It is possible to get all (but one) achievements in a single game, but I strongly recommend against it. For the two playthroughs, I recommend you play on either Easy or Normal, for your second playthrough choose Hard and Old-School. I also recommend creating a character in both instances so you can customise your party a little. If you were after the achievements in the quickest method possible, you can follow a walkthrough here[www.gamebanshee.com] for your Easy playthrough, but you shouldn’t have too much trouble finding the secrets if you use your automap and explore on your own. You can always back-track and find them later. For your two playthroughs, to make it easier, you should play through the levels one at a time. When you reach the staircase to the next level and you’re confident you’ve found all the secrets you like, start a new save file on Hard/Old-School and speed through the level while you’re still familiar with it. Enemies on Hard will move and attack faster, so you may need to rest more often, but knowing the level and its secrets before-hand will give you the best advantage.

Enemies: First a little about the game. For the most part, there are a set number of enemies on each stage. Once they’re defeated, no more appear. Enemies will wander and may not be in the same location as last time. There are only a handful of areas where enemies regenerate, but they do so fairly slow and allow you to get the food they drop. This is especially important as food can become a rarity in the game. On Hard, you can exploit the game and run circles around an enemy, attacking him from all sides where he can’t fight back. Do this wherever you can to avoid getting hit, even if you have to back-track to an open area.

Food: Health and Mana regenerate when you rest, but doing so will eat food. Wherever possible, return to a Life Crystal to restore health and mana to avoid resting and eating food. To start with, I recommend having one character carry all the food you find, moreso on your exploration playthrough as you will take a lot longer and likely trigger more enemies. Once you reach level 9 or 10, food will start to be very scarce.

Experience: You gain experience by killing enemies. The more enemies you search out and defeat, the more you will level up. There is an unfortunate condition to earning experience. Every party member that successfully attacks an enemy will earn the full amount of experience displayed. Any other party members will only earn 50% of its value. Even if you do 0 damage to an enemy, you will still earn the full amount, so long as you don’t “miss”. If you have a mage that doesn’t have any mana, have some rocks or some other ranged weapon so he can still earn experience.

Items: Except for a few instances, you will only find one of each item in the game. There is only one “ultimate” weapon in each type, one “ultimate” armour for each type, one wand. Keep this in mind when you create your party to split up the loot, don’t have everyone intending to wear heavy armour or wield swords.

Creating your party, you have 4 slots to fill. The first two are front-line characters, the second two are back-line characters. Front line characters will be your main defenders while the back should be your damage-dealers. Your back-line characters should only take damage if an enemy is behind you, or if you are hit with an area-effect spell.

For your front-line characters, I recommend taking both Lizardman Rogues. In Grimrock, it is much better to avoid damage altogether rather than being able to reduce the damage taken. Lizardmen have greater than normal Dexterity, which adds to your Evasion chance, and Rogues have the Dodge ability. These front two characters will focus exclusively on gear that adds to Evade. Do NOT equip any light or heavy armour that reduces your ability to Evade unless your Dodge skill is high enough to negate it. Equip a shield and your weapon of choice, attack damage will be minimal, the goal here is to ensure your back two characters stay alive. As an alternative, you could have one Rogue, one Fighter specialising in Armor and Swords. Get your Armor up to be able to use Heavy without penalty and put the rest into Sword for its increased attack speed. For this style play, you really want more points in Strength and Vitality than anything else, and they will be able to utilise the better swords and armour in the game. For your second Rogue, have them focus on Daggers over Unarmed.

For your back-line characters, I recommend taking one Minotaur Rogue and one Insectoid Mage. For your Minotaur, pour absolutely every skill point into Throwing Weapons and give him any gear that increases Strength over anything else. Thrown weapons appear right at the start of the game and are one-handed, leaving your off hand for a torch. Thrown weapon damage is based on Strength and will almost never miss. Just make sure after a battle you walk over your thrown items to collect them. You could quite easily take two Minotaur Rogues (though I would suggest Missile Weapons instead, just to share the loot), however Mages are great at doing damage to an area. If specialised in Ice, the first spell will damage the 3 rows directly infront of you (ideal for corridor fighting), while the third spell has a chance to freeze an enemy allowing you to get a fair few free hits. If you are surrounded by a number of enemies, freezing one so you can focus on damaging another can also be quite handy.

