100% Achievement Guide

I'm writing this guide since I couldn't find an existing comprehensive achievement guide (at least in English.) Achievements are sorted into appropriate categories and arranged in a general order of when to achieve them, though most can be done in any order you wish. Tips and recommendations for achievements are included as well to try to help you get them done quickly and with minimum frustration.

This game has major issues with saving achievement progress. Most (if not all) players have found that progress on achievements that track progress (such as performing an action multiple times, or driving a certain distance) does not carry over between sessions, and must be completed in their entirety during a single game session. There is also no way to view your achievement progress. On top of this, the game is fairly buggy and crashes and endless loading screens requiring you to restart the game are probably going to happen occasionally, wiping out progress on any achievements you were working on. Even worse, some achievements span the entire playthrough and can be incredibly difficult to complete in a single game session. Achievements with this problem are marked with [GLITCHY]. Also avoid this location when doing the Frisco Fields rackets, as it caused a crash in both of my playthroughs.

There are two main methods to work around the achievement issues in this game. First, the easier method is to roll back the game to an older patch where achievements still worked so you can play the game normally and not have to worry about it (crashes won't ruin progress either.) Follow this guide: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3489276236
The other method requires significant preparation but no modification of game files. I wouldn't recommend this method anymore given that with the prior method you don't have to worry about crashes or how you play the game, but I'm keeping the information here in case anyone needs it.

By tricking the game into loading multiple save files, you can skip to different parts of the story and complete all of the objectives for very long achievements (such as The New Boss) in one session with minimal risk of crashes. You will need to create a number of backup save files during your first playthrough to facilitate this. Save files are located in: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\2K Games\Mafia III\Data\<user-id>\gamesaves\default\aslot

• During your first playthrough, first do not complete any underboss side missions (IRA Don't Ask, I Need a Favor, and .45 in My Hand.) More info in the last bullet point.
  
• During each batch of racket objectives, activate them all and before completing any damage objectives, make a backup save (for Live Another Day and Can't Trust a Rat.)
  
• Then complete enough damage objectives on all rackets to activate the racket boss encounters (but don't complete them yet!) and back another backup save for The New Boss and No Loose Ends. You should have 6 sets of save files.
  
• Just before completing the last district, make another backup save for Family (this can't be done much earlier since they unlock as you progress through the story.) At this point you can complete all the underboss side missions, but all 15 of them must be completed in a single game session to unlock Family.

After completing the game, utilize the following steps to obtain any missing achievements. Expect it to take 2-3 hours per achievement:

• Disable Steam Cloud synchronization for the game.
  
• Back up your existing save files.
  
• Replace the save files with your first backup save.
  
• Launch the game and load the backup save.
  
• Make progress on the achievement (defeating racket bosses, interrogating informants, etc.)
  
• Pause the game, alt+tab, replace your save files with the next backup save.
  
• Return to the game and Load Last Checkpoint from the game menu.
  
• You will stay in the same location you were before, but it will load all progress from the new save files.
  
• Repeat with each save backup until you meet the achievement requirements.

Obtaining 100% achievements in this game will require at least 2 playthroughs. There's no getting around this since several achievements are mutually exclusive. In particular The New Boss and No Loose Ends can't be done in the same playthrough, as well as Live Another Day and Can't Trust a Rat, and We're in This Together and Just You and Me. It's also highly recommended to farm certain achievements because of the progress tracking problems mentioned above.

Things you DO NOT need to do for achievements: Obtaining collectibles, wiretapping every zone, races, all optional missions besides the ones given directly by the underbosses, purchasing upgrades and weapons. Some missions and upgrades can be useful for farming glitchy achievements, however.

Achievements: ALL except what's listed for playthrough 2, but especially: The New Boss, Live Another Day, We're in This Together, Trust (pre-requisite for Family,) Family, IRA Don't Ask, I Need a Favor, .45 in My Hand.

Flip ALL racket bosses (Merle Jackson and Chester Moreau always die, but you can't kill any others to get the achievement. Remember that wiretapping is required to do this.) and informants (there are a few extras so don't worry if you accidentally kill one.) See the achievements The New Boss and Live Another Day for details. Also Be sure to distribute territory evenly between the underbosses and make sure to assign each racket and the whole district to the same underboss each time to keep them all happy and earn We're in This Together. Do all the underboss sidequests to earn Trust, Family, IRA Don't Ask, I Need a Favor, and .45 in My Hand.

Achievements: No Loose Ends, Can't Trust a Rat, Just You and Me, Big Earner.

Kill ALL racket bosses and informants to earn No Loose Ends and Can't Trust a Rat. Killing racket bosses is automatic if you don't wiretap the zone around their base of operations. Again, there are a few extra informants so don't worry if you accidentally recruit one. Assign all rackets to underbosses you want to die, and all districts to the one you want to live to earn Just You and Me and Big Earner (requires at least 4 districts controlled by one underboss, so it's easier to do on this playthrough.)

