Welcome to complete achievements guide for Songs of Conquest. Let's celebrate release of 1.0 version, which adds the last campaign telling us about Barya faction and their role in the story. Finally we can 100% the game! Note that some achievements cannot be obtained through campaign, so you will have to play scenarios (single or multi - doesn't matter) for them to unlock. Some achievements will not unlock unless you play against AI. If you have problems - make sure to test them on maps made for that (scroll to Grind section for details).

Overall almost all of the achievements are pretty straightforward. I was really hoping for secrets to dig on maps and puzzles, but maybe that will be added in the future.

Let's get to it!

Complete all 4 faction campaigns on any difficulty to earn 4 achievements




Complete final map of each campaign on Overwhelming difficulty to earn 4 additional achievements



General guidelanes when approaching any campaign map:
1) Rush for the main objective and ignore clearing non-vital neutral zones. It's especially important on Hard since enemy levels up faster and has better army growth.
2) Don't leave map until you've visited every power dwelling for permanent bonuses
3) Some heroes will leave you - keep artifacts on your main hero, you can distribute them in the next map again
4) Don't max support skills on your main wielder like Taxes or Scouting, get only combat and magic bonuses, in the most challenging maps enemies usually come to you and running away with +ms while they cap every town is not an option. There are exceptions, in Loth campaign it can be a good choice to pick 2-3 levels of +Amber/Celestial Ore/Glimmerware on Brother Hillar for faster access to creature upgrades
5) Main hero focuses on battles and pushing for objective, support heroes gather resources and carry reserve troops. They can become independent and strong-enough in the process.

Now to more detailed explanation of some challenging maps:
4th Arleon map - I was lvl 16 here. If you come underleveled - the devs explain how to play careful in this guide. After obtaining 3 heroes rush north-east with Cecilia, you should meet at least one Loth hero. They aren't strong yet and this is your chance to cripple their development. The road leading north-east will lead you to 2 castles. 1 will join, the other you will have to capture. They will have Grand Armory (you can raze one of them). Fill small settlements which you captured on the way with farms+marketplaces (+1 Lumber/Quarries), you will need to exchange for rare recources to buy upgraded Knights and Faey Queens. Isolate enemy in the western part of map. When you are ready (Command > 7, upgraded creatures, artifacts, researched Human/Faey troops) - go west and fight Wiesh.
2nd Rana map - this map can be troublesome if you spent too much time exploring and clearing non-vital zones in early stages of this map, so when you captured 2nd settlement - the enemy will be well-developed. Your goal is to rush Unseen Society with all possible speed. Capture towns, you don't need exotic resources, this is a short map, you don't even need upgraded troops (besides maybe Riders) here. Once you cap 2nd town - immediately head east, claim small settlement and then capture large city north-east of it. Once purple is defeated - explore and power up your hero, then attend to main objective.
4th Loth map - this is extremely time-constrained map. Don't fight anyone until Everthink runs off. After that ignore pikemen and capture large city west. Don't stay long in this zone, capture crypt and sell some uneeded artifacts south of here. After that gather as much army as you can and push north until you meet Dragons. Turn west for undead reinforcements and celestial ore mine. After that immediately push east of small settlement you captured on the way to get into Rana swamps. You goal is to hopefully push all the way towards north-east corner of the map and capture big city with Dragons to cut off troop supply, otherwise they might overwhelm you if you play defensively (I won with a defensive strat too, but it was super annoying and required lots of save-loading). By turn 33 Rana will already have strong lvl 17-18 wielder with a formidable army. You goal is to kite them. Capture beacons in the swamps. Btw, you can teleport between them, use it to your advantage to bring reinforcements! After you outfarm Rana and deal with them - it gets easier.
4th Barya map - you must have 2 strong wielders at this point (one with focus on magic, the other - might) meaning level 18-20. With decent artifacts (sell everything you don't need at Raider's Market). Everthink will be only a support since there will be no weak enemies here.
Loth will attack in waves from south. Rana - from north. Building Hellbreaths/Hellroars is crucial since enemy will often group units for you to destroy them with Onslaught/Rapid Fire. It's important for Nimander to withstand defence of your big city since it's the only one you get, the rest are small settlements. Push with Bihgli north using Rally Points to bring reinforcements. If you can't kill beacons guarded by dragons easily - leave them for later. After you deal with Rana - it's a straight way to win.

