Styx: Shards of Darkness Achievement Guide & Road Map

Styx: Shards of Darkness
Styx: Shards of Darkness Achievement Guide

Overview:
- Estimated achievement difficulty: 5/10 [Achievement Difficulty Rating]
- Offline: 38 [1000]
- Online: 0
- Approximate amount of time to 1000: 35-45 Hours [Estimated Time to 100%]
- Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 1 [Chapter Select Available]
- Missable achievements: None
- Does difficulty affect achievements?: No
- Unobtainable/glitched achievements: 1 - "Goblin Master" [Currently Unobtainable]
- Extra equipment needed?: N/A

Introduction:
Styx: Shards of Darkness, sequel to 2014's Master of Shadows, sees the nasty green goblin Styx return for an even bigger and more dangerous mission in the Dark Elven city of Körangar. Similar to its predecessor, Shards of Darkness relies solely on stealth gameplay; Styx is fragile and so an action-oriented mindset will often lead to swift death. There are ten missions total within the narrative, each spanning anywhere from thirty to fifty minutes depending on your playstyle and pace. Moreover, there are thirty-eight achievements worth collecting, ranging from mission completion and ability/skill usage, to feats that involve completing missions stealthily, quickly, and quietly. In order to gain full completion, you will need to dedicate thirty or more hours to Styx's adventures.

Story Playthrough & Miscellaneous Tasks:
Since there are no difficulty-related achievements, you can choose whichever difficulty level suits your fancy upon starting the game. As mentioned above, the narrative is spread out across ten missions, each of which, with the exception of the Prologue, is split into two "zones." Completing each of the ten missions in the game will yield ten story-related achievements.

During this initial playthrough, you should focus on completing every mission with no kills and no alerts in order to unlock the gold Insignia of Shadow and the gold Insignia of Mercy. Unlocking these gold-tier Insignias for the first time will yield "Did you see something?" and "Sensitive Gob" respectively, and you will likely unlock "Untouched" for completing a mission without taking damage. Beyond these feats, you can also focus on some of the easier miscellaneous tasks such as crafting thirty items, hiding in fifty ducts, pickpocketing ten enemies, drinking twenty-five vials of amber, and collecting fifty raw materials.

There are also a few ability-related achievements worth working towards during this playthrough: "Rehab," for completing a mission without using amber powers; "Phoenix," for being saved by a life-saving clone; "Devoted Servants," for teleporting to a clone twenty times; "Lamb of God," for creating fifty clones; "The Gob in a Box," for being invisible while hiding in a chest during an enemy search; and "The Unseen Gob is the Deadliest," for being invisible for a cumulative total of one minute. Lastly, there are also achievements for unlocking your first ultimate skill and unlocking every skill in the game (there are forty in total).

Insignia of the Thief & Insignia of Swiftness – Mission Replay:
After your initial playthrough of the storyline and once all of the other miscellaneous and skill-related achievements are mostly out of the way, you will need to dedicate some time to each and every mission twice more. The reason for this is because in order to obtain the "All Along The Gobtower" achievement, you have to unlock the gold-tier Insignia for every Insignia (Swiftness, Shadow, Mercy, Thief) of every mission.

In regards to the Insignia of the Thief, this will require you to collect all twenty tokens in a mission (ten per zone). At this point, you should have enough Skill Points to unlock the "Greed" skill in the Perception talent tree; this skill allows you to see tokens through walls, which will prove to be useful during your mission replays. As for the Insignia of Swiftness, this will prove to be a tad difficult as you'll need to race against the clock to complete your objectives and the overall mission under a specific time constraint. It may seem daunting, but if you focus on this Insignia during your third mission playthrough, you should have no issue moving quickly throughout the zones/missions.

