Having logged many hours in the far future of earth as three different species battling out of domination, I can tell you without much hesitation that this game has fairly deep difficulty curb to it’s 50 trophies/achievements. Don’t worry with those hours came experience and and I’m here to give you the low-down on how you can get your hands some of the harder ones, including several online strategies and the low-down on some of the game specific problems you’ll run into with some of these, so let’s get ready to get our hands dirty!
Note: I would suggest doing searches for the collectables achievements/trophies. The Predator’s collectables are the easiest because he can see them if he’s in range by pressing the focus/jump button. However a guide to collectables themselves could be made and we want to focus on tips for the trophies that can be done mostly through tactics.
You Have My Sympathies (Marine Campaign)
help van zant.
You wouldn’t think this would be on here because it’s a fairly straightforward achievement/trophy to get but you’d be suprised by how many people miss it. Further into the Refinery level you’ll come along Van Zant as you head further into the hive. You come down from the big generator room down some stairs and into this room. Past the eggs in the center is Van Zant. He’ll tell you he has an Alien inside him and that you need to kill him. Simply oblige him and take him out before the Alien pops. Simple.
Grunt Hunt (Alien Campaign)
wipe out all of the marines in the colony.
Another simple but missable trophy/achievement is the Grunt Hunt. At the very end of the Colony level there is a big warehouse with several Marines and civilians (we’ll get back to those) with several smart turrets set up. To get this simple kill every Marine in the warehouse before you leave and you should get this.
Grim Reaper (Alien Campaign)
harvest all available civilians in the alien campaign
This is another one alot of people miss, however unlike the above this one is abit more understandable. In order to get this, what you need to do as an Alien is get behind a civilian and press the grab button. This will initiate a cutscene much like a trophy/stealth kill however in the Alien Campaign the Alien will knock the civilian down and a facehugger will attach itself to the civilians face. While as an Alien most Marines should have Red silhouettes, however civilians will have a Green Aura around their silhouette. So in order get this you must “harvest” (read: put facehuggers on) every civilian you come across in the campaign. It’s suggested you do this on Easy/Normal since some of these guys won’t make it easy for you because they’ll commit suicide either by shooting themselves or blowing themselves up. It’s best that you practice focus mode attacks, which means holding focus and hitting your light attack. This will make the Alien jump onto it’s intended prey from a distance and knock them down, which will have your grab button pop up and you can initiate the “harvest”. Also if you find you can’t get to a human before they kill themselves, restart from the checkpoint and look for alternate routes because I remember one civilian killing himself before I could open the door, however I found an alternate route in the vents and got him before he could do it. It takes practice, but if you fail, keep restarting until you can find a way to get all the civilians.
Note: civilians in the first level don’t count towards this achievement/trophy.
I Admire It’s Purity / Magnificent, Isn’t It?
complete the alien campaign on hard / nightmare difficulty setting
I did most of the collectables and other things first before I tackled this on Nightmare. If you beat the campaign on Nightmare both Hard and Nightmare trophies/achievements pop up so it’s best to try for Nightmare. What this means is unlike the other difficulty settings there are no checkpoints during each level so you must survive all the way through.
As an Alien you have superior speed over all three species, like all 3 campaigns certain sections can be skipped and if you feel you can make it past certain areas undetected do it. Aliens can hide in the darkness and they have stealth on their side, plus since the Aliens don’t have a health kit to back them up it takes time for their health to regenerate so patience is key, only fight if you can do it stealthily like initiating grabs. The toughest part will be defeating the three Predator’s at the end of the Alien campaign. During the beginning stages you should have other Alien’s helping you. If you get too hurt, retreat back, regain your health and get back to it. Same for the final Predator which as long as you can avoid his plasma caster and find safe areas in the corner of the battle arena you should be fine as long as you stick to the fight, retreat, heal, fight tactic and play it smart.
It Ain’t No Man / One Ugly Mother
complete the predator campaign on hard / nightmare difficulty setting
I did most of the collectables and other things first before I tackled this on Nightmare. If you beat the campaign on Nightmare both Hard and Nightmare trophies/achievements pop up so it’s best to try for Nightmare. What this means is unlike the other difficulty settings there are no checkpoints during each level so you must survive all the way through.
