The Last of Us: Part II Trophy Guide & Road Map

The Last of Us: Part II
The Last of Us: Part II Trophy Guide

Overview:

Estimated trophy difficulty: 2/10 (Platinum Difficulty Rating)
Offline trophies: 26 (10, 8, 7, 1)
Online trophies: 0
Approximate amount of time to platinum: 36 - 50hrs (Estimated Time to Platinum)
Minimum number of playthroughs: 1 + Cleanup
Number of missable trophies: None, because Chapter Select is available
Glitched trophies: 0
Does difficulty affect trophies?: You have to play on Grounded Difficulty with Permadeath options active for the DLC trophies but the Platinum doesn't require anything higher than Easy
Do trophies stack?: No
Do cheat codes disable trophies?: No
Additional peripherals required?: No

Introduction:

Naughty Dog have temporarily freed the shackles of the more light-hearted Uncharted franchise to return to their more serious, more depressing and far more brutal The Last Of Us franchise. Compared to the original, this time around you’ll be in both large expansive open-world environments, more linear ones and have more gadgets and tools available to you.

There will be some mild spoilers throughout the guide, as they are actually inescapable if you want to wrap most of it up in the first playthrough. That said, I will never spoil a story beat or any story moments, the only spoilers are gameplay mechanics and character mechanics, nothing else. Regardless, consider this your SPOILER WARNING.

Tips and Tricks:

Difficulty:
There are no difficulty trophies in The Last of Us 2, so you can play on whatever difficulty you like. I’d recommend somewhere in the middle on your first playthrough, either Moderate or Hard, as that’s a good balance between being tested and not having the frustration of being absolutely hammered every time you put a foot wrong. Both difficulties provide a challenge and keep the tension high. I’d save Survivor or Grounded (when it drops) for a further playthrough.

How to Play & Collectibles:

You can play The Last Of Us 2 however you please, because thanks to the chapter select feature you can load up whichever chapter and sub-chapter you wish to mop up after. Miss a collectible? Load up a chapter, get it, quit out, rinse repeat. I would, however, keep an eye on our Collectibles Guide if you want to get everything without too much reloading after.

Even if you miss the one-time event trophies like Sightseer, Sharp Shooter, Put My Name Up, Relic of the Sages, So Great, So Small or Looks Good On You, you can simply boot up the relevant chapter and section and get them using chapter select.

Keep in mind that you’re going to be running through the game about 1 and a half times – the half run through after your main playthrough to finish off “Arms Master” and “Survival Expert” which you can’t get in one playthrough.

My honest bit of advice, to get the most out of The Last Of Us 2 is to don’t really read the guide below until you reach The Park chapter which involves a zoo – that’s all I’m saying – because that way you’ll get the full impact of the story beats that Naughty Dog wants you to get. Use the Collectible Guide, sure but avoid some of the big story moments, they're more impactful that way.

In short: the main thing is you enjoy yourself, getting as many collectibles as you want, as you can easily mop up in your second “half” playthrough and chapter select playthrough.

Walkthrough:

Step 1: Play through the game, gathering as many collectibles as possible

Just enjoy the story and game but if you want to cut down on platinum time, keep an eye out for collectibles and other miscellaneous trophies. You can always load chapters later for cleanup, of course.

By the end of this step, you will have earned:

Tinkerer

Apprentice

What I Had to Do

...and if you were diligent with collectibles:

Archivist

Master Set

Numismatist

Journeyman

High Caliber

Starter Set

Mint Condition

...and miscellaneous trophies:

Prepared For the Worst

Mechanist

Specialist

Safecracker

Sightseer

Survival Training

In the Field

Tools of the Trade

Looks Good On You

Sharpshooter

Put My Name Up

Relic of the Sages

So Great and Small

Step 2: New Game +

The main purpose of New Game + in terms of trophy hunting is to max out your weapons and unlock all upgrades. This is also your second chance to pick up any trophies from Step 1 that you didn't unlock the first time through.

By the time you finish this step, you will have earned:

Survival Expert

Arms Master

Step 3: Cleanup (optional)

If you missed any miscellaneous one-shot trophies or collectibles in previous steps, now is the time to load up chapter select and take care of business.

