Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair Achievement Guide & Road Map

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair Achievement Guide

Overview:
- Estimated achievement difficulty: 6/10 [Achievement Difficulty Rating]
- Offline: 47 [1000]
- Online: 0
- Approximate amount of time to 1000

: 12-15+ hours [Estimated Time to 100%]
- Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 1
- Missable achievements: None [level select and free roam]
- Does difficulty affect achievements: No difficulty option
- Unobtainable/glitched achievements: None
- Extra equipment needed: None

Introduction:
Welcome to Yooka Laylee and the Impossible Lair, the sequel to Yooka Laylee, and another game developed by former Rare employees, which is meant to be a spiritual successor to Banjo Kazooie. The format of Impossible Lair is much different from the original game. This game takes place in a 3D puzzle-filled overworld reminiscent of Banjo Kazooie, and the levels are 2D side scrollers very similar to the Donkey Kong Country series. The gameplay is tight, and the game is fun and interesting. The achievements are largely pretty simple and straightforward with the exception of actually beating the game. That will be the hardest part for most people. Let's get started.

Abbreviated Walkthrough:
This game has a unique format: right from the start of the game, the final level and boss fight (the Impossible Lair) are available to attempt whenever you want and as many times as you want. It is a gauntlet of platforming challenges and boss fights that is very difficult. To improve your chances of survival, you can play the chapters of the game located in the overworld to save bees, which act as hits you can take during your attempt to complete the Impossible Lair.

To unlock all of this game's achievements, you'll need to complete all 20 chapters, with each chapter having a normal and altered version of it, for a total of 40 levels you'll need to beat. Each level ends with rescuing a bee, so you'll rescue 40 of the 48 bees from just completing the levels. The remaining 8 bees are hidden in the overworld. Refer to the guide below for locating them all.

The other main thing to do when completing all 40 levels is to collect the five hidden T.W.I.T. coins in each one. Some are obvious, but many are very well hidden. I highly recommend using a guide as you go because you will assuredly miss some, and that will require you to play through the entire level over again to get them. These T.W.I.T. coins serve a purpose beyond being collectibles: you'll need to give them to Trowzer to lower his paywalls in order to access all of the levels in the game. You'll need 101 T.W.I.T. coins to gain access to every area in the overworld so you can access every chapter. The remaining 99 T.W.I.T. coins will get you a fourth tonic slot.

So play through all of the chapters and focus on getting all of the T.W.I.T. coins as you go. I highly recommend not worrying about collecting quills much. It'll result in many unnecessary deaths and frustration, and the method for grinding them out at the end is much faster and more efficient anyway. Between each chapter, keep an eye out for tonics in the overworld. Equipping them can help or hinder your gameplay. Again, don't worry too much about quills at this point. Just focus on T.W.I.T. coins and beating each level.

After you've completed all 40 levels and collected all 200 T.W.I.T. coins, it's time to mop up the overworld. There are 8 more bees to find in the overworld and 61 tonics to collect. Note that there are 62 available tonics, but only 61 are available in the overworld, and those are the only ones required for the related achievements. The guide below has all of the bee and tonic locations.

After completing all chapters, collecting all T.W.I.T. coins, rescuing all bees, and collecting all tonics, you'll definitely need more quills in order to be able to purchase them all. The Tonic Boom! (40G) achievement solution has a great method for quickly farming quills. Once you've got enough, purchase them all to finish up all of the miscellaneous achievements.

The last remaining thing to do is to actually beat the Impossible Lair to beat the game. This is by far the hardest part of the game, and even with all 48 bees is quite a challenge. There are no checkpoints, so a death means starting the entire thing over again. A successful run takes a minimum of 20-30 minutes, but expect to require multiple attempts to learn the layout, the boss patterns, etc. The guide has more tips below. Once you conquer the Impossible Lair, that should wrap up your completion.

Conclusion:
Yooka Laylee and the Impossible Lair is a fantastic sequel and is a great game with a classic Rare feel to it. It's charming, smooth, has good depth, and is fun to play. The challenge in beating the Impossible Lair may prevent quite a few people from completing this game, but with enough practice and luck it should be attainable.

