The Pathless Achievements (How to Unlock)

Note that these are the only technically unmissable achievements (assuming one would play the game from start to finish and ignore all the side stuff — secrets, lore, etc.).

You should automatically get this once you reach the mainland (Forest Plateau).

Tied to that point in the story when you light up all the obelisks for Cernos and defeat the evil inside him. Should unlock after the arena battle.

Tied to that point in the story when you light up all the obelisks for Sauro and defeat the evil inside him. Should unlock after the arena battle.

Tied to that point in the story when you light up all the obelisks for Nimue and defeat the evil inside him. Should unlock after the arena battle.

Tied to that point in the story when you light up all the obelisks for Kumo and defeat the evil inside him. Should unlock after the arena battle.

Unlocks after flying up the updraft just before you reach the game’s main point of no return. Note that as of this guide’s posting, this achievement is bugged and may not always unlock.

You should automatically get this once you finish the game.

You should automatically get this once you finish the credits and witness the post-credits cutscene (unless perhaps you skipped the credits).

From this point on in the guide, all the achievements are missable, and a few of them are a little tricky, so I offer these tips you can try:

• Always be exploring, whether freely or systematically. Try not to go immediately for the game’s goals. This is a highly general tip that’s useful in any exploration and hidden object game.
• Seek out structures great and small, man-made and natural, for secrets are to be found there. Do not worry so much about everything else.
• Use your spirit vision often! It will reveal to you: (1) Where you traveled, (2) What major things you missed (they have misty auras that will flash orange, as opposed to blue once completed), and (3) stuff for secrets.
• For that last case in particular, keep an eye out for small masked statues or a pixelated-looking diamond-eye icon. The statues may perhaps glow a little.
• If you think you have missed something, fear not, for this is an open world game, meaning that right up to the game’s ending, you can go back to any point in the game, even the very beginning!

Happy hunting! And if you are ever in need of consolation, read on.

Find all the Lightstones in a given area, all of which are locked behind a puzzle of some kind. You’ll need 9 in total for each Tall One after activating all the obelisks. Use your spirit vision (i.e. the spirit mask) to find any outlying unfound Lightstone locations, which will glow an outstanding orange in contrast to all that bright blue. Side note: with spirit vision, you can actually see where you have and have not been, allowing you to go back and cover untraversed ground at practically any time. Just don’t sprint/dash or else spirit vision will turn off.

Unlocks naturally with the above four achievements.

These come naturally with the above set of achievements. After placing all the Lightstones, look nearby for that area’s spirit and follow them until they stop to show you something. Then walk up to them and they will reveal something awesome and worthy for you.

Unlocks naturally with the above four achievements.

Hit 5 or more talismans before hitting the ground. Easiest to do once you have your eagle companion, but can be done with enough skill in the starting area.

Hit 1000 or more talismans. Sounds like a lot, but it’s less than you think. Should come naturally in the course of gameplay.

Solve a puzzle with 2 or more mirrors in it. More specifically, the achievement should unlock after hitting both mirrors in a single shot. The achievement should come pretty naturally, as there are a ton of puzzles with mirrors in them (not to mention braziers and fire!).

There are two ways to effectively hit a talisman: full-gauge and half-gauge (as evidence by the white zones on the diamond-shaped gauge). Hitting full-gauge is common and easy. Hitting half-gauge (a.k.a. a skill shot) is tricker but always guarantees a hit on a talisman. Can be done as early as the starting area, and as late as just before the final cinematic and boss battle; and may require a bit of patience to pull off. Keep in mind that you do not need to be airborne to get this achievement, and if you miss one, do not despair and try again. You’ll get that streak of 10 skill shots eventually if you keep doing them.

Pet (or cleanse, if you will) the eagle 5 or more times. Your eagle companion will need cleansing after an encounter with one of the bosses, or after certain puzzles (the ones where the eagle cries out in fearful distress). As an added bonus, if your eagle’s already clean, try petting her until the circles light up (like really light up)…

Travel up a cold, mountainous path to a monastery from the Redwood Steppe (Sauro’s domain). Up there, there’s a Lightstone, some secrets, and some lore.

Visit an area on the Forest Plateau (Cernos’ domain) with special puzzles and a massive flight crystal reward. Unlocks upon completion of the puzzles.

Visit an area on the Redwood Steppe (Sauro’s domain) with special puzzles and a massive flight crystal reward. Unlocks upon completion of the puzzles.

Visit an area on the Great Plains (Nimue’s domain) with special puzzles and a massive flight crystal reward. Unlocks upon completion of the puzzles.

Visit an area very high up on the Mountain Tundra (Kumo’s domain) with a massive flight crystal reward. Should unlock sometime upon visitation.

The description says “Fall 150 meters without gliding.” Falling off one of the obelisk towers will do, among other possible places. Just don’t use your eagle companion!

Slide down a long mountain slope. Most natural once you reach the Mountain Tundra, but can be done before that, as there are structures on the mountainous edges of the plateaus that you’re likely to reach.

Ride a river for a while, probably without moving (i.e. you get in and let the river move you from there). Can be done on any of the three main plateaus, but perhaps it’s most natural to do it on the Great Plains.

Fly unimpeded (i.e. without touching ground) for at least a full minute. Just start somewhere high (REALLY high, such as a mountaintop or obelisk tower) and glide. It helps to have some flaps as well.

Get 10 flaps. The game tells you how to get flaps: flight crystals, which are tucked away in the game’s many, many secrets (over 60 of them!). You also get a free flap each time you cleanse a Tall One’s spirit. If you got caught out in any of the game’s stealth sections and lost a few flight crystals, do not worry, for they are abundant, and you can pick about half of them back up once you recover. Plus I hear there are enough secrets and such to get over 15 flaps! Therefore the best thing to do to get this achievement is to keep exploring (using your spirit vision helps immensely).

For these achievements, note that a stele (i.e. a tall stone with written lore on it) or a departed spirit will glow bright blue if unread. Departed spirits in particular can be viewed at a distance, and should look somewhat distinct from the glow of the numerous talismans.

Listen to a number of departed spirits. Not sure of the specific number, but the more you seek, these achievements should unlock naturally.

Read all the steles and listen to almost 100% of the of departed spirits.

Seek out the secrets that give you those yellow flight crystals. Many of them are in the form of lanterns which give 9 crystals each (except for the starting area, where you get only 5 per lantern). Use your spirit vision (i.e. the spirit mask) to find any outlying unfound secrets, which will glow an outstanding orange in contrast to all that bright blue. Side note: with spirit vision, you can actually see where you have and have not been, allowing you to go back and cover untraversed ground at practically any time. Just don’t sprint/dash or else spirit vision will turn off.

First, get caught up in one of the bosses’ storms (NB at least one obelisk on each area needs to remain unlit, so this should come fairly naturally, especially as the storm spheres have a tendency to advance toward you). Once inside, you’ll lose your eagle companion and have to recover her, but it’s dangerous to do so. Simply do as the game says and stay out of the light until you reach your eagle companion. Succeed at least three times and this should unlock.

Rescue 6 (or more?) live forest animals from the Godslayer’s curse. They are hard to see at a distance (yes, even with that one graphics setting turned up to “Ultra”), but tend to be found in more open areas on the ground. The animals can be found on any of the four plateaus.

Note however that as of this guide’s posting, this achievement is bugged and may not always unlock. Regardless, it’s supposed to unlock once every other achievement is unlocked.