Starcraft 2 Heart of the Swarm Achievements List & Guide

Starcraft 2 Campaign Guide --> Heart of the Swarm Campaign Guide --> HotS Achievements (you are here)

In this Heart of the Swarm achievements guide, you will discover a full list of achievements available to unlock during the HotS campaign in Starcraft 2. There are a number of achievements that you can unlock aside from the ones that appear on the summary screen at the end of each mission, so read on to discover what these achievements are and how to unlock them!

The achievements are broken up into 10 different categories: one for each of the 7 sets of missions, one for story-mode related achievements, one for Kerrigan related achievements, and one for "Mastery" achievements, which are the toughest campaign-related achievements and typically involve beating missions on Hard mode in a short amount of time.

Heart of the Swarm Achievement Guides

Note: Specific guides for each individual mission and mastery achievement can be found in our Heart of the Swarm Campaign Guide under the mission where the achievement is unlocked. If we put the full video and text-based guides on this single page, the section would be so long that it could cause most computers to freeze.

Since a lot of players will want help with the Mastery achievements, links for these achievements have been provided that will take you directly to the page where you can find full video walkthroughs of each achievement as well as text-based strategy. If you need help with the regular achievements, you will have to seek those out on their particular page.

For example, if you need help with the "Zerg Rush" achievement, which tasks players with completing "The Reckoning" in less than 25 minutes on Normal difficulty, you can head to our HotS Campaign Guide and visit our guide to "The Reckoning". Here, you will find text and video guides for all of "The Reckoning" achievements.

Umoja Mission Achievements

There are 120 achievement points (noted in parentheses) available during the Umoja missions in the Heart of the Swarm campaign:

• Lab Rat (10) - Complete the "Lab Rat" mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign (any difficulty).

• Mighty Mouse (10) - Destroy 35 Sentry Bots in the "Lab Rat" mission (any difficulty).

• Rat Race (10) - Complete the "Lab Rat" mission in under 10 minutes (Normal difficulty or higher). 

• Back in the Saddle (10) - Complete the "Back in the Saddle" mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign (any difficulty). 

• Full Throttle (10) - Prevent the Dominion from destroying a Tram Engine during the Tram Ride in the "Back in the Saddle" mission (any difficulty).

• Brutal Legend (10) - Don't take damage from the Archangel in the "Back in the Saddle" mission on Normal difficulty. This is actually somewhat difficult, so we have put together a Starcraft 2 Brutal Legend achievement guide with video that you can follow along with.

• Rendezvous (10) - Complete the "Rendezvous" mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign (any difficulty).

• First Strike (10) - Destroy 15 enemy structures before Naktul's forces arrive in the "Rendezvous" mission (any difficulty).

• Zerg Save the Queen (10) - Rescue all the trapped Swarm Queens before Naktul's forces arrive in the "Rendezvous" mission (Normal difficulty or higher).

• Bonus Objectives: Umoja (10) - Complete the bonus objectives in all the Umoja missions. For Lab Rat, this means rescuing all the trapped Zerglings. For Rendezvous, this means rescuing the three trapped Swarm Queens. There are no bonus objectives for the Back in the Saddle mission.

• Umoja Missions (20) - Unlocked by completing all the achievements listed in this section.

Char Mission Achievements

There are 120 achievement points available during the Char missions in the Heart of the Swarm campaign.

• Domination (10) - Complete the "Domination" mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign (any difficulty).

• Poached Eggs (10) - Hatch all 6 Baneling Nests in the "Domination" mission before collecting 100 eggs (any difficulty).

• No Egg for You (10) - Don't let Zagara collect an Egg in the "Domination" mission (Normal difficulty or higher).

• Fire in the Sky (10) - Complete the "Fire in the Sky" mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign (any difficulty).

• Red Alert (10) - Don't let 5 units die to the Gorgon Battlecruiser in the "Fire in the Sky" mission (any difficulty).

• Conquer & Command (10) - Destroy 3 Orbital Command structures in the "Fire in the Sky" mission (Normal difficulty or higher).

• Old Soldiers (10) - Complete the "Old Soldiers" mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign (any difficulty). 

• Nuclear Launch Rejected (10) - Destroy 20 enemy structures before the 1st Nuclear Strike in the "Old Soldiers" mission (any difficulty).

• Recalled Down the Thunder (10) - Complete the "Old Soldiers" mission in less than 20 minutes on (Normal difficulty or higher).

