This guide focuses on obtaining all 13 achievements for Half-Life 2: Episode One as quickly as possible. It is possible to obtain all achievements in one playthrough. To speed things up, set the difficulty to Easy. There are no difficulty-related achievements, so it makes your playthrough significantly easier.

Before we start it is worth stating that cheating will disable achievements. Before you start you should make sure you set sv_cheats to 0 via the developer console. If you do cheat, you will not be awarded achievements!

Kill an Elite Soldier with his own energy ball.


Shortly after your Gravity Gun gets upgraded in the Confiscation Field you will have to form a bridge by grabbing energy balls from the white beams and shooting them into the large sockets on the walls. After you have formed your first bridge you will encounter some Combine troops from various directions. After dealing with them you will have to form another bridge in the same fashion. After crossing the second bridge you will get attacked again, but this time there will also be Combine Elites who shoot energy balls at you (identical to the balls from the white beams). Catch one of these balls with your upgraded Gravity Gun and shoot it back at him. If you don't manage to kill him, you can skip this achievement for now. There will be other opportunities later on.



Make it to the bottom of the Citadel's main elevator shaft in one piece.


Story related so you can't miss it. It should unlock as soon as you step off the elevator and it gets smashed by a large piece of falling debris.

From here on out be sure to not kill any Stalkers you come across until you have contained the core. If you do kill one, reload your latest save. The two stalkers you killed with the Rollermine back in the previous chapter do not count for the Pacifist achievement.

Kill five enemies with the same energy ball.


By far the easiest way to do this is at the first room you enter after you encounter the aforementioned two Stalkers. Show your face to the Combine troops in the room and quickly retreat to the core. Once at least four Combine soldiers have entered the narrow hallway, grab an energy ball from the beam to the left and blast it straight through the hallway. If you did not get it, reload and try again.



Contain the Citadel core.


Story related so you can't miss it. It will unlock as soon as you reunite with Alyx and the Gravity Gun returns to normal.

Contain the Citadel core without killing any stalkers.


If you did not kill the two Stalkers near the Citadel core, the achievement should unlock along with Containment.

After you and Alyx fight a couple of zombies you have to go through an air duct to open a door. Once you get to the room on the other side of the door there is a stash with a shotgun, a pistol and some suit charges. If you are going to do the The One Free Bullet achievement, which I am assuming you are, this point is where you have to fire your only bullet. There is a lock in this room you can only shoot to break. Fire one bullet with your pistol to break the lock. Do not use the shotgun to break the lock, because it counts as more than one bullet. From this point on, you may never fire another bullet until you reach the end of the game. However Grenade, Crowbar, Rocket, and Gravgun kills are okay. Keep in mind that Crossbow bolts, SMG Grenades and Pulse-Rifle Orbs also count as bullets. In case you receive a new type of weapon, be sure to immediately switch back to a 'safe' weapon before firing. You should make good use of any props you encounter on your way (the bigger the better), and if possible carry them with you once you've used them. You never know when you may need them again.



When you navigate the tunnels you will notice several flares on the ground. You will want to use these to light any zombies you encounter in these tunnels on fire. This shaves off a couple of zombies from the 15 you need for Zombie-que. Doing this now saves you a lot of trouble later on, when things get a lot more hectic. According to others, it is even possible to light all 15 zombies on fire in these tunnels.

Use the cars to squash 15 antlions in Episode One.


A while into this chapter you will come to a door you have to open by spinning a wheel. Across from this door is a hole in the ground Antlions will start spawning from when you turn the wheel. There is also a green car nearby. Use this car to squash 15 antlions before you open the door. When you are done you may place the car over the hole to stop them from spawning. You can also do this in the parking garage later on in this chapter, but then there will be three spawn holes, making it considerably more annoying to do.



Use flares to light 15 zombies on fire.


This is quite an annoying achievement to do. You'll come to a point where you find an elevator, but it's powered down. You will need to follow the sparking wire to a fuse box, which when activated will summon a horde of 'Zombines' as Alyx calls them, as well as fast and regular zombies. There are a total of six flares in the area. Two of them are located right near the elevator.



Another is in a fenced off area with a lock, which is located a little forward and to the left when you stand with your back to the elevator.



Another two flares are also in a fenced off area, but this one has no door. Instead, there is an opening to the ceiling through which you will have to pull your flares out. This second fenced off area is located a little forward from the other, still moving away from the elevator.



The last one is located to the right of the door you entered the area from.

Close to the second fenced in area is a door being barred by a wooden beam. Inside this shed is the fuse box. Make sure you know exactly where the flares can be found before you activate it. There won't be a lot of zombies right off the bat, so you're better off holding out until there are more zombies before you activate your first flare in order to maximize your efficiency. You will probably need all of the flares. Since you cannot see where you're going unless you use your flashlight, you should refrain from sprinting if possible, because both draw from the same energy source. If your flashlight dies, you're pretty much done for in the wave of zombies. Also be on the lookout for Zombines who use their grenade to blow up your valuable flare targets.

Survive long enough to get on the parking garage elevator.


Story related so you can't miss it. Once the elevator has arrived, jump inside and the achievement should unlock.

Help Alyx snipe 30 enemies in Episode One.


After you encounter your first sniper, and take him out using the grenades from the crates directly below him, Alyx climbs up to his position and grabs his sniper. She will shoot down a ladder for you allowing you to proceed. The trick to this achievement is to simply keep moving around in circles in the first area, dragging the zombies along with you for Alyx to snipe. When a Zombine pulls out a grenade for a suicide bombing attempt, use the Gravity Gun to pull it towards you and punt it far away. This prevents them from killing valueable targets for Alyx. There are 8 zombies in the first area past the ladder for Alyx to snipe. Afterwards, you head up to a boarded-up bridge across from Alyx' position. Use the Gravity Gun to clear the way for her to kill another 8 targets. When you get back down to street level, there is a Combine Elite firing a turret on Antlions to your right behind some metal plates. Remove the back plate and allow Alyx to kill him.



