A quick introduction
I compiled this guide step by step while playing through the game for the first and second time, it required a lot of trial end error, so I can only write down how I personally got these achievements. I am aware that perhaps there could be different ways to get some of them, so please feel free to add a comment if you notice mistakes, or if you just would like me to add specific informations: it would be greatly appreciated as I might not even be aware of it!
The achievements listed in the different Chapter sections are the ones being chapter exclusive. Few, that require very specific actions but multiple Chapters to complete, are going to be listed under the earlier Chapter where a choice needed for that achievement needs to be executed: it will still be stated in which Chapter the unlock will actually occur. The more general sections are for those achievements whose completion can happen whenever through the game.
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―― THERE ARE SPOILERS AHEAD, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! ――
Prologue: The First Step on the Road to Glory
Assassinating the Assassins
“You survived the night attack on Jamandi Aldori’s mansion. What a nice way to start your adventure!” ― Easy peasy, it’s aquired by completing the prologue. It is the only available achievement in this whole Chapter and can’t really be missed.
Chapter 1: Stolen Land
Slayer of Bears
“In chapter 1, kill the bear in the Temple of the Elk with single level 2 character, playing on Hard difficulty or above.” ―This is a bit of a mean achievement to unlock. First of all, your main character needs to be at the Temple alone, as this won’t work if you have a full party with you and send a single character to fight. The bear has an aggro range, if you are playing a caster or ranged it is possible to cast/attack and immediately run to reset the fight. Tristian will reset back to full health every time, but the bear won’t. This is doable as melee as well, as long as you don’t mind some reloads. Ranged or casters just make this a little easier.
Worship Me!
“Make mites, kobolds and goblins worship your statue or your garment as their greatest relic.” ― A notable mention goes to this achievement, as you will need to start working on it during Chapter 1, then complete it in Chapter 5. It also specifically REQUIRES A CHAOTIC NEUTRAL CHARACTER for the step in Chapter 1. During Chapter 1, after following Tartuccio to Old Sycamore, choose not to interfere in the quarrel between the kobolds and mites and tell them that you will find the truth on your own by picking the [Neutral] exclusive option. A bit later in the questline, when it will be time to give back the relics, pick the [Chaotic] exclusive option to offer them your gloves instead. Recruit Nok-Nok in Chapter 3, and push him towards being a hero during every personal quest of his. Always support him in his endeavours, and side with him. Around Chapter 5, after his last quest, he will make a statue of the two of you together, finally bringing the achievement to completion.
No Country for Bandits
“Clear the Stolen lands from bandit gangs and defeat the self-proclaimed bandit king.” ― Quite self explanatory, all you need to do is to free the Stolen Lands in less than three months as explained by Jamandi Aldori in the Prologue. This achievement will unlock either during of right after the celebration at the very end of the Chapter.
Foundation
“You founded a barony in a wild, dangerous land. Good luck with that!” ― Pretty much obtained with the achievement above, between the end of Chapter 1 and the start of Chapter 2. Celebrate, talk with Jamandi to get your title, and there it is.
Chapter 2: Troll Trouble
Royal Rescue Service
“Find and save Tig, poor lost child.” ― Shortly after the acquisition of your Barony, a worried mother will seek an audience and ask you to find her missing son: first of all, agree to help out. She will first direct you towards the Swamp Witch’s Hut. Approach peacefully and after some talking with Old Beldame, also realising she has nothing to do with the disappearance of the child, go back to the Capital and talk to Jenna, she will be waiting for news in the Tavern. Travel to the Lizardfolk Village, where you will learn from Karag that the child is, in fact, kept prisoner. VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: TIG CAN DIE. Needless to say, dead child means no achievement. To get the best outcome, there are few things you should do. Approach the guards and peacefully ask permission to talk with their leader. Try to convince King Vesket to release the child, then you can leave, but don’t go to the Spirit Hut just yet. There are three Lizards in need of your help. South of the village there are two arguing about the garden, tell Shalur they should think for themselves. To the west, ask Fashor what’s wrong (Diplomacy 20), then explain you just want to leave with the child in peace. North, in the Clutch Hut, Virish is in need of healing, so help him out. Now enter the Spirit Hut, bring with you a companion that knows and has prepared the GLITTERDUST SPELL. Ask questions to the spirit, pass the (Arcana 20) to start the fight. Once it’s over Tig will return to his mother, and all you gotta do is to leave, fight a very upset King Vesket, and return to the Tavern to exchange few words with Jenna. In case of Arcana check failure, the olny option to save Tig seems to be accepting the Spirit’s deal.
Know Their Weaknesses
“Kill Kargad with sunlight” ― Walk in the Troll Lair (Troll Wielderness), take the large corridor on the left and open the first door. There will be an encounter with two young trolls (deal with them as you prefer), immediately followed by Kargad. Once the fight starts, lead Kargad back to the corridor where you came from, and lure him under the sunlight filtering from the ceiling. Keep him under the light for a few rounds and he will get petrified. No need to “hunt” for this location/achievement, as the main quest will bring you right there.
Fire. Or Acid
“Stop the troll invasion.” ― Achieved at the completion of Troll Trouble (the quest itself, not the whole questline, since they carry the same name), after dealing with Hargulka and Tartuk in the Troll Lair (Troll Wilderness).