• Bonus Objectives: Char (10) - Unlocked by completing all the Bonus Objectives in the "Domination", "Fire in the Sky" and "Old Soldiers" missions.

• Char Missions (20) - Unlocked by completing all the achievements listed in this section.

Kaldir Mission Achievements

There are 120 achievement points available during the Kaldir missions in the Heart of the Swarm campaign.

• Harvest of Screams (10) - Complete the "Harvest of Screams" mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign (any difficulty).

• Ice Breaker (10) - Destroy 20 unfrozen enemy structures in the "Harvest of Screams" mission (any difficulty).

• Storm Chase (10) - Complete the "Harvest of Screams" mission in less than 15 minutes (Normal difficulty or higher).

• Shoot the Messenger (10) - Complete the "Shoot the Messenger" mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign (any difficulty).

• Warp in Peace (10) - Don't let a Protoss shuttle begin warping out in the "Shoot the Messenger" mission (any difficulty). This refers to the timer that begins ticking down over the shuttle when it gets within range of - if you see the number start ticking down, you missed the achievement.

• Extreme Nexism (10) - Destroy 2 Protoss Nexuses in the "Shoot the Messenger" mission (Normal difficulty or higher).

• Enemy Within (10) - Complete the "Enemy Within" mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign (any difficulty).

• Biomass Effect (10) - Collect 450 biomass in the "Enemy Within" mission (any difficulty). Biomass you spend on upgrading the Broodmother counts towards this achievement.

• Failure to Launch (10) - Don't let an Escape Pod reach less than 20 seconds in the "Enemy Within" mission (Normal difficulty or higher).

• Bonus Objectives: Kaldir (10) - Unlocked by completing all Bonus Objectives in the "Harvest of Screams", "Shoot the Messenger", and "Enemy Within" missions.

• Kaldir Missions (20) - Unlocked by completing all the achievements listed in this section.

Zerus Mission Achievements

There are 120 achievement points available during the Zerus missions in the Heart of the Swarm campaign.

• Waking the Ancient (10) - Complete the "Waking the Ancient" mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign (any difficulty).

• A Game of Drones (10) - Don't lose more than 3 Drones in the "Waking the Ancient" mission (any difficulty).

• Rude Awakening (10) - Kill 4 Primal Hives in the "Waking the Ancient" mission (Normal difficulty or higher).

• The Crucible (10) - Complete "The Crucible" mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign (any difficulty).

• Epic Meal Time (10) - Kill 75 enemy units with Primal Spawn Locusts in "The Crucible" mission (any difficulty).

• Can't Touch This Chrysalis (10) - Complete "The Crucible" mission without Kerrigan's Chrysalis taking damage (Normal difficulty or higher).

• Supreme (10) - Complete the "Supreme" mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign (any difficulty).

• Endangered Species (10) - Kill 500 enemy units with Kerrigan in the "Supreme" mission (any difficulty).

• Queen of the Jungle (10) - Complete the "Supreme" mission without letting Kerrigan drop below 100 life (Normal difficulty or higher).

• Bonus Objectives: Zerus (10) - Unlocked by completing all the Bonus Objectives in the "Waking the Ancient", "The Crucible" and "Supreme" missions.

• Zerus Missions (20) - Unlocked by completing all the achievements listed in this section.

Skygeirr Mission Achievements

There are 120 achievement points available during the Skygeirr missions in the Heart of the Swarm campaign.

• Just Getting Inside (10) - Complete the "Infested" mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign (any difficulty).

• Master of Puppets (10) - Kill 60 enemy units with Parasitic Dominated Terran units in the "Infested" mission (any difficulty).

• Spreading the Disease (10) - Infest all Garrisons without losing a single Virophage in the "Infested" mission (Normal difficulty or higher).

• Hand of Darkness (10) - Complete the "Hand of Darkness" mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign (any difficulty).

• Shattered Command (10) - Destroy 2 Command Centers in the "Hand of Darkness" mission (any difficulty).

• Power Underwhelming (10) - Destroy 3 Hybrid Holding Cells before the Hybrid are released in "Hand of Darkness" (Normal difficulty or higher).

• Phantoms of the Void (10) - Complete the "Phantoms of the Void" mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign (any difficulty).

• Stukov Strikes Back (10) - Don't let Stukov die in the "Phantoms of the Void" mission (any difficulty).

