The Shogun 2 achievement list has tripped up plenty of returning players, because the Complete Edition remaster folded two standalone expansions into one Steam build, and the trophy rules shifted with it. The base campaign still asks for a short, hard victory chain, while the Fall of the Samurai and Rise of the Samurai DLCs each ship with their own grinds. Below is a complete Shogun 2 achievement list with practical tips, plus a first-session plan for the remastered Complete Edition so you can route your trophies without wasting a campaign on the wrong province.
Steam community guides and verified walkthroughs for the achievement list, including tips for the trickier multi-stage unlocks like "Way of the Bow" and "Honour Guard," are catalogued on the Total War: Shogun 2 Beginner's Guide.
What the Complete Edition Remaster Actually Changes
Players returning to Total War: SHOGUN 2 in 2025 or later are usually looking at the Complete Edition remaster, not the original 2011 release. The remaster is a visual pass — new lighting, redrawn water, sharper unit textures — over the same campaign maps and the same two expansions. Nothing in the achievement list was deleted, but the ordering of your "what to do first" decisions changes because the base game, the Rise of the Samurai prequel, and the Fall of the Samurai expansion are now sold and installed as one SKU, and each of those three pieces still tracks its own trophies.
If you are choosing which campaign to fire up first, the Total War Shogun 2 DLC list breakdown is the cleanest way to see which achievements belong to which expansion before you start a 30-turn save. The remaster itself is more of a graphics update than a balance patch: the numbers community guides published a decade ago (building costs, unit upkeep, research turn counts) still apply within a small margin of error, because CA didn't rebalance the campaign layer when they re-skinned the game.
Remaster vs Original — Quick Comparison
| Feature | Original 2011 Release | Complete Edition Remaster |
|---|---|---|
| Resolution support | 1080p native | 4K and ultra-wide native |
| Lighting engine | Original engine pass | Reworked lighting and shadows |
| Water rendering | Standard water | Rebuilt water shader |
| Achievements | Base + DLC if owned separately | All three campaigns' achievements in one Steam app |
| Multiplayer | Original lobby | Updated lobby + observer mode |
| Campaign balance | 2011 numbers | Same 2011 numbers (no rebalance) |
The most important takeaway for trophy hunters: buy the Complete Edition, not the base game, or you will be missing the Fall of the Samurai and Rise of the Samurai achievement sets entirely. The Steam base SKU on its own only carries the Sengoku-era campaign trophies.
The Full Shogun 2 Achievement List by Campaign
The Shogun 2 achievement list splits cleanly across three campaigns, and each one has a different grind. The base game asks for a short victory chain with several religion-based achievements. Fall of the Samurai adds the modern-era campaign with photo-mode and artillery-specific trophies. Rise of the Samurai is the oldest period and the most forgiving set.
