There are thirty-one achievements in Runic Rampage. For the purpose of this guide, I have divided them into general categories and presented them in nine separate sections. These are:

• Travel
  
• Battle I
  
• Battle II
  
• Battle III
  
• Inventory
  
• Character
  
• Environment
  
• Time
  
• Completion

Battle I, Battle II and Battle III are three parts of the same category, presented in separate sections to avoid character-limit restrictions.

There are five achievements that can only be earned after campaign completion. They are described in the last section outlined above. All other achievements can, technically, be earned in one play-through of the campaign, although one or two require many repeated level runs or a subsequent play-through for completion. All achievement notifications appear in-game at the point of meeting their respective requirements.

There are two achievements that require certain travel targets to be reached.


Wanderer
Take 500 steps

This achievement is readily earned in the tutorial or the first level of Dusty Paths in Act I. All character steps are tracked during normal gameplay. This should be the first achievement earned.


Adventurer
Take 50,000 steps

It is possible to earn this achievement in a thorough, first play-through of the campaign, but might be more likely earned in a post-campaign grind. I didn't take note of when I earned this achievement, but, according to the timestamp, it was almost two hours before defeating the Prison Keeper, the boss of Act III. For players with a more efficient play-style than I have, attempting the three Winning Streak achievements (detailed in the Achievements: Completion section), after the campaign, should help greatly with accruing the required 50,000 steps.

There are nine achievements that require certain battle conditions to be met. This section presents five of those achievements that are not related to boss battles.


Fighter
Defeat 100 enemies

This achievement is readily earned within two or three levels, depending on procedural enemy population. It should register before completion of Dusty Paths in Act I.


Warrior
Defeat 5,000 enemies

Mathematically, this achievement cannot be earned in a first play-through of the campaign without revisiting each chapter (to play a single procedurally-generated level) many times. This will occur, naturally, when it's necessary to farm shards (rune fragments) to unlock boss chapters. It will also occur when a player attempts to earn certain other achievements or collect armour set pieces. Even though I revisited chapters many times, I eventually reached 5,000 enemy kills post-campaign, while progressing the X-X-X-X-X-X-X achievement in Winning Streak mode.


Rampage
50x Combo

A combo is essentially an unbroken sequence of melee hits on enemies. This achievement requires chaining together at least fifty melee hits. A chain can be broken by either consecutive enemy hits on the character or by failing to make the next hit on an enemy before a fixed time limit of a few seconds. I earned this achievement, naturally, while clearing a level from Forest of Thorns in Act II. For additional details and a general strategy, see the description of the Slaughterhouse achievement.


Bloodbath
100x Combo

This achievement requires chaining together at least one hundred melee hits on enemies. I earned this achievement while progressing the Slaughterhouse achievement. For additional details and a general strategy, see its description below.


Slaughterhouse
150x Combo

This achievement requires chaining together at least one hundred and fifty melee hits on enemies. I made a contrived attempt at earning this achievement by revisiting Forest of Thorns in Act II, because it offered favourable conditions for the task. Most significantly, it featured enemy spawns surplus to the procedural population and the facility of respawns. I followed this general strategy:

• Equip the default weapon, Hammer, in the Upgrades menu before entering the chapter - its lower attack allows for more hits to be made before kills
  
• Avoid initial combat opportunities - move through the level while encouraging enemies to follow the character
  
• Look for any reasonably clear village area with an enemy necromancer nearby
  
• Start combat, keeping a measured pace unless the situation becomes overwhelming
  
• Encourage enemy warrior spawns with character's proximity to huts - this is key for maintaining enemy numbers
  
• Avoid striking huts, which can be destroyed in a few hits
  
• Allow any necromancers to resurrect downed warriors - this is also key for maintaining enemy numbers
  
• Avoid hitting any necromancers unless the situation becomes overwhelming or there are no other enemies left

The following screenshot shows the aftermath of the strategy with the combo total in the top-right:


Note the enemy necromancer at the top, left of the destroyed hut, in the act of resurrecting an enemy warrior.