Somethin' I've Gotta Do Standard Communication Grid For Old Time's Sake Pray on the Way Up We Partners Now Fish Gotta Eat Cut & Run It's a Brave New World Sure Thing, Boss The Connection to Cuba Little Late for That Everyone Will Notice The Poor Sumb**** Real Nice Time Jesuit in New Mexico There's a War Goin' On Burn Like Napalm Certainly Was Exciting My Name is Lincoln Clay Yet Here We Are Before They Bury You
Pops after the very long credits. There's no way to skip them that I'm aware of.

Softened 'Em Up
Kill all of a racket's enforcers before attacking the racket boss' hideout. I'm Goin' In!
Attack a racket boss' hideout without killing any of his enforcers first. The New Boss [GLITCHY]
Flipped 16 racket bosses. Two will always be killed, but all the rest must be flipped. Flipping a racket boss requires wiretapping the zone that contains their base of operations. Cannot be done in the same playthrough as No Loose Ends. No Loose Ends [GLITCHY]
Killed all racket bosses. Cannot be done in the same playthrough as The New Boss. Live Another Day
Recruited 15 racket informants. There are several extras so don't worry if you accidentally kill one. Cannot be done in the same playthrough as Can't Trust a Rat. Can't Trust a Rat
Kill 15 racket informants. Cannot be done in the same playthrough as Live Another Day. We're In This Together
Keep all underbosses alive until "Yet Here We Are". Allocate regions evenly between the underbosses (3 each,) and make sure to only assign all rackets and total control of each region to the same underboss. Cannot be done in the same playthrough as Just You and Me. Just You and Me
Keep only one underboss alive until "Yet Here We Are". Pick an underboss you want to keep alive at the beginning of your playthrough. Assign all rackets to one of the two underbosses you want to die, then assign the complete district to your chosen underboss. This makes the underboss who just lost the rackets very angry. This achievement triggers once the last underboss meeting (with your single remaining underboss) has completed. Cannot be done in the same playthrough as We're In This Together or Family. Trust
Reached the loyal state with one underboss. Unlocks after completing that underboss' side missions. Requires control of 3 regions. Family [GLITCHY]
Reached the loyal state with all 3 underbosses. Unlocks after completing the following 3 achievements. All 15 side missions must be completed in a single game session. Cannot be done in the same playthrough as Just You and Me.
* It will take 2-3 hours to do all 15 missions.
* When doing Burke's missions, enter and exit his office after dropping off a vehicle to respawn yours.
* When dropping off a boat (Burke again,) make sure it's still moving when you exit and you can hop directly off the boat onto the dock as it drifts, rather than needing to swim. I Need a Favor
Completed all of Vito's side missions. Requires control of 3 regions. .45 in My Hand
Completed all of Cassandra's side missions. Requires control of 3 regions. IRA Don't Ask
Completed all of Burke's side missions. Requires control of 3 regions. Big Earner
Received $10,000 in earn from one underboss. This means $10,000 at one time, which requires control of at least 8 fully upgraded rackets (4 districts) or about 12 non-upgraded ones (6 districts.) This is guaranteed when doing Just You and Me near the end of the game, though you still need to claim the earn to trigger the achievement.

Another Brother Falls
Story Kickin' Up Dust
Story Ain't Nowhere Safer
Story Concerned Citizens
Story Herbalist
Reached the max Herbalism level. Just keep growing weed and doing the associated missions. Mr. Green Thumb
Fully upgraded the Grow House. Requires Herbalist and $105,000 total. That Good Connect
Sold a single batch of weed for $10,000 or more. Will come easily after a couple upgrades. A Little Closure
Story Covered in Blood
Story Haunted Places
Story ...Worse Than Dying
Story Barkeep
Story. Requires $20,000. Amateur Bouncer
Story Pour Sammy!
Fully renovated Sammy's. Requires $186,000. Creature of Habit
Story Devotchka
Story Big Money
Story Aid and Comfort
Story There Are No Dominos
Story Did I Forget Something?
Placed an unconscious person in the truck of a car. Completed automatically during bounty hunting missions. Skip Trace
Story

