Trails in the Sky Second Chapter — Best Way to Earn All Achievements in 3 Play throughs

The easiest and most relaxed way to earn every achievement in Trails in the Sky Second Chapter is to divide the achievement hunt across three separate play throughs. While it is technically possible to complete everything in only two runs, using three playthroughs makes the process much easier, reduces the chance of missing something, and keeps the more difficult requirements from interfering with your first experience of the game.

Expect the entire achievement journey to take approximately 80–108 hours, depending on how much exploration you do during your first playthrough and how quickly you complete the two speed runs.

Play through 1 — Normal or Hard/Advanced Mode

Estimated Time: 70–90 Hours

Your first playthrough should be your main completionist run.

Choose Normal difficulty if you primarily want to enjoy the story and complete everything without unnecessary difficulty. If you want a slightly greater challenge, you can choose the game’s harder standard difficulty instead.

The important thing during this run is to take your time.

Explore towns thoroughly, speak with NPCs, complete side quests, collect equipment, fight monsters, open treasure chests, and experience the story normally. This is the play through where you should aim to complete virtually every achievement that is not tied specifically to Nightmare difficulty or the high-level final boss requirement.

During this run, focus on:

Completing every available main quest.
Completing every optional and hidden side quest.
Earning as much BP as possible.
Exploring every dungeon and area thoroughly.
Opening treasure chests.
Fighting a wide variety of enemies.
Completing monster-related objectives.
Collecting weapons, armor, accessories, quartz, recipes, books, and other collectibles required for achievements.
Completing character- and story-related achievements.
Building strong endgame equipment and quartz setups.
Finishing any optional bosses or difficult side content.
Saving useful equipment and resources for New Game Plus if the version you are playing allows them to carry over.

You should also avoid rushing through story chapters. Second Chapter contains a large number of optional conversations, quests, and events that can disappear after advancing the story.

By the end of this playthrough, you should have almost every achievement in the game.

The two major achievements intentionally being saved for later are:

Reach the necessary level and defeat the final boss while Level 175 or higher.

and

Complete the game on Nightmare difficulty.

Finishing your first run thoroughly also makes your later speed runs significantly easier because you will already know dungeon layouts, boss mechanics, story progression, and where you need to go next.

Play through 2 — Easy Mode Leveling Run

Estimated Time: 6–10 Hours

The second play through is designed almost entirely around leveling.

Start a New Game Plus play through on Easy difficulty and carry over everything that will help you move through the game quickly.

If the game provides an option that increases enemy levels, set monsters to approximately Level 75+ or use the highest practical enemy-level setting available to you.

The goal of this run is to gain experience extremely quickly while avoiding unnecessary side content.

You do not need to repeat your completionist approach from Playthrough 1.

Skip optional dialogue, ignore unnecessary treasure, avoid side quests that do not contribute meaningful experience, and move directly through the main story whenever possible.

Because your characters should already have powerful equipment, quartz, and knowledge from your first run, most encounters on Easy should be extremely manageable.

Your primary objectives are:

Progress through the main story as quickly as possible.
Fight higher-level enemies whenever they provide worthwhile experience.
Continue leveling throughout the game.
Reach approximately Level 175 before defeating the final boss.
Continue toward the maximum level of 200 if required for the level-related achievement.

The reason Easy difficulty is recommended is that the purpose of this run is efficiency rather than challenge. Stronger enemies provide the experience you need, while Easy difficulty keeps battles short.

Ideally, your characters will approach or reach Level 200 during this playthrough.

Before fighting the final boss, verify that the character or party meets the requirement for the achievement involving defeating the final boss at Level 175 or higher.

Once the achievement unlocks, finish the game and prepare for your final run.

Play through 3 — Nightmare Speed run

Estimated Time: 4–8 Hours

Your third and final play through is dedicated to one objective:

Complete the game on Nightmare difficulty.

Start another New Game Plus play through and select Nightmare.

At this point you should have:

Completed virtually every quest.
Earned nearly every collectible achievement.
Learned the layouts of every major dungeon.
Seen all major story events.
Built powerful character setups.
Reached extremely high levels.
Learned the strategies for every major boss.

That knowledge turns what would normally be a very difficult Nightmare play through into a relatively straightforward speed run.

Move directly through the main story and ignore unnecessary content.

You have two approaches for enemy levels.

Regular Enemy Levels

This is the recommended option if your only concern is obtaining the Nightmare completion achievement.

With your carried-over equipment and experience, normal enemies should be relatively manageable. Avoid unnecessary encounters and concentrate on progressing through the story.

Level 75+ Enemies

Choose this option if you want your final run to remain challenging.

Enemies will be significantly stronger, but your characters should also be extremely powerful after the previous playthroughs.

There is generally little achievement-related reason to increase enemy levels during this run, so consider it an optional challenge rather than a requirement.

The most important rule is simple:

Do not change the difficulty away from Nightmare at any point if doing so could invalidate the achievement.

Save frequently, especially before major bosses.

Once you defeat the final boss and complete the game on Nightmare, your final achievement should unlock.

Estimated Total Completion Time

Play through	Purpose	Difficulty	Estimated Time
Playthrough 1	Completionist/story run	Normal or Advanced	70–90 hours
Playthrough 2	Level 175/200 run	Easy + Level 75+ enemies	6–10 hours
Playthrough 3	Nightmare completion	Nightmare	4–8 hours
Total	All achievements	—	80–108 hours

Why Use Three Play throughs Instead of Two?

It is possible to earn every achievement in only two play throughs, but doing so usually requires combining the high-level grind with your Nightmare run.

That creates several disadvantages.

Nightmare battles take longer, leveling becomes less efficient, and mistakes during difficult bosses can significantly increase completion time. You may also end up spending much more time preparing characters simply so that you can satisfy both requirements during the same playthrough.

Using three runs separates the game’s three major goals:

Run 1: Enjoy and complete the game.

Run 2: Level efficiently and finish the Level 175/200 requirements.

Run 3: Complete Nightmare as quickly as possible.

The additional playthrough actually saves frustration because Runs 2 and 3 can be completed extremely quickly with New Game Plus equipment and knowledge.

Final Recommendation

For most players attempting 100% achievement completion, the three-play through method is the safest and easiest approach.

Your first run should be slow and thorough. Your second should be an Easy-mode leveling speedrun. Your third should be a focused Nightmare speedrun.

Following this route gives you plenty of time to enjoy Trails in the Sky Second Chapter normally before turning the remaining achievement requirements into short, focused cleanup runs.

Expected total completion time: approximately 80–108 hours.