This is a guide for those of you who still are going to go through the Single Player Campaign and are looking to get as many achievements as possible and not to miss any along the way.
Unfortunately I couldn’t make a walkthrough out of this because, at least for now, TA’s walkthroughs must be in a specific format and meet certain requirements differently of the solutions. While I understand the website’s caution and concern to standardize their walkthroughs, I like the freedom that we have to write the solutions in the way that we personally believe that they will be most helpful.
Guides like this always help me when I'm looking for a fast completion without missing anything, so I wrote it in a very simple and objective way to give those who need better understanding of the moment for each achievement in the campaign the necessary notion of what to look for/watch out during each part of the Single Player campaign when aiming for its 100% achievement completion. It's not its purpose to cover the multiplayer achievements nor to deeply explain exactly what-to-do/how to unlock the achievements. For that, refer to the solution of each specific achievement.
There are a lot of things to keep in mind and keep track in this game. It is a bit complex, but I’ve done the hard homework for you!
It's my suggestion that you start the game on Easy and eventually complete it again on Supersoldier difficulty (which takes very little time after all the collectibles and other achievements are out of the way, making you feel that, despite the good elements of this game, it's a bit hollow).
Also, always remember to hit a checkpoint to make sure that any cumulative achievements will stay registered. Be careful and have in mind that, if you die between having performed a specific number of actions or collected stuff and hitting a checkpoint, the game might not register them. In that case, for collectibles, it’s better to backtrack and find out if they were or were not registered, and if they were not, then you must pick them up again. At the beginning of the last mission, for example, there were a few data on my path. I picked up 3 of them, but then I suddenly died. When I respawned/reloaded the game, the very first one I had picked was there again, but the other two were gone. It’s not clear why the game registered only the last two, instead of all of them or none. In any case, this happened a few times during the game, but I was always backtracking a little in case I died, to make sure I had everything collected.
ACHIEVEMENTS UNLOCKED BY CHAPTER
TUTORIAL:
1. Inside Job (can be done as early as the tutorial if played twice, or will come naturally through progression in the story, if you hack turrets and let them kill some guys for you)
2. Staying Sharp (Story related, can’t be missed)
MISSION 1 – POST HUMAN:
NOTE: If you want to get as many achievements out of the way from the beginning of the game to stop worrying about them later so you can focus on the collectables, I suggest that you redo the beginning of mission 1 by letting yourself be killed after each of the first achievements pops, as described below. That way you’ll have enough enemies to work on for each of them, and the first ones require killing quite a few enemies (25, 20 and 10). Therefore, I tried to mention some of the achievements here as the earliest moment of the game that you can unlock them or start working on them (indicated by “start of” or “keep working on”).
1. Maximum Strength: kill 25 by throwing them (reload mission 1 (by getting killed) as soon as you get this achievement and then move on to the next)
1.1 Who Needs Rockets (opportunity presents itself shortly after splitting up with Psycho. Can be done along with the above)
2. Nano Suit Ninja: 20 stealth kills (reload mission 1 as soon as you get it and then move to the achievement below)
3. Poltergeist: 10 kills with object throws while undetected (one of the most annoying in my opinion. Reload mission 1 (for the last time) as soon as you get it and then move to the achievement below)
4. (start of) Geared-up (check the related solution for understanding of what to do and how to avoid glitches. The requirements for this achievement will only be finished at mission 6, but it’s important to find what’s possible at this point, picking up each new weapon you find and cycling through their attachments. You can access the attachments by HOLDING the back button)
5. (start of) Breaking the Lore (check the related solution. There are a total of 9 collectibles in this mission and zero Nanosuit upgrade kit).
6. (start of) Be a pro, use a Bow! (try to keep in mind how many kills you get with each bow tip. You need 10 with each of the 4 types. Just a tip (pun not intended): recommend saving an explosive arrow for the "Bang For The Buck" achievement, at the start of Mission 2)
7. Arrow to the Knee (can be done with the first enemy after getting the bow)
8. Improviser (right after the above there’s an opportunity. Draw attention by making yourself visible and then cloak again, in a way that you drive at least two enemies close to an explosive barril. After this, I recommend saving an explosive arrow shot until the beginning of mission 2, for Bang For The Buck achievement)
9. Stick Around: pin 10 enemies to walls (can be done just anywhere an enemy has some solid object right behind them, in a way that they can be pinned)
10. Hunter-Gatherer: retrieve 10 arrows from pinned enemies (after each kill related to the above achievement, get close to their bodies and retrieve the arrow shot)
11. (start of) Inside Job (If you haven’t gotten it yet from tutorial, hack every turret you see and let it kill some enemies)
12. Welcome to the Jungle! (Story related, can’t be missed)
MISSION 2 – WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE:
1. (start of) Suited-up (Collect Nanosuit upgrade kits and unlock their perks by performing the indicated/required actions. PRESS the back button ONCE to access their menu after you've collected the first one. Follow a solution guide for locations. Also, go to the solution related to this achievement to check how to farm the actions for each perk unlocked. I suggest, for example, unlocking Brute Force as early as possible, since there are limited places with the objects necessary to perform Power Kick Kills. There are 3 Nanosuit upgrade kits on this level)
2. Perk Of The Job (after you find the first upgrade kit from the achievement above, you need to save/preset a row with 4 perks of your choosing to either the Y, X or B buttons (by holding the respective button for a few seconds). These presets can work like a quick way to switch between groups of perks. Of the 16 possible perks, you can work at a time with only the row of 4 that is highlighted)
3. (keep working on) Breaking the Lore (there are 6 related collectibles in this mission) and on the other cumulative achievements (Geared-up, Be a pro, use a Bow and Inside Job) until they unlock)
4. Bang For The Buck (kill a deer with an explosive arrow)
5. Clever Girl (stealth kill a Stalker. Even in the case they see you and are alerted of your presence, if you manage to cloak and get on their back, the option to stealth kill should appear)
6. The Gibson (right after fight with the first two Stalkers from the achievement above, there’s a tunnel with three mines that you can continuously hack to boost this)
7. Can You Hear Me Now? (Related to secondary object given towards the end of the mission. The jammer is on the far left side of this open area from the door you arrive and jump down)
8. A Flawless Getaway (Story related, can’t be missed)
MISSION 3 – THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL:
1. (keep working on) Breaking the Lore (there are 8 related collectibles in this mission) and Suited-up (there are 6 related Nanosuit upgrade kits in this mission)
2. White Rider (you must stand on a floating donut as it goes down the river for the total of 20 seconds, no matter if you fall off of it)
3. Off the Grid (Story related, can’t be missed)
***on the 2nd playthrough (Supersoldier difficulty) at this point you will unlock:
4. Nanosuit Veteran and Halfway to Hell (Stackable, story related)
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*NOTE ABOUT MISSIONS 4, 5 AND 6:
I’ve read a few people complaining of glitches related to this and that action not being properly registered. That’s why it’s recommended to always reach a checkpoint. To counter that problem, I’ve also seen some people recommending not to unlock (you must still find the upgrade kits!) any Nanosuit perks between these missions to avoid glitch on Suited-up.
