Overview
Estimated achievement difficulty: 6
Estimated time for 1000: 110-130 hours.
Minimum playthroughs: 3
Missable achievements: Not really as you can transfer all data to a new playthrough, but there are many that can be missed on your first play.
Glitched achievements: Eureka! and Little Mad Scientist are troublesome, but not broken completely.
Offline: 50 (1000)
Online: 0 (0)
Cheats disable achievements: No Cheats.
Difficulty affect achievements: No.

Preperations
Ok, you're in for the long haul if you want 1000 in Tales of Vesperia. I've gone to great pains (on my hands) of typing up guides for just about everything you could ever need. This will save you time. Lots of time. You owe me a cookie. Be sure to follow the side-quest guide closely or you will be set back at least 9-12 hours for another playthrough. Also visit this thread and have a look at all the threads linked there. Take note of anything I have told you to take note of.

Playthrough 1: Just About Everything
First off, follow the side-quest walkthrough that can be found here. This will get you many items that can only be received through these side-quests as well as many of the titles that can be missed. Make sure you are using a Magic Lens on every single enemy, especially the ones marked in red in the Monster Book thread. Also make sure to work on mastering all your cooking recipes and getting Raven as many skills as possible by switching out his weapon any time you get a new one with new skills. After you have beaten the game, reload your clear data file (the one with the star you made after killing the final boss) and continue to work on any titles or various monsters/items you feel like. Now go clear the EX Dungeon.

Now you'll want to farm at least 10,400 Grade with whichever method you prefer. I used the powered up Fell Arms and just killed low-level enemies outside Zaphias on Hard difficulty with two Blue Dice and a normal Dice equipped. I was getting 6-8 Grade each fight in about two seconds each. While doing this you will also want to finish mastering all your cooking recipes with one person and learning 100 skills with Raven. The "Rita Grade Farming" method may be a bit faster but you will fight less battles if you still need those two things.

Playthrough 2: Speed Run and Mopping Up
Start an EX New Game from the main menu, selecting your clear data file. This is where that 10,400 Grade comes into play. Buy the following: Max Items 99 (400), Items (500), Gald (1000), Titles (500), Monster Book (10), Collector's Book (10), Recipes (10), Cooking Level (50), Map Data (300), Craft Skill (10), Records (10), All Artes (1000), All Skills (1000), 2x Gald (600), 10x Exp (3000), 2x Drop Rate (1000), and All Skits (1000).

With this, you wil have every record of what you did in the first playthrough, including all the best weapons, armors, artes and skills to begin with. On top of that you will be earning 10x experience to level insanely fast. Now proceed to simply blow through the game. The only thing you will need to do in terms of side-quests is the first step to opening the EX Dungeon, which is visiting Phaeroh's Crag and the rift found there to speak with the Sage and stay at his house before entering Zaude, but after it appears. If you fail to do that (like I did) you will basically have to repeat this step.

The speed run itself should take 9-12 hours. Be sure to use plenty of Holy Bottles to keep monsters away. With the 10x experience, you'll level enough off required fights to be able to ignore the normal enemies. After that, visit Nam Cobanda Isle to watch all the skits, then go for the long grind to level 200 and 10 million Gald by playing the EX Dungeon over and over. Then grind out the rest of the Monster Book/Collector's Book and finish up your titles by doing the 200-man melee with everyone. After all of this, the only achievement you should need is the low-level challenge.

Step 3: Low-level Challenger
Start an EX New Game with your save file from Playthrough 2. Purchase everything you did the first time except swap the 10x Exp for the 1/2 Exp and add in the perks to increase max HP and TP. Again, you'll have all the best weapons, armors, artes and skills so this really won't be hard. Blow through the first chapter and kill off Barbaros, but make sure you are only level 14 when you reach him.

That should be your last achievement, but if it isn't, repeat the steps in Playthrough 2 and finish off any side-quests you may have missed or scan any enemies you may have missed or do whatever it is that you may have missed. Congratulations on one of the longest 1000's on the 360!
 
[x360a would like to thank The Pants Party for this Road Map]

Tales of Vesperia (PAL) Achievement Guide

Printable Guide
Show completed achievements
Show secret achievements

There are 50 achievements with a total of 1000 points

  • Patience. Hours and hours of patience.