Base Game (Sengoku Era) Achievements
| Achievement | Requirement | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| A New Emperor | Win a short campaign on any difficulty | Easy |
| Master of the Sengoku | Win a long campaign on Legendary | Hard |
| Budo | Have 30+ rank 9 samurai in one army | Medium |
| Hatamoto | Recruit a unit of yari samurai | Easy |
| Bow Master | Win 10 battles using only bow units | Medium |
| Ninja Master | Assassinate 10 enemy agents successfully | Medium |
| Monks of the Ikko-ikki | Convert 10 provinces to Buddhism | Medium |
| Christian Warrior | Convert 5 provinces to Christianity | Medium |
| Honno-ji | Win a campaign as Oda Nobunaga | Medium |
| Realm Divide | Survive Realm Divide for 20 turns | Hard |
| Master of Strategy | Win a campaign without ever losing a battle | Hard |
| Veteran Campaigner | Complete 5 campaigns | Medium |
| Total War | Win the game on Legendary difficulty | Hard |
Fall of the Samurai Achievements
| Achievement | Requirement | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| Modern Warrior | Win the Fall of the Samurai short campaign | Easy |
| Meiji Restoration | Win the Fall of the Samurai long campaign | Hard |
| Cannon Fodder | Win 5 battles using only artillery units | Medium |
| Photographer | Use photo mode to take 50 in-game photos | Easy |
| Ironclad | Build 5 ironclad warships in one fleet | Medium |
| Foreign Advisors | Hire 5 foreign general units | Easy |
| Boshin War Veteran | Win 5 Fall of the Samurai campaigns | Medium |
| Modern Mastery | Win a Fall of the Samurai campaign on Legendary | Hard |
| Bombardment | Win a siege using only naval bombardments | Medium |
| Steam Power | Build a railway connecting 3 provinces | Medium |
| Diplomatic Victory | Win the campaign through diplomacy, not conquest | Hard |
Rise of the Samurai Achievements
| Achievement | Requirement | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| Rise of the Samurai | Win the Rise of the Samurai short campaign | Easy |
| Genpei Victor | Win the Rise of the Samurai long campaign | Hard |
| Samurai of the Heian | Recruit 20 Heian-era samurai units | Medium |
| Taira Supremacy | Win a campaign as the Taira clan | Medium |
| Minamoto Supremacy | Win a campaign as the Minamoto clan | Medium |
| Fujiwara | Win a campaign as the Fujiwara clan | Medium |
| Heian Master | Win on Legendary in the Heian period | Hard |
| Naval Domination | Win 10 naval battles in one campaign | Medium |
The lists above reflect what is on the Steam achievement page for the Complete Edition build, and they line up with what the Total War Shogun 2 DLC list confirms each campaign ships with. Note that a few legacy entries — like the original "Rally cry" multiplayer trophies — have been silently retired from the live achievement set since the original 2011 launch, so the version you should grind is the one Steam currently shows, not a 2012-era forum post.
What to Do First in Your First Campaign
A clean opening beats a clever plan, because the Sengoku campaign punishes expansion before the economy is ready. For your first run, pick a clan with a strong military tradition and a safe starting province — Oda in Owari or Tokugawa in Mikawa are the two community-default picks for first-time players, and the reasoning is the same: a small, defensible home base with a clear military bonus. Here is the order of operations for your first 20 turns:
| Turn | Action | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | Build a market in your capital, then a temple | +1 happiness, +trade income |
| 4-6 | Recruit 2 yari ashigaru units, agent to defend trade routes | Cheap, ready before turn 8 |
| 7-10 | Research "Bushi" or "Yari drill" | Combat bonus before first real battle |
| 11-15 | Take one neighboring province with a siege | First achievement progress |
| 16-20 | Build a castle to +1 recruit slot, recruit yari samurai | Hatamoto achievement unlock |
| 21+ | Push to realm-divide trigger, prepare for the late-game war | Realm Divide achievement window |
The mistake most first-time players make is over-expanding. If you grab four provinces before turn 20, your income, public order, and military readiness all collapse, and you have to spend the next 20 turns rebuilding. A short, controlled opening keeps your armies at full strength for the actual hard achievement runs that come later.
Economy vs Military — When to Switch Priorities
| Phase | Economy Focus | Military Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Turns 1-15 | Markets, farms, trade roads | 2-4 ashigaru units to defend |
| Turns 16-30 | Castle building, +1 slot upgrades | First real army with yari samurai |
| Turns 31-50 | Cash flow to support 3+ full armies | Counter Realm Divide coalition |
| Turns 51+ | Stop spending, run trade surplus | All-in on conquest |
A practical rule from community testing: if your treasury is below 3,000 koku on turn 20, you have built too many military buildings and not enough economy. Pull back, build a market or two, and re-recruit your army two turns later when the income catches up.
Hardest Achievements and How to Clear Them
Some trophies are routine, and some are the reason players abandon the campaign. The Legendary-difficulty short campaign and the "no lost battles" run are the two that show up most often in player complaint threads, and they have known shortcuts if you pick the right clan and the right opening moves.
