Achievement Guide - 1k POW's, CONTINUE?, 1M CO-OP, all Fetichists

This is a 4 in 1 achievement guide that explains how to get them the easiest, safest way and it includes:

The King of Recovery - Save 1k POW's
Master Ninja - Clear the game without losing a credit
Teamwork - Get 1 million points while in CO-OP
All 4 Fetichist achievements - How to get them the quickest

Also includes an explanation for those of you who are either too lazy or to eager to get the King of Recovery and Fetichist achievements by editing the MS3 files. Or to just simply check on your progress regarding these achievements.

This guide owes its thanks to:
Miggoh | No meatbuns, No life
Stukov Wolfwood
Strycer

King of Recovery getting 22 POW's in less than 4 minutes

This whole guide bases on the first mission on Easy mode.

To check your progress on this achievement or to cheat it refer to the "Locating and editing the MS3 files" section.

So Mission 1 - Easy Mode.

Within a few tries even you will be able to clear this whole mission within just 4 minutes and saving between 20-22 POW's along the way. Which I find is the fastest way to grind POW's.

So let's get going with the guide itself. Within it I will explain each POW, where to get it, how and when.

Just as you start your very first 3 will be unmissable. The 1st on the ship in the sand, 2nd on the big ship and 3rd will be the girl.

Now within these branching paths, go with the upper one, ignore the submarine.

Up here the 4th one will be waiting for you. As well as the 5th along the path.

Now when the path's branch once again, go for the one below with the ship. (Fun little fact if you didn't know, if you throw a grenade in the position I am in the picture, you will get 4-5 mushrooms)

On this little ship your 6th POW awaits you. As you carry on, stand on right end of the ship and shoot down the 7th and 8th POW who are hanging above you.

Once you reach this big truck I suggest standing close to it and spamming your grenades, that way it will sink really fast.

As you continue floating on the boat, I once again suggest standing on the right end of the ship since the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th POW will be hanging above you. Here I also suggest not to flail your gun around cause you can easily hit a POW and lose it in the water. Even tho army men will jump on your ship, don't stress they can be dealt with easily. Concentrate on your POW's as this is the spot that will most likely stand between you and the max 22 POW's you can save in a run.

Once you have saved the 4 POW's another big truck should await for you and once again, just stand close to it and spam your grenades. It will go down fast. Before any of the bombs even reach you.
After that you keep floating and fish will jump out of the water and attack you. Easy to deal with. Once you have dealt with them wait for the ship to stop, explode and reveal a Metal Slug for you to jump in. Get in it, it will make your life easier.

Once you get into it start shooting the Crab boss with everything you got UNTIL he explodes and starts shooting big black rockets at you like in the picture below.
At this point STOP SHOOTING HIM and just hug the right side of the screen like in the picture.
Why are you doing this? Every once in a while a POW will appear from the right side which you will save. A maximum of 10 will appear, after that you can just shoot the boss. But for your convenience I have tested and found that almost EVERY SINGLE TIME the last POW will spawn when the game timer hits 33. So you don't even have to count until you have all 10 of them, just check the timer. As soon as it hits 33 and the last POW is saved (sometimes it's even at 34 but rarely I find) just blast away at the boss until he is dead, which won't take long.

And here we are with 22 POW's saved within 4 minutes, tested multiple times, almost always within 4 minutes. And here is where you see that you can also get the 500k achievement if you don't have it yet.

The math - How long until my achievement?

So I've found that by this method you can get 22 POW's within 4 minutes. And being the kind of guy who isn't a fan of grinding, I find it somewhat satisfactory that I don't have to play the game for 50h just to collect a 1000 POW's.

Considering most already have the 100 POW achievement, we can somewhat safely assume you need 900 more POW's, just for the sake of argument.

Since it's not a guarantee to always get the 22 POW's due to messing up, we can confidently assume we average 20 saved POW's a run. So 20 POW's in 4 minutes.

The math:
60 minutes / 4 minutes = 15 runs within an hour.
15 x 20 = 300 POW's saved on average within an hour.

I think that ain't too bad. Think about it this way. Each night you dedicate an hour for this and within 3 days you already have the achievement. Or even just do 7/8 runs which should average about 30mins total and within 6 days you have it. I think that's decent compared to the amount one would need to play regularly to get a 1000 POW's.

After some experimenting and checking my progress via the MS3 data files, I've found out that you can end the game as soon as you save the last POW at the 33 timer mark. The game still counted every single POW towards progress so it is not required to wait until Mission 2 starts.

All 4 Fetichist achievements

First of all, the fastest way I find to do this is with a gamepad, not the keyboard but it by no means is necessary.

To check your progress on this achievement or to cheat it refer to the "Locating and editing the MS3 files" section.

Simply what you do is quickly select Main Mission, don't change anything just take Arcade mode, One Player and then take your desired character for the achievement.

