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Achievement Guide and Roadmap


Shiftie
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(No Achievement pictures for the time being)

 

Overview:

-Estimated achievement difficulty: 8/10

-Offline:18/20 for 370:gsicon:

-Online: 2/20 for 30:gsicon:

-Approximate amount of time to 400:gsicon:: 20-25hrs (HIGHLY dependent on skill)

-Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 1-2

-Number of missable achievements: None

-Do cheat codes disable achievements?: No cheat codes

-Does difficulty affect achievements?: No

-Glitchy achievements: One or two challenges for the "All Star" achievement appear to be glitched

-Unobtainable achievements: None

-Extra equipment needed? : No

Introduction:

Pool Nation is a Billiards simulation game that allows you to compete against over the top characters on numerous colorful and creative tables that you can further customize as you progress through the game. As with real life pool, the game can get to be quite difficult, especially if you don't utilize every skill in the book to become the best pool player...in the nation. If you need help getting there, be sure to check out the tips section at the bottom of the guide.

9 and 8 Ball Tournaments:

There are two tournaments that must be completed for achievements, it doesn't matter which one comes first as they are both pretty much the same difficulty throughout, just with a different rule set. Upon completion of the 9 Ball Tournament you will receive "9 Ball Champion" and after completing the 8 Ball tournament, you'll get "8 Ball Champion". As you progress through each round of the tournaments you have the opportunity to do bonus matches, and also finish optional challenges in each match. Doing all of these will net you "Side Tracked" for finishing a bonus match and "All Star" for getting all stars (all challenges and bonus matches). Once you have finished this tournament, work your way through the other tournament. You can work on finishing most of the achievements in the game during this period, such as "Super Skill", "Win", "Jack of All Trades", "Back to the Future", "Super Shot" and "Mega Shot".

Versus Mode:

Very simple: versus mode allows you to create a match with various settings against an AI opponent. Winning any match will get you "Does Not Compute", and you can also take the time to win a match of every game type if you don't want to wait to get them from completing the bonus matches in tournament mode, either way you will get "Jack of All Trades" if you don't already have it.

Multiplayer:

The multiplayer consists of either 1v1 single matches, or tournaments, both of which yield you an achievement for winning. Either ranked or player match can be selected to unlock "Champion" and "Epic Win".

Endurance:

Far and away the most difficult part of this game, especially if you're someone who gets frustrated easily. This is where you will get achievements for lasting increments of 4 minutes, up to 20 minutes, and getting a 30 and 50 ball streak. You will also get an achievement for clearing the table of all of the balls, which constantly appear on the table at an ever increasing rate during the match. Staying focused, and raising your streak as high as possible is key to both getting the achievements, and surviving Endurance Mode in general. Otherwise, you won't last even 2 minutes.

Tips:

If you need help starting out or are stuck with any challenges, check my tips thread HERE.

Tourney and Versus Achievements

Win - 10:gsicon:

Win First Star in Tour

This can be done by selecting either of the two tours from the main menu (9 Ball or 8 Ball) and beating the first opponent.

Side Tracked - 10:gsicon:

Win First Bonus Match in Tour

Bonus matches are unlocked as you progress through each Cup and are shown as a branch on the match path through each Cup. Each Bonus Match is a bit different from regular matches in one way or another. The earliest one you will unlock can be found in the Exchange Cup upon beating the first opponent and getting at least two stars (some bonus matches require all 3 stars). In this game, you gain 1 point for each ball you pot, and the first to 30 points/pots wins. You must get the correct ball into the marked pot for the point to count.

8 Ball Champion - 15:gsicon:

Won 8 Ball Tour

Play through all of the standard matches in all three rounds of each 8 Ball Tournament.

All Star - 40:gsicon:

Obtained all 298 stars

Each match in Tournament mode has three stars that require you to usually win while accomplishing other certain tasks.

See the Challenge section of the Tips guide for any help you may need.