Never saw it Coming
Kill an enemy within 2 seconds of kicking open a door. Use melee to kick down doors (does not work on metal doors.) Combat Specialist [GLITCHY]
Killed 300 enemies using takedowns.
* For the takedown achievements, just farm a racket boss location by performing takedowns on everyone, then move at least 100m away to cause the location to reset, rinse, and repeat. Shh, shh [GLITCHY]
Performend 100 stealth takedowns. Perform takedowns on unaware enemies. Counts as long as you aren't in "combat" mode as indicated above the minimap. Closed Casket [GLITCHY]
Performed 50 brutal takedowns. Do 3 quick melee attacks against an aware enemy, then hold down the melee button and release it when the indicator shows/sounds. These takedowns are much more violent. Sending a Message
Chained together 3 or more brutal takedowns. It does not have to be 3 in a row but there can't be any large gaps of time between. Keep in mind that enemies often stumble when they see a brutal takedown and attacking them too quickly can result in a regular takedown. Recruited to 5th SFG
Perform 5 headshots in 5 seconds. Get a group of enemies together and shoot them with a rapid firing pistol. Utilizing slow-mo can help, and attracting police is a good way to collect enough enemies. Danger Close [GLITCHY]
Killed 30 enemies using proximity mines. Best used like grenades - they explode on contact. Vehicle kills do not count. Flambé [GLITCHY] [POTENTIALLY MISSABLE]
Made 10 enemies kill themselves with their own molotov. Enemies always call out before throwing, and throw more often when you hide behind cover for extended periods of time. Just shoot them while they're preparing to throw and they'll drop it. Easy to farm by loading the last checkpoint repeatedly when fighting on the stage during Sign of the Times mission All for the Blessed. Note: Later in the game enemies start throwing grenades rather than molotovs so it's better to do this before you get too far. Pop, Pop [GLITCHY?]
Killed 4 enemies using slow-mo shooting 10 times. You must kill 4 enemies in one slow-mo before the meter runs out. May not be achievable until after you get the tutorial popup for slow-mo shooting during Sign of the Times DLC missions. Blade of Death [GLITCHY]
Killed 20 enemies using throwing knives. Obtained during Sign of the Times DLC missions. Operation: Deep Sleep [GLITCHY]
Knocked out 30 people with the dart gun. The dart gun is acquired when you start bounty hunting missions (Stones Unturned DLC.) Civilians count. Big Fat Party Animal [GLITCHY]
Killed 50 enemies using the Hartmann 7.62mm while wearing the Party Animal outfit. The Hartmann 7.62mm is unlocked when assigning rackets in the very last region. It's free if you assign to Vito, or $46,500 otherwise. The Party Animal outfit is unlocked after completing all the bounty hunting missions (Stones Unturned DLC.) Spotter [GLITCHY]
Killed 30 enemies using sniper support. Unlocked during the mission Creature of Habit (Stones Unturned DLC) and pickups can be found for it during DLC missions. Afterwards, charges cost a whopping $3,500 each so try to hit multiple targets with each to save money.

Custom 358
Drive at 120 mph or faster for 20 seconds. Easily done during The Big Easy race or just drive around the ring road in the bayou in a fast car - De'Leo Traviata recommended. Testing the Shocks
Land a 50 meter jump. Should pop automatically during the Bayou Bridges race, or use one of the many ramps in Sinclair Parish. New Bordeaux Drifter
Drift for at least 5 seconds. Just drive a reasonably fast car down a 4-5 lane street and swerve back and forth enough to cause the tires to skid. It can be tricky to maintain control without a good car. One Good Turn
Perform at 180 degree turn at high speed without hitting anything. Pretty self-explanatory, just find an open area to do it in. Wrecker
Executed 10 vehicle takedowns. Target a chasing vehicle's tires with your gun. It counts as a takedown when the vehicle flips and explodes. Street Rocket [GLITCHY]
Drive 50km in the Samson Harrier. This vehicle is unlocked during the renovation of Sammy's (Sign of the Times DLC) after hiring the bartender ($5000) and doing a mission for him. Should take around 11-12 minutes of high speed driving, or use it as your regular car. Trap Game Strong [GLITCHY]
Successfully triggered 10 vehicle traps. Traps are found around Sinclair Parish (not in the town itself) and can only be triggered while police are chasing you. Go to the bar just northwest of Sinclair Parish (there's a road loop next to a fork in the river) and get someone to call the cops. Take the northern exit then drive southwest down the main road, triggering 3 traps, then return and repeat. Campaign Strategy
Destroyed 10 of Slim's re-election billboards. These are found around Sinclair Parish, and several are destroyed during Faster, Baby! DLC missions. Billboards will reset if you drive far enough away, and destroying the same one multiple times will count. An excellent map is available here: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1135510543

Bon Appétit!
Fed a body to an alligator. Just toss a body into water where alligators are found in the bayou. Next Time Swim Faster
Get eaten by an alligator. Cash in Hand
Have $150,000 combined between your wallet and bank. Baby, You're a Rich Man [GLITCHY]
Earned $500,000 total. If this achievement glitches, farm a maxed out weed hybrid strain and (maxed) kickback at the very end of the playthrough. It will take ~4 hours if you speed up the weed growth by fertilizing at 51%. Easy to do while watching some TV/movies.
Racketeer
Got maximum earn from one of your rackets. Do one (or two) of the optional missions after assigning a racket to an underboss. They will appear in the bayou. Hole in Your Pocket [GLITCHY]
Spent at least $500,000. Use the arms dealer to drain your savings after farming Baby, You're a Rich Man. Code 112
Steal a police car. Insurance Risk
Escape a police zone after being chased for 2 minutes. Does NOT actually require you to escape the zone, only to hide well enough that the police lose track of you.