Overview:
- Estimated achievement difficulty:5/10
- Offline: 38 [985]
- Online: 1 [15] [see "Newsworthy"]
- Approximate amount of time to 1000: 30-35hrs
- Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 4 - [Any/Nightmare/Time Attack/Score]
- Missable achievements: 0
- Does difficulty affect achievements?: Yes - One Nightmare Playthrough
- Unobtainable/glitched achievements: None
- Extra equipment needed?: Yes - Skylanders Portal and a 2nd controller [Extra figures optional]
Introduction:
Welcome to the Achievement Guide and Roadmap for Skylanders Swap Force (SSF from here on) on the Xbox One. SSF is the third game in the Skylanders franchise and introduces a new feature with the figurines, the ability to interchange figures to create new Skylanders.
Developed by Vicarious Visions and published by Activision, the game was met with good review scores all round. SSF was released on the 22nd November 2013. The game features two player local co-op with all achievements obtainable by both players.
Figurines
The starter pack of SSF ships with three Skylanders; a series 2 Stealth Elf, Blast Zone and Wash Buckler. The latter two feature the swap force property and can be interchanged to create Blast Buckler and Wash Zone.
Extra figures are optional and not required to earn the 1000g, however, the more figures you have, the easier you will find the game, especially on Nightmare mode. Every extra Skylanders you posses is essentially an extra life per level.
I will not go into too much detail on the 'best' Skylanders to buy as they are fairly balanced, and at the end of the day, it is personal preference. However, I will list three good skylanders to have. Out of the starter pack, Blast Zone is by far the best bet here as he has decent STR/HP and a nice main attack. As extras, I would recommend Magna Charge, Smolderdash and Cynder. Cynder is a great help for the time attack run due to her dash; Smolderdash is incredibly strong and Magna Charge is a must for score mode.
Abbreviated Walkthrough:
Step One: Play the Campaign
Play through the campaign on any difficulty you desire. Nightmare mode is locked until you have beaten the game once, so choose from easy, medium, or hard difficulties. Your aim here is to complete all seventeen levels. You will gain most miscellaneous achievements without trying, and those you miss are always available in Woodburrow. They can be accessed at any time.
Step Two: Bonus Levels
The game requires you to complete five bonus levels and earn three stars on each. These are single player only and take approximately five minutes each to complete.
Step Three: Team Survival Arenas
Your goal is to earn three stars on three different team survival arenas. This requires two controllers as it is designed as a local co-op mode. However, it can be done solo with an idle controller.
Step Four: Score Mode
Complete every chapter in the game under 'score mode' conditions. This is where you earn multipliers by defeating enemies and lose multipliers by being hit. You must hit the required three star score on all seventeen chapters.
Step Five: Time Attack Mode
This is similar to the previous step, except you are now getting three stars in every level in Time Attack mode instead of Score Mode. This is purely a measure of how fast you can finish each level. Beat the three star time on all seventeen chapters to complete this step.
Step Six: Nightmare mode
Complete the game in Nightmare mode. The difficulties stack, so it will unlock any achievements related to lower difficulties if you did your first run on easy or normal difficulty.
Step Seven: Mop-Up
The only achievements you are likely to have missed are some easy ones located in Woodburrow. Now is the time to load your game up and knock them out.
Mop-Up:
The only achievements you are likely to have missed are some easy ones located in Woodburrow. Now is the time to load your game up and knock them out.
Conclusion:
Overall, Skylanders is a relatively easy game for the most part. Nightmare mode and Score Mode inflate the difficulty rating slightly, and depending on the number of figurines you have, can either have an easy time or a hard time.
The game is great fun to boot; the only downside is that after four full playthroughs, it feels very repetitive.
[XBA would like to thank Lavindathar for this roadmap]