By the time you finish this step, you will have earned:

Every Last One of Them

[PST Would Like To Thank Webb for this Roadmap]

Grounded Mode DLC:

Overview:

Estimated trophy difficulty: 10/10 for a single playthrough without accessibility options and 8/10 if you want to do a single playthrough with accessibility options but 5/10 for a double playthrough (Personal Opinion).
Offline trophies: 2 (1, 1)
Online trophies: 0
Approximate amount of time to 100%: 20-30hrs for a single playthrough with accessibility options but more for other solutions (Personal Opinion).
Minimum number of playthroughs: 1
Number of missable trophies: 0
Glitched trophies: 0
Does difficulty affect trophies?: Yes, you must complete the game on Permadeath and Grounded.
Do trophies stack?: No
Do cheat codes disable trophies?: No
Additional peripherals required?: No

Introduction:

Like the first title, Grounded mode is now available for free for people who want a real challenge but to make things harder, Naughty Dog decided to add a new feature on the franchise: Permadeath. Grounded is the hardest setting that will make the journey very very hard, while permadeath is a feature that will make you restart the game from certain point. I will explain better on the relative trophies informations.

Walkthrough:

Step 1: Facing Grounded and Permadeath

There are many ways to face Grounded and Permadeath, depending on how you feel confident and what level of challenge you are looking for. The fastest (and harder) way to get both of them, is to play New Game+ on Grounded with Permadeath per chapter, using Accessibility options. This is not the easy way but is doable, just a bit frustrating in some areas. The easiest but longest way is to play Grounded+ with accessibility options and then a Permadeath per chapter playthrough on the very easy difficulty. I'm writing this Guide based on my experience: Grounded on New Game+ and Permadeath per chapter.

Note: If you haven't got the Platinum yet, you can use grounded playthrough to get all the things you missed on your first run so you don't have to replay chapters.

At the end of this step, you will earn:

Dig Two Graves
You Can’t Stop This

[PST Would Like To Thank Mordred87 for this Roadmap]

Every Last One of Them

Collect all trophies
(23)
Earn all of the non-DLC Trophies, to get this one.
What I Had to Do

Complete the story
(1)
Story-related and cannot be missed.

Simply finish the game! Just play until the credits roll.
Survival Expert

Learn all player upgrades
(16)
There are several ways to upgrade both Ellie and Abby in The Last Of Us 2. You can add more health, learn new recipes, and so on. In order to get all four trophies associated with the upgrade system, you’re not only going to need to get all the Training Manuals (Journeyman), but you’re also going to want to search out as many supplements as you can. Supplements come in the form of pills and pill bottles.

You can find supplements all over the game world, but you’ll mostly find them in more logical areas, such as store cupboards and bedrooms, near beds. Most importantly, always check bathrooms as you’ll often find a load of pills in there.

As mentioned in the Roadmap, there’s a couple of trophies you just won’t be able to get in your first run through. To fully max out both characters will require more than one playthrough – mainly because there simply aren’t enough supplements to see you over the finish line. You’ll fully max out both Ellie and Abby within a few hours of your second playthrough; the only problem being you need to finish Ellie’s 3 days in Seattle before you even get control of Abby, meaning you'll have to play through about half of the game again before you can polish off this trophy.
Arms Master

Fully upgrade all weapons
(1)
To upgrade weapons, you’re going to want to hunt down as many scavenged parts as you can find, which whill look like a small pile of metal parts, as indicated by a nut and bolt icon. You’ll find these all over The Last Of Us 2, no matter where you are, so you'll just have to keep your eye out and then slowly upgrade each weapon as you go.

You’re more likely to find scavenged parts in garages, anywhere there are tools, near tech shops, storage areas and of course, workbenches. So, be extra careful in those areas when you’re searching.

This is one of the trophies that you won’t get in your first playthrough, and will have to use New Game + to fully upgrade your weapons. If you find every bit of scrap in the game, you’ll come very close to upgrading all your weapons in your first playthrough, but will not have quite enough parts to finish the job, necessitating part of a second playthrough. That said, if you're been diligent while searching during New Game +, you’ll max out Ellie very quickly. You will also max out Abby fairly quickly, but you'll need to complete Ellie’s section first.

If it’s any indication of how long you need to play Abby to get this trophy, I got it in the boat rental place in the On Foot sub-chapter.
Archivist

Find all artifacts and journal entries
(15)
By far the bulk of the collectibles in The Last Of Us 2 come in the form of artefacts and journal entries, of which there are 147in total: 127 artefacts and 20 journal entries.

