100% ACHIEVEMENT GUIDE for: Shin Megami Tensei 3

This is a guide on getting every achievements as concise as possible. I do not know everything nor do I claim to know everything, if you know or find a way to get an achievement more effectively (that isn't cheating) feel free to leave it in the comments! If the community and/or I like it enough I will add it to the guide alongside some proper crediting!

Important notice:

OKAYYYY, some history time: Shin Megami Tensei 3 first released in Japan 2003. Most fans dub this version of the game as "Nocturne". A year later it was released in America under the name as "Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne Maniax" (or Shin Megami Tensei 3: Lucifers Call in Europe), which was a sort of a directors cut of the original game. This was the only smt 3 game that was released in the west that was released until recently. The original cut of the game was called the "Maniax" version.The most notable change from nocturne and the maniax version was the inclusion of Dante from the Devil May Cry series (hey look the meme) and some more bosses. A few more years later smt 3 was re-released in Japan as "Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniax Chronicle Edition" or the "Chronicle'" version as most fans call it. The only difference between the Nocturne and Chronicle versions of the games was that Dante was replaced by Raidou Kuzunoha from the Devil Summoner series.

Why the hell do I need to know this? You might be wondering. Simple, all three versions were remastered to all modern consoles and pc. The base game comes with the more bare bones maniax version. You can get the Chronicle version for free as DLC (as shown below), and the Nocturne version for 10$ USD as DLC (also shown below). It adds more content and while it could hurt with obtaining some achievements if you don't really know what you're doing (like Compendium Compiler or Master of Misfortune), it could help with others like Insane Expectations or The Depths of Damnation. So use at your own risk.

NOTE: There are not achievements directly linked to any DLC sadly.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1502000/Shin_Megami_Tensei_III_Nocturne_HD_Remaster__Maniax_Pack/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1502940/Shin_Megami_Tensei_III_Nocturne_HD_Remaster__Chronicle_Pack/

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There is more DLC that can help with achievements, there is the game journalist difficulty that makes everything stupid easy and will allow you to beat the game quickly. The only achievement this will harm would be the Demon Warrior and the Demon Veteran which is literally beating the game on normal and hard. The DLC is free and should help some people.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1497870/Shin_Megami_Tensei_III_Nocturne_HD_Remaster__Merciful_Difficulty/

And finally there is one final DLC for 7$ USD, called the "Mercy and Expectation Map Pack". This adds two dungeons at the start which basically gives an easy place to grind money and EXP. This is linked to no achievements and can only help you get achievements.

Why does this cost money? No ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ clue.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1527660/Shin_Megami_Tensei_III_Nocturne_HD_Remaster__Mercy_and_Expectation_Map_Pack/

Tl;dr: The Maniax and Chronicle pack only adds more content. There is no achievements linked to it and it can only help, so it's completely optional. The merciful difficulty will not allow you to get TWO achievements but could help in others by dumbing down the difficulty. While the two map packs will help you not affecting any achievement by dumbing down the difficulty.

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Now since I am a nice guy I will add some mods for this near abandonware of a game, for you're enjoyment and to make things feel a lot less outdated while maintaining the feel of the game. Mods do not affect achievements, so go ham on as much as you want! The OST is compressed to all hell, so it kind of sounds like crap. Luckily someone in the community made a guide with the mod that fixes a lot of it. I will link it here:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2496195014

The following mods also gives various graphical enhancements and will help you, the player, not want to scoop your eyes out when you see this "remaster":

https://gamebanana.com/wips/69935
https://gamebanana.com/mods/452549
https://gamebanana.com/mods/289438
https://gamebanana.com/wips/57143

The following mods gives bug fixes to the game that the game devs just didn't catch:

https://gamebanana.com/mods/441774
https://gamebanana.com/mods/434365

The following mods are just quality of life mods:

https://gamebanana.com/wips/72800
https://gamebanana.com/mods/430728
https://gamebanana.com/mods/436666

Mods I like using:

https://gamebanana.com/mods/393752
https://gamebanana.com/mods/392454

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Sorry for this long notice, now time for the actual achievement hunting. :D

Hard to miss achievements

Demonic Rebirth
Received your first Magatama.