Mop-Up:
There should be very few achievements left at this point, some of which may have conflicted with your playstyle in earlier playthroughs. Such achievements include "The Professional" for killing all the enemies in zone, "THIS. IS. THOBEN!!," for pushing ten enemies off an edge, and Morpheus' Blade," for killing an enemy in their sleep. There are also achievements for escaping ten red alerts, killing five guards will acid traps, using vials of acid to dissolve ten bodies, and an Easter Egg specific to the third mission in the game. Feel free to refer to the guide below for more information on these last seven achievements, as they can all be obtained quickly through mission replay.

Conclusion:
Styx: Shards of Darkness is another welcomed addition to the stealth genre and a worthy successor to Master of Shadows. At its core, it's a fantastic stealth title with impressive level design, smooth gameplay, and decent writing. It may take while to score the completion, but nothing stands out as overly difficult in this enjoyable, addictive title.

[XBA would like to thank BiggD for this Roadmap]

Slowly but surely?

10
Finish the introduction
Story-related, cannot be missed.

Please refer to "Revenge" for more information on story missions and general tips for completing the game.
The Mysterious Scepter

15
Finish Mission 1
Story-related, cannot be missed.

Please refer to "Revenge" for more information on story missions and general tips for completing the game.
Welcome to Korrangar

15
Finish Mission 2
Story-related, cannot be missed.

Please refer to "Revenge" for more information on story missions and general tips for completing the game.
A Handsome Gift

15
Finish Mission 3
Story-related, cannot be missed.

Please refer to "Revenge" for more information on story missions and general tips for completing the game.
Weapon of Choice

15
Finish Mission 4
Story-related, cannot be missed.

Please refer to "Revenge" for more information on story missions and general tips for completing the game.
Desertion

15
Finish Mission 5
Story-related, cannot be missed.

Please refer to "Revenge" for more information on story missions and general tips for completing the game.
Crime and Prejudice

30
Finish Mission 6
Story-related, cannot be missed.

Please refer to "Revenge" for more information on story missions and general tips for completing the game.
The Seed of Discord

20
Finish Mission 7
Story-related, cannot be missed.

Please refer to "Revenge" for more information on story missions and general tips for completing the game.
Dr. Boom!

25
Finish Mission 8
Story-related, cannot be missed.

Please refer to "Revenge" for more information on story missions and general tips for completing the game.
The Professional

30
Kill all the enemies in a zone
This achievement is best done in the Prologue since there are only about thirty enemies in total to kill. The manner in which you kill the enemies in the mission does not matter, but it's recommended to take them out quietly so that you don't get spotted and killed numerous times. Remember, you can whistle () in order to lure enemies towards your position.

It shouldn't be too hard to kill all the enemies in this mission since there aren't many areas that you wouldn't already be traveling through for the objectives at hand. As a failsafe, though, you can create a manual save before exiting the mission so that if the achievement does not unlock at the post-mission stat screen, you can reload your save and backtrack to find any enemies you may have overlooked.
This. Is. THOBEN!!

15
Push 10 enemies over the edge
This achievement can be obtained relatively quickly during the Prologue. Once you reach the tavern towards the end of this mission (where you're tasked with stealing the three guards' pay), make your way to the guards' pay on the lowest level of the building. Down here, there is one guard who patrols the room back and forth before finally standing on the open platform outside.

Once the guard is at the edge of the platform, create a manual save, creep up behind him, and press to push him off the ledge. Now reload your save and repeat this process nine more times in order to unlock the achievement.
Morpheus' Blade

10
Kill an enemy in his sleep
This achievement is very self-explanatory. Throughout the game, you will often come across enemy guards who are taking a nap while on patrol. They are usually found standing upright against a wall or post and you can tell they are sleeping by the "ZZZ" above their head.

Once you've spotted an unarmored guard who is sleeping (there are a few in the Prologue), approach them quietly from any angle and then perform a muffled kill with your dagger by pressing and holding . Once the sleeping enemy has been killed, the achievement will unlock.
Master Alchemist

30
Craft 30 items
In order to craft items, you will first need to find a crafting station (either in your hideout or in a mission) and then utilize raw materials to create a specific item. At the start of the game, you are only able to craft bolts and vials of health; however, as you start to invest in skills within the Alchemy talent tree, you will unlock the ability to craft more useful items such as cocoons, poisonous bolts, lockpicks, acid solutions, and acid traps.