• The Phantoms Menaced (10) - Kill 2 Hybrid within 20 seconds of each other in the "Phantoms of the Void" mission (Normal difficulty or higher).

• Bonus Objectives: Skygeirr (10) - Unlocked by completing all the Bonus Objectives in the "Infested", "Hand of Darkness", and "Phantoms of the Void" missions. 

• Skygeirr Missions (20) - Unlocked by completing all the achievements listed in this section. 

Space Mission Achievements

There are 90 achievement points available during the Space missions in the Heart of the Swarm campaign.

• With Friends Like These... (10) - Complete the "With Friends Like These..." mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign (any difficulty).

• MinedCraft (10) - Collect every mineral pickup with the Hyperion in the "With Friends Like These..." mission (any difficulty).

• Space Ace (10) - Don't let a Mag Mine hit the Hyperion in the "With Friends Like These..." mission (Normal difficulty or higher).

• Conviction (10) - Complete the "Conviction" mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign (any difficulty).

• Staying Alive (10) - Prevent Kerrigan's life from dropping below 50% in the "Conviction" mission (any difficulty).

• Saturday Night Fever (10) - Reach the Prison Deck with Kerrigan in less than 8 minutes in the "Conviction" mission on Normal difficulty.

• Bonus Objectives: Deep Space (10) - Unlocked by completing all Bonus Objectives in the "With Friends Like These..." and "Conviction" missions.

• Space Missions (20) - Unlocked by completing all the achievements listed in this section.

Final Mission Achievements

There are 120 achievement points available during the Final missions in the Heart of the Swarm campaign.

• Planetfall (10) - Complete the "Planetfall" mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign (any difficulty).

• Fully Operational (10) - Don't lose a Bile Launcher in the "Planetfall" mission (any difficulty).

• Death Start (10) - Destroy 3 Augustgrad Gates before the 5th Bile Launcher lands in the "Planetfall" mission (Normal difficulty or higher).

• Death From Above (10) - Complete the "Death From Above" mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign (any difficulty).

• Terran Up the Sky (10) - Destroy 20 enemy structures before the 2nd Psi destroyer field activation in the "Death From Above" mission (any difficulty).

• Apex Predator (10) - Don't let Dehaka die while destroying a Power Link in the "Death From Above" mission (Normal difficulty or higher).

• The Reckoning (10) - Complete "The Reckoning" mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign (any difficulty).

• Swarm Guardian (10) - Prevent the Hyperion from taking damage in "The Reckoning" mission (any difficulty).

• Zerg Rush (10) - Complete "The Reckoning" in less than 25 minutes (Normal difficulty or higher).

• Bonus Objectives: Final (10) - Unlocked by completing all Bonus Objectives in the "Planetfall", "Death From Above", and "The Reckoning" missions. 

• Final Missions (20) - Unlocked by completing all the achievements listed in this section.

Story Mode Achievements

There are 350 achievement points available in the "Story Mode" category in the Starcraft 2 Heart of the Swarm campaign. Most of these achievement points are unlocked by leveling up Kerrigan and completing the missions on hard and brutal mode. These achievements can be unlocked by going through the Master Archives even after you have beaten the game.

Some of these achievements can only be unlocked by talking to characters at specific parts of the game. Once you complete the campaign, you cannot earn these achievements through the Master Archives - you must start a new campaign and unlock these story-based achievements at the appropriate time. Here are the available Story achievements:

• Umoja Missions (10) - Unlocked by completing the Umoja missions in the Heart of the Swarm campaign.

• Char Missions (10) - Unlocked by completing the Char missions in the Heart of the Swarm campaign.

• Kaldir Missions (10) - Unlocked by completing the Kaldir missions in the Heart of the Swarm campaign.

• Zerus Missions (10) - Unlocked by completing the Zerus missions in the Heart of the Swarm campaign.

• Skygeirr missions (10) - Unlocked by completing the Skygeirr Station missions in the Heart of the Swarm campaign.

• Space Missions (10) - Unlocked by completing the Space missions in the Heart of the Swarm campaign.

• Heart of the Swarm Campaign (10) - Unlocked by completing all missions in the Heart of the Swarm campaign.

• Heart of the Swarm: Normal 20 (40) - Unlocked by completing all 20 missions on at least normal difficulty in Heart of the Swarm. You get 10 points for every 5 missions you complete for a total of 40 points.

