ABZU — Achievement Walkthrough

Surface tutorial, the first seaweed reef, the first drone rescues and the first altar. 4 hidden pools, 2 meditation statues, 3 shells.

1. As soon as you are in the water, build speed with the boost button and swim straight up so you burst out of the surface. Any leap out of the water counts, and you can repeat this anywhere in the game.
   🏆 Breach
2. Swim toward the large hole in the wall. A big fish comes out to meet you and the game prompts you to grab it. While holding on, press the flip/roll button to do a flip with the creature. Works on any rideable creature if you miss it here.
   🏆 Ballet
3. Pass through the small cave and the seaweed curtain. Go around the right side of the rock formation ahead: pink/red coral ringing a small crater on the sandy path is Hidden Pool 1 of 20. Swim up to it and interact to release the fish.
4. Follow that sandy path back toward the rock formation. Where it forks, take the left branch for Hidden Pool 2.
5. Just past pool 2 is a small drop with light shining down; free the drone in the sand pit there. Turn right, slip down between the seaweed and the cliff, and Hidden Pool 3 is a short way ahead.
6. From pool 3 look up to the top of the stone wall ahead: the shark-shaped Meditation Statue 1 of 12 sits up there. Swim to it and interact to sit.
7. While meditating, switch to the viewing mode and cycle the camera between fish. Keep watching until a predator eats another fish. It is random but common; if nothing happens, you can try again at any later statue.
   🏆 Food Chain
8. Get off the statue and dive down and to the left: inside the rocks directly below/behind the statue's perch is Shell 1 of 19 (large, faintly glowing).
9. Leave the rocks toward where the statue faces, free the second drone under the light beams, then the third drone up in the lit hole in the seaweed wall on the left. Return to the second drone's spot and interact with the red coral blocking the small doorway so a drone cuts it.
10. Follow the shark through the seaweed, past the green eels, through a large hole in the wall, and turn immediately left around the corner for Shell 2.
11. Continue to the dark area, dive into the glowing pool and restore the altar (interact with the glowing fluid at the tower). When you regain control, look up above the door that just opened for Meditation Statue 2.
12. Go through the door and cave. In the open dark area a shark destroys one of your drones. Dive straight to the floor: Hidden Pool 4 is between the first two stone pillars.
13. Swim around to the far side of the last pillar for Shell 3, then follow the pillar up to the triangular gate and interact with its center to end the chapter.

First jetstream, a pink coral basin, a second jetstream with a shell inside it, then a second altar and a deep spire area. 4 pools, 3 statues, 3 shells.

1. Ride the jetstream current. Schools of fish in the current flash white when you burst through them. You need 15 across all jetstreams cumulatively; there are far more than 15 in the game, and most players have it by the second or third current.
   🏆 Jetstream
2. The current drops you into a pink basin. Look along the sandy path near the entrance for Hidden Pool 5 (TrueAchievements says to your left; Gameranx says immediately right - check both sides of the entrance). Meditation Statue 3 sits right next to this pool.
3. From the statue, spot the huge rock pillar on the far side of the basin. Swim to its top for Shell 4, then swim down to its base for Hidden Pool 6.
4. Turn around and go to the side opposite the basin entrance: there is a cave with two openings. Hidden Pool 7 is on top of the cave, above the entrance.
5. Free the drone in the sand inside that cave, then go under the rock formation with the hole in it and let the drone open the reef door.
6. IMPORTANT: the current beyond this door is the only jetstream with a shell inside it. When you pass under a large stone archway, hug the top-left of the current: Shell 5 is on a small ledge there. If you miss it, use Chapter Select later.
7. At the dead area at the end, dive into the glowing pool and restore the altar. When you regain control, look left of the nearby tower for Meditation Statue 4 up on a high cliff.
8. Go through the newly opened door and cave. In the open area, swim under the enormous school of fish to find Meditation Statue 5 on top of a tall rock spire (it only becomes visible once you go down into the darkness).
9. Dive straight down from the statue: Hidden Pool 8 is at the base of the spire. Circle the spire at floor level for Shell 6, sitting among three rocks and some old pottery.
10. Swim back up to the triangular gate and interact with its center to finish the chapter.