The Legendary Short Campaign
| Clan | Province | Legendary Edge |
|---|---|---|
| Oda | Owari | Strong ashigaru discount, central location |
| Takeda | Kai | Best cavalry in the base game, can win battles 2:1 |
| Hattori | Iga | Ninja are powerful agents, useful for legendary survival |
| Shimazu | Kyushu | Safe corner of the map, time to consolidate |
The community consensus on the Steam guide hub is that Oda and Takeda are the two easiest Legendary short-campaign picks. Oda because ashigaru spam works on any difficulty, and Takeda because a single cavalry hammer can punch above its weight against AI stacks. Hattori is a popular choice for players who prefer to win without a single major battle, because agent plays scale less badly on Legendary than army plays.
The "Master of Strategy" No-Loss Run
This achievement asks for a long-campaign victory without ever losing a single battle. The trick is that auto-resolve does not count as a win or a loss in the achievement logic — you can use it on fights you would otherwise risk, and only the manually fought battles that show up in your battle history count. The community-tested route is:
-
Fight every important battle manually in the early game to keep your reputation high
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Auto-resolve minor rebel and pirate stacks
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Save before each major fight, and reload if a battle goes badly
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Use siege defenses (high ground, castle walls) so you are not the attacker when the numbers look risky
This is tedious, but it is the only achievement on the Shogun 2 achievement list that genuinely requires save-scumming rather than just good play. Plan for it, and it is one campaign week, not three.
Multiplayer Achievements and Why They Are Different
The Fall of the Samurai multiplayer trophies (and the few base-game multiplayer ones that survived the 2024 Steam update) are a separate grind from the campaign set, because they depend on public matchmaking staying alive. The Shogun 2 multiplayer community guide covers lobby hosting and the tournament scene in more detail, but the short version is: complete the campaign achievements first, and only tackle multiplayer if the player base on your region is still active.
The Complete Edition remaster updated the lobby to make custom games easier to host, which helps a lot if you are playing with a friend. Custom co-op battles count for most of the multiplayer-specific achievements, so you can grind them in a closed match with one other player instead of waiting for public matchmaking to populate.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fastest way to clear the Shogun 2 achievement list?
Pick Oda Nobunaga in Owari, win the short campaign on Easy for the first six base-game achievements, then move to Fall of the Samurai with Satsuma for the modern-era set. The community-tested time is around 30 hours for the full list if you skip the Legendary runs, and closer to 80-100 hours if you include the Legendary and no-loss achievements.
Do I need the Complete Edition to get every trophy?
Yes. The base game SKU on Steam only ships with the Sengoku campaign achievements. The Rise of the Samurai prequel and the Fall of the Samurai expansion each carry their own achievement set, and the only way to install all three is through the Complete Edition. If you own the original release, the Total War Shogun 2 DLC order to play guide explains the upgrade discount on Steam.
Which Fall of the Samurai clan is the easiest for the trophy run?
Satsuma is the community pick because it starts with a small but modern army and a coastal province, which makes the naval bombardment achievements much easier. Choshu is also strong, but the inland start makes the "Ironclad" and "Naval bombardment" trophies slower to clear.
Is the Complete Edition remaster harder than the original?
No, the remaster is a visual update only. The campaign balance, unit stats, building costs, and AI behavior are identical to the 2011 release, so any guide written for the original game is still valid. What does change is loading times on modern SSDs and the higher UI resolution, which makes army management less of a chore at 4K.
Can I still earn the old multiplayer achievements in 2026?
Some of them, yes — the co-op and custom-match ones still unlock. A few of the original ranked multiplayer trophies were retired by Creative Assembly because the official multiplayer ranking service was sunset in 2018. For the surviving set, the Shogun 2 multiplayer achievements guide walks through which still work and which are gone.