All Species Unknown guides
Species Unknown ties most of its achievements to a rank ladder. You start as a Recruit and climb through Sergeant, Lieutenant, Major and Colonel, and each rank comes with its own set of challenges. Your rank also decides which equipment you can buy.
Not everything depends on rank, though. A handful of achievements are small secrets hidden on the Hawking ship, the colony map or both, and you can grab them at any time. Others come from upgrading your ship and from collecting data on every specimen.
How to Unlock All 72 Achievements by Rank
Rank Requirements
To move up a rank, you have to finish every challenge in your current rank first. Doing a challenge from a higher rank early does not count. For example, if you complete a Colonel challenge while you are still a Recruit, the achievement will not unlock.
Since your rank also limits the equipment you can buy, take it slowly and clear one rank at a time.
Any Time Achievements
These are not rank challenges. They are small secrets, some found on one map only and some on both. You do not need to meet any rank requirement to get them.
Was something supposed to happen?
Use the wrong Category 3 weapon on a specimen.
Each specimen has one correct category 3 weapon. For the squid (specimen-006), it is the flamethrower, so any other category 3 weapon, such as the electrical gun or the freeze gun, is the wrong one. Hit the specimen with one of those.
Not fast enough
Die from a reactor discharge.
On the Hawking map, open the valves to the machinery section (the Recruit achievement Open the floodgates). Past them is a reactor that switches on every 10 seconds. Instead of running across before it fires, stand in the middle and let it kill you.
My precious
Bring the black box back to the shuttle without ever throwing it away.
During an extract data mission, pick up the black box and never drop it. Keep it in your hands until you place it in your ship’s containment slot in the piloting area.
His name is Wilson
Find the ball during the mission and bring it back to the shuttle.
The ball is a nod to the classic film Cast Away and has a bloody hand print on it. It can be on the ship or colony map. On a kill mission, put the ball in your ship before you kill the specimen.
Taking a Break
Pocket every ball on the pool table
Colony map only. The pool table is in the left section of the map. Shoot every ball into the pockets.
For science
Join the ranks of the infected.
Get infected by specimen-010 (the zombie alien) and die from the infection.
Alter Ego
Kill your own previous body (poisoned by ID_010) after respawning from a capsule.
After the specimen-010 infection kills you, revive and go back to your body. If it has not been burned, it rises on its own. Wait for it, then kill it.
At all costs
Complete a mission despite a deduction of 1000 credits.
Die 5 times yourself.
Or, if the modifier that makes you pay for ammo and health is on, reload or heal 10 times. This is easier, and you will probably get this modifier with specimen-010 as well.
KABOOM!
Die from a frost or incendiary canister.
Shoot a cryogenic or incendiary canister at your feet.
Pyrotechnician
Eliminate 3 threats with a single explosion.
Use a canister. Run around to pull 3 zombies into a very small area, then blow them up. The leeches on the colony map work too.
Big Bang
Cause an explosion using at least 5 canisters.
Cryogenic and incendiary canisters both count. Gather them in one spot and shoot. You can get KABOOM! at the same time.
Call me Rambo
Equip every Category 3 weapon in a single mission.
Take an easy mission and unlock every Hawking sector. Pick up each weapon, then drop it to grab the next: flamethrower, frost gun, electrical gun and laser gun.
The no category 1 weapon modifier helps, as it leaves room only for category 3 weapons.
Just in time
Escape with less than 10 seconds remaining before the site’s destruction.
- Pick an easy destroy the ship mission.
- Once the destruction sequence starts, run to your ship and close the door.
- Wait until the last 10 seconds, then sit down to end the mission.
Fatal fall
Fall off a cliff on HGC Stormrock.
On the colony map, at the far end of the right side, there should be a cliff with a locked door. Jump off and die.
Speedrunner
Complete 15 contracts in under 12 minutes each.
Play easy extract data or destroy ship missions and rush them with a team.
Ship Achievements
These unlock when you, as captain, add features to your ship. They also pop if your captain does it.
Pimp my shuttle
Complete challenge PRF-029.
Give your ship a custom colour. Very easy.
Time saver
Install a contract terminal aboard the shuttle.
Buy the contract terminal for your ship (Recruit level).
Never out of health
Complete challenge LOG-020.
Install the health station in your ship (Sergeant level).
Never out of ammo
Complete challenge LOG-026.
Install the ammunition box in your ship (Sergeant level).
Doghouse
Complete challenge LOG-014.
Install the containment room in your ship (Major level). It unlocks capture specimen missions.
Specimen Data Achievements
These trigger once you finish every species room challenge: gather all the data, capture the specimen once and kill it several times.
Collector
Unlock access to all the specimen rooms.
Each room costs 10K.
