Nine Sols Achievement Guide: Complete 100% 

Nine Sols follows Yi, a vengeful hero hunting the nine rulers of New Kunlun, and its 35 achievements split cleanly between story bosses, side-quest completionism, and a pair of mutually exclusive achievements that trip up first-time players almost every run. Since two achievements void each other permanently within a single save, this guide flags exactly where that fork happens so you don’t lose hours of side content by accident.

Quick Stats

• Total Achievements: 35
• Estimated Completion Time: 20-25 hours
• Difficulty: 7/10
• Online Required: No
• Missable Achievements: One pair (Repurposed vs. You Bastard…) is mutually exclusive and genuinely missable if handled carelessly; nearly everything else can be caught with thorough exploration on a single playthrough

Achievement List by Category

Story Bosses

• My Revenge Starts Here
• I’m Coming for You, Old Friend
• Reap What You Sow
• You Should Respect Your Elders
• Jail Break
• No Pain, No Gain
• Wake Up From My Sin
• The Cavalry’s Here
• Come, Sweet Death
• Fight Dirty
• Evolution
• Passing on the Torch

Endings

• Home Sweet Home
• Found You

Side Quests & NPC Relationships

• We Have Each Other
• Gimme Gimme
• Across Time and Space
• Magical Bean
• Learned From the Best
• Blessed Messages
• Do Re Mi So La
• I’m Yi, I Have a Drinking Problem
• What Have You Done?!
• Shooting Star
• Rest for the Wicked

Map Data & Collectibles (Mutually Exclusive Pair)

• Repurposed
• You Bastard…

Combat & Completion Challenges

• One Man Army
• Robo Fight!
• Fight Through Hardship
• The Warrior Within
• Well Prepared
• My Most Trusted Friend
• Treasure Hunter
• Stonks!

Achievements by Category (Detailed)

Story Bosses

My Revenge Starts Here

Unlock Rate: 83.4% (Common)

Requirement: Defeat the first story boss

How to Unlock: Progress through the opening chapters and defeat Baichang, the first boss encountered after saving Shuanshuan and entering the Apeman Facility.

Tips: This is an early, unmissable story beat, so it unlocks naturally within the first couple of hours.

I’m Coming for You, Old Friend

Unlock Rate: 58.6% (Common)

Requirement: Defeat Yingzhao

How to Unlock: In the Power Reservoir (Central) area, talk to the Shanhai 9000 robot to learn about activating a backup generator, then activate it to access the Radiant Pagoda. Defeat Yingzhao inside.

Tips: The generator puzzle is a short detour but necessary to reach this boss, so don’t skip talking to the robot first.

Reap What You Sow

Unlock Rate: 47.4% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Defeat Goumang

How to Unlock: In the Grotto of Scriptures, work through the caged sequence and hack 3 consoles to stop water streams, then continue through the greenhouse area to reach and defeat Goumang.

Tips: Follow the water-stopping console puzzle carefully, since it’s the gate to reaching this boss encounter.

You Should Respect Your Elders

Unlock Rate: 41.5% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Defeat Yanlao

How to Unlock: Continue through the story to the Yanlao boss encounter and defeat him.

Tips: This follows the standard story path and unlocks through normal progression.

Jail Break

Unlock Rate: 39.8% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Successfully escape from prison

How to Unlock: Progress through the story’s prison sequence and successfully escape.

Tips: This is a key story milestone roughly around the midpoint of the game.

No Pain, No Gain

Unlock Rate: 36.9% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Defeat Jiequan

How to Unlock: Continue through the story to the Jiequan boss fight and defeat him, either normally or using the Gene Eradicator method (see Learned From the Best below).

Tips: This fight takes place shortly after escaping prison, so make sure your health and skill upgrades are in good shape beforehand.

Wake Up From My Sin

Unlock Rate: 35.6% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Defeat Lady Ethereal

How to Unlock: Progress through the story to the Lady Ethereal boss encounter and defeat her.

Tips: This unlocks through normal story progression at its designated point in the campaign.

The Cavalry’s Here

Unlock Rate: 35.2% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Defeat Fuxi and Nuwa

How to Unlock: Continue through the story to the Fuxi and Nuwa boss encounter and defeat them.

Tips: This is a dual boss fight, so bring healing items and be prepared to manage two distinct attack patterns at once.

Come, Sweet Death

Unlock Rate: 32.8% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Defeat Eigong

How to Unlock: Progress through the story to the Eigong boss encounter and defeat him.

Tips: This is a late-game story boss, so expect it to test skills and upgrades you’ve accumulated by this point.