If you want to make sure you get all these collectibles, then don’t forget to check out our Collectibles Guide, which has them in chronological order. If you’re feeling brave though and want to hunt them out yourselves, then here are some handy tips.
- The collectibles are for the most part logically placed. You won’t find collectibles at the bottom of lakes, in the middle of grass fields, etc.
- While the journal entries and other collectibles (e.g. trading cards and coins) are well spaced out, many artefacts show up in close proximity to other artefacts, like in the same building, in a shrine, etc.
- All of the collectibles are named, so if you do miss one, you can check with our Collectible Guide to see what you’re missing and use chapter select to snag it.
- You can save yourself some pain though and use our Collectibles Guide; and failing that, turn on the item pulse in listening mode in the accessibility part of the options, although that’s only good for 30m distances.
Master Set

Find all trading cards
(5)
There are 48 Trading Cards spread out through Ellie’s sections in The Last Of Us 2. They are hard to find and could potentially leave you pulling your hair out if you’re searching without a walkthrough, but the good news is they’re all named, so if you do miss one, you’ll know which one you missed.

If you are going to look for them without a full walkthrough, here’s some tips:
- While Naughty Dog isn’t completely evil with hiding some of the trading cards, they aren’t particularly nice sometimes. On the odd occasion you'll need to be at the right angle to see the card, or coming from a certain direction at a certain speed.
- Think logically: the trading cards are often found in places that make sense. In general stores, on shelves, in bike spokes. You won’t find them underwater, in long grass, etc.
- Like most of the collectibles in this game, especially these and the coins, they are well spaced out, so you won’t find two in one building, for example.
- Don’t forget, if you do miss one, you can always load up the chapter, get it and then quit out and it still counts. Just remember, if you do that, preserve a save of your latest progress.
- Other than that… good luck! Save yourself some pain and use our Collectibles Guide; and failing that, turn on the item pulse in listening mode in the accessibility part of the options, although that’s only good for 30m distances.
Numismatist

Find all coins
(2)
There are 32 coins to collect, all of which are named after US states. The coins don’t really come into play until midway through in a chapter called The Park, and are particularly frustrating to find. Take a look at our Collectible Guide for all the coins, where they are and how you find them. If you want to get them on your own without a guide, here’s some tips:
- Naughty Dog aren’t kind when it comes to coins - they can literally be anywhere within reason. You’re not going to find coins in long grass or at the bottom of a lake (though don't rule out swimming pools...), but some of them are in really tricky places.
- Think logically: coins are more likely to be by tills, vending machines, fountains, etc.
- They’re usually well spaced out, so you won’t find two in the same building. Even in missions like The Stadium or The Forward Base, there tends to be one per area: one in the car park, one just inside the compound, one further in in the apartments, etc.
- You can actually see the coins shimmer from a fair distance, probably 10-15ft or so, so keep an eye out for them.
- If you do miss one and have to use chapter select, they’re all named so you’ll know exactly which one you’re missing!
- Save yourself some pain though and use our Collectibles Guide; and failing that, turn on the item pulse in listening mode in the accessibility part of the options, although that’s only good for 30m distances.
Prepared For the Worst

Find all workbenches
(2)
There are 23 workbenches dotted around The Last Of Us 2. Workbenches are where you’ll use your scavenged parts to upgrade weapons. For the most part, they are easy to find, but there are a few that you could miss. If you’re searching for them yourself though, keep an eye on logical places where they’ll be, i.e. garages, etc. There are a few in apartments, houses and so on. Most are on the main path, but there are a few off of it, and chances are if you’re missing one, it’s the one in The Flooded City, which is to the left of the Seattle beds place, near a blue sheet.

For all workbench locations, check out our Collectibles Guide.
Mechanist

Fully upgrade a weapon
See Arms Master.
Specialist

Learn all player upgrades in one branch
See Survival Expert.
Safecracker

Unlock every safe
(2)
There are 14 safes in The Last Of Us 2 and all of them have much needed resources inside, as well as some essential grabs like the odd Training Manual and weapon, so they’re well worth searching out. They range from vaults in the bank to safes in people’s apartments, and while it isn't too tricky to find them all, it can be easy to miss the odd one here and there. If you’re using our Collectible Guide, you’ll get them all with no issues.
Sightseer

Visit every location in downtown Seattle
(2)
The Last Of Us 2's version of downtown Seattle is huge, with a load of different environments ready to explore. What the trophy counts as a "location" is not clearly defined, but for the purpose of this guide, we've assumed it’s all the locations Ellie marks on the map. Below is a list of every location in downtown Seattle Ellie marks on the map, and a few other noteworthy locations to try in case the trophy doesn't unlock by just following the map.