Of the nine achievements requiring certain battle conditions to be met, this section presents the first two achievements related to boss battles, in the order of appearance in the campaign.


I
Defeat the Boss of Chapter I

The Voodoo Lord is the boss of Act I, found in the act's third chapter, Library of Stones. This chapter unlocks after collecting 9/36 shards (rune fragments). The Voodoo Lord has three offensive phases:

• Pursuit of the character to engage in melee with a large axe
  
• Conjuring through his axe of a harmful cloud that follows the character
  
• Activating a conjuring circle, which raises skeletons that pursue the character to engage in melee with spiked clubs

To defeat the Voodoo Lord:

1. Avoid melee with him entirely or attack with one or two quick strikes before evasion;
   
2. Evade the cloud;
   
3. Attack when he stands still inside the conjuring circle, using one or two combos and retreat before he begins pursuit again or if the raised skeletons become overwhelming;
   
4. Repeat steps 1 and 2, while dispatching each skeleton before the next lot are raised - collect any dropped health orbs if necessary;
   
5. Repeat steps 1 to 4 until he is defeated.

There is plenty of space, with useful structures, for easy evasion. The Voodoo Lord is always most vulnerable to attack while in his conjuring circle. Skeletons will always interrupt the character's attack flow, but they are a good source of health orbs.


II
Defeat the Boss of Chapter II

The Thorncaster is the boss of Act II, found in the act's third chapter, The Magic Fountain. This chapter unlocks after collecting 18/36 shards (rune fragments). The Thorncaster has two offensive phases:

• Pursuit of the character to engage in melee, striking from overhead and slashing with clawed hands
  
• Conjuring of giant, thorny vines that steadily damage the character during any contact

To defeat the Thorncaster:

1. Focus mainly on evading him and cutting away any thorny vines choking the columns each side of the courtyard - once done, the character will gain a small amount of HP and a watery orb will glow at the top of the freed column, which will produce a healing shower over time;
   
2. Attack him with one or two quick strikes, before retreating, if a confrontation is ever unavoidable;
   
3. Avoid contact with any conjured thorny vines;
   
4. Maintain health by making contact with a shower;
   
5. Repeat steps 1 to 5 until all columns are free of vines - once done, continue with step 6;
   
6. Shift focus to attacking him and retreat to heal when necessary - repeat this step until he is defeated.

There is plenty of space, with useful structures, for easy evasion, though the conjured vines do have a negative impact on that space. Conjured vines also cause the most damage to the character. Showers disappear once used, but restart over time.

Of the nine achievements requiring certain battle conditions to be met, this section presents the two remaining achievements related to boss battles, in the order of appearance in the campaign.


III
Defeat the Boss of Chapter III

The Prison Keeper is the boss of Act III, found in the act's third chapter, Deepest Dungeon. This chapter unlocks after collecting 27/36 shards (rune fragments). The Prison Keeper has two offensive phases:

• Pursuit of the character to engage in melee with a giant, spiked mace
  
• Fire Wall spells cast through the mace

To defeat the Prison Keeper:

1. Avoid melee with him entirely and focus on striking the two pressure-plate buttons required to open the first gate;
   
2. Evade any Fire Wall spells;
   
3. Run through the first gate once it opens;
   
4. Focus on striking the four buttons required to open the second gate (these include the now-reset buttons in the previous zone), but kill any chained enemies if there is a good opportunity, preferably before they free themselves;
   
5. Evade any Fire Wall spells and collect any dropped health orbs if necessary;
   
6. Run through the second gate once it opens;
   
7. Focus on striking the six buttons required to open the third gate (these include the now-reset buttons in the previous zones), but kill any chained enemies if there is a good opportunity, preferably before they free themselves;
   
8. Evade any Fire Wall spells and collect any dropped health orbs if necessary;
   
9. Run through the third gate once it opens;
   
10. Approach the cell at the end of the room to receive a potion of giant strength;
    
11. Attack the Prison Keeper, avoiding being struck by his mace and the Fire Wall spell, until he is defeated.

The Prison Keeper is relatively slow, so he is easy to evade. He does have a long reach with his mace, but after he brings it down, he takes some time to pick it back up for another swing. That pause is the best time to attack him.

