Lichdom: Battlemage Trophy Guide & Road Map

Lichdom: Battlemage
Lichdom: Battlemage Trophy Guide

Overview:

Estimated trophy difficulty: 5/10 (Personal Opinion) (Platinum Difficulty Rating)
Offline trophies: 40 (29, 5, 5, 1)
Online trophies: 0
Approximate amount of time to Platinum: 75-100 Hours (Personal Opinion) (Estimated Time to Platinum)
Minimum number of playthroughs: 1 Story Mode + Numerous runs of New Game Plus (See the Walkthrough for details).
Number of missable trophies: None.
Glitched trophies: Yes, 1 - potentially "Under The Rocks".
Does difficulty affect trophies?: Yes, but difficulty can be changed in-game. See the Walkthrough for details.
Do trophies stack?: The difficulty trophies stack.
Do cheat codes disable trophies?: No cheats available.

Introduction:

If you are playing a physical copy of this game, it is highly suggested you install Patch 1.01 before attempting to play the game. Without the patch the frame rate and load times make the game nearly unplayable. Digital copies downloaded from PSN have the patch installed automatically. (Thanks to Blaze Naruto Shippuden for this tip and Terminator for further clarification).

Lichdom: Battlemage is a first-person take on a spell-slinging war between mages. Control the elements as you fight through swarms of enemies and big bosses. The trophy list is pretty straightforward, though some of the trophies can be initially confusing due to the game-specific vocabulary.

There are three main points to consider as you prepare to unlock the trophies:

1. Lichdom: Battlemage has an atypical take on New Game+. Rather than having the character retain all spells and abilities while replaying the story, a new hub area is unlocked to allow further level progression. This hub area will unlock as soon as you defeat the final boss and is located in the same area as the boss fight. You can reset the New Game Plus world from the main menu or by fast travelling away from the area and returning; this opens a new set of portals and increases the level of the portal challenges. Lichdom sports an infinite leveling system, this allowing your strength and the enemies' strength to grow as large as you want.

2. Lichdom: Battlemage allows you to change the difficulty in-game at any time, allowing both increases and decreases. This means a player can complete most of the game on easy but switch to Badass difficulty before completing certain trophy triggers to unlock all difficulty trophies. This would require advanced knowledge of the locations of each trophy unlock but it is available if a player were to want to take advantage of this.

3. One unique disadvantage to playing on Badass difficulty is the limitation of only being able to level three sigils at a time. There are eight sigils available throughout the game, all of which must be leveling to 16 to complete their individual trophies. While playing on Badass difficulty, any Sigil which is not considered focused is reset and kept at level one. I was unable to reach level 16 on my first three sigils before the end of the game anyway, so this may not affect you if you plan on leveling the same three to level 16 before switching. It is my suggestion that, if you choose to play on Badass mode, you stick with three Sigils from an early level. This prevents you resetting any Sigil progress, preventing you from re-leveling the Sigils.

One thing to note: Although the trophies for Battlemage difficulty are gold, Badass difficulty is actually the highest available difficulty, unlocking both the silver and gold trophies for each objective.

Walkthrough:
The trophies for this game can be broken down into three major segments: The story, New Game Plus/end-game, and the grind. I suggest playing through the game on Badass difficulty in order to minimize number of playthroughs; it may seem difficult at first but an hour or two into the game will leave you overpowered compared to the enemies, allowing you to finish the story with ease. If you do choose to play on Badass difficulty, do not change sigils while Badass difficulty is active, this will reset any levelling progress you've made for that sigil.