Super Skill - 20:gsicon:

Reach 1500000 points

This is (thankfully) cumulative overall ALL gametypes, including the tournaments, Versus, and online (although score is only added if you win). To get this rather quickly, always add max swerve to a shot in whichever direction is easier for you (:dleft: or :dright:), try bank shots and kick shots whenever they seem feasible and overall try and always try and keep up your skill shot streak even if it means making a shot that won't give you much points. The 2x max swerve bonus will make any score automatically better, which is why it is good to do this before each and every shot. You will most certainly get this during the duration of the Tournaments.

Jack of All Trades - 15:gsicon:

Win One Game in All Rule Sets

You can either do this by playing and winning one game of each rule set in Versus mode, or do all of the bonus matches in the tournaments to unlock the achievement.

9 Ball Champion - 15:gsicon:

Won 9 Ball Tour

Win all of the regular matches, in each round and tournament of 9 Ball Mode.

Does Not Compute - 10:gsicon:

First Win Against AI in Versus

From the main menu of the game, go into the Versus menu and create a 1 on 1 game against the computer using whatever rule set, and other custom settings you want. Once you've done that, simply win the game.

Back to the Future - 10:gsicon:

Use a flashback

While in a game, note the Lightning Bolts next to your gamer picture on the screen. If you screw up on a shot you have until the time your opponent hits the ball to hit :back: and then :start: and redo your most recent shot. You only get a limited number of uses per match, but this is a very easy achievement to get otherwise.

Super Shot - 15:gsicon:

Earn 5000 points in one skill shot

See "Mega Shot"

Mega Shot - 35:gsicon:

Earn 10000 points in one skill shot

To change a regular shot to a skill shot, bounce a ball of wall prior to hitting the target ball, use one ball to knock another into a pot, add swerve (using :dleft:/:dright:) and jump using :rtbut:, make consecutive shots, and make long shots. Do a mixture of any of these to get the 5000 points, which overall isn't too difficult to get even early on, and if you continue the skill shot streak you should get the 10000 points shortly after.

Potting a combo shot while at max swerve is almost a guaranteed 10k, and I have gotten over 30k on a single shot doing this.

Edited by Shiftie
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Multiplayer Mode Achievements

Champion - 20:gsicon:

Win Online Tournament

From the main menu, enter the Xbox Live section and join or start an Online Tournament, and come out victorious. The online population is rather thin, so this may take a while if you can't even find a group. You may need to ask in theachievement trading thread for help.

Epic Win - 10:gsicon:

Win Online Match

Join/start an online game (player or ranked) against another player, and then defeat them. Due to the limited online population, it's easier to do this by itself, instead of waiting for people to play the Tournament with for both this and Champion. Check the achievement trading thread for a partner.

Endurance Mode Achievements

Super Streak - 20:gsicon:

30 Ball Streak in Endurance

See "Mega Streak".

Mega Streak - 35:gsicon:

50 ball streak in Endurance

While in Endurance mode, focus on slow and steady shots that you are at least mostly certain you will make. This is very important because the key to not only getting this achievement, but also hitting the 20 minute mark, is keeping up a good streak to multiply the points each ball you pot adds to your pause bar, allowing you to fill it quicker and pause more often. Thus, if you focus on making guaranteed shots instead of quick shots, you should be able to get this while steaming through Endurance mode.

Nirvana - 20:gsicon:

Clear the table in Endurance

Since you need to maintain a good streak to reach the 20 minute mark for "Super Zen" and the 50 ball streak for "Mega Streak", you should be able to pause time quite often, allowing you to clear balls without the hindrance of new balls getting in the way. This will allow you to more easily clear the table, which overall is easiest to do in the first few minutes of gameplay as you can sometimes clear the table rather quickly after a good break.

Zen 4 - 15:gsicon:

Reach 4 minutes in Endurance.

See " Super Zen"

Zen 8 - 10:gsicon:

Reach 8 minutes in Endurance.