Story related, impossible to miss.

Amala Drum Initialized
Used a Terminal's Amala Drum for the first time.


Save your game using the amala drum or keep playing through the story. This is impossible to miss.

First Victory
Emerged victorious from battle for the first time.


Story related, impossible to miss.

The Road to Hell
Leveled up the Demi-fiend for the first time


Simply level up, this is impossible to miss.

First Contact
Get a demon to join through conversation for the first time.


During battle you can talk to demons to either get items, exp, or the demon to follow your cause. You want to make them follow your cause. This will take trial and error, but you will eventually get this achievement easily and pretty early in the game.

NOTE: Pixie joining you at the beginning of the game will not count for this achievement.

Desolate Tokyo
Set foot in the Vortex World.


Story related, impossible to miss.

Ailment
Suffered a status ailment for the first time.


A status ailment is a unique effect that happens to you or a demon that negatively effects your's or a demons performance in and/or out of battle in a specific way. For example, Poison status gives you damage every turn and every three steps out of battle, or Bind will not let you move and will make you susceptible to getting critical hits. Simply getting one of these ailments during a battle with a demon will get you this achievement. Don't worry about finding a demon that will give ailments due to it not being too hard to get.

Press Turn Master
Hit a weakness 100 times.


This might look intimidating, but since the game relies on getting weaknesses, I doubt anyone would have trouble getting this achievement, unless you're playing on game journalist mode.

Rest in Peace
Viewed the Game Over screen for the first time.


The SMT mainline series always has had a reputation of being difficult. Honestly if you aren't playing on the game journalist mode, I'd be surprised that you haven't died in battle yet.

Heretical Ritual
Performed demon fusion for the first time.


After playing the game for a while, you will reach notable hubs (like ginza, shibuya, etc) . In these hubs you'll find a door that'll have the same symbol that's the same as this achievement's symbol. That's where you'll perform demon fusion. Just find two compatible demons to fuse, then boom achievement popped. This is a hard achievement to miss, due to how useful achievement fusing is in throughout the game.

Vortex Traveler
Used the Amala Link 50 times.


This is easy to get due to the game providing more and more reasons to teleport place to place. You'll most likely get this achievement on your own with out trying too much!

Unexpected Power
Had a demon change its skill.


When Demons level up there is a chance that a prompt will pop asking if you want to change one of the skills to another skill. Debatably the next skill could be worse. But this prompt should't be too rare.

Fresh New Look
Had a demon evolve.


This is a fairly easy achievement that can be done quickly in a game by playing it normally. If you are having trouble somehow, just level up your first pixie in the game to level 6.

Magatama based achievements

Parasite Paramour
Mastered a Magatama.


Each Magatama has a set of skills you can learn. When you have learned (you don't need to have them equipped) all the skills on one Magatama it is considered "mastered". To get all of the skills on a Magatama you must level up with a Magatama equipped. There is a level requirement for every skill for almost every Magatama. So if you leveled up and didn't get the skill your level isn't high enough to learn it. Easiest Magatama to get this one is the first Magatama you get for it's low level requirements, and being the first Magatama you obtain.

Fiend Rising
Earned a new title for the Demi-fiend.


Mastering magatama will give you new titles. The new titles themselves have little to no effect to the game overall so you'll probably get this achievement as long as you're trying to get the Master of Misfortune achievement.

Casual Gamer
Completed one stage in Puzzle Boy.


In Asakusa there is a manikin kid right by a arcade game who will tell you to beat the arcade game for a Magatama. Beat one stage.

Pro Gamer
Completed all stages in Puzzle Boy.


Similar to above just beat all 20 stages of the arcade game to get this achievement and a Magatama. Having a hard time? Sounds like a skill issue.