To make things easier, I'll show it like this. ('A' means Enter/Accept/Shoot button)
Main Mission [A] -> Arcade Mode [A] -> One Player [A] -> Desired character

Now a very important thing to note which sped up everything. When you get to this screen and select your character you do not have to wait until you see the "Mission 1 START!" screen.
As soon as you choose your character and see the striped gate fall down like in the picture below, you can already press ESCAPE to exit the game and repeat. Now sometimes I could press ESC before the mission starts, sometimes I could press it almost as soon as the gate fell down and hear the characters name. BUT the most important thing to know is that IT ALL COUNTS. The game still registers it as a selected character.
This way I got the Fetichist achievements in just a few minutes.
Also, the fastest will of course be Marco, then Eri, next Fio and last Tarma.
Simply because of the amount of times you'll have to navigate to choose the character.




Unlocking the achievement

Since you will not get the achievement once you reach a hundred you will have to make the game activate it's 'counter' mechanism that will unlock your achievement and it is done quite simply.

As soon as you have counted your 100th time there are essentially 3 ways to check it.

1) As soon as you start the mission, just throw a grenade, even while still gliding in the air, that's how I unlocked mine

2) Stukov Wolfwood's mentioned method - as soon as you drop down, hug the left side of the screen, and throw a grenade to make the fish jump

3) Miggoh | No meatbuns, No life's mentioned method - save the first POW and the achievement should unlock (the first one should be this one)

Master Ninja with the CO-OP method

This method's credits go to Miggoh | No meatbuns, No life for mentioning it.
But credits go also for Strycer for pulling me up and trying this out.

We are going to go just a little in depth in explaining this method.

This is the story of Strycer and PURPLOYD one night hunting for achievements together. And Strycer suddenly suggesting:" Hey, let's try out this guys method to see if we can get the achievement". This is that story.

Let's begin.
So simply explaining this method I'll quote the author we got it from:

İlk olarak Miggoh | No meatbuns, No life tarafından gönderildi:

If you are really hopeless, you can die yourself and then watch your friend complete the game

And that is exactly how it works.

So do the following

• Invite your friend or get invited
  
• Choose Easy Mode
  
• Mission Mode
  
• Pick Mission 5 / Final Mission

What are you both going to do? Depends. Who's getting the achievement?

The person getting the achievement will be the one who will try his best not to die (if he so wishes) but actually he can die both times until he gets the "CONTINUE?" screen. At this point DO NOT PUSH ANYTHING, just let the timer run out and watch your friend play.

Your friend will be the one carrying out all of the mission and completing, he on the other hand can die as much as he likes (as long as he can still finish the mission). Lose as many credits as he wants.

In our story of Strycer and PURPLOYD, I carried Strycer to get the achievement. Once he lost both of his lives and got the CONTINUE? screen, he just let the timer run out. After that I just carried out on my own. I lost at least 5-6 credits by the end of Mission 5 but Strycer got his achievement once the final boss lost his brain.

The theory?
I suspect it's simply due to the fact the game needs to register 20 CREDITS for this achievement. And since the player getting the achievement does not continue, he does not use up a credit. And once the game is finished POP comes up the achievement.

Teamwork - Mission 1

The continuing story of Strycer's and PURPLOYD's achievement hunting night!

No doubt you know about the Space Section in the game on Mission 5 where it's quite easy to rack up points. But I never got my 1M points that way, always messed up something or died. This method I find is far easier and safer.

This section will explain how to get 1M points in the first 2 Missions! This achievement unlocks only for one person and only if the person gets the 1M first. The game does not combine your scores. Kinda defeats the purpose of calling it "Teamwork" doesn't it?

So to start out, get in the game itself, either host or join your friend, choose Easy mode and Arcade mode.

What are the both of you going to do?

The player getting the achievement - Go through Mission 1 with all POW's mentioned in the guide saved, not dying once within it. In Mission 2 you can die a few times and still get the achievement but it is still suggested that you end up with at least a few POW's in the end.

The player helping get the achievement - Just follow the other around. DO NOT SAVE ANY POW's, that is fairly crucial. Don't take it heavily, tho. There will be situations where you will not be able to help it (on the ship for example in M1) and save 1 or 2, that doesn't mean you have to restart. But basically try to just hang behind the first player, don't interfere much only help out if the other is in a tight situation and might die. This player can die all he wants. It doesn't really matter.

So now that we have that out of the way, on with the guide itself.

Mission 1: Which routes to take, which POW's to save, which secrets to take and what must the helping player do at what point.

Right at the very beginning hug the left side, turn right and throw a grenade. Fish will jump up.

At this fish jump above it and shoot down. You will get a crab.

Stand here and shoot up. Either a bone or a key will fall down. Bone gives 100, key 1000.