Complete Bestiary
Capture all the specimens listed by Chimera Group.
Capture every specimen at least once. You need the containment room, either as captain or through your squad leader.
Bookworm
Collect all the specimen data in the Chimera Archives.
Extract data missions are all you need.
Anatomical Study
Collect all the specimen body parts in the specimen rooms.
Do kill specimen missions only.
Recruit Achievements
Handsome looks
Complete challenge PRF-016.
Customize your avatar. Changing the colour or adding an emblem is enough.
Open the floodgates
Complete challenge TEQ-045.
On the Hawking map, open the required closed valves in the machinery section (the orange part of the map).
The right compound
Complete challenge TEQ-254.
On the Hawking map, go to the labs section (the green part). Find the fuels (tubes) in the required colours to decontaminate the locked room.
You shall pass
Complete challenge TEQ-123.
On the Hawking map, go to the crew section (the blue part). Find the yellow key cards around this section to unlock the huge door.
One less
Complete challenge ELM-011.
Complete your first kill specimen mission.
Bye bye
Complete challenge DES-007.
Complete your first destroy the ship mission.
Spare change
Complete challenge FIN-052.
Gather 150 credits. Credits are the purple cards lying around the ship and the colony, so search everywhere.
Piece of junk
Complete challenge EQP-066.
Buy and equip your first tool (not the minimap). Buying the scanner does it.
Highly secure data
Complete challenge EXT-004.
Complete an extract data mission on danger 1.
Defective wheel
Complete challenge TEQ-601.
On the colony map, you must repair the elevator wheel on the other side of the base to complete almost any mission, such as extracting data or gathering guns.
- Find the printer on the map.
- Collect raw materials in large quantities.
- 3D print a wheel and repair the elevator.
You also need the wheel plans, which are on a computer near the damaged elevator.
Sergeant Achievements
Chrono master I
Complete challenge PER-028.
Finish an extract data mission on danger 2 or higher in less than 18 minutes on the Hawking.
Very easy if you already know the route, and better in a team. Skip the “no map” mission category, as it only costs you time.
Pacifist
Complete challenge PER-067.
Do not fire a single bullet during a mission. Either stay on the ship while your team does the work, or do an extract data or destroy ship mission without firing your pistol or any other weapon.
Face to face
Complete challenge ELM-007.
Kill specimen-007 (the ghost) on danger 2. Do not look it in the eyes, or it kills you. Use the freeze gun to force it into its physical form, then shoot it.
He wasn’t the monster
Complete challenge ELM-009.
Kill specimen-009 (the mutant, or Mike) on danger 2. Find the electric gun and charge it into his head. This exposes his weakened head, the only spot and the only moment you can damage him.
A hair’s breadth away
Complete challenge ELM-027.
Break free from specimen-006 (the squid) before it chops your head. Stay with at least one teammate and carry a shotgun. When it tries to jump onto your head, shoot it and it drops to the ground. To kill it, you need the flamethrower.
Player update: A later comment says the squid must already be on your head, and you have to shoot it off with a shotgun. Shooting it off a teammate does not count, so you can also do it solo if the squid is aggressive enough to jump on you.
Unmatched extractor
Complete challenge ELM-008.
Kill specimen-008 (the corrupted robot, or “eye”). Do not go alone, or it kills you straight away. Destroy its shield with the laser gun, then shoot it.
Floundering
Complete challenge ELM-044.
Kill 20 leeches in the HSS Hawking. On the way to the lab section, there is one locked area that is flooded. Go in and kill the leeches in the water. It may take 2 or 3 attempts.
Is this valuable?
Complete challenge FIN-096.
Find 4 unknown discs and keep them until the end of the mission. Each is worth 100 credits, and you cannot remove them from your inventory unless you die.
Lieutenant Achievements
Chrono master II
Complete challenge PER-031.
Complete an elimination in less than 20 minutes on the colony map. Know the route, find the printer fast to repair the elevator, get the weapon you need and attack.
Some specimens run away and do not come back, which wastes time. If you are on the underground level looking for specimen-010, do not wait: go back up and track it with the scanner. The same goes for specimen-007 and specimen-006.
Rolling in money
Complete challenge FIN-002.
Earn at least 6000 credits in bonuses (modifiers) after completing a mission. Collect lots of discs and have teammates give you their share of the money.
Marathon runner
Complete challenge PER-030.
Leave the Hawking without using adrenaline shots on danger 2 or higher, on a destroy the ship mission. Do not be the one who starts the destruction sequence in machinery. Wait near the shuttle and let a teammate start it.
Parry
Complete challenge ELM-048.
Block the sting attack of specimen-010 (the zombie alien) with your shield tool.
Bring out the big gun
Complete challenge EQP-041.
Upgrade one of your category 1 weapons (pistol) to the maximum.
