This document specifies the complete achievement catalog for Tao Baryon v1.0. It defines 72 achievements across 9 categories, with unlock conditions, reward payloads (Pilot XP + cosmetic or credit bonuses), tier weight, and the hidden achievement system.
Achievements are visible in a dedicated tab from Pilot Rank 4 onward. They serve three functions: reward skilled play, communicate the depth of game systems to new players, and provide directed long-term goals when the player is between campaign stages.
Every achievement should feel like the natural result of playing well or exploring deeply — not a to-do list the player works through mechanically. Achievements that require specific grind (kill 10,000 enemies) are designed so that a player reaching the end of the campaign will have completed them organically, without deliberate farming.
| Tier | Color | Meaning | XP reward |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze | Warm brown | Participation milestones, first-clears | 50 XP |
| Silver | Cool gray | Skill checkpoints, system exploration | 150 XP |
| Gold | Amber | Mastery demonstrations, notable clears | 300 XP |
| Platinum | Lime #c8f542 |
Exceptional feats, completionist, rare | 500 XP |
Platinum achievements are rare by design. There are 8 of them. Most players will not unlock all 8. That is intentional.
14 of the 72 achievements are hidden — they appear in the list as a locked silhouette with no name or description until unlocked. Hidden achievements are either tied to secret story moments, Easter eggs, or feats so unusual that revealing them in advance would reduce their impact. After unlocking, the full name and description appear permanently.
Achievement unlock notifications appear as a slim toast at the bottom of the screen during gameplay — not full-screen interrupts. At the hub screen, notifications are slightly larger. The player can review all recent unlocks in the achievement tab. Platinum achievements get a brief additional visual flash.
These track first-time completion of major campaign milestones. All are Bronze or Silver. All are guaranteed to unlock for any player who completes the campaign.
| # | Name | Tier | Condition | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C-01 | First Flight | Bronze | Complete Stage 1 | 50 XP |
| C-02 | The Frontier Holds | Bronze | Clear all 6 Sector 1 stages | 50 XP + 200 credits |
| C-03 | Long-Reach Certified | Silver | Clear all 6 Sector 2 stages | 150 XP + 500 credits |
| C-04 | Behind the Veil | Silver | Clear all 6 Sector 3 stages | 150 XP + 1,000 credits |
| C-05 | Ergosphere | Silver | Clear all 6 Sector 4 stages | 150 XP + 2,000 credits |
| C-06 | The Apparatus Falls | Gold | Clear Stage 30 (Halen defeated) | 300 XP + 5,000 credits + title: "Apparatus Breaker" |
| C-07 | First Blood | Bronze | Defeat the Reverent Maelin (Stage 6) | 50 XP |
| C-08 | The Chorus Silenced | Bronze | Defeat the Final Chorus (Stage 12) | 50 XP |
| C-09 | The Inquisitor Falls | Silver | Defeat the Inquisitor Cohort (Stage 18) | 150 XP |
| C-10 | The Mathematician's Error | Silver | Defeat Mathematician-Saint Voren (Stage 24) | 150 XP |
| C-11 | Halen | Gold | Defeat Architect-Saint Halen (Stage 30) for the first time | 300 XP + hull accent: "The Last Calculation" |
| C-12 | We Do Not Cross | Platinum | Complete the full campaign without using an ad-revive on any boss stage | 500 XP + title: "We Do Not Cross" |
C-12 notes: "We Do Not Cross" is the hardest campaign achievement. Ad-revives are still allowed on non-boss stages. The player may retry boss stages any number of times — but must complete each boss stage in a single life when it counts. The title is the game's tagline worn as a badge.
These reward skilled in-combat play: high multipliers, no-damage clears, specific kill feats. Mix of all tiers.