Magatama Collector
Obtained all Magatama.


Collect all 25 Magatama. More information below.

Master of Misfortune
Mastered all Magatama.


So there is 25 Magatamas with multiple skills, with multiple level requirements for those skills. Some of them you can buy, some of them you will get from fighting bosses, and others you have to go out of your way to get. As mentioned under Parasite Paramour you only have to learn all the skills once (and you never need them to be equipped) to master a Magatama. So you don't have to worry about you're build being absolutely ♥♥♥♥♥♥.

Despite the Magatama count being high, with the skill requirements, and skill count from these Magatamas being higher, your maximum level count is 255 (the visual level count stops at level 99). So even if level requirements for skills overlap (and they do), it is not a strict process to the point where you have to follow a guide like a bible. You can switch out Magatama for skills to make it efficient as possible.

NOTE: The Maniax and Chronicle DLCs adds skills to one Magatama which is blocked by a dungeon unlock. DO NOT enter the Tower of Kagutsuchi if you haven't obtained this skill yet.

Here is my guide for obtaining all Magatama, and their skill requirements:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3014930776

Demon Based Achievements

Commanding Respect
Received 100 gifts from demons.


Every time a demon levels up, there's a chance they want to talk to you. This might sound a bit intimidating at first, but as you grind for the Demon Compendium, Insane Expectations achievement, and The Depths of Damnation achievement it gets easier and easier. NOTE: this also counts across playthroughs.

Demon Collider
Performed demon fusion 50 times.


This is really easy to grind. You'll get this naturally as you try getting the Insane Expectations achievements or playing the game at anything but on game journalist mode.

Expert Negotiator
Get 30 demons to join through conversation.


This is easy to grind. The more and more you play the game on any difficulty (other than game journalist mode), you'll most likely have this close to completion or done. It carries across playthroughs too.

Insane Expectations
Maxed out all of a demon's stats.


This one is a bit tricky, SMT 3 has a weird quirk of not letting a demons luck stat increase if the other stats are high enough. So as a result the demons luck stat is a priority, this is possible by Incense grinding (which is honestly not worth it) or fusing Mitamas if you're not leveling up normally. I'd recommend you to use the Uber Pixie (available through the Maniax and Chronicle DLCs) as a starter point. She has 30 of each stat which is a big start for doing essentially not a lot. If you don't have the Maniax or Chronicle DLCs you can fuse a high level demon and start off with that. If you do decide to use a demon other than a Uber Pixie, try to do a sacrificial fusion at a full Kagutsuchi for a demon with better stats.

Here is a quick guide for Mitama fusing:

There are some rules to Mitama fusions. For starters they cannot be involved in any sacrificial fusions at all. They also have a limit from on how much they can increase a stat. They can't increase a stat for twice it's base stat was. For example, if your demon has a base Strength stat of 5, there is no way for a Mitama to increase it past 10. So keep these rules in mind and when you are fusing.

Here is another quick guide for Incense grinding if you do choose to try it:

Go to the Asakusa (it could be any hub with a shop, but I recommend Asakusa since it's right by the hub's amala drum). Go to the Junk shop and spend at least 1000 macca. Then leave for a lucky ticket. Repeat until you have 10 tickets. When you do, save the game and then cash out your prize. The best box would be the white box for incense. The rate for incense or balm of life is 50/50. And the rates for a specific type of incense seems to vary widely. So keep loading until you get the incense you desire.

NOTE: Don't fully rely on incenses, they can take a long time to get, and you get an incense for a stat you don't even need.

ALSO take your demons with you, even though it's rare that they can give you incenses.

NOTE: Mythical chests are more likely gives incenses at a full Kagutsuchi

Compendium Compiler

With some save manipulation Vampire has made a 99% Compendium save which can bypass the achievement without grinding! The only hard requirement would be the Chronicle version of the game to be installed.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3323029602
Now back to the guide for you purest out there!