• Heart of the Swarm: Hard 20 (40) - Unlocked by completing all 20 missions on at least hard  difficulty in Heart of the Swarm. You get 10 points for every 5 missions you complete for a total of 40 points.

• Heart of the Swarm: Brutal 20 (40) - Unlocked by completing all 20 missions on at least brutal difficulty in Heart of the Swarm. You get 10 points for every 5 missions you complete for a total of 40 points.

• Kerrigan Power: 70 (70) - Unlocked by reaching level 70 with Kerrigan. You get 10 achievement points for every 10 levels you get with Kerrigan up to level 70.

• Abathur's Cookbook (10) - Unlocked by completing all 7 Evolution missions.

• For the Swarm! (10) - Unlocked by mutating each Zerg unit in the Evolution pit.

• Swarm Domination (10) - Unlocked by unlocking the "Kerrigan Power: 70", "Abathur's Cookbook", and "For the Swarm!" achievements.

The following Story Mode achievements must be unlocked during a campaign playthrough and cannot be earned through the Master Archives:

• Visionary (10) - On Char, teach Zagara what it means to be the ruler of the Swarm. After Zagara boards the Leviathan, talk to her before and after Fire in the Sky and Old Soldiers and you will unlock this achievement. The dialogue builds on each previous conversation, so I am not sure if it is just one of the conversations or all of them that trigger this achievement to be unlocked, so make sure to do them all.

• Xel'Naga Secrets (10) - Discover the true purpose of the Xel'Naga Artifact while at the Skygeirr Platform. Talk to Stukov before and after each mission. Eventually he will reveal that to awaken Amon, a lot of energy will be needed, and the Xel'Naga Artifact siphoned Kerrigan's energy when she transformed into a human. This conversation will unlock this achievement.

• Rally the Troops (10) - Talk to Abathur, Dehaka, Izsha, Zagara, and Stukov before assaulting Mengsk's Palace on Korhal. Self-explanatory - this is done right before starting "The Reckoning" mission.

• Judgement Day (10) - Discover Zeratul's next destination. Talk to Zeratul (via clicking on his ship off in the distance) once you travel to Zerus. He will reveal to you his destination, unlocking this achievement. This needs to done right before the Waking the Ancients mission, as once Durvan is awake, the Void Seeker disappears and Durvan takes its place.

• StarTours (10) - Click on each viewable object from the Leviathan. This includes Warfield's Fortress (Char), Nafash's Hatchery (Kaldir), Skygeirr Station (Skygeirr), The Ancient One (Zerus, after Waking the Ancient), the Void Seeker (Zerus, before Waking the Ancient), the Hyperion (Space), the Communications Relay (Final, before starting the "Planetfall" mission. It is not present during all of the final missions), and Mengsk's Palace (Final, after "Planetfall").

• Fashion Statement (10) - Show off your new look to Izsha, Abathur, and Zurvan (Zurvan is the Ancient One). Your "new look" refers to your transformation after completing "The Crucible" mission. Given that you have to talk to Zurvan, this needs to be done before beginning the "Supreme" mission. 

Kerrigan Achievements

There are 170 achievement points available during the Char missions in the Heart of the Swarm campaign. Most of these achievements are cumulative. For example, the "Unchained" achievement tasks players with dealing 5,000 damage with Chain Reaction. If you deal 1000 damage in 5 different missions, this will unlock the achievement. You do not have to deal all 5000 damage in one mission.

However, a few of the achievements must be done in the same mission: "Apocalypse Now", "Air Drop", "Release The Kraken", "Spammer", and "To The Limit".

Here is a list of the achievements in the Kerrigan category in the Heart of the Swarm campaign:

• Apocalypse Now (10) - Use Apocalypse to kill 50 enemy units or structures in a single mission. This can take 4+ Apocalypses, so be sure to pick a mission which has no tight time limit.

• Air Drop (10) - Use Drop-Pods 3 times in a single mission.

• Surprise! (10) - Kill 100 enemy units with the Infest Broodlings ability active.

• Unchained (10) - Deal 5,000 damage with Chain Reaction.

• Get a Grip (10) - Target and hit 150 enemy units with Crushing Grip.

• Smoking Corpses (10) - Kill 50 enemy units or structures with Kinetic Blast.

• Spammer (10) - Use 4 abilities within 10 seconds with Ability Efficiency.

• Kinetic Blast, Mend, Spawn Leviathan, and Kinetic Blast again as soon as it comes off cooldown will unlock this achievement.

