Borderlands 2 Achievement Guide: Your Route to 100%

Plan Your Run and Clear the Story

Keep side missions and challenges on your main character to avoid repeating work across characters. This Borderlands 2 achievement guide gives you an order for handling the campaign, class skills, rare enemies, and DLC without scattering your progress. Pick one main Vault Hunter for side missions and challenges, then use alternate characters for their specific achievements.

Keep these targets in mind:

• 75 Steam achievements cover the base game and its achievement-bearing DLC.
• Four original classes have individual action-skill achievements: Commando, Siren, Gunzerker, and Assassin.
• Capped Out…For Now requires level 50.

Follow the campaign and collect the story achievements below. Handle nearby side missions along the way, especially objectives that ask you to accumulate kills.

Achievement	How to unlock
First One's Free	Complete “My First Gun.”
Dragon Slayer	Complete “Best Minion Ever.”
A Road Less Traveled	Complete “The Road To Sanctuary.”
New In Town	Complete “Plan B.”
An Old Flame	Complete “Hunting The Firehawk.”
No Man Left Behind	Complete “A Dam Fine Rescue.”
Wilhelm Screamed	Complete “A Train To Catch.”
Sky's The Limit	Complete “Rising Action.”
Can See My House From Here	Complete “Bright Lights, Flying City.”
Farewell, Old Girl	Complete “Wildlife Preservation.”
Got The Band Back Together	Complete “The Once and Future Slab.”
Identity Theft	Complete “The Man Who Would Be Jack.”
An Angel's Wish	Complete “Where Angels Fear To Tread.”
Bombs Away	Complete “Toil And Trouble.”
Knowing Is Half The Battle	Complete “Data Mining.”
Cool Story, Bro	Defeat Jack.

The leveling achievements fit alongside campaign progress:

• Not Quite Dead: Reach level 5.
• Better Than You Were: Reach level 10.
• Always Improving: Reach level 25.
• Capped Out…For Now: Reach level 50.

Official page: Borderlands 2 (store.steampowered.com)

Unlock the Four Class Achievements

Sabre Rattler requires turret kills, while Phased and Confused requires repeated Phaselocks. Salvador and Zero need skill investments that extend a single activation.

Image: Steam / Gearbox Software

Achievement	Character	How to unlock
Sabre Rattler	Commando	Kill 100 enemies with the Sabre turret.
Phased and Confused	Siren	Phaselock 100 enemies.
So Much Blood!	Salvador, Gunzerker	Gunzerk continuously for 90 seconds.
Unseen Predator	Zero, Assassin	Remain in Deception for ten seconds straight.

Salvador: Keep Gunzerking Going

Reach level 25 and invest in Last Longer and Yippee Ki Yay. These skills support the extended Gunzerking window and kill-based duration increases needed for So Much Blood!

Head to Frostburn Canyon and chain kills through the opening enemy groups, then continue into the Spiderant cave. Keep moving toward living targets; an empty stretch of the map wastes your remaining action-skill time.

Use the Quick Change machine in Sanctuary to respec if your current build lacks the required skills.

Zero: Extend Deception With Melee Kills

Reach level 31 and take Many Must Fall. During Deception, melee kills extend your stealth window.

Return to Frostburn Canyon and gather nearby low-level targets before activating the skill. Chain melee kills until you pass ten seconds. Do not fire your gun during the attempt, because shooting ends Deception.

For the Commando and Siren, work on turret kills and Phaselock uses while completing missions with those characters.

Finish Sanctuary and Equipment Tasks

Sanctuary bundles several achievements into short visits. Check for Michael Mamaril while handling upgrades, customization items, and Moxxi’s tip jar.

Image: Steam / Gearbox Software

Achievement	How to unlock
Better Than Money	Purchase five items from the black market.
Tribute To A Vault Hunter	Receive an item from Michael Mamaril.
Sugar Daddy	Tip Moxxi a total of $10,000.
Up High, Down Low	Give Claptrap a high five.
Decked Out	Equip Purple-rated gear or better in every slot.
Token Gesture	Redeem 25 tokens.
How Do I Look?	Unlock ten customization items.
Friendship Rules	Revive someone in Fight for Your Life who is on your friends list.

Find the black market at the purple door near Moxxi’s bar. Its upgrades cost Eridium, so spend that currency on useful purchases while working toward Better Than Money.

For Sugar Daddy, use the tip jar on Moxxi’s counter.

Michael Mamaril has ten possible locations around Sanctuary. Speak to him and accept his item when you find him. Search his possible spots during your town visits rather than expecting him at one fixed location.

When Claptrap offers a high five, take the opportunity. Keep spare Purple-rated equipment for Decked Out, too: the requirement concerns what you have equipped, so check every slot before selling your extras.

Arrange Friendship Rules with someone already on your friends list. Reviving a random co-op partner does not meet that stated condition.

Handle Combat Tricks, Secrets, and Rare Enemies

Keep a Tediore weapon available, watch for Goliaths, and make short detours for the location-based secrets.

