Overview:
- Estimated achievement difficulty: 6/10
- Offline/Online: 49 [980]
- Online Only: 1 [20]
- Approximate time to 1000: 22-26 hours
- Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 3
- Missable achievements: Yes
- Does difficulty affect Achievements: No
- Unobtainable/Glitched Achievements: No
- Glitchy Achievements: No
Introduction:
The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing is the second of a trilogy to be released on Xbox in a series of Action-RPG dungeon crawler games, similar to Diablo. You will play as the legendary monster hunter in a series of dark locations, destroying monsters and collecting loot to become more powerful. It has four player co-op but can also be completed solo (except for one achievement).
You will need to get three characters to Level 60, and one to at least Level 45 in Hardcore mode as well as completing the Hardcore campaign (but if you're going that far, you may as well get him to 60 - there is a trick to avoid losing your save, so it's not a huge deal). Outside of that, the achievements are not very difficult, mostly just grindy.
Save Import:
If you have any Level 30 characters from the first game, these can be imported to part two, and many of the achievements that require cumulative progress will take into account the previous progress, allowing you to unlock them slightly faster (though they'll all unlock in the course of normal play anyway). Most people will not have bought the Arcane Mechanic or Thaumaturge for the first game, which were DLC options only, but you should have a Hunter available.
Step 1: Completionist Playthrough
Hopefully you played the first game and have a Level 30 character to import, but if not you'll need to start one fresh and get it all the way to Level 60, while doing many miscellaneous achievements along the way. Only "Profiler," "It was a Blast!," and "In Your Face, Jones!" can be missed completely so if you don't get those, make sure to take care in getting them with one of the other two characters. After the game is over, you can choose to use this character for the end-game stuff, or move on to the other two characters and get them to Level 60 before deciding which one you'd like to use.
Step 2: End Game
There are many achievements tied to the "Scenario" mode which you can work on with any character (except one achievement, which can't be done with the Arcane Mechanic because he doesn't wear a cape), so after beating the game with each of the characters, choose which one you want to be your "main" character and start working on the Scenario achievements.
Step 3: Hardcore Mode
You need to beat the main campaign in Hardcore mode, which is a "one life" mode. If you die, your save is deleted. There is a trick around this, described in the guide below, but do your best to be careful while playing, as if you're not quick, it may not work. You also need to get a Hardcore character to at least Level 45, and then die. Not a very nice achievement to put in the game, but the trick to save your character still works, and there is a one-time use code that you can input while on the menu to resurrect a dead Hardcore character. I would suggest trying to get all the way to Level 60 with the character to satisfy that requirement as well, so you don't need a fourth character.
Conclusion:
Aside from Hardcore mode, and a few of the Scenario achievements, the game is not very difficult, but rather just takes some time to complete as you grind through all the Scenario completions, and getting three characters to max level. However, the game is fun Diablo clone, so it's not all that bad.
[XBA would like to thank The Pants Party for this Roadmap]