Predators are by far the best species in the game coming equiped with great agility, a instantly replenishable health bar (by collected shards), invisibility cloak, powerful melee skills and a varied arsenal of ranged weaponry. Like online though, Aliens can see through your cloak by using their senses and Marines can track you on their radar so long as you’re moving. However I’d say it’s easiest to conquer Nightmare mode with the Predator as long as you always cloak, stay high as you can against Marines and keep moving and using your ranged arsenal against Aliens as well as your melee skills which you should fine tune through other playthroughs (and online play) if you are to master the Predator. Your toughest opponent will be the final boss the Predalien. There have been videos explaining the best way to take this foe out, but several tactics include blasting the platforms he’s walking on (which will send him into the lava) in the circular part of the lava pit as well as place mines in the far end platform that has a door blocking your exit since it acts as a bottle neck and the Predalien must jump to the same platform you’re on. In planting the mines he loses a fair amount of damage and gets knocked back with which you can fire some ranged weapons to take off more damage. Always keep moving, so jump off the platform until it’s clear and return to it and do it again.
Stay Frosty / I LOVE The Corps!
complete the marine campaign on hard / nightmare difficulty setting
Unlike the Alien and Predator campaigns, completing the Marine Campaign on Nightmare mode is probably thee hardest trophy/achievement in the game to get. It’s suggested you consider beating the Marine Campaign on Hard first if anything to get the achievement/trophy for that first and then attempt a Nightmare run. I won’t lie, Marines are easily the weakest out of the 3 species and while there are advantages to the Marines in terms of fire power, against Predators they are literally blind (not that you’ll face many) and Aliens on the harder difficulty and in greater numbers are relentless. Your best bet in handling Aliens is to always keep moving and zig zag in between them, as they follow you and keeping your distance is key. Always be on the move with the Marine when it’s possible to go forward.
One of the harder aspects of the game is the constant barrage of both Aliens and their Facehugger counterparts. You have no idea how many times I’ve died on Nightmare from Facehuggers alone. The best weapon against the Facehugger menace is the flamethrower however if you don’t have one you’re best to do it with whatever weapon you have. Since you WILL die alot attempting this, get to know the level layouts and know when Facehuggers are near so you can plan accordingly.
Scatter Shot
as a team kill 20 enemies in under 60 seconds
This can be done in conjunction with “Let’s Rock!” since they’re both based on killing a set number of enemies. What you need to do is jump onto the multiplayer and look for a Survivor Match has has atleast 2 to 3 other people playing since Survivor has a Maximum of 4 players. I suggest playing on the “C Block” level as you’ll be confined in a smaller area and thus more Aliens will be available to your small squad. Make sure someone picks up the Smartgun to drop those Aliens like flies and you should get this.
I Like To Keep This Handy
kill 2 enemies with one shot from the shotgun
Your best bet for this would be anywhere on a level where it’s your facing down a number of Aliens in an enclosed space where they’re bunched together, perhaps like when they cross a bridge to attack you early on in the Refinery level or anywhere else where they have to be in close proximity.
A second method that actually got me the Trophy was the spot on the Refinery level where you first get the Shotgun. As you turn around and go back to where the indicator tells you, you’ll be treated to a brief cutscene where a Facehugger pops from his egg sack. If you notice on the floor there’s a Marine with a Facehugger attached to his face. The Facehugger is still alive. So once the cutscene ends you’ll back out into the hallway. Aim your Shotgun just above the attached Facehugger and with any luck and good timing, the second Facehugger should run by the attached Facehugger. Blast away and the Trophy/Achievement should pop.
Spin Doctor
kill 2 enemies with one throw of the battle disc
This can be fairly hard as on the Predator campaign the disc isn’t a one hit kill like it is online (Edit: a recent patch has made it so that discs are no longer one hit kills during online play). It’s suggested you get in an area where there are alot of potential Aliens to throw the disc at and further on in the Refinery where you’ll get the disc there will be plenty of opportunities. At the bottom of the part of the Refinery where you have to wait for the water to douse out the flames in a corridor so you can leave, there are plenty of Aliens, just keep throwing till you get two potential injured Aliens and try and hit both. It’s not an exact science since the disc isn’t the most accurate weapon against moving targets. This can also work against Marines so if you feel you have an easier shot with 2 Marines lined up (they do die easier it seems) then by all means line up your shot and you should get this.
Stick Around
kill 20 enemies with the combi stick
During the Predator campaign at the beginning of the Research Lab level you’ll get the Combi Stick. There will be several androids guarding the entrance to the Research Lab. Most of these stand still and this makes the Combi Stick a very useful weapon for the Predator. It’s fairly easy to use and doesn’t disrupt your cloak like the Blaster Caster and Throwing Disc do. Select it from your weapons and hold your ranged weapon button to line up your shot then release it to throw the Combi Stick. So try and take out most of the enemies throughout the Research Lab level with the Combi Stick till the achievement/trophy pops up.