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Compendium Compiler
Completed the Demon Compendium.


Now this is going to be the most confusing of this guide. If you have the Maniax or Chronicle DLC's installed, this is going to be more complicated and you most likely want to create a new save since this achievement will lock you at the True Demon Ending. For some demons you have to register them before you get to fuse them. Others you have to evolve them. For others you have to fuse at specific phases to obtain them. (NOTE: Registering Dante can be a little buggy from what I have been told. I have no way of testing it, due to me refusing to buy the Maniax DLC)

NOTE: You can lock in with the Hikawa ending at the diet building, avoiding the Sameal fight. This will cause a side effect that will also lock the Samael fusion for the rest of the run, thus ruining the Demon Compendium achievement. If you are trying to get this achievement, avoid the Hikawa ending for now.

Evolving demons:

When leveling a demon to a point they will evolve. Here is a list of demons that can evolve.

Demon	Lvl Req	Evolved demon
Pixie	10	High Pixie
High Pixie	56	Queen Mab
Lilim	80	Lilith
Inugami	22	Makami
Nozuchi	24	Gui Xian
Nekomata	28	Senri
Koppa	28	Karasu
Karasu Tengu	38	Kuruma Tengu
Momunofu	30	Arahabaki
Dis	33	Valkyrie
Naga	37	Raja Naga
Mizuchi	44	Long
Onkot	46	Hanuman
Hanuman	54	Wu Kong
Setanta	52	Cu Chulainn
Jinn	52	Efreet
Sati	57	Parvati
Pulukishi	58	Ganesha
SuparnaSparna	63	Garuda
Gogmagog	64	Albion
Throne	73	Uriel
Scathach	74	Skadi
Abaddon	77	Aciel
Beelzebub (human) (DLC)	95	Beelzebub (fly) (DLC)

Fiends (DLC only):

While traveling in the Labyrinth of Amala in the third Kalpa, there's a shop. To get the shop you need at least 15 stat points in luck and you have to master Neutral aligned Magatama (green Magatama in the Magatama menu) only to buy unlimited deathstones (required to fuse Fiends). OR you can find it in all 5 Kalpas around the chests. Since this section is already getting too long I recommend you to find it on your own via internet or exploring the Labyrinth.

Fiend	Kagutsuchi Phase Req	Fusion combo
Matador	1/8, 2/8, 3/8, and Half	65
Daisoujou	6/8, 7/8, and Full	65
Hellbiker	5/8, 6/8, and 7/8	65
White Rider	New	65
Red Rider	New	65
Black Rider	New	65
Pale Rider	New	65
The Harlot	Half	65
Trumpeter	Full	65

Special Fusions:

DLC ONLY:

Black Frost, Futomimi, and Sakahagi are demons you can obtain by fusing. But there are prerequisites before obtaining these demons.

Black Frost is the easiest to obtain. Defeat Black Frost in Kabukicho Prison, and then he will join you at the Third Kalpa. From there you can fuse him (even though it would be useless to do so now).

Futomimi and Sakahagi have similar prerequisites. Both have to be dead in the story at this point. Before the exit of the 4th Kalpa, there is a spirit where Futomimi and Sakahagi are. Talk to the spirit and he will mention the afterlife bell. Then you have go get the afterlife bell in the Zoshigaya Cemetary (south from Ikkebukuro).The return back to the spirit and talk to Futomimi and Sakahagi ghosts to release them. Now you can fuse them.

Futomimi requires you to fuse any level 63 Kishin Demon. Sakahagi requires you to fuse any level 45 Foul Demon.