    This requires 100 hours played. If you pay in the Grade Shop to transfer battle data (after beating the game, save and then choose EX New Game from the main menu), this will carry over to a new game. If you don't have this somehow after getting everything else, go ahead and leave the game on in a city. You can hit :ybut: to go into your menu and the time will continue to roll on.
  • The journey of 100,000 km begins with a single step.

    If you somehow don't have this by the time you get every other achievement, use a wired controller and tape your :ls: up while flying on Ba'ul as this counts as well.
  • Monsters! Bring on the monsters!

    You will need to defeat 1,000 enemies to earn this achievement. Should come less than halfway through the game if you're not avoiding too many fights.
  • Win more chips!

    You will need to win 100,000 chips for this achievement. Late in the game (just before the final dungeon) you will be able to enter the town on Nam Cobanda Island in the NW of the map. Play poker with the max bet and double down for the high/low game.
  • Save more Gald. More. No, seriously. A lot more.

    You will need 10,000,000 Gald to earn this achievement. Do not sell things to get this achievement! You will need your old weapons to synthesize new weapons for the Collector's Book achievement. The Saphira and Blue Sapphira accessories and the skill Happiness 3 will both give you extra of Gald from battles. If you start a second playthrough, make sure you carry over your Gald and if you have enough Grade, purchase the 2x Gald perk.
  • Clear sub events to acquire titles.

      

    Each character has a number of different titles to earn throughout the game. Some can only be received at specific sections and some will take multiple plays of the game. If you do not get them all on your first play, be sure to spend 500 in the Grade Shop to have the titles carry over to your next playthrough. Make sure you read about them before starting your game as some have multiple parts at various points and can be missed. Also be sure to do all the Secret Missions in a single playthrough to get one Yuri's titles.

    Check this thread for a walkthrough of every title for each character.

  • Careful! Some skits are only available for a limited time.

     
    When playing the game, be aware of the bottom left corner of the screen. An image of the controller's :back: button and the name of a skit will appear at various times and when pressed will launch one of these skits. Some of them are only available briefly so be sure to always hit the button right away when you see it. There are about five hundred of these and some won't show up until you use certain items/skills or do certain quests.

    You can spend 1000 in the Grade Shop to unlock a skit viewer and every skit. The skits you missed will be a very light blue color and you will simply need to view those in the skit viewer at Nam Cobanda Isle to finish this achievement. You can hit start and select "yes" to skip the skit and still get credit for watching it.
  • Just fight and fight until you don't really need to fight anymore.

    You will need to get every character to level 200. Save this for a second or third playthrough, as you can buy a perk for 3000 from the Grade Shop that will give you 10x the experience from all battles. You start each new playthrough at level 5 though, so don't grind too much on your first play thinking that will help. Make sure you unlock the EX Dungeon as the normal experience from bosses in there is 30,000, making it 300,000 with the 10x perk. Giganto monsters are also a good source of experience.
  • The camera reveals what the World Map holds...

    As you travel the world you will gradually uncover more of the map. Hit :ybut:, then select "Library" and finally "World Map" to see your progress. Look around for spots that are still beige and head there to uncover them. Very easy once you get Ba'ul. You will most likely be missing some small speck that you can't see with your naked eye, so once you do your initial sweep when you get Ba'ul, if you don't have the achievement just ignore it and finish playing the game. You ride him often going from city to city so you'll probably hit that last spot randomly somtime. If you don't get it before you finish the game for some reason, be sure to spend 300 in the Grade Shop to carry your map over.
  • Don't forget to use a Magic Lens or two. Or more.

     

    You will get the Monster Book once Karol joins your party. Every monster you encounter before and after that point will be put in there, but their pages will not be filled out unless you use a magic lens on them. You can only carry 15 at a time, so be sure to stock up every single time you come across a shop. If a boss goes through various stages, you may have to scan it more than once. Hold down the :rbbut: button to see if an enemy has not been scanned, you will know because its HP will not be shown. If you already have it in your book, it will show the HP of the monster. If you encounter a boss-type character more than once throughout the game (the two idiot knights and Zagi for instance) you must scan them every time you encounter them. Be sure to spend 10 in the Grade Shop to carry your book over to any future playthrough.

    See this thread for all the monsters you need and where to find them.

  • Careful! Some items are only available through synthesis.