Image: Steam / Gearbox Software

Achievement	How to unlock
High-Flying Hurler	Kill a flying enemy with a thrown Tediore weapon.
Goliath, Meet David	Let a Goliath level up four times, then kill it.
Build Buster	Kill a Constructor before it builds another bot.
Definitely An Italian Plumber	Kill Donkey Mong.
Cute Loot	Kill a Chubby.
Well That Was Easy	Complete “Shoot This Guy in the Face.”
What does it mean?	Trigger the double-rainbow scene in The Highlands.
Feels Like The First Time	Open the chest at the Fyrestone bus stop.

Tediore Throws and Constructor Kills

Tediore weapons become thrown attacks when you reload. For High-Flying Hurler, weaken a flying enemy first, then aim the reload throw so that it delivers the finishing damage.

For Build Buster, use the Constructor at the Hyperion base in The Highlands. Prepare your burst damage before engaging: rockets, grenades, and Salvador’s Gunzerking can help you kill it before another bot appears. Return at a higher level if the damage window is too tight.

Level Up a Goliath Without Losing It

Frostburn Canyon provides Goliaths and nearby enemies for this attempt.

1. Shoot off a Goliath’s mask to enrage it.
2. Let it kill surrounding enemies.
3. Weaken its targets so it can finish them.
4. Remove stronger enemies that threaten to kill it.
5. Wait for four level-ups before delivering the final blow.

Avoid wiping out the entire group yourself. The Goliath needs those kills to progress.

Find Donkey Mong and a Chubby

Look for Donkey Mong in southwestern Eridium Blight. He resembles a Bullymong and throws explosive barrels. Travel between Eridium Blight and Arid Nexus – Boneyard to make repeated checks at his spawn location.

For Cute Loot, search the Varkid groups near the Caustic Caverns entrance and the area’s Spiderant populations. Chubbies are rare variants, so a run through the area does not guarantee one. Land the killing blow yourself when one appears.

Collect the Three Quick Secrets

• Well That Was Easy: Find Face McShooty in Thousand Cuts when you reach the area during “The Once and Future Slab.” Accept his mission and shoot him in the face.
• What does it mean?: Cross the Constructor bridge in the Highlands Hyperion camp. Near the large metal door beyond it, drop from the cliff on the right to the plateau with a tent. Stand by the tent and let the recording and rainbow scene play.
• Feels Like The First Time: Visit Fyrestone in northern Arid Nexus – Badlands. Climb the red building and open the red chest on its roof.

Complete Challenges, Side Missions, and Exploration

These objectives deserve attention throughout your main character’s run. Leaving them all until the end creates extra travel and repeated fights.

Challenge Accepted

Challenge Accepted requires level 1 of every non-level-specific challenge on a single character. Spread your weapon use and check the challenge menu for neglected categories.

Pay particular attention to:

• Vehicle seat requirements: A challenge involving the back seat will not progress from the gunner seat.
• Blue Sparks: Work on sliding your vehicle into enemies.
• Grenade types: Use different grenade effects, including transfusion and bouncing varieties.
• Spike shields: Equip one when working on its associated challenge.
• Shock damage over time during Fight for Your Life: The lingering shock damage needs to secure the kill for that challenge.

For the shock objective, use a weapon that applies shock damage over time and leave an enemy weak enough for that damage to finish it. A direct-impact kill does not satisfy the same condition.

Side Missions and Slaughter Rounds

Bounty Hunter requires 20 side missions. Did It All requires all base-game side missions, while Went Five Rounds requires completing Round 5 of any Circle of Slaughter.

Complete the relevant slaughter missions on the character you are using for Did It All. Clearing an arena on an alternate character can leave you repeating it for your main character’s mission progress.

Pick up long kill-count missions before clearing enemy-heavy areas. For the mission requiring 100 Bandit kills, work through Bloodshot Stronghold.

The Creature Slaughter Dome is not required for the base-game Did It All achievement.

Named Locations

Use these regional achievements to organize your exploration:

• Urban Explorer: Discover all named locations in Sanctuary, Opportunity, and Lynchwood.
• Highlands Explorer: Discover all named locations in The Highlands, Thousand Cuts, and Wildlife Exploitation Preserve.
• Blight Explorer: Discover all named locations in Eridium Blight, Arid Nexus, and Sawtooth Cauldron.
• World Traveler: Discover all named locations.

Check small side paths and tucked-away spaces while finishing missions. For the Pirate’s Booty exploration achievement later, remember that even a small secret stash location can be part of the named-location hunt.

Defeat Terramorphous the Invincible

Thresher Thrashed requires defeating Terramorphous. After finishing the story, speak to Tannis in Sanctuary’s Crimson Raiders HQ to accept “You. Will. Die. (Seriously.)”

Travel to Thousand Cuts and enter Terramorphous Peak. Entry costs 4 Eridium.