A large ruin with a broken bridge, two chain cranks, a third altar and a hall of fountains. 4 pools, 3 statues, 3 shells.

1. Swim through the cave into the huge open area. Head left to the tall thin statue with a drone stuck at the top and free it. A little past it, on a cliff at about the same height, is Hidden Pool 9.
2. Swim up to the top of that cliff for Meditation Statue 6.
3. Directly behind the statue is a stone well with a chain hanging into it. Swim all the way to the bottom of the well for Shell 7.
4. Back at the top of the well, swim between the statue and the pillar to its left, over the row of statues, and keep going: Hidden Pool 10 is on a cliff in that direction.
5. Drop straight off that ledge to the deepest point of the area: Hidden Pool 11 is in the sand path on the floor (near the bases of the bridge supports).
6. Follow the sand path to the small stone structure and free the drone. Then find the bright doorway with a chain running through it (follow the chain from the right side of the exit door if lost), open it, follow the chain to the first crank, then cross to the cave on the opposite side for the second crank.
7. Go through the door the cranks open. Shortly after the sand path begins on the hallway floor is Hidden Pool 12.
8. The shark swims through the next room. Go right into the thick seaweed for Shell 8 hidden in an alcove.
9. Follow the path to the dead area and restore the altar. Swim right around the coral pillar for Meditation Statue 7 high on a ledge.
10. From the statue, turn right toward the several arches (above the exit doorway) and swim in behind them for Shell 9 in a small room with windows.
11. Go down through the doorway into the fountain halls. Activate the yellow-trimmed fountains to open doors. At the third fountain, Meditation Statue 8 is in the back-right corner of the room. Continue to the triangular gate to end the chapter.

Whales lead you down to a dark area full of floating triangular mines, two generators, the shark, a deep cliff and the fourth altar where the giant squid appear. 4 pools, 2 statues, 3 shells.

1. After swimming down with the whales, avoid the floating triangular mines (they stun you). Swim toward them and Hidden Pool 13 is in the open on the floor.
2. Swim up the wall to the left of pool 13 for Meditation Statue 9.
3. Look for a tall stone structure with a lit top illuminating a whale skeleton. Swim to the top of it for Shell 10 (among the whale bones).
4. Dive off the edge: Hidden Pool 14 is at the tail end of another skeleton.
5. Follow the closest glowing cable to the right into a cave and activate the generator. Come back out and follow the second cable to the right; Hidden Pool 15 is tucked on the right side of that path before the cave. Activate the second generator to open the door.
6. Go through the cave and help the shark when you reach it. In the following cave, as it begins to turn right, look up toward the ceiling on the right wall for Shell 11.
7. When the cave ends, follow the pillars down. Near the bottom of the closest pillars, Shell 12 glows on the edge of a cliff outcrop.
8. Keep diving past the cliff edge: Meditation Statue 10 is on rocks on the sea floor among the volcanic vents.
9. Ahead of the statue is an enormous mouth-like hole in the wall. Swim to the top of it: Hidden Pool 16 is on the large rock protruding above.
10. Swim down through the hole, enter the glowing pool and restore the altar. During and after the cutscene, giant yellow squid rise from below. Swim to the body of one and hold the grab button to ride it. (Platget describes just interacting with one; TrueAchievements and Gameranx say to grab/ride it, so ride to be safe.) Squid can also be glimpsed earlier in the darkness of this chapter.
    🏆 Kraken
11. Go through the doorway and the minefield into the orange center of the large triangular structure to end the chapter.

A short, linear stretch of mine-lined corridors with no collectibles.

1. Follow the path, avoiding the mines in the walls. Press the button you reach, then cross the large minefield to the orange triangular exit on the far wall (the bottom tends to have fewer mines). A cutscene plays. None of the guides list any collectibles in this chapter.