Keep in mind that you will need to actively collect raw materials during your playthrough in order to craft items at the crafting stations. On top of that, you only have a limited number of items that you are able to carry, so you will need to use items in order to have room to craft more. Once you have crafted at least thirty items over the course of your playthrough, this achievement will unlock.
Fugitive

15
Get out alive from 10 red alerts
When an enemy guard is suspicious of your presence, the indicator above their head will turn yellow; when they are actively searching for you or the source of disturbance, it becomes orange; when the are fully aware of your presence and are giving chase, it will become red.

That being said, this achievement will require you to escape a red alert ten times over the course of your playthrough. This can be achieved quite easily by deliberately getting spotted and then running away to a duct or a rooftop that the enemies cannot reach. After you remain hidden for some time, they will give up their search and their red alerts will turn orange, thus counting as one escape for the purposes of this achievement.
A Rat Life

20
Having hidden 50 times in a duct or a hideout
This achievement will most likely come naturally over the course of your playthrough.

Any duct or passageway that Styx crawls through while crouched will count towards the achievement. Provided you are playing stealthily, maneuvering throughout the missions in order to reach your objectives quietly, it is guaranteed that you will stumble upon plenty of ducts (more than a hundred) to pass through. There is no legitimate way to grind this out; simply explore the missions and their zones and this will come in due time.
Pickpocket King

10
Pickpocket 10 enemies
Some of the enemies throughout the game will often time have health vials, acid vials, or even amber vials hanging on the belt pouch around their waist. In order to pick an item off their person, you will need to get close behind them and tap when the prompt appears.

Make sure you are crouching and moving slowly while picking pockets. The enemies in this game have keen perception and will notice your presence if you’re running around behind them. Additionally, should the circumstance call for it, you can always use amber vision by pressing to spot, from afar, whether a guard has any goods worth stealing. Overall, once you have pickpocketed a total of ten enemies, the achievement will unlock.
All Along The Gobtower

100
Unlock Gold level for all Insignias in all missions
(2)
Each mission in the game, from the Prologue to Mission 9, has four Insignias that can be collected for a generous amount of Skill Points (SP) in return. First, there's the Insignia of Swiftness, which is obtained for completing an entire mission under a certain amount of time; second, there's the Insignia of Shadow, which is obtained for completing the mission with no alerts; third, there's the Insignia of Mercy, which is obtained for completing the mission with no kills; lastly, there's the Insignia of the Thief, which is obtained for collecting all the tokens in a mission (twenty tokens per mission).

Each Insignia has a Bronze, Silver, and Gold rating, and for this achievement, you will need to aim for four Gold Insignias in all ten missions. Fortunately, they do not all have to be obtained in one playthrough of a mission; you can replay a mission multiple times in order to tackle the Insignias as you see fit.

In my experience, the Insignia of Swiftness will require its own playthrough of a mission, typically after you've completed the mission a few times already (that way you know where to go and how to best get to your objectives). The Insignias of Shadow and Mercy can easily be stacked in the same playthrough of a mission since they are both stealth-related in nature. Finally, the Insignia of the Thief should be done during its own playthrough since it will involve slowly and carefully exploring every zone for tokens (and it's much easier to kill enemies who may get in your way).

All in all, this achievement will unlock once you have obtained all four gold Insignia's for all ten missions in the game. Keep in mind that you can keep track of your progress of each Insignia at any time during a mission by pressing , as this will pause the game and display your current Insignia progress/stats. Additionally, as a reminder, you do not need to obtain all four Insignias on one playthorugh; you can replay missions as many times as you desire by accessing the Mission Book in Styx's hideout.

