Sawerin
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Below are the achievements for XCOM: Enemy Unknown, along with the number of achievement points you’ll receive and a summary on how to get each achievement.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown Achievement List:
There are 50 achievements with a total of 1000 points.
No Looking Back (100)
Beat the game in Ironman mode on Classic or Impossible difficulty.
There have been discussions all over the web asking if it is possible to get this achievement while playing on vanilla mode. Unfortunately, the only way to add this one is to play Ironman Classic or Ironman Impossible. No other options. The biggest problems of the Ironman mode is that you get 1 save slot only. As you proceed all your fails and bad decisions will be saved and you won’t be able to recover from a better tactical or strategy position in order to improve the situation. However, there is a little trick that can help you out and it does not require anything impossible. You can simply dashboard on the alien's turn to revert to the beginning of your turn. This works well as long as you do not let aliens finish their turn. Let me give you an example:
1. Your turn starts;
2. You move your guys and end your turn;
3. Aliens move their soldiers and accidently kill you guy;
4. If you see that coming – dashboard before the alien's turn ends;
5. After the reload you will simply start the fight at step 1).
Also, you can save your save files on Cloud Services but this will take a lot longer to recover.
Humanity's Savior (30)
Beat the game on any difficulty.
It is important to understand that you won’t be able to finish this game on different difficulty levels using one strategy and tactical ideas. Even on the easiest level you won’t be able to simply get into a close battle and blow aliens’ brains off. Xcom: Enemy Unknown is a game where your every move has to be thought out perfectly well cause one fatal decision can turn into a total disaster. There are 4 difficulty levels in the game and to make you understand the difference, here’s a short description of every of those levels:
Easy Level:
- Initial funding of 175 credits.
- Initial global panic level of 0
- Monthly income increased by 50%
- Begin with an Officer Training School already constructed.
- Begin with 1 satellite in reserve.
- Base begins with 35 power
Normal Level:
- Initial funding of 175 credits.
- Initial global panic of 0
- Begin with an Officer Training School already constructed.
- Begin with 1 satellite in reserve.
- Base begins with 35 power
Classic Level:
- Initial funding of 100 credits.
- Initial global panic of 1 per country.
- No Officer Training School at the beginning.
- No extra satellites in the beginning.
- Engineers & Scientists awarded per satellite launched is halved.
- Base begins with 30 power.
- Rise in panic from ignored abduction missions is 2
- Enemies have roughly 10% greater aim/chance to score a critical
- There are more aliens on each map compared to Normal
Impossible Level:
- 100% of monthly funds income
- Initial funding of 75 credits.
- Initial global panic of 2 per country.
- No Officer Training School at the beginning.
- No extra satellites in the beginning.
- Engineers & Scientists awarded per satellite launched is halved.
- Base begins with 30 power.
- Rise in panic from ignored abduction missions is 3
- Enemies have roughly 10% greater aim/chance to score a critical
- There are more aliens on each map compared to Classic
If you plan to finish this game playing the Impossible or even Classic level, you will have to work really hard: make sure you know everything about your units and units of your enemy, how they move, what they fire, their fire range and unique features if any. Trust me – this is the only information that will help you to play this game the way you want and not the way they want you to.
Earth First (60)
Beat the game on Classic difficulty.
Even despite the fact that this difficulty level is called “Classic,” you will have lots of “fun” trying to finish this game playing on Classic difficulty. Here are some peculiarities of the difficulty that you should be aware of:
Classic Level:
- Initial funding of 100 credits.
- Initial global panic of 1 per country.
- No Officer Training School at the beginning.
- No extra satellites in the beginning.
- Engineers & Scientists awarded per satellite launched is halved.
- Base begins with 30 power.
- Rise in panic from ignored abduction missions is 2
- Enemies have roughly 10% greater aim/chance to score a critical
- There are more aliens on each map compared to Normal
Our Finest Hour (90)
Beat the game on Impossible difficulty.
Impossible difficulty actually speaks for itself. If you plan to unlock this achievement, you will have to work really hard and unlike any FPS, just getting in the room and killing everyone with a machine gun won’t work. Your only saviors are strategy and tactics. Also, keeping you successful save files in a safe place might be a very good idea. At least, you will be able to recover if or when something goes wrong. Here are some peculiarities of the difficulty that you should be aware of:
Impossible Level:
- 100% of monthly funds income
- Initial funding of 75 credits.
- Initial global panic of 2 per country.
- No Officer Training School at the beginning.
- No extra satellites in the beginning.
- Engineers & Scientists awarded per satellite launched is halved.
- Base begins with 30 power.
- Rise in panic from ignored abduction missions is 3
- Enemies have roughly 10% greater aim/chance to score a critical
- There are more aliens on each map compared to Classic
Lone Wolf (20)
Clear a UFO crash site with one soldier on Classic or Impossible difficulty.
As far as this is not a regular task, I would recommend you to finish it on a Classic difficulty level (it will make things a lot easier). Also, this achievement can be unlocked only on a crash site missions and requires a single soldier to kill all aliens on the map that sounds like a challenge already. Probably, the easiest mission to achieve this will be the Small Scout crash sites as far as they have from 5 to 8 enemies only. This achievement relies heavily on luck so it may take several times to get the right alien placement/strategies before it works in your favor. By the way – here’s an interesting strategy that worked great for me, though – it still made me to restart a mission for a couple of times. So, the best option to get this achievement is run for it on the very first crash site mission. The recipe for killing “cooking” looks like this:
1. Start a new game;
2. Disable the tutorial (this will give you better odds of one soldier being chosen as an Assault);
3. Play through the 2nd mission and do your best to rank up your Assault soldier to Corporal;
4. Choose the “Tactical Sense” perk at the end;
5. Save your progress before you deploy to the crash site. What it gives is that every time you reload, you will appear on a different map, though – it won’t harm your strategy;
6. With the ability to move, get your character up one side of the map slowly;
7. With a little luck, 1 of the 2 Sectoids you uncover will mind merge with the other;
8. Use Run and Gun to move into a position to take out the one doing the mind merging. You will take out the second pretty easy after;
9. If you are not able to use Run and Gun – fall back on moving once and use a grenade;
10. When the work is done – move up to the UFO;
11. Take up position at the front near the door (if you take your position from the side, there is a great possibility that Outsider will spawn on your second move);
12. When you’re on position – end your turn;
13. Open the door. This will make the Outsider to spawn;
14. When it runs directly for you, move inside the UFO and take out the Outsider.
When you’re done – you will get 20 achievement points.
Bada Boom (10)
Kill 50 aliens with explosive weapons.
Only grenades or rocket launchers are considered to be explosive weapons and as far as only the heavy classes can use a rocket launcher, it means that in most cases you will be using grenades (they are available for all classes). Also, grenades are infinite but you can carry only a limited number per mission, so do not forget to use up each soldier’s grenade supply every mission. The achievements itself should come to you naturally but it might be a good idea to use grenades and rockets on weaker enemies because as a rule they attack in groups (Sectoids and Thin Men will be perfect) or on those that are injured badly.
Welcoming Committee (20)
Kill 150 aliens.
As far as the whole game is based on killing aliens, this achievement will unlock itself naturally. The more you play – the faster you will get 20 points for killing 150 aliens.
Pale Horse (50)
Kill 500 aliens.
As well as the Welcoming Committee achievement, this also unlocked pretty naturally. The only difference is that now instead of 150 you are supposed to kill 500 aliens. Yes, this will take a while but again the more you play – the faster you get it.
Shooting Stars (35)
Shoot down 40 UFOs.
In order to shoot at least one, you will need three things: a satellite, an interceptor (the more – the better) and a great piece of luck. Scan the geoscope with the help of satellite (use mission control) and when it detects an UFO, launch an interceptor. Now your luck will do the rest. The best time to shoot down UFOs is at the very beginning of the game, so try to shoot down as many as possible before things get tough. Also, with the game progress, do not forget to upgrade interceptors and their payload in order to be able to take out the alien’s larger UFOs.