Here is a list of every location in downtown Seattle that Ellie marks on the map:
- Westlake Bank
- Synagogue
- Ruined Building (on the southern corner of Marion and 6th).
- Security Truck (1) in the water (between Spring & Madison; & 6th and 7th Avenue)
- Army Tent (north of the synagogue)
- Gate West 2 Stash
- Valiant Music Shop
- Viewpoint Hotel
- Barko’s Pet Store
- Courthouse
Other points of interest that are worth hunting down:
- Security Truck (2) accessible via bridge & fire truck)
- Tank
And here’s a map on how to find them:
Journeyman

Find all training manuals
(1)
Training manuals in The Last Of Us 2 are effectively skill tree books, which when found unlock new skill trees to spend upgrade supplements on. The training manuals, for the most part, are slightly off the beaten path and are represented in the world as books with goldish icons by them. There are ten in all, two of which you start with; the other eight you have to find around the world (four for each girl). Of course, if you’re following our Collectibles Guide, they are mentioned in there, but if you are not, here are the eight training manuals and their locations:

Ellie:

Crafting Training Manual: Seattle Day 1, Downtown
Where the broken bridge is in the centre of the downtown Seattle map, climb the truck and jump to the other bridge, from there throw down the fire hose pipe, climb down the pipe and then swing to the truck on its side. The Crafting Training Manual is in the back of the truck.

Stealth Training Manual: Seattle Day 1, Capitol Hill
Near the gas station in the Capitol Hill area, you’ll find a bookstore and a coffee house attached to it, in the right-hand corner in the aforementioned coffee house, you’ll find the Stealth Training Manual.

Precision Training Manual: Seattle Day 2, Hillcrest
In the Hillcrest sub-chapter in day 2, after the first large encounter area you’ll come out to an area where you can see some stairs at the far side that you have to traverse to. On the corner of the street on the right you’ll see the Goldstar Liqour store, fight your way through to the toy store and you’ll find the Precision Training Manual there.

Explosives Training Manual: Seattle Day 2, The Seraphites
In the luxury apartments in The Seraphites sub-chapter – the one you get access to via the laundry room – you’ll find a workbench in an apartment. Interact with it, then beat the 4 WLF deserters and then Ellie’s final training manual will be in the room they were hiding in.

Abby:

Covert Ops Training Manual: Seattle Day 1, On Foot
Towards the end of the On Foot sub-chapter, you and Mel will have to find your way through a warehouse to meet up with the others. This sequence will involve a ladder and a boat, the Covert Ops Training Manual is in the boat you have to cross to get to the exit.

Close Quarters Training Manual: Seattle Day 1, Hostile Territory
Before you enter Tang Fabrics in the Hostile Territory sub-chapter, turn around and enter number 85, an apartment opposite. If you go in through the side window you’ll find the Close Quarters Training Manual on the worktop.

Firearms Training Manual: Seattle Day 1, The Forest
After the melee encounter with the large seraphite woman you’ll find yourself in a small garage. In the room on the right (and then right) from the main garage area you’ll find the Firearms Training Manual on a filing cabinet.

Ordnance Training Manual: Seattle Day 2, The Coast
On the top deck of the large ferry ship, on the bridge, you’ll find a safe and in this safe you’ll find the Ordnance Training Manual.
Survival Training

Learn 25 player upgrades
See Survival Expert.
High Caliber

Find all weapons
(2)
There are eleven weapons in The Last Of Us 2 that range from silent weapons like the bow, to more devastating weapons like the Flamethrower. Both Ellie and Abby have their own distinct weapons and combat styles: think of Ellie like a hunter and Abby like a soldier; and while each of them comes with their starting weapons - pistols, hunting rifle, etc - there are seven you have to get in the game world. Again, you can find these in order in our Collectibles Guide, but if you'd rather go it alone, below are the locations of all the weapons:

Ellie:

Pump Shotgun – In the Downtown area of Seattle, in the Westlake Bank, in the vault at the back you’ll find the Pump Shotgun on a bodyguard.