• Release The Kraken (10) - Use a Leviathan to kill 25 enemy units or structures in a single mission.

• To The Limit (10) - Maintain Kerrigan's Fury for 60 seconds with Fury. This achievement is the one you may have to go out of your way the most in order to unlock. Allow Kerrigan to assault a base solo or possibly with a few Queens for support and she will likely get this achievement. If your other offensive units are killing structures too fast and Kerrigan has to move too much, Fury may drop. You need her to be able to stand there and assault structures solo in order for her to attack for a minute straight without needing to move too much. 

• Worker Rush (10) - Morph 36 sets of Drones with the Twin Drones ability active.

• Shifted Priorities (10) - Deal 5,000 damage with Psionic Shift.

• Leaping Death (10) - Deal 15,000 damage with Leaping Strike.

• Where the Wild Things Are (10) - Target and hit 100 friendly units with Wild Mutation.

• So Many Banelings! (10) - Kill 100 enemy units or structures with Spawn Banelings.

• Endless Swarm (10) - Reconstitute 500 Zerglings with Zergling Reconstitution.

• Kerrigan Domination (20) - Complete all the Kerrigan achievements listed above in order to unlock this achievement.

Mastery Achievements

There are 190 achievement points available during the Char missions in the Heart of the Swarm campaign. There is 1 Mastery achievement for each of the 19 Heart of the Swarm missions except for the "Death for Above" mission. I am not sure there was no mastery achievement available for this particular mission.

There are full strategy guides including video walkthroughs for all the mastery achievements available on this site. Click on the achievement name below to be taken to our guide for that particular achievement.

• Mad Dash (10) - Destroy 3 Factories in the "Lab Rat" mission in less than 10 minutes on Hard difficulty.

• Nick of Time (10) - Complete "Back in the Saddle" with more than 40 seconds on each lockdown on Hard difficulty.

• Premature Evacuation (10) - Destroy all Dominion Structures in the "Rendezvous" mission before Naktul's brood arrives on Hard difficulty.

• Psi-lence is Golden (10) - Complete all objectives in less than 12 minutes in the "Harvest of Screams" mission on Hard difficulty. This includes the bonus objectives.

• Going, Going, Gorgon! (10) - Destroy 4 Gorgon Battlecruisers within 120 seconds in the "Fire in the Sky" mission on Hard difficulty.

• Home Wrecker (10) - Destroy the Planetary Fortress in the "Old Soldiers" mission before the nuclear strike on Hard difficulty.

• My Cool Bay Explosions (10) - Destroy all 3 Protoss Docking Bays in the "Shoot the Messenger" mission on Hard difficulty.

• Monster Smash (10) - Kill 15 units with the Giant Ursadon in the "Enemy Within" mission on Hard difficulty.

• Whack-A-Brakk (10) - Don't let Brakk destroy any Biomass in the "Waking the Ancient" mission on Hard difficulty.

• Short Life Expectancy (10) - Kill the Tyrannozor in under 1 minute after it appears in "The Crucible" mission on Hard difficulty.

• Whose Queen Reigns Supreme? (10) - Complete the "Supreme" mission in less than 12 minutes on Hard difficulty.

• Once, Twice, Three Times Malady (10) - Complete the "Infested" mission before the Dominion Gas the Platform for a 3rd time on Hard difficulty.

• Dominion Domination (10) - Kill 3 Hybrid Dominators with Terran units in the "Hand of Darkness" mission on Hard difficulty.

• No-toss (10) - Destroy all Protoss structures in the "Phantoms of the Void" mission on Hard difficulty.

• Ludicrous Speed! (10) - Complete the "With Friends Like These..." mission in less than 11 minutes on Hard difficulty.

• Fast Break (10) - Complete the "Conviction" mission in less than 10 minutes on Hard difficulty.

• Crash the Party (10) - Destroy all Dominion structures in the "Planetfall" mission before the 5th Bile Launcher lands on Hard difficulty.

• Speed Bump (10) - Destroy the Odin in "The Reckoning" mission before Mengsk sends it at Raynor on Hard difficulty.

• Shutout (10) - Destroy Zagara's base in the "Domination" mission in less than 14 minutes on Hard difficulty before collecting 100 eggs.

Starcraft 2 Heart of the Swarm Campaign Achievements - Conclusion

After unlocking all the Heart of the Swarm achievements, you can earn a grand total of 1520 achievement points. There is no particular meta achievement or reward for completing all of the Heart of the Swarm achievements.