Step 1: Complete the story on Badass difficulty
Not many surprises with this step. Play through the story as you want to play. There aren't any missable trophies, and only a few trophies found in story areas are not unlocked automatically. During this step you will unlock:

Apprentice
The First of Many
Under the Rocks
Get the Water Flowing
Sacrifice
Bitter Victory
Into the Darkness
I Am the Dragon
Surf and Turf
Dust In The Wind
Dust In The Wind (Badass)
Dust In The Wind (Battlemage)
Surf and Turf (Badass)
Surf and Turf (Battlemage)
The First of Many (Badass)
The First of Many(Battlemage)
I Am the Dragon (Badass)
I Am the Dragon(Battlemage)
Bitter Victory (Badass)
Bitter Victory (Battlemage)

Step 2: Play through New Game Plus repeatedly to unlock Tier 20 spells/enemies
Now that you've completed the story you have access to the end-game content, presented as New Game Plus. The introduction provides a brief explanation of how New Game Plus works but you will have two primary focuses during this step. First, make sure to complete a full set of six portals all in one sitting. I suggest doing this early, preferably during the first or second set of portals, as the portals become longer and more difficult the more times you reset. Second, complete enough portals to unlock Tier 20 spells and enemies. This can be done by progressing through New Game Plus repeatedly, as the enemies and spells available will rise each time. Tier 20 enemies will drop Tier 20 spells. Craft or upgrade Tier 20 spells and equip ten at one time. During this step you will unlock:

Newb Game Plus
Challenge Completed
Mouthful
It does not get any better than this

Some players are having trouble getting the New Game Plus portals to advance to the next tier after completion. This can be solved by crafting a new spell (quality and level do not matter) to force your game to save and update the portal level. Thanks to shs4 for shedding some light on this issue and providing a solution.

Step 3: Crafting and spell manipulation
By the time you unlock Tier 20 enemies/spells you should have a decent collection of spell shapes and augments. Using these two things in the crafting system, you are able to create more powerful spells. You will have to create and equip nine Unique (red) spells at the same time, craft a spell using a Unique (red) Pattern and four Legendary (orange) Augments, and craft each of the Unique (red) Synergy spells. See each individual trophy for specifics on how to accomplish this. During this step you will unlock:

Artificer
Truly A Badass
This better be good...
A need to acquire every permutation

Step 4: The Grind and cleanup
This is where the grind begins. Leveling your eight sigils to sixteen will extend far beyond and of the other trophies in this game, as they require an inordinate amount of kills. I've provided some tips under the Pyrosmith trophy to hopefully help you understand and shorten the grind required. This will also be the time to unlock the few miscellaneous you may not have completed yet. During this step you will unlock:

Pyrosmith
Cryosmith
Electrosmith
Plaguesmith
Corpsesmith
Psychosmith
Forcesmith
Phasesmith
It's Comin' Outta Me Like Lava!
A Salt Shaker Half Full
Especially When It's Waving a Razor-sharp Hunting Knife In Your Eye
I am the Battlemage

[PST Would Like To Thank bearlypawsible for this Roadmap]

I am the Battlemage

Unlock all the Lichdom Battlemage Trophies
Unlock all the other trophies to get this one.
Pyrosmith

Level your Fire Sigil to 16
If playing on Badass difficulty, I highly recommend you do not switch your Sigils out until after you've completed the game and lowered the difficulty. Badass difficulty prevents non-focused Sigils from leveling and will reset any Sigil removed from focus back to level one, removing all of your progress.

Your sigils are the elemental bases of your spells. You will acquire more as you progress through the story and all eight will be unlocked by the time you complete the main story. Each of the eight sigils has a trophy associated with achieving its highest level. These trophies will likely be the last ones you acquire, as they can be quite grindy in the higher levels.

To check your current level and objective, press to bring up the menu containing your three active elements (must be using Custom Inventory, not Smart Inventory). Select the spell you're focusing on and move the cursor to the middle node to get information about the element itself. Of the information provided, we are interested in two things: the current level of the spell (seen below in red) and the objective of the current level (seen below in green).

Each level can have one of three objectives:

1. Kill Enemies (x/y): Kill an enemy using the element, either directly or indirectly.
2. Overkill Enemies (x/y): An overkill is defined as a source of damage which is greater than the enemy's health. This is not typically difficult but may be harder to achieve on high-health enemies.
3. Deal Damage (x/y): Deal damage using the element or while the element is affecting the enemy (see below for clarification).