Level up your wielder to 8/16/24/32 to get 4 achievements

Notes: Only Grand Master (lvl 32) can be problematic to obtain. I've finished campaigns with lvl 24 hero, but easily got to level 32 in a 8-player scenario. What will help you get there is:
Learning skill, which increases xp gain by 15/30/50%
Petrified trees, which instantly level you up. Save them till final levels!


Dressed For Success
Have a wielder equipped with artifacts in all slots


Every slot means every slot. So your 3 slots for misc artifacts at the bottom should be filled as well.


Full House
Win a battle using each of the official wielders


Currently there are 36 wielders in the game. Campaigns often won't let you recruit all of them. In order to make it easier for you - play a single-player map with each faction and just before winning hire all possible heroes and have each of them win a battle.

Veni Vidi Vici & Venisti, Vidisti, Perdidisti
Win siege battle as besieger & defender


It used to be unobtainable in campaign, but now it seems you can get it. Quick battles won't work. If you need to trick AI into attacking your town - keep your army low in numbers but use unit upgrades to deceive AI. Your city must have walls and must be owned (not in the process of converting/razing).


Don't Touch My Stuff
Reclaim your town that is being occupied/razed/converted by the enemy


You have to cap it in the process of converting, not after. May not work in campaign. Shouldn't work with quick battle.


Landlord Extraordinaire
Max out town a town in a non-campaign game (tier 5, walls, upgraded buildings on all build sites


Pretty self-explanatory. You can't build everything in 1 town, just occupy every possible slot with a building and upgrade it.


















Win 2/3/4 battles on one turn with the same wielder and 6 battles with different wielders (also on one turn)

These are pretty easy to do on a big map in zones with lots of neutrals like Faey forests. Crossroads are also good since you spent 25% less movement points on dirt roads and 50% less on stone roads. The key here is high movement for your wielder and sufficient army of course. Increase your movement permanently with the help of Scholar's Lectern (+1 to Defence, Offence and movement) and Levitating Obelisk (+1 to movement):



You can also level March and Scouting skills to gain movement. For temporary boosts visit Aurelian Milestone (+2 Movement/1 Turn) and Cozy Tavern (+5 Movement/2 Turns).

For some reason siege battles didn't count towards these achievements for me (bug?), but map battles did. Quick battles will work.

These achievements are obtained on the field of battle.




Critical Hit
Deal 500 damage or more in one attack


One of the first achievements you'll unlock.



Purric victory
Win a battle with only a single one unit left


Get 1 strong unit. Go vs a weak army. Make sure it doesn't die. You can cast buffs like Ethereal Scales (which is just OP) or use destruction/chaos magic to kill everybody).



Whoops!
Have your troop die from a Quick retaliation


Dreaths (hyenas) from Barya have the ability to attack you first no matter what. If you die from their retaliation attack - you get the achievement.


Coming Through!
Trigger three Attacks of Opportunity in a single Bull Rush


Play Rana. Get upgraded toads (Protectors). Charge through enemy ranks. If you get attacked by 3 troops during charge - the achievement is yours.



This Spot's Taken
Block an enemy troop from burrowing up


Rana's upgraded Crawlers - Burrowers - can pick any hex on a battlefield to appear on next turn. Your job is to predict where they woud appear. They usually target ranged troops with low defence so place your troops around their supposed victim to prevent them from burrowing up,


Hello There
Burrow up next to three or more ranged enemy troops


This time you have to use Burrowers to appear adjacent to 3 ranged units. You can use Repel and Swap to manipulate enemy positions if they move on turn you're about to burrow up



In The Thick of It
Have three or more Front Line Fighter buffs on a troop


Baryan Brutes have Front Line Fighter ability. It means they get bonus depending on number of enemies that surround them. You must place your Brutes adjacent to 3 enemy troops to get this achievement.



Fully Charged
Have ten or more Charged buffs on a troop


Arleon Knights/Fists of Order have Charger type. You must cross 10 hexes with them to get the achievement. Base speed of Knights/Fists of Order is 5. You can increase it by 1 through Grand Armory. Leveling Prepared 3 skill will give your troops +1 additional movement. Easiest way is to cast Quicken on the same troop enough times until it has 10 movement.



