The Long Dark Achievement Guide (100%)

Definitive Guide for completing all Achievements in The Long Dark. Step by step explanations for all Sandbox and Wintermute Achievements. Updated and improved regularly. (Feb. 2022)

Intro

The Long Dark Achievement Guide

Welcome to The Long Dark Achievement Guide. It offers comprehensive explanations on how to get all achievements.

SUGGESTIONS AND FEEDBACK ARE WELCOMED!

Survival Achievements

The First of Many
Survive 1 day in a single Survival Mode game.


Starting a game, the first priority should be to find a shelter to gather basic resources and provide sufficient protection. Food and Water should be prioritized, with Clothing, Firewood and Medical items important as well. The first day should be no problem at all.


You Made It!
Survive 10 days in a single Survival Mode game.


On past the first day, the first priority is finding more locations to scavenge for supplies. Head out fully rested with sufficient daylight, and look for signs of other shelters like footpaths, telephone poles, and roads. Other main priorities should be keeping your needs satisfied and condition up. For water, snow can be melted in Recycled Cans or Cooking Pots into Unsafe Water. This can further be boiled, becoming Potable Water, which is safe to drink. Food should be plentiful in houses or buildings, but make sure the quality is above 30% before eating it. Clothing is also important, as it will increase resistance to the cold both indoors and outdoors. There is one major obstacle in the early game, though: Wolves. If seen, they should be given a wide berth. Back up slowly if they are encountered and get to an indoor location quickly. The first 10 days should fly by.


Ready for when SHTF!
Survive 50 days in a single Survival Mode game.


Continuing from 10 days, this is the part where it starts to get a bit more difficult. keep scavenging for supplies, and this is the time you should start to head to another region. Continue to get better clothing, food, and water. This is also a good time to start a base. Drop off your supplies at your preferred location. Scavenge during the day and make your way back to your base to drop your new supplies off. You won't be as cold anymore, so your main problem will be hostile creatures (Wolves, Bears, Moose) stay clear of them. You should get to 50 days in no time if you're smart with supplies and don't provoke the wildlife.


Centurion
Survive 100 days in a single Survival Mode game.




The Will to Live
Survive 500 days in a single Survival Mode game.




Face the Impossible
Survive one day on Interloper difficulty.




Night Walker
Survive an entire Night outside (single game).


Collect firewood during the day and scout out a location to camp at through the night. When you start getting tired set up in your outdoor location preferably sheltered from the wind (fishing hut, shallow cave or Hunter's Blind). Start a fire and feed it all your wood. Put your bedroll down and sleep in 2 hour intervals, checking if your fire is still strong enough to live through the night. By the time the sun is fully risen you should get the achievement.


Beneath a Starry Sky
Survive 3 consecutive Nights outside (single game).


Collect enough Food, Water, and Firewood to sustain you for 3 days during the daytime and drop it off at a location outdoors and sheltered from the wind. Start a fire during the night if your temperature is dropping, and sleep in intervals of 1-2 hours. Do not enter any interior location, as it will reset the counter. You can spend the day breaking down limbs and branches for your fire. After three nights, the achievement should unlock.


Living Off the Land
Survive 25 consecutive full days only consuming calories harvested from wild plants and animals (single game).`




Silent Hunter
Survive the first 50 days without firing any firearms (single game).




Pacifist
Survive the first 25 days without killing anything (single game).

Sandbox Achievements

It was THIS Big!
Catch a fish weighing over 5kg (11 lbs).


There are two types of fish in The Long Dark that can weigh over 5 kilos which are the Coho Salmon, caught in Salt water, and, only after reaching Ice Fishing level 4 or 5, the Small-mouth Bass, caught in Freshwater. Increasing Fishing Level can be time consuming, so fishing for the Coho Salmon in Salt water is more reasonable and easy to complete the achievement. Two Regions in the Long Dark have Salt water Ice Fishing huts - Bleak Inlet, which has 2 near the Fallen Lighthouse, and Coastal Highway, which has numerous along the coast. Both have equal chances of fish catching as well as huts with nearby shelter, so choose the region more convenient for you. In order to fish, you will need Fishing Tackle. Fishing Tackle can be crafted with 1 Hook and 1 Line. 1 Scrap metal at a workbench will yield 3 hooks, and 1 cured gut will yield 2 Line. Make sure to prepare,many, as tackle breaks after short use on lower skill levels. Make sure your clothing, food, and water is adequate for the Huts, and fish away. It may take many days to catch a fish over 5 kilos.

Natural Healer
Heal yourself using all types of natural medicines (single game).


Harvest 3 Reishi mushrooms, which can be found on tree stumps, 3 Rose Hip bushes found around many buildings and landmarks, and 3 Old Mans Beard Lichen, which hang from tree branches. You can locate them easily by using charcoal from fireplaces to map the area around you. This will highlight the plants on your map. With these resources, craft Prepared Reishi Mushrooms, Prepared Rose Hips, and an Old Mans Beard bandage with their respective raw resources. Heat up both teas and apply / drink all of them (you do not need it to be effective for it to count), and you will get the achievement.

Happy Harvester
Harvest 25 of each kind of plant (single game).


