Overview:
- Estimated trophy difficulty: 8/10 Due to Survival Mode (Trophy Difficulty Thread)
- Trophy Breakdown: 13 [9 | 3 | 1 ]
- Offline: All trophies can be earned offline
- Online: All Survival Mode trophies can be earned online
- Approximate amount of time to 100%: 15-30+ Highly determined by your Survival Mode skills and your Survival Mode partner's Skills as well. (Estimated Time to 100%)
- Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 2 Campaign Modes and various Survival Modes
- Number of missable trophies: 0
- Glitched trophies: None
- Do cheat codes disable trophies?: No
- Does difficulty affect trophies?: Yes, Normal and Hard difficulty
- Special Note: Although this is considered an offline title, I consider it an online one as you will need a partner to get almost all the Survival Mode trophies. Doing it solo is nearly impossible.
About the Game:
Shank, the avenging assassin, returns in this bloodbath action-packed sequel. With this instalment the sequel is a much better and easier 2D side-scrolling brawler than the first Shank. It has improved immensely on the first flaws such as making Shank dodge perfectly with a flick of the button. The attack and item pickup (such as health bottles) buttons are no longer tied to the same buttons either. This means you won't mistakenly pick up or drink your health bottles while playing which is a huge difference. Also, combat has been revamped as well making it smoother and more precise.
Finally, the long requested online co-op has finally been implemented into the game. Thanks to the new and yet very difficult/frustrating Survival Mode, players will now be able to invite a friend or join an online match currently in session to defeat waves of enemies that gets increasingly difficult the higher you go.
Step 1: Campaign Mode - Normal Playthrough
The difficulty trophies don't stack but all the weapons you unlock on Normal difficulty will carry over to Hard difficulty. Begin your first initial playthrough on Normal difficulty and become familiar with the Campaign Mode so you can know what to expect for Hard difficulty. While playing through the game you will also want to get the basics done in killing, dodging, pouncing, grabbing etc. This will help improve your skills for the Survival Mode later on. While playing through Normal difficulty you will unlock a few trophies naturally, as well as working on killing 50 enemies with the heavy objects and rescuing 50 civilians from the Militia. Also, be sure that you don't use the range attack at all (don't press the button) while playing through the first level, "The Dark Road Home", for the Up Close and Personal trophy.
By the end of this step you should have the following trophies:
The Story Ends
Combo King
Up Close and Personal
The First Dozen
Step 2: Campaign Mode - Hard Playthrough
This will be your final playthrough for the Campaign Mode. Thankfully, Shank 2's Hard difficulty is a lot easier than the first game. While playing through Hard difficulty I recommend that you use the Sledgehammer, Shotgun and grenades as your main weapons of choices. The Sledgehammer is very powerful but slow. It can quickly kill large enemies and destroy shields quickly as possible. The Shotgun is capable of clearing large groups of enemies at close range but has reduced damage at long range. Grenades inflict massive damage on impact and have a great splash damage effect.
Although Hard difficulty is much easier than the first Shank, It can still be frustrating at certain parts of the game especially the Cyclops boss and the very last level of Deconstruction. On Hard there are no checkpoints for you if you die, unlike Normal difficulty. To reach a checkpoint whilst playing on Hard difficulty, make it all the way to the next area of the level. While playing through the levels, you will see red text show up on your screen, this will serve as your next spawn point if you get killed later on. When you make it towards the final boss of a level, you will enter a new spawn point to face the boss again if it kills you. This is instead of fighting all the way back to them again so take your time and remember to maneuver the dodge mechanics. Along the way you will be working on and also most likely finishing, killing 50 enemies with the heavy objects and rescuing 50 civilians from the Militia.
You should have the following trophies at the end of this step:
Too Easy
Shank, SMASH!
Freedom Fighter
Step 3: Survival Mode and Clean Up
This is where all hell breaks loose. Survival Mode is new to the Shank series and offers online co-op. This is the most time consuming step and you'll need a very good partner to help you get all the Survival Mode related trophies. Although it's possible to get the trophies solo or with local co-op, that will most likely not happen. It's impossible to complete all 30 waves by yourself and your local partner will mostly have never played the game or is very un-skilled. It's best done online so use the official boosting thread to find a partner. You will want a partner who has at least completed the game and who knows what they're doing. You will also want someone with a lot of characters unlocked for better results and combinations. Survival Mode is all about team work and not about survival of the fittest.
The first thing you will want to do is play on all the maps to get a feel for each of them. Either hop into "Quick Online Match" or join a boosting partner. While playing the maps be sure to practice killing and dodging the waves of enemies that spawn to further improve your skills. Learn all the traps for the maps and when to buy items, etc. Once that's done and you're confident that you have gotten the basics done for Survival Mode, you can attempt to survive 13 waves on all three stages to reach the zombie wave on each map for the Zombie Killer trophy. Be sure to buy and purchase every new item that you unlock while playing through the Survival Mode. Every item purchased will count towards the Shopaholic trophy. The only problem here is you've got to survive and make it all the way towards wave 20 to unlock the final item in Survival Mode. Please refer to the Trophy Guide for more information and tips for the Survival Mode trophies.
The main focus with Survival Mode is to survive and complete all 30 waves of enemies for the hardest trophy in the game called Ultimate Survivalist, with patience and practice you will unlock this trophy. I do suggest doing the 30 waves on the "Down on the Farm" map, this map is the only stage where the traps can kill the bosses in one hit. Just lead the boss into the center of the screen and flip the trap switches and he will fall to an instant death. Just be sure you or your partner doesn't jump into the grinders as well or you to will get killed instantly. This map will usually enable players to make it to waves 23+ unlike the others. It's the ideal choice for the trophy. After many frustrations of trial and failure you will have all the following Survival Mode trophies:
Ultimate Survivalist
Zombie Killer
Trigger Happy
Gimmick Free
No Bargains
Shopaholic
[PST Would Like to Thank Blaze Naruto Shippuden and Mouki517 for this Roadmap]