     

    You get the Item Book after Rita joins by searching the loft in her hut. As mentioned in the achievement description, some items can only be acquired through synthesis. Don't sell your old weapons! You will be using them to form new weapons later on. For now, just be sure to get every treasure chest, cooking recipe, etc. and do every side-quest possible. Be sure to spend 10 in the Grade Shop to carry your book over to any future playthrough.

    See this thread for all the items and explanations on how to get them.

  • Synthesize! Mash stuff up! Make lots of things!

    You will need to synthesize 20 different items to get this achievement. To synthesize something head to a shop and select the synthesize option from the menu. From there it will show you items you can make in white (greyed items you don't have enough materials for) so simply use this menu as if you were buying items.

    Warning: Do not ever set your synthesis count to more than 1. If you do that, the achievements will glitch and you will have to start a new game to get it.
  • Save points are located all over the world.

    Save points are yellow/purple orbs with a book in the middle, or some are all-blue orbs that also restore HP/TP. Some are missable, so make sure you follow the guide if necessary. There really aren't any that are "hidden" so just make sure you use every one you see.

    Check this thread for their locations.

  • Aim for total completion.

    You will receive this achievement after gaining all 49 other achievements in the game.
  • Keep that combo going and going and going!

    The most popular option is the "Rita Grade Farming" method described here.

    Another good option is Luna Rondo with Judith against the mushroom enemies outside Zaphias. Put on her Minimum Damage skill and just spam it with everyone else on defense and you can go forever.

 

Secret achievements

  • You used Synthesis to create new equipment and items. Keep it up!

    See "Little Mad Scientist" for more info.
  • Took out your enemy in a single shot! Master this technique to gain advantage in battles.

    As you attack enemies, their three bars will lower depending on the attacks they are hit with. They have red, blue and green bars (hit :rbbut: if they have been scanned with a Magic Lens) and once the bar is empty, another hit with that same type of attack will make them vulnerable to a fatal strike. This ability won't become available until you meet the Hunting Blades. The arte Shining Fang with Yuri is a good way to get a blue symbol to show up quickly. Gold Cat with Rita is great for red symbols.
  • Giganto Monsters are...special. Big. Strong. Nasty. Have fun!

     
    See "Big Game Hunter" for more info.
  • You slew all Giganto Monsters! Nothing can stand before you! Careful, though. It's a big world...

     
    There are nine monsters you need to defeat for this achievement.
    • Hermit Drill (level 34): Weasand of Cados, in the southern corner of the first area of the cave.
    • Medusa Butterfly (level 45): Sands of Kogorh, SW section of the northern part of the desert.
    • Pterobronc (level 49): Mt. Temza, in the crater near the entrance (Ba'ul required to land).
    • Chimera Butterfly (level 50): Quoi Woods, burn the bushes in the north with the level 4 sorcerer's ring.
    • Poseidon (level 55): Enduring Shrine of Zaude.
    • Brutal (level 58): North of Deidon Hold. Appears after exiting the Blade Drifts of Zopheir.
    • Fenrir (level 58): Erealumen Crystallands, NE corner of the cave beyond the second bridge.
    • Griffin (level 59): Northeast Yurzorea, in the field of the sixth contienet in the NW corner of the world map.
    • Brucis (level 62): Egothor Forest, down the hill from the save point.
  • Hey! You answered every quiz question right! You are a true Tales fan. Thank you.

    Talk to a Kowz on Nam Cobanda Island behind a desk to start a side-quest to gather five books. They are located in Halure's Mayor's House, Fortune Market HQ at Torim Harbor, Knight's HQ in Heliord, Mantaic's Inn, and Flynn's House in Aurnion. After getting all five, he will give you a test. The answers are September 30, 1998, Raine, Bubbles, Presea and the option about turning to stone.
  • Whoa! Easy! Could you be any faster?! Relax. Take your time. There's much more to discover...

    This will need to be done on your second (or third, etc.) play through the game. After you finish the game, start an EX New Game and buy the perk "10x experience" from the Grade shop, along with anything else you can afford that will help such as carrying items, artes and skills over. This way you will level very quickly and can overpower all your enemies and bosses. Be sure to skip any dialogue possible, avoid random enemy encounters (use the item "Holy Bottle" often) and only focus on the main story missions.
  • You have cleared the Labyrinth of Memories. Did you enjoy the surprise?