Ain't No Cavalry Comin' (50)
Have a soldier survive every mission in a full game.
This achievement can be unlocked on any difficulty but it is highly recommended to do your attempts on the easy one. This will just make things simpler. The biggest trick about this achievement is that you will have to do your best to make at least one soldier survive. Unless you are very lucky or you play like a Pro, the only thing that can save you from being killed is a well organized system of savings. Make sure you keep an eye on every soldier in your squad and upgrade them with the useful stuff as much as possible. By the way – if you will skip the tutorial at the very beginning of a new game, you should get four soldiers under your command which, actually, gives you another chance to unlock this achievement.
As A Scalpel (25)
Earn the "Excellent" rating in every performance category on a terror mission.
Any “Terror” mission will be good for this but the sooner you start, the easier it will be to unlock this achievement: there will be less aliens and, what is really important, less civilians. In order to finish any Terror mission successfully you will have to follow three simple rules:
1. Kill all aliens on the map;
2. No squad members can be killed;
3. Rescue 75% civilians at least.
The hardest thing on these missions is to save civilians. Usually, aliens make a decision to kill them first. So, try to concentrate on killing aliens at the first place cause you will always have an opportunity to send a weaker soldier in order to save a civilian. Unlike the regular missions, this will require an offensive and not defensive strategy. Also, make sure you concentrate fire on your enemy and kill one after the other because in Terror missions three wounded aliens are a lot more dangerous than one alien at full health. “Run and Gun” perk will be more than just helpful in Terror missions.
Edison (25)
In a single game, complete every Research Project.
I do hope that your searching skills are really good cause this achievement is all about being a detective. Unlocking Research Project is pretty easy and basically all you have to do is to kill aliens, capture them, complete Crash Site/Base missions, complete prerequisite researches, etc. The research time of each project is determined by the number of scientists and laboratories constructed. The more scientists and laboratories you have, the faster this achievement should become yours. You can also speed up things by completing missions that offer scientists as rewards or by receiving scientists from the council for having satellites in Europe, North America, South America and Africa. So, it might be a good idea to invest your sources into science. All in all there are 53 Research Projects in a single game, so make sure you get all of them. Also, when going for this achievement, it would be great to select your base location as South America. This will mean all interrogations and autopsies are completed instantly. In the list below you will find all the research projects that have to be finished.
Dead Aliens:
- Weapon Fragments (recovered from all alien types)
- Xeno-Biology (recovered from all alien types)
- Alien Materials (recovered from all alien types)
- Berserker Autopsy
- Chryssalid Autopsy
- Cyberdisc Autopsy
- Drone Autopsy
- Ethereal Autopsy
- Floater Autopsy
- Heavy Floater Autopsy
- Muton Autopsy
- Muton Elite Autopsy
- Sectoid Autopsy
- Sectoid Commander Autopsy
- Sectopod Autopsy
- Thin Man Autopsy
Live Aliens:
- Berserker Interrogation
- Ethereal Interrogation
- Floater Interrogation
- Heavy Floater Interrogation
- Muton Interrogation
- Muton Elite Interrogation
- Sectoid Interrogation
- Sectoid Commander Interrogation
- Thin Man Interrogation
UFO/Crash Site/Base missions:
- Alien Nav Computer
- UFO Power Source
- Hyperwave Communication
- Outsider Shard
- Elerium
- Fusion Lance - (Available after shooting down a Large Battleship UFO and completing the crash site mission)
- Guided Fusion Launcher - (Available after shooting down a Large Battleship UFO and completing the crash site mission)
Requires previous research to unlock (the majority of these will come from interrogation and autopsies):
- Arc Thrower
- New Fighter Craft
- Ethereal Device
- Experimental Warfare
- Carapace Armor
- Titan Armor
- Beam Weapons
- Precision Lasers
- Heavy Lasers
- Light Plasma Rifle
- Plasma Rifle
- Heavy Plasma
- Plasma Sniper
- Alloy Cannon
- Plasma Cannon
- EMP Cannon
- Skeleton Suit
- Plasma Pistol
- Psi Armor
- Ghost Armor
- Archangel Armor
All Employees Must Wash Hands... (10)
In a single game, complete every Autopsy.
It looks like Autopsy can be fun and very useful in this game. Of course, we are civilized human beings and we conduct all autopsies in the laboratories only. Every time you kill an alien during the game, its corpse will be collected automatically at the end of every mission. All in all there are 13 alien autopsies that have to be done in a single game. By the way – if you start your base in South America, it will allow for autopsies to be completed instantly. Check out the list of required autopsies below:
Berserker Autopsy
Chryssalid Autopsy
Cyberdisc Autopsy
Drone Autopsy
Ethereal Autopsy
Floater Autopsy
Heavy Floater Autopsy
Muton Autopsy
Muton Elite Autopsy
Sectoid Autopsy
Sectoid Commander Autopsy
Sectopod Autopsy
Thin Man Autopsy
Eye in the Sky (5)
Launch a Satellite.
As far as this achievement is a part of the game, you shouldn’t have any problems unlocking it. You will be given a possibility to launch your first satellite right after the 3rd mission. After a little guidance select any county you want. You will be given a time frame for when the satellite will be active. The very moment it reaches the orbit, you will get notification about its successful launch and about the unlocked achievement.
All Together Now (10)
Get satellite coverage over every country on one continent.
The easiest way to unlock this achievement is to wait until you start playing in South America. This continent, according to the game rules, has two countries only and as long as you will start with a satellite over one country, your only task will be to launch another satellite over the remaining county. Of course, you can try to get this achievement on other continents but it will simply take a lot more time.
Hunter/Killer (15)
In a single game, shoot down one of each alien craft.
There are 5 UFO types in a single campaign and your task is to shoot down them all. But let’s take a look at things we’ll be dealing with:
1. Small Scout (Can be shot down with a basic Interceptor).
2. Medium Scout (Can be shot down with basic Interceptor but it is better to use phoenix cannons).
3. Large Scout/Abductor (Can be shot down with Interceptor but will require laser weapons and Targeting/Agility modes).
4. Large UFO/Supply Barge (Will require Firestorm upgrade with Laser or Plasma weapons).
5. Battleship (Will require Firestorm upgrade with Plasma or EMP weapons).
Now, here’s how you should detect UFOs and take them down without getting any complications. First of all you need to launch satellites around the globe as constantly as possible. This will help you to control the airspace. Secondly – make sure you have at least one interceptor based at each country with a satellite. If it is possible, double the number of interceptors and make the second one carry different armaments.
Man No More (10)
Build a suit of powered armor.
You should unlock this achievement pretty naturally by playing the game cause a powered armor will increase your chances to survive. All in all there are 3 types of powered armor: Archangel, Ghost and Titan. Powered armor can be researched in laboratories and built via engineering.
We Happy Few (10)
Complete a mission without losing a soldier.
The best time to unlock this achievement is playing the first missions of the game as far as aliens won’t be too aggressive (you will mostly deal with Sectoids) from the very beginning. If you do everything right, this might be unlocked as early as the 2nd mission. You can get your teammates injured and still unlock the achievement. Just make sure that no one dies. Also, when you see that somebody from your team has a low health level, move him back and let another member of your team protect or attack the area.
The Hardest Road (10)
Advance one of your soldiers to Colonel rank.
Practically everything that you do in the game will bring some experience points. You can get those for killing aliens, damaging aliens, capturing aliens, performing actions like firing while on overwatch or just for surviving the mission. The more action you perform, the faster your soldier will get a higher rank. The highest a soldier can achieve is Colonel and your task it to obtain it no matter what. I can’t say that it is hard but it certainly will take a while to get enough points to become a better warrior. Updating your soldier with different perks should also help him to become a Colonel faster but try to concentrate on those perks that suit your hero and your gaming strategy and not on those that just sound great. You can also buy the “Wet Work” perk from the Officer Training School for 125 credits. It gives additional experience per kill.
Worth Every Penny (20)
Acquire 1000 credits in one month.