For further assistance on these Insignia's, feel free to use THIS PLAYLIST, courtesy of 360GameTv, for stealthy speed run tactics and token-collecting runs. Alternatively, you can use THIS VIDEO, courtesy of Toby Runs, for a full ten-mission speedrun of the game with no commentary.
Untouched

30
Finish a level without taking damage
This achievement will come naturally while you work on "Did you see something?" and "An athlete through and through" since these involve completing a mission without raising any alerts or killing any enemies.
Ace of Scrap!

20
Finish a mission with the gold Insignia of the Thief
Refer back to "All Along The Gobtower" for more information.

NOTE: The ultimate skill, Greed, in the Perception talent tree is very useful when tracking down all the tokens in a mission since it allows Styx to sense tokens through walls when using amber vision.
Did you see something?

20
Finish a mission with the gold Insignia of the Shadow
Refer back to "All Along The Gobtower" for more information.

NOTE: Detection by elf, dwarf, or human enemies will count against you; however, detection by any other types of enemies (or if your clone is detected) does not count against you.
An athlete through and through

20
Finish a mission with the gold Insignia of Swiftness
Refer back to "All Along The Gobtower" for more information.
Sensitive Gob

20
Finish a mission with the gold Insignia of Mercy
Refer back to "All Along The Gobtower" for more information.

NOTE: You must refrain from killing elves, dwarves, or human enemies, otherwise it will count against you. Kills that are necessary due to mission objectives, as well as killing insects, will not count against you, though.
Rehab

15
Complete a level without using an amber power
This achievement is very simple to undertake despite its apparent difficulty. Fortunately, amber vision does not count as an amber power for the purposes of this achievement. The only abilities you will have to refrain from using are Cloning and Invisibility (and any additional amber-related powers you may have unlocked from the various talent trees, such as Rebirth).

Without the use of Cloning and Invisibility, you will have to rely on situational awareness, patience, and amber vision in order to move past enemy patrols and reach your objectives successfully. Please keep in mind that this achievement cannot be done during the Prologue as the game guides you in using these powers. As a result, this is best done on the first or second mission of the game since they are shorter missions altogether.
Phoenix

15
Be saved by a Life-saving Clone
In order to earn this achievement, you must first unlock the Life-Saving Clone skill in the Cloning talent tree. Provided you have created a clone, this ability will allow Styx to dematerialize upon death and be recreated from his clone, thus ensuring immortality so long as a clone exists.

Once you have this skill, the easiest way to unlock the achievement is to create a clone and move it to a safe location far away from any enemies. Now, deliberately get yourself spotted and killed. Instead of dying and having to restart from your latest save, you will be reincarnated into your clone, thus unlocking the achievement.
Devoted Servants

25
Teleport 20 times into a clone (with the skill)
In order to begin working on this achievement, you must first unlock the Rebirth skill in the Cloning talent tree. This ability, which is used by pressing and once a clone has been created, will allow you dematerialize instantly and teleport to your clone's location, thus sacrificing it.

With this in mind, simply use the Rebirth ability a total of twenty times over the course of your playthrough and this achievement will unlock.
Lamb of Gob

20
Create 50 clones
In order to create a clone, you will need to hold and then tap . Keep in mind you will also need amber in order to do this. Once your clone has been created, you can utilize it to draw an enemy's attention, complete an objective out of reach, or simply scout an area before going in yourself. That's all there is to this achievement; simply create fifty clones over the course of your playthrough and this achievement will unlock. If you want to obtain this quickly, you can destroy your clone in order to regain amber and repeat the cloning process as needed until the achievement unlocks.
The Gob in a Box

40
Being invisible in a chest and not being caught by an enemy on a search
This achievement can be done very quickly in the Prologue. Once you have reached the tavern towards the end of the mission, make your way inside the building, try to find a chest that you can hide in, and make sure your amber gauge is filled up at least more than three-fourths.