Demon	Fusion combo	Sacrifice Req
Shiva	Rangda and Barong	None
Raphael	Dominion and Uriel	None
Gabriel	Throne and Raphael	None
Girimehkala	Two demons that would normally make a Pulukishi	A Demon from the Vile race
Gurr	Two demons that would normally make a Suparna	A Demon from the Tyrant race
Samael	Two demons that would normally make a Throne	A Demon from the Vile race
Ongyo-ki	Kin-ki and Sui-ki	Fuu-ki
Michael	Uriel and Raphael	Gabriel
Amaterasu	Yatagarasu and any demons from the following races: Brute, Femme, or Vile	Uzume
Metatron (DLC)	Michael and any demons from the following races: Deraph or Divine	A Demon from the Tyrant race

REMINDER: Sacrificial fusions can only be done during a FULL Kagutsuchi

For normal Demons you can use this tool to help you fuse specific demons you want/need:

https://aqiu384.github.io/megaten-fusion-tool/smt3/demons

Ending achievements

Demon Warrior
Completed the game on NORMAL.


Demon Veteran
Completed the game on HARD.

NOTE: Demon Veteran Does not unlock Demon Warrior (or so I have been told).

Simply beat the game. Or you can play through the game on game journalist mode, change the difficulty to hard or normal, and then beat the final boss for the achievements. I have no idea why or how they didn't catch this, but now you know.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: DO NOT, and I mean DO NOT enter the last elevator in the Fifth Kalpa in the Labyrinth of Amala before entering the Tower of Kagutsuchi or it will lock you in the True Demon Ending. The TDE does not have any achievement correlating with it, and is completely optional!

Old World, New Worldview
Recreated the world as we know it.


View the Freedom (or teacher) ending. You get this by siding with your teacher and refuse any other reasons

Chaos Remains
Destroyed all hopes of creation.


View the Demon ending (Not the True Demon Ending). You get this by not siding with your teacher and refuse any other reasons

An Unforeseen World
Created the world of Musubi.


You get this by siding with your male classmate.

World of the Strong
Created the world of Yosuga.


You get this by siding with your female classmate.

World of Silence
Created the world of Shijima.


You get this by siding with Shijima.

NOTE: You can lock in with the Hikawa ending at the diet building, avoiding the Sameal fight. This will cause a side effect that will also lock the Samael fusion for the rest of the run, thus ruining the Demon Compendium achievement. If you are trying to get this achievement, avoid the Hikawa ending for now.

Lord of Creation
View all the endings.


This is for viewing all the endings above (excluding the True Demon Ending).


For a more detailed guide on this game here is a guide on steam going in detail on how to save scum the achievements rather than playing it 6 times for a slightly different cutscene.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2879030969

EDIT: Some one recently made a guide with almost all the saves for each ending here:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3020204986

Achievement clean up

Beverage Buff
Bought all available beverages from the vending machines.


This is the weirdest achievement in the game. It's a achievement so simple, and the most out of place achievement in the entire game.

When you start a new game and gain control of the protagonist for the first time at Yoyogi-koen Station, walk around the corner on your left and you'll see a vending machine. You can buy a drink from the vending machine.

NOTE: Money is not a problem, so don't hesitate to buy from a vending machine.

On the right you can see a picture of the protagonist with a minimap pointing to the location of the vending machine.
The picture on the top of this message is the vending machine location.

When you get in the Shinjuku Medical Center after talking to your female classmate go up to the second floor.
Picture of the Shinjuku Medical Center above

When you're up to the second floor turn left and buy a drink from the vending machine.

NOTE: If you end up on the roof with your teacher you've gone too far and have to restart the game.

Picture of the vending machine below
That's it! Nothing else to this achievement and it should pop. I have no idea why these two are the only buyable vending machines. And I have no idea why they're both in the beginning of the game.

Mapper
Completely mapped out a dungeon.


This one is easy but missable. The earliest you can do this is obviously the Shinjuku Medical Center after the conception. You have to fill out every part of your map (even the dead ends) for one dungeon. Keep exploring a dungeon of your choice until you have this achievement popped.

The Depths of Damnation
Maxed out the Demi-fiend's stats.