Chapter 3: Season of Bloom
Bird of Prey
“Win the main prize of the royal hunt fair and square, killing two magical beasts.” ― An easy feat, meet up at the Hunting Lodge with the other nobles, then travel to the Hunting Grounds during the main quest “An Amusement for the Nobles”. There are three beasts in total: a Poisonous Hydra around the central area of the map, the Enraged Greater Owlbear and the Ancient Wyvern towards the north. The Hydra and Owlbear are yours to kill. When it comes to the Wyvern, you will find another party already fighting it: help them out but let them claim the Wyvern’s Head since they landed the killing blow, be fair and don’t try to take it away. Have a chat with them, and make sure you have the Owlbear’s Head and Hydra’s Head as you call it a say and proceed to complete the quest.
God of Poetry
“Help the goblins compose their warsong!” ― Travel to the Lonely Mill in Chapter 3 for a book encounter with a bunch of partying goblins. Choose the chaotic neutral option to join in. You can either accept or decline the first two “trials”, but accept to sing with them and always choose the 1st option available (Goblin lasses be all impressed! → Is to kill! And kill! And kill! → Quickly hide and sneak away! → So, a toast to Gobling King! → And your belly will stay fulls!): picking any other option will end the song prematurely, preventing its completion and the unlocking of this achievement.
Enemy Within
“Solve the mystery and save your barony from an otherworldly threat.” ― Awarded automatically at the very end of the Chapter, after destroying of the Everblooming Flower and protecting your Capital (no matter the order of the two tasks).
Chapter 4: The Varnhold Vanishing
If in possession of the DLC, I would advise to run it now, before proceeding with this questline. Check out the Varnhold's Lot section of the guide for DLC achievements and infos on how to start.
Deal with the Devil
“Win the favor of the Order of the Rack. Or of their enemy.” ― At some point, either in Chapter 4 or 5 depending on how fast you have been, you will make the aquaintance of a grup of Hellknights through an audience, resulting in the quest called “Deal with the Devil”. Pick a side, either Linxia or Darven, and stick with it through the whole thing. A quick, useful note: Linxia will keep investigating no matter what you told her, causing some turmoil and resulting in kingdom stats loss. The quest will last longer if you give her permission to search for Darven, resulting in a bigger loss. Telling her to leave will make Darven show up earlier, and the kingdom will lose less points.
V for…
“Silence the voice of the lost empire.” ― Automatic achievement for the completion of Chapter 4’s main questline.
Chapter 5: The Twice-Born Warlord
If the DLC has been previously played and correctly imported, check the Varnhold's Lot section of the guide, “Lost and Found” and “The Road Goes Ever On” are available for unlocking in Chapter 5.
In My Heart
“Find your love.” ― This can be unlocked either in Chapter 5 or 6, depending on who you have been romancing. The completion of their last quest is a requirement to fully unlock the romance, and the moment the quest you need will become available really depends, as it might be main story related or not, that’s something that differs from companion to companion. (I personally romanced Tristian, and unlocked the achievement by completing his last quest as soon as it became available in early Chapter 6.)
Twice-born, Twice-beaten
“Deal with the barbarian horde on your borders.” ― Follow Armag to Armag’s Tomb as the main questline asks, then deal with him as you see fit. Leaving the Tomb, you will find a bunch of barbarians waiting for your judgement outside. It’s up to you to decide their fate, this achievement will unlock no matter of your choice.
Hail to the King!
“You are now the one and only ruler of your very own kingdom!” ― After your very last encounter with Armag, travel back to the Capital to attend your own coronation. Enjoy the celebration and your brand new crown!
Chapter 6: War of the River Kings
Goblin Tears
“Make the goblin merchant cry real tears.” ― A new event will let you know that Linzi wants to talk to you. Head to the throne room, to find out that your throne is missing! The “Runaway Throne” quest will officially start, have few words with the people Linzi advised you to talk to, then head back to the throne room to start the Tracking the Throne Thief project, it takes 60 days to complete, so you might want to send your Minister for the job asap. Alternatively, you might stumble into the Goblin Merchant in a random encounter during travels, but there really is no guaranteed about where or when. Talk to the goblin, he will offer you to buy back the throne. Don’t fall for it, pick the “I can do without this junk. I have to go.” option. He will again attempt to convince you. Don’t accept, pick “For this piece of junk? What should I do with it? Carry it on my back and entertain people? You keep it!”. He will attempt to strike a deal by offering it for cheaper. Again, don’t fall for it, choose “You think I am an idiot?! I’ll find another chair, newer and shinier! And you can keep dragging this thing around – you’ll be the fool of goblins everywhere!”. He will offer it for free, and I know that sounds tempting, but don’t accept it! Now congrats, you just made a goblin cry, and got your throne back.
Bloody Squirrels!
“Get the grimoire from one remarkable hermit mage.” ― Once you get far enough in the main questline until able to enter Pitax, go to its Port and visit the Tavern. You will be approached by First Mate Wellar, planning a mutiny out of desperation. After a chat with him, go talk to Capitan Martyn. Remember that all Wellar wants is just to sail away, so don’t help him with the mutiny, help him to solve the issue instead. Inquire about the grimoire with the Capitain and he will give you “The Impatient Pirates of Pitax” errand. Since you don’t really know where this wizard is, talk to Blutmond, still in the Tavern. With a good enough passive perception roll you will be able to figure out they know each other, and it’s possible to persuade him to not only tell you the location where Blakemoor is, but also to hand you the key to his hiding place. Now, travel to the Middle of Nowhere, just north of Pitax, and interact with the door. If you didn’t manage to get the key, no biggie, you can still pick the lock or break through the door. Have a chat with Blakemoor and convince him to finish the grimoire in the way you prefer (I personally offered him my help). Once it’s finally completed, he will be attacked by a group of devils trying to claim the grimoire for themselves. Protect Blakemoor from them and, once the fight is over, talk to him again so he can hand you the grimoire. NOTE: you don’t need to rush this quest as soon as it unlocks, feel free to search for Blakemoor after dealing with Irovetti, if you prefer.