[XBA would like to thank Necrophage33 for this Roadmap]

Plan Beaten

50
Collect every achievement in Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair
As the description says, once all other 46 achievements have been unlocked, this achievement will unlock.
Army of 2

15
Rescue 2 Bee Team guards
Refer to the Full Guard Shield Get (50G) achievement solution for more information.
Army of 4

15
Rescue 4 Bee Team guards
Refer to the Full Guard Shield Get (50G) achievement solution for more information.
Army of 6

15
Rescue 6 Bee Team guards
Refer to the Full Guard Shield Get (50G) achievement solution for more information.
Army of 8

15
Rescue 8 Bee Team guards
Refer to the Full Guard Shield Get (50G) achievement solution for more information.
Army of 10

15
Rescue 10 Bee Team guards
Refer to the Full Guard Shield Get (50G) achievement solution for more information.
Army of 12

15
Rescue 12 Bee Team guards
Refer to the Full Guard Shield Get (50G) achievement solution for more information.
Army of 14

15
Rescue 14 Bee Team guards
Refer to the Full Guard Shield Get (50G) achievement solution for more information.
Army of 16

15
Rescue 16 Bee Team guards
Refer to the Full Guard Shield Get (50G) achievement solution for more information.
Army of 18

15
Rescue 18 Bee Team guards
Refer to the Full Guard Shield Get (50G) achievement solution for more information.
Army of 20

15
Rescue 20 Bee Team guards
Refer to the Full Guard Shield Get (50G) achievement solution for more information.
Army of 22

15
Rescue 22 Bee Team guards
Refer to the Full Guard Shield Get (50G) achievement solution for more information.
Army of 24

15
Rescue 24 Bee Team guards
Refer to the Full Guard Shield Get (50G) achievement solution for more information.
Army of 26

15
Rescue 26 Bee Team guards
Refer to the Full Guard Shield Get (50G) achievement solution for more information.
Army of 28

15
Rescue 28 Bee Team guards
Refer to the Full Guard Shield Get (50G) achievement solution for more information.
Army of 30

15
Rescue 30 Bee Team guards
Refer to the Full Guard Shield Get (50G) achievement solution for more information.
Army of 32

15
Rescue 32 Bee Team guards
Refer to the Full Guard Shield Get (50G) achievement solution for more information.
Army of 34

15
Rescue 34 Bee Team guards
Refer to the Full Guard Shield Get (50G) achievement solution for more information.
Army of 36

15
Rescue 36 Bee Team guards
Refer to the Full Guard Shield Get (50G) achievement solution for more information.
Army of 38

15
Rescue 38 Bee Team guards
Refer to the Full Guard Shield Get (50G) achievement solution for more information.
Army of 40

15
Rescue 40 Bee Team guards
Refer to the Full Guard Shield Get (50G) achievement solution for more information.
Army of 42

15
Rescue 42 Bee Team guards
Refer to the Full Guard Shield Get (50G) achievement solution for more information.
Army of 44

15
Rescue 44 Bee Team guards
Refer to the Full Guard Shield Get (50G) achievement solution for more information.
Army of 46

15
Rescue 46 Bee Team Guards
Refer to the Full Guard Shield Get (50G) achievement solution for more information.
Army of 48

15
Rescue 48 Bee Team Guards
Refer to the Full Guard Shield Get (50G) achievement solution for more information.
Full Guard Shield Get

50
Assemble all 48 Bee Team Guards
As the description states, there are a total of 48 bees you'll need to rescue to unlock this achievement. Of the 48, there are 40 bees to rescue from each of the 20 chapters (one in the normal version of the level, and one in the altered version). These bees are straightforward enough to obtain; get to the end of each level to rescue the bee. You can use whichever tonics you want to make the levels easier.