While playing the game you will get credits on monthly bases. The number of credits and your income directly depends on the number of satellites you have in orbit as well as the number of countries that are still part of the council. This is the moment when quantity is lot more important than quality. However, you can earn additional credits for playing certain missions, fulfilling council requests or selling materials and alien corpses on the grey market. The easier the difficulty level, the faster you are going to unlock this achievement. Also, having a starting base in Africa will help you to increase your monthly council funding by 30% which is definitely a nice bonus. But in case you have any problems acquiring 1000 credits in one month, save your game and start selling most of your equipment on the grey market. When you get a pop out notifications saying that the Worth Every Penny achievement is unlocked – reload a previously saved game.
Oppenheimer (20)
Staff the Research Labs with 80 scientists.
There is no need to focus on getting this as far as the achievement will come naturally towards the later stages of the game. You can get additional scientists for lots of things: as rewards for completing certain missions, monthly rewards for having satellites in Europe, North America, South America and Africa, from the occasional council requests, etc. Remember – the more satellites you have, the more scientists you get on monthly bases. But, if you do have troubles gathering 80 scientists, start a new game and this time do whatever it takes to get as many scientists as possible. If you are given the option between adding scientists or engineers – always choose the first one.
One Gun at a Time (20)
Staff the Engineering Department with 80 engineers
As well as scientists, additional engineers can be obtained as rewards for completing certain missions, monthly rewards for having satellites in Europe, North America, South America and Africa, from the occasional council requests, etc. Remember – the more satellites you have, the more scientists you get on monthly bases. Building additional workshops will also give you additional engineers. But, if you do have troubles gathering 80 engineers, start a new game and this time do whatever it takes to get as many engineers as possible. If you are given the option between adding scientists or engineers – always choose the second one.
Skunkworks (20)
In a single game, complete every Foundry project.
All in all there are 18 projects in the single game. In order to complete them you will have to gather either money, alien materials engineers or a combination of all. Here’s the list of Foundry projects:
Heavy Weapons Platform
Alien Grenades
Improved Medikit
Improved Arc Thrower
Advanced Repair
SHIV Laser
SHIV Plasma
SHIV Repair
SHIV Suppression
Drone Capture
Ammo Conservation
Advanced Flight
Advanced Construction
Improved Pistol I
Improved Pistol II
Improved Pistol III
Stealth Satellites
SCOPE Upgrade
You Have 5 Seconds to Comply (10)
Build a S.H.I.V.
Building a S.H.I.V. is based on 5 stages:
1. Build a foundry;
2. Research heavy weapons platform in a newly built foundry;
3. Once it’s done – proceed to engineering;
4. Build the S.H.I.V.;
5. Once construction is complete – you will get the achievement.
Theory... (10)
Build a Laboratory.
In order to open a possibility to build laboratories, you will have to have at least 6 scientists. When you gather the number required, check the “Construct Facility” menu. A
laboratory itself needs 3 powers, 6 scientists and 125 credits. Start building a laboratory and once the construction is complete – you will get the achievement. Also, if you plan to have your base or full satellite coverage in Europe, this will help you to reduce the required number of credits from 125 to 62.
...and Practice (10)
Build a Workshop.
A lot like the Theory… achievement, this one will require 6 people to get things done but instead of scientists you are supposed to have 6 engineers. When you have a combination of 3 powers, 6 engineers and 130 credits – you can start building your first workshop. Once the construction is complete – you will get the achievement. Also, if you plan to have your base or full satellite coverage in Europe, this will help you to reduce the required number of credits from 130 to 65.
Wet Work (10)
Complete a Very Hard abduction mission in five turns or less on Classic or Impossible difficulty.
Despite the reward (10 achievement points only), this is one of the hardest tasks I came across while playing this game. The first difficulty is to find a “very hard” abduction mission as far as these do not appear out of nowhere. But you can increase your chances by raising the panic level on the continent (choose the one you like): the higher you raise the panic level, the harder it will be to complete the mission. By all means I would recommend you to choose Classic and not Impossible difficulty because the second one really speaks for itself.
So, the next step is to simplify your task as much as possible. You’ve probably noticed that the number of maps for this mission is pretty limited and their rotation is random. So, you can just wait for one that you are aware of or one that you think is the easiest and pick it for your further battle. Make sure you save your progress before launching the mission.
Of course, you can try to complete this mission with as many soldiers you want but the more you have – the better your chances are, so a company of 5 is highly recommended. Completing this mission with only 4 soldiers is almost impossible.
Before your start playing for real, it might be a good idea to play the mission for scouting first. It will help you to identify what aliens will be fighting against you as well as their locations and fighting possibilities. Of course, on the next round their location might be slightly different but definitely not critically different.
A Continental Fellow (50)
Win the game from each of the 5 starting locations.
In other words this achievement says “play the game for 5 times”. Well, it shouldn’t be a big problem in case you like it
The only “but” here is that you will have to start every game on a different continent. As far as there are 5 starting locations – 5 challenging games are waiting for you. The way you play them is all up to your strategy but make sure you do not lose at least one of those. Having more than 8 countries pull out of the council is a loss, so try to keep everything under control. You can also finish all the games playing on the easiest level but completing this game on different levels and with a base on different continents will help you to unlock more than just one achievement, so it might be a good idea to challenge yourself.
What Wonders Await (5)
Complete a Research Project.
As far as this is a part of the game process – there is no way you can miss it. After you finish the 2nd mission, you will receive an instruction on how to complete a research project. In order to do that you will have to authorize it with the help of alien materials. You will also be able to select either the S.C.O.P.E or medkits. Your research project should be finished in a couple of days and when it’s complete – you will get one notification about the successful research and another one for unlocking the What Wonders Await achievement.
Up and Running (5)
Build a base facility.
As far as this is a part of the game process – there is no way you can miss it. After you complete mission 3 of the single campaign, you will be instructed to build an alien containment facility. Just follow the instructions and in a couple of days you will get your base facility and another unlocked achievement.
Combat Ready (5)
Build an item.
As far as this is a part of the game process – there is no way you can miss it. Right after you unlock What wonders Await achievement, you will be directed to the engineering department. Follow the instruction on how to build the item you just researched, select the number of items you want to be made and get another achievement unlocked.
Drums in the Deep (10)
Gain access to the lowest level in your base.
There are only four levels you can unlock in your base and, of course, the 4th level is the lowest one and the moment you get it – the achievement is yours. Each access lift requires money and its cost is increased with each additional level. Also, in order to add another level to your base, you will have to wait for a couple of days. If you do everything right – this achievement will be unlocked the natural way.
Happy to Oblige (15)
Fulfill a Council request.
Council requests might get pretty tricky during the game, so I would recommend you to follow a set of simple but very helpful rules. The first thing you need to know is that Council requests will appear at random times via the situation room. They can involve different things like requests for alien technology/artifacts, items you can/have engineered, or satellites to be launched in exchange for rewards. Also, every request will have a time limit allowing you to build/obtain the required items, so make sure you finish things in time. Once you meet the requirements, the request will be completed and the achievement will unlock. The good news is that you do not have to accept each and every request sent to you. If you are more than sure that at this moment a received request is unreachable for you, just skip it and wait for another and easier one. Secondly, try to keep an eye on things you might be requested to build/obtain or launch. Usually, no matter the time limitation, you can complete the task in time but, for example, it will take you a lot longer to build and launch a satellite. So, why don’t you build one and keep it until a corresponding request appears in your inbox? That will just make everything easier.
Tables Turned (10)
Shoot down a UFO.
As far as this is a part of the game process – there is no way you can miss it. Right after the 3rd mission you will be called to mission command. Your task will be to launch an interceptor and shoot down a UFO. Just follow the instructions, confirm the launch and when it engages the UFO and shoots it down – the achievement is yours.
And So It Begins... (15)
Complete the tutorial mission.
If you want to play this game properly and understand what you’re doing, just launch the game and finish the first mission. You will get lots of care from the game developers and your task is to follow the hints – that’s all. However, you won’t be able to unlock this achievement while playing on Impossible because this difficulty skips the tutorial.