Fight Dirty

Unlock Rate: 27.8% (Rare)

Requirement: Discover a tremendous secret

How to Unlock: In the Tianhuo Research Institute area, follow the environmental clues to uncover a hidden secret tied to the story.

Tips: This secret is tricky to spot but not especially hard to trigger once you know the general area to search in.

Evolution

Unlock Rate: 26.3% (Rare)

Requirement: Help Chiyou bring peace to Xingtian

How to Unlock: Complete Chiyou’s related questline, buying every item from him, giving him the Soul-Severing Blade and Firestorm Ring, then passing the story’s Point of No Return and visiting the top left corner of the Tiandao Research Center.

Tips: This requires spending significant Jin (in-game currency) on Chiyou’s shop before the story locks you out of the area, so prioritize this before pushing past the Point of No Return.

Passing on the Torch

Unlock Rate: 22.6% (Rare)

Requirement: Help Shanhai 9000 find Chien

How to Unlock: Collect all map data across the game, then near the end of the story, trigger a special scene where you help Shanhai 9000 locate Chien.

Tips: This is tied to thorough map completion, so it naturally follows from working toward Passing on the Torch’s prerequisite achievements like Treasure Hunter.

Endings

Home Sweet Home

Unlock Rate: 19.3% (Rare)

Requirement: Return to the home world of Solarian

How to Unlock: Complete the main story and choose the standard ending path, without needing to complete every side quest first.

Tips: This is the game’s normal ending and doesn’t require the same completionist prerequisites as Found You.

Found You

Unlock Rate: 19.2% (Rare)

Requirement: Witness the end of New Kunlun / obtain the Rhizomatic Arrow

How to Unlock: Complete every side quest available (Shuanshuan’s full gift questline, Shennong’s wine deliveries, Shanhai 9000’s map data and Chien questline, and Chiyou’s Xingtian questline) to obtain the Rhizomatic Arrow, which unlocks this ending, considered the game’s True Ending.

Tips: Since this requires nearly full side-quest completion, work through Gimme Gimme, I’m Yi I Have a Drinking Problem, Treasure Hunter, and Evolution before reaching the story’s Point of No Return, since most side content becomes unavailable afterward.

Side Quests & NPC Relationships

We Have Each Other

Unlock Rate: 32.2% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Rescue the people of the Peach Blossom Village

How to Unlock: Complete the questline to rescue the villagers of Peach Blossom Village.

Tips: This questline unfolds gradually through NPC dialogue, so revisit the village periodically as you progress the main story.

Gimme Gimme

Unlock Rate: 31.9% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Establish a deep relationship with Shuanshuan.

How to Unlock: Give Shuanshuan gifts (Artifacts) you find throughout the game. There are 16 total Artifacts to give him, each triggering 1-2 follow-up interactions, for 20 eligible interactions total; this achievement unlocks partway through that questline, well before you’ve given him everything.

Tips: You’ll unavoidably collect most gift items while exploring for other collectibles, so this tends to happen naturally rather than needing a dedicated detour.

Across Time and Space

Unlock Rate: 29.6% (Rare)

Requirement: Bid farewell to Lear

How to Unlock: Complete Lear’s associated story or side content and reach the farewell scene with this character.

Tips: This is tied to a specific character arc, so keep an eye on Lear’s dialogue and questline progress as you play.

Magical Bean

Unlock Rate: 28.9% (Rare)

Requirement: Help Shuanshuan unlock the true potential of agriculture

How to Unlock: Find and deliver multiple Fertilizer gift items to Shuanshuan, then rest and visit the tree in the Pavilion to trigger its growth, including a second Fertilizer found in the Sky Tower.

Tips: The tree needs to be fertilized twice total, so make sure you find both Fertilizer items rather than assuming one delivery is enough.

Learned From the Best

Unlock Rate: 26.2% (Rare)

Requirement: Use the Gene Eradicator to fight Jiequan.

How to Unlock: Obtain the Gene Eradicator item and use it specifically during the Jiequan boss fight instead of fighting him normally.

Tips: This method is described as making the fight considerably easier while also awarding a unique achievement, so it’s worth pursuing over a standard fight if you have the item available.

Blessed Messages

Unlock Rate: 23.6% (Rare)

Requirement: Discover the message board for blessings upon the Departure of New Kunlun’s Voyage.

How to Unlock: Find the message board collectible related to New Kunlun’s Voyage, tucked into one of the game’s explorable areas.

Tips: This is a straightforward discovery achievement, so a general collectible location guide will point you to it quickly if you’re having trouble finding it naturally.

Do Re Mi So La

Unlock Rate: 34.3% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Unravel the mystery of the Daybreak Tower’s music sheet.