Let’s Rock
kill 5 enemies from a one burst of the smartgun
I managed to get this on Survivor on the C-Block map which I suggest you guys do the same. You’re in a small corridor at the beginning of the level so go grab the Smartgun at the far end near the debris and get far enough back to where you can concentrate your fire in one area. Above the debris Aliens should start to swarm out in one area. Concentrate your fire and keep holding down your primary fire button until 5 enemies have been killed from a single Smartgun burst. Simple as that.
Elite Sniper
kill 10 enemies with headshots from the scoped rifle
This can be done either during the campaign or during online play and can be done against anyone though you’ll mostly do it against Aliens. I’d suggest trying for this near the end of the Ruins level on the Marine campaign. After making your way past some androids, you’ll come to a clearing and be greeted by two other Marines. Then it turns into Survival as you’ll be forced to survive against a few swarms Aliens. I believe somewhere on the lower part of the clearing there’s a scoped rifle which you can pick up. While you’re being chased, you can turn around and aim for the head, either by scoping in or just shooting (the rifle is the only weapon in the game that can do this). Since there are alot of Aliens to choose from this should come easily however if you’re having trouble with Aliens, try headshotting some androids since they will be easier to do so and you won’t need to constantly be on the move. However trying solely for the head of an android won’t work, you need to take out the limbs first before you kill them with the headshot since trying for the headshot right away does not result in death.
Gunslinger
kill 30 enemies with the pistol
Early on in the campaign you’ll mostly be using a pistol to kill Aliens so this should rack up alot of kills. However I’ve heard the trophy is glitched and it might take more than 30 kills. However I can confirm that this can be achieved on Survivor Mode as well as campaign play. Do yourself a favour and try for these on easier difficulty settings and you should eventually get this.
Ain’t Got Time To Bleed
heal or regenerate 30 blocks of health in survivor
Since Survivor can be played by yourself offline and with friends online, it’s suggested that you do this by yourself offline. If you’re skilled enough you should be able to get this just by killing wave after wave of Aliens and healing yourself when appropriate, however if you’re having trouble you can kill the first wave of Aliens with the exception of one, which you can keep alive and let take your health down so you can run around and pick up health stims and keep healing yourself until you get the achievement/trophy.
Welcome To The War
play and complete your first ranked match in standard deathmatch mode
This trophy must be done by playing a Ranked Deathmatch which excludes Species Team or Mixed Species Deathmatches. Simple enough, just playthrough your first Ranked Deathmatch all the way until the match ends and this should pop up. You do not need to win to get this trophy/achievement though it is recommended to try so you can get this in conjunction with “Killer Instinct”.
Killer Instinct
win your first ranked match in standard deathmatch mode
Much like ‘Welcome To The War’ this must be played on a standard Deathmatch and you must win the match for the trophy/achievement to pop. This strategy which you’ll find repeated a couple of times here is the best for winning. Choose a Predator, stay high as possible and pick off targets with your plasma caster. Marines can’t see you unless your moving or your right infront of them and the static from your cloak gives you away so if you find yourself without Alien targets use this. If Aliens are in the mix they can see you whether your cloaked or not so always switch up vision modes after you’ve picked off some targets. If you stick to this, Predators should easily get you your first Ranked win.
The Six Pack
play with six friends in a ranked match
This Trophy/Achievement might be extremely difficult to get. I got it fairly early on when the games online was still fairly popular. The reason for the difficulty? You have to rely on other people to help you get it. You need to have 6 other people in a game with you but not only a game a Ranked Match. I can’t specify on whether things have been fixed but for most of the games life, getting 6 people into the same match is ridiculously frustrating as the game has a habit of not only booting people but crashing systems upon games starting. It’s suggested that you try and get a full lobby of people, or atleast enough to warrant the loss of one or two if it happens. 8 to 10 players should do it. Also search for the biggest game possible which for this the limit is 18 players. If all is successful and the match starts you should get this at the very beginning of the match so if you don’t get it right as the match starts keep retrying until it pops.
The Uninfected
finish a ranked infestation match as the only remaining prey
Infestation Mode is a game type that has players all playing as Marines until the game chooses at random a player to be an Alien. From then on the purpose of the Alien is to kill as many Marines as possible. The Marines mission? Stay alive, because every time an Alien kills a Marine the player who was formerly a Marine is now an Alien and joins in the hunt of other Marine players. What this Achievement/Trophy asks of you is that you be the sole remaining Marine at the end of the game and survive the 30 seconds the game has until it ends without becoming a snack. This can be done a couple of ways.