The remaining 8 bees are hidden somewhere in the overworld (or visible, but seemingly unreachable). Here is where to find each and how to get them.
1. In Chapter 5, Gasping Glade, make sure you're playing the normal version of the chapter. Towards the end you'll come to a green door to enter and you'll see a pool of the green acid extending off to the right under a wall. Stand here and wait for a platform to come, and ride it to the end, avoiding all the obstacles. This will bring you to a secret exit of the chapter, and you'll exit next to a trapped bee in the overworld.
2. In Chapter 7, Production Path - Panic, make sure you're playing the altered version. Progress through the chapter until you're between the two purple lasers. As you move left you should see a glowing secret exit below you. Buddy slam through the trap door to exit to the trapped bee in the overworld.
3. In the northeastern corner of the overworld, you'll see a group of four fans blowing in a square pattern. Go northeast past them to another pair of fans. Past them and up the path you'll get to a block you can use to stop the pair of fans. Now go up the path to the northeast until you're on top of a fan blowing south. From on top of the fan, roll down and jump to a rock ledge just southwest of you. On top of it you'll see a white splatter mark. Buddy slam it to open a cave entrance. Go inside to find the bee.
4. In the Desert in the north of the overworld, you'll first have to go to the west side and buy the yellow key from the cage for 1000 quills. Then, take it to the house on the east side of the desert to get inside. Push the pipe in place to blow apart three pieces outside. Go out and put them back together. Now go back inside the house and talk to the pipe kid. On the left side of the house is a white splatter mark on the ground. Buddy slam it to make a water plant appear. Use one to put out the fire on the right. Exit the house and climb up to the roof and jump down the chimney. Exit out the right side doorway. Head up through the next doorway. Go straight up and roll under the wall to find the bee.
5. In Chapter 14, Hangar Hazard, make sure you're playing the normal version of the chapter. Toward the end of the level you'll have to ride on a stack of crates by hanging on the ropes as it passes by helicopter enemies and spikes. When you get to the end of this ride, instead of jumping off to the Checkmate to the right, stay on the ropes to ride up to the top where you can jump to the secret exit on your right. This will take you to a bee in the overworld.
6. From Chapter 14 in the overworld, head east up the steps and through the screen transition. You'll come to a switch that's used to flip a grate between being vertical and being a horizontal bridge. Make sure the grate is vertical, and then drop down into the opening below it. In the cave, head north up the steps and into the doorway to exit back to the overworld, higher up. From here, you need to go south and carefully walk across the edge of the grate sticking up to get to the other side, where you'll find the bee.
7. This is the toughest one to get. I recommend acquiring and equipping at least the Roll Faster tonic for this. If you have Roll Even Faster, that's even better. Go to Chapter 16, Queasy Quay - Climb, and make sure you're playing the altered version. Progress through the level until you get to the part when you're stepping on wooden levers to drop structures above you. You'll drop one that kills the flame cannon above you. A couple more platforms above this, you'll come to a section where you need to jump into the end of a horizontal green pipe to jump to ropes on the left. Instead of doing this, you need to go through the other end of the green pipe. Note that there is a wooden lever below you. Don't step on it yet. Off to the right side is a green pipe you can exit through. The trick here is timing it just right to get to it. When you hit the wooden lever, the spiked section will fall and a new piece will fall from above. You need to time a perfect roll such that you hit the lever, and as soon as the spiked piece starts falling, you roll over it and jump into the green pipe before the quill section falls down. The timing is incredibly tight. I was unable to do it without any tonics, and gave up after ten or so attempts. I equipped Roll Faster and restarted the level and got it pretty quickly with that tonic. Roll Even Faster will help even more. You could even use the Slow Mo tonic to help with the perfect timing. Once you make it in the green pipe, go through the secret exit and you'll be back in the overworld next to the bee.
8. In the southwest portion of the overworld, where the beach and the lighthouse are, swim to the southwestern corner of the area. You'll see a ledge along the southwest corner that looks like you can walk on it. Follow it down to the end where you'll see a square sand patch you can stand on. You'll need to do a well-timed roll-jump-twirl to get from the sand patch onto the ledge. Then follow the ledge over and up to the bee.
Paywalls!?

15
Lower Trowzer's First Paywall
Refer to the Five Paywalls!! Scum. (40G) achievement solution for more information.
Another Paywall!?

15
Lower Trowzer's Second Paywall
Refer to the Five Paywalls!! Scum. (40G) achievement solution for more information.
Last Paywall, right!?

15
Lower Trowzer's Third Paywall
Refer to the Five Paywalls!! Scum. (40G) achievement solution for more information.
Another Paywall, Really!?

30
Lower Trowzer's Fourth Paywall
Refer to the Five Paywalls!! Scum. (40G) achievement solution for more information.
Four Tonic Slots!

30
Get a real fourth Tonic slot
The reason the description is worded like that is because Trowzer tells you that if you lower all five of his paywalls he'll give you a fourth tonic slot. After you pay 71 total T.W.I.T. coins to lower all his paywalls and then another 30 T.W.I.T. coins to him at his house in the desert, you'll get a fake fourth tonic slot. It's a tonic that, when equipped, gives you a fourth tonic slot, thereby rendering itself useless.

Getting a real fourth tonic slot requires you to collect all 200 T.W.I.T. coins. After giving Trowzer the 30 T.W.I.T. coins at his house, you'll have to give him your remaining 99 T.W.I.T. coins and you'll get a real fourth tonic slot, unlocking this achievement. Refer to the World's biggest T.W.I.T. Collector (50G) achievement solution for more information on finding all 200 T.W.I.T. coins.
Mock Chain

15
Get 25 T.W.I.T. Coins
Refer to the World's biggest T.W.I.T. Collector (50G) achievement solution for more information.
You're a big T.W.I.T. Collector

30
Get 100 T.W.I.T. Coin
Refer to the World's biggest T.W.I.T. Collector (50G) achievement solution for more information.
World's biggest T.W.I.T. Collector

50
Get 200 T.W.I.T. coins
There are a total of 200 T.W.I.T. coins in the game, five per level. Take note that this is a collectible achievement, so spending T.W.I.T. coins by giving them to Trowzer does not impact this achievement. Also note that for a collected T.W.I.T. coin to count, you must collect it and then complete the level with it collected. If you miss any, and then replay that level to get them, you cannot quit out of the level. You must complete the level.

Normally, if you die after collecting a T.W.I.T. coin before getting to a Checkmate, you'll have to collect that T.W.I.T. coin again. To eliminate the need to do this (and therefore a lot of frustration in some levels), I highly recommend buying and equipping the 'T.W.I.T. Coin Banker' tonic as soon as possible. This is located by the third chapter. Complete the Pagie challenge to lower the land, then head west toward Vendi to collect it. Purchase it and equip it immediately. Its effect is that whenever you collect a T.W.I.T. coin, it stays collected permanently even if you die. It'll lower your quills earned, but this benefit is way more important.

In terms of locating all of the T.W.I.T. coins, some of obvious or easy to find, but many are very well hidden. I highly recommend consulting a guide as you go to eliminate the need to replay all 40 levels to collect all of the T.W.I.T. coins you missed. Below are video guides for all locations. Full credit to the creator of the videos.
T.W.I.T. Coin...hmm, cryptic

15
Get your first T.W.I.T. coin
Refer to the World's biggest T.W.I.T. Collector (50G) achievement solution for more information.
T.W.I.T. Mining

15
Get 10 T.W.I.T. coins
Refer to the World's biggest T.W.I.T. Collector (50G) achievement solution for more information.
T.W.I.T. farming

30
Get 50 T.W.I.T. coins
Refer to the World's biggest T.W.I.T. Collector (50G) achievement solution for more information.
HIVE won!

50
Defeat Capital B at the end of the game
Story-related; cannot be missed.

This is the only story achievement, and is rewarded for completing the Impossible Lair. While you can attempt to beat the impossible lair at any time, I highly recommend waiting until you've rescued all 48 bees. Even then, expect quite a challenge. What makes this even more challenging is that the other levels are all much easier, with plenty of checkpoints and the ability to use tonics to make it even easier. In the Impossible Lair, you can't use any tonics and there are no checkpoints. You'll need to complete the entire thing in one run. Thankfully, if you fall into a pit you don't die. Instead, you get carried back to solid ground and just lose one bee. This makes it much less stressful than it otherwise would be.

Practice is going to be the most important thing, but here are some other tips:
- Be patient and take your time. There is no time limit (except for the bit at the end) so don't feel any need to rush. The faster you try to go, the more likely you are to get hit or fall in a pit
- Wait for an opening during boss fights. The hit detection on his staff can be annoying at times, especially when you jump on his head and hit him, only to get hit by his staff on the way down. Rather than be aggressive, watch a cycle of his attacks during each boss fight just so you know what to expect before going in for a hit
- Don't panic, and don't give up. It's easy to take stupid hits and then lose focus and take a couple more hits. Keep calm and don't let a hit or two deter you. Even more important is not giving up. If you take some early hits, don't be deterred. Worst case, you'll get more practice on the later sections even if you don't finish it
- Lastly, practice. Watching a video helps, but until you do it yourself a few times you won't have a great grasp of what it takes. As with many platformers, muscle memory is important as you practice. Don't go in expecting to succeed on your first attempt. Go in expecting to learn the level, and try to improve with each attempt
Here is a video of the Impossible Lair being completed. It is a speedrun, so naturally don't plan to move that quickly. Seeing it done will help see what you're in for and plan accordingly. Specifically, take note of the boss attack patterns and of the final escape, since you only have two minutes to make it out.
Double Mixer

15
Beat a level with just two play-tonics equipped
As the description says, complete any level with two play-tonics equipped. You start with three empty slots by default. The first tonic you'll get automatically on your way to Chapter 3 from Chapter 2. You'll undoubtedly find many more naturally in the overworld, but the Tonic Mania (30G) achievement solution has a list of all tonic locations.
Triple tipple

15
Beat a level with just three play-tonics equipped
As the description says, complete any level with three play-tonics equipped. You start with three empty slots by default. The first tonic you'll get automatically on your way to Chapter 3 from Chapter 2. You'll undoubtedly find many more naturally in the overworld, but the Tonic Mania (30G) achievement solution has a list of all tonic locations.
Tonic Mania

30
Found all Overworld play-tonics
There are a total of 62 tonics in the game but you only need to find the 61 tonics in the overworld to unlock this achievement. The 'Golden Try' tonic for beating the Impossible Lair without losing a single bee is NOT required for this achievement, nor for Tonic Boom! (40G).

The first tonic is given to you when you meet Vendi between Chapters 2 and 3. The rest are scattered around, either in a seemingly out of reach location or hidden entirely. Many are reached through natural exploration, but a big chunk of them are not visible and are found by slamming or hitting certain areas to make them appear. These locations are given to you via riddles from the various bobbing wooden signs around the overworld for 50 quills each.

You could likely find a vast majority of the 61 tonics on your own, with simple exploration and puzzle solving. If you don't want to, or are stuck and can't find some, the following video shows the locations of all 61 tonics in the game. Sadly, they aren't shown in the order that matches their order in the in-game tonic menu, so you will have to jump around a bit if you're trying to find the ones you're missing. Thankfully, there are timestamps for each tonic in the Youtube description. Full credit to the creator of the video.
Four play-tonics

15
Beat a level with four play-tonics equipped
This achievement first becomes obtainable after collecting 101 T.W.I.T. coins. You'll use 71 to lower all five paywalls, and then the remaining 30 must be given to Trowzer at his house. This will reward you with a fourth tonic slot tonic. When equipped, you get a fourth slot, rendering this tonic useless. However, you can use it to get this achievement. Equip it and three other tonics and then just play through to the end of any chapter. Alternatively, once you collect all 200 T.W.I.T. coins you'll be rewarded with an actual fourth tonic slot. At this point you'll have to replay any chapter with four tonics equipped to unlock this achievement.
Super tonic

30
Found and purchased 20 play-tonics
Refer to the Tonic Mania (30G) achievement solution for finding all tonics, and to the Tonic Boom! (40G) achievement solution for the best ways to earn enough quills to buy them all.
Just the play-tonic

15
Equip a Tonic
This is essentially unmissable. On your way from Chapter 2 to Chapter 3, you'll meet Vendi, who will show you what tonics are and how to equip them. This achievement will unlock in the process.
Tonic Boom!