Here's your 1st POW. Remember, Mr. Achievement saves them all, Mr. Helpful saves none. I also suggest jumping and shooting down upon the ship because it explodes a bunch of crabs and if you time it just right and are in mid-air when it explodes, you will get all or most of them. Which is good, each crab is worth a 1000.

2nd POW. Deal with the enemies and carry on. Save the girl which counts as the 3rd POW. It's crucial you save her, she gives a ton of points in the end. Go up, ignore the submarine.

4th POW. Deal with the enemies and your 5th POW will be along the way.

Stop here, right in this spot. Crouch and throw a grenade. You will get 5 musrhooms, each worth a 1000.

Go down for the ship path and your 6th POW. You can shoot here for the coins but it's not necessary.

Stand on the right end of the ship and save every POW along the way, Mr. Helpful should stay on the left side of the boat. Your 7th and 8th will be above your head. Once you reach the truck, you can both just spam bombs at it to clear it very quickly.

Carry on floating and waiting on the right end of the boat and save the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th POW hanging above you. Avoid flailing your gun here. You can lose these POW's in the water. Also here it's hard for Mr. Helpful to avoid getting a POW, don't mind if he saves 1 or 2.

After that keep floating, kill the fish that will jump out of the water, here it's possible Mr. Helpful will need to cover the left side. I find it to be random. As soon as the ship hits the end, explodes jump into the Metal Slug, it will also give out a ton of points.

Now comes the boss. Now listen up, both Mr. Achievement and Mr. Helpful. Mr. Achievement needs to shoot the boss with his Metal Slug with all he has, just until the boss explodes and pulls out his second cannon. As soon as he does that STOP SHOOTING and hug the right side of the screen. 10 POW's will spawn and Mr. Achievement must save every single one of them. Mr. Helpful? You need to keep a safe distance from the right side of the screen so that no POW's are ♥♥♥♥♥♥ by you. Remember Mr. Helpful, you can die all you want, it doesn't matter.

After the 10th POW is saved you can both blast at the boss and kill him. As you can see, by the end Mr. Achievement has anything around 700k points. This ends Mission 1. If all went well we can afford to die a few times in Mission 2. Still best not to especially since it's very easy and short.

Teamwork - Mission 2

Mission 2: Which routes to take, which POW's to save, which secrets to take and what must the helping player do at what point.

Here you can see we start Mission 2 with 700k points by finishing Mission 1 without a single death. Nothing much to mention in the beginning, just keep doing what you were doing. Kill everything, collect everything and Mr. Helpful just hangs around not interfering much. At this branching path tho it's important that Mr. Achievement collects both POW's and the President guy, he gives a ton of points BUT don't restart if you die after collecting these 3, even tho he gives a ton of points you can still get enough points to finish with 1M points. And there are a few more POW's along the way. Also the boss will spawn POW's if you wait long enough.

Carry on. When you jump down this ledge don't run so much to the right side. There will be 2 POW's in a secret spot that you can miss. In picture 2 you can see how much you need to walk to the right and where the screen should be to get the 2 POW's. When in the position as in the picture just crouch and shoot left. You will notice your shots will hit something and reveal 2 hidden POW's.

Here you can see the 2 saved POW's. They are there, I suggest not messing this part up. But if you just can't get them, don't fret. You will most likely still have MORE than enough points for the achievement.

Now when you pick up the 'Chaser' weapon I suggest you save it. I always just run through the army men and melee kill them with my knife. They do not pose a big threat. Why do I do this? Save up the Chaser for the helicopters that will spawn in this next section. With such a strong weapon it will be less likely you die. Here Mr. Helpful can help out a bit since you will get flanked by both sides.

Now this part is CRUCIAL. This red chopper will skyrocket you to your goal. As SOON as you kill the last army man and the screen gets fixated run to the left side of the screen, on the little hill. This red chopper with a whole line following it will spawn from the right side of the screen. When on the hill, the chopper should soon be near you, near enough for you to JUMP AND THROW GRENADES to destroy it. If you destroy just the red one, all the rest will also be destroyed on you will get a TON of points.

Also I keep my Flamethrower, since it has plenty of ammo left after I've dealt with this section. So I ignore the heavy machinegun.

Ain't it great? You have 870k points and you ain't even at the boss yet. Carry on. Also don't rush in the next screen. Deal with the zombies, get on the branching path to the left and shoot the door, stand and wait. 2 POW's will come out of it. Those bombs will come in handy they give.

Now you can carry on. Jump over this tank while shooting it. When you carry on here be a bit careful if you don't have a decent weapon, each tank/truck contains a zombie in the front of it when it gets destroyed. Best to take it a bit easy here so you don't get struck and possibly die. Once you're done with this section, just carry on, keep collecting everything, shooting everything.