Neighborly Affairs
“Deal with your fellow neighbor king and his appetite for your land.” ― Be sure to take good care of your kingdom and keep up with the insane amount of problems caused by Irovetti. Overthrow him at the very end of the “War of the River Kings” questline and, once out of the palace, this achievement will automatically unlock.
Yet Another Ancient Evil
“Find and defeat the secret threat, locked in a magical prison in The Stolen Lands.” ― In Chapter 5 right after getting crowned, the project to upgrade your capital to city will unlock, and once the upgrade will be complete you can gain access to the well located in the market area. Go inside and look around, you will find a letter, a diary, and a key, resulting in the acquisition of the errand called “Magical Prison”. You cannot complete the quest immediately, as you will need access to Pitax and the Thousand Voices (Ilthuliak, the dragon, being an enemy not previously accessible). While there’s time, explore. Bring in your travels a character with high perception to discover new places and explore them, the creatures you need are usually named bosses, like the Crag Linnorm. If you already happened to visit the Lonely Barrow, you might have noticed that you need a key (you already got it) and 6 lighted up torches to prove you killed as many powerful creatures: each time you take one down, a torch will light up. As long as you keep exploring, you won’t have any troubles taking them all down. Once you got them all, travel back to the Lonely Barrow and prepare for a fight against a powerful lich with a quite familiar name. Unfortunately I am not exactly sure which named bosses light up each torch (other than Crag Linnorm and Ithuliak), but I will make sure to write their names and locations as I replay through the game and figure out exactly which are needed.
Chapter 7: Sound of a Thousand Screams
The events happening during the completion of the quest “The First Crown” at the Castle of Knives can deeply impact your ending. In the Chapter 8 section, take a look at the achievements “Tricks of Time” and “Flaming Crown” for infos on how to get each ending (there is also a link to a very detailed guide for the secret ending). If you need both achis, I recommend keeping a save before choosing who is going to keep the crown. Beware, it's going to contain a lot of SPOILERS, but if you don't want to spoil the ending, don't free the ghost on your own and either hand the crown to Shyka or Salim, you are going to get one of the two achievements depending on the choice you made.
See You Yesterday!
“Meet the legendary Eldest of Time three times. Or, rather, in three different times.” ― At the Castle of Knives, you will stumble into the quarrel between the Wriggling Man and the Knurly Witch. Shyka the Many will soon follow, unlocking the achievement.
The Wise Way
“Win the favor of the most mysterious mentor from the most mysterious monk order.” ― While exploring the Castle of Knives, go to the southwest corner to find Kamala the Phonenix. Have a chat with her and agree to start her trial, resulting in “The Secrets of Suramgamin” errand. For the first trial, follow her instructions: convince the fey to stay still while not threatening them, watch out because it requires some checks. The second trial will bring you to the Temple of the Elk where you will meet up with Visaka the Unicorn. Do as he asks and don’t shed blood, so don’t hit or kill the monsters. A good advice for this trial is to turn off the party AI and use a character with control skill to frighten, stun and such, and resist until Visaka is done. Travel to Talon Peak for the third trial and meet Puja the Wolf. Before talking to him take a rest (trust me, you will need it soon), then start the conversation: don’t get tempted to argue back, just be nice, and as he asks you to travel back to the Castle of Knives as fast as possible, do as he says. Be quick, don’t rest along the way and just keep going no matter how exhausted you are (reason why I advised to rest beforehand; remember that, right now, teleportation circles are your best friends) as you won’t pass the test if you take a nap. Get ready to face the fourth and last test by talking with Vidya the Lion: she will ask you three questions. If you actually read what the previous cultists taught you, you might already know the answers. If not, here’s a list with all the possible questions and their answers. After it’s done, head south and accept your title!
• What did teacher Avalo do when he learned the truth? → Organized debates about faith.
• What does the name of our order mean? → It is impossible to translate into Common.
• Where did teacher Avalo meditate as he learned the truth? → In Arthfell Forest.
• What is the name of a martial art that members of our order are taught. → There are none.
• Where is the main temple of our order? → Nowhere.
• Where did our teacher come from? → From Jalmeray.
• Which gods does our order venerate? → Shelyn, Irori, Iomedae, Sarenrae, Erastil, Abadar.
• What does it mean to go the Way of the Hero? → Make the world a better place.
• What paths to achieving a master’s title are there in our order? → The Ways of the Phoenix, Unicorn, Wolf and Lion.
Sinmarket’s Best Customer
“Make the fey merchant adore you.” ― First, bring money with you before getting into the portal at the Castle of Knives, you will need it. This achievement unlocks in Chapter 8, but there is need to do something important in Chapter 7. While in the House at the Edge of Time, go to the Courtyard, in the dimension where you can find your companions. There you will find Issili, a fey merchant. Buy THE BOOK OF INCREDIBLE AND SCANDALOUS PARSIMONY from her. You will again meet her in Chapter 8 at the Camp at the Capital Gates, and she will have a new and more expensive book just for you, The Complete Collection Of Useless Wrtings. Buy it to become, significantly more poor than before but, no doubt, her very best costumer.
Against All Odds
“Travel to the mysterious realm of the fey and face your destiny.” ― Step into the portal at the Castle of Knives to get into the House at the Edge of Time, keep going with the questline to automatically unlock this achievement.