Secret Achievements
Meet New People. Then Kill Them. (25)
Win a multiplayer match.
This achievement can be unlocked only when playing online. Split screens or system links can’t be used as alternatives. Your game online will be pretty much the same as the single player. Though, you will have to form some strategy in order to win and unlock Meet New People. Then Kill Them achievement. But if you have a friend that also enjoys playing XCOM: Enemy Unknown, you can help each other out by having one player skip his turn until all his soldiers are killed.
Xavier (10)
Mind Control an Ethereal. Single player only.
No matter your skills, you need to remember that it won’t be easy to perform a successfully mind control of the Ethereal. Your chances on doing everything right will be around 30-70% that, of course, is better than nothing but sometimes not good enough, so it might be a nice idea to save your progress before you attempt to do anything.
The first thing you need to remember is that your Psi-Soldiers have Psi-Inspiration as well as Mind Control and the Psi-Armor and you would definitely like to have around 100 points of Will (but the more is better) with the Psi-Armor. When you engage an Ethereal, leave your Psi-Soldier out of sight of the Ethereal (some sources claim that even your Psi-Soldier can be mind-controlled and you will still get the achievement by killing the Ethereal instead of mind-controlling him yourself). Use your Psi-Inspiration before you attempt the Mind Control. This will give you additional 30 Will Buff. Well, try to make a successful mind control trick. Also, here’s something that will be helpful:
- "Combat Drugs" perk is a nice thing to have when attempting to unlock this achievement. They will give you another 20 Will.
- if it’s possible – try to get a Support soldier with PSI abilities. Also, take Mindfray, Psi Inspiration, Mind Control, Smoke Grenade and Combat Drugs perks. Wear Psi Armor and equipping a Mind Shield would not hurt.
Angel of Death (10)
Kill an alien while flying. Single player only.
First of all – do not forget to save your game process before attempting to unlock this achievement (just in case if something goes wrong). The only way to make it yours is with the Archangel armor that will be offered a bit later in the game. You can choose whatever class you want but sniper might be the best option. He will give you a possibility to kill an enemy without getting too close.
Beyond the Veil (10)
Find a soldier with the Gift.
As far as this is a part of the game process – there is no way you can miss it. All you have to do is to send one of your soldiers to the Psi-Labs. The one who has the 'Will' will be chosen to have the gift. But you need to remember that the soldier chosen will be gone for 10 days and if you plan to change this world by fighting the aliens, you will have to make sure that you are not missing your main soldier.
Prisoner of War (10)
Capture a live alien.
As far as this is a part of the game process – there is no way you can miss it. Here’s how you should do it:
1. Research Xeno-Biology;
2. Research the “Arc Thrower” (available only after Xeno-Biology);
3. Construct it in engineering and outfit it on a soldier for the next mission;
4. Start a mission;
5. Pick a soldier and try to get as closer to an alien as possible. Usually, 3-4 spaces from it will be enough;
6. Make sure you have a clear LOS;
7. Move close to an alien on your first turn (unless an alien approaches you first);
8. Press RT to select the arc thrower and fire.
There is a great possibility that you are going to miss, so either save before you fire or make sure that there’s another soldier standing nearby and ready to shoot.
The Gatekeeper (10)
Stun an Outsider.
As far as this is a part of the game process – there is no way you can miss it. You will be able to find outsiders on crash-site missions only. They will reveal themselves only when you move within the range of one. You can use the very same method described in Prisoner of War achievement (right above this one) but make sure you stun the outsider.
X Marks the Spot (10)
Uncover the alien base's location.
This is a story related achievement and you won’t be able to miss it. Just scatter the map and find where the aliens’ base is.
See All, Know All (10)
Build the Hyperwave Relay.
This is a story related achievement and you will get it anyway. Research the Hyperwave Beacon. This will open you a possibility to build the Hyperwave Relay. In order to build one, you will need:
4 power
175 credits
10 Alloys
1 Hyperwave Beacon
On the Shoulders of Giants (10)
Build the Gollop Chamber.
This is a story related achievement and you will get it anyway. But, it will require a certain preparation that is a part of the game process as well. After shooting down and investigating the Overseer craft (which is only available after building and activation of the Hyperwave Relay) and recovering and researching the Ethereal Device, you will get a new task: "Construct the Gollop Chamber." For that matter you will need:
5 Power
200 credits
10 Elerium
10 Alloys
1 Ethereal Device
Ride the Lightning (10)
Build a Firestorm.
Here’s a recipe for this achievement:
1. Firstly – get yourself a power core from a UFO or Alien Base (it definitely has to be a working power core. A damaged one will not work);
2. Now you have an opportunity to research “New Fighter Craft”;
3. Complete the research;
4. Enter Hanger menu and construct a Firestorm;
5. Wait for a couple of days and add the achievement to your list.
Poison Control (10)
Cure poison on five soldiers in a single mission. Single player only.
In order to finish this task you will have to have at least 5 soldiers in your group and a unique alien enemy with some poisoning skills. The best negative character that can help you out is a Thin Man but as far as they appear in the early objective based missions, make sure you attempt to unlock this achievement before you go too far. There are two ways to be poisoned: let a Thin Man spit poison at you or kill the one and move your soldier into the poison cloud. Make sure that a soldier carrying a medikit is not far away from the poisoned one. Once a soldier becomes poisoned – treat him with the medkit. By the way: if a soldier you are trying to get poisoned carries a medkit – he will be immune to the poison cloud, so make sure you to avoid this kind of misunderstanding. Do the poisoning with the other 4 guys and unlock the achievement. Of course, in order to make this achievement possible, you will have to research medikits first and then to equip at least five when on the load out screen. But you can also use a Support soldier with the 'Field Medic' perk. This will allow you to use a single medkit three times.
There is also an interesting option to unlock the achievement mentioned but you might wanna save your progress before attempting to do so. Find a Thin Man and try to isolate it from the other aliens. Move forward with the 5 soldiers and kill the alien. Once he leaves a poisoned cloud after his death, move each member within the cloud. On your next turn set about curing everyone.
Or, if you are afraid of poisoning the whole team and getting into trouble, you can actually poison 1 soldier 5 times. Move 1 soldier into the poison and out, cure him and do it 4 more times. Though, each cloud is good for 2 poisonings only but if you do not have enough soldier or you do not want to risk the whole team – this is definitely the way to go.
And Hell's Coming With Me (10)
Successfully assault an Overseer UFO.
This achievement is story-related and cannot be missed. Firstly, you will need to build the Hyperwave Relay and make it function. If everything goes well, you will shoot down and investigate (assault) a medium-sized alien craft, the "Overseer" ship. After the assault is complete, this achievement will unlock whether you killed or captured the Ethereal.
Off My Planet (25)
Recover the Hyperwave Beacon.
In order to unlock this achievement you will have to successfully complete the first story mission you unlock after researching the outsider shard. Your task is to create a skeleton key before you’re able to attempt the mission. Kill everyone in that mission to get 25 achievement points.
The Volunteer (10)
Make contact with the Ethereal hive mind.
This achievement is story-related and cannot be missed. You need to use the Gallop Chamber and equip you soldiers with Psi Armor. As far as only one person can do that – make sure you pick the right soldier. Using the Device levels up the Psionic Abilities of "The Volunteer" and you will be unable to remove "The Volunteer" or the Psi Armor for the final fight.
Flight of the Valkyries (10)
Win a mission with an all-female squad. Single player only.
It looks like not only men can fight aliens from the strange worlds but women can be a part of the fighting squad as well. In order to unlock this achievement, you will have to create an all-female squad. Unfortunately, you are not able to select male or female when hiring, so it might take a while to get things done. If you lack enough female soldiers to fill a squad, hire more from the barracks. Of course, if possible, try to unlock this achievement on an easier difficulty and early on in the game cause fighting aliens with rookies later in the game won’t be easy or even possible. The good news is that all members of your squad don’t have to survive the mission – you just have to complete it successfully. However, you need to keep it in mind that all squad slots on the loadout screen have to be taken by a female soldier (upgrading your squad size to 5, then attempting to complete a mission with 4 female soldiers and an empty slot, will not work).