How to Unlock: Find the Ancient Sheet Music collectible corresponding to bells found around Daybreak Tower, give it to Shuanshuan, and watch the following cutscenes where Abacus deciphers it into the Ancient Penglai Ballad.

Tips: This is tied to a specific item pickup and delivery, so make sure you’re checking Daybreak Tower thoroughly for the sheet music before assuming it’s elsewhere.

I’m Yi, I Have a Drinking Problem

Unlock Rate: 24.2% (Rare)

Requirement: Drink all the wine brewed by Shennong.

How to Unlock: Deliver all 15 types of poison found throughout the game to Shennong, who brews them into wine that also maxes out your health bar.

Tips: This achievement doubles as a health-upgrade questline, so prioritize finding poison collectibles specifically as you explore each area.

What Have You Done?!

Unlock Rate: 18.1% (Rare)

Requirement: Break the clay pot made by Shuanshuan

How to Unlock: Continue gifting Shuanshuan items and visiting him regularly until he takes up pottery. A clay pot will eventually appear in the Pavilion; destroy it to trigger this achievement.

Tips: This is a late-stage Shuanshuan interaction, so it naturally follows once you’ve given him most of his available gifts.

Shooting Star

Unlock Rate: 18.9% (Rare)

Requirement: Discover a hidden late-game secret

How to Unlock: This achievement ties to a specific discoverable event or item late in the game, likely connected to exploration or a specific NPC interaction.

Tips: Cross-reference a full collectible guide if this hasn’t triggered by the time you’re closing out other side content, since its exact trigger isn’t spelled out clearly in-game.

Rest for the Wicked

Unlock Rate: 18.4% (Rare)

Requirement: Use the Fortune Teller machine crafted by Shuanshuan

How to Unlock: Give Shuanshuan the Multi-Tool Kit (found in the Power Reservoir Central) and the Tiandao Academy Periodical (found in the Tiandao Research Center, behind a breakable shelf). Rest at the root node repeatedly until Shuanshuan is found working on the 3D Printer, then interact with the Fortune Teller machine he builds.

Tips: This doesn’t unlock exactly when expected, so don’t assume something is broken if it takes a few extra rests after delivering both items; it typically appears once you’re well into turning in Shanhai 9000’s map data too.

Map Data & Collectibles (Mutually Exclusive Pair)

Repurposed

Unlock Rate: 16.8% (Rare)

Requirement: Pay for every Shanhai 9000 map data chip without ever forcing one

How to Unlock: Across your entire playthrough, always pay 400 Jin to purchase map data chips from every Shanhai 9000 robot you encounter, never forcibly removing one. One robot in the Transmutation Zone will attack you and must be killed to obtain its chip; this specific exception does not void the achievement. Give all collected chips to the Shanhai 9000 robot at your base to also progress Passing on the Torch.

Tips: This achievement is permanently voided the moment you forcibly remove even one chip elsewhere, so if you’re not sure whether you’ll want You Bastard… too, back up your save before your very first Shanhai 9000 encounter.

You Bastard…

Unlock Rate: 27.2% (Rare)

Requirement: Obtain map data from Shanhai 9000 by force.

How to Unlock: Forcibly rip a map data chip from any Shanhai 9000 robot instead of paying for it. This achievement is quick to obtain, taking as little as 20 minutes from a fresh save to reach the first Map Robot.

Tips: This permanently voids Repurposed for that save file. If you want both achievements, save your game just before your first Shanhai 9000 interaction, force the chip off to unlock this achievement, then immediately close and reload your save before continuing normally and paying for every chip afterward.

Combat & Completion Challenges

One Man Army

Unlock Rate: 24.9% (Rare)

Requirement: Defeat every optional miniboss.

How to Unlock: Locate and defeat all 10 optional minibosses scattered across the game’s regions, tracked via the map data icons once you’ve collected chips from Shanhai 9000 in each area.

Tips: Map data chips reveal which regions contain a miniboss icon but not the exact location, so cross-reference a miniboss location guide once you know which areas to search.

Robo Fight!

Unlock Rate: 14.7% (Very Rare)

Requirement: Defeat Tianshou while driving a robot.

How to Unlock: In the Empyrean District (Passages), navigate a short platforming sequence to a hackable point, using it to open passage to a large robot. Turn off the water flow near the large waterfall to trigger the Tianshou miniboss fight, then defeat him while piloting the robot rather than fighting on foot.

Tips: You must defeat Tianshou specifically while driving the robot; fighting him without it won’t count toward this achievement.