Barbecue
Kill three enemies with one flame attack


Rana elite unit - Dragons - can burn through units. They also have +1 attack range. You need to make sure 3 enemy troops form a triangle because this is the only way for you to burn through 3 troops with 1 attack. Target the furthest enemy from you.

















Cleave
Kill three enemies with one sweeping attack


Legions unit from Loth has sweeping attack. Use it to kill 3 enemies at once. Just send your Legions solo and have enemy units surround them (straight line will not work!). You can also send other tanky troop first, then swap it with Legions once it's surrounded. Bring enemies low with spells and range attacks, then finish them in one sweep attack.

Versatile Wielder
Cast all 40 spells that are in the game (over any amount of matches)


Spellcasting in this game revolves around having enough Essence. Essence has 5 types:

1) Order
2) Chaos
3) Destruction
4) Creation
5) Arcane

Each essence type allows you to cast 4 spells. There are also 20 spells that require 2 types of essence to be cast. They are usually the most potent ones.

Essence is provided by:
1) Creatures in your army that produce it. Click the number of your creatures to see what type of essence it provides each turn. Even stack of 1 creature produces essence, so filling empty slots is nesessary since you can also kite retaliation attacks with 1-stacks.
2) Learning skills like Chaos/Destruction/Arcane/Order/Creation Magic, Attuned, Essence Leach. Some heroes have these skills right from the start.
3) Buildings like Academy, Birthing Pools, Library of Aurelia, Merchant's Guild which have research trees for generating 3 types of essence each
4) Having artefacts that provide essence. They usually go into 3 bottom slots of your equipment
5) Captured Beacons of Power and Tributes

This achievement will unlock once you've cast all 40 spells in the game over the course of multiple games.


Humiliation
Win a battle before the enemy gets a turn


High initiative is the key. Use spells like Quicken so that your troops can act before enemy and Insect Swarm so that enemy turn is delayed. Prepared skill will give your troops +5/+10/+10 initiative. A Shrine of Aurelia gives +5 for one battle.



Deepstrike
Use Dimensional Door to position your troop in three or more Zones of Control


You unit basically needs to be teleported between 3 enemy troops.



Trojan Horse
Use a teleport spell to get on top of or behind the walls in a town siege


For some reason Swap doesn't unlock this achievement. But moving friendly unit inside enemy walls using Dimensional Door will work.



Sorcerous Spree
Cast five spells on the same troop turn


Same troop means same troop, not your whole round. Cheap spells are the way.



Get Over Here!
Swap enemy troop into Acid Cloud


Wait till two enemy troops come close to each other. Cast Acid Cloud on one enemy troop, then swap positions with other.



Such A Fungi!
Use Repel to push an enemy troop into three Explosive Fungi


Set mines in a row behind enemy and use Repel to push it back.



Infernal Influence
Make enemy kill his friend using Blind Hatred


One of the most useful spells if done right. Cast it on a strong enemy like Horned Ones/Shadows/Dire Dreath and make sure they are adjacent to a low defence/hp enemy like Faey Spirits or Rats


Oops
Have enemy kill one of your own troops when you cast Blind Hatred


Do the same except this time your troop has to be adjacent to the enemy targeted by Blind Hatred.



Death from Above
Kill three enemies using Breath of the Phoenix


This is straight-line spell. Enemies often won't group into a straight line of 3. So you will need to group them yourself. You can use Swap and Repel. Bring enemies low using Rupture/Arcane Storm/Fireball. Then use Breath of Phoenix to finish them off.







Unlimited Power!
Kill three enemies using Chain Lightning


You need to be proficient in Chaos. Preferrably you want to get a hero with Spell Dmg specialization - Dr. Marjatta or M'Sugna. And learn Channeling for additional 30/60/100% Spell Dmg. You also want to visit Ever-Burning Fire statue for permanent Spell Dmg bonus of 10%. If you find Arcane Tome which provides +50% Spell Dmg - it becomes even easier. Attack neutrals as they don't have Spell resistance from wielder. Accumulate enough Chaos essence. Bring enemy troops low with Spells like Fireball/Arcane Storm if needed. Wait for enemies to group, they need to be within 2 hexes from each other. Turn Palpatine mode on. PROFIT.



