Overview

Estimated Trophy Difficulty: 7.5/10 (it's 9.5/10 if you play campaign with the patch)
Fun Factor: 8.5/10
Approximate Time To 100%: 5-10 Hours
Trophy Breakdown: 20 Total (19 , 1 )

  • Offline: 19
  • Online: 1

Number of Playthroughs Needed: 1
Missable Trophies: None
Glitched Trophies: None
Are There Any Unobtainable Trophies?: None (some are practically impossible if you patch)
Does Difficulty Affect Trophies?: No
Do Cheat Codes Disable Trophies?: No
Are Peripherals Required?: No (Move compatible if you patch)
Online Pass Required?: No


Introduction

In Swords & Soldiers, three factions (the Aztecs, the Vikings and the Imperial Chinese) are fighting each other to gain the powers of the gods. The game boasts both a single player campaign for all three factions and a skirmish mode, as well as competitive split-screen multiplayer and several other modes and minigames players can unlock by progressing through the game.

The single player campaign features 10 missions for each faction, with objectives ranging from conquering the enemy's base on the other side of the play area to surviving a full out assault from the enemy or infiltrating their defenses with a limited number of troops. Players collect gold and mana which are used to purchase units and spells. After being built, units automatically begin marching towards the enemies' base and players cast spells to either strengthen their own units or directly attack their enemies. Players must make strategic decisions on which units to build and when to send them out.
(source)


Roadmap

Step 1: Campaign

Do NOT patch the game initially, as it makes the Chinese faction much too weak. The result would be a Chinese campaign that is nearly unbeatable, with a handful of trophies that are just too difficult to bear. After you are done with everything except the online, then and only then should you patch the game (as it's required in order to play online).

Initially you only have the Viking faction available; after completing the ten stages for that faction, you unlock the Aztec faction's ten stages; which upon completion unlocks the Chinese faction. In total there are three faction with ten stages each, for a total of thirty stages.

To start the campaign, from the Main Menu select: Single player > Campaign. Focus on obtaining all of the campaign related trophies, including the stage specific ones, at the same time. I suggest playing each level to win, then while it's fresh in your mind, quickly repeat it and undertake the stage specific requirements to unlock that trophy.

During this step you should unlock the following trophies:

  • Where are the Kangaroos? (Viking)
  • Fourtification (Viking)
  • Pity the fool! (Viking)
  • Cooking by the Book (Viking)
  • Fort Knox'd (Aztec)
  • Lacking Balls (Aztec)
  • Keep Your Lousy Army (Aztec)
  • V for Veggies (Aztec)
  • Planet of the Ninja Apes (Chinese)
  • Blotting out the sun (Chinese)
  • Lost Vikings (Chinese)
  • I'm no kung, fool! (Chinese)


Step 2: Challenges

To start the challenges, from the Main Menu select: Single Player > Challenges. These are the hardest trophies in the game, and have the most detailed explanations of all the trophies in the guide. Please follow the strategy I personally discovered, and posted below, to make them all a lot easier.

During this step you should unlock the following trophies:

  • Son of Norris
  • Techno Viking Dances Away
  • At First I Was Afraid
  • King of the Stone Age


Step 3: Cleanup

The reason these trophies are being listed here, is that some of them may unlock randomly during the campaign or challenges. For any that haven't unlocked after the above steps are all done, then do them tactfully by playing a two player game, with only player 1 doing anything!

To start a local two player game, from the Main Menu select: Multiplayer > Local > (Select Faction/Color) Next > (Choose Small Map) Start. If you don't have two controllers, you can also do this online with a boosting partner.

During this step you should unlock the following trophies:

  • RickRolled
  • Uncontrolled Demolition
  • Bull in a China shop


Step 4: Online

Now that you completed all the above, there should just be a single trophy left, for playing online. In order to play online, you will need to have the latest patch in place, which we have been avoiding till now. Simply quit and restart the game, this time choosing to have the patch installed.

To start an online game, from the Main Menu select: Multiplayer > Online > Search Game. Now you can play ten games online, and you can also keep replaying the same person using the option at the end of the match. Win or lose ten matches and you will get Social Viking. If you have been following this guide, you should now have 100%. Congratulations!