This means more targets for her to snipe. On the far side there are more Combine troops on the barricade. You can use the Antlions as cannon fodder from this point to finish your 30 sniper kills. The combine on the far side will be too busy killing Antlions, which will keep spawning from the hole down the street. Punt them on their backs to make them easy targets for Alyx. Once the achievement unlocks, cover up the hole with the car nearby and finish off the remaining Combine.

This is also a great location to do Car Crusher in case you didn't finish it earlier.

Destroy the gunship in the hospital attic.


Story related so you can't miss it. After a long time you reach Barney, who will give you back your trusted crowbar and sends you on your way. Soon you will see the gunship flying around. Fight your way through the hospital and once you get to the attic you'll see an unlucky guy with a rocket launcher get blasted. Go over to his body and grab the Rocket Launcher. Shoot the gunship three times and the achievement will unlock. Be sure not to stand in the center of the attic once it is coming down or you'll get crushed.

If you haven't finished Zombie-que yet, you get another chance. After a while you will have to drop down into a hole to continue. When you do, you will end up in a room with bullet proof glass. Behind the glass are several zombies, and next to the glass are two flares you can use to light the last couple of zombies you might still need on fire.

Don't let any citizens die when escorting them to the escape train.


As soon as you get outside you'll meet up with Barney. From here on you have to escort City 17 citizens to the escape trains. The easiest way to make sure no citizens die is to just make a run for the end point ignoring most of the enemies. This won't always work, but it saves you a lot of trouble when it does.

While escorting the first group of four citizens you will encounter no resistance, allowing you to familiarize with the path to take. As soon as you enter the room with the fenced in area and resistance fighters, the citizens will count as having been escorted and your squad size should shrink to zero. Alyx will now man the turret just outside the end point to help fend off any enemies.



On your way back to Barney you will encounter Manhacks and Hopper Mines. Make sure you grab the Hopper Mines and place them in strategic positions for later. When escorting this second group past the trains two Combine Elites will come in through the window above. Just ignore them and keep running towards the end point. After the first two groups have been escorted you will encounter a sniper and some more Hopper Mines. Use the unlimited supply of rockets nearby to take care of the sniper, clearing a path for the next group.

Go back to Barney for four more citizens. As soon as you get back inside the train station, a Combine Elite will shoot down the train to your left and a pillar below the ledge to your right, forcing you to go over the trains via the newly created ramp. Get rid of the elite and kill two more Combines rappelling down onto the train at the back of the trainyard. The coast is now clear to run back to the fenced in area and escort four more citizens.

After escorting the third group you will encounter combine soldiers with shotguns on your way back. Let Alyx handle all of them by luring them into her line of fire. When they are all dead, go back to find a Combine Armored Personal Carrier shooting rockets at you, as well as several more combine soldiers. Take care of the APC with the rocket launcher and finish off the remaining combine to clear the path for the next group.

This fourth group consists of two citizens. You can sprint past the courtyard safely, as the combine on the rooftops can hardly hit you from this range. Once inside another group of elites will blast open a door and come in guns blazing. Take care of them quickly and sprint to Alyx to draw the rest into her line of fire.

Once these citizens have been escorted as well, on your way back through the courtyard you will now encounter City 17 Metrocops. Finish them off using the rocket launcher and go get the last group of citizens. This fifth and final group consists of two citizens, as well as Barney. You will encounter little resistance escorting this final group as long as you keep moving.

If you managed to escort all groups safely to the train station, the achievment should unlock as soon as Alyx seals off the door behind you.

Escape City 17 with Alyx.


Story related so you can't miss it. Once you have evaded the Strider and crossed the trainyard, you will get to a ledge that's reachable via a ladder. Bring up your Rocket Launcher and start blasting the Strider. On the ledge is another unlimited supply of rockets you can use to bring the Strider down. As soon as you do, get on the back of the train. You and Alyx ride the train out of City 17 when a gunship tries to follow you into a tunnel but crashes. After the gunship crashes, the achievement should unlock.

Beat Episode One firing exactly one bullet. Grenade, crowbar, rocket, and Gravgun kills are okay!

If you have never fired another bullet after shooting the lock in chapter 3, the achievement should unlock at the same time as Escape from City 17. If you didn't get it, keep in mind that from the point where you obtain the pistol and the shotgun, you are only allowed to use the Crowbar, Gravity Gun, Rocket Launcher and Grenades. Environmental objects such as flares, oil drums, etc. are allowed too. What is not allowed is the .357 Magnum, 9MM Pistol (apart from the one bullet needed to open the lock just after you get it), Shotgun, Crossbow, Sub-Machine Gun (including the SMG Grenade) and Pulse-Rifle (including the orbs). Even though you technically fire bullets with them, you are still allowed to use the various mounted turrets you encounter throughout the game (thanks to KamiRyu for confirming this).

Also, you must do this in one entire playthrough. Saving and reloading is fine, but doing a chapter over where you used a gun is not. I found this out the hard way. For me Alyx got stuck at the very end of the Stalker train and did not open a door for me. I started up the Lowlife chapter from the menu and played on, but I did not get the achievement. Reloading a save before Alyx got stuck and playing all chapters again did the trick for me.

Congratulations on completing all of the achievements in Episode One!