Now you'll want to get yourself purposefully detected by an enemy or two around the area of the chest. Once they are on red alert, quickly jump into the chest by tapping and then wait just until they are about to open it to activate invisibility (+). When they open the chest, they will be unable to see you, resulting in them closing the chest, carrying on with their search, and the achievement then unlocking.
Acidification

10
Kill 5 guards with acid traps
Acid traps are small, deployable bobby traps that, once stepped on, release a deadly stream of acid at the victim, dissolving their body immediately. Unlike most items within the game, acid traps are not typically found throughout the missions; you must unlock the Acid Trap skill in the Alchemy talent tree in order to craft them.

Once you have a few acid traps available in your inventory, simply find an enemy guard who has a set patrol. Place the trap on the ground where the guard would normally walk and once he/she steps on it, they will die. You can repeat this process four times on the same guard if you choose to create a manual save before they step on the trap. Once you have killed five guards in this manner, the achievement will unlock.
My precious…

20
Drink 25 potions of amber
Amber potions are bright yellow/orange flasks that can be found around the many zones within each mission. Take note, however, that they are somewhat scarce and they are usually found out of the way from the main objective for each mission. That being said, the first skill in the Alchemy talent tree, Amber Distiller, allows Styx to craft his own vials of amber at crafting stations provided you have the materials necessary to do so.

In order to drink an amber potion, you will need to access the inventory menu by pressing and then tapping to consume the item. Drinking amber potions will help replenish a portion of your amber gauge, which is used for Styx's powers (Cloning, Invisibility, Rebirth, etc.). As a cumulative achievement, this will come naturally as you drink twenty-five amber potions throughout your playthrough.
It's time for soup

15
Dissolve 10 enemies (vial of acid)
Vials of acid are bright green flasks that can typically be found around the many zones within each mission. Much like amber vials, however, they are very rare to find and you are better off creating your own at crafting stations. Before you can create acid vials, though, you must first unlock the Acid Solution skill in the Alchemy talent tree.

Once you have access to acid vials, simply select them from your inventory by pressing and then you can dissolve enemy bodies by tapping when standing/crouching over their corpse. This achievement will finally unlock once you have dissolved ten enemy bodies over the course of your playthrough.

NOTE: This achievement can be grinded out quickly in the Prologue when you pick up your first vial of acid and the game notifies you of their usage/importance. Once you pick up the item, create a manual save and then use the vial of acid on the body right in front of you. After the corpse dissolves, reload your save and continue repeating this process until the achievement unlocks.
Goblin Farmer

30
Collect 50 raw materials
Throughout every mission of the game, you will often stumble upon raw materials that can be collected and used later to craft different types of items ranging from bolts to vials of amber and health. Generally, these raw materials are items such as iron ores, raw amber, insect eggs, unstable spores, and poisonous spores.

You will likely find and collect more than fifty materials through natural play, but it's worth nothing that you can always use amber vision () to spot them more easily in the dark or from afar. Once you have collected at least fifty raw materials over the course of your playthrough, this achievement will unlock.
Trigonal Elven System

30
Unlock your first ultimate skill
Ultimate skills are powerful abilities that will enhance Styx's skill set in unique ways depending on the talent tree involved. For example, the ultimate skill in the Cloning talent tree allows for either a stealthy clone, which grants Styx invisibility when controlling his clone, or a lethal clone, which allows the clone to sacrifice itself in a deadly explosion once it grabs an enemy.

The earliest you can obtain this achievement is after completing Mission 3, as this is when you are first given access to pure quartz (a necessary item to unlock an ultimate skill). You will also need to have unlocked all the skills leading up the an ultimate skill in order to learn it. Each talent tree has its own unique ultimate skill and once you have unlocked at least one of them, the achievement will be yours.
Oh My Gob!

100
Unlock all skills
(2)
In total, there are five talent trees that are each comprised of eight skills. Therefore, there are forty skills that you must unlock for this achievement. These skills range from enhancing Styx's cloning abilities and alchemical concoctions at crafting tables to bolstering his perception, stealth abilities, and lethality tactics.