Tricks of Time
“You’ve helped one certain Eldest to play a joke! They are grateful.” ― During “The First Crown”, make sure not to free the ghost and hand the crown to Shyka the Many. Keep going with the questline until the end of the House at the End of Time, fight against Nyrissa and, once the fight is over, pick “[Let Nyrissa go] Promise to never invade my lands again – and I’ll let you go. One way or another, the thousand grains of dust have been collected. You can take the cup and gain your forgiveness from the Eldest.”, enjoy! You will skip Chapter 8 and go straight to the epilogue. This will preclude the Flaming Crown achievement but, unless you want to replay the game for it, you can keep a save before the fight against Nyrissa and strike a deal with her to proceed to the next Chapter and ending/achievement.
Chapter 8: The Cursed King/Queen
Flaming Crown
“Face and defeat the one final enemy.” ― In the preious Chapter, if you gave the crown to Shyka during The Last Crown, simply offer Nyrissa an alliance after fighting against her at the House at the End of Time for this to play out. Complete the questline and fight against the Lantern King. This achievement unlocks no matter of the choice you will make at the very end.
So Shall You Reap
“You’ve unlocked the special secret ending of the game!” ― Since the unlocking of this ending requires a lot of time and effort and is overall kinda tricky to get, here’s a very detailed guide on how to achieve it (as usual, beware of spoilers):
The Story’s End
“Win the game!” ― Pretty self explanatory. Unlocks at the end of the epilogue.
More Challenge, Please
“Win the game, playing on ‘Challenging rules’ difficulty or above.” ― Pretty self explanatory.
Forged in Blood
“Win the game, playing on Unfair difficulty.” ― Pretty self explanatory.
Iron King
“Win the game, playing on Last Azlanti mode.” ― Pretty self explanatory.
Kingdom Management
First Results
“Increase the rank of at least one kingdom stat.” ― Once your Barony gets unlocked, send your advisors on tasks until one of the many Kingdom stats levels up, unlocking this achievement. Obtainable whenever, starting from the beginning of Chapter 2.
Useful Instruments
“Unlock all five additional kingdom stats and assign leaders to respective positions.” ― There is a total of 10 advisors, at the unlocking of the barony you will have 5: Regent (Community), Councilor (Loyalty), General (Military), Treasurer (Economy) and High Priest (Divine). Reaching rank III of the following stats will unlock Community → Grand Diplomat (Relations), Military → Warden (Stability), Divine → Magister (Arcane), Loyalty → Curator (Culture) and last but not least Relations → Minister (Espionage).
Prosperous Kingdom
“Raise all kingdom stats to the 10th rank.” ― Self explanatory. You need to rank up all your kingdom stats to rank X, a good and easy-ish way is to try to spend the free time between Chapters leveling them up, when possible. When you rank up kingdom stats 40 times, faster development project will unlock. That’s great help as it reduces advisor training time from 14 days to 7, and I would advise to work on the project asap.
Friend of Many
“Succeed in three ‘Kingdom as Companion’ quests.” ― As the description says, all you need to do is complete three quests of a quite specific kind, you can find them in the Journal, under the Kingdom Quests section. Note that not all of them count towards the achievement, curse and artisan quests don’t count for example, while faction quests do.
Conqueror
“Claim all available regions.” ― There is a total of 12 available regions, and to be able to claim some of them there is need to fulfill few easy requirements. You will start your barony with Shrike as your default region, with the chance to claim the Outskirts right away. The South Narlmarches wil be up for grabs as soon as “Troll Trouble” is complete, and in this same Chapter it is also possible to claim the North Narlmarches, but for these to unlock there is need of Community rank III, while Loyalty rank III is required for the Kamelands. Silverstep will become available after completing the quest “Lonely Hunter”, while also having 5 ranks on your advisors. Varnhold will be acquired automatically after the completion of Vordakai’s tomb, while the completion of “Betrayer’s Flight” will unlock the project to claim the Dire Narlmarches. For the Tors of Levenies, you need to annex Varnhold, and level up both Arcane and Culture at rank V, while for Dunsward there is need of Varnhold and Relations at rank V. Complete the “Twice-Born Warlord” to unlock Glenebon. As it happened for Varnhold, Pitax will be automatically yours after taking down King Irovetti. The Thousand Voices is an area that cannot be claimed.
Prosperous Conqueror
“Claim all available regions and develop them to their maximum potential.” ― Just as it’s stated, claim all regions and make sure to complete the “Region Upgrade” kingdom quest, the one that asks to assign a specialization to each of your claimed regions. No need to unlock the resource points scattered on the map, as they are not required for this specific achievement. Unsure about the need for all settlements, as mine were all built already.
Intensive Development
“Explore the Stolen Lands and find all resource locations.” ― Not at all hard to unlock, make sure to travel and explore a lot. Claiming resources costs little and greatly helps your barony/kingdom, so it’s a win-win no matter what. To be able to claim resources in a specific region, said region needs to be claimed first, so remember to do it when possible.
Troubleshooter
“Successfully solve 100 ‘problem’ kingdom events.” ― Easy to get but might take some time to achieve, just take care of your kingdom and make sure to send your advisors to complete “Problem” tasks from the throne room as often as possible. Audiences also contribute to the completion of this achievement.
Opportunist
“Successfully solve 100 ‘opportunity’ kingdom events.” ― Easy to get but might take some time to achieve, take care of your kingdom and make sure to send your advisors to complete “Opportunity” tasks from the throne room whenever they are not too busy solving problems. Audiences also contribute to the completion of this achievement.
