How to get the Shadow Ranger achievement

The Shadow Ranger achievement has been the topic of much debate, due to the ambiguity of what it means to kill a human only when necessary. I finally acquired this achievement for myself, so I've decided to share how to do it, and finally clear things up once and for all.

Disclaimer

I have heard numerous times that various sources, including the developers, have claimed that killing enemies during D6, The Train, or Red Square do not count towards killing humans. I have not personally confirmed these claims, but I have confirmed that the steps listed in this guide are how I got the achievement. This guide is not meant to be authoritative by any means, it's simply a way to prevent the frustration of playing through the game and not getting the achievement.

Introduction

This can be an incredibly difficult achievement to earn, since necessity is open to interpretation. You may have seen guides that say you can do certain things, or that you can't do certain things. Well, after finally getting this achievement for myself, I've decided to share my knowledge with other people, in the hopes to finally end the arguments once and for all.

I've decided to split up the parts that are debated into sections, rather than just giving a simple step-by-step list. In doing so, I hope to avoid ambiguity and save players the frustration of following vague instructions only to not earn the well-deserved achievement.

Kill vs. Knock Out

Early in the game, you are shown that by approaching enemies, you have the option of either killing or knocking them out. It is important to note, for the sake of the achievement, that knocking out an enemy is not the same as killing. However, the only way to knock out an enemy is by walking up to an enemy and using the appropriate button ("E" is the default). Any other methods of attack will count as a kill.

Difficulty Levels

You can use any difficulty level you want for this achievement. I used Easy mode to get this achievement, so I assume that if you can get it on Easy, you can get it on all other difficulty levels. However, some parts of the game are difficult when you're not allowed to kill humans, so I would highly recommend sticking with Easy mode.

(Note: I have not tested how changing the difficulty mid-game affects getting the achievement. I don't think it would be a problem, but since I already have the achievement I can't test it. I only mention this because certain parts of the game, such as The Chase, are near impossible to finish unless you're on Easy mode. If anyone could test this, it would be greatly appreciated.)

Mutants vs. Humans

The actual criteria for the achievement is not to kill any Humans unless you absolutely have to. In other words, this means that all non-human mutants can be killed. I've heard otherwise, but I do not believe the mutants at the very beginning count against the achievement, at least in my experience. I do know for absolute certain that for the rest of the game, as long as the enemy you are facing is not a human, you can kill it.

Reloading Checkpoints

As long as you have not killed any human enemies except for the ones that are necessary (which I will address in the appropriate section), you can reload checkpoints as much as you want without worrying, with one exception: If you end up killing a human enemy when you're not supposed to, you must start the game over again.

Player Death

The player is allowed to die while working towards this achievement. In addition to simply being killed by the enemies, you are allowed to let yourself get killed as an alternative to reloading checkpoints.

Stealth

While you cannot kill most of the human enemies, you do not necessarily have to knock all of them out either. You can simply sneak by them if you so choose. In fact, there are some instances where it is impossible to knock out enemies without being noticed. You can simply sneak by them if you so choose.

Despite what is suggested by the name of the achievement, you can still acquire it if you get spotted. You can run up to enemies and knock them out, you can reload the checkpoint, or you can simply run past your enemies to the end of the area. As long as you do not kill any enemies, you'll be fine.

Bandits

For the most part, you shouldn't have much problem knocking out enemies. However, there is one bandit sitting on a railcar with a lantern on his left side that many people have had trouble knocking out. As such, I felt I should explain how to go about knocking him out.

First, you should not extinguish his lantern. Instead, approach him from the darkened right side, and stand near him, and jump towards him. If you are playing on a non-Ranger difficulty level, the prompt for knocking him out should show up.

The Chase

As far as I am aware, you are not allowed to kill any enemies during The Chase. This includes the enemies that are shooting at you while you are riding the Railcar being driven by Khan. All you can do is duck and heal yourself. You need a minimum of 3 medkits, but I highly recommend having 5. Be sure to use them sparingly, because there's a checkpoint in the middle of the ride, and if you don't have any medkits, you'll probably have to start the chapter over again. Don't fret if you end up dying a lot, you can always reload the checkpoint as long as you didn't kill any human enemies.

As for the train itself, it doesn't matter how many medkits you have. You can loot medkits off of knocked out enemies. If you don't feel like knocking them out, you can just run past them. As long as you don't kill any of them, you're that much closer to getting the achievement.

[Update: September 26, 2021: A user named blackjacksikes has confirmed that you are allowed to kill enemies in this section without failing the achievement.]

