The Long Dark — Achievement Walkthrough

Start any Survival Mode run and stay alive until the day counter rolls over. Sleeping in a bed or bedroll passes time fastest. Survival Mode days tick over at midnight in-game, so the counter climbs while you sleep. The safest way to bank days is a well-stocked base loop: keep a fire going for warmth and water, sleep in long blocks, and only travel when the weather is clear.

You must be outdoors for the whole night, from dusk through to dawn. Being inside a cave or building at any point breaks it. Prepare with your warmest clothing, a large stockpile of firewood and a sheltered spot out of the wind, then keep a fire burning and stand next to it all night.

Ten in-game days in one continuous run. Survival Mode days tick over at midnight in-game, so the counter climbs while you sleep. The safest way to bank days is a well-stocked base loop: keep a fire going for warmth and water, sleep in long blocks, and only travel when the weather is clear. Ten days is comfortably inside the food and fuel you can scavenge from a single starting region on the easier difficulties.

Your calorie bar must never hit empty for ten straight in-game days. Eat before sleeping rather than after waking, keep a buffer of preserved food, and remember that sleeping burns calories too — going to bed nearly empty is the usual way this streak breaks.

Timberwolf packs are driven off by breaking their morale rather than killing every animal. Keep a fire or flares between you and them, stay off open ground, and keep applying pressure until the pack breaks and scatters.

The same requirement as Night Walker, three nights in a row without breaking the streak by going indoors overnight. Stack firewood before you start, keep a fire going through each night, and use the daylight hours to gather more fuel and food so you never have to shelter inside.

One fish over 5 kg. Fish weight is random per catch, so this comes down to volume: set up at an ice fishing hole with plenty of fuel and tackle and keep fishing, checking the weight of each catch.

You need to actually apply each natural remedy the game offers, which means first acquiring the afflictions or injuries they treat. Gather and prepare the crafted plant remedies as you find the ingredients, and treat injuries with the natural option rather than the manufactured one whenever you have the choice.

Fifty in-game days in one run. By this point loose loot in your home region is gone, so the run has to become self-sustaining: hunt and cure hides, fish, harvest coal for long fires, and repair rather than replace clothing. Survival Mode days tick over at midnight in-game, so the counter climbs while you sleep. The safest way to bank days is a well-stocked base loop: keep a fire going for warmth and water, sleep in long blocks, and only travel when the weather is clear.

Throw a stone at a rabbit from at least 25 metres. The trick is distance, not damage: line up on a rabbit in open ground, back away until it is a small shape on screen, and lob stones with an arc. Rabbits are common in the meadow areas of most regions, so this is worth attempting every time you pass one.

Reach the summit of the Timberwolf Mountain region. The route is a climbing one, so bring plenty of rope, food and your warmest clothing, and set out on a clear morning — being caught by weather partway up a rope climb is the usual cause of death here.

Craft every improvised tool the game offers rather than relying on found ones. Gather the required materials and work through the crafting bench options until the set is complete.

Ten deer must be harvested completely — meat, hide and gut all taken from the same carcass. Partial harvests do not count, so carry a good knife, work indoors or beside a fire so you do not freeze mid-harvest, and come back for the rest before wolves claim it.

Only one in-game day is needed, but on Interloper the world is far colder, firearms do not spawn and loot is sparse. Start a fresh Interloper run, head straight indoors, get a fire going for warmth, and sleep through to the day rollover.

One hundred in-game days in one run. Nothing new is required over the 50-day mark, only consistency: keep condition high, never travel into a blizzard, and keep a food surplus so a bad hunting week cannot end the run. Survival Mode days tick over at midnight in-game, so the counter climbs while you sleep. The safest way to bank days is a well-stocked base loop: keep a fire going for warmth and water, sleep in long blocks, and only travel when the weather is clear.

Twenty-five picks of every harvestable plant type in one run. Plants regrow over time, so this is a patrol loop: learn the spots near your base, sweep them whenever you pass, and keep travelling to fresh regions to top up whichever plant is lagging behind.

Read every research book to completion. Books are read in timed sessions, so this is mostly a matter of finding each title while looting and then spending indoor daylight hours reading instead of idling. Research books are scattered across regions, so expect to be still finding them well into a long run.

Every clothing slot on your character must be occupied by an item at exactly 100% condition at the same time. Crafted clothing comes out at full condition, which is usually easier than trying to repair scavenged gear all the way back up. Repair everything in one sitting so nothing degrades while you finish the rest.

All four crafted fur items at once, then sleep. Each needs cured hides and gut, which take real in-game days to cure, so start curing early and keep the materials together. Wear the coat, boots and mittens, lay out the bearskin bedroll and sleep in it to trigger the unlock.

Fifty days from the start of the run with not a single firearm shot. The bow and improvised weapons are all fair game, so build toward archery early. Avoid firearms entirely rather than trying to remember whether a shot counted.

Twenty-five days from the start of the run without killing any animal at all. That means living on scavenged food and plants only. Avoid wildlife entirely — an animal that dies in a struggle you were dragged into will still end the attempt.

For 25 unbroken days every calorie must come from what you gather or kill yourself — no canned or packaged food at all. Set up somewhere with reliable fishing and deer, cook meat promptly so it does not spoil, and be careful with drinks and other consumables that quietly count as scavenged food.