Bringer of Ruin
Cast five Apocalypse spells on the same turn


This requires you to have 25 Chaos essense and 25 Destruction.

Tinkerers/Artificiers from Barya are the only unit that produces both Chaos and Destruction, so with Barya it's even easier if you fill all army slots with them.

What else can you do?

1) Cast "Strengthen Essence" on a troop to get 2x output
2) Choose hero with innate Chaos/Destruction gain - Itchamo, Marsh Seer (Rana), Ambertina (Loth), Soughtfor (Barya)
3) Learn skills like Chaos/Destruction Magic, Attuned
4) Research essence gain in your Academy/Guild/Library/Pool. Only Merchant's Guild has both Destruction and Chaos research.
5) Talisman of Chaos, Talisman of Destruction will provide you with additional essence

If you want this not only for the achievement, but also be efficicent - you'll want some magic resistance to not damage your own troops. Some heroes have Magic Resist specialization, you can also learn Magic Resist for 25/35/45%, visit Snake Statue for additional +10%, wear artifacts like Cloak of the Ancients (+30% Spell damage Resist)



Attack Bonanza
Have troop perform six attacks on its turn


Spells stack in SoC. Onslaught spell will give your troop +1 attack. So you need to cast it 5 times on a unit to have 6 attacks.







Expert Essence Employment
Win a battle without making an attack


You'll need wielder with lot of essence of different type. Level up your essence gain, capture beacons and visit tributes prior to battle. The most damage/essence efficient spell is Rupture for single targets. You'll want to damage one stack while you hold off others with Earth Block or Repel. Don't let enemies come to you because retaliation counts as an attack!
If you capture enough beacons - even dumb low-level hero can suddenly cast a lot of spells. This is how this game works.

Achieve 25 wins NOT in campaign with each faction to unlock these 4 achievements

You're almost near 100% completion! Just play approx. 100 more maps and you'll get there!


Proof That Luck Can Be Consistent
Win 25 multiplayer (online or hotseat) games


Finally you need to win 25 multiplayer games. If PvP is not your cup of tea - you can skip to the Grind section for a little... lifehack. :)

Kill 100 000 enemies (each) using melee, ranged and magic attacks

Yes, you heard that right. To get these 3 achievements you need to kill 300,000 enemies! The magical one is the most problematic since Chaos/Destruction magic is not so strong when it comes to raw numbers. Obviously you can play Songs of Conquest to your heart's content. After completing campaigns and numerous single/multiplayer games I wasn't event halfway through doing those. For those of you who want to complete them honestly - I salute you! Play through every single-player scenarios and you may come close to completing them.

Before you ask: NO, QUICK BATTLES DO NOT SCORE TOWARDS THESE ACHIEVEMENTS.

However, if you played the game enough and just want a 100% completion - I advice to play against yourself in an online game. By playing this scenario PvP map you will simultaneously get score towards:
1) Multiplayer/hotseat wins
2) Faction wins
3) Units killed

Sounds good, right? I think so too. So go to Multiplayer - Host Online Game - Find a map called "PVP Battle Only" - Fill both player slots with yourself - Choose Loth - Options - Set resources to Very High - Start game.

This map was created for skirmishes, the point is to get the best army/wielder composition and battle straight away. You can actually have fun with friends here, because even if you lose - it was like 5-10 minutes of you time.

We chose Loth for us both (lol) because Loth has highest number stack in the game - Rats. For farming purposes both players max Command and Destruction/Chaos/Spell Power. Good wielder choices are Ambertina, Wiesh, Dr. Marjatta.

Ignore wielders that give battle bonuses, we do not need those. With maxed command and resources set on high you can get 900 rats for each player.

For ranged kills, however, we will need 1 wielder to have ranged army and Archery skill (I used Ravenfayre).

Once you start a battle - you can click little arrow that looks like repeat button near your hero portrait to auto-battle.

Now comes the best part - since both players are you each of those 1800 rats counts towards the achievement!

I made a custom map specifically for farming purposes. It's called MobFarm[mod.io] - just subscribe to it and let the game download it, when launching the game - click on "Community Maps" and your subscribed items should download. Then it will be available in "Conquest Maps" section. There is only one enemy - huge horde of Risen (which will cap at 2700). You will have all the tools to defeat them! It's also a handy map to test problems with obtaining other achievements.