Bow – In the Hillcrest chapter, when you reach the top of the stone stairs and enter the house with the playhouse out the front, if you go into the garage it triggers a fight. Once it’s done, grab the bow (fairly sure you can’t miss this one).

Silenced Submachine Gun - Story-related.

Abby:

Hunting Pistol – In the On Foot chapter, after you’ve got out of the building with the suspended boat in it, there’s a safe in a nearby building – through a small gap in the wall. The Hunting Pistol can be found in the safe (the code is 17-38-07). For a more detailed location of the safe, see “Safecracker”.

Double Barrel Shotgun - In the Hostile Territory mission, when you reach a small strip of shops and restaurants, head into the last space on the left, the Ruby Dragon, go upstairs and through the small gap into the restaurant itself. Take out the two Clickers, jump over the gap to the other side of the small strip, then head through the left (same area as the Strange Artefact) and follow it around until you find a hole in the floor. Drop down and behind the counter is the Double Barrel Shotgun.

Crossbow - Story related. You’ll get this in The Coast chapter when passing through a door on the ferry.

Flamethrower – In The Descent, after you traverse down the electrical cable, you’ll find yourself in a bit of an infected nest. In this nest you’ll find a couple flamethrowers to pick-up. They’re hard to miss but if you’re worried about missing one, you’ll find one on the couch near two Clickers. Use Listen mode to locate these Clickers as you work your way down.
In the Field

Find 12 workbenches
See Prepared For the Worst.
Tools of the Trade

Craft every item
There are fourteen items to craft - seven for Ellie and seven for Abby. Some are story-related, some you start with default, but the vast majority are unlocked by either finding the item in the open-world or by unlocking the recipe in one of the Training Manual trees that you pick up throughout your adventure. All missable recipes are listed in our Collectible Guide in the exact order that you’ll pick them up in-game, but if you just want a list of the items and where they are found:

Ellie
- Health Kit (story-related recipe – gifted by Dina in the Patrol chapter).
- Molotov (story-related recipe – gifted by Dina in the Patrol chapter).
- Stun/Smoke Bomb (Recipe can be found in the Downtown subchapter of Seattle Day 1, above the synagogue entrance).
- Melee Upgrade (Crafting Manual upgrade – The Crafting Training Manual is found in the Downtown subchapter, by climbing down the fire hose on the broken bridge in the middle of the map).
- Trap Mine (Recipe is in an apartment near the Capitol Inn in Capitol Hill chapter).
- Silencer (Stealth Manual upgrade – The Stealth Training Manual can be found in the Capitol Hill subchapter, in the right-hand corner of the coffee shop near the gas station).
- Explosive Arrows (Explosives Manual upgrade – The Explosives Training Manual can be found in the Seraphites chapter, in the luxury apartments. Interact with the workbench, fight the 4 WLF deserters and it’s in the bedroom they were hidden in).
Abby
- Health Kit (start with as default).
- Pipe Bombs (learned in the warehouse in the On Foot subchapter – can’t miss).
- Silencer (start with as default).
- Melee Upgrade (start with as default).
- Shivs (Covert Ops Manual upgrade – The Covert Ops Training Manual can be found in the On Foot subchapter, when Abby and Mel have to climb on the suspended boat to escape).
- Incendiary Shells (Firearms Manual upgrade – The Firearms Training Manual can be found in The Forest subchapter in Abby’s first day in Seattle. It’s near the garage after the melee fight with the hulking Scar).
- Hunting Pistol Ammo (Firearms Manual upgrade – Firearms Training Manual upgrade – The Fire Arms Training Manual can be found in The Forest subchapter in Abby’s first day in Seattle. It’s near the garage after the melee fight with the hulking Scar).
Tinkerer

Upgrade a weapon
See Arms Master.
Apprentice

Learn a player upgrade
See Survival Expert.
Starter Set

Find 5 trading cards
See Master Set.
Mint Condition

Find 5 coins
See the “Numismatist” trophy for details on how to unlock.
Relic of the Sages

Find the Strange Artifact
(3)
When you reach the mini-Chinatown strip in the Hostile Territory sub-chapter of Abby’s Seattle Day 1 chapter – this takes place after the aquarium flashback chapter – you’ll be able to find the strange relic needed for this trophy. To get there needs a little exploring.