The specific character builds that I recommend are:

Dagger Expert (recommended name: "Stabby")
Race: Lizardman. Traits: Agile & Evasive.
Stats: Max DEX, Rest VIT. Skills: +2 Dodge / +1 Daggers.
Level Strategy: 3x Dodge, 1x Daggers
Equipment: The best dagger you can find, use armour that gives +Evade, use a shield.

Unarmed Expert (recommended name: "Punchy")
Race: Lizardman. Traits: Agile & Fist Fighter.
Stats: Max DEX, Rest VIT. Skills: +2 Dodge / +1 Unarmed Combat.
Level Strategy: 3x Dodge, 1x Unarmed
Equipment: Use armour that gives +Evade, use a shield. Unarmed gives a further evasion bonus, not so good at damaging armoured enemies, but thats what the back row is for. Give the Pit Fighter gauntlets to your Throwing Expert instead though for even more Strength bonus as they’re the damage dealer here.

*** Alternate Sword Expert (recommended name: “Slashy”)
Race: Minotaur. Traits: Head Hunter & Skilled
Stats: Max STR, Rest VIT. Skills: 2x Sword, 2x Armor.
Level Strategy: 2x Sword, 2x Armor until you reach Level 16 and can wear Heavy.
Equipment: Use the best Protection armour you can find Valor set is ideal. Grab the best sword you can, take the time to get Dismantler. This will let you take better advantage of some good gear, focus any other equipment on resistances.

Throwing Expert (recommended name: "Chucky")
Race: Minotaur. Traits: Athletic & Head Hunter.
Stats: Max STR, Rest VIT. Skills: +1 Throwing Weapons.
Level Strategy: All points on Throwing Weapons!
Equipment: There is a shuriken behind the secret wall right at the start. Use this and rocks until you find throwing knives on the first level. Make sure you pick up any thrown items after a fight. Use armour that adds Protection for those special times when you get taken from behind, unless you have any equipment that increases Strength. Take this as a priority. You can find a spear at the end of Level 1. Spears have the unique ability to melee from the back row. If you find you’re running out of thrown weapons quickly, equip this and have a torch on your Unarmed Expert.

*** Alternate Missile Expert (recommended name: “Shooty”)
Same as Throwing Expert, except Skills: +1 Missile Weapons, all points on Missile.
Use a short bow (found in a secret at the start of Level 3), just use thrown weapons until then. The crossbow does more damage until you find the Crookhorn Longbow later, just saves having to carry two ammunition types.

Ice Mage (recommended name: "Frosty")
Race: Insectoid. Traits: Strong Mind & Skilled.
Stats: Max WIL, Rest VIT. Skills: +7 Ice Magic.
Level Strategy: Max Ice Magic! Early access to Frost Bolt can be a life saver (spell runes: Air + Ice) as it can freeze enemies. You will need at least 5 points in Spellcraft in order to equip some of the mage-enhancing gear. You will find a couple of skillbooks in the game, you could always save one and use it on your mage when you find one of these.
Equipment: You get a wand at the end of first level, use this. Use armour that adds Protection for those special times when you get taken from behind, unless you find anything that adds to Willpower. Use the mage's free hand for rocks (unless you’re using them on your Minotaur), only as a means of doing a little extra damage and earn Experience.

There you are, you have your team, now go forth and explore. Hidden buttons always do something, so click and wander around to see if you can hear what it opens. Keep any food you find, you may need it later. More specific tips below for the respective achievements.

This achievement is unmissable, and fairly obvious. Beat the game, earn this achievement. Can be combined with Hard Boiled and Doin’ It Old School, but as stated above, I advise against it.


You will need to search every nook and cranny to find all the secrets in Grimrock. You can use the walkthrough at the top of the guide, but the secrets are not hard to find on your first playthrough. As a rough guide, the specific levels contain:

• Level 1 - 3 secrets.
  
