CVG is #1 for Skyrim. We've proven it already with our guide to getting the best armour in just two hours, the complete guide to World walls and dragon shouts, and our unmissable tips to getting married and making a fortune.
But, in Skyrim, there's always something bigger, better and more difficult to take on - and it doesn't get much more difficult than the 10 Achievements and Trophies below. They're amongst the toughest asks in the entire game - and the perfect way to sign off last year's biggest game.
ONE WITH THE SHADOWS
How to get it: return the Thieves Guild to its former glory
To get this award, you need to join the Thieves Guild and complete a number of small jobs provided by Delvin and Vex - five in each of Whiterun, Markarth, Windhelm and Solitude, which unlock an additional quest in each city when the quintet of jobs have been completed. The jobs are assigned at random, so if you're given one in a city you've already cleared then speak to Delvin or Vex and tell them you want to quit - then get a new assignment until you have the city you want.
To access the final Thieves Guild quest you must have finished the main guild storyline up to and including Darkness Returns as well as the additional quests in the four cities above, then speak to Brynjolf to begin Under New Management and return the guild to glory. In some conditions this award can be missable if you don't retain your Thieves Guild armour until the end of the quests - so keep it on you or store it safely in your house as a precaution.
WAR HERO
How to get it: capture Fort Sungard or Fort Greenwall
Once you side with either the Imperials or the Stormcloaks, a set of Civil War quests will open up that culminate in a battle for one of these forts. However, this award is potentially missable if you've previously completed the main story quest Season Unending, as during this quest your decisions determine which factions gain control of these forts. If the faction you side with already rules both forts then you cannot capture them and therefore can't get the award.
To avoid this, either complete the Civil War quests before the Season Unending story quest, or ensure the decisions you make in Season Unending give one or both of these forts to your opposing faction so you can win them back later.
THIEF
How to get it: pick 50 locks and 50 pockets
By picking the locks on all the doors and chests you discover while exploring 50 locks should come naturally, however picking 50 pockets takes a bit more effort. Ideally you should join the Thieves Guild as the armour you receive will improve your pickpocket skills, then find a sleeping NPC and sneak up on them. Each item you remove from (or add to) their inventory counts, so a quick way to boost this award is to save your game, swap a handful of items then either reload if you get caught or save again and continue. Keep repeating this and you'll unlock the reward in no time.
Comments
17 comments so far...
dicky1993 on 22 Feb '12 said:
none of these are "tough" they just take time, you get many naturally wandering around,
ste hicky on 22 Feb '12 said:
Maxed the 1,000 GS out without blinking in January afer restarting through the amount of s**tty programming that Bethesda seem to excel at.
Is there a hard achievement in there?
I really don't think so CVG folks.
El Mag on 22 Feb '12 said:
Worst one for me was finding the 50 skill books. I never really started looking until near the end of my adventuring and then I realised I only had 16.
ste hicky on 22 Feb '12 said:
Tell ya what CVG, Forget Skyrim. It's completely overrated in my eyes.
How about the ten toughest Achievements/Trophies this gen over all instead?
Zubee on 22 Feb '12 said:
All the trophies were easy... Oblivion walker had some decisions that were stupid, but the others were only time consuming, not hard. The hardest part was waiting for patches to fix broken trophies.
corkscru74 on 22 Feb '12 said:
Love how the majority of these achievements are gained easier through glitches
TheMopFromMars on 22 Feb '12 said:
To name a few:
1. Complete Through The Fire and Flames on Expert (got)
2. Complete Halo Reach on Legendary - alone (got)
3. Collect everything on Rayman origins
4. Maybe one of the Tekken 6 achievements
I can't think of any more.
MattyR95 on 22 Feb '12 said:
Got most of these without even intending to unlock a trophy
dookiephonic on 22 Feb '12 said:
Toughest achievement should be just to get this game working to an acceptable standard on the PS3
ste hicky on 22 Feb '12 said:
Did Reach On Legendary, Alone, Out of the box in just over a day. Tricky but not too bad.
Brothers to the End on Insane in Gears 3 alone was a nightmare because it's obviously designed for 5 players and i won't pay subs to MS so had to stick it out on my own.
That took a few goes.
One that doesn't even have achievements but Star 242: The Perfect Run on SMG2 is an absolute bastard of a level and down as the hardest thing i've done this gen tbh. I lost count of how many lives i lost, Seriously, and i earned that Master of Galaxies title at the end.
I'm yet to come across anyone on this site who's done it, Even among the Nintendo fans. The Lost Levels was fairer.
(Again. no Achievements's etc...) Sin and Punishment 2 on hard is almost enough to cause a breakdown. Only the true hardcore need apply there, Its f**king solid.
Titans Trials in FFXIII was a pain in the arse too as was the last undying hunt for Exorcist, Vercingetorix. Maxed Stage 10 Crystarium and Super Ribbons ahoy, you'll get nowhere without them.
Still on FFXIII but bringing down Shaolong Gui's in less than 2 minutes without Vanille's Death "cheat" was some satisfying s**t.
Perfect Dark Zero on Dark Agent, I still haven't got back to the last 2 levels and am nowhere near as good on the game as when i made the top 20 in the world on the leaderboards in 2007/8. It's gone now.
Professor K on Lost Odyssey is one that i'm still levelling up to, He's a bastard too.
Devil May Cry 4 Tonight we dine in hell. JESUS!!! It's Dante Must Die difficulty but one hit kill against you while every other enemy in the game get's an infinite Devil Trigger and takes half an hour to kill. Kobayashi, you arghhh!!
That was one of the hardest i've come across on 360, if not the series overall tbh. Vanilla Dante Must Die is easy next to that.
tunnard on 24 Feb '12 said:
None of these are tough, just time consuming. Try getting Street Fighter IV's achievements or trophies. Very tricky. I used to really like getting trophies, but Im not bothered anymore. Oh well!
sharwood on 25 Feb '12 said:
The hardest thing about the achievements is finding the time to do them.
Mattoto on 26 Feb '12 said:
The thief achievement is really easy to get...
nic0090 on 26 Feb '12 said:
i took a vacation to skyrim once it was sweet
codebrooks on 28 Feb '12 said:
Lengthy doesn't equal hard
Random Hangman on 6 Mar '12 said:
That's what she said...
freds1 on 5 Apr '12 said:
PMSL
Anyway, yep...not difficult "achievements". I mean if I can get them, anyone can