Leeches
Complete challenge ELM-029.
Kill 12 leeches on the colony map. They live on the ground and only appear when the weather is rainy.
Quicksand
Complete challenge ELM-056.
Kill 12 sandworms on the colony map. They only appear during a sandstorm.
Powder snow
Complete challenge ELM-178.
Kill 12 snow spiders on the colony map. They only appear during a snow blizzard.
Beware of the vents
Complete challenge ELM-010.
Kill specimen-010 (the zombie alien) on danger 3 or higher. You need the flamethrower, and burning bodies draws it out. If it poisons you, reach a health station quickly or you die.
Doe-eyed squid
Complete challenge ELM-006.
Kill specimen-006 (the squid) on danger 3 or higher. You need the flamethrower.
Defective IFF signature
Complete challenge ELM-005.
Kill specimen-005 (the terminator) on danger 3 or higher.
- Stun it with the electric gun.
- Shoot its machine gun.
- Shoot its blue heart (the power component).
Major Achievements
Fishing net
Complete challenge CAP-006.
Complete a capture mission on danger 3 or higher. Any specimen works, as long as you have the containment room.
Chrono master III
Complete challenge PER-023.
Complete a destroy the ship mission on danger 3 or higher. Play in a team and rush to the machinery section.
Always prepared
Complete challenge MED-064.
- Equip the stim gun tool and hope you get specimen-010 (the zombie alien).
- Go through the vents where it is, so it stings and poisons you.
- Heal yourself with the stim gun.
- Repeat until you have done it 5 times.
The least I can do
Complete challenge ELM-073.
Burn 50 bodies with a flame canister or the flamethrower. They must be reduced to ash. Specimen-010 missions work best, but any mission or species counts.
I ain’t afraid of no ghost
Complete challenge CAP-021.
Capture specimen-007 (the ghost) on danger 3 or higher. You need the containment room and the freeze gun. Stun the ghost and catch it while it is on the ground in the room.
Lightheartedly
Complete challenge PER-070.
Complete a danger 3 or higher mission with no pistol (a map modifier on the mission), and do not pick up or carry any gun on the map. Leave the fighting to your teammates and play an extract data or destroy ship mission.
Bounty hunter
Complete challenge ELM-074.
Complete 10 kill specimen contracts on danger 3 or higher. Any species counts.
Courage of steel
Complete challenge ELM-036.
Kill the terminator without the electrical gun. Play with 2 or 3 teammates and upgrade your shuttle with health and ammo.
Run circles around the shuttle while shooting with category 2 guns. You keep a safe distance and stay close to the health and ammo stations.
My mind is a better weapon
Complete challenge ELM-088.
Complete an elimination contract without category 2 weapons (shotgun, submachine gun, assault rifle and similar). Use only your pistol and category 3 weapons such as the flamethrower or the laser gun.
Colonel Achievements
Catch them all
Complete challenge CAP-095.
Complete 10 capture specimen missions on danger 3 or higher.
From the shadows
Complete challenge ELM-082.
Kill the terminator (specimen-005) on danger 3 or higher without being seen by any of its drones. A drone has spotted you when it beeps red.
Watch out for its stinger
Complete challenge CAP-017.
Capture specimen-010 (the zombie alien) without getting stung during the mission. Bring teammates, equip your shield to be safe and watch out for the vents.
Chrono master IV
Complete challenge PER-032.
Complete a capture mission on danger 4 or higher in less than 20 minutes, on the colony map only.
Indestructible
Complete challenge PER-034.
Complete an elimination mission on danger 4 or higher without healing once. Surprisingly easy with a team that can help you.
Memento mori
Complete challenge PER-039.
Complete an elimination mission on danger 4 or higher without securing a respawn pod. If you die, you fail, so play in a team.
Completionist
Complete challenge RES-050.
Complete and read all the data logs of a specimen.
- Extract data 4 times for each specimen.
- Unlock that specimen’s species room in your hub (10K).
- Go to the computer and read all the logs.
Ghostbuster
Complete challenge CAP-045.
Capture specimen-007 (the ghost) on danger 4 or higher without the freeze gun.
Let a teammate act as bait. While the ghost is killing them in the containment room, close it as fast as you can.
Or use a freezing canister: wait for the ghost to come close, then shoot it.
Not so friendly anymore
Complete challenge CAP-066.
Capture specimen-008 (the robot eye) in spider mode. Destroy its shield with the laser gun and keep shooting until it stays a spider. The electric gun also helps: stun it in the containment room and shut the door.
One bullet should be enough
Complete challenge ELM-022.
Kill 50 threats with a single shot each. Zombies, leeches, sandworms and snow spiders all count. A max-level revolver works best, and one bullet to the head is enough for zombies.