It is possible to open all the gates without attacking any of the chained enemies, but this just adds to evasion pressures. The character can be easily cornered and blocked from accessing the next button. There would also be no health orb drops. Any friendly-fire among the enemies – while amusing – isn't as effective as the character's more targeted attack.


IV
Defeat the Boss of Chapter IV

The Evil Mage is the boss of Act IV and the entire campaign, found in the act's third chapter, Tower of Terror. This chapter unlocks after collecting 36/36 shards (rune fragments). The Evil Mage has three initial offensive phases:

• An energy beam that shoots from his hand, which follows the character as the Evil Mage rotates - first, one way and then the opposite
  
• A conjuring of giant hands that each have their own conjuring circles that raise serpents that pursue the character to engage in biting melee
  
• The casting of a Nova spell - an expanding ring of harmful energy that radiates from the Evil Mage

This set of phases is cycled three times. Each subsequent conjuring phase doubles the giant hand numbers. The energy beam and the Nova spell are repeatedly used while the giant hands are active. After the third cycle has ended, the Evil Mage transforms into a giant serpent, which has two offensive phases:

• Engaging in biting melee when the character is near
  
• A fireball shot from its mouth that leaves a patch of burning ground

To defeat the Evil Mage:

1. Evade his first attack, the energy beam, by running ahead of it, following a circular path - if a second beam is fired, then it will move in the opposite direction;
   
2. Attack the two giant hands that appear and kill any of the serpents they conjure;
   
3. Collect any dropped health orbs if necessary or leave them to heal future damage;
   
4. Endure the seemingly-unavoidable Nova spell - perhaps the character can hide behind a giant hand;
   
5. Be prepared to manage energy beams, Nova spells and serpents for as long as the hands are still active - once the hands are destroyed, the Evil Mage will cease all attacks;
   
6. Strike the Evil Mage to awaken him and begin the next cycle - this time with four giant hands;
   
7. Repeat the process of the first cycle until the four giant hands are destroyed and the Mage ceases all attacks;
   
8. Strike the Evil Mage to awaken him and begin the next cycle - this time with eight giant hands;
   
9. Repeat the process of the second cycle until the eight giant hands are destroyed - the Mage will then transform into a giant serpent;
   
10. Attack the giant serpent, making sure to evade its biting attack and fireball attack, until it's defeated.

The Evil Mage is always shielded from all damage while in human form, so there is no need to shift focus away from attacking the giant hands and the conjured serpents. He never moves from the centre of the tower's rooftop, in both of his forms, so it is easy to attack and evade him in the serpent form.

There are six achievements that require certain inventory conditions to be met.


Bandit
Loot 1,000 gold

This achievement is readily earned during a first play-through of Dusty Paths in Act I. Gold is automatically looted, throughout the game, from vanquished foes and broken vases, barrels, rocks, stumps, steel drums and ice shards. It is also looted from end-of-level treasure chests in the form of coins or jewellery, with the latter being of significantly more value.


Raider
Loot 100,000 gold

Depending on play-style, earning this achievement can be a grind. In my reasonably thorough play-through, I earned it not long after reaching character Level 30. To increase gold collection:

• Allocate skill points to the Greed attribute for increased gold drop amounts and better treasure item probability
  
• Equip and upgrade the weapon, Golden Axe, which provides +20 Greed
  
• Kill every enemy in each level for gold drops
  
• Destroy every breakable object in each level for gold drops and golden keys
  
• Unlock smaller treasure chests inside end-of-level treasure chests with golden keys for another chance at finding jewellery
  
• Select jewellery before gold inside end-of-level treasure chests
  
• Select gold before cosmetic-only armour pieces inside end-of-level treasure chests

Obviously, treasure strategy needs to be somewhat balanced for the ongoing collection of shards (rune fragments) required for unlocking boss chapters and the ongoing collection of skill points for improving character attributes.