None of these objectives require the element to be the actual source of damage but the element must be affecting the enemy in some way. This includes Control and Mastery effects. For example, Kinesis can be used to stop the enemy's movement and apply stacks of Mastery. Ice can be used to freeze the same enemy and apply a Control debuff. Lastly, Fire can be used as a Destruction spell, thus killing the enemy. This scenario allows all three elements to receive credit for the kill at the same time and should be used often.

The best place I've found to grind sigil levels is Zasad - Outskirts of Talmas. From the fast travel location, proceed forward into the desert. Two important types of enemies will spawn in this area i.e the flying demons with green auras and the teleporting priests. Both of these enemies summon mobs of very weak skeleton enemies to attack you. Upon entering the area, run to your right and enter the small building on your left, providing a chokepoint for the skeletons to funnel in and be defeated. Try not to kill the flying or teleporting enemies, as the skeletons will spawn continuously if they remain alive.

This video shows how to level three sigils at the same time using the above method:
Cryosmith

Level your Ice Sigil to 16
See Pyrosmith
Electrosmith

Level your Lightning Sigil to 16
See Pyrosmith
Plaguesmith

Level your Corruption Sigil to 16
See Pyrosmith
Corpsesmith

Level your Necromancy Sigil to 16
See Pyrosmith
Psychosmith

Level your Delirium Sigil to 16
See Pyrosmith
Forcesmith

Level your Kinesis Sigil to 16
See Pyrosmith
Phasesmith

Level your Phase Sigil to 16
See Pyrosmith
Apprentice

Choose your first sigil
Story Related, can't be missed.

This trophy will unlock as soon as your reach your first reliquary and 'choose' your first sigil, Ice. This should occur immediately after the game teaches you how to use the Fire AoE (Area of Effect) ability and right before a mini-boss appears.
The First of Many

Rogiro and his undead beast are no more
Story Related, can't be missed.

See The First of Many (Badass)
Under the Rocks

Maelstrom's secrets revealed
Story Related, can't be missed.

This didn't unlock on my first play through but I'm not sure what caused the problem. A second play through unlocked it without a problem. It should unlock immediately after Surf and Turf as you approach the reliquary which appears immediately after the boss fight.
Get the Water Flowing

Zasad water source restored
Story Related, can't be missed.

Zasad is the desert area of the game. During the later parts of the zone you will come to a large, open area with water, trees and an ornate white and gold building. The mission objective will lead you into the building and below ground. At the bottom floor will be a boss fight and another reliquary, which was being used to block the water flow to the area. Using the reliquary will grant this trophy.
Sacrifice

Sacrifice at Zasad
Story Related, can't be missed.

This trophy occurs at the end of the Zasad area, almost immediately after the boss encounter and will unlock during or immediately after the cutscene.
Bitter Victory

Back from the grave
Story Related, can't be missed.

Strangely, this trophy didn't unlock at the same time as the difficulty trophies of the same name but I haven't been able to replicate the staggered unlocks. If you're like me, then it should unlock soon after you load into the next chapter after Sacrifice at Zasad. If it doesn't, then it will most likely unlock at the same time as the Badass/Battlemage trophy which you get at the end of the Soddentrod area.
Into the Darkness

Complete Soddentrod Chapter
Story Related, can't be missed.

Unlocks at the same time as Bitter Victory (Badass) so see that for more details.
I Am the Dragon

Finish the Game
Story Related, can't be missed.

See I Am the Dragon (Badass)
Truly A Badass

Equip nine unique spells
A Unique (red) spell is the highest tier of spell and is created by upgrading a Legendary (orange) shape with two other Legendary shapes (must be done in Custom Inventory, not Smart Inventory). This provides you with a spell Pattern so you must further craft it into a spell by assigning an element and augment. For this trophy you need to have nine unique spells equipped all at the same time, meaning you will have to create three direct spells, three area spells and three nova spells; one of each for each active sigil. You will not be able to create Synergy shapes for all of these, as there are not nine synergies which require the same element.

This video shows how to create a Unique-tier spell:
This better be good...

