Not a list of all 78 — the wikis already have that. This is what to decide before you start: which choices close an achievement off for the rest of that save, which ones need a difficulty locked in from the first minute, and the order that gets you through both without a wasted playthrough.
How Many, and Across Which Content
The base game carries 52 achievements on its own. Hearts of Stone adds 13 and Blood and Wine adds another 13, for 78 total on Xbox, Steam and GOG once all content is installed. PlayStation's Complete Edition counts 79 trophies — the same 78, plus a Platinum that itself requires every other trophy, including both expansions, to unlock.
| Content | Achievements added |
|---|---|
| Base game (patch 4.0, 2022, current on all platforms) | 52 |
| Hearts of Stone | 13 |
| Blood and Wine | 13 |
| Total (Xbox / Steam / GOG) | 78 |
| PS4/PS5 Complete Edition (adds Platinum) | 79 |
Choices That Close an Achievement Off
- Full Crew and Kingmaker both hinge on the same moment: during the "King's Gambit" side quest, you must back either Cerys or Hjalmar to rule Skellige. Pick the third dialogue option to walk away from the choice instead, and neither of them takes the throne — which also permanently removes Hjalmar from your recruitable allies for the final battle, costing you Full Crew as well.
- Assassin of Kings needs a chain of Act 1 side quests finished, plus a specific dialogue choice during "Blindingly Obvious" (talking to Dijkstra and Philippa in the bathhouse), all completed before you sail for the Isle of Mists — that voyage is a point of no return, and missing any link beforehand means "Reason of State" in Act 3 never triggers.
- Gwent Master comes from the High Stakes tournament in Novigrad: four opponents in a row, 1000 crowns to enter, and losing even one match ends the whole tournament for good rather than letting you retry it. You also cannot leave Passiflora mid-tournament without failing it. The standard advice is a hard save after every won match, since there's no other way back in.
A Difficulty You Can't Bolt On Late
Ran the Gauntlet (finish on Blood and Broken Bones! or Death March!) and Walked the Path (Death March! specifically) both require that difficulty set from the very first minute and never lowered — even once — for the entire run. Lowering it at any point voids the achievement for that save, even if you raise it back up afterward; the game tracks the change, not just your difficulty at the credits. The one piece of good news: both are confirmed obtainable on a New Game+ run, so there's no need to suffer through a first, blind playthrough on the hardest setting — play that one however you like, then commit to Death March for a dedicated NG+ pass.
Blood and Wine's Either/Or Ending
Last Action Hero (the "everyone's happy" ending, decorated with the Order of Vitis Vinifera) and Kling of the Clink (thrown in Toussaint's prison) are mutually exclusive per playthrough: during "Beyond Hill and Dale...", retrieving the ribbon from the Little Flint Girl (by playing Gwent or paying for it) sets up the good ending; skipping it locks in the prison one. Getting both doesn't require a full second run of the expansion — a manual save from just before that quest, reloaded afterward, is enough to see the other outcome.
What Takes the Longest
Brawl Master (all of the game's fistfighting quests across three regions — PowerPyx counts 14) and Fast and Furious (win every horse race) are both flagged as slow rather than hard. So is chasing the full Gwent collection for Card Collector, which means buying out every innkeep and merchant on the map rather than just building one good deck. Estimates for full completion vary widely by source: one completion-time tracker puts an "all styles" average around 101 hours, while other completionist write-ups put true 100% past 200 — the gap is mostly about how much side content and Gwent-hunting "100%" is assumed to include, and no single number reconciles both.
A Clean-Up Order
- Work through the Act 1 side quests that feed "Reason of State" as you naturally reach them, and pick the first dialogue option with Dijkstra and Philippa in "Blindingly Obvious" — both well before sailing for the Isle of Mists.
- During "King's Gambit", always back Cerys or Hjalmar — never the walk-away option — and recruit every ally you can before the final battle.
- Hard-save before entering the Gwent High Stakes tournament, and again after every match you win.
- Play your first pass on whatever difficulty you enjoy, then run a dedicated New Game+ on Death March! from the very start for Walked the Path (which also nets Ran the Gauntlet).
- In Blood and Wine, save right before "Beyond Hill and Dale..." so you can reload for the second ending instead of replaying the whole expansion.
- Leave Gwent collection, horse races and fistfights for whenever — long, but never missable.