XCOM: Enemy Unknown Achievement List:
There are 50 achievements with a total of 1000 points.
No Looking Back (100)
Beat the game in Ironman mode on Classic or Impossible difficulty.
There have been discussions all over the web asking if it is possible to get this achievement while playing on vanilla mode. Unfortunately, the only way to add this one is to play Ironman Classic or Ironman Impossible. No other options. The biggest problems of the Ironman mode is that you get 1 save slot only. As you proceed all your fails and bad decisions will be saved and you won’t be able to recover from a better tactical or strategy position in order to improve the situation. However, there is a little trick that can help you out and it does not require anything impossible. You can simply dashboard on the alien's turn to revert to the beginning of your turn. This works well as long as you do not let aliens finish their turn. Let me give you an example:
1. Your turn starts;
2. You move your guys and end your turn;
3. Aliens move their soldiers and accidently kill you guy;
4. If you see that coming – dashboard before the alien's turn ends;
5. After the reload you will simply start the fight at step 1).
Also, you can save your save files on Cloud Services but this will take a lot longer to recover.
Humanity's Savior (30)
Beat the game on any difficulty.
It is important to understand that you won’t be able to finish this game on different difficulty levels using one strategy and tactical ideas. Even on the easiest level you won’t be able to simply get into a close battle and blow aliens’ brains off. Xcom: Enemy Unknown is a game where your every move has to be thought out perfectly well cause one fatal decision can turn into a total disaster. There are 4 difficulty levels in the game and to make you understand the difference, here’s a short description of every of those levels:
Easy Level:
- Initial funding of 175 credits.
- Initial global panic level of 0
- Monthly income increased by 50%
- Begin with an Officer Training School already constructed.
- Begin with 1 satellite in reserve.
- Base begins with 35 power
Normal Level:
- Initial funding of 175 credits.
- Initial global panic of 0
- Begin with an Officer Training School already constructed.
- Begin with 1 satellite in reserve.
- Base begins with 35 power
Classic Level:
- Initial funding of 100 credits.
- Initial global panic of 1 per country.
- No Officer Training School at the beginning.
- No extra satellites in the beginning.
- Engineers & Scientists awarded per satellite launched is halved.
- Base begins with 30 power.
- Rise in panic from ignored abduction missions is 2
- Enemies have roughly 10% greater aim/chance to score a critical
- There are more aliens on each map compared to Normal
Impossible Level:
- 100% of monthly funds income
- Initial funding of 75 credits.
- Initial global panic of 2 per country.
- No Officer Training School at the beginning.
- No extra satellites in the beginning.
- Engineers & Scientists awarded per satellite launched is halved.
- Base begins with 30 power.
- Rise in panic from ignored abduction missions is 3
- Enemies have roughly 10% greater aim/chance to score a critical
- There are more aliens on each map compared to Classic
If you plan to finish this game playing the Impossible or even Classic level, you will have to work really hard: make sure you know everything about your units and units of your enemy, how they move, what they fire, their fire range and unique features if any. Trust me – this is the only information that will help you to play this game the way you want and not the way they want you to.
Earth First (60)
Beat the game on Classic difficulty.
Even despite the fact that this difficulty level is called “Classic,” you will have lots of “fun” trying to finish this game playing on Classic difficulty. Here are some peculiarities of the difficulty that you should be aware of:
Classic Level:
- Initial funding of 100 credits.
- Initial global panic of 1 per country.
- No Officer Training School at the beginning.
- No extra satellites in the beginning.
- Engineers & Scientists awarded per satellite launched is halved.
- Base begins with 30 power.
- Rise in panic from ignored abduction missions is 2
- Enemies have roughly 10% greater aim/chance to score a critical
- There are more aliens on each map compared to Normal
Our Finest Hour (90)
Beat the game on Impossible difficulty.
Impossible difficulty actually speaks for itself. If you plan to unlock this achievement, you will have to work really hard and unlike any FPS, just getting in the room and killing everyone with a machine gun won’t work. Your only saviors are strategy and tactics. Also, keeping you successful save files in a safe place might be a very good idea. At least, you will be able to recover if or when something goes wrong. Here are some peculiarities of the difficulty that you should be aware of:
Impossible Level:
- 100% of monthly funds income
- Initial funding of 75 credits.
- Initial global panic of 2 per country.
- No Officer Training School at the beginning.
- No extra satellites in the beginning.
- Engineers & Scientists awarded per satellite launched is halved.
- Base begins with 30 power.
- Rise in panic from ignored abduction missions is 3
- Enemies have roughly 10% greater aim/chance to score a critical
- There are more aliens on each map compared to Classic
Lone Wolf (20)
Clear a UFO crash site with one soldier on Classic or Impossible difficulty.
As far as this is not a regular task, I would recommend you to finish it on a Classic difficulty level (it will make things a lot easier). Also, this achievement can be unlocked only on a crash site missions and requires a single soldier to kill all aliens on the map that sounds like a challenge already. Probably, the easiest mission to achieve this will be the Small Scout crash sites as far as they have from 5 to 8 enemies only. This achievement relies heavily on luck so it may take several times to get the right alien placement/strategies before it works in your favor. By the way – here’s an interesting strategy that worked great for me, though – it still made me to restart a mission for a couple of times. So, the best option to get this achievement is run for it on the very first crash site mission. The recipe for killing “cooking” looks like this:
1. Start a new game;
2. Disable the tutorial (this will give you better odds of one soldier being chosen as an Assault);
3. Play through the 2nd mission and do your best to rank up your Assault soldier to Corporal;
4. Choose the “Tactical Sense” perk at the end;
5. Save your progress before you deploy to the crash site. What it gives is that every time you reload, you will appear on a different map, though – it won’t harm your strategy;
6. With the ability to move, get your character up one side of the map slowly;
7. With a little luck, 1 of the 2 Sectoids you uncover will mind merge with the other;
8. Use Run and Gun to move into a position to take out the one doing the mind merging. You will take out the second pretty easy after;
9. If you are not able to use Run and Gun – fall back on moving once and use a grenade;
10. When the work is done – move up to the UFO;
11. Take up position at the front near the door (if you take your position from the side, there is a great possibility that Outsider will spawn on your second move);
12. When you’re on position – end your turn;
13. Open the door. This will make the Outsider to spawn;
14. When it runs directly for you, move inside the UFO and take out the Outsider.
When you’re done – you will get 20 achievement points.
Bada Boom (10)
Kill 50 aliens with explosive weapons.
Only grenades or rocket launchers are considered to be explosive weapons and as far as only the heavy classes can use a rocket launcher, it means that in most cases you will be using grenades (they are available for all classes). Also, grenades are infinite but you can carry only a limited number per mission, so do not forget to use up each soldier’s grenade supply every mission. The achievements itself should come to you naturally but it might be a good idea to use grenades and rockets on weaker enemies because as a rule they attack in groups (Sectoids and Thin Men will be perfect) or on those that are injured badly.
Welcoming Committee (20)
Kill 150 aliens.
As far as the whole game is based on killing aliens, this achievement will unlock itself naturally. The more you play – the faster you will get 20 points for killing 150 aliens.
Pale Horse (50)
Kill 500 aliens.
As well as the Welcoming Committee achievement, this also unlocked pretty naturally. The only difference is that now instead of 150 you are supposed to kill 500 aliens. Yes, this will take a while but again the more you play – the faster you get it.
Shooting Stars (35)
Shoot down 40 UFOs.
In order to shoot at least one, you will need three things: a satellite, an interceptor (the more – the better) and a great piece of luck. Scan the geoscope with the help of satellite (use mission control) and when it detects an UFO, launch an interceptor. Now your luck will do the rest. The best time to shoot down UFOs is at the very beginning of the game, so try to shoot down as many as possible before things get tough. Also, with the game progress, do not forget to upgrade interceptors and their payload in order to be able to take out the alien’s larger UFOs.
Ain't No Cavalry Comin' (50)
Have a soldier survive every mission in a full game.