See "Super Zen"

Zen 12 - 35:gsicon:

Reach 12 minutes in Endurance.

See "Super Zen"

Super Zen - 40:gsicon:

Reach 20 minutes in Endurance.

Endurance mode is a timed event where you must efficiently clear the balls off the table while more and more appear at an ever increasing rate. As you pot balls you will fill the bar at the bottom left of the screen, which once filled can be used by pressing :bbut: to stop time for several seconds, allowing you to freely make shots without being rushed. One key thing to note is: as your streak increases, the multiplier for the score increases substantially, reaching a point where you can almost constantly have the game paused, as long as you stay focused on potting balls the simplest, and safest way possible.

Edited by Shiftie
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GAME TIPS

 

::Controls::

:rtbut: - Cue Butt Up Used to make Jumps

:ltbut: - Cue Butt Down Used if you change your mind about jumping

:lbbut: - Fine Tune Used to make aiming easier, use it often to make life easier

:rbbut: - Lock Power Used to stop the power level where it's at so you can take your finger off :rs:

:start: - Pause Used for checking to see the challenges in the match, and checking the match rules

:xbut: - Quick Controls Makes these controls appear on your screen

:back: - Replay System Press this and then :start: to replay your last shot (2x max, if allowed)

:ybut: - Topdown View Highly recommended you use this as your main view

:ls: - Rotate View/Reset Spin(Press) Rotates the camera, or resets the ball spin if you press it

:bbut: - Pick Up Cueball/Shot Options (Hold) Only used when you're allowed to move the ball, such as when your opponent faults. Hold it to see shot options at that point

:dup: :dleft: :dup: :ddown: - Apply Spin Adds spin/increases swerve. Watch the black dot move on the cue ball and how the aim-helper moves (if you have that on).

:abut: - Skip Shot Skips your opponents shot so you don't need to watch it (singleplayer only)

:rs: - Take Shot/Reset Cue(Press) Flip it up for a quick shot, or hold it down to adjust power

 

 

::Swerve (Spin)::

Add swerve before every shot ( :dleft: / :dright: ) At max swerve you will get 2x points for the pot and it doesn't add any difficulty to the shots. Going left or right with your serve can be very advantageous if you're trying to arc around a ball that is keeping you from hitting your targeting, and also very good at hit the cue ball into another ball at just the right angle - such as when the ball is against a wall and you want to knock it with power from the side so it will go into a pot. Getting the mechanics for swerve down becomes very important later on, so start early.

 

Also, adding top spin (:dup: ) allows the cue ball to spin back to where you first hit it. This is great for power through the balls when you have to break, and I highly recommend it for Endurance mode due to the nature of how the balls break, as you can get 2-3 balls sunk in the break on average with some practice.

 

::Jumping::

Jumping is when you use the :rtbut: to get your pool stick (cue butt) above the ball in order to force the cue ball into the air once you hit it. Generally speaking , using max jump is fine in just about every situation as long as you make sure you adjust your power with :rs: (down) so your ball can make it over the ball that is blocking your path and hit the target ball on the far side. Switch views with :ybut: to make sure the white line is over the blocking ball before you release the shot, otherwise you'll just run right into it. Pairing this with Swerve can make some very Skilly shots much easier, increasing your streak length in doing so, giving you a rather large amount of points, and overall just looking really cool. Once you become confident you can even reach a point where you can swerve the ball damn near 180 degrees around the table, or bounce the ball off the edge of the table doing a knife's edge.