Fight Through Hardship

Unlock Rate: 21.9% (Rare)

Requirement: Finish Nine Sols on Standard Mode.

How to Unlock: Complete the full campaign on Standard difficulty (as opposed to the easier Story Mode).

Tips: The final boss on Standard Mode is considered one of the toughest fights in the game, so make sure your skill tree and health upgrades are as complete as possible before attempting the ending.

The Warrior Within

Unlock Rate: 20.7% (Rare)

Requirement: Master all skills in the skill tree.

How to Unlock: Spend enough Qi (skill points) to unlock every skill in Yi’s skill tree.

Tips: This requires consistent exploration and boss clears throughout the game to earn enough Qi, so it naturally builds up if you’re thorough rather than rushing the main story.

Well Prepared

Unlock Rate: 19.9% (Rare)

Requirement: Collect every Jade.

How to Unlock: Find and collect every Jade Stone scattered across the game’s regions and rewarded through certain questlines, like Chiyou’s Xingtian quest.

Tips: Check your map data for treasure icons region by region, since Jade collection overlaps heavily with the Treasure Hunter achievement’s requirements.

My Most Trusted Friend

Unlock Rate: 18.4% (Rare)

Requirement: Max out the ammo capacity of the Azure Bow and obtain Cloud Piercer X, Thunder Buster X, and Shadow Hunter X.

How to Unlock: Collect every piece of Dark Steel scattered throughout the game to fully upgrade the Azure Bow’s ammo capacity and unlock its three maxed arrow types.

Tips: This overlaps with Treasure Hunter and Well Prepared, since Dark Steel is one of the collectible types tracked on your map data, so working toward full map completion covers all three simultaneously.

Treasure Hunter

Unlock Rate: 15.6% (Rare)

Requirement: Find all resources and information marked by Shanhai 9000.

How to Unlock: Collect every map data chip and use it to reveal the tracked collectibles (minibosses, treasure chests that grant components, and scannable blue-glowing objects) in every region, then find all of them. This does not require fully revealing the map itself or collecting money-only pickups.

Tips: This achievement’s true trigger sometimes lags behind what looks like full completion, so don’t panic if it doesn’t pop immediately; double-check an interactive collectible map to confirm you haven’t missed a specific chest or scannable object.

Stonks!

Unlock Rate: 26.5% (Rare)

Requirement: Recycle Shuanshuan’s coin.

How to Unlock: Give Shuanshuan the Multi-Tool Kit, rest repeatedly until he’s working on the 3D Printer, then purchase the coin blueprint he creates for 100 Jin and recycle it for a large Jin payout.

Tips: This has no negative consequences, so do it as soon as the coin is available rather than hesitating, since the payout is substantial and worth grabbing early.

5-Phase 100% Completion Roadmap

Phase 1: Careful First Steps Before encountering your first Shanhai 9000 robot, decide whether you want both Repurposed and You Bastard… Back up your save right before that first encounter if you want to force one chip for the achievement, then reload and commit to paying for every subsequent chip. If you only want one of the two, simply choose your approach and stick with it for the entire playthrough.

P2: Thorough Exploration Play through the main story while exploring each region fully. Collect every map data chip, Jade, Dark Steel, and poison type as you go, and give gifts to Shuanshuan whenever you find new Artifacts. This naturally builds toward Treasure Hunter, Well Prepared, My Most Trusted Friend, and Gimme Gimme.

P3: Side Quest Completion Complete Shennong’s wine questline, Chiyou’s Xingtian questline (buying everything from his shop and giving him the Soul-Severing Blade and Firestorm Ring before the Point of No Return), and Shuanshuan’s full gift chain, including the Fortune Teller machine and clay pot events.

P4: Boss and Combat Cleanup Defeat all 10 optional minibosses, tackle the Tianshou robot fight for Robo Fight!, and use the Gene Eradicator against Jiequan for Learned From the Best. Make sure your skill tree is fully unlocked before pushing toward the endgame.

P5: True Ending and Difficulty Run With all side quests, map data, and collectibles complete, obtain the Rhizomatic Arrow and pursue the Found You true ending. Finish the story on Standard difficulty for Fight Through Hardship, using your fully upgraded skill tree and health bar to handle the harder final boss.

Conclusion

Nine Sols rewards thorough, patient exploration far more than raw combat skill, aside from its genuinely demanding Standard Mode final boss. The one real trap in this list is the Repurposed and You Bastard… pair, since forcing a single chip locks you out of the other permanently unless you plan around it with a save backup. Everything else comes down to talking to NPCs regularly, collecting every marked resource, and finishing your side quests before the story’s Point of No Return closes off access to most of the map.