| # | Name | Tier | Condition | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M-01 | First Chain | Bronze | Reach a 5× combo multiplier in any stage | 50 XP |
| M-02 | Perfect Chain | Silver | Reach and maintain 10× combo for 10 consecutive seconds | 150 XP |
| M-03 | Untouched | Silver | Clear any campaign stage without taking damage | 150 XP |
| M-04 | Ghost Protocol | Gold | Clear 10 different campaign stages without taking damage | 300 XP |
| M-05 | Doctrine of Matter | Platinum | Clear all 30 campaign stages without taking damage (no-hit full campaign) | 500 XP + engine trail: "Pure Matter" |
| M-06 | First Kill | Bronze | Destroy 100 enemies total | 50 XP |
| M-07 | Attrition | Bronze | Destroy 2,500 enemies total | 50 XP |
| M-08 | Tide of Doctrine | Silver | Destroy 10,000 enemies total | 150 XP |
| M-09 | The Weight of Many | Gold | Destroy 50,000 enemies total | 300 XP |
| M-10 | Elite Hunter | Silver | Destroy 50 elite enemies across any modes | 150 XP |
| M-11 | They Send Their Best | Gold | Destroy 200 elite enemies across any modes | 300 XP |
| M-12 | Heat Discipline | Silver | Complete any stage with a peak heat level below 60% (never orange zone) | 150 XP |
| M-13 | Overheat | Bronze | Overheat your primary weapon for the first time | 50 XP |
| M-14 | Special Doctrine | Silver | Deploy a special ability 3 times in a single stage | 150 XP |
M-05 notes: One of the two hardest achievements in the game. Tracked cumulatively — the player does not need to complete the full campaign in a single session. Each stage's no-damage clear is recorded permanently. Once all 30 are on record, the achievement unlocks. The engine trail "Pure Matter" is a clean white-lime trail that pulses gently — the simplest, most composed visual in the game, matching the feat.
M-13 design note: Deliberately rewards a mistake. Players who are afraid to overheat will hold back — this nudges them toward learning the heat system's actual ceiling.
Track ship building, usage, and mastery.
| # | Name | Tier | Condition | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S-01 | Coalition Standard | Bronze | Build any ship for the first time | 50 XP |
| S-02 | Full H-Series | Silver | Build all 3 H-Series ships | 150 XP + 500 credits |
| S-03 | Veiled Engineering | Silver | Build any V-Series ship | 150 XP |
| S-04 | Full V-Series | Gold | Build all 3 V-Series ships | 300 XP + 1 Veiled Token |
| S-05 | Joint Venture | Silver | Build any C-Series ship | 150 XP |
| S-06 | Full C-Series | Gold | Build all 3 C-Series ships | 300 XP + 3 Veiled Tokens |
| S-07 | The Fleet | Platinum | Build all 9 ships | 500 XP + cosmetic: "Fleet Commander" banner |
| S-08 | Marked | Silver | Upgrade any ship to M3 | 150 XP |
| S-09 | Fully Committed | Gold | Upgrade any ship to Legendary mastery | 300 XP |
| S-10 | All Hulls, All Marks | Platinum | Upgrade all 9 ships to M3 | 500 XP + title: "Architect of the Fleet" |
S-10 notes: A very long-term achievement. Upgrading all 9 ships to M3 requires an enormous credit and blueprint shard investment. This is a completionist milestone that most players will not reach in the campaign lifecycle — it extends into endless mode grinding.
Track weapon building, usage, and mastery combinations.
| # | Name | Tier | Condition | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W-01 | Armed | Bronze | Build any weapon for the first time | 50 XP |
| W-02 | Human Armory | Bronze | Build both H-Series weapons (Inertial Lance) | 50 XP |
| W-03 | Veiled Armory | Silver | Build all V-Series weapons (Coherence Beam, Hawking Bolt, Boltzmann Cascade) | 150 XP |
| W-04 | Coalition Armory | Silver | Build all C-Series weapons (Penrose Lance, Anomaly Field, Cosmic String Spear) | 150 XP |
| W-05 | Full Arsenal | Gold | Build all 8 weapons | 300 XP + 2 Blueprint Shards |
| W-06 | Native Doctrine | Silver | Clear a campaign stage using a weapon with Native affinity for your ship | 150 XP |
| W-07 | Against Doctrine | Silver | Clear a campaign stage using a weapon with Forced affinity for your ship | 150 XP |
| W-08 | The Thread | Gold | Kill 500 enemies with the Cosmic String Spear (any mode) | 300 XP |
| W-09 | Hawking's Gift | Gold | Kill a boss using the Hawking Bolt's detonation (landing the killing blow as a small-mode detonation) | 300 XP |
| W-10 | Total Doctrine | Platinum | Upgrade all 8 weapons to M3 | 500 XP + title: "The Arsenal" |
W-07 "Against Doctrine" design note: This achievement rewards experimentation and deliberately challenges the affinity system. It is achievable on any stage, including Stage 1. Meant to encourage players to try mismatched loadouts. The flavor text: "The Veiled engineer who designed this ship has opinions about the weapons you are using. You are not asking for them."