• Level 2 - 6 secrets.
  
• Level 3 - 8 secrets.
  
• Level 4 - 8 secrets.
  
• Level 5 - 7 secrets.
  
• Level 6 - 12 secrets.
  
• Level 7 - 9 secrets.
  
• Level 8 - 6 secrets.
  
• Level 9 - 4 secrets.
  
• Level 10 - 6 secrets.
  
• Level 11 and 12 - 0 secrets.
  
• Level 13 - 2 secrets.

You will need to find all secrets in a single playthrough for the achievement to unlock. Total number of secrets be tracked in the Statistics menu option.

This will easily come through normal play, especially if you’re exploring for the secrets. Tracked in the Statistics menu, but you won’t need to worry. You could walk back and forth in a hallway at the start if you were really keen.

I recommend choosing Hard for your second playthrough, but this is entirely optional. On hard, the enemies move faster and attack more frequently. You will likely need to rest more often, which will eat into your food reserves. This is why I recommend going for this along with your Old School achievement as you will likely be able to skip portions of the game to save time and food, and focus on picking up equipment you know you’re after.

The only difference with Old School mode is the automap. There is none. You can either map out the stages on your own stack of grid paper (customised PDF supplied with the game), or if you play through the stage on a separate save file on Easy or Normal, you’ll get to know the level first then repeat it on Old School. Just make sure you don’t accidentally overwrite the wrong save file.

The first 10 levels of the mountain all have a single Iron door near the staircase to finish the level. Each one has a riddle to solve and goodies behind. Most of the goodies relate to an achievement, but not all. In any case, you want to open them all. The solutions to the doors are:

• Level 1 - Press two nearby hidden buttons. Reward: Whitewood Wand.
  
• Level 2 - Stand infront of the demon statue for 15 seconds. Reward: Firebombs.
  
• Level 3 - Place two torches on the far walls in the second “pillar” room near the center of the map to open a nearby secret. This secret contains a level to open the door, backtrack to reach it. Reward: Huntsman’s Cloak.
  
• Level 4 - In the “Trials of Thought” test, before you enter the teleport is an alcove in the hallway containing a secret button. Press it, run towards the teleport and look to your left. There are two pits now uncovered. Quickly cross and press another secret button to disable the teleport and reveal a pit taking you to a locked room containing a key to this levels Iron Door. Make sure you pick up the scroll first to avoid replaying the test. Reward: Chitin Greaves.
  
• Level 5 - This door requires you to “rest in the gaze of the dragons”. When you find the dragons on the stage, they will be looking in one direction. Mark this on your map. If you follow the grid to where both dragons intersect, this is the place to rest. Do so for a few seconds and the nearby door will open. Reward: Lurker Vest.
  
• Level 6 - This level requires you to enter each area and collect Round Keys. There are 4, only 3 are required to finish the level. The 4th key will open the Iron Door near the level exit. Reward: Chitin Mail.
  
• Level 7 - Near the regular staircase to Level 8 is a section with 3 demon statues that shoot spectral orbs. Your mission is to stop the orbs from reaching the recepticle by strafing in front of them. You can attempt this as many times as you like, drop any unnecessary items to ensure you are not overburdened. Reward: Chitin Boots.
  
• Level 8 - This door requires a Gear Key, found behind a secret at the far north end of the Lightning Conduit area. The key is guarded by an Ogre. Reward: Helmet of Valor.
  
• Level 9 - This door just requires a Bone Amulet, make sure you keep one from earlier in the game. Reward: Zhandul’s Orb.
  
• Level 10 - Early on in the level, you find a Red Gem. Keep the gem in order to open the door at the end. Reward: Crookhorn Longbow.

The secret entrance to the Vault is found on Level 7, in the room just south-west of the regular staircase to Level 8. Look for a secret button, then run south before the door closes. Achievement will unlock when you progress down the secret staircase.

You need to retrieve the Prison key on Level 10 before you can enter the Prison on Level 12. This is plot related and cannot be missed.

The slime secret is accessed from a secret staircase on Level 3 leading to an area in the northwest of Level 4. The area can be tough for a low level party, you can always come back later. Achievement is unlocked when you access the room behind the “feed me” door.