[PS3T Would Like to Thank TigerLust for this Road Map]

Swords & Soldiers Trophy Guide

Printable Guide
Show completed trophies
Show secret trophies

20 trophies ( 19  )

  • Destroy the enemy castle with a boulder.

    You need to play as Aztec (the only faction with the Boulder skill) and earn enough gold to unlock it. Then, you need to use the boulder to deliver the final blow to the enemy castle. The boulder can kill soldiers from both teams, and damage to the castle made from earlier weaponry is fine - the only thing that matters is that your boulder delivered the final blow to crush the castle (which in turn wins the match).

    This will nearly never happen in a legit game, so I suggest doing it in a 2P game. Create some Gold Miners and build some shrines for mana. Now, send a few troops to kill Player 2's gold farmers and then start chipping away at the enemy castle, then sacrifice most/all of them before the castle is destroyed. Now quickly send a boulder out to destroy it, and watch how much of a dent it puts into the castle. If there is still some health left, then try again, only this time send out some more troops until the castle has health remaining which is low enough to be completely depleted by a boulder.

  • Complete the Viking campaign.

    This is story related and cannot be missed. There are ten levels in the campaign, and upon completion you will earn this trophy (as well as unlock the Aztec campaign). See Pity the fool! for more information.

  • Complete the Aztec campaign.

    This is story related and can not be missed. You must complete the Viking campaign to unlock the Aztec campaign. There are ten levels in this campaign, and upon completion you will earn this trophy (as well as unlock the Chinese campaign).

  • Complete the Chinese campaign.

    This is story related and cannot be missed. You must complete the Viking & Aztec campaigns to unlock the Chinese campaign. There are ten levels in this campaign, and upon completion you will earn this trophy.

  • Destroy a tower under construction with Rage.

    Easiest in a local 2P match. You need to play as Vikings (the only faction with the Rage skill) and earn enough gold to unlock the Rage skill. You will need to unlock this skill, and then send out a group of troops. When your troops are close to the spot where Player 2 can build a tower, have Player 2 build the tower, then quickly have Player 1 use Rage on the troops to demolish the tower quickly.

  • Cast a boulder that does not damage a single unit.

    This is easiest in a local two player game with both players having chosen Aztecs (the only faction with the boulder skill). This can also be boosted online with both players using this strategy.

    First off, you need to have enough gold to unlock both the Sacrifice and Boulder skills. If playing 2P locally, Player 2 also needs the Sacrifice skill but not the Boulder. Now, both players should Sacrifice all of their own troops, therefore leaving no one left to damage. Now, simply send out a boulder and you are guaranteed to earn the trophy.

  • Kill 36 units with a single unit.

    See Techno Viking Dances Away, as you will unlock this trophy while completing that.

  • Reach the maximum distance in a Berserker Run game.

    To unlock this challenge, you first need to unlock Where are the Kangaroos? To start this off, from the Main Menu select: Single Player > Challenges > Berserker Run.

    You are going to be helping a Viking make it to the end alive. You will be faced with some simple choices along the way, both in terms of spells and at fork-roads choosing to go up or down. At many crossroads, each of your viking(s) will clone - don't worry about keeping them all alive, you only need one at the end so that is your primary goal, but of course the more vikings you have the better. Other than the final spell (which has a long refill time), I am not going to spell out when to to use it, just use your judgement.

    Listed below are the options I used and suggest:
    0 yards: Shield and Heal [Always have some mana handy for these]
    10 yards: Cage [trap zen masters when no one is behind them] (decline lightning)
    70 yards: Poison [group health drain] (decline Rage)
    100 yards: Upper path
    111 yards: Snow [group freeze] (decline Stone Warriors)
    146 yards: Arrows [group attack] (decline yin yang, as tempting as it may be it's a mana drain)
    175 yards: Upper path
    215 yards: Thor [only use as listed below] (seriously, don't pick sacrifice)
    230 yards: Upper path
    270 yards: Use Thor directly behind the Zen master, then cage Zen if he survives
    300 yards: Bottom path
    355 yards: Use Thor directly in front of the Zen master
    415 yards: Use Thor directly in front of the Giants
    430 yards: The trophy is yours!

    An important adjustment I suggest is using the Thor hammer before the giants charge at you.

    Video by xymjak

  • Survive over 30 minutes in a Survival game.