Hope this guide was helpful and good luck, Wielder!

Vanir is the first DLC faction released after the original game. It introduces new snow biome inhabited by nation of mighty raiders. There is no campaign, but instead 5 new conquest maps and 2 challenge maps. 6 new achievements are added by this DLC.




Ready, Set, Go
Complete an artifact set containing at least four pieces in a non-campaign game


Vanir DLC introduced artifact sets. If an artifact icon has an star - it means it’s a part of a set. Hover onto the icon to see what items you need to complete the set. When you equip set consisting of at least 4 artifacts - you get this achievement. You don’t need DLC to do it. If nothing happens - try unequipping and reequipping different parts of the set, I had to reequip armor for achievement to unlock.



No Challenge At All
Challenge an enemy and have it die before it gets a chance to attack


Vanir units - Skinshifters - have an ability called Challenge. It forces the enemy to attack them. Place your Skinshifters behind your troops so the provoked enemy will trigger attacks of opportunity. If it dies before reaching Skinshifters - you get the achievement.



Grisfest
Have 540 Serimnaans return to be drafted


Serimnaan, upgraded boars - can once again be drafted in your cities after being slain. This means 540 of you Serimnaans have to die in battle. Over the course of many games. Quick battles count towards this achievement.



Steadfast
As Vanir, win a game without ever purchasing a Vildra troop


Vanir is a faction mostly consisting of Vildra but there are humans as well, namely - Houscarls, spear-throwers, Berserkir and Chieftans. Swines are just beasts, so you can use them as well (but not the upgraded ones!). There is a challenge map for that achievement included in the DLC called Steadfast, but the achievement didn't unlock here for some reason. You can use method described in the Grind section and host a multiplayer game against yourself. This way the achievement will unlock.




So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
Win a battle using a fish

Use non-upgraded Trolls melee attack to finish a battle. They attack with a fish in melee.




Great Deeds Done
Win 25 times on non-campaign maps with Vanir

Same as with other factions easiest way to do this is to load save before victory.

Roots faction is a blend of wildlife/flora and undead themes. It introduces new mechanics related to terraforming territory captured by Roots wielders. Again, there is no campaign but a pack of 5 conquest maps and 2 challenge maps. 6 new achievements are added by this DLC.



Core Kernel of Essence
As a Roots player, purchase all available essence research


Build a Glade building and research all the available knowledge in essence column.



No Free Lunge
Use Lunge ability to finish off an enemy after it was Repelled away


Upgraded 2nd tier unit - Blighted Vessels - have the ability to jump to enemy from 1 hex distance. But for this achievement your Blighted Vessel must be positioned in melee range of the enemy. Then you Repel enemy away provoking opportunity attack from your Vessels. And finish the enemy with Lunge.

















Smothered
Absorb 1,000 damage using the Mother's Embrace trait


Highest tier unit of Roots faction are Tree Mothers recruited in the Womb. They surround themselves with roots, that deal damage to enemies and give bonuses to allies - namely Mother’s Embrace trait allows friendly units to take 50% less damage when standing in roots. Basic Mother’s roots range 1 tile while upgraded range 2 tiles. Basically you can position your army around mothers against ranged army and wait till you get the achievement.



Heart to Heart
Win a beam duel


Heart (or upgraded Pulse) unit can only shoot in the straight line from his position, but it will hit all targets in the way (unless they are blocked by cover). It also has Reactive ability, which will trigger unlimited retaliation to any attack but only in the direction Heart is facing. So, when you get Heart against Heart shooting each other - they will do it indefinitely until one of them dies. Once you win the duel - you get the achievement.



Boycott
Win a game without ever purchasing a troop


This is aimed at Roots players since they can raise fallen enemies. You basically have to start with a decent army or get a hero with strong spellcasting. Only fight troops, that can be raised - like humans, not animals, not fey and not undead. Reap the Harvest trait will help you raise more vessels. Loth is also viable since they too have a raise mechanic.

You can also do it with any faction so DLC isn't required.



Personal Growth
Win 25 times on non-campaign maps with Roots


Same as with other factions easiest way to do this is to load save before victory.