Now that we have ♥♥♥♥♥♥ to the boss - those grenades will really come in handy. Look at this - I ended up with 39 grenades to spam on the boss. This ensures that you will not die to this boss and will easily get to the final one. And here we are. The very end.

This is a picture of our stories companion PURPLOYD getting the achievement. As you can see, I have not died once in either Mission and have saved every POW in the guide and the boss ain't even dead yet. Those POW's have ended up being overkill because I killed the red chopper.

Here is the score all together, with all the POW's I saved.

And here is our stories companion Strycer getting the achievement. He died once in Mission 2 losing 3 POW's (including the president guy). It didn't even matter.

And that's it!

Last thoughts - I suggest you, the reader not asking your friend to read this whole cluster but just explaining to him what he should do: hang back, avoid interfering, saving POW's, @ M1 Boss keep distance from the right side of the screen so he doesn't get any POW's, die all he wants, help only when you're in trouble. Let him learn what to do and how by watching you doing it first. That's what we did. Strycer did everything correctly the first time he attempted after watching me and in the first Mission died only once. Due to me messing up and having a few connection issues we both only needed like 2 attempts to both get our achievements.

Locating and editing the MS3 files

This section solely is thanks to Strycer for sharing with me this method. I only made the pictures and wrote it here.

With this guide you can check your progress for the

Fetichist and King of Recovery achievements

.Or if you're so eager to get the achievements you can also edit the values to transform the grind into a quick achievement pop by this method.

So where, how and what?

1) Navigate to your Computer, Users and click on the one that has your username.

2) Next step is depending on if hidden files and folders are viewable for you, if you already see AppData then skip this if not - keep on reading, pardner.

Click on Organize and choose 'Folder and search options'.
After clicking that, click on the View Tab and tick 'Show hidden files, folders and drives.
Apply that and click OK.

3) Now we have the AppData folder. Click on it.
Now just navigate to the mslug3 folder by going AppData>Local>mslug3

4) When in mslug3 folder, find the file called UserDefault, right click it and choose Edit.
5) Now that we are in the UserDefault file we can check our progress for, basically, anything. In yellow you can see the values you have for your Fetichist and King of Recovery achievements.
Use this information as you will, either to just check your progress or hasten up getting your achievement.


How to unlock the achievements this way?

Edit the values in the fields colored yellow to 99 for the Fetichist achievements and King of Recovery (Pow's saved) to 999. Save the changes and open up your game, choose each character once and when you throw a grenade or save a POW the achievement will pop.

But I want to quote Strycer on what he had to say about this method:

İlk olarak Strycer tarafından gönderildi:

but its kind of a rude cheat xD

Credits

Strycer - for helping me test my method on unlocking the Teamwork achievement, explaining to me and testing together Miggoh | No meatbuns, No life's method of getting the Master Ninja achievement with CO-OP, for telling me how to check my progress with the MS3 UserDefault file and how to get to it.

Miggoh | No meatbuns, No life - for his mention of the CO-OP method for getting the Master Ninja achievement, also his method of unlocking the Fetichist achievement once you have used a character a 100 times by saving the first POW in any mission.

Stukov Wolfwood - for his mentioned method of unlocking the Fetichist achievement once you have used a character a 100 times by throwing a grenade from the left side of the screen to make the fish jump at the beginning of the 1st Mission.

A big thanks to all of you for helping this guide come together!

If you have any questions feel free to comment below.

[kanashimih]

thanks!

[Globox Gaming]

Master Ninja cheese method is not working for me.

[GIN-0433]

Thank you for both the continue achievement and the 100 times play, the other guide gave the wrong instruction and I have wasted so many time...

[Black Heretic]

I can confirm the method suggested by Mr Chappy (a few comments below), to make the "fetichist" achievements drastically faster. I did it in Arcade Mode, Easy difficulty, Freemode, 2 players. Just keep track of how many times the desired character has been selected, and then start the game and save at least 1 POW to unlock the achievement.

[Kazz]

bypass step 1) and 2)

just type %appdata% in the adress bar, it will open the /roaming directory, just go one up,

[Drago The Dragon]

Master Ninja can be done alone in 2-players mode. Die as player 1 and just play as you please as player 2 till the end. However had to do whole arcade mode for it to work :3

[Mr Chappy]

Hi, I've found a slightly faster way to get the "4 Fetichist achievements". Select the Two Player game option, select a character with one of the two players, once that character's selection gate has fully closed press B(on a controller) to return to the One or Two Players selection screen then select the Two Player game option again etc and repeat 100 times before actually starting the game to unlock that character's achievement.

[Vacroc]

Very useful, nice work

[lightblack]

Hi! Nice guide. Some advice about COLLECTOR trophy? I completed any other trophy but two pictures are still missing... my gallery is locked at 94%

[Punch]

AC, making your own lobby and waiting for a friend to join Through the lobby system works for me. You need to re-try max 2 or 4 times, it's not that bad.