Dead Space 3

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Introduction

Drill Sergeant requires that you complete the drill section in Chapter 10 without taking any damage from both the enemies and the drill itself (it's an instant kill) over the course of three waves. There has been some concern as to whether or not this achievement is glitched, but I believe I have figured out how to complete this without any chance of any said glitch occurring.

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General Notes

- You CANNOT skip a drill section, the over-head voice must announce the drill at 75% capability and 50% capability at different times. Meaning you must endure three waves. Don't go trigger happy on the drill, you may skip one of the stages, which will not unlock the achievement.
- It is recommended that you kill every enemy before attacking the drill. Some have reported that any enemy attacks during the final drill cutscene will void your achievement, when you are not in control of your character.
- You do NOT need to copy your save.
- Getting hit and choosing 'checkpoint restart' will VOID the achievement for that run, you will have to replay up to that point.
- If you do get hit, you can select 'save and quit', this will restart you at the beginning of the room.
- You CAN do this in co-op. I would suggest it, in fact.
- If you choose to tackle this in co-op, only the host will receive the achievement, but right after it pops for you, the co-op player may choose 'save and quit' and rehost the game and invite you for their turn.
- It has occurred on occasion that you can still get hit by the drill and unlock it upon the checkpoint restart, but this isn't always the case.

Roughly 5-15 minutes into the chapter, you will be required to power a generator, which will lower the safety gates to a circular arena as well as power on a nearby bench. Use this moment to prep your inventory as you see fit (if this is your first time through, there is a circuit on the wall to your right as soon as you enter the chamber).

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Weapon:

My personal weapon build for this achievement is posted below, if you wish to use it:

Chaingun / Forcegun combo


Frame: Heavy Frame
Upper tool: Telemetry Spike
Upper tool tip: Diffraction Torus
Lower tool: Plasma Core
Lower tool tip: Conic Dispersal
Attachment 1: Stasis Amplifier
Attachment 2: Ammo Support

Any of the above parts can be supplemented with parts that are superior to increase damage, speed, etc (if you have the Mk-V version, by all means, use it!).

This made a relatively accurate machine gun that I could spray at enemies from a distance, while allowing me to use the secondary force gun to knock back those who were getting close. My upgrade circuits were set to give my upper tool a large damage boost (as well as reload), while my bottom tool was clip with reload. Because the gun reloads both tools at the same time, reload circuits will automatically apply to both tools on the weapon.

Aura of Heroism brought up a good tip in the comments. When you are customizing your weapon; damage, clip, reload, and rate of fire will still increase when the bar appears to be maxed out. Continue adding circuits to add traits, as there is no cap other than the circuits themselves.

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Inventory

After preparing my weapon, I found it best to heal all the way to full health, and then pack a single small health pack with me as a check for each segment of the drill segment.

My personal pack prior to this achievement:


- 1 small health pack
- 3 stasis packs (takes up one slot)
- 100 ammo clips (takes up five slots)

Again, I made sure my health was maxed prior to beginning to use my small health pack as a check to see if I had taken any damage. I brought stasis packs along in order to allow me to go stasis happy; this goes hand in hand with the stasis amplifier I placed on my weapon to help hit multiple enemies if they got in to close. The vast amount of ammo reassured that I could waste ammo without worrying about running out.

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Positioning

You can actually position your player to where the drill will never touch you. Upon entering the arena with the drill, there will be two stasis modules on the wall, proceed to the station on the left and stay there through the entire assault. Enemies will only approach from the two grates to the left and right sides of the drill (this is on casual difficulty, whether this is the same for other difficulties is unclear).

Enemy Spawn Vents:



You can complete this in co-op but if you choose to do so, only the host will receive the achievement; right after it pops for you, the co-op player may choose 'save and quit' and rehost the game and invite you for their turn. In co-op you can easily watch one vent apiece, making this a cakewalk, especially if both players understand what they are to do.
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The Execution

Once you are ready to go, release the safety gates and commence assault. Ignore the drill, it will cause you no problems. Watch the vents as enemies with icepicks (called Fodders/Wasters) will emerge; some of these enemies will turn into the three tentacle form (if it's the upper body half that sprouts the tentacles, they will use a ranged attack), so you may need to add some follow up shots after you have killed them. If you run into issues with reloading, it is generally okay to reload once the drill moves directly in front of you, as enemies will run directly into it's path, but be aware that one may emerge unscathed, so pay attention. After roughly eight enemies, you should have a clear shot at the drill. Take this moment to check if your health pack can be used; if you cannot use it, you clear to shoot the drill, if your health pack disappears, select 'save and quit' and give it another go. When firing at the drill, do not shoot like crazy at it. I ran into an issue where shooting it with my overpowered weapon would skip one of the waves and void the achievement. Take your time shooting the inner yellow core until it breaks, sending the drill back to it's resting state.

Before the drill returns for wave two, the announcer will say that the drill is at 75% capability. At this point be ready for more Fodders/Wasters. After completing this wave of roughly 10-15 enemies, verify that your health pack cannot be used, and carefully take out the second wave of the drill.

After it retreats yet again, the announce will state the drill at 50%, this means you are nearly there. This time around, the enemies will primarily be Feeders (quick, weak enemies). Be careful that they do not sneak through, the drill can be somewhat distracting, allowing one or two to sneak through. Use your force gun and stasis to knock them back if need be. After about 20-30 Feeders, you will have a final, clear shot at the drill.

Once the drill is destroyed, you will need to head for the door that was previously blocked. Upon opening the door, the achievement should pop. If you completely this in co-op, only the host will receive the achievement. The client in the game should select 'save and quit' from the pause menu, and host the game for their achievement.

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Video

The video below shows my live stream process of the achievement unlocking.

This is not a video guide but after a while of frustration I found a pattern and perhaps glitch you can use. Load up Chapter 10 and make it to the grill area.


After you turn on the generator that lowers the gate and go inside pay attention to the gap to your immediate left (it has a necromorph spawn window).

Release the safety gates and go to this area. For some reason I can't figure out, no matter what the drill will not touch you while you are in it. It seems extremely counter intuitive when this massive thing is basically giving you a fat kiss but you will not take any damