Overview
A quick guide of for all the achievement hunters among us!
Foreword
A list of the achievements and some quick notes on how to get them.
I hope you guys (& girls) find this guide clearly understandable and helpful. But please be aware that this guide is NOT spoiler free. I tried to put too spoilerish info and what refers to other achievements behind a spoiler tag. But it is not possible to completely avoid spoilers in a guide like this.
I tried a slightly different format this time (compared to my other achievement guide that is) by giving each achievement its own section and sorting them roughly in the order they unlock. I thought that makes it easier if you’re only looking for information on specific achievement(s). Feel free to let me know whatever you agree!
Any achievement that can be missed and/or needs some forethought / strategic saves and/or is mutually exclusive with one or more achievement is marked by an * after the name. Additional info and remarks to other achievements are behind spoiler tags.
If aiming for one play through or not willing to play the whole game a second time just for one achievement it might be a good idea to at least check the section for “Luddite” since any chance to get this can easily be destroyed early in game.
Generally a good advice is SAVE OFTEN. The game does have an auto save function (kudos to the devs for that) but there’s a bug that can render even the auto save unusable (saving/leaving the game during a mini-game or scene change seems to be a good way to cause this). Plus regularly saving can make it so much easier to go back and get achievements one missed without too much fuss.
Happy hunting!
Anmerkung auf Deutsch
Leider gibt es J.U.L.I.A. nur auf Englisch und damit macht eine deutsche Version von diesem Guide wirklich keinen Sinn.
Falls aber jemand aus irgendeinem Grund Hilfe/Anleitungen auf Deutsch braucht helfe ich gerne weiter. Je nachdem wie lang/groß das Problem ist hinterlasst einen Kommentar hier oder schickt mir eine Freund Einladung (bitte aber dennoch einen kurzen Kommentar hier oder auf meinem Profil hinterlassen damit ich weiß wofür die Einladung ist).
Hungry for more? (BUGGED)
As of June the 24th 2015 this hidden achievement (with the flavor text: “You want to learn more about the past.”) seems to be either bugged or not yet implemented. As the global achievements page shows 0% of all player have this one. Nor could I find any info on what action is supposed to unlock this one.
Plumber
Just finish the repairs in the very beginning of the game.
Good Morning Xenophon!
After landing on Xenophon for the first time.
Observant Player
“You’ve obtained your first Mind’o’Matic.” Which should happen after gathering & analyzing all 6 items, unlocking/reading all datapads, the messages linked to the different keycards at the computer terminal and examining the Geiger gounter on Xenophon.
Constructor Jr.
Finish constructing your first blueprint (“Solar System Scanner”) in the ship’s workshop.
Sweet Memory
After leaving Xenophon and constructing the scanner and warping to any other planet should the memory block mini-game begin. Finish it to get the achievement.
First Contact
On Ambrosia after your first encounter with the natives (and the language minigame).
Explorer
This unlocked for me on Ambrosia after I had finished with the scrolls and acquired the artifacts but before I handed said artifacts back to the aliens (combining the scrolls wasn’t necessary either). At that point I had already explored the whole “map” of Ambrosia. But I’m not sure if it is necessary to uncover all the dead ends as well (I did).
Hacker
After unlocking the last datapad.
Number of datapads per planet: Xenophon 6; Phaidros 4; Elpis Alpha 1. The datapad acquired on Zenobia doesn’t count.
Megabot *
Constructing all upgrades (blueprints) for Mobot.
portable analyzer, audio kit, laser cutter, underwater operations
*If you’re going for Luddite: when you get the blueprint for the portable analyzer DO NOT construct it. For more info see the section for “Luddite” below.
Luddite and Megabot can easily be achieved in the same play through as long as you aim for Luddite first. Megabot will still unlock just later in the game.
Pacifist *
On Zenobia at the Rocky Beach when you encounter the creature you’ve to make a choice about what to do (or not do) with it. For “Pacifist” choose to “throw the creature into the ocean”.
* There are three mutually exclusive achievements to be gained here. To get all three save before making your choice.
Science Over All *
On Zenobia at the Rocky Beach when you encounter the creature you’ve to make a choice about what to do (or not do) with it. For “Science Over All” choose to “bring it up to the probe”.
Interestingly even though Rachel emphasize how much she wants to study the creature and Julia even mentions the exact location (which you can’t visit) where it’s being stored on the probe you can’t analyze it or do anything else with it. Nor is it being mention again.
* There are three mutually exclusive achievements to be gained here. To get all three save before making your choice.
Apathy *
On Zenobia at the Rocky Beach when you encounter the creature you’ve to make a choice about what to do (or not do) with it. For “Apathy” choose to “leave it be”. You leave the planet, wrap to any other and when come back to Zenobia the creature will have died. Examine it for a short dialogue and the achievement should pop.
Interestingly even though Julia mentions the corpse being transported to the probe and *where* it is stored you can’t analyze it or do anything else with. Nor is it being mention again.
* There are three mutually exclusive achievements to be gained here. To get all three save before making your choice.
Trapper
On Zenobia inside the submarine. Unlocked by trapping the life-form in the storage room.
Cryptoanalyst
On Zenobia you acquire a datapad from a corpse. Analyzing it will lead to a minigame that has you “decrypt” a text.
Jaeger *
Finish the “Trial of Xir” on Phantos (the mini-game where you have to activate the beacons a second time while Xir hunts Mobot).
*There are three more achievements to be gained here: let Xir kill Mobot once for “Deadly Xir”, five times for “Xir Destroyer” and ten times for “Invincible Xir”.
Deadly Xir *
During the “Trial of Xir” on Phantos (the mini-game where you have to activate the beacons a second time while Xir hunts Mobot). Let Xir kill Mobot once for this achievement.
Xir Destroyer *
During the “Trial of Xir” on Phantos (the mini-game where you have to activate the beacons a second time while Xir hunts Mobot). Let Xir kill Mobot five times for this achievement.
Invincible Xir *
During the “Trial of Xir” on Phantos (the mini-game where you have to activate the beacons a second time while Xir hunts Mobot). Let Xir kill Mobot ten times for this achievement.
Unexpected Visitor *
During the “Trial of Xir” on Phantos when you found Xir’s lair but before you start putting up the beacons search the screen (looking at the lair) for a point of interest. Examining it will gain you an ID card.
After you finished the mini-game (and lengthy cut-scenes) go back to the station at Phantos and activate the station computer. Log in as “Agustin Cords” (the new/last entry on the list). A short “movie” will play (it starts automatically and it’s the only thing that can be done with the card.
Dreamer
When you finished the Trial of Xir, returned to Hermes Alpha and the temple their. After your last possible action om the temple you’ll be ported outside and the temple will vanish. That’s when the achievement should pop.
Methodical *
Scan all the planets (not just the ones you can visit).
List of planets to scan: Phaidros, Zenobia, Ambrosia, Xenophon, Elpis, Elpis Alpha, Hermes, Hermes Alpha, Hermes Beta, Hermes Gamma, Unknown (the last planet never gets a name)
Traveler
Land on all the planets (that can be landed up on). While you can’t finish the game without visiting all these planets here’s still a list of them: Phaidros, Zenobia, Ambrosia, Xenophon, Elpis Alpha, Hermes Alpha, Unknown (the last planet never gets a name)
Artifical Planet
Should pop up together with “Traveler” when you land on the “new” and unknown planet.
Luddite **
When you get the blueprints for the portable analyzer for Mobot DO NOT construct it. Instead whenever you have something to analyze wrap back to Xenophon and use the analytics station there. Which means you’ll see a lot of this planet!
One tip: you can skip the wrap and landing animations by right clicking. But sadly the extra landing sequence that is unique to Xenophon (and requires for you to click a button to finalize it) can’t be skipped.
As it turns out the game forces you to build the upgrade anyway since there’s a point towards the end when you cannot advance without it. During your visit on planet Unknown Julia will comment on your lack of understanding of all things good & useful and the achievement will pop allowing you to finally build this thing. Hallelujah!
This also means you can get Megabot and Luddite in the same play-through as long as you follow the instructions above. By the time Julia forces you to craft the portable analyzer Megabot should unlock as soon as you finished the construction.
In my opinion this is a terrible achievement since it’s neither a challenge nor something to force you to be thorough but simply busy work that goes against the grain of the game.
Real Scientist *
“You’ve analyzed every single object in the game.”
These objects are (sorted by planet):
Xenophon: cloth sample, body sample (2), laser gun, nano sd, memory card
Ambrosia: insect, tree sample(2), tree bark, flower sample, plant, plant sample, bonding plant, vine, fruit, empty scroll, empty container, markings, omega disk
Phaidros: sand, organic substance, sticky substance(2), scanned papers, laser gun, body sample(3), container(3),
Zenobia: plant sample, coral sample, mushroom, weed sample, corpse sample, datapad, weapon parts
Elpis Alpha: body sample, liquid
Hermes Alpha: unknown substance, liquid
Unknown: liquid
Great Mind *
Solve all four Mind’o’Matics. I missed when exactly the second and third become available but by the time you leave the portal on planet Unknown all four are available for you to solve.
Disaster on Xenophon, Of Aliens and Men, Ancient History, The Revelation
If you’ve problems solving one then search for it by name in this thread.
Homesick *
The big decision!
Decide to go back to Earth and leave the Ambrosians to their faith. After all it’s not your fault what happened to them and why should you care, right?
If you decide to go back to Earth you get one more cut scene and the credits roll. The End.
(At this point the game creates one more save in addition to the auto save. So even if you didn’t save yourself before you went left or right and finished the game just load “Decision” and change your future… or make the same decision again but this time with feeling!)
Adventurous *
The big decision!
Choose to purify the water. It’s not like there’s anything left for you back on earth, right? But here’s a whole solar system with plenty more for you to explore! Not to mention Julia’s lovely company for the rest of your life. Who could say no to that?!
(At this point the game creates one more save in addition to the auto save. So even if you didn’t save yourself before you went left or right and finished the game just load “Decision” and change your future… or make the same decision again but this time with feeling!)
Voyeur *
Wait till the end of the credits for a cute & short extra scene. (The credits aren’t that long so if you want to get your achievements as complete as possible it’s worth the wait.)
Completist *
This unlocked for me after the credits together with “Voyeur”.
If you’ve all other achievements – with the exception of the bugged “Hungry for More?” – you got this.
On my last run I purposefully didn’t examine every item in game and still got all achievements. So if you’re on your second or so run to catch the last elusive achievement you don’t need to bother with every little detail. (Only if you don’t have “Real Scientist” yet you mind want to examine everything nonetheless since not all items you’ve to analyze for the achievement are story relevant and thus can easily be missed.)