Artifacts and Royal Artisans
Tale Of Days Long Gone
“Collect all pieces of an ancient artifact and let the Storyteller reforge it for you.” ― There are multiple occasions to obtain this achievement. The fastest is to complete the Necklace of Double Crosses by gathering the 7 Scorched Fragments of a Necklace during Chapter 1. The locations of each fragment are the following, in no particular order:
Ancient Tomb → examining the body of one of Tartuccio’s mercenaries after the fight.
Thorn Ford → southwest of the map, under a pile of twigs on the west side of river.
Old Sycamore → southeast of the map close to the Kobold entrance, on a body.
Old Sycamore Caves → at the top level, under some rocks in the southewst corner.
Old Sycamore Caves → at the bottom level, near the dead giant spider’s, under some rubble.
Three Pine Islet → next to the small tombstone, just watch out for the traps around it!
Trail in the Hills → southeast of the map, under some rubble.
The necklace can be reforged by giving all 7 fragments to the Storyteller at the very beginning of Chapter 2. He can be found in the Throne Room, standing next to a pillar close to the exit.
Those Precious Tales
“Gather all Storyteller’s artifacts.” ― To unlock it you won’t need ALL the collectibles, just the ones that can be reforged into a piece of equipment. There are 7 in total: the Necklace of Double Crosses, the Trailblazer’s Helmet, the Forest Knight’s Bracers, the Ring of Reckless Courage, the Cloak of Sold Souls, the Armor of Saber Toothed Courage and the Star Commander’s Gloves. If you are missing some specific pieces, take a look at the guide at the bottom of the section, it’s great help. In general, explore a lot and bring a character with high perception in your travels, it will make it easier to find hidden spots where collectibles might be.
First in Collection
“Obtain an outstanding gift from one of your royal artisans.” ― There is not really an easy way to get this, as it involves some rng. Generally, all you gotta do is make sure you visit your villages and meet up the artisans, build them the shops they need to be able to work, and complete their questline (some might fail depending on the decisions you pick, so watch out). That will make you eligible for their masterwork items, but the rest is mere luck. Every time they visit you at the throne room after you built their stores, there is only a specific % for them to decide to start working on a special item for you. If they decide to do so, remember that it takes a long time before the item is completed and gets handed to you. Also remember not to ask the artisans for specific items if you are hoping for them to bring these to you, that would just keep them busy while we want them free to work on their special items.
Admirer of Finer Things
“Gather masterpiece works from all ten royal artisans.” ― There is a total of 10 artisans you need to recruit to make this possible, most of them have requirements like the claiming of a specific region and establishing a settlement, building a specific shop, completing a questline etc. Check the achievement right above for additional infos and some general advices. The names and locations of the artisans are, in no particular order:
• Bokken → claim the Outskirts and talk to him at Oleg’s Trading Post.
• Varrask and Nazrielle → claim the Kamelands and talk to both in the region’s settlement.
• Dragn → claim the South Narlmarches, he will ask for an audience after “Troll Trouble”.
• Shaniy’a → claim the South Narlmarches and talk to her at the region’s settlement.
• Sharel and Kimo → claim the North Narlmarches and talk to both at the region’s settlement.
• Mim → claim Silverstep and talk to her in the Silverstep Village
• Trival → annex Varnhold and talk to him there.
• Irlene → she is in your Capital, but will only ask for an audience after unlocking Magister.
Alignment, Fighting and Traveling
There is no way to complete all the alignment related achievements in one go. Assuming 2 for each playthrough is the maximum amount possible. If you want to unlock them all, multiple runs it is.
The Good Guy
“Make three special ‘Good’ story choices.” ― This is one of those achievements that completely depend on your main character’s alignment. For this specific one, you need to pick a [Good] exclusive choice for three times, meaning that your character must be Lawful Good, Neutral Good, or Chaotic Good. Easy to complete through the course of the game.
Taking No Sides
“Make three special ‘Neutral’ story choices.” ― This is one of those achievements that completely depend on your main character’s alignment. For this specific one, you need to pick a [Neutral] exclusive choice for three times, meaning that your character must be Neutral Good, Neutral, or Neutral Evil. Easy to complete through the course of the game.
Evil Is My Name
“Make three special ‘Evil’ story choices.” ― This is one of those achievements that completely depend on your main character’s alignment. For this specific one, you need to pick a [Evil] exclusive choice for three times, meaning that your character must be Lawful Evil, Neutral Evil, or Chaotic Evil. Easy to complete through the course of the game.
In The Name Of The Law
“Make three special ‘Lawful’ story choices.” ― This is one of those achievements that completely depend on your main character’s alignment. For this specific one, you need to pick a [Lawful] exclusive choice for three times, meaning that your character must be Lawful Good, Lawful Neutral, or Lawful Evil. Easy to complete through the course of the game.
They Call Me Unpredictable
“Make three special ‘Chaotic’ story choices.” ― This is one of those achievements that completely depend on your main character’s alignment. For this specific one, you need to pick a [Chaotic] exclusive choice for three times, meaning that your character must be Chaotic Good, Chaotic Neutral, or Chaotic Evil. Easy to complete through the the game.
Now You Fall!
“Knock down any creature that is 3 size categories larger than you.” ― An easy way is to use Reduce Person on Jubilost. Skills like Force Bomb work just fine for this purpose, and there is no need for a huge enemy: as the achievement is based on size difference alone, being a gnome, Jubilost is already tiny and Reduce Person will make him even smaller than he already is. Enemies the size of owlbears and such will work just fine with this combo.