W-09 "Hawking's Gift" design note: Requires timing mastery — the Hawking Bolt deals its maximum damage only when the sphere has shrunk to minimum size at end of travel. Delivering the killing blow to a boss in this state requires either good positioning or the M3 manual-detonate ability. A skill-expression achievement.
Track endless mode survival and mastery. None unlock before endless is unlocked (Stage 30 cleared).
| # | Name | Tier | Condition | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| E-01 | First Depth | Bronze | Reach depth 10 in endless mode | 50 XP |
| E-02 | Beyond the Campaign | Bronze | Reach depth 30 in endless mode | 50 XP |
| E-03 | Frontier Revisited | Silver | Defeat Reverent Maelin rematch in endless (depth 50) | 150 XP |
| E-04 | Deep Field | Silver | Reach depth 100 in endless mode | 150 XP + 1 Blueprint Shard |
| E-05 | Boltzmann Hunter | Silver | Kill 10 Boltzmann Constructs across all endless runs | 150 XP |
| E-06 | The Long Reach (Endless) | Silver | Reach depth 200 in endless mode | 150 XP + 2 Blueprint Shards |
| E-07 | Halen Fragment | Gold | Survive the Halen Fragment encounter at depth 250 | 300 XP + hull accent: "Shattered Consciousness" |
| E-08 | Bleed-Through Survivor | Gold | Survive 20 Bleed-Through Events across all endless runs | 300 XP |
| E-09 | The Apparatus Horizon | Gold | Reach depth 500 in endless mode | 300 XP + 5 Blueprint Shards + title: "Beyond Physics" |
| E-10 | One Thousand | Platinum | Reach depth 1000 in a single endless run | 500 XP + cosmetic set: "Architect's Recognition" (early unlock if Rank 50 not yet reached) |
E-10 "One Thousand" notes: Depth 1000 in a single run is the hardest achievement in the game. It requires not dying for an extraordinary length of time against escalating chaos. The cosmetic set normally unlocks at Rank 50 — this achievement grants it early to runs that demonstrate the feat, regardless of rank. It is the one achievement where the same cosmetic is reachable through two different paths.
Track module system engagement.
| # | Name | Tier | Condition | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mo-01 | First Module | Bronze | Equip a module for the first time | 50 XP |
| Mo-02 | Full Loadout | Bronze | Equip all 3 module slots simultaneously | 50 XP |
| Mo-03 | Optimized | Silver | Equip a Native-affinity module in each of the 3 slots on any ship | 150 XP |
| Mo-04 | Specialist | Silver | Upgrade any module to M3 | 150 XP |
| Mo-05 | System Complete | Gold | Own at least one M3 module in each of the 3 slot categories (Offense, Defense, Utility) | 300 XP |
| Mo-06 | Halen-Class | Gold | Equip the Halen-Class Module (requires S4 completion + C-Series ship + Penrose Lance) | 300 XP + title: "The Architect's Student" |
Mo-06 notes: The Halen-Class Module is a unique module that unlocks through a specific loadout condition — a Coalition ship with the Penrose Lance and completion of Sector 4. Equipping it for the first time is the achievement condition. The flavor text: "Veth designed this himself. He would not tell us what Halen said when he first saw the schematic. Only that Halen was silent for a very long time."
Track credit spending, build completions, and rank milestones.
| # | Name | Tier | Condition | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ec-01 | First Build | Bronze | Complete any build (ship or weapon) for the first time | 50 XP |
| Ec-02 | Investor | Bronze | Spend 10,000 credits total | 50 XP |
| Ec-03 | Coalition Treasurer | Silver | Spend 250,000 credits total | 150 XP |
| Ec-04 | Veteran | Silver | Reach Pilot Rank 20 | 150 XP + 500 credits |
| Ec-05 | Commander | Gold | Reach Pilot Rank 40 | 300 XP + 2,000 credits |
| Ec-06 | Architect's Peer | Platinum | Reach Pilot Rank 50 | 500 XP + cosmetic: "Rank 50 Profile Badge" |
Track lore discovery and engagement with the codex system.