 

::Power::

Although you can hit at medium-low power by just flicking the :rs: up when you're ready to hit the cue, this is not always enough power if you need to bounce off a rail (or more), hit the target ball into another ball, hit the target ball clear across the table, etc. Keeping an eye on what is a good amount of power to put behind the ball is a good thing to do. In general, hit the cue at just over half power will effectively launch it across the table and power through one or two other balls or off a couple of rails before stopping. This can be great for potting a ball that is on the opposite side of the table. For the best jump hits, you'll want to use about 65-75% of the power to make sure the cue ball keeps going for a ways after it lands back on the table. Also, for (non-8-Ball) breaks I would recommend about 60% power, as that seems to have the highest success rate for me. However you play it, also note you can hit :rbbut: at any time to "lock-in" the energy so you don't have to hold the :rs:. Do note that adding too much power will launch the cue ball off the table.

 

::Bonus Score Techniques::

Bank Shot - Knocking the cue ball into the ball, that ball bounces off a rail and into a pot

Combo Shot - Hit the cue ball into one ball to have it knock another ball into a pot.

Jump Shot - Use :rtbut: to move the stick above the ball, pull back on the :rs: to add a lot of power to force the cue ball up and over a ball to hit your target ball into a pot. You must jump a ball to get credit for the jump (a 2x will appear as the cue ball jumps the other ball).

Kick Shot - Bounce the cue ball off of a rail into a ball that then goes into a pot

Swerve Shot (Spin) - Use :dright: and :dleft: to add swerve to the ball to corner around other balls, or to hit the target ball at the right angle and into the pot.

 

::Endurance Mode::

In Endurance mode, balls will constantly drop onto the table at an ever increasing rate and you must keep the table as clear of balls as possible to keep the ball counter from reaching 24. The most efficient way to do this is to pace yourself, aim your shots properly, and go for big streaks as streaks increase the multiplier, giving you more points for each ball you pot. Those points are pooled into a pause button that pauses all of the ball spawns, and can sometimes remove the ball spawns entirely to give you extra time after the pause runs out. Once you hear a little bell tone, and see flashing in the bottom left, tap :bbut: to stop time giving you some extra time to aim your shots properly. One extra tip is that once you get down to one or two balls and those balls are extra tricky to pot, I highly recommend you take the extra few seconds to aim a jump shot, swerve shot, or whatever else is necessary to keep up your (very important) streak.

Edited by Shiftie
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::Game Types::

9 Ball

In 9 Ball, you MUST hit the ball with the orange triangles around it first. The blue triangle marked ball is the next ball you will need to hit first, so you know how to position for a good shot. You can use the orange marked ball to hit other balls into a pot (including the blue triangle marked ball), without losing an points, as it is actually a skill shot.

8 Ball

After the first ball is potted you will either have to focus on hitting the solid or striped balls into the pot. Once you have hit all of your designated balls into a pot, you must then hit the 8 ball into one.

3 Ball

Hit the 3 Balls into a pot(s) using as few shots as possible. Whoever finished in the least out of three hits wins the round (usually best out of three rounds).

Straight

Earn 1 point for each ball you pot, and the first to 30 points wins.

Rotation

Earn points equal to the ball number for each pot. The first to 61 points wins.

Golf

Pot your ball in the designated pocket. The first to pocket a ball in all of the pockets, wins.

Speed

Clear the table in less time than your opponent, saving the 8 Ball for last.

Killer

You must pot a ball every turn, otherwise you will lose a life. First one to lose all 3 lives, loses.

 

::Challenge Types::

:General Challenges:

Win the match - Every match has this as a challenge, and a victory is also required to unlock any new challenges, so this challenge is a must.

Beat AI Score - I wish this were more common, considering you will almost always have a higher final score than the AI at the end of the match, unless you win by luck.

X Ball Streak - Pot X number of balls in a row. The number becomes higher as your progress through the tournaments, but some basic tips are to repeat the first break (restart the game) until you pot at least one ball so you start off first, and with one pot under your belt. While going for combo shots is a bonus, the safest shots are the best bet for this challenge, so how effectively you do this depends entirely on your skill

Win Without Losing a Frame - Once the frame matches start to appear (play through 8 or 9 balls 2/3 times) you must win sink the last ball in each frame to win for a majority of the frames to end the match.