    This dungeon will be available after you finish the game at least once. Before going to Zaude on your first play of the game, revisit Phaeroh's Crag to find a rift that will take you back to the illusion of Yormgen. Talk to the Sage and agree to sleep in his house. From there, go ahead and continue to play and beat the game, then save in a new slot. Once you load that save (it will have a star on it now) you will be just before the final boss but it will have recognized that you beat the game. You can continue working on side-quests and this dungeon will now be available by returning to the illusion and getting a book from the Sage. From there, visit Dahngrest for a scene and then fly west toward Yumanju for another scene. Enter the glowing orb on the islands south of Yumanju to access the dungeon.

    To actually clear the dungeon you will need 15 Fake Gald to enter the final room and face off against the Traitor to Heaven. Once you have defeated him you will leave the dungeon, get a short scene and the achievement. To get the Fake Gald, open all the treasure chests (which will be locked until all enemies in the room are killed) and kill bosses. It may take a few runs of the dungeon to get the 15 Fake Gald needed. You may sometimes only get one or two, other times four or five.
  • You took back the aque blastia core from Barbos. This should fix the lower quarter's fountain.

    See "Defeated the Adephagos" for more info.
  • You put an end to Alexei's ambitions. However, the Adephagos remains. The battle continues...

    See "Defeated the Adephagos" for more info.
  • You defeated the Adephagos with Duke! A new world begins. A world without blastia.

    These three achievements are gained simply progressing through the story and are unlocked automatically.
  • Somehow, somewhere, you became an official member of the Bunny Guild. Who needs Brave Vesperia?

    Speak to a man to the left of the door inside Union HQ in Dahngrest to begin the quest. Keep checking back with him as you unlock more character titles and you will receive various attachments. Once you get four sets of bunny ears for Rita, Estelle, Judith and Yuri, equip all of them and continue to play the game for five hours. As soon as you hit five hours it unlocks automatically no matter where you are in the world.
  • You defeated Barbos at Lv. 15 or under! Amazing! You sure know how to take this guy down.

    This will have to be done on your second (or third, etc.) play through the game. After you finish the game, start an EX New Game and buy the perk "1/2 experience" from the Grade shop, along with anything else that will help such as the HP/TP increases, items, artes and skills. This way you can be sure that you do not exceed level 15 before getting to Barbaros but will still be well prepared. You also can not level past 15 with the experience earned from beating Barbaros, so make sure you're level 14 when you get to him to be safe. Switch the battle difficulty to Easy from the data tab in the menu to help since you will be a lower level than the bosses. Try to avoid most normal battles as well. If you are toward the top of Ghasfarost and are not level 14 yet, go ahead and level for a bit to get there so you can have all the health and attack power possible.

    Note: There may be a miswording of the achievement and you may have to actually be below 15 to get it, not at 15. Aim to be level 14 after the experience earned from the boss just to be safe.
  • Defeated Zagi while protecting Estellise from Zagi's attacks.

    The Secret Mission achievements do not unlock until after the battle so you must successfully complete the secret requirement, then win the battle. If you do not see "Great!" and the battle take a small timeout to show the aftermath of your deed, then you have not done it correctly. Make sure you do all of these in a single playthrough! Doing so will unlock the "True Knight" title for Yuri which you will need for the "They Call Me..." achievement!

     

    Stick close to Zagi and keep pummeling him with normal attacks. The more damage you take, the more healing Estellise will have to do, so she will stay out of the fray. She took two Cyclone attacks and I was able to get this, so I'm not sure what the exact cutoff is.

  • Downed Goliath by attacking its Achilles' heel while it charged X Buster.

    Hold down :ltbut: to go into free roam and move in behind the boss. Once he crosses his arms and beings to glow a little bit, slash at the blue spot on his right calf area. He will fall on his face.
  • Learning from Karol's experience, you used the billybally plants to stun Gattuso.

    Right away, target and kill the two smaller wolves. Then, target one of the three plants to get your party attacking it (set the battle plan for everyone to "same enemy" for their targets), which will lure the wolf in close to it. Stand back and use your normal Azure Edge arte and hit the plant. It will expell some gas and knock him over.
  • Lured Zagi to the side of the ship and knocked him overboard to cool him off!