This achievement can be unlocked on any difficulty but it is highly recommended to do your attempts on the easy one. This will just make things simpler. The biggest trick about this achievement is that you will have to do your best to make at least one soldier survive. Unless you are very lucky or you play like a Pro, the only thing that can save you from being killed is a well organized system of savings. Make sure you keep an eye on every soldier in your squad and upgrade them with the useful stuff as much as possible. By the way – if you will skip the tutorial at the very beginning of a new game, you should get four soldiers under your command which, actually, gives you another chance to unlock this achievement.
As A Scalpel (25)
Earn the "Excellent" rating in every performance category on a terror mission.
Any “Terror” mission will be good for this but the sooner you start, the easier it will be to unlock this achievement: there will be less aliens and, what is really important, less civilians. In order to finish any Terror mission successfully you will have to follow three simple rules:
1. Kill all aliens on the map;
2. No squad members can be killed;
3. Rescue 75% civilians at least.
The hardest thing on these missions is to save civilians. Usually, aliens make a decision to kill them first. So, try to concentrate on killing aliens at the first place cause you will always have an opportunity to send a weaker soldier in order to save a civilian. Unlike the regular missions, this will require an offensive and not defensive strategy. Also, make sure you concentrate fire on your enemy and kill one after the other because in Terror missions three wounded aliens are a lot more dangerous than one alien at full health. “Run and Gun” perk will be more than just helpful in Terror missions.
Edison (25)
In a single game, complete every Research Project.
I do hope that your searching skills are really good cause this achievement is all about being a detective. Unlocking Research Project is pretty easy and basically all you have to do is to kill aliens, capture them, complete Crash Site/Base missions, complete prerequisite researches, etc. The research time of each project is determined by the number of scientists and laboratories constructed. The more scientists and laboratories you have, the faster this achievement should become yours. You can also speed up things by completing missions that offer scientists as rewards or by receiving scientists from the council for having satellites in Europe, North America, South America and Africa. So, it might be a good idea to invest your sources into science. All in all there are 53 Research Projects in a single game, so make sure you get all of them. Also, when going for this achievement, it would be great to select your base location as South America. This will mean all interrogations and autopsies are completed instantly. In the list below you will find all the research projects that have to be finished.
Dead Aliens:
- Weapon Fragments (recovered from all alien types)
- Xeno-Biology (recovered from all alien types)
- Alien Materials (recovered from all alien types)
- Berserker Autopsy
- Chryssalid Autopsy
- Cyberdisc Autopsy
- Drone Autopsy
- Ethereal Autopsy
- Floater Autopsy
- Heavy Floater Autopsy
- Muton Autopsy
- Muton Elite Autopsy
- Sectoid Autopsy
- Sectoid Commander Autopsy
- Sectopod Autopsy
- Thin Man Autopsy
Live Aliens:
- Berserker Interrogation
- Ethereal Interrogation
- Floater Interrogation
- Heavy Floater Interrogation
- Muton Interrogation
- Muton Elite Interrogation
- Sectoid Interrogation
- Sectoid Commander Interrogation
- Thin Man Interrogation
UFO/Crash Site/Base missions:
- Alien Nav Computer
- UFO Power Source
- Hyperwave Communication
- Outsider Shard
- Elerium
- Fusion Lance - (Available after shooting down a Large Battleship UFO and completing the crash site mission)
- Guided Fusion Launcher - (Available after shooting down a Large Battleship UFO and completing the crash site mission)
Requires previous research to unlock (the majority of these will come from interrogation and autopsies):
- Arc Thrower
- New Fighter Craft
- Ethereal Device
- Experimental Warfare
- Carapace Armor
- Titan Armor
- Beam Weapons
- Precision Lasers
- Heavy Lasers
- Light Plasma Rifle
- Plasma Rifle
- Heavy Plasma
- Plasma Sniper
- Alloy Cannon
- Plasma Cannon
- EMP Cannon
- Skeleton Suit
- Plasma Pistol
- Psi Armor
- Ghost Armor
- Archangel Armor
All Employees Must Wash Hands... (10)
In a single game, complete every Autopsy.
It looks like Autopsy can be fun and very useful in this game. Of course, we are civilized human beings and we conduct all autopsies in the laboratories only. Every time you kill an alien during the game, its corpse will be collected automatically at the end of every mission. All in all there are 13 alien autopsies that have to be done in a single game. By the way – if you start your base in South America, it will allow for autopsies to be completed instantly. Check out the list of required autopsies below:
Berserker Autopsy
Chryssalid Autopsy
Cyberdisc Autopsy
Drone Autopsy
Ethereal Autopsy
Floater Autopsy
Heavy Floater Autopsy
Muton Autopsy
Muton Elite Autopsy
Sectoid Autopsy
Sectoid Commander Autopsy
Sectopod Autopsy
Thin Man Autopsy
Eye in the Sky (5)
Launch a Satellite.
As far as this achievement is a part of the game, you shouldn’t have any problems unlocking it. You will be given a possibility to launch your first satellite right after the 3rd mission. After a little guidance select any county you want. You will be given a time frame for when the satellite will be active. The very moment it reaches the orbit, you will get notification about its successful launch and about the unlocked achievement.
All Together Now (10)
Get satellite coverage over every country on one continent.
The easiest way to unlock this achievement is to wait until you start playing in South America. This continent, according to the game rules, has two countries only and as long as you will start with a satellite over one country, your only task will be to launch another satellite over the remaining county. Of course, you can try to get this achievement on other continents but it will simply take a lot more time.
Hunter/Killer (15)
In a single game, shoot down one of each alien craft.
There are 5 UFO types in a single campaign and your task is to shoot down them all. But let’s take a look at things we’ll be dealing with:
1. Small Scout (Can be shot down with a basic Interceptor).
2. Medium Scout (Can be shot down with basic Interceptor but it is better to use phoenix cannons).
3. Large Scout/Abductor (Can be shot down with Interceptor but will require laser weapons and Targeting/Agility modes).
4. Large UFO/Supply Barge (Will require Firestorm upgrade with Laser or Plasma weapons).
5. Battleship (Will require Firestorm upgrade with Plasma or EMP weapons).
Now, here’s how you should detect UFOs and take them down without getting any complications. First of all you need to launch satellites around the globe as constantly as possible. This will help you to control the airspace. Secondly – make sure you have at least one interceptor based at each country with a satellite. If it is possible, double the number of interceptors and make the second one carry different armaments.
Man No More (10)
Build a suit of powered armor.
You should unlock this achievement pretty naturally by playing the game cause a powered armor will increase your chances to survive. All in all there are 3 types of powered armor: Archangel, Ghost and Titan. Powered armor can be researched in laboratories and built via engineering.
We Happy Few (10)
Complete a mission without losing a soldier.
The best time to unlock this achievement is playing the first missions of the game as far as aliens won’t be too aggressive (you will mostly deal with Sectoids) from the very beginning. If you do everything right, this might be unlocked as early as the 2nd mission. You can get your teammates injured and still unlock the achievement. Just make sure that no one dies. Also, when you see that somebody from your team has a low health level, move him back and let another member of your team protect or attack the area.
The Hardest Road (10)
Advance one of your soldiers to Colonel rank.
Practically everything that you do in the game will bring some experience points. You can get those for killing aliens, damaging aliens, capturing aliens, performing actions like firing while on overwatch or just for surviving the mission. The more action you perform, the faster your soldier will get a higher rank. The highest a soldier can achieve is Colonel and your task it to obtain it no matter what. I can’t say that it is hard but it certainly will take a while to get enough points to become a better warrior. Updating your soldier with different perks should also help him to become a Colonel faster but try to concentrate on those perks that suit your hero and your gaming strategy and not on those that just sound great. You can also buy the “Wet Work” perk from the Officer Training School for 125 credits. It gives additional experience per kill.
Worth Every Penny (20)
Acquire 1000 credits in one month.