One Punch
“Deal more than 150 damage with a single unarmed attack.” ― Quite self explanatory. For this, I would definitely advise to create a monk (or a mercenary), as we have no monk companion. Give them as much strenght as possible, then level them up: level 20 would be best, but little lower can still work fine. Buffs and items (boost that nice strenght!) stats are your friends too, make yourself as big as possible (Enlarge Person is good, Legendary Proportions is even better since it gives a two size increase and a good +6 strenght). Vital Strike is one of the good skills for this purpose, plus your best shot would be striking a crit. It can be a bit frustrating to unlock, but keep trying and don’t give up!
Zen Archer
“Inflict critical damage with a bow or crossbow while blinded.” ― The level of the character or companion does not matter a lot in this case, as all they need to do is to strike a crit under specific circumstances. Of course, having a higher level one does help a bit as you can improve their crit chance in their build. If you want to unlock this, don’t be me and don’t make your archer wear items that prevent blind to happen.
Metamagister
“Use in battle any spell with 5 metamagic modifications applied.” ― For this, you need a high level spellcaster able to cast 9th-level arcane spells. There is no need to create a brand new character, a companion (like Octavia!) or mercenary can also get this done! While leveling up, pick all the needed necessary feats: “Metamagic (Heighten Spell)”, “Metamagic (Empower Spell)”, “Metamagic (Extend Spell)”, “Metamagic (Maximize Spell)”, “Metamagic (Reach Spell)”. After, pick a low level spell of choice, good candidates are Snowball, Cause Fear, Ear-Piercing Scream and so on. Once those 5 feats are unlocked, open the Spellbook tab (you can find it between Character and Linzi’s Journal), click on Metamagic on the bottom right of the screen, then select your spell of choice. Apply all the metamagic feats and write the spell, making sure that it’s set on level 9. Once in combat, use the spell you just created (remember, not the standard version, but the modified one).
Survivor
“Live through 100 random attacks in the wild.” ― Completing this should take at least few Chapters, but worry not, it’s still extremely easy. While traveling around locations through the map, you will inevitably stumble into enemy encounters: instead of trying to avoid them, fight! Every time you leave the random combat area victorious, this achievement will progress. If you happen to be rushing and feel like skipping few encounters, know that doing so won’t mess the achievement counter, and it’s completely safe to do so.
Nothing Left Behind
“Leave any map, carrying 5000 lbs. without being encumbered.” ― All the items that provide extra carrying capacity greatly help. Have your character or a companion wear the Professor’s Hat, and make sure to have Bags of Holding. Bringing companions with good strength helps, so does making sure everyone has a Potion of Enlarge Person (similar spells or scrolls, with a caster that can use them on all party members works just as fine) or something like Bull’s Strength applied to them. While leaving the map, the party’s Encumbrance bar needs to be green. When it comes to the items, you can purchase your first Small Bag of Holding from Oleg Leveton at Oleg’s Trading, while the second from Bartholomew Delgado at the Lone House during and after “Troll Trouble”. For the normal Bag of Holding, you can buy one from Hassuf in the your Capital. The Professor’s Hat is on a corpse inside a cave at the Bridge over the Gudrin River, but watch out as the Crag Linnorm is blocking the way.
A little extra note: for some reason, this achievement is a little buggy. First my Encumbrance wouldn’t lower itself despite being buffed like there was no tomorrow, I still tried to enter and leave few maps with my Encumbrance still looking higher than it was supposed to be all things considered. I never saw the achievement pop, but after a while it appeared on my completed ones after I had closed the game. Just give it a bunch of tries, it works, it’s just a little wonky.
Companions
Foes No More
“Turn three villains into your friends or servants.” ― I decided not to include this in a specific Chapter section as there are multiple ways to unlock it, and it’s very alignment related. The description of the achievement is self explanatory, now to figure out who you can spare/recruit. At the end of the “Troll Trouble” questline, you will fight agains Tartuk and Hargulka: you can kill one and have the chance to spare the other (focus the one you want to kill, the other one will ask for mercy). At the end of “The Varnhold Vanishing”, Vordakai can become an advisor by sacrificing Maegar, but evil alignment is required. Armag is an option as well, become his blood brother at the end of “The Twice Born Warlord”: to do so you need to get to him before he is driven mad by the sword (meaning, don’t go for “Betrayer’s Flight” first, go straight for “The Twice Born Warlord” and don’t lose time roaming around). An unromanced Nyrissa is also an option, you can strike a deal with her at the end of the House at the End of Time in Chapter 7.
Followers
“Recruit all available companions.” ― There are 11 companions available in the main campaign, and they all need to get recruited. Since some could potentially be missed by rushing the main story, here’s a list of who you need and when they are available:
• Linzi and Amiri (they will stick with you after the Prologue)
• Valerie, Harrim and Jaethal (the one that best fits your playstyle will stay after the Prologue, the other two will leave, but no worries. You can persuade one of the two to join your group at the Ancient Tomb in Chapter 1, and free the last one by talking to Chief Sootscale at the Old Sycamore while tracking Tartuccio
• Tristian (meet him at the Temple of the Elk during Chapter 1)
• Octavia and Regongar (both at the Technic League Encampment in Chapter 1)
• Jubilost (Ford Across Skunk River in Chapter 2, can potentially be missed)
• Ekundayo (at the Ruined Watchtower in Chapter 2)
• Nok-Nok (found at the Goblin Village in Chapter 3).
The DLC exclusive companions don’t contribute towards the completion of this achievement.
Comrades-in-Arms
“Succeed in all available companion quests and win the loyalty of your comrades.” ― Most companions have 3 quests, some might have a little extra either related to the main story, or to one of their previous personal quests. There is a bunch of them, my overall advice is to prioritise these quests over everything else, as some might automatically fail when too much time passes after their acquisition. Here’s a list of the companion quests and, roughly, where and when to find them:
• Linzi: “Easier to Ask Forgiveness” (through Chapter 2), “Turncoats” (Chapter 5), “A Bard’s Calling” (Chapter 6). All her quests start in the throne room.