Nobleman
Possess 10,000 gold

This achievement requires 10,000 gold to be held in the character's inventory at one time. However, in my play-through, it registered at 6,000 gold, during the second level of The Desert Castle in Act I, so its registration is possibly bugged. At one point in the game, I had just under 60,000 gold in the inventory, so I would have earned the achievement if the registration occurred at the correct moment, anyway.


Blacksmith
Forge a weapon to its perfection

This achievement is earned once a single weapon is upgraded to its maximum level. Some weapons require specific character levels to unlock, but gold is always necessary for all weapon purchases and upgrades. I earned this achievement by purchasing and upgrading the weapon, Swift Axe, for a total of 7,000 gold, while playing through Temple in the Woods. The cheapest, fastest way to earn this achievement is by upgrading the weapon, Hammer, which is equipped by default at the start of the game, for a total of 600 gold.


King
Equip the Royal Sceptre

This achievement is earned by equipping the weapon, Sceptre of Kings. It can be purchased for 10,000 gold once the character reaches Level 30. It is not an effective weapon, so it should be swapped immediately after the achievement notification.


Gourmet
Eat a pumpkin

To earn this achievement, the player must use one of three choices to select a pumpkin, which appears by chance, from the end-of-level treasure chest. The following screenshot shows the pumpkin on the selection screen:


Treasure chests can also, by chance, include smaller, locked treasure chests, shards (rune fragments), armour pieces, skill point scrolls or books, gold and jewellery, as well as bones and pieces of leather.

There are two achievements that require certain character conditions to be met. Character advancement is handled in the Upgrades menu.


Mage
Learn all spells

The ability to learn spells comes after looting the first of three magic emblems from a vanquished enemy. Each respective emblem represents the disciplines of fire magic, ice magic and venom magic. Once all three emblems have been encountered at least once, then it is only gold supply and core spell tier that restricts which spells can be used and at what level. The core spells of Fire, Frost and Venom Bite must each be advanced to their respective third tiers for all other spells to become available for purchase. This costs 2,900 gold. To learn all remaining spells, a further 12,000 gold is required. Advancing the tiers of the remaining spells is not necessary for the achievement.


Ronin
Max out an attribute

There are four character attributes. These are: Attack, Defence, Agility and Greed. In the first campaign play-through, each attribute can be improved, by adding skill points, to a maximum of forty. Two skill points are earned every time the character levels up in-game. Skill points also come in the form of scrolls and books, found in end-of-level treasure chests. I earned this achievement after defeating Prison Keeper, the boss of Act III, which was shortly before my character had reached Level 30. I used a balanced skill point allocation, so all four attributes were advanced to maximum at around the same time.

It should be noted that weapon buffs and debuffs are not included in the base forty-point target. For example, in the screenshot below: equipping the weapon, Golden Axe, which gives a Greed bonus of +20, while attribute points are also at twenty, does not earn the achievement.

There are four achievements that require certain environmental destruction targets to be reached. Tallies are cumulative, so they can be reached over multiple level runs and multiple campaign play-throughs. Breaking objects contributes to gold collection totals.


Drunkard
Destroy 100 barrels

One hundred wooden barrels must be destroyed for this achievement to be earned. They can be found in all levels of The Desert Castle in Act I and Steamy Stronghold in Act III.


Lumberjack
Destroy 50 wood stumps

Fifty tree stumps must be destroyed for this achievement to be earned. They can be found in all levels of Forest of Thorns in Act II.


Stonecutter
Destroy 50 rocks

Fifty rock formations must be destroyed for this achievement to be earned. They can be found in all levels of The Caves in Act III. They can sometimes be found in the levels of Dusty Paths. I'm reasonably certain that any rock formations destroyed by rocks falling from a cave ceiling do not count towards this required target. However, I suspect that gold is still automatically looted in this situation.


Mad Potter
Destroy 100 vases

One hundred ceramic vases must be destroyed for this achievement to be earned. They can be found in Dusty Paths and The Desert Castle in Act I, Temple in the Woods in Act II, The Caves in Act III, as well as Icy Abyss and Frozen Fortress in Act IV. I'm reasonably certain that any vases destroyed by rocks falling from a cave ceiling do not count towards this required target. However, I suspect that gold is still automatically looted in this situation.