While playing the game you will get credits on monthly bases. The number of credits and your income directly depends on the number of satellites you have in orbit as well as the number of countries that are still part of the council. This is the moment when quantity is lot more important than quality. However, you can earn additional credits for playing certain missions, fulfilling council requests or selling materials and alien corpses on the grey market. The easier the difficulty level, the faster you are going to unlock this achievement. Also, having a starting base in Africa will help you to increase your monthly council funding by 30% which is definitely a nice bonus. But in case you have any problems acquiring 1000 credits in one month, save your game and start selling most of your equipment on the grey market. When you get a pop out notifications saying that the Worth Every Penny achievement is unlocked – reload a previously saved game.
Oppenheimer (20)
Staff the Research Labs with 80 scientists.
There is no need to focus on getting this as far as the achievement will come naturally towards the later stages of the game. You can get additional scientists for lots of things: as rewards for completing certain missions, monthly rewards for having satellites in Europe, North America, South America and Africa, from the occasional council requests, etc. Remember – the more satellites you have, the more scientists you get on monthly bases. But, if you do have troubles gathering 80 scientists, start a new game and this time do whatever it takes to get as many scientists as possible. If you are given the option between adding scientists or engineers – always choose the first one.
One Gun at a Time (20)
Staff the Engineering Department with 80 engineers
As well as scientists, additional engineers can be obtained as rewards for completing certain missions, monthly rewards for having satellites in Europe, North America, South America and Africa, from the occasional council requests, etc. Remember – the more satellites you have, the more scientists you get on monthly bases. Building additional workshops will also give you additional engineers. But, if you do have troubles gathering 80 engineers, start a new game and this time do whatever it takes to get as many engineers as possible. If you are given the option between adding scientists or engineers – always choose the second one.
Skunkworks (20)
In a single game, complete every Foundry project.
All in all there are 18 projects in the single game. In order to complete them you will have to gather either money, alien materials engineers or a combination of all. Here’s the list of Foundry projects:
Heavy Weapons Platform
Alien Grenades
Improved Medikit
Improved Arc Thrower
Advanced Repair
SHIV Laser
SHIV Plasma
SHIV Repair
SHIV Suppression
Drone Capture
Ammo Conservation
Advanced Flight
Advanced Construction
Improved Pistol I
Improved Pistol II
Improved Pistol III
Stealth Satellites
SCOPE Upgrade
You Have 5 Seconds to Comply (10)
Build a S.H.I.V.
Building a S.H.I.V. is based on 5 stages:
1. Build a foundry;
2. Research heavy weapons platform in a newly built foundry;
3. Once it’s done – proceed to engineering;
4. Build the S.H.I.V.;
5. Once construction is complete – you will get the achievement.
Theory... (10)
Build a Laboratory.
In order to open a possibility to build laboratories, you will have to have at least 6 scientists. When you gather the number required, check the “Construct Facility” menu. A
laboratory itself needs 3 powers, 6 scientists and 125 credits. Start building a laboratory and once the construction is complete – you will get the achievement. Also, if you plan to have your base or full satellite coverage in Europe, this will help you to reduce the required number of credits from 125 to 62.
...and Practice (10)
Build a Workshop.
A lot like the Theory… achievement, this one will require 6 people to get things done but instead of scientists you are supposed to have 6 engineers. When you have a combination of 3 powers, 6 engineers and 130 credits – you can start building your first workshop. Once the construction is complete – you will get the achievement. Also, if you plan to have your base or full satellite coverage in Europe, this will help you to reduce the required number of credits from 130 to 65.
Wet Work (10)
Complete a Very Hard abduction mission in five turns or less on Classic or Impossible difficulty.
Despite the reward (10 achievement points only), this is one of the hardest tasks I came across while playing this game. The first difficulty is to find a “very hard” abduction mission as far as these do not appear out of nowhere. But you can increase your chances by raising the panic level on the continent (choose the one you like): the higher you raise the panic level, the harder it will be to complete the mission. By all means I would recommend you to choose Classic and not Impossible difficulty because the second one really speaks for itself.
So, the next step is to simplify your task as much as possible. You’ve probably noticed that the number of maps for this mission is pretty limited and their rotation is random. So, you can just wait for one that you are aware of or one that you think is the easiest and pick it for your further battle. Make sure you save your progress before launching the mission.
Of course, you can try to complete this mission with as many soldiers you want but the more you have – the better your chances are, so a company of 5 is highly recommended. Completing this mission with only 4 soldiers is almost impossible.
Before your start playing for real, it might be a good idea to play the mission for scouting first. It will help you to identify what aliens will be fighting against you as well as their locations and fighting possibilities. Of course, on the next round their location might be slightly different but definitely not critically different.
A Continental Fellow (50)
Win the game from each of the 5 starting locations.
In other words this achievement says “play the game for 5 times”. Well, it shouldn’t be a big problem in case you like it
The only “but” here is that you will have to start every game on a different continent. As far as there are 5 starting locations – 5 challenging games are waiting for you. The way you play them is all up to your strategy but make sure you do not lose at least one of those. Having more than 8 countries pull out of the council is a loss, so try to keep everything under control. You can also finish all the games playing on the easiest level but completing this game on different levels and with a base on different continents will help you to unlock more than just one achievement, so it might be a good idea to challenge yourself. What Wonders Await (5)
Complete a Research Project.
As far as this is a part of the game process – there is no way you can miss it. After you finish the 2nd mission, you will receive an instruction on how to complete a research project. In order to do that you will have to authorize it with the help of alien materials. You will also be able to select either the S.C.O.P.E or medkits. Your research project should be finished in a couple of days and when it’s complete – you will get one notification about the successful research and another one for unlocking the What Wonders Await achievement.
Up and Running (5)
Build a base facility.
As far as this is a part of the game process – there is no way you can miss it. After you complete mission 3 of the single campaign, you will be instructed to build an alien containment facility. Just follow the instructions and in a couple of days you will get your base facility and another unlocked achievement.
Combat Ready (5)
Build an item.
As far as this is a part of the game process – there is no way you can miss it. Right after you unlock What wonders Await achievement, you will be directed to the engineering department. Follow the instruction on how to build the item you just researched, select the number of items you want to be made and get another achievement unlocked.
Drums in the Deep (10)
Gain access to the lowest level in your base.
There are only four levels you can unlock in your base and, of course, the 4th level is the lowest one and the moment you get it – the achievement is yours. Each access lift requires money and its cost is increased with each additional level. Also, in order to add another level to your base, you will have to wait for a couple of days. If you do everything right – this achievement will be unlocked the natural way.
Happy to Oblige (15)
Fulfill a Council request.
Council requests might get pretty tricky during the game, so I would recommend you to follow a set of simple but very helpful rules. The first thing you need to know is that Council requests will appear at random times via the situation room. They can involve different things like requests for alien technology/artifacts, items you can/have engineered, or satellites to be launched in exchange for rewards. Also, every request will have a time limit allowing you to build/obtain the required items, so make sure you finish things in time. Once you meet the requirements, the request will be completed and the achievement will unlock. The good news is that you do not have to accept each and every request sent to you. If you are more than sure that at this moment a received request is unreachable for you, just skip it and wait for another and easier one. Secondly, try to keep an eye on things you might be requested to build/obtain or launch. Usually, no matter the time limitation, you can complete the task in time but, for example, it will take you a lot longer to build and launch a satellite. So, why don’t you build one and keep it until a corresponding request appears in your inbox? That will just make everything easier.
Tables Turned (10)
Shoot down a UFO.
As far as this is a part of the game process – there is no way you can miss it. Right after the 3rd mission you will be called to mission command. Your task will be to launch an interceptor and shoot down a UFO. Just follow the instructions, confirm the launch and when it engages the UFO and shoots it down – the achievement is yours.
And So It Begins... (15)
Complete the tutorial mission.
If you want to play this game properly and understand what you’re doing, just launch the game and finish the first mission. You will get lots of care from the game developers and your task is to follow the hints – that’s all. However, you won’t be able to unlock this achievement while playing on Impossible because this difficulty skips the tutorial.
Secret Achievements
Meet New People. Then Kill Them. (25)
Win a multiplayer match.