You walk on land for the first time, then explore flooded halls with waterfalls, cranks, aqueducts and a gazebo. 4 pools, 2 statues, 3 shells.

1. Swim to the shark, then continue until you can climb out of the water. Run up the stairs, activate the fountain and dive back in. Swim around the left side of the building with the large staircase: Hidden Pool 17 is on the far side, and Meditation Statue 11 sits on a stone structure nearby.
2. Face the same way as the statue: Hidden Pool 18 is in the distance, by a pillar with old bones next to it.
3. Swim to the top of that pillar, climb onto the broken walkway, and run through the waterfall to a hidden room with a lily-pad pool. Jump in and swim to the back for Shell 13.
4. Go back out through the waterfall, dive in, swim past the next stone structure and climb up at the left corner of the following structure. Climb its staircase for Shell 14.
5. Dive off the right side and follow the chain to a crank. The second crank is behind a door: go round the back of the building, climb out at the surface, activate the fountain, then return and turn the crank.
6. In the next room, follow the liquid to the small fountain so you can swim up through the ceiling. Climb out at the top and dive off the broken bridge. As you hit the water, look to your character's left for Hidden Pool 19 in the sand.
7. Activate the fountain at the end of the small aqueduct and follow the empty aqueduct toward the second fountain: Hidden Pool 20 is in the sand on the right. If you have every other pool, this releases the achievement.
   🏆 Ecosystem
8. Swim up the nearby ledge and look left for Meditation Statue 12, the last one. Interacting with it completes the set if you have the other 11.
   🏆 Zen Master
9. After the fountain at the end of the aqueduct opens the door, do NOT go through yet. Swim through the wall of seaweed instead, follow the wall right until it curves round, surface and climb onto the platform: Shell 15 is in the middle of the gazebo.
10. Follow the liquid to the next fountain, climb out to activate it, go round the building and dive off the broken bridge into another jetstream. Turn both cranks at the end and swim through the whirlpool to the hub; interact with the orb to continue.

Ride the Great White Shark, destroy the mine clusters to raise the water, then reach the open whale sea before the final structure. 3 shells and three achievements, all before entering the final triangle.

1. As soon as you have control, swim up to the surface and turn right: Shell 16 is on an outcrop. Swim under or leap near it to collect it.
2. The Great White Shark circles you here. Swim up to it and hold the grab button to ride it. Do this before moving on.
   🏆 Connection
3. Swim into each cluster of mines wired to the larger structures to destroy them and raise the water level, following the camera to each new area (several repeats). The last one opens into a huge sea with blue whales and the large triangular structure.
4. Immediately after arriving in the whale sea, look right: Shell 17 is on a small high platform. Build speed and leap out of the water next to it, pressing interact, until you grab it. It can take a few tries.
5. Now follow the wall the other way, past the entrance to this area. A small floating ice island with penguins and a polar bear appears in the distance. Swim to it and climb out.
   🏆 Arctic Explorer
6. Shell 18 is on the ice island next to the polar bear.
7. Swim to the blue whales in the middle of the area, grab one near its eye/head and keep holding. When it needs air it swims up and breaches with you on its back.
   🏆 Leviathan
8. Swim into the orange center of the large triangular structure. The mines in the final area can now be destroyed; push through to the final cutscene. The achievement unlocks as the ending plays.
   🏆 Reflection

You can swim during the credits, and the last shell is here.

1. During the credits you control the diver. Stay toward the right side of the screen; after a minute or two the view reveals Shell 19 in plain sight. Collect it to complete the set. Collecting all 19 shells also lets you claim an alternative diving suit at the shell wall.
   🏆 Collector

• Open the pause menu to see your collectible progress (the Meditation page lists the statues). Use Chapter Select to go back to any chapter that is missing pools, statues or shells. All three guides say nothing is missable because of Chapter Select, so pickups made on a replay count.
• If Food Chain did not pop, sit at any meditation statue and keep cycling the camera between fish until you see one get eaten. Jetstream, Breach and Ballet can also be done on any replay.