Personally, I had no problem with any achievements, and while I was mindful of that advice and did not unlocked any new perks from the Nanosuit upgrade kits on missions 5 and 6, I took a gamble on mission 4, because I felt I could finish the requirements for that perk on that same mission, instead of carrying them over to be finished on another mission, which, in my mind, could be related to any existing glitch.
It’s up to you if and how much you want to risk. I believe that if you follow the best solutions for each achievement, make sure to hit checkpoints to save your collectibles and backtrack in case you die, you will also be fine.
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MISSION 4 – SAFETIES OFF
NOTE: Since I missed better opportunities of completing the requirements for the Brute Force perk on missions 2 and 3, I finished them here, at the very beginning, with a old rusty bathtub that is amongst the building ruins in front of you, where you start. It’s kind of an open area with plenty of enemies that keep coming, so it wasn’t so bad.
1. (keep working on) Breaking the Lore (there are 16 related collectibles in this mission) and Suited-up (there are 6 related Nanosuit upgrade kits in this mission)
2. (keep working on) Geared-up (unique opportunity to find the Bayonet, which will be in one of the guns of these guys at the beginning. Search all bodies until you find this “Y” button attachment)
3. Turning the Tide (Story related, can’t be missed)
MISSION 5 – RED STAR RISING:
1. (keep working on) Breaking the Lore (there are 9 related collectibles in this mission) and Suited-up (there are 5 related Nanosuit upgrade kits in this mission)
2. (keep working on) Geared-up (unique opportunity to find Extended Ammo Drum for the Alpha Jackal, which is in one of the enemies inside the base at the end of the level)
3. Roadkill (run over/crush 5 enemies with the Buggy. Only Cell operatives can be ran over, not the CEPH)
4. Brink of Apocalypse (Story related, can’t be missed)
MISSION 6 – ONLY HUMAN
1. (keep working on) Breaking the Lore (there are 8 related collectibles in this mission) and Suited-up (there are 4 related Nanosuit upgrade kits in this mission)
2. Ping Pong (destroy all 3 Pingers near air defense Bravo)
3. Geared-up (unique opportunity to find the FY7 1M. Pay attention to a secondary objective related to disarming some mines. It’s by the VTOL) If you sure that you’ve picked up and cycle through all attachments of all the guns at this point, but the achievement didn’t pop, don’t panic. For some odd reason it only unlocked for me on the very beginning of the next level, after the cutscene)
4. Belly of the Beast (Story related, can’t be missed)
MISSION 7 – GODS AND MONSTERS
1. I’ll Have That! (The simplest place to get this if you haven’t already is on this mission . At the first big room all 5 Ceph Weapons are available, although if you take every opportunity along the story it can be unlocked as early as mission 5. Just fire each of them at least once)
2. Post-Human Warrior (kill 10 in a single Supercharge boost, that is, when you have the bottom of the HUD glowing yellow, after being charged by the Ceph machine. You get at least 3 good chances for this in the mission, the last seemingly the longest that you stay boosted)
3. Taste Of Your Own Medicine (Kill 15 more after the above. This one is cumulative, doesn’t have to be all in one charge)
4. Breaking the Lore (The final 8 related collectables are in this mission. If you've collected all of the required, the achievement should unlock)
5. Suited-up (The final module is on this mission. If you’ve found them all and maxed them (by meeting the requirements for each perk), the achievement should unlock. For me, I was short on a few grabs and power melees (Super Strenght), but that was the only perk that I didn’t maxed out in this first playthrough so, if you start working on the hard ones earlier in the campaign you might get the achievement at this point. If you didn’t unlock it in your first playthrough though, then do as I did, after the end of your first game, reload mission 3 (or any other you prefer) if you need to kill or do anything specifically with enemies. There's a bunch of Cell operatives that show up. After the achievement unlocks, you can hit a checkpoint to save your progress and then exit out)
6. The True Measure of a Hero (Story related, can’t be missed)
7. World Saver (Story related, can’t be missed)
***On your 2nd playthrough (Supersoldier difficulty) you'll unlock:
8. Bring It On and Professional (Stackable, story related)
If this solution helped you in any way, give it a thumbs up and leave a comment.