Craft a Spell with a Unique Pattern and 4 Legendary Augments
This trophy requires you to craft a Unique (red) spell and include four Legendary (orange) augments. The number of augment slots for the Unique Pattern is determined by the number of augment slots present in the shape used as a base when upgrading to Unique.

You can check the Legendary Pattern's information for the number of augment slots, seen here in red:

After creating the Unique Pattern with four augment slots, proceed to craft a spell using that Pattern as the base. Follow the video under Truly A Badass for a visual representation of spell crafting. Augments are added during the very last step of the craft, you must use four orange augments to receive credit for the trophy. The trophy should pop after the crafting has completed.
It's Comin' Outta Me Like Lava!

Fall in the lava in the Maelstrom
Just fast travel to the Maelstrom and jump off the side into the lava, then the trophy will pop after the death animation completes.
A Salt Shaker Half Full

Destroy the crates in Soddentrod
These crates are found only in Soddentrod and are marked with a glowing blue/purple symbol. To unlock this trophy you must destroy one of these crates while standing close enough to be affected by the gas it releases.
Especially When It's Waving a Razor-sharp Hunting Knife In Your Eye

Blow up a crate, when an enemy is standing next to it
This is the same as A Salt Shaker Half Full but an enemy must be standing next to the crate when it explodes.
Artificer

Craft your first spell
Craft any spell using the crafting system found in the Custom Inventory (). See Truly A Badass for a video showing a full spell craft.
Newb Game Plus

Complete any Vortex Portal
This game has an atypical take on New Game+. Rather than having the character retain all spells and abilities while replaying the story, a new hub area is unlocked to allow further level progression. This hub area will unlock as soon as you defeat the final boss and is located in the same area as the boss fight. You can reset the New Game Plus world in order to get a new set of portals and increase the level of the portal challenge. The Vortex Portals are the six individual levels present in the New Game Plus hub. Simply complete any one portal to unlock this trophy.
Challenge Completed

Complete an entire New Game Plus sequence
Same as Newb Game Plus but unlocks after completing a full set of six portals, though all of them must be from the same hub.
Mouthful

Complete an entire series of Vortex Portals in one sitting
This is the same as Challenge Completed but all six portals must be done without leaving the area. I had trouble getting this one to unlock even during my first visit to the NG+ hub area. The sure fire way to unlock the trophy is to choose the 'Reset Hub Portals' option from the main menu and complete all six after it loads you into the area.
Surf and Turf

Defeat Frostclaw
Story Related, can't be missed.

See Surf and Turf (Badass).
Dust In The Wind

Defeat the Ancient Golem
Story Related, can't be missed.

See Dust In The Wind (Badass).
Dust In The Wind (Badass)

Defeat the Ancient Golem on Badass Difficulty
This fight is similar to the Rogiro/Hulk fight, as you will be fighting two bosses at the same time i.e the Ancient Golem and Hedaro. Both bosses are primarily ranged attackers so use your teleport and blocking excessively in order to dodge their projectiles and stay away. As with all boss fights, Mastery and Control elements are your friend and will drop their health much quicker than a Destruction-only attack. I suggest focusing on the Golem first, because its attacks hit harder and seem to be more frequent.
Dust In The Wind (Battlemage)

Defeat the Ancient Golem on Battlemage Difficulty
See Dust In The Wind (Badass).
Surf and Turf (Badass)

Defeat Frostclaw on Badass Difficulty
Frostclaw is the third boss you will face and the area boss of the Maelstrom. Frostclaw's primary means of attack are melee swipes, a ranged magic lob and summoning large amounts of minions in the form of tiny crabs. Staying at a distance lets you keep the mobs under control while dodging the much more predictable ranged attack from Frostclaw so I suggest you only get close if you must. As with all bosses, applying Mastery stacks and Control debuffs will drastically shorten your fight, allowing you to deal significant damage. Watch the green bar which appears under the boss's health, because this is the 'enrage' meter. When full, Frostclaw will move more quickly in an effort to shorten the space between you and use its melee attack.
Surf and Turf (Battlemage)

Defeat Frostclaw on Battlemage Difficulty
See Surf and Turf (Badass).
The First of Many (Badass)

Defeat Rogiro and his Undead Hulk on Badass Difficulty
The Rogiro/Hulk fight is the first "true" boss of the game. Found at the end of the Old Drivasser area, this fight will have you facing off against both Rogiro and a new monster at the same time. Both Rogiro and the Hulk are capable of ranged attacks but prefer to use melee and will often attempt to approach you in an effort to do so. I suggest staying out of melee range, teleporting away when one gets close and using your block ability to stop incoming projectiles.