Red Square

As far as I can tell, you are not allowed to shoot any enemies here either, except for Pavel. I didn't even attempt to shoot him while he was taunting me, I just hid and punched enemies as they came at me, and waited until he said he was getting impatient and opened the front doors. You may be able to shoot at Pavel to prompt it earlier, but I didn't risk this because I didn't want to accidentally hit one of his snipers.

Once the front doors open and you make your way up the stairs, you can shoot Pavel. Doing so is necessary to proceed. This is one of the only times in the game you are allowed to.

Be sure to save him after he gets grabbed by the scary arm monster thingies. I believe just leaving him there counts as killing.

[Update: September 26, 2021: A user named blackjacksikes has confirmed that you are allowed to kill enemies in this section without failing the achievement.]

D6

As far as I know, this is the only part of the game that you can kill any non-mutant enemies. A user named Sitru has confirmed that you can shoot pretty much everyone during this level and still acquire the achievement. However, for those who prefer to err on the side of caution, it is possible to get through the game with killing only two enemies.These enemies are:

1.The Tank - Not really a human, but definitely not a mutant, and if you don't destroy it, the game ends.
2. The Flamethrower Man - What's important to keep in mind is that, if you're erring on the side of caution, you can only shoot the guy with the flamethrower, not his guards. At one point, the guards leave an opening wherein he shoots fire for no particular reason, but this is not the only opening. As they approach, you can jump atop the wall right in front of you, and shoot at him without worrying about his guards being in the way.

Gasmask Filters

There has been some confusion as to whether or not looting gasmask filters from unconscious enemies counts as killing. As of June 26, 2014, a user by the name of Dracses has confirmed that you can loot filters off of unconscious enemies and still earn the achievement.

Conclusion

If you've followed all the guidelines, you should receive the achievement after Artyom grabs the handle on the detonater, at the start of the ending cutscene that plays depending on which ending you've earned.

I hope this guide has been helpful, and I hope I've cleared up the issues that are associated with this achievement.

Regarding Guide Updates

This guide is based mainly on personal experience in acquiring the achievement, and there are some variables which remain uncertain. If you have any additional information that I have not gone over within the guide, please let me know through the comments and I will update the guide accordingly.

Regarding Comments

I politely request that you carefully read through the guide before asking a question in the comments. If there can be no answer found within the guide, that is when you should ask in the comments. I may not get back to you immediately, but I will answer as soon as possible.

[Black Wolf]

Thanks for the guide and interesting pfp lol never seen someone be like 3 different charcters

[Randum]

I heard that some levels like Contagion can be bad when it comes to this achievement/trophy since there's a glitch where knocking them out close to the fire can and will kill them and it will count against you. One such forum below mentions the Contagion level a lot when it comes to SR.

Link [www.playstationtrophies.org]

[The Tricorgs]

NIce job on getting it done your first try! It's been ages since I last played but I remember having a lot of trouble with it, having to reload checkpoints over and over again.

[Randum]

Got it on my first attempt, as I've already completed the game to 100% + Platinum Trophy on the PS3 version including the Shadow Ranger trophy on my second attempt, so I have the needed experience to tackle it. This achievement can be frustrating especially on levels like The Chase and Red Square if you do not have enough medkits to spare, since enemies will shoot you on sight and can kill you immediately especially since you are not allowed to kill for this achievement.

[exodus]

Worked perfectly for me, I recommend you to not kill anybody on levels The Chase, Red Square
( first time when I tried to complete this achievment I failed maybe it was something else but then I tried it once more killing only that one guy on D6 with flamethrower and then it worked.

[Captain Chirac]

So, apparently, killing enemies before reloading the last checkpoint (when you've gotten spotted and just want to enjoy killing them first) will prevent you from getting the achievement. This might explain why I didn't get it (before using the CFG file trick).

Thank you very much for the well-written guide.

[Malthrius]

For people still trying to go for this: The prologue where you're sitting at the campfire as an NPC guard ALSO counts. I had to dig so deep into the forums to find this out after double attempting this achievement.

Additionally for people tired of trying this and failing, an easy fix is the following:
4A Games - Metro LL - Numbered Map - Copy Paste the Auto_Save file underneath the numbered map - Start new game - DO NOT KILL DARK ONES AT START - when the auto saves is done once you're Artyom, quit the game - copy auto_save file back into the numbered map and let it overwrite the other one - open game again and press continue, you'll respawn at the end of the D6 mission and you'll unlock it once the little Dark One touches your hand.

[111]

SAM is boring though

[Roti Tawar]

just use SAM for quick way

[abca98]

If for whatever reason you followed the guide perfectly and yet didn't get the achievement, you can go to %LOCALAPPDATA%\4A Games\Metro LL\<user-id>\user.cfg and delete the file, then play D6 again, and it will pop.