A single fire must burn continuously for three in-game days. Stockpile a very large amount of fuel first — coal burns longest — then feed the fire before you sleep and keep sleep blocks short enough that it never burns out. Indoor fireplaces are sheltered from wind and easier to keep alive than an outdoor fire.

Enter every interior in the two starting regions during one run. Work region by region and tick off buildings systematically rather than relying on memory. If it will not pop, the culprit is almost always a small or easily missed interior rather than a landmark building — a community checklist is the quickest way to find the one you skipped.

Every skill maxed in one run. Some skills level quickly through normal play while others need deliberate grinding, so plan to do a bit of each activity every in-game day rather than pushing one to five and moving on. This effectively requires a long-lived run, so it pairs naturally with the day-count achievements.

Every Challenge mode scenario in the game completed. Challenges are separate from Survival Mode and each has its own rules and objectives, so work through them one at a time — several are considerably harder than a normal survival run.

Five hundred in-game days in one unbroken run. This is an endurance achievement rather than a skill one. Pick a forgiving difficulty, build a fully stocked home base, and pass time in long sleeps between maintenance chores. Losing the run at day 400 means starting from zero, so play conservatively and avoid all optional wildlife fights. Survival Mode days tick over at midnight in-game, so the counter climbs while you sleep. The safest way to bank days is a well-stocked base loop: keep a fire going for warmth and water, sleep in long blocks, and only travel when the weather is clear.

Every named location on Great Bear Island surveyed with charcoal and added to your map. This means visiting every region and standing close enough to each landmark to survey it. It is one of the longest achievements in the game — expect a dedicated long run, and keep notes on which regions you have finished.

Ten ptarmigan kills in one run, and they must be arrow kills — no firearms, no stones. Craft a bow and a healthy stock of arrows first, then work the areas where ptarmigans spawn and retrieve your arrows from each bird so you do not run dry.

Craft all three lure types in one run. Each needs its own materials, so this is a matter of collecting the crafting components and working through the fishing crafting menu rather than any special technique.

A cross-map trek between two far-apart regions in a single run. Plan it as an expedition: cache supplies along the route, travel only in clear weather, and rest in known shelters rather than pushing through storms.

Seven different expansion firearm variants held in one run. Variants are specific weapon versions rather than just seven guns, so check what you are actually carrying against the variant list. They come from expansion content, so that content needs to be part of your run.

Seven different insulated flask variants in a single run. They are scattered loot, so this is a long-run collection: keep looting across regions and check each flask you find against the ones you already have.

All four named rare fish in one run. They are rare pulls rather than guaranteed spawns, so expect a lot of fishing. Fishing across different water types and regions is the usual advice, but the exact spawn rules are not stated in the achievement description — check a community guide if one species refuses to appear.

All three Tales side stories finished in one run. Each is a self-contained questline with its own steps, so tackle them one at a time; the achievement description does not state the individual objectives, so follow the in-game journal for each Tale.

All nine prepper caches entered in one run. Caches are hidden across multiple regions and their positions are not given in the achievement description, so a community map is the practical way to track down the last few.

Twenty-five rabbits, all killed specifically with fire hardened arrows rather than any other arrow type or method. Rabbits are the most plentiful animal in the game, so the real work is keeping a large stock of the right arrows made and recovering them after every shot.

Trust with the Trader builds through repeated dealings. Keep trading rather than doing one large exchange, and keep coming back as more trade options open up, until Trust reaches its top level.

Nine different recipes found and then actually cooked. Recipes are discovered as loot, so keep looting kitchens and shelves, and cook each new one as soon as you have the ingredients rather than saving them up.

Misery Mode stacks permanent Afflictions on you as the run goes on. Simply staying alive long enough is what unlocks the last one in the chain — there is no way to rush it, so treat this as a long-run Misery attempt. The exact affliction order is not stated in the achievement description; see a community guide if you want the full list ahead of time.

Six vista points in the Far Territory, all in one run. Vistas are high vantage points, so expect climbing and exposed weather; go one at a time on clear days rather than chaining them in bad conditions.

One memento from each of the twelve Lower Great Bear Island regions during a single run. This is a tour of the whole lower map, so fold it into a long survival run rather than a dedicated trip, and keep a list of which regions you have already claimed one from.

Thirty photos in total in one run: ten on each of the three film types. Subject does not matter, so this is simply a matter of carrying a camera, keeping film of all three types stocked and remembering to switch type as you go.

One thousand in-game days in a single run, and the run must never use Cheating Death (the second-chance revive). Everything from The Will to Live applies, doubled, with no safety net: any death ends the attempt outright. Play the most forgiving settings you are willing to accept, keep condition topped up, and treat every wildlife encounter as optional.

Twenty-five separate cougar struggles survived. Every one is a genuine risk to the run, so go in with high condition, your best protective clothing and a full set of first aid, and treat wounds immediately afterwards. Cougars only appear once that content is enabled for your run.

Twenty-five unbroken days without leaving the Langston Mine. Haul in far more food, water and fuel than you think you need before you commit, because resupplying outside resets the streak.

One photo in each of the sixteen regions during a single run. It requires travelling the entire map, so fold it into a long run and take the photo the moment you arrive somewhere new — forgetting and having to return is the main time sink here.