| # | Name | Tier | Condition | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Co-01 | First Record | Bronze | Unlock any 10 codex entries | 50 XP |
| Co-02 | Historian | Silver | Unlock 60 codex entries | 150 XP |
| Co-03 | The Choir Knows You | Gold | Unlock 120 codex entries | 300 XP + title: "Lorekeeper" |
| Co-04 | The Complete Record | Platinum | Unlock all codex entries (all ~170) | 500 XP + cosmetic: "The Complete Record" hull sigil |
Co-04 notes: Unlocking all ~170 codex entries requires completing the full campaign, engaging with every NPC dialogue path, and reaching several endless depth milestones that trigger locked codex reveals. It is a completionist achievement second in rarity only to E-10 and M-05.
These appear as locked silhouettes until unlocked. Name and description are redacted. Below is the full specification (internal use — not shown to the player pre-unlock).
| # | Internal Name | Tier | Unlock Condition | Revealed Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| H-01 | "What He Said" | Silver | Read the Veth codex entry about his 19 years training under Halen | "You read what Veth wrote about his teacher. You understand now why the Singularity ship has his name on it." |
| H-02 | "The Witnesses" | Silver | Reach Stage 30's post-battle aftermath sequence (stage clear, then sit through the full 4-voice dialogue without skipping) | "You stayed. You heard all four voices. The Witnesses recorded your presence." |
| H-03 | "Mira-Veris" | Gold | Discover all 3 codex entries that mention Halen's wife | "You know her name now. Halen's wife. The Apparatus carried her name in its core registry. He never removed it." |
| H-04 | "The Choir's Name for You" | Gold | Complete all 6 Sector 3 stages with a V-Series ship and V-Series weapon (Veiled loadout only) | "The Choir of Names gave you a Veiled liturgical name after this. It translates, roughly, as 'the one who learned quickly.'" |
| # | Internal Name | Tier | Unlock Condition | Revealed Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| H-05 | "The Hammer Doctrine" | Silver | Clear Stage 1 using only the Inertial Lance (no Pulse Cannon) | "The simplest weapon, in the simplest stage. No elegance. Just mass and velocity. The engineers appreciated the sentiment." |
| H-06 | "Against the Grain" | Silver | Clear any Sector 4 or 5 stage with an H-Series ship and no modules equipped | "Unaugmented. Unassisted. The H-Series was not designed for the Ergosphere. It managed." |
| H-07 | "Boltzmann's Friend" | Gold | Kill a Boltzmann Construct without taking any damage from it across the full wave it appears in | "It did not touch you. A thermodynamic anomaly briefly existed, had opinions about your ship, and was proven wrong." |
| H-08 | "All Specials" | Silver | Use all 8 special abilities in a single endless run (across any waves, any ships) | "You tried everything. The Veiled engineers would have found this philosophically coherent." |
| H-09 | "The String and the Ship" | Gold | Kill 3 enemies simultaneously with a single Cosmic String Spear shot | "One thread. Three doctrines, undone." |
| # | Internal Name | Tier | Unlock Condition | Revealed Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| H-10 | "Veth's Apology" | Silver | In Stage 30, allow Halen's Phase 2 transition monologue to play in full without firing for its entire duration | "You stopped shooting. You listened. Veth's apology reached him clearly. The transmission logs show Halen's response time was longer than any other. Something changed." |
| H-11 | "The Empty Stage" | Silver | Reach Sector 5 Stage 28 and remain stationary (no joystick input) for 10 consecutive seconds during active gameplay | "You stood still. The Apparatus's sector continued without you briefly. The enemy fire adjusted. Then you moved. The moment is recorded in the Codex." |
| H-12 | "Tao Embodied" | Gold | Clear Stage 30 with the C-1 Apex at M3 Legendary mastery, equipped with the Penrose Lance at M3 and the Halen-Class Module | "The Tao of the Baryon, expressed completely. The Coalition's finest ship. The weapon that used their own physics against them. The module named for the man who built the machine. You used all three to end the machine." |
| H-13 | "108" | Bronze | Discover and unlock exactly 108 codex entries (not more, not fewer) at the moment of check | "108. In several religious traditions across multiple cultures, a number of significance. The Choir of Names noticed. They did not comment. They rarely do." |
| H-14 | "Static" | Platinum | Reach endless depth 1000 without using any special abilities during the entire run | "One thousand depths. No specials. The weapon alone, and the ship, and the pilot. The Choir of Names has a word for this. It translates, very loosely, as 'excessive.'" |
H-14 "Static" design notes: Arguably the hardest achievement in the game, combining the depth 1000 requirement of E-10 with the additional constraint of zero special use. The name refers to the heat bar and the score multiplier — both of which the player must manage with pure primary-weapon skill. This is a legendary feat by the game's own internal logic.