When you get to the strip of small shops and restaurants, if you enter the last place on the left, the Ruby Dragon, head upstairs and then double back on yourself, you’ll be in the restaurant. Take out the two Clickers, then use the balcony to jump over the alleyway to the store across the way. Go inside, head to the right and you’ll see the “strange artefact” on the coffee table, the strange artefact, of course, being a Precursor Orb from Jak and Daxter. If you’re following our Collectible Guide you will pick this up naturally as it counts as an artefact.

If you missed it, then chapter select Hostile Territory and head to the small strip in Chinatown and do the above.
So Great and Small

Find the Engraved Ring
When you descend into downtown Seattle with Ellie and Dina looking for fuel for the gate generator – the one by the “Fuck FEDRA” gate, where you first see the Serevena Hotel – if you turn left as soon as you reach the large open-world section, you’ll come across the Westlake Bank. Head through the rubble, drop into the bank and either a.) deal with all the infected; or b.) sneak into the safety deposit lockers area.

From there you’ll want to get access to the vault by either looking at the small bag in front of you walking in, or entering the code 60-23-06 to gain access to the vault. In the back right corner you’ll find Francis Drake’s Ring, AKA Nathan Drake’s ring. If you're following our Collectibles Guide, you won't miss this.

If you missed this this first time around, load the Downtown sub-chapter in Day 1 for Ellie and follow the above instructions, or follow the below video.

Looks Good On You

Put a hat on your companion
(2)
Right at the end of your first day in Seattle as Ellie, after you’ve reached the theatre, you’ll be thrown into a flashback sequence with Ellie and Joel. In order to get this trophy, you'll have to take a few steps before hand to get the prompt to pop up.
- Enter the museum and pick up the hat that’s on the right of the foyer.
- Enter the dinosaur area and put the hat on the Dimetrodon. When the dialogue finishes, take it off (don’t worry, there is a label next to this dinosaur).
- Put the hat on the Ankylosaurus – the dinosaur with the thick skull (see photo). When the dialogue has finishes, take the hat off the dinosaur.
- Put the hat on Joel.
If you missed this during your first playthrough, load up The Birthday Gift, which is the last sub-chapter in Ellie’s Seattle Day 1 adventure and follow the above steps, or just follow the video:
Sharpshooter

Win the marksmanship competition
(1)
When you take over Abby in the second-half of the game, your story will start at a stadium in an aptly named mission called “The Stadium.” After walking through the main environment, getting your bag, picking up Alice (the dog), just after you get your guns, you will find a shooting range to the right. Manny will want to have a bit of a shooting competition. Enter the range, hit the bullseye ten times, and you’ll win. Take your time, there is no time limit, so make sure you nail those bullseyes. In terms of the score to beat, you don’t need a perfect run (Manny gets 83ish; a perfect run is 90) so if you do miss a bullseye, don’t fret. If you miss a couple, you can simply reload the checkpoint.

If you somehow missed it, just go to chapter select and then load Seattle Day 1 (Abby’s, not Ellie’s) and then the first chapter: The Stadium.
Put My Name Up

Earn the high score in the archery game
(1)
During Abby’s adventures in Seattle in Day 1, you’ll come across a flashback sub-chapter (called Winter Visit), where Abby will visit the aquarium during the winter months. This is the flashback where Owen decorates the aquarium with lights. Head to the back left of the main foyer and you’ll see a purple plastic nerf-esque bow near a dartboard. Just pick it up and hit ten different targets to be top of the leaderboard. There are 13 total targets so don’t worry if you don’t get them all. Don’t forget to take into account projectile drop as well, because it acts the same as Ellie’s bow in terms of handling. It’s not too hard; just take your time. If you don’t get 10 and the timer is just about up, hit pause and restart the encounter.

If you'd rather do this via chapter select, load up the Winter Visit sub-chapter in Abby’s Seattle Day 1 escapades and do the above. The following video shows all 13 targets:

2 trophies

Dig Two Graves

Complete the story on Grounded.
(14)
Grounded is the hardest setting for The Last Of Us II. There are some major changes that will make the run very hard, especially if you pair this with Permadeath or decide to not use any of the Accessibility options. This is what you have to expect from grounded:
- No Health or Ammo indicators. You have to rely only on your memory for the ammo and luck for health. Remember that when you see the screen red, your health is very low. Try to heal yourself if you get too many hits.
- Enemies are smarter and hit harder.
- You will find less ammo and resources so you have to be very careful in using them.
- Listen mode is heavily affected
- Some of the character abilities won't be available
- If you want a real challenge, good luck on this mode but if you’re looking for trophies, then you can count on some very big helps:
- You can use New Game+ with all weapons improvements and all abilities you have unlocked on your first playthrough. This will help for all the combat parts
- You can use some of the accessibility options that will give you a big hand in order to avoid fights and find resources and ammo. Personally, I used the following options but you can use whatever you may find useful:
  - Helped aim: You will automatically aim the spot you want to hit
  - Falling protection: The game will advise you when you're going to fall. This is also for non-lethal jumps.
  - Enhanced Listen mode: with this, you will be able to find resources and enemies during listen mode. Press to see where the resources are and to see where enemies are.
  - Fighting accessibility with Unlimited "invisible when prone" and "slow motion during aim”. Invisible when prone is the best thing for grounded. Whith this active, enemies will not spot you when you're prone. Abuse of this especially to reach the end of a fight scene and avoid any unnecessary fights. Note: Dogs and infected, can notice you if you are too near to them so try to maintain some distance from them and also, this trick will not work in some parts of the game.
Now, some tricks that helped me during my journey:
- Don't waste resources or ammo, save them for the forced fight. Especially explosives or Shotgun ammo.
- Try to stealth kill as many enemies as possible
- Use bottles and bricks whenever is possible
- Abuse arrows, because they are craftable and you can use them more than once. Also, they're quiet and can instant kill everything with a proper headshot.
- For Shamblers and Bloaters, use a shotgun, pipe bombs and Molotov
- Move, move, move, try to go always around the area of the fight.
- Go for Headshots so you won't waste ammo.
- Make your allies do the job for you! Sometimes is just better to run around and wait for them to kill the enemies or grab them to help you kill them with melee
- When exploring for ammos or resources, don't go in the areas where you have to fight enemies.
Since we are going to mix together Grounded with permadeath, I will write some good strategy for the hardest parts I had during my experience in the You Can't Stop This walkthrough.
You Can't Stop This

Complete the story with any Permadeath setting.
(14)
Permadeath is a new feature added in The Last Of Us II. When you chose this setting, you will restart the game from certain part. There are 3 kind of permadeath options:
- Whole Game: If you die, you will start the game from the very beginning.
- Per Act: If you die, you will start from the start of the act (for example: Ellie – Seattle Day 1). If you die, you will lose around 2-5 hours of playing.
- Per Chapter: If you die, you will restart from the start of the chapter (for example: Ellie – Seattle Day 1, Chapter "The Gate"). If you die, you will lose around 30-60 minutes of playing.
There are no checkpoints and you can't leave the game during the fights, else it will be counted as a death. In the pause menu, you will be advised by red writing when you can't leave the game. However, you can exit from the game in safe areas and you will restart from where you left. Also, there are some parts in which you will get a checkpoint (for example: Hillcrest chapter, if you die in the last fight area, you will restart from that area). Don't rely on this, because it happens very few times. You can use this option in every difficulty settings you want and you can use whatever option you want for the trophy. Pairing it with grounded, will add some spice in your journey but I think is the fastest way to get the 100%, since you will not need a third complete playthrough.