    To unlock this challenge, you first need to progress in the campaign and unlock trophies. Once unlocked, from the Main Menu select: Single player > Challenges > Survival.

    I suggest doing this as the Chinese faction, without the patch of course. Many people have posted different strategies that work for them, but they are difficult to replicate. I spent some extra time figuring out what to do, and these methods have not been mentioned anywhere in the years from the game's release till now. These tips will make what would have been an overwhelmingly difficult and frustrating trophy, relatively simple.

    Here are the best tips I can offer, and you will see the effectiveness of it by the pictures posted!

     

    • You want to drag out each wave as long as possible. This is counter intuitive, which is why no one else has done this. The reason is because of what I noticed about the spawn mechanics of the game - the next wave is delayed until you either kill the current wave or a certain amount of time has elapsed. While most people will explain how to deal with everyone quickly and hope for the best with enemy Wave 24, I am going to tell you how to get the trophy before Wave 19 can make it to your base! Skipping those last five waves is the best tip I can possibly give, and a lot of the tips after this are merely to support dragging out the waves.
    • Always plant a Buddha statue behind the enemies, right after they pass the rubble of the previous statue. You want to do this in all three spots. This will allow you to have an endless supply of mana, better scope as the Buddha will tell the "fog of war" that none shall pass, and it will also slightly delay the next wave when they destroy it. After they destroy it, build another one behind them:
    • Let the enemy wave get as close to your base as possible before killing them (then respawn the Gold Miners back until you are full at the maximum of 10 Gold Miners so you have more gold than you need). This also means you should never send a large group forward to wipe out the entire wave. However, you can certainly send an ally out every now and then to slow them down a bit though.
    • At around the five-minute mark, stop producing anything but warriors; let the zen masters sit behind the Buddha statue all the way at the right edge of the map for a few minutes, literally. Here are some pictures for you to see this in effect:


      They will kill any warriors you sent out:


      Then begin to bunch up at the buddha statue:


      That's a lot of life bars piling up:


      None shall pass!


      As you will notice, it took nearly two minutes for the next wave:


      A single arrow casting will wipe all of the Zen masters out:


      This trick will allow you store all the Gold and Mana you would have wasted on spawning soldiers that die - but more importantly, allows the clock to tick away which means you will hit 30 minutes on an earlier/easier wave!

      Don't forget to build another buddha statue when nothing is there to crush it:
    • If you use all these tricks, the 19th wave (Sun Giants with Rage) won't even make it halfway down the screen before the trophy unlocks!


      As you can see from the picture, I made it to 41 minutes with my tricks on a casual run while taking these photos:

     This video doesn't use my strategy, but you can use it to get an idea about waves, etc.

    Video by xymjak:

  • Kill all Vikings in a Boulder Mode game without killing any of your own.

    To unlock this challenge, you first need to progress in the campaign and unlock trophies. Once unlocked, from the Main Menu select: Single player > Challenges > Boulder Mode.

    In my opinion, this is the most difficult trophy in the game. You need to jump at precise moments to clear all of your Aztec allies, while killing all of the Viking enemies. The simple truth is you will need to repeat this over and over again until you get used to the pattern, especially the part at the very end, where the moment you have to jump boils down to split second timing. Once you played the entire thing through a few times (and somewhat mastered the finish), I found it easier to pause every five jumps and see what you need to jump for the next five.

    What I did was write down how many enemies you crush before you jump your ally. This challenge starts off where you need to crush two opponents before jumping your own ally, and for that it says "2" below. This process repeats a few times, so the sequence is "2", "2", "2." At this point, you will be jumping over your third ally with six enemies killed.

    A ~ B ~ C ~ D ~ E (dead)
    2 ~ 2 ~ 2 ~ 3 ~ 5 (14)
    2 ~ 2 ~ 1 ~ 3 ~ 2 (24)
    3 ~ 2 ~ 2 ~ 5 ~ 1 (37)
    2 ~ 2 ~ 5 ~ 3 ~ 4 (53)
    1 ~ 3 ~ 3 ~ 2 ~ 3 (65)
    4 ~ 7 ~ 3 ~ 2 ~ 1 (82)
    0 ~ 5 ~ 6 ~ 6 ~ 1 (100)


    This is extremely hard to pull off; initially because you don't have the pattern down, and later on because there are a few precise moments where you need to jump.