This achievement can be unlocked only when playing online. Split screens or system links can’t be used as alternatives. Your game online will be pretty much the same as the single player. Though, you will have to form some strategy in order to win and unlock Meet New People. Then Kill Them achievement. But if you have a friend that also enjoys playing XCOM: Enemy Unknown, you can help each other out by having one player skip his turn until all his soldiers are killed.
Xavier (10)
Mind Control an Ethereal. Single player only.
No matter your skills, you need to remember that it won’t be easy to perform a successfully mind control of the Ethereal. Your chances on doing everything right will be around 30-70% that, of course, is better than nothing but sometimes not good enough, so it might be a nice idea to save your progress before you attempt to do anything.
The first thing you need to remember is that your Psi-Soldiers have Psi-Inspiration as well as Mind Control and the Psi-Armor and you would definitely like to have around 100 points of Will (but the more is better) with the Psi-Armor. When you engage an Ethereal, leave your Psi-Soldier out of sight of the Ethereal (some sources claim that even your Psi-Soldier can be mind-controlled and you will still get the achievement by killing the Ethereal instead of mind-controlling him yourself). Use your Psi-Inspiration before you attempt the Mind Control. This will give you additional 30 Will Buff. Well, try to make a successful mind control trick. Also, here’s something that will be helpful:
- "Combat Drugs" perk is a nice thing to have when attempting to unlock this achievement. They will give you another 20 Will.
- if it’s possible – try to get a Support soldier with PSI abilities. Also, take Mindfray, Psi Inspiration, Mind Control, Smoke Grenade and Combat Drugs perks. Wear Psi Armor and equipping a Mind Shield would not hurt.
Angel of Death (10)
Kill an alien while flying. Single player only.
First of all – do not forget to save your game process before attempting to unlock this achievement (just in case if something goes wrong). The only way to make it yours is with the Archangel armor that will be offered a bit later in the game. You can choose whatever class you want but sniper might be the best option. He will give you a possibility to kill an enemy without getting too close.
Beyond the Veil (10)
Find a soldier with the Gift.
As far as this is a part of the game process – there is no way you can miss it. All you have to do is to send one of your soldiers to the Psi-Labs. The one who has the 'Will' will be chosen to have the gift. But you need to remember that the soldier chosen will be gone for 10 days and if you plan to change this world by fighting the aliens, you will have to make sure that you are not missing your main soldier.
Prisoner of War (10)
Capture a live alien.
As far as this is a part of the game process – there is no way you can miss it. Here’s how you should do it:
1. Research Xeno-Biology;
2. Research the “Arc Thrower” (available only after Xeno-Biology);
3. Construct it in engineering and outfit it on a soldier for the next mission;
4. Start a mission;
5. Pick a soldier and try to get as closer to an alien as possible. Usually, 3-4 spaces from it will be enough;
6. Make sure you have a clear LOS;
7. Move close to an alien on your first turn (unless an alien approaches you first);
8. Press RT to select the arc thrower and fire.
There is a great possibility that you are going to miss, so either save before you fire or make sure that there’s another soldier standing nearby and ready to shoot.
The Gatekeeper (10)
Stun an Outsider.
As far as this is a part of the game process – there is no way you can miss it. You will be able to find outsiders on crash-site missions only. They will reveal themselves only when you move within the range of one. You can use the very same method described in Prisoner of War achievement (right above this one) but make sure you stun the outsider.
X Marks the Spot (10)
Uncover the alien base's location.
This is a story related achievement and you won’t be able to miss it. Just scatter the map and find where the aliens’ base is.
See All, Know All (10)
Build the Hyperwave Relay.
This is a story related achievement and you will get it anyway. Research the Hyperwave Beacon. This will open you a possibility to build the Hyperwave Relay. In order to build one, you will need:
4 power
175 credits
10 Alloys
1 Hyperwave Beacon
On the Shoulders of Giants (10)
Build the Gollop Chamber.
This is a story related achievement and you will get it anyway. But, it will require a certain preparation that is a part of the game process as well. After shooting down and investigating the Overseer craft (which is only available after building and activation of the Hyperwave Relay) and recovering and researching the Ethereal Device, you will get a new task: "Construct the Gollop Chamber." For that matter you will need:
5 Power
200 credits
10 Elerium
10 Alloys
1 Ethereal Device
Ride the Lightning (10)
Build a Firestorm.
Here’s a recipe for this achievement:
1. Firstly – get yourself a power core from a UFO or Alien Base (it definitely has to be a working power core. A damaged one will not work);
2. Now you have an opportunity to research “New Fighter Craft”;
3. Complete the research;
4. Enter Hanger menu and construct a Firestorm;
5. Wait for a couple of days and add the achievement to your list.
Poison Control (10)
Cure poison on five soldiers in a single mission. Single player only.
In order to finish this task you will have to have at least 5 soldiers in your group and a unique alien enemy with some poisoning skills. The best negative character that can help you out is a Thin Man but as far as they appear in the early objective based missions, make sure you attempt to unlock this achievement before you go too far. There are two ways to be poisoned: let a Thin Man spit poison at you or kill the one and move your soldier into the poison cloud. Make sure that a soldier carrying a medikit is not far away from the poisoned one. Once a soldier becomes poisoned – treat him with the medkit. By the way: if a soldier you are trying to get poisoned carries a medkit – he will be immune to the poison cloud, so make sure you to avoid this kind of misunderstanding. Do the poisoning with the other 4 guys and unlock the achievement. Of course, in order to make this achievement possible, you will have to research medikits first and then to equip at least five when on the load out screen. But you can also use a Support soldier with the 'Field Medic' perk. This will allow you to use a single medkit three times.
There is also an interesting option to unlock the achievement mentioned but you might wanna save your progress before attempting to do so. Find a Thin Man and try to isolate it from the other aliens. Move forward with the 5 soldiers and kill the alien. Once he leaves a poisoned cloud after his death, move each member within the cloud. On your next turn set about curing everyone.
Or, if you are afraid of poisoning the whole team and getting into trouble, you can actually poison 1 soldier 5 times. Move 1 soldier into the poison and out, cure him and do it 4 more times. Though, each cloud is good for 2 poisonings only but if you do not have enough soldier or you do not want to risk the whole team – this is definitely the way to go.
And Hell's Coming With Me (10)
Successfully assault an Overseer UFO.
This achievement is story-related and cannot be missed. Firstly, you will need to build the Hyperwave Relay and make it function. If everything goes well, you will shoot down and investigate (assault) a medium-sized alien craft, the "Overseer" ship. After the assault is complete, this achievement will unlock whether you killed or captured the Ethereal.
Off My Planet (25)
Recover the Hyperwave Beacon.
In order to unlock this achievement you will have to successfully complete the first story mission you unlock after researching the outsider shard. Your task is to create a skeleton key before you’re able to attempt the mission. Kill everyone in that mission to get 25 achievement points.
The Volunteer (10)
Make contact with the Ethereal hive mind.
This achievement is story-related and cannot be missed. You need to use the Gallop Chamber and equip you soldiers with Psi Armor. As far as only one person can do that – make sure you pick the right soldier. Using the Device levels up the Psionic Abilities of "The Volunteer" and you will be unable to remove "The Volunteer" or the Psi Armor for the final fight.
Flight of the Valkyries (10)
Win a mission with an all-female squad. Single player only.
It looks like not only men can fight aliens from the strange worlds but women can be a part of the fighting squad as well. In order to unlock this achievement, you will have to create an all-female squad. Unfortunately, you are not able to select male or female when hiring, so it might take a while to get things done. If you lack enough female soldiers to fill a squad, hire more from the barracks. Of course, if possible, try to unlock this achievement on an easier difficulty and early on in the game cause fighting aliens with rookies later in the game won’t be easy or even possible. The good news is that all members of your squad don’t have to survive the mission – you just have to complete it successfully. However, you need to keep it in mind that all squad slots on the loadout screen have to be taken by a female soldier (upgrading your squad size to 5, then attempting to complete a mission with 4 female soldiers and an empty slot, will not work).
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