 

:Point Challenges:

XXXX+ Match Points - Get at least XXXX total points in a match. These are usually relatively low, but adding spin and doing other skill shots will help you get the score quicker.

Use No Flashbacks - Play through the whole match without pressing :back: :start: to redo your last shot.

XXXX+ Single Shot Points - Get XXXX+ points in a single shot. The shots near the end of a high streak, especially Skill shots such as the Swerve, Jump, and Combo Shots (or any combo), will get you the score you need.

 

:Skill Shot Challenges:

Note: the Bracketed names differ from match to match, ie one game you may need to do a Swerve Shot and a Jump Shot in a frame, while another may require you to do a Jump Shot and a Combo Shot in a frame.

Any Skill Shot - Simply use a Skill Shot. This can be a swerve shot, jump shot (make sure they are at "max" before you shoot), combo shot, etc.

Swerve Shot - You must sink at least one ball using a shot with max swerve (:dleft: :dright: )A x2 will pop up as the ball is about to sink, showing that you used a skill shot.

Jump Shot - Pot a ball using a Jump Shot, which is performed by holding :rtbut: until the pool cue is above the ball. Adjust the swerve and power so you jump the ball into the air and pot a ball.

Multiball Shot - You must knock two or more balls into any pocket (same or different) in the same shot. This can most effectively be done by line driving two balls into each other, or adding spin on the cue to a point where it will bounce off of one ball and into another, potting both. This is, in my opinion, the hardest challenge to accomplish as it is very heavily based on luck.

Combo Shot - You must hit the cue ball into one ball, that hits another ball into the pot. Generally the easiest way to do this is make a power shot into the first ball if the other one is in a straight line behind it.

X [skill Shot Name](s) - Perform the designated Skill Shot the required number of times in the match.

X[skill Shot Name](s) in a row -This can either be any two skill shots in a row, or two of the same skill shots in a row. Both must pot at least one ball.

[skill Shot Name] or [2nd Skill Shot Name] - One example would require you to perform either a swerve (max :dright:/:dleft:) or jump shot (max :rtbut:) to sink a ball.

[skill Shot Name] and [2nd Skill Shot Name] in a Frame - Multi-Frame games will start to appear when you play best two out of 3 frame matches near the end of the tournaments. An example of this challenge would require you to get a swerve shot pot and a bank shot pot in one (9 or 8 Ball) frame.

X Ball Streak With Any Skill - For the sake of having to adjust the aiming every time you shoot, just pair this with Swerve Shots, which I recommend you do for extra points anyway. You must sink X number of consecutive balls using only that skill.

[skill Shot Name] XXXX+ Shot Points -Use the the particular Skill shot to pot at least 1800 points over the course of the match.

Edited by Shiftie
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Hey Shiftie nice guide

 

I have cleared the table twice in endurance an no achievo i assumed it had to be purple balls but i guess not .

 

I would assume ball color doesn't matter, but I cleared it with the first set that you start with. Practicing the break is huge, since you can easily hit it where you will always sink at least one ball, getting it just right you can sink 3+ balls in the break.

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I would assume ball color doesn't matter, but I cleared it with the first set that you start with. Practicing the break is huge, since you can easily hit it where you will always sink at least one ball, getting it just right you can sink 3+ balls in the break.

Yeah cheers mate i done it earlier in fact i cleared the table 3 times in the same game an it eventually popped on the third.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Congratulations!

 

This Achievement Guide and Roadmap has been reviewed by Guide Team Staff member THE DEADLY DOG and has been published as the Official x360a.org Achievement Guide and Roadmap! The link to the Official Guide is here:

 

Official x360a.org Pool Nation Achievement Guide and Roadmap

 

Please post any updates within the Update: Guides & Roadmaps thread.

Also, please check the Award Tracking: Guides & Roadmaps forum to make sure we are up to date.

You may request for those to be edited/updated within that forum as well.

 

We look forward to your future submissions!

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