    Expect to see a bunch of these:


    When you are nearly done:


    And finally!

     

  • Complete Aztec Campaign level 8 without using a Boulder.

    You need to use the right mix of poison, cages and most importantly mind control to get this task done. See the video for a good run of this.

    Video by xymjak:

  • Complete Viking Campaign level 7 with all Towers intact.

    To pull this off, you will need to do everything right from the get go. You need to have around 6 or 7 gold miners to start with. Point the sign to the lower path using and have two axe throwers head out to fill the far towers. You want to research Mana Regeneration to Rank 2, Axe Throwers, Berserkers, Frost Hammers and Rage. You also want to have the maximum Gold Miners (ten).

    Once the enemy starts attacking, you want to send out groups of a Berserker & a Frost Hammer, along with the occasional Axe Thrower. Using Rage at the right time will allow these groups to power through your enemies, and slowly but surely win the game for you.

    Once your catapults come in (after a certain amount of time passes), you are good to go. Just keep applying the same strategy and you'll emerge victorious.

  • Survive Viking Campaign level 10 without the help of Mr. Thor.

    Mr. Thor will come to your aid as soon as a tower is breached, so you need to keep your tower intact in order to get this trophy. You want to use a similar strategy to what we used for Fourtification, aside from Berserkers. You will be sending out groups of Axe Throwers and Frost Hammers, combined with Rage as appropriate, to take out enemies. Use Blizzard on groups of enemies (especially large groups of cloned opponents) to accomplish the task.

    Cooking by the Book will unlock upon completion of this level. If you don't have the assistance of Mr. Thor, both trophies will unlock at the same time.

  • Complete Viking Campaign level 4 by destroying the enemy base.

    There are two ways to win this match, either by destroying the enemy base or accumulating 1000 gold. For this trophy you obviously want to avoid 1000 gold, so spend it before you get too high.

    You have a limited amount of spells and research that you can do. Obviously you want to have gold miners and mana regen. A proper mix of spawning all that you can, with heals and lightning as appropriate, will result in you pulling this off.

  • Prevent the Giant in Aztec Campaign level 2 from reaching the Goldmine.

    You need to kill the Giant before it reaches the enemies' gold mine, which is all the way to the right of the screen. You will have a limited amount of spells and allies at your disposal, so you need to go about this in just the right manner. You want to spawn a few Gold Miners, to have six or seven total, as a base. Now you want to spawn as many Dart Blowers as you can, along with hitting the Giant with poison each time the previous spells wear off. This combination should take him down before he gets to the mine.

     

  • Complete Aztec Campaign level 10 without taking control of the Viking army.

    As the trophy description states, you cannot take control of any viking units. You can however take control of the Chinese faction, and I strongly suggest you control some Zen masters! In order to build up more more mana, you can spawn and then sacrifice Giants

    Hit on the road so that your allies use the lower path, which will make this easier. You want to use a combination of Necromancers and Dart Blowers, along with controlling Chinese enemies to win this battle.
  • Complete Chinese Campaign level 3 without a single Ninja death.

    You start with three Ninja Monkeys, but there are four in total, and they all must survive. There are two main things you need to take care of here, these being: 1) Toggle the third sign to point down by pressing and 2) Use shield on any Monkeys that are being levitated by the Zen Masters.

  • Complete Chinese Campaign level 7 wth 17 or more Rocketeers alive.

    This one is tough to pull off and took me a few tries. You want to produce Swordsmen to lead the way, followed by Buddha Statues in all of the slots, and use yin-yang to clone the Rocketeers as often as possible.

  • Complete Chinese Campaign level 8 without killing a single Berserker.

    There are several Berserkers your opponent will sacrifice if you don't kill them first. Don't be too aggressive in your attack, and your opponent should kill the berserkers before you kill them. You will need to produce units at the correct pace in order to wipe out the enemy waves, while avoiding killing the hostages.
  • Play 10 matches online.

    In order to play online, you will need to have the latest patch in place, which we have been avoiding till now. Simply quit and restart the game, this time choosing to have the patch installed.

    To start an online game, from the Main Menu select: Multiplayer > Online > Search Game. Now you can play ten games online, and you can also keep replaying the same person using the option at the end of the match. Win or lose ten matches and you will get this trophy.

    To find a boosting partner, please use this thread.

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