The key to this fight (and basically every boss fight in the game) is an understanding of how to use Mastery and, to a lesser degree, Control. If you haven't been using your Control/Mastery spells prior to this battle, now is the time to get acquainted. Mastery functions essentially as a damage amplifier, triggered by a critical or charged (hold ) hit of a Destruction spell. At the time of this battle your only Mastery spell will be Kinesis. Control works similarly but splits its functionality between damage boosts and movement/behaviour modification. Ice is your only available Control spell at this point and can be used to halt the movement of both Rogiro and the Hulk (though they become briefly immune after some time).
The First of Many (Battlemage)

Defeat Rogiro and his Undead Hulk on Battlemage Difficulty
See The First of Many (Badass).
It does not get any better than this

Equip all tier 20 spells
This trophy is similar to Truly A Badass, except the spells must be level 20 rather than Unique. A spell's level is determined by the level of the shape used as a base. When choosing a base shape while crafting, each shape has four numbers on display (seen below in red). The number you are concerned with is the top number (colored the same as the quality of the shape). You must create and equip ten Level 20 spells (three for each element and one for the shield) at the same time.
A need to acquire every permutation

Craft every available synergy spell
Synergy spells are Unique spells which require a specific element as a base, and a secondary element as a support. Using both of the base elements together builds charge for a strong attack or other effect (synergy). Synergy shapes can be created the same way as all other Unique shapes but choose Synergy Shape instead of Non-Synergy Shape when upgrading from Legendary to Unique. You must do this once for each of the twelve available synergy shapes.

This video details how to craft a synergy spell:
I Am the Dragon (Badass)

Finish the game on Badass difficulty
The final boss battle of the game versus Shax himself. The battle consists of three enemies, Demon Shax and two Lieutenant-class enemies. The two enemies accompanying Shax are the same enemies seen throughout the game with increased stats, so you should have a fairly good idea on how to handle them. Shax himself uses a combination of ranged (both homing and non-homing) and melee attacks, including a teleportation/melee combination. Most of the ranged attacks move slowly and can be dodged quickly or absorbed through the block spell. If dodging, it is important to save at least one charge for quick avoids of his teleport attack.

I would suggest killing the Lieutenants first, reducing the chance of taking life-ending damage and giving you less to dodge. All three enemies in this fight can be conquered the same as most bosses, apply your favorite Control/Mastery spells and blast away.

Once Shax is defeated a cutscene will start and this trophy will unlock shortly after. Congratulations and welcome to New Game Plus.
I Am the Dragon (Battlemage)

Finish the game on Battlemage difficulty
See I Am the Dragon (Badass).
Bitter Victory (Badass)

Back from the grave on Badass difficulty
This trophy will unlock at the end of the Soddentrod area, immediately after completing the Hediras boss fight.

Hediras will remain suspended in the air throughout the fight and uses exclusively ranged attacks. The best strategy to counter this is to remain a decent distance away and either block or dodge her attacks, as they are all telegraphed fairly well beforehand. She will usually laugh or make a noise before launching an attack, so you may use that as a cue to prepare to dodge. Hediras' damage is not the primary concern, as she will summon numerous power demons repeatedly throughout the fight. These demons can quickly overwhelm your shields with their attacks and should be dealt with quickly, so as not to get overwhelmed. The general strategy should be to keep the demon population low while focusing on Hedira during the downtime. As always, a powerful Control and Mastery spell will serve you well here.
Bitter Victory (Battlemage)

Back from the grave on Battlemage difficulty
See Bitter Victory (Badass).