To get this you will need to harvest 25 Reishi Mushrooms, 25 Old Mans Beard Lichen, 25 Cattails and 25 Rose Hip bushes. Reishi Mushrooms can be found on tree stumps, and with my experience, if you find Reshi Mushrooms, the tree stumps around it will also have some. Cattails are found around lakes, ponds, and rivers, plentiful throughout Great Bear but easiest at Mystery Lake. Rose Hip bushes and Old Mans Beard Lichen, if you can't find any, can be found by using charcoal (gathered at burnt out fires) to map. They will show up on your map if you zoom in. One thing to note is that you will need 200 Rose Hips, not 25, because the plant gives 8 Hips per harvest.

Don't Starve
Keep calorie store above zero for 10 days.


Make sure you have fair amount of food to begin with. Always keep an eye on your calorie level and never let it get too low, and always top it off with more food so it is as full as possible at any moment without wasting any calories. Explore new locations through the 10 days to get enough food. After 3 days you will get a Weight limit boost, allowing you to stock up on more resources and food. Hunting can also help you with this, a deer or wolf can feed you for a few days and a Bear or Moose, while difficult and dangerous to kill, will give you weeks worth of food, allowing you to easily complete the challenge.

Resolute Outfitter
Fill all clothing slots with 100% condition gear.


To get this achievement you will first need to find clothing items for each slot, and while mostly easy the accessories can be difficult to find. Ear Wraps are rare, and can be found where higher quality clothing is found. The Moose Hide Satchel is a option, crafted at a workbench using cured gut and Moose Hide. Once you have every clothing slot filled, travel to a place with abundant cloth like the Coastal Townsite. Spend some time harvesting curtains and collecting sewing kits. Once you have a lot of cloth, Start repairing each item to 100%. It may take a few days because you cannot mend in the night time. If you run out of sewing kits, you can use fishing hooks (crafted using Hooks with Scrap Metal and Line with Cured Gut) to mend clothing. Having a higher level of mending will also help.

Penitent Scholar
Complete all Research books.


Work in progress.

Timberwolf Mountain
Climb to the top of Timberwolf Mountain.


Work in progress.

Desolation Point
Craft a full set of improvised Tools.


Work in progress.

Deep Forest
Keep a campfire burning for 3 days.


Set up in a wind protected area, like a cave. Gather sticks and break down branches. Once you have a fair amount, start a fire in your cave and feed it all your wood. While the fire is running, you can cook, eat, and sleep a bit, but make sure you keep breaking down cedar limbs and fir limbs and pick up sticks to continue feeding the fire. Repeat the cycle and never let the fire get too low. After 3 days, you will get the achievement.

Waste Not, Want Not
Harvest 10 Complete Deer Carcasses (single game).


To complete this achievement, you will need to harvest 10 complete deer carcasses. This means harvesting all meat, guts, and hide from the deer, and to my knowledge, quartering does not count. Hunting 10 deer will require around 10 bullets in a rifle, but is often not necessary as ravaged deer carcasses (killed by wolves or permanent ones) count for the achievement and take less time to harvest. Keep track of how many you've harvested so you know whether or not to hunt for more or not.

Wrapped in Furs
Sleep in a Bearskin Bedroll while wearing a Wolfskin Coat, Deerskin Boots, and Rabbitskin Mittens.


Work in progress.

Stone-Age Sniper
Stun a rabbit with a rock from over 25 meters (80 feet) away.


Work in progress.

Skilled Survivor
Get all skills to level 5 in a single Survival Mode game.


Work in progress.

Fatihful Cartographer
Map all named locations in Survival Mode.


Work in progress


Challenge Mastery
Complete every Challenge.


Have not completed.

Wintermute Achievements (SPOILERS)

Changelog

10-22-20 - Reformatting Guide
12-09-20 - Instructions for more achievements
05-04-20 - Instructions for Resolute Outfitter,

[casper613]

Fishing will reset your progress towards it, unfortunately. You'll have to make due without fish.

[Joeaeah]

Do fish count for the pacifist achievement? I'm trying to lump the silent hunter, living off the land, and pacifist achievement into one attempt, without fishing idk if ill be able to subsist off cattails for a month.

[jaber]

is it possible to complete beneath a starry sky inside of a cave? it works for curing cabin fever so i wanted to make sure

[土豆骑士]

Thanks for such guide

[Forrest]

Thanks for such guide .

[TakeiT]

Don't worry, mate, I know it's not easy make these guides, and more importantly if something doesn't pleases you, don't force yourself. I just wanted to share that information that helped me.

[casper613]

Sorry for not updating it in a while. I've taken a break from The Long Dark, I've played too much and writing this wasn't fun for me. I'll try to continue soon.

[TakeiT]

It appears that the project has been abandoned For those interested (as I do), visit this website: trueachievements.com ... this site has guides and information of all the achievements.

[Skookumsquitch]

When will this guide be complete? Hitherto, this is the most comprehensive list of Achievements that I have soughten, and it would be a shame for it to remain incomplete.

[ᚦ]

It was THIS Big! sadly anymore should not be in sandbox. Living Off the Land which most people have trouble with should be noted you have to stay in the same region without leaving to have it unlock. Otherwise good job so far.