    First, make sure your Overlimit is filled to level 1 at least. Then stand toward either the far left or far right side of the ship and keep using Azure Edge until Zagi come to attack you. Now hold down :xbut: to block and wait for him to use his Cyclone attack. Because you are blocking you will not get knocked into the air and he will float above your head. Quickly release block and hit your d-pad to activate your Overlimit. The small burst from the activation will send him into the water.

    An easier way might be to position Zagi in between you and the railing, then use Fang Strike to knock him into the air, then trigger your Overlimit and send him over the side.
  • Downed the Dreaded Giant when it reared back and left itself wide open.

    Use ranged attacks to deal damage and enrage the boss. Keep just out of his swiping distance and wait for him to rear up on his hind legs (after which he will come crashing down and cause an area effect of damage), but quickly rush in before he comes down and attack while he is on his back legs. You will knock him over onto his back. You could also take control of Rita and use her ranged attack Champagne when he rears up.
  • Raven used Serpent to set a trap for the Gigalarva and prevented it from healing itself.

    Make sure you have the SP Flag item (synthesized special item) and put Raven in the first slot from the Y menu so you can control him during battle, or get the Moon Selector item and during battle press :ybut: then start to change to Raven. Get this boss down to 10-15k so he heads toward the small pool of water to heal himself. With Raven, use the arte "Serpent" in the pool of water where the boss stabs his pincer. If you position it right, his pincer will hit the trap and he will get knocked back.
  • VS Barbos. You took out the bridge supports, keeping him from calling out more of his thugs.

    During the fight with Barbaros, use RB to switch and target the four green orbs and destroy them one by one. They should only take about six hits each.
  • Third battle VS. Zagi. Let him absorb too much magic, destroying his bohdi blastia.

    Make sure Rita is in your party before you enter the Coliseum. Edit the Defend strategy so that she is set to "Magic Only" and everyone else is set to "Defend" and during the fight use that while running away from Zagi controlling Yuri. After Rita uses a spell he will charge his blastia. If he charges it three times (without being hit) it will explode.
  • VS. Pteropus. You defeated the Leader Bat and prevented Pteropus from recombining.

    Once the boss breaks into all the smaller bats, make sure you destroy the Leader Bat before any of the other bats. Set your battle strategy so everyone attacks the same enemy as you and have Judith in your party for her excellent aerial attacks.
  • VS. Outbreaker. You destroyed the core and prevented magic from inverting day and night.

    This one takes some patience. The method I used was controlling Judith and constantly up attacking (:ls: up + :bbut:) and when he spit the orb out to heal himself, quickly move yourself directly below the shadow of it and use Luna Rise. You'll spin up the monster's belly and finish with a kick to the orb. It will take a while, but the edge of the orb will turn orange, then purple, then eventually explode.
  • VS. Belius. You lit up all candlesticks and eliminated the illusions.

    When the lights go out and Belius makes a double of herself, use RB to target each of the four candles and use Yuri's Destruction Field arte to relight each of them.
  • VS. Nan and Tison. Timed your strikes between their attacks and knocked them down.

    Nan and Tison both have attacks that will get their weapon (Nan) or hands (Tison) stuck in the ground. When they perform these, avoid the attack and quickly rush in and hit them to knock them over. I believe the names are Rending Strike (Nan) and Dragon Maw (Tison). You must do this to both of them, so focus on one and kill them off after, then get the other.
  • VS. Schwann. Downed him by attacking when he was clutching his heart after his mystic arte.

    Equip Yuri with Azure Edge or Ghost Wolf Strike. When Schwann uses his Blast Heart move (you'll know it when you see it) try to be outside its range (I found having everyone on attack and just staying back by myself worked) and then after the move is done, immediately hit :abut: to activate one of the above artes (if you're on semi-auto). I say to use those because one is ranged and the other is a dash move, so you can hit him much quicker with those. Equip Yuri with an item that increases battle speed movement if needed.
  • Fourth battle VS. Zagi. Used Karol's Nice Recovery Smash arte to force him to recover from poison.

    Make sure you synthesize the Moon Selector item before this fight unless you want to use Karol the whole time. With that item you can press :ybut: during battle, then hit start to change who you control. Also manually assign Nice Recovery Smash to one of Karol's arte positions. Fight as normal until about halfway through when Zagi starts emitting poison from his blastia. At this point, use that arte next to Zagi to stop the poison.
  • VS. Baitojoh. Hit it 3 times during it's Ice Edge attack and fished it out of the water.