40
Purchased all Overworld play-tonics
There are a total of 61 tonics that must be purchased for this achievement. As with the Tonic Mania (30G) achievement, the 'Golden Try' tonic is not required for this achievement, since it's not an overworld tonic. Refer to the Tonic Mania (30G) achievement solution for actually finding all 61 overworld tonics in the game.

Once you've found them all, it then becomes a matter of collecting enough quills in levels to afford all of the tonics. It's highly unlikely you'll be anywhere near the required amount by the time you finish everything else in the game, and you'll likely need 10,000 quills or more, give or take depending on what tonics you used while you progressed. This may seem like a massive grind, but thankfully there is a very quick and reliable method to grind out quills.

You'll first need to unlock and purchase the following tonics: 'Quillsplosion,' 'Googly Eyes,' and 'Less Checkmates.' If you don't have them, refer to Tonic Mania (30G) for locating them. The 'Quill Magnet' tonic is handy for the rest of the level, but it isn't required. You'll collect quills from killed enemies automatically. With all three (preferably four) of those tonics equipped, start up Chapter 3 in its altered state ('Chaos'). Right at the start of the level, the red enemies will run toward you from the left very quickly. For some reason, they won't have googly eyes despite having that tonic equipped, so they'll die in one hit instead of two. Each one you kill gives you 5 quills. With the above tonics equipped, you will have a 2.5x quill multiplier for the level. You could then calculate how many quills you need to purchase all tonics, divide that by 2.5, and that's how many quills to shoot for. Bounce on enemies' heads over and over to grind out quills. Once you get a good rhythm it becomes very simple and stress-free. Since you're doing it right at the start of the level, you can touch the Checkmate at any time to save how many quills you've collected. I recommend doing this at least every few hundred quills, just to be safe, or if you lose Laylee.

Once you have enough quills, hit the Checkmate once more to be safe and then speed through the level. Ignoring quills and coins makes this level very short. The quills you collect don't add to your total until you complete the level, so bear that in mind. Once you have enough quills and purchase all the tonics, this achievement will unlock.
Five Paywalls!! Scum.

40
Lower Trowzer's Fifth Paywall
All five of Trowzer's paywalls are lowered by giving Trowzer T.W.I.T. coins you've collected from the chapters. Don't worry - giving him T.W.I.T. coins does not interfere with any of the achievements for collecting T.W.I.T. coins. Those achievements are all cumulative.

In order to be able to access all of the chapters, you will be required to lower all five paywalls. The cost of each paywall is as follows:
- First paywall: 1 T.W.I.T. coin
- Second paywall: 10 T.W.I.T. coins
- Third paywall: 15 T.W.I.T. coins
- Fourth paywall: 20 T.W.I.T. coins
- Fifth paywall: 25 T.W.I.T. coins
So you'll need a total of 71 T.W.I.T. coins in order to be able to open all five paywalls. There are 200 T.W.I.T. coins in the game, and the World's biggest T.W.I.T. Collector (50G) achievement solution has a guide to find them all. The paywalls themselves are obvious and marked on your map. You'll be able to open all five before the halfway point of the game, as long as you collect all of the T.W.I.T. coins as you progress.

Mmm, sausages

30
Whoa, you unlocked a secret area!
After lowering all five of Trowzer's paywalls (refer to Five Paywalls!! Scum. (40G) for doing so), you'll then need to collect an additional 30 T.W.I.T. coins from chapters and then visit Trowzer at his house in the desert to the north of the overworld. Give him the 30 T.W.I.T. coins and this achievement will unlock. This is required in order to access the final three chapters in the game.