There are three achievements that require any level to be completed within a specific time frame. All three achievements can be earned simultaneously if a level is completed within the smallest time frame first.


Runner
Complete a level in under 3 minutes

To earn this achievement, any single level must be completed in under three minutes. I met this requirement at the same time I earned the Flash achievement. See its description below for additional details.


Sprinter
Complete a level in under 2 minutes

To earn this achievement, any single level must be completed in under two minutes. I met this requirement at the same time I earned the Flash achievement. See its description below for additional details.


Flash
Complete a level in under 1 minute

To earn this achievement, any single level must be completed in under one minute. I met this requirement on my first attempt, in Forest of Thorns, Act II, while trying to farm one more shard (rune fragment) to unlock The Magic Fountain.

The main objective is to open the end-of-level treasure chest, which requires the killing of any enemies guarding the chest and, by extension, any gatekeepers on the way to the chest. So, it is unnecessary to spend time battling any other enemies present in the level. The focus should be on reaching and striking the end-of-level treasure chest open as quickly as possible. To do this:

• Follow the compass, which indicates the direction of the treasure chest
  
• Use the character's dash ability to boost speed and support evasion
  
• Evade all enemies unless cornered or stuck
  
• Leave breakable items
  
• Avoid searching for the hidden shrine
  
• Kill any enemy near a locked gate to find its key and gain access
  
• Kill any enemy guarding the end-of-level treasure chest
  
• Strike open the treasure chest

It might be of interest that I earned this achievement – along with the Runner and Sprinter achievements – with a time of 1:03, as seen in the screenshot below:


It is possible that it's a bug, or perhaps the limit was coded to be more lenient than the specified requirement. But, I suspect that the few seconds it takes to transition from striking the chest to displaying the selection screen is added to the time on the level statistics screen.

There are five achievements with conditions that can only be met after completion of the campaign. Once the credits have finished playing after the story's dénouement, the player is returned to the main menu. Selecting "Play" unlocks the Epilogue screen and presents two modes: Winning Streak and New Game Advanced.

New Game Advanced allows the campaign to be played again, through increasing tiers, with all previously unlocked levels, armour sets, weapons and spells reset to defaults. Attribute skill points remain as they were at the end of the campaign, but with a new maximum of eighty at Tier 1. It may be preferred by the player to attempt the Winning Streak achievements using their character's end-of-campaign load-out before engaging New Game Advanced.

Winning Streak mode allows for playing random levels consecutively. Successful completion of each streak returns the player to the Epilogue menu, so each run can be attempted at the player's discretion.


X-X-X
Winning Streak 3

This achievement is earned by making a successful run through three consecutive, random levels. It can be attempted after completing Winning Streaks 1 and 2.


X-X-X-X-X
Winning Streak 5

This achievement is earned by making a successful run through five consecutive, random levels. It can be attempted after completing Winning Streaks 1, 2, 3 and 4.


X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Winning Streak 7

This achievement is earned by making a successful run through seven consecutive, random levels. It can be attempted after completing Winning Streaks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. I earned this achievement – and therefore the X-X-X and X-X-X-X-X achievements – in one session, effectively playing twenty-eight levels in a row, with six menu breaks.


Plus
Start a New Game Advanced

This achievement is earned, simply, by selecting "New Game Advanced" on the Epilogue screen. Take note that this mode resets all previous level, armour set, weapon and spell progress. The mode does retain previous attribute points, but it sets a new maximum.


A True Dwarf
Unlock all other achievements

This achievement is earned once the last of all the other achievements has been unlocked. In my play-through, its notification appeared simultaneously with the one for earning the Plus achievement.

As this guide is more of an overview with anecdotes and basic advice for earning relatively-straightforward achievements, I deem it reasonably complete. However, I will update it if I discover – or any fellow players provide – relevant and significant information for its improvement.

I hope it's been useful. Thanks for reading.