First as per with most Infestation matches, Marines will usually find a safe area to hold up, together. More than likely it’s in an area with their backs to a wall so they can survey the land. This can backfire because Aliens can climb on walls and be ontop of a Marine before they have time to react. What you can do is either A) split from your group right off the bat and find a place to hide, somewhere dark and off to the side right away or B) stick with your group until there are about 3/4 of you left then find a dark place to hide. It doesn’t have to be dark either as long as you know it’s a place on the map nobody will find you at. It’s almost required that you shut off your flashlight because it attracts unwanted attention when it’s on. What this means is you’ll be required to rely on your motion tracker alone. Even if you do this it does help to make you less inconspicious but it doesn’t mean you’ll be completely safe since Aliens can see you through walls and in hiding spots. It can be done, you just need to chose your timing carefully and hope that the Alien players are too busy with the other Marines.
Persecution Complex
achieve persecutor status more than once in a ranked match
This goes hand in hand with “Very Tough Hombre”. What’s needed for this is to kill the same player 5 times in a row. By doing this you achieve Persecutor status. The person you’ve persecuted now knows where you are on the map indicated by a skull. You must kill either the same person or two different people in one match 5 times (10 kills total) to get this trophy/achievement. It’s not easy, and infact it was one of the last things I got. The most tried and true strategy is to use The Predator and to stick to high ground, spamming your plasma caster as much as you can, switching between heat vision and Alien vision modes as much as possible to home in on your prey. If at all possible get into a ranked match with as few people as possible and hope a few people drop out so you can concentrate on fewer players. If you get killed by another player in between Persecutor kills this does not effect your status.
Very Tough Hombre
kill 10 enemies in a row without dying in a ranked match
Another extremely difficult trophy to get. It’s tough to stay alive long enough to get a 5 kill streak, but this requires that you get 10 in a row without dying once. As always not to put down the other species, it’s recommended you play as a Predator, cloak and stay high while sniping with your plasma caster. Some of the weight can be taken off during a Species Team Deathmatch especially on a Predator heavy one since many targets can distract other players. Choose your battles carefully and try and keep your health up. Since using your plasma caster and health shards take off the same energy bar, you need to make sure you can find a spot to recharge and make sure you’re alone because you’re vunerable when you do this. It’s best to be as stealthy as possible because inbetween your 10 kill streak if you aren’t playing against one or two players you’re streak can be ended easily, especially against other Predators with which you’ll find an abundance of online.
Serial Killer
win 10 ranked matches in any deathmatch mode
Pretty simple, what this means is you need 10 wins in either standard Deathmatch, Species Team or Mixed Species Team Deathmatches. So you can interchangebly get wins by playing all 3. It is however easiest to get wins in either Species or Mixed considering the requirement to get a win is to be on the winning team so even if you’re doing badly you can still rack up wins so long as you’re on the winning team. This isn’t as difficult as “Very Tough Hombre” or “Persecutor Complex” so long as you play these team matches and play as a team you should get this in no time.
Welcome To The Party / Real Nasty Habit
get 6000 / 18060 XP in ranked matches
I can’t tell if it’s been fixed with the recent patch for consoles, before you could use an in game glitch to earn XP in the single player campaign. If it’s fixed basically what you’ll need to do is play Ranked Matches and get XP for your kills and work your way up the Ranks. With every 2 or 3 ranks up you unlock more skins for each species (I believe it’s 10 skins for the 3 different species) with a few on hold as Pre-Order bonuses. So unless you’re really enticed by skins there’s really reason to play ranked for anything other than the Achievements/Trophies in my opinion.
However, if the glitch is still exploitable let me go through how you can use it to earn XP without going through the rigamarole of Ranked Matches. Jump online and go into Ranked. Choose Deathmatch and 8 players and search for a game. When it says “1 player found, waiting for 7 more players” back out and jump onto your Marine Single Player Campaign. From then on every kill should amount to XP for your Rank. You can do this until the achievement/trophies unlock by playing levels over and over again and jumping onto Friendy Lobbies to see where you are rank wise. It’s also said killing some of the bosses on the Marine campaign results in higher allotment of XP.
This finishes my comprehensive look at the Aliens vs. Predator Trophies/Achievements. I hope with some of these helpful tips that you get some of these that have been frustrating you. Believe me I know, they’re tough but with help from this and other sources it can be done! Good luck and good hunting!
