Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Director's Cut — Achievement Walkthrough
26 achievement guides · Full game page →
These achievements are all scoped to a single run and don’t conflict, so you can earn them together instead of replaying for each one. Every achievement in the plan is marked with a ⛓ badge further down.
Set the difficulty to the hardest setting before you start and never change it, then play the whole game non-lethally: tranquiliser rifle, stun gun, and the non-lethal option on every takedown prompt. Never trip an alarm — reload rather than fight your way out of one. Along the way, hack every panel and terminal you pass instead of using the code, and read every XP book you find. Every achievement below is scoped by its own description to a single playthrough, so all eight land on one save.
- ✓▢Legend — Complete Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Director's Cut at its hardest setting without ever changing the difficulty.
- ✓▢Pacifist — Complete Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Director's Cut without anyone dying by your hand. (Boss fights don't count).
- ✓▢Foxiest of the Hounds — Complete Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Director's Cut without setting off any alarms.
- ✓▢Trooper — Complete Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Director's Cut.
- ✓▢Opportunist — Perform 50 takedowns within the same playthrough. (Civilians don't count).
- ✓▢Consciousness is Over-rated — Knock out at least 100 enemies in a single playthrough.
- ✓▢Hax0r1! — Successfully hack at least 50 devices within the same playthrough.
- ✓▢Doctorate — Read all 29 XP books within a single playthrough.
Two things worth knowing. First, no conflict: Opportunist wants 50 takedowns and Consciousness is Over-rated wants 100 knockouts, and both are satisfied by NON-lethal takedowns, so they sit inside Pacifist rather than fighting it — Pacifist also explicitly exempts boss fights, so the bosses cannot break the run. Second, the risk is stacked restrictions, not difficulty: Pacifist and Foxiest of the Hounds are both run-long and a single mistake ends them, so save often and reload immediately. If you would rather not risk all three at once, drop Legend and run the hardest difficulty separately — that is the one restriction that costs you a whole extra playthrough if you fail it. Deus Ex Machina is not in this plan because it needs all the endings, but every ending is chosen at the same final terminal: make a manual save right before it and you can collect that one at the end of this same run.
Early and automatic — sneak up on an enemy (not a civilian) and hit the CQC takedown prompt during the opening mission.
Unlocks the first time you complete the hacking minigame on any door, computer, or panel in the prologue. Capture nodes to reach the registry before the trace finishes.
Complete a hostile area without ever being spotted to earn the 'Ghost' XP bonus, which pops this. The very first mission (the Sarif plant) is an easy place to get it — Blink between cover, use the vents, and take non-lethal takedowns only when no one's watching. If a guard so much as questions a noise you can still be fine, but a full detection voids the Ghost bonus for that section.
Install any weapon mod (ammo capacity, rate of fire, etc.) on a gun at a weapon menu. You find mods early in Detroit.
A Detroit side quest — investigate the tunnel/limo situation for Carella and resolve it. Explore the sewers and follow the quest markers; a bit of hacking and reading emails points you to the resolution.
Spend Praxis kits to max out any single augment branch. The Hacking tree or the Cloaking/Stealth augs are good first picks. Praxis comes from XP, Praxis kits bought at LIMB clinics, and found kits.
Detroit side quest. Investigate the death of the woman's son (a fellow cop), gather the evidence from the crime scene and terminals, and report back. Hacking the police records helps you find the truth.
Hack everything — doors, safes, computers, alarm panels, turrets. Invest a couple of Praxis into the Hacking: Capture augment early so you can crack more devices, and the count climbs fast. Hacking also feeds XP and loot.
A side quest that can only complete if certain earlier characters are still alive and handled a particular way — it's partly missable depending on your choices. Do the connected Detroit and Hengsha quests thoroughly and keep the relevant people alive to see this one through.
Hengsha side quest for Mei Suen at the Hive — deal with the people threatening her. Investigate, and you can resolve it by stealth/persuasion without killing.
