is the mission everyone hates for collectibles. It’s dark, there’s water everywhere, and the layout is confusing. There are six items here. The Broken Respirator is the first. It’s sitting near some rubble after the first big firefight.
The one that gets everyone is the Therite Grenade. It’s tucked away in a small office that looks exactly like every other office in the building. You have to be meticulous. Check every corner.
The Strategy for Efficient Hunting
Don't try to do a "Realism" difficulty run while hunting for these. That’s a recipe for a broken controller. Instead, do a run on Recruit specifically for the items. You can move faster, ignore some of the incoming fire, and focus on the ground instead of the enemies' heads.
- Use the Tactical Mode (the yellow outline view).
- It highlights interactable objects.
- While it doesn’t make the collectibles glow like a neon sign, it helps you see the geometry of the room better.
I’ve spent hours looking for a single Robot Arm in the "Rise and Fall" mission just to realize I walked past it three times because I was too focused on the P.A.W.W.S. tanks.
Mission 6: Vengeance
This mission is a bit of a breather compared to the chaos of "Provocation," but the collectibles are still tricky. The Hanging Ornament is early on, tucked behind a stall in the market area. If you move toward the bridge too fast, the area locks off.
Later, you’ll find a Fallen Teapot. Yeah, a teapot. It’s in the house where you encounter the snipers. It feels out of place in a war zone, which I guess is the point.
What Most People Get Wrong
A lot of players think you have to finish the mission for the collectible to "save."
Actually, as soon as you pick it up, it’s logged in your safehouse. You can technically quit to the main menu immediately if that’s the last thing you needed. But wait! If you're going for the "Mastery" challenges, you might as well finish the level.
Another misconception is that these items do something in Zombies mode. They don’t. They’re strictly for the Campaign’s "Personal Decorator" achievement. Zombies has its own set of Easter eggs and buildables, like the Shield or the Apothecon Servant, but those are temporary. The campaign collectibles stay in your trophy case in the safehouse forever.
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Mission 9: Sand Castle
Only two items here. That sounds easy, right? Wrong.
Because a lot of this mission takes place in a VTOL, you have very narrow windows to find the items on foot. The Postcard is in the communications office. The Industrial Armor Plate is on the landing pad near the end. If you’re not looking at the ground while the buildings are crumbling around you, you’ll miss them.
The Safehouse Trophy Case
Once you’ve collected a bunch of these, go back to your safehouse. Walk over to the display cases. It’s actually pretty cool to see the physical models of everything you’ve picked up. It turns a digital checklist into a 3D gallery.
It also gives you a chance to read the flavor text. Some of the descriptions for the Winslow Accord gear provide context for why the world is in such a mess by 2065. It’s the kind of world-building that the cutscenes often skip over in favor of explosions and Christopher Meloni screaming at you.
Practical Steps for Your Next Run
If you're serious about finishing this list, stop playing "normally." You need to change your mindset.
- Load up the mission on Recruit.
- Select a loadout with high mobility.
- Clear an area of enemies entirely before searching.
- Check the "Collectibles" tab in the pause menu to see your progress for that specific mission.
- If you're at 4/5 and you reach a "Point of No Return" (usually a cinematic or a big door close), restart the checkpoint immediately.
The hardest ones are usually in missions like "Life," where the environment is literally shifting and changing. The Prometheus Statue in that final mission is a classic Treyarch hidden item—it's just sitting there in the hallway, but the lighting makes it blend into the background perfectly.
You’ve got this. Just take it one mission at a time. The "Curator" accolade is a grind, but seeing that empty trophy case fill up is worth the headache. Go back to Mission 1 and start from the beginning. Check those desk corners. Look behind the crates. Don't leave a single room until you're sure you've stripped it clean.
Once you have all 56, your Safehouse will finally look like the base of a world-class operative instead of an empty apartment.