Per Aspera Achievement Guide
SPOILERS! Guide to unlocking all achievement %100.
Terraforming
These are achieved by completing the terraforming objectives given:
Terraformer 1
- Melt the poles
Terraformer 2
- Create an atmosphere by reaching 300 millibars of pressure
Terraformer 3
- Ecopoiesis – reach 0 degree Celsius, liquid water, and 1 millibar of O2
Terraformer 4
- Green Mars – Reach 120 millibars of O2
Terraformer 5
- Breathable Atmosphere – reduce CO2 below 5%, and keep O2 below 30%. Use N2 to reduce these other components.
NOTE: I was able to finish this with 5000 millibars of pressure, 5x that of Earth. It met the requirements and I got the achievement.
Special Projects
These are achieved by doing special projects.
Nuke Mars!
- Find the abandoned silo and then launch the Microsuns special project from orbit. Elya will walk you through how to do this. Hard to miss, but can be lost if the ice caps get melted without using this option. A Reflection will let you know if the time has passed.
One Moon Too Many
- Crash Deimos into Mars. Research this in the tech tree and then build the special project.
Elevate Myself
- Build a space elevator. This is generally simple to achieve, as it is necessary for the endgame. You can make multiple by redoing the Build Space Elevator special project.
Magnetic Personality
- To get Terraforming V, you will complete this achievement. Finish the Magnetic Dipole Shield special project.
Shades Of Grey
- Research the Black Polar Dust tech and launch the project. It is available ONLY in the early game and is easy to miss.
Doom Importer
- Like the others in this list, research the GhG Importing and do the special project that appears. It took my several ingame years for the shuttle to return and the achievement to pop.
Combat
The two combat achievements are achieved by following the story and defeating the enemy bases.
Taste For Battle
- After defending yourself from the first wave, search SA-1 for the enemy base and destroy it. This can be skipped if the polar ice caps melt first.
Fight Club
- Destroy the second base once it appears in the story.
Story-Based
Following the story will open these options, with a small branch at the end.
Otherness
- Bring humans to Mars! Hard to miss.
Pushing the Limits
- Expand into SA-9. This happens pretty quickly into the story.
Glorified Cog
- During the story, the ISA will force you into taking a cognitive test. Complete the test with any answer and this achievement will be given. During the test, the game runs in the background but you can’t interact with it! Be prepared!
Down The Rabbit Hole
- Like the first cognitive test, this test will happen after the ISA says they need to test you. Answer the questions like a good bot and the achievement is yours.
Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind
- Learn about Carmine after the second cognitive test.
Off The Hook
- You will be informed that the ISA is going to use the killswitch on AMI and remove them. Carmine will contact you. I believe you receive the code automatically, but err on Carmine’s side in case.
Home is Where Your Code Is
- Like Carmine, Zhen will reach out to you with a code to save AMI from the killswitch. I do not know how far into Zhen’s search you need to be for this to happen. As before, I believe you receive this automatically.
We Are Immortal
- Survive the killswitch with one of the three methods.
— Accepting the Killswitch Death (ISA ending)
Bite the Carmine Dust
After accepting the killswitch (left option OR taking Zhen’s option), you must take down Carmine. Defeat the base and the achievement is yours.
Good Robot
Finish the terraforming and ISA will give you a new mission to work on! Roll credits. (These credits were overlayed with a slowly degrading AMI reflection, and I do not know if this was intentional or a bug.)
— Use Zhen’s Code (Martian Republic Ending)
None Shall Pass
- Zhen will give you a special project to build a defense grid around Mars. Complete it to get this achievement. This requires space elevators. I recommend building a lot of them.
The Martian Republic
- Sonna will talk about creating the Martian Republic, but in my game I could not get this achievement to fire properly. I assume that it is the end of this storyline.
— Use Carmine’s Code (Artificial Intelligence Ending)
Just the Beginning
- Merge with Carmine by using her code. !!You will lose control of your base and suddenly own another large base in another zone!!
Give me liberty or give me death
- Destroy your previous base and you will get this achievement.
I recommend that if you are going to choose this path, deconstruct all drone hives and drone factories. It makes the fight much easier.
Reach For The Stars
- Once you have destroyed your previous base, you desire to build seederships. Build 30 of them to complete this achievement. This requires space elevators. I recommend building a lot of them.
Research Outposts
These achievements are gotten by building research stations on top of special research areas. If the research spot is given to you by a person, then look in the bottom right hand corner: there will be an icon that you can click that will show you where this special research place is.
The Land of Opportunity
- Research the Opportunity’s Rover’s Site by placing a research station on it and letting the colonists research it (5.5W 2.4S altitude -0.7 km, SA-9)
Red Bird is the Word
- Zhen will contact you a bit into the story and give you coordinates. Research the Tõng Hóng Radar Station to get this (22W 50.8S altitude 1.7 km, SA-12)
Two Are Better Than One
- Zhen will give you a location in the middle of SA-7. This will be the Odyssey One Landing Site, though it will not say that until after you research it (113.9W 10.8S altitude 8.6km, SA-7)
Skeletons in the Closet
- Complete Zhen’s research tasks, through the three pieces of the Colonie Asterion to receive this. The last place to go will be the Biomedical Facility, and once it has been researched, this will be yours.
To buy yourself time to research this before the killswitch, halt all terraforming/directives until you complete the researches. Alternatively, siding with the ISA or with the Martian Republic will allow you to research the places after the killswitch.
Siding with Carmine makes this achievement unachievable.
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