• Valerie: “Shelyn’s Chosen” (Chapter 2), “Burning Bridges” (Chapter 4), “Judgment of the Gods” (Chapter 5). All her quests start in the throne room.
• Amiri: “Prove Your Worth” (kill Tuskgutter in Chapter 1, kill Hodag in Chapter 2), “Pariah” (Chapter 3), “Reforged Blade” (Chapter 6). The second and third quests start in the throne room.
• Tristian: “Kingdom of the Cleansed” (near the end of Chapter 2), “Saving Grace” (Chapter 6). All his quests start in the throne room.
• Octavia: “Hand of the Technic League” (Chapter 1, starts from a random encounter that will unlock the Technic League Encampment, this quest is shared with Regongar and they can be freed together), “Cruel Justice” (around the end of Chapter 3, shared with Regongar), “Highborn at Heart” (Chapter 6). The second and third quests start in the throne room.
• Regongar: “Hand of the Technic League” (Chapter 1, starts from a random encounter that will unlock the Technic League Encampment, this quest is shared with Octavia and they can be freed together), “Cruel Justice” (around the end of Chapter 3, shared with Octavia), “No Man’s Slave” (Chapter 6). The second and third quests start in the throne room.
• Jaethal: “Investigate My Death” (Chapter 2), “Chase My Shadow” (Chapter 5), “Reveal My Destiny” (Chapter 6). All her quests start in the throne room.
• Harrim: “Unwanted Legacy” (Chapter 2), “Unbreakable Metal” (Chapter 4), “The Unmaking” (Chapter 5). All his quests start in the throne room.
• Jubilost: “The Price of Curiosity” (Chapter 3,), “Door to Nowhere” (around Chapter 5). All his quests start in the throne room.
• Ekundayo: “Feast of Feasts” (Chapter 3), “Bury the Past” (Chapter 5). All his quests start in the throne room.
• Nok-Nok: “Nok-Nok and the Trouble with Goblins” (Chapter 4), “Nok-Nok and the Great Mother” (Chapter 5), “Nok-Nok and the King’s Return” (around Chapter 5), “A Hero, at Last!” (very shortly after his previous quest). All his quests start in the throne room.
DLC: The Wildcards
Not What It Seems
“Help the mysterious tiefling guest in her hunt for the ancient treasure.” ― During the celebration at the end of Chapter 1, Kaessi will mention about wanting to rent a place in our new founded Capital, and that she will wait there to talk about something. Her new house can be found in the Market area from the beginning of Chapter 2, step inside for a revelation. Kaessi, now Kalikke, will ask you for help to recover an ancient relic. Accept, travel to Sorrowflow (alone as you got asked to) and meet up with her. The area is small and quite easy to complete, recover and let your new friend keep the Disk of the Eclipse to unlock this trophy.
The Tiefling Trio
“Kill the Soul Eater, saving all three Sweet Teeth.” ― Travel to the Southern Barrens as agreed with the Forefather during the quest “A Matter of Principle”. There is no way to get this achievement by summoning Kanerah to bait the enemy away from the Sweet Teeth, for it to happen you need to pick the neutral option “Let it be decided by combat” and BE FAST. To make things easier, prioritise the souleaters that are attacking the three tieflings.
Patricide
“Slay the Forefather.” ― In Chapter 8, during “The Cursed King/Queen” quest (right after weakening the curse), travel back to the Camp at the Capital Gates to see the Foregather appear and, after a brief exchange, abduct Kalikke and Kanerah. Use the portal to travel to Sorrowflow. Have a chat with the Arcanotheign and the Forefather knowing that you can’t solve matters peacefully for this achievement, so pick the option to attack him.
DLC: Varnhold’s Lot
This DLC is not actually playable in the main game like Beneath the Stolen Lands, as it's mostly side content. It can be played whenever, but the best time is between Chapter 3 and Chapter 4, it should be played through before The Varnhold Vanishing Chapter for best results. To start the DLC, select New Game in the main menu and pick Varnhold's Lot, create a new character (remember, this is not your Baron but someone completely different) and start. The game will ask to port a save, pick your latest from your main campaign. At the same time, after the completion of the DLC, the first time you load your main campaign save, you will get promped to import your DLC progress in your main game, do it to add some extra content (and achievements) to the game.
A Job For A General
“Resolve the first crisis in Varnhold’s history.” ― Easy, complete “Of Cows and Other Matters of Political Importance” to unlock this, can’t really miss it. It’s the third main quest of the DLC, and happens to be extremely straightforward.
And The Murderer Is…
“Uncover the secrets of the Blackstones Ford inn.” ― While in the town’s tavern for “Of Cows and Other Matters of Political Importance”, have a chat with the Zombie Jester sitting there at a table, to unlock a new quest: “A Special Dish”. The next time you will head out with Varn, he will automatically stop by Blackstones Ford to investigate. There are clues you can gather after talking with the owners of the inn: check out the caravan in front of the inn, the dog in the yard, then on the top left of the map, there are two bodies hidden into a cavern. Back to the inn, walk inside to examine a table, then up in the attic to check out a chest and a wand. You can now confront the owners of the inn.
Who’s There?