Prepare for the fight before paying that entry cost:

1. Reach level 50 and bring level-appropriate equipment.
2. Purchase ammunition-capacity upgrades from the black market.
3. Redeem your available Badass Tokens.
4. Attempt the fight in Normal Mode.
5. Bring co-op partners if you need help staying alive and maintaining damage.

Use slag and concentrate your strongest attacks on the glowing yellow weak points. Keep moving to avoid incoming tentacle attacks.

Leave yourself a possible recovery target when practical. If you enter Fight for Your Life, killing a tentacle can earn a Second Wind. Dying during a solo attempt restores Terramorphous’s health, so survival matters as much as damage.

Clear the DLC Achievements

Each campaign has its own objectives. Complete nearby side missions while advancing its story, and keep exploration progress on the same character whenever possible.

Achievement	How to unlock
Treasure Hunter	Complete “X Marks the Spot” in Captain Scarlett and her Pirate's Booty.
Completionist	Complete all Pirate's Booty side missions.
Gadabout	Discover all named locations in Oasis and the surrounding Pirate's Booty zones.
Explosive	Complete “Long Way To The Top” in Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage.
Motorhead	Complete all Campaign of Carnage side missions.
Obsessed	Collect ten pictures of Moxxi in Campaign of Carnage.
Face Off	Complete “The Fall of Nakayama” in Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt.
Done That	Complete all Hammerlock's Hunt side missions.
Been There	Discover all named locations in Hammerlock's Hunt.
I Totes Planned That Boss	Slay Mister Boney Pants Guy.
Yaaaaaay	Introduce yourself to the White Knight.
Shorty, You So Best	Complete the quest to rescue the queen.
Keep Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'	Roll the magical treasure orb of many sides.
It's Like That One Video	Defeat The Darkness.
They Was All "Hey That's Mine"	Pull five swords from Immortal Skeletaurs without leaving the area.
Girl's Gotta Eat	Feed the queen three times during one visit to her quarters.
Dang Girl You Ace At This Game	Win the most challenging round in Murderlin's Temple.
Hmmmmm	Wield the Mysterious Amulet.
Make it Raaaaaid	Defeat the Ancient Dragons of Destruction.
Anyway, Here's "Firewall"	Activate the Backburner's firewall.
Chocolate Chip Confirmed	Allow Tiny Tina to arm the moonshot cannon.
3 or Bust	Complete “Paradise Found.”
Decrypted!	Defeat the Dark Web.
Spicy Boy	Defeat Haderax the Invincible.
Painbow Connection	Equip effervescent-quality gear in every slot except the class mod slot.

Captain Scarlett and Mr. Torgue

In Pirate’s Booty, complete the Message in a Bottle missions while exploring each map. These treasure hunts take you into additional corners of the DLC and award Captain Blade’s equipment.

In Campaign of Carnage, combine your hunt for Moxxi pictures with fights at Pyro Pete’s Bar. Keep the collectible objective in mind while finishing the campaign and side missions.

Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt

Pick up side missions as you enter each area. “I Like My Monsters Rare” involves rare enemy variants and can take repeated searches.

Use these locations to focus your attempts:

• Two-legged Drifters: Outside the lodge.
• Slag Spores: Outside the lodge, toward the Savages encountered during the opening mission.
• Pink Boroks: Hunter’s Grotto, across the mountain.
• Tailless Scaylions: The cave in Scylla’s Grove.
• Albino Skags: Near the Old Pukey mission area.

During the Bloodtail mission, allow the encounter to get underway before unloading overwhelming damage. Killing the target too quickly can leave the mission timer running.

Visit-Based Objectives and Effervescent Gear

Watch the visit-based conditions for They Was All "Hey That's Mine" and Girl's Gotta Eat. Pull all five Immortal Skeletaur swords without leaving the area, and feed the queen three times during one visit.

For Painbow Connection, keep effervescent items until you can fill every required slot together. The class mod slot is excluded from Painbow Connection.

Follow This 100% Completion Order

1. Choose your main character and advance the campaign. Accept nearby side missions and begin weapon, grenade, vehicle, and shield challenges.
2. Handle Sanctuary tasks during return visits. Buy black-market upgrades, tip Moxxi, check for Michael Mamaril, unlock customization items, and redeem tokens.
3. Collect regional secrets as their areas open. Visit Face McShooty, trigger the double rainbow, open the Fyrestone chest, and check for Donkey Mong.
4. Finish base-game side missions on your main character. Include the relevant Circle of Slaughter rounds, then sweep named locations and remaining challenges.
5. Reach level 50 and defeat Terramorphous. Prepare your gear and ammunition before entering the arena.
6. Complete the alternate-class achievements. Build Salvador around extended Gunzerking and Zero around Many Must Fall; finish the Commando’s turret kills and the Siren’s Phaselocks.
7. Work through the DLC campaigns one at a time. Combine each story with its side missions, collectibles, named locations, and specific combat objectives.
8. Compare your remaining locked achievements with their exact conditions. Check for an unequipped gear slot, an unfinished challenge category, a visit-based objective, or a mission completed on a different character.