Melee takedowns (the CQC prompt) on enemies — lethal or non-lethal both count. Sneak up and use them constantly; 50 comes easily over a full game. Takedowns cost energy, so keep a battery topped up or upgrade energy regen.
Detroit side quest from a corrupt-cop tip — help Nicholas deal with a problem. Straightforward once you follow the markers; readable emails give context.
Quick Hengsha side quest — recover money owed for the bartender. A short errand; talk to the debtor and resolve it.
Hengsha side quest — protect a client's business interests. Follow the objective, hack/negotiate as needed, and resolve without unnecessary kills.
Non-lethal takedowns, tranquilizer darts, stun gun, and gas all count as knockouts. On a stealth/Pacifist run you'll pass 100 naturally. If you're playing lethal, switch to non-lethal tools for a while to pad the count.
Simply finish Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Director's Cut on any difficulty. You'll get this on your first completed run regardless of choices.
The 'Cloak & Daggers' quest chasing a weapons dealer (Jenny Alexander / the cop O'Malley). Follow the leads, and the ending hinges on a choice — you can resolve it without a kill for a Pacifist-safe outcome. Read the emails to find the dealer's location.
A later side quest from Pritchard about a hidden conspiracy tied to your past. Follow his directions, hack the relevant systems, and reach the buried facility. It rewards good lore and Praxis.
A Hengsha side quest — track the augmented cult/priest through the lower city and confront him. You can talk him down or fight; a non-lethal resolution keeps Pacifist intact.
Collect weapon upgrade mods (found and bought) and install every upgrade slot on a single gun — the 10mm Pistol or the Combat Rifle are cheap to max. Upgrades include ammo capacity, reload, damage, and targeting.
At the very end you choose between four outcomes by activating one of the consoles (Darrow's broadcast, Sarif's, Taggart's, or destroying the facility). Make a save right before the choice, pick one, watch it, then reload and pick the next — cycle through all four to unlock this in one sitting.
Play the entire game on 'Give Me Deus Ex' (hardest) and never change it. Enemies hit hard and see you faster, so play stealth: use cover, Cloaking, and tranquilizer takedowns rather than firefights. Save constantly. You can pursue Pacifist and Foxiest on the same run to knock out all three big playthrough achievements at once — just be extra careful since damage is unforgiving.
A hidden story-choice achievement — during an interrogation you're offered a payoff. Take it to pop The Take. It's a branching dialogue moment; if you want the opposite outcome too, reload.
The Director's Cut reworked the boss fights so you can take them down non-lethally, and boss kills don't count anyway — so you're free to focus on the rest. Use the Tranquilizer Rifle, the Stun Gun, and non-lethal takedowns (the single-target choke, never the lethal double). The big traps: enemies killed by a knocked-out body falling into water or off a ledge, and explosions/environmental hazards you trigger. Knock enemies out and leave them somewhere safe. It stacks with Foxiest of the Hounds — do one careful stealth run for both. Note gas grenades and the Typhoon don't kill if you avoid finishing blows, but it's safest to tranq-and-hide.
No alarm may ever sound. Alarms trip from cameras/turrets spotting you, guards reaching a panel, or hacking failures on alarmed devices. Hack or destroy cameras and disable alarm panels BEFORE moving through an area, and if a guard starts toward a panel, tranq him first. Some scripted moments can trigger an alarm — look up the few known 'forced' spots and neutralize the panels early. Use the Smart Vision aug to track guards and the Social Enhancer to avoid confrontations. Combine with Pacifist for a single ghost run.
eBooks are hidden in offices, apartments, and secure rooms across the game, and each is one-per-location — miss one and it's gone for that run. Grab them as you explore every optional room (they also give handy Praxis XP). Use a location checklist since a few sit behind hacks or in easily-skipped side areas. Do this on the same careful run as your other playthrough achievements.