H-10 "Veth's Apology" design notes: The player must stop firing during Halen's Phase 2 monologue. This triggers a one-time alternate reaction in Halen's scripted dialogue lines — a 2-second pause in his transmission, then: "...you stopped. I did not expect that." This is the only moment in the game where the player's non-action has an explicit narrative effect. The achievement reveals this to the player in its description.
In addition to individual achievements, sector medals appear on the campaign map as visual indicators. They are not achievements — they are display elements. A sector earns a medal state based on its stages:
| Medal | Condition |
|---|---|
| Bronze sector medal | All stages cleared |
| Silver sector medal | All stages cleared + no ad-revives used |
| Gold sector medal | All stages cleared + all no-damage bonuses earned |
Gold sector medals on all 5 sectors is the visual equivalent of "no-damage full campaign" — the campaign map becomes a row of 5 gold medals. This is the visual target the game silently points toward. Earning it completes achievement M-05 "Doctrine of Matter."
| Category | Count | Max XP |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign Progression | 12 | 3,750 XP |
| Combat Mastery | 14 | 4,700 XP |
| Ships | 10 | 3,100 XP |
| Weapons | 10 | 3,100 XP |
| Endless Mode | 10 | 3,100 XP |
| Modules | 6 | 1,800 XP |
| Economy & Progression | 6 | 1,650 XP |
| Codex & Story | 4 | 1,250 XP |
| Hidden | 14 | 4,050 XP |
| Total | 72 | 26,500 XP |
26,500 XP from achievements represents a significant contribution to Pilot Rank progression — roughly 25% of total XP needed for Rank 50, if all 72 are completed.
The achievement tab displays achievements in category groups, with:
For achievements with trackable counts (kill 10,000 enemies, reach depth 100), the card shows a sub-progress bar below the description: "2,341 / 10,000 enemies" with the fill animated each session. This converts passive play into visible progress.
When unlocked during play, a slim notification slides up from the bottom edge:
Every achievement has a short flavor text displayed below the unlock description in the achievement card. These are written in the narrative voice of the game — usually attributed to a named character, or from the Codex.
Selected examples:
C-06 "The Apparatus Falls" "The Choir of Names began transmitting before the Apparatus had fully collapsed. We do not know what they were saying. The signal did not translate cleanly. Some of the engineers believe it was gratitude. Veth believes it was grief."
M-05 "Doctrine of Matter" "Sira-Vel's full after-action report reads, in its entirety: 'Commander sustained zero damage across all thirty engagements. I have revised my threat model accordingly.'"
H-10 "Veth's Apology" "He paused. Two-point-three seconds of open transmission. Then: 'I built this. I am sorry.' Halen said nothing for four seconds. Then his cannon fired again. But the targeting solution he had locked was gone. He chose a different one."
E-10 "One Thousand" "Depth one thousand. The physics down there have no name. You survived them anyway."
H-14 "Static" "No specials. One thousand depths. The Choir of Names has added your pilot designation to a list they maintain. They have not told us what the list is for."
S-10 "All Hulls, All Marks" "Nine ships. Every Mark. The fabricators know your signature now. The Veiled engineers call this 'collecting.' The human engineers call it 'expensive.' Architect-Veth calls it 'reasonable.'"
Co-04 "The Complete Record" "You read everything. The full history: the Telos theology, the war, the Veiled defection, Halen's life, Veth's career, Sira-Vel's prior missions, the Choir's practices, the physics of the Apparatus, the names of the dead. Everything. The Codex is complete because you completed it."
Document version: 1.0 (locked) Part of: Tao Baryon GDD — Tier 3 Meta Systems