This one easy, but really repetitive. As mentioned above in the Important Notice chapter of this guide, you can significantly cut down time by buying that dlc pack that has the EXP dungeon. From what I hear it takes about 150-200 level ups to get the stat caps, which is about 40 points for each stat.

NOTE: This is for base stats, Magatama that adds your stats won't count for this achievement.

ALSO take your demons with you, even though it's rare that they can give you incenses.

Here is a quick guide for Incense grinding if you do choose to try it:

Go to the Asakusa (it could be any hub with a shop, but I recommend Asakusa since it's right by the hub's amala drum). Go to the Junk shop and spend at least 1000 macca. Then leave for a lucky ticket. Repeat until you have 10 tickets. When you do, save the game and then cash out your prize. The best box would be the white box for incense. The rate for incense or balm of life is 50/50. And the rates for a specific type of incense seems to vary widely. So keep loading until you get the incense you desire.

NOTE: Mythical chests are more likely gives incenses at a full Kagutsuchi

ANOTHER NOTE: Don't fully rely on incenses, they can take a long time to get, and you get an incense for a stat you don't even need.

For anyone who refuses to buy the dlc for what ever reason, you can go to Kagutsuchi Tower 3 or if you're playing the Maniax or the Chronicle DLC you can go on the fifth kalpa and fight Liliths and Nyxs. You can play on game journalist mode to get more exp, with Riberama to increase spawns. This would be the most consistent way of grinding out this achievement.

Devastating Blow
Dealt 999 damage in a single blow.


This might sound hard, but in reality it's pretty easy. If you use basic strats and high enough stats you'll get this easily in the game. If you are somehow having trouble with this, switch the game to game journalist mode and beat a pixie with a focus + physical attack combo.

Expert Negotiator
Get 30 demons to join through conversation.


Simply get 30 demons to join you through conversations mid battle. This might sound hard but if you keep trying, you will eventually get it.

Closing remarks and Credits.

True King of Chaos
Unlocked all achievements.


Yayyy you did it!

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Q&A that is not related to anything

Q: Will you make a guide for any other atlus games?
A:


Q: Hey, I found something that might help improve this gui-
A: Post it in the comments, if the community and/or I like it enough I will add it and credit you.

Q: How can I repay you for this guide?
A: Three things

• Give ~Vivi~, Kotori, and me steam points for our guides. :D
  
• Spread this guide to help others!
  
• And help me and others in improving this guide.

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~Vivi~

• I yoinked his ending guide instead of making my own. He seems like a chill guy, so spam him with steam points.

Vampire

• I yoinked his Compendium Compiler Saves. He worked hard for this, so spam him with steam points.

Kotori

• I took his ending guide and left it here! He seems chill, so spam him with steam points.

Hunter

• Gave info towards the Demon Compendium achievement that could've locked the achievement to runs if you went with a specific ending.
  
• Gave more proper translations of the demons name.

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Thanks to:

Mental Returd ♿

• For getting off his ass and making the guide

My cat, Wadsworth[imgur.com]

• He exists

[Chaika Trabant]

The link toward the guide with the savefiles for each ending doesn't work anymore, can anyone reupload them?

[Slycooper1926]

I ll never 100% this game since I only do TDE, one more friend rejected.

[Fianski]

I'm only 1 hour into the game and only understand 3% from what this guide talking about. But this guide is very entertaining to read can't wait to use this guide to get 100% achivoss xx

[Nightvision]

gave points just for cat at end :)

[Ekajaja]

"game journalist difficulty" - TAKE MY POINTS

[Menthol Reward]

I don't know how you did it, but congrats!

[proygon]

I got the achievement compendium compiler while playing on the chronicle version, yet I didn't create Red Rider.

[Menthol Reward]

Nope!

[proygon]

So mods don't disable achievements, right?

[Hunter]

Compendium Compiler: Special fusion. Two demons that would normally make a Suparna + a sacrifice from a Tyrant race gives Gurr. A current translation for Gurr is Gurulu