“You knew it was coming, didn’t you?” ― Once inside Lostlarn Keep during the DLC, have someone use a scroll of Remove Curse on the Dog in the main portal area. If you did not bring scrolls with you, worry not, by using the portals to explore the Keep, you will obtain a few. Save before trying to use the scrolls, as removing the curse requires quite a high roll to succeed, and might fail multiple times before it goes through. Said Dog is, in fact, definitely not a good boy… but a polymorphed Mature Athach. Defeat it to obtain the achievement.
That’s Your Lot
“Complete the “Varnhold’s Lot” DLC campaign.” ― Self explanatory. Reminder that the best time to play through this DLC is before the events of The Varnhold Vanishing, to then port the DLC save into your main campaign and enjoy some extra content.
Lost And Found
“Visit Lostlarn Keep while playing the main story campaign.” ― Assuming you helped Varn in Chapter 4, in Chapter 5 he will give you the “Heroe’s Fate” quest, unlocking the location of Lostlarn Keep. You can travel there whenever you feel like going.
The Road Goes Ever On
“Unite Maegar Varn with his beloved.” ― In order to get this, you must romance Varn during the DLC. Back into the main campaign, free Varn from Vordekai at the end of Chapter 4. The time you will get this achievement depends on which choice you made at the end of the DLC. If you accepted the power offered by the Horned Hunter and the General got trapped in the Keep, once in Chapter 5, during an audience, Varn will ask for your help to find out what happened to his beloved: go to Lostlarn Keep with Varn and save the General to get this done. Instead, if you refused or attacked the Hunter so the General got trapped in the First World, you will have a chance to save them in Chapter 7 when defending Varnhold.
DLC: Beneath the Stolen Lands
If in possession of the DLC, you will be able to start running Beneath the Stolen Lands alongside your main campaign starting from Chapter 2.
The Price You Pay
“Find out the truth and eliminate the source of the threat Beneath the Stolen Lands while playing the main campaign.” ― You will be able to start this DLC in Chapter 2. It’s not mandatory to start it that early, it can also be started and completed later on. Mind that it won’t be possible to complete the DLC in early chapters, since the dungeon won’t be fully available at the very beginning and more floors will just open over time, after certain main story events. It’s up to you to decide if you prefer to run it little by little as more floors unlock, or later in the game and complete it all in one go. This achievement is complicated. You might think that all there is to do is to get to the end of the dungeon while running your main game and kill the Spawn of Rovagug, but it’s not that simple. Let’s start from the beginning: Xelliren first asks you to kill 4 bosses in the dephts. Now, each boss drops a very specific item that you NEED in order to complete this, but there are conditions to meet or they won’t drop it at all. The total number of floors in the main campaign is 16, meaning it is 4 floors for each boss. Each one of these floors has some hidden item you need to make their corresponding boss drop their special item, aka you need 4 items for each boss BEFORE you kill the corresponding boss. Floors 1 to 4 hide items for The Weary Traveler, 5 to 8 for The Fallen Priestess, 9 to 12 for The Wicked Chanter and 13 to 16 for the The Captor. Bring with you someone with high perception and on every time you venture on a new floor make sure to have a strategic save in case no one notices the hidden areas where the items you need are located. Here is a life-saving guide that shows wihch items you need on each floor, and where they are hiding. It’s in russian, but provides useful screenshots of the locations (and if you really want to delve in depth into it, a translator will do the trick):
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1773176520 After you got all the 4 boss items, get ready to fight the endboss of the DLC. It will be possible from Chapter 6 onwards, just know that it’s a fairly difficult fight, so come prepared and with a good amount of patience to spare. The quest automatically fails the moment you set foot in the House at the Edge of Time in Chapter 8, get the boss down before that happens if you want to unlock this achievement. After defeating the Spawn, talk to Xelliren and express your doubts.
A Memorable Moment
“Die for the first time while playing ‘Beneath the Stolen Lands’ in a rogue-like mode.” ― Easy, all you gotta do is to die while running the DLC in rogue-like mode. To clarify, rogue-like mode is simply the basic mode of the DLC itself, completely detached from the main campaign and based on the randomized creation of the floors in the dephts. Select new game from the main menu, choose Beneath the Stolen Lands, and you are good to go.
Descent
“Reach the 10th dungeon level Beneath the Stolen Lands while playing in rogue-like mode.” ― Pretty self explanatory.
Into the Darkness
“Reach the 30th dungeon level Beneath the Stolen Lands while playing in rogue-like mode.” ― Pretty self explanatory.
Depths Of Madness
“Reach the 50th dungeon level Beneath the Stolen Lands while playing in rogue-like mode.” ― Pretty self explanatory.
Apocalypse Can Wait
“Find out the truth and eliminate the source of the threat Beneath the Stolen Lands while playing in rogue-like mode.” ― Works similarly to “The Price You Pay”, but with a lot of added suffering. Stand alone DLC mode only, no main campaign.
Honest Looting
“Help the Honest Guy to expand his assortment of goods by cleaning the dungeon from the most dangerous monsters.” ― This is a really difficult achievement to get, and it’s tied to rogue-like mode. Every few floors there are bosses that, if defeated, will now expand the merchant’s loot table. As only one of the bosses is available per run, multiple runs are required: every time a boss is killed, you need to start a new DLC run but import your previous findings, a new boss will then be available somewhere within the dephts, and so on until all the bosses are down. There is a total of 4 unique bosses, and you need to kill 4 of them. Each will drop a unique book, so there’s a total of 4 books, and you need all 4 of them to open the path to the last boss. I did not yet unlock this achievement (it’s still a work in progress!), the informations should be correct but take them with a grain of salt just in case.
I hope you enjoy the Guide we share about Pathfinder: Kingmaker – achievement guide; if you think we forget to add or we should add more information, please let us know via commenting below! See you soon!
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