In order to unlock skills, you must first obtain Skill Points (SP) by completing missions, completing secondary objectives, and unlocking Insignias. You can view the skills at any time by opening the Character Menu (press ) and scrolling to the skills tab; however, skills can only be unlocked at the hideout in between each mission. There is no set recommendation on which skills to unlock first, but I personally enjoy working on the Alchemy, Cloning, and Stealth talent trees first.

Much like Master of Shadows, this is the most time-consuming achievement within the game since it involves completing every mission's secondary objective and obtaining all four Insignias per mission in order to amass enough Skill Points (you'll likely end up with a three-hundred SP leftover even after completing everything). As a result, you will likely be replaying missions multiple times as you work on completing them without any alerts (Insignia of the Shadow), without any kills (Insignia of Mercy), within the time constraint (Insignia of Swiftness), and picking up all the tokens (Insignia of the Thief).

Fortunately, you can replay missions at any point when inside your hideout (and even post-game), as Styx returns to his hideout once the narrative has concluded. In addition to this, the Insignias do not have to be collected in one run; you can choose to replay a mission four times if necessary in order to focus on one Insignia at a time. All in all, this achievement will finally unlock once every skill has been unlocked.
Goblin Master

0
Unlock all achievements
(7)
This achievement will unlock after obtaining all thirty-seven achievements in the game.

NOTE: This achievement is currently glitched and will not unlock even after the requirements have been met.

Revenge

80
Finish Mission 9
Story-related, cannot be missed.

In total, there are ten missions within the game: an introduction and nine main story missions. As with its predecessor, each of these missions are made up of multiple "zones" that are structured in a semi open-world design. Alongside the main objectives of each mission, each zone typically has one or two secondary objectives as well. These secondary objectives will often encourage exploration and test your mettle by collecting specific items/collectibles. Despite the difficulty these objectives present, their reward offers a generous amount of Skill Points (SP). It's highly encouraged to always complete the secondary objectives, especially since you need all the SP you can obtain in order to unlock all the skills in the game for the "Oh My Gob!" achievement.

Overall, each of the missions have an average completion time of about thirty to forty minutes depending on your playstyle. Be sure to utilize the manual save feature in the Pause Menu frequently and further utilize your powers of invisibility, cloning, and amber vision in order to gain the upper hand in navigation. As a final note, it is highly recommended to invest in the Stealth and Perception talent trees first; then focus on Alchemy and Cloning, followed by Kill.
Golden Gob

40
Unlock Gold level for all Insignias in a mission
(1)
Refer back to "All Along The Gobtower" for more information.
The Unseen Gob is the Deadliest

30
Remain invisible for a total of one minute
This achievement is obtained for having spent a cumulative total of one minute being invisible; it does not require you to be invisible for sixty consecutive seconds.

In order to use Styx's invisibility power, simply hold and then tap . Keep in mind, if playing stealthily and amber is a concern, that amber will be consumed during the duration of your invisibility; you'll want to make sure you get safely to cover before the amber gauge runs dry as to avoid detection. After having spent a total of at least one minute invisible over the course of your playthrough, this achievement will unlock.
A Taste of Gob

30
Give of yourself to the worship of Lyssril...
(1)
This achievements obtained during Mission 3, Zone 2.

After regaining control of Styx after a short cutscene at the beginning of this Zone, you'll find yourself inside a small alcove. Your new objective will require you to eavesdrop on the enemies in the room ahead. After you have eavesdropped on the elves and they disperse, follow the elf on the far side of the room; he eventually makes a stop at a table.

Continue past the elf and you will come to a door. Open the door and you will then find yourself inside a large, purple room with one sleeping guard. Move forward towards the left side of this chamber and sit yourself in front of the third statue. You can now interact with the offering bowl in front of the statue by pressing , which results in Styx vomitting into the offering bowl and unlocking the achievement.