Bastion
22 Achievements
1,000
15-20h
Man-at-Arms
Use the Forge to fully upgrade every weapon.
30
4.66%
How to unlock the Man-at-Arms achievement in Bastion - Definitive Guide
I made the mistake of upgrading all the weapons on my 1st Normal mode playthrough, and A) it took quite a bit of time to grind the money for the upgrades, and B) you'll need to do it again once you get to score attack anyway as having all the upgrades makes it much easier to get good scores on levels.
You will have to start over from scratch on upgrades when you start Score Attack Mode, but that's fine as you'll have to replay most of the levels anyways for points.
And you cannot miss any upgrade materials since they will all show up in the lost and found in case you miss one in a level! The cost of upgrading all the weapons is quite hefty so I would do this trophy on your Score Attack playthrough where you can replay the missions to farm fragments instead of having to replay the dreams all the time.
The Forge should probably the second building you get in Score Attack Mode. You will want stronger weapons to make the game easier for yourself. Each weapon can be upgraded five times, though you will need to upgrade the Forge itself to get access to the final two upgrades (when you first buy the Forge, only three upgrades are available). You will be able to upgrade the buildings in the second half of the game.
You can find at most three upgrade materials for each weapon through the story levels, with the other two coming from the Proving Grounds. A weapon's specific Proving Ground will award an upgrade material for that weapon at a 3rd place finish, and an upgrade material for a different weapon at a second place finish. First place is a special attack (used with Black Tonics). The materials are as follows:
- Something Heavy - Cael Hammer
- Something Nasty - Fang Repeater
- Something Stringy - Breaker's Bow
- Something Sharp - War Machete
- Something Coarse - Scrap Musket
- Something Greasy - Dueling Pistols
- Something Pointy - Brusher's Pike
- Something Fancy - Army Carbine
- Something Foul - Fire Bellows
- Something Burnt - Galleon Mortar
- Something Wrong - Calamity Cannon
I won't list locations of all the upgrades that are found in levels, as they cost very little to purchase from the Lost and Found if you miss them. In addition to the material itself, you'll need to spend some fragments for each upgrade tier. This varies depending on the weapon, but the total cost is usually between 3000-4500 fragments per weapon.
Each upgrade tier has two possible bonuses, and you can switch between these whenever you want. Play with these to find your play style, and you may need to change things up to beat some of the Proving Grounds as well, depending on your need for extra damage, speed, etc. If you need help completing any of the Proving Grounds, check the link provided in "Altruist" for the Vigils guide. There are strategies listed there for each Proving Ground.
As you have probably guessed by its name, not to mention it'll most likely be the first building you'll restore in the Bastion, the Forge is where you can upgrade your weapons to make them... well, obviously more powerful and efficient. Each weapon requires a specific upgrade material and a required amount of fragments. Three pieces of a material for each weapon can be picked up from a level / purchased from the Lost-and-Found. The other two pieces are obtained via the Proving Grounds; one as a 3rd prize for said weapon's Proving Ground, and the other as a 2nd prize in another weapon's Proving Ground.
- Something Heavy - Cael Hammer
- Something Nasty - Fang Repeater
- Something Stringy - Breaker's Bow
- Something Sharp - War Machete
- Something Coarse - Scrap Musket
- Something Greasy - Dueling Pistols
- Something Pointy - Brusher's Pike
- Something Fancy - Army Carbine
- Something Foul - Fire Bellows
- Something Burnt - Galleon Mortar
- Something Wrong - Calamity Cannon
Each weapon has a total of five upgrade tiers. You'll initially only be able to upgrade a weapon to the third tier, the latter two tiers becoming available to you once you've upgraded the Forge. You will as such, need to fully upgrade all 11 weapons to the fifth tier to unlock this trophy.
Do keep in mind that you can interchange between the two different abilities on each tier for each weapon; the ability you chose and purchased initially is not permanent. So do not be afraid of picking whichever ability to suit your gaming style as you're free to switch around. This is especially important to keep in mind when completing each of the weapon's Proving Grounds requirements.
For a list of each weapon's upgrades as well as the required number of fragments for each upgrade, please refer to: Bastion Weapons and Upgrades Guide