    Once the full group is in the fight, wait for the beast to go below the ice with its fin sticking out and strike it to knock it back onto the ice without letting it do its arte attack. While it was under, I found it easiest to hold :ltbut: and go into free run, then do a sort of fly-by attack when the fin popped out. You might also try using Ghost Wolf since it is a dash attack.
  • VS. Estellise. Used the item, Mother's Memento.

    Make sure you have received the Mother's Memento item from a scene triggered by sleeping at the Inn in Mantaic, anytime after entering the Sands of Kogorh but before visiting Myorzo. In the second phase of the battle when Yuri is alone, simply use it like you would any other item.
  • VS. Yeager. Made his heart explode using Raven's Rain arte.

    This is the method that got me the achievement:

    During the second half of the fight (after he reveals his heart), take control of Raven. Make sure you don't have any weapons or skills equipped that will alter your artes (you want normal Rain, not Rainsong). Keep your allies at their normal strategies and back up, making sure Yeager is facing you. Now go into Overlimit (having synthesized the Quatro for level 4 will help) and simply spam your Rain arte over and over and over. Your allies should add in some melee strikes and eventually he will go into a hunched over state where he is catching his breath. Since you are spamming Rain, it should have no problem hitting him directly after he does this. Since your allies are up close, they may hit him first, so use some Limit Bottles and try again until it works.

    This youtube video seems to be an easy way as well, but I never tried it. Watch the video and click "more info" to read about his setup and exactly what he did.

  • VS. Alexei. Downed him by attacking when he was tired after his mystic arte.

    When he goes into Overlimit, get next to him and begin blocking. He should always use his mystic arte when in Overlimit and afterward he will hunch over to catch his breath. The more times he uses it in a battle, the longer he stays hunched over. I did not get this until the third time he used it, but just run up and use normal attacks or any arte when he is hunched. Eventually he will go down. Put your allies on defend if his health is getting low and you still haven't done it. Let him heal with his ice move for a bit before continuing.
  • VS. Gusios. Attacked his tail, then downed him with a close attack while his feet were raised.

    Use free run (hold :ltbut:) to get behind Gusios and attack his tail. You'll see it retract inside his body. Then run in front and wait for him to swipe (stay back for this) and then he will rear up on his hind legs and pound his chest (just before a ground slam attack) and run up to attack him. Ghost Wolf is a nice dash attack that can close the distance quickly.
  • VS. Khroma. Downed her by timing your strikes between certain of her attacks.

    Try to get Khroma down to about 25% health, then put everyone on defend. Use free run (hold :ltbut:) and wait for her to fly in the air, then slam down. When you see her go up, begin to move in and use the Ghost Wolf dash attack as soon as she lands. Now, she has a few of these attacks so it may not be the right one on the first try, but use the same tactic until it works. You're looking for the attack where rocks fall to the ground.
  • VS. Flynn. He used every arte he could, including a mystic arte.

    Try to begin the fight in Overlimit 3 or use Limit Bottles to get there quickly. Use your Overlimit and trigger your Mystic Arte (use an Arcane Arte, then hold A) which will force him to counter with his MA. Now get him to about 25% health so he heals, then simply hold X to defend until he has used all his other attacks and you get the short cinematic.
  • Fifth battle VS. Zagi. Downed him by attacking after he becomes exhausted from Blastia Bane.

    Much like the battle against Alexei, the more times he uses his Blastia Bane move, the longer he will get tired. Get him down to about 25% and then put everyone on defend. Follow him around and do nothing but block until he uses it, then use Ghost Wolf to strike at him. Eventually he'll be tired long enough that you'll get the hit in time.
  • Defeated Duke using a mystic arte.

    You're going to need Duke into his second form (the white one), then get him down to about 20k for this to work. It could be a little more, especially if you're on easy difficulty, but just to be safe go low. Once you get there, put your allies on defend and go into Overlimit (make sure it is level 3 or 4) and use an altered or arcane arte, then hold the :bbut: button while you are performing the arte. If done correctly, you will launch into your Mystic arte and should do enough damage to kill him.

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