This achievement is a tribute to Guitar Hero. It is unlocked for solving the puzzle to the Iron Door on Level 7. Stop the spectral orbs from reaching the receptacle by strafing left and right, just make sure your party is not encumbered.

This is unavoidable, you need to complete the puzzle to progress the game. When you reach the “checkered room” (as labelled on the door), you need to use an item to weigh down the pressure plates in a checkered pattern. Start with the pressure plate in front of the exit to the room as this will need to be held down for you to be able to leave.

Must be in a single playthrough, but will easily come throughout regular play. Number of kills is tracked in the Statistics menu. There is no easy way to obtain this, even in the rooms that respawn enemies, its quicker to just progress through the game.

Must be done in a single playthrough. Number of ranged weapon attacks are tracked in the Statistics menu. Keep in mind, this is for attacks only; not kills. The easiest way to get this would be to equip as many characters as you can with ranged weapons, attack a wall directly infront of you. Walk forwards to collect the items, step back and repeat. Will likely come throughout normal play if you have a ranged weapon specialist however. This can be combined with Stoner below.

Must be done in a single playthrough. Number of melee weapon attacks are tracked in the Statistics menu. Keep in mind, this is for attacks only; not kills. The easiest way to get this would be to equip as many characters as you can with melee weapons and attack thin air. It does not matter if the character cannot reach from the back row. Unarmed attacks are not counted as Melee.

You need the Pestle and Mortar in order to mix potions (pictured in the first achievement icon). There is only one of them in the game, found on an obvious shelf at the end of Level 2. Mixed potions are tracked in the Statistics menu. You will need to actively collect ingredients for the potions, mostly Healing (Tar Bead), Mana (Blooddrop Blossom) and Antivenom (Cave Nettle), but there are other recipes too. You can always mix potions, drink and repeat in order to get the achievement early, just keep a save before-hand as there is a limit on ingredients in the game.


If you use your mage a lot, this will come easily throughout the game. Keep in mind, you just need to cast the spell, not do anything with it. If you want it easily, cast the lowest level spell you have repeatedly then rest, use a Life Crystal or use a Mana Potion and repeat. Tracked in the Statistics menu.

In order to be able to backstab a monster, you will need a Rogue with an Assassination skill of 8 or greater. Once you have the skill, maneuver behind an enemy and melee attack. You should see the words “backstab” appear as part of the attack, and unlock the achievement. If you do not wish to spend the points in Assassination and stick to the party mentioned above, keep hold of any skillbooks you find. When you have two, save your game, use both on one of your rogues and apply all points to Assassination. Backstab an enemy and reload your game.

This is very hard to predict, however if you fall down every pit you come across at least once in order to look for secrets below, you should have this achievement fairly early falling onto a snail. There are a couple of occasions later in the game that could trigger the achievement, hopefully you won’t have any trouble on both playthroughs to pick this one up once.

This will come naturally as you search the game for secrets. You just need to fall into pits a total of 25 times, not the same pit. There are a few pits early on in the game that are easy to enter, then teleport back up again, just remember to rest. The 25 times must be on a single game and progress is tracked in the Statistics menu.

This is unavoidable. First ogre that you can kill is found at the start of Level 6, just dodge and attack from the side. There are plenty of them in the game that are unavoidable.

Must be done in a single playthrough. If you’re going by the party above, this should come naturally as you play. Number of unarmed weapon attacks are tracked in the Statistics menu. Keep in mind, this is for attacks only; not kills. The easiest way to get this would be to unequip as many characters as you can and attack thin air. It does not matter if the character cannot reach from the back row. Unarmed attacks are not counted as melee.

Must be done in a single playthrough. This can be combined with Marksman above as it is a ranged weapon. The number of ranged weapon attacks are tracked in the Statistics menu. Keep in mind, this is for attacks only; not kills. The easiest way to get this would be to equip as many characters as you can with rocks, attack a wall directly infront of you. Walk forwards to collect them, step back and repeat. You will find much better thrown weapons than rocks early on, so you will likely need to grind this one out early while the Ranged Weapon statistic is only rocks.