You could use permadeath for your first playthrough but I recommend you don't. This game is not a normal one and you must enjoy every second of it without thinking about trophies but obviously, is up to you. I paired both grounded and permadeath in a single playthrough and personally I had to restart many times. Sometimes because I got distracted, sometimes I was surprised and sometimes I just rushed too much. With concentration, skill and not rushing, this is pretty doable, thanks to the useful helps described in Dig Two Graves. Also, you can back-up the save files. This is a bit confusing, however, because peoples had troubles with back-up saves. I found on the forum a tested strategy by TMC2k1 to make it works:
1. Backup your save when you're in a safe spot
2. Once you die, go ahead and select 'Restart Chapter'
3. Once the chapter has restarted (and you're in a safe spot), quit the game
4. Restore your backup save
5. Load the game back up and continue story
If you don't want to use back-up saves (like me), I will list where I had real problems and how I dealt with them:
- JACKSON – The Horde. The hard part is inside the cable car room. Run around it, kill and avoid enemies with melee attacks and just wait. Watch out for the Clickers!
- ELLIE SEATTLE – DAY 1 – The Tunnels. First encounter with Shamblers. You can totally skip this fight, use Invisible While Prone.
- ELLIE SEATTLE – DAY 2 – Finding Strings. I had troubles in the two very near fights at the end. In the first part, Stealth Kill everything! If you manage to do this, you won't have to fight the other 2 waves of enemies. For the Bloater fight, just run around, heal whenever possible, let Joel deal damage to the bloater and don't be hit, because it will be one-hit kill. Watch out also for the runners, kill them as soon as possible.
- ELLIE SEATTLE – DAY 3 – The Flooded City. Real troubles at the end. You will fight a bloater so be ready with Molotov and shotgun. Run around the area and kill the runners.
- ABBY SEATTLE – DAY 1 – The Forest. The second hardest chapter in my opinion. There are 4 fights and they are all pretty hard:
  - Fight 1 and 2: they're pretty the same. You have to fight stalkers with melee. In the first fight, you will have a hammer, in the second you just have your fists. Avoid the attacks and counter when they’re weak. You need to kill around 5 in the first scene (enemies killed by Lev are not counted), while in the second scene enemies killed by Lev are ok. You can find a bottle and a brick in the second fight.
  - Fight 3: You will fight a Seraphit with a big hammer. Again, avoid and counter. After you hit her 2 times, she will swirl the hammer 3 times so attack her only after the third attack.
  - Fight 4: the last one. You will be inside a small house, facing 2 waves of enemies. In the first one, there will be 2 clickers and runners. I used the flamethrower to kill the runners while running around the house, using small passages and windows. In the second wave, after runners and clickers, there will be 2 Shamblers. Use Pipe bombs and try to go where Lev will spawn. As soon as you see him, jump in the car and run away.
- ABBY SEATTLE – DAY 2 – The shortcut. Hardest part is once you go inside a store with infected. Before going down, throw a brick or a bottle to break the glass. After that, you can totally skip the battle, just go on the other side of the room prone and jump on the car.
- ABBY SEATTLE – DAY 2 – Ground Zero. This is the hardest chapter of the game. If you go past there, you're in. At the end of the chapter, you will face the Rat King. Killing him is no joke, as he will one-shot kill you but after him, you have to face his stalker. This was my strategy:
  - Be sure to have max Pipe bombs and many machine gun and hunt pistol ammos. Once the battle start, throw all the bombs to the rat king and then shot him with the machine gun, making him down for the first time. Now that he is down, turn 180° and go inside the corridor. At the end of it, craft other pipe bombs and wait for the Rat King to show. Throw the bombs and shoot him with machine gun or hunt pistol or whatever weapon you have. If he is too near, run away inside the door to the right, wait for him and then jump the obstacles to go outside the same door you came. After many hits, he will fall for good.
  - Now, follow the stalker. Once you will start to fight him, use again pipe bombs and try to unleash everything you can to him! Watch out for his smoke bombs and abuse of the Enhanced Listen Mode to see where he is (by pressing ). Once he is down, you're done.
- ABBY SEATTLE – DAY 3 – The Marina. I had problems here because I was out of ammo. You can totally skip the first part against the sniper with the invisibility trick. Once inside the garage, you have to face some infected:
  - When you're inside, 2 infected will show. If you move to your left and hide in the car in the corner, they will be killed by Manny
  - Once you're up the stairs, try to snipe the Clicker you can see far from of you. Now, kill all the runners. Inside the garage, the invisible trick will not work with the sniper.
  - Now, the hard part: during the second wave, try to stay as far as possible from the sniper and try to hide. Kill the clicker and the runners. I used the flamethrower and killed the clicker with and arrow.
  - Once everyone is dead, you can totally skip the last battle with the Shamblers: Just run to the end of the garage and jump.
- ABBY SEATTLE – DAY 3 – The escape. I will put this here just because the large encounter area in the brewery is a bit tricky. The brewery is all flooded so there is no real solid floor to move when prone. If you have the infinite oxygen options, maybe it will be easy to skip, if you haven't, you must be very very cautious. Try to reach the second floor and wait for the right time to go to the exit door. All the other fights can be skipped.
- ABBY SEATTLE – DAY 3 – The Confrontation. I will put this chapter only to say that the invisible trick will not work with Ellie. Abuse the Enhanced Listen Mode with to track her down.
All the other fights are skippable so use the invisibility trick and go straight to the exit.

Note: If you're going for collectables during a permadeath run, don't worry, because it will stay registered even if you die during the chapter so you don't have to look for it again. Use the "chapter selection" to track collectables.