In order to gain Level 50 in any skill, you will need to assign practically every skill point you get from a level up to this skill. You receive 4 skill points per level and will reach approximately Level 13 by the end of the game. If all skill points are assigned to one skill, this is sufficient for a Human, Lizardman or Insectoid, but not a Minotaur. If you follow the party suggestion above, your Insectoid should reach Level 50 in Ice Magic, otherwise save a skill book and increase your Minotaur’s Throwing Weapons.

Treasures are mostly found in secret areas, but not all of them. You will need to pick up all 7 treasures in one playthrough for it to count. The number you have is tracked in the Statistics menu, however it does not tell you which ones you have found. You do not need to carry them all for the achievement, just picked them up once. Treasures are found:

• Level 2 - Golden Chalice
  
• Level 4 - Golden Deity Figure (accessed via secret stair from Level 3)
  
• Level 6 - Golden Crown (accessed via “westmost” pit from Level 5)
  
• Level 11 - Ancient Aparatus (accessed via Fighter’s Challenge from Level 6)
  
• Level 8 - Golden Dragon, found in the room with Dismantler.
  
• Level 13 - Globe of Tetharion, found in the restricted section.
  
• Level 11 - Goromorg Minature, found in the Designer’s Tomb.

Zhandul’s Orb is one of the better mage equipment, increases damage with fire-based spells. Requires 10 Spellcraft to equip. Zhandul’s Orb is located behind an Iron Door on Level 9. This door requires a Bone Amulet in order to open (there are two in the game, just grab one when you find one).

Dismantler is the best sword weapon in the game, randomly dealing additional shock damage, requiring 15 Sword skill. It is located in the Vault section of Level 8, accessible only from a secret staircase on Level 7. Dismantler is located in a secret area, required for that achievement.

There is only one piece of pie (food item) in the game, found behind an easy secret in the first room from the regular staircase to Level 8. If you took the secret staircase to the Vault, you can pick up this secret once you have Dismantler.

Throughout the game you will find various notes from Toorum, a previous adventurer to the mountain. Once you reach Level 10, you will find a set of human remains. Take these remains to the nearest Life Crystal and use them to free Toorum’s spirit and unlock the achievement. As a bonus, once you have unlocked the achievement, if you start a new game and enter your first characters name as “Toorum”, you can play the game again as Toorum (solo), with a unique portrait and skillset.

You need to have all 4 pieces of Lurker armour equipped at the same time. The Lurker armour is ideal for anyone wishing to evade attacks, I strongly recommend it for your front two rogues. There is unfortunately only one set. The pieces can be found:

• Level 1 - Lurker Boots. Behind a secret in the room you start in.
  
• Level 5 - Lurker Vest. Behind the Iron door.
  
• Level 7 - Lurker Pants. Found in a secret room after falling through a pit in the Halls of Fire on Level 6.
  
• Level 9 - Lurker Hood. Found behind a tapestry on the wall in a room with two Shrakk Torr (wasp-like enemies).

You need to have all 4 pieces of Chitin armour equipped at the same time. The Chitin armour counts as Light armour and carries an Evasion penalty if you don’t have the skill to wear it. The pieces can be found:

• Level 4 - Chitin Mask. Found in a secret shelf during the “Time and Tide” challenge. At the moving pits, look on the right hand wall for a secret button. This will open a wall just ahead containing the helmet, collect it before the floor turns into a pit.
  
• Level 4 - Chitin Greaves. Found behind the Iron door.
  
• Level 6 - Chitin Mail. Found behind the Iron door.
  
• Level 7 - Chitin Boots. Found behind the Iron door.

You need to have all 5 pieces of Plate armour equipped at the same time. The Plate armour counts as Heavy armour and is not as good as Valor armour. There are two full sets of Plate armour in the game. The first set can be found:

• Level 5 - Plate Cuirass & Plate Gauntlets. Accessed through a secret staircase up from the Halls of Fire challenge on Level 6.
  
• Level 8 - Full Helmet. Drop down two pits from Level 6 to find a secret room.
  
• Level 8 - Plate Boots. Found in a secret room after activating 3 switches in a room near the Lightning Conduit.
  
• Level 9 - Plate Greaves. Found in the treasury at the end. Save the game first if you wish to use the key on another reward.

Alternatively, you can forget carrying around all the pieces and save game before accessing the treasury on Level 13. One of the rewards is a complete set of Plate armour.

You need to have all 6 pieces of Valor armour equipped at the same time. The Valor armour is the best Heavy armour in the game. If you have a party member that can equip heavy without penalty, this is the one to use. Pieces can be found:

• Level 11 - Shield of Valor. Reward for completing the Fighter’s Challenge accessed from Level 6.
  
• Level 8 - Boots of Valor. In an alcove past a large number of poison switches accessed from a pit from Level 7.
  
• Level 8 - Helmet of Valor. Found behind the Iron door.
  
• Level 10 - Cuirass of Valor. Found in a secret room accessed from a pit from Level 9. The secret requires 3 torches and 2 rocks to complete.
  
• Level 10 - Gauntlets of Valor. Found in an alcove in a south-west hallway.
  
• Level 10 - Greaves of Valor. Found in an alcove in a south-east room.

There are only 5 skulls in the game and one is required to progress the game at Level 9. They greatly increase a Minotaur’s attack power with the Head Hunter trait, and worth searching for. For the effect to work, the skulls must be directly in the inventory. It does not apply if placed in a bag or crate. They can be found:

• Level 2 - On the floor of a secret room.
  
• Level 4 - On the floor of a room accessed from a pit on Level 3.
  
• Level 7 - Found in an alcove in a northern hallway.
  
• Level 8 - Found in the Herder challenge required to obtain the Brass Key.
  
• Level 11 - On the floor of a room accessed from a pit on Level 10.
  

This is harder than it sounds, so I've gone into a lot of detail for this one. From the moment you choose “New Game”, the timer starts counting down. Make sure you’re familiar with the level first as you will need to be quick. The default party is insufficient, so you need to be quick about creating your party.

Leave the difficulty set on Normal (will explain later). Leaving race as Human, create the first 2 characters, put points into Dexterity to increase hit chance, pick Fist Fighter and Skilled, all skill points in Unarmed. For the next 2, choose Mage, points in Wisdom and skill points in Fire, don’t worry about traits, just click “Go” to save time. Get ready with Esc to skip the intro as this also counts.

As soon as the game starts, press Esc and check Statistics. If your time is greater than 0:40, restart and try again. If not, save your game in a new slot as a point to go back to. Run through the level as fast as you can. I kept a save as I was waiting for each key door to open and as I collected each Blue Eye. The slugs and herders would appear in random locations after each reload, so don’t be afraid to reload a few times to get a run where the enemies are less. For the slug Eye, you don’t want to have fight more than 2 of them. The herders are harder to avoid.

Pick up any items you can that are only on the immediate path to the next door. You should find a few torches, rocks and a cudgel. Place them in your characters off-hand to avoid having to go into their inventory at all. These are useful for quickly weighing down pressure plates, one is required to continue near the start, another needs to be thrown over a pit and the final plate is in the Blue Eye room with the snails, weighing down the plate before you enter saves having to find the secret button. The same goes for keys and gems. Another thing to note, while you have an item as the mouse cursor (not yet placed on a character), you can still press buttons and attack. I used this method for all the keys rather than placing them in a characters hands.

Once you reach the Skeleton Warrior at the end, back out into the room you came from so you can sidestep around him and rush to the end. On Easy difficulty, he takes far too long to follow you. This is the quickest method to bypass him and reach the end. You should have 3:30 on the clock as you open the final door to have enough time to complete the stage. Achievement unlocks as you progress down the stairs.

As a guide, my times at each of my “checkpoints” are:

• Game Start - 0:31
  
• Second Door (Key) - 1:20
  
• Third Door (Key) - 1:59
  
• Snail Gem Retrieved - 2:41 (was back at the central room when saved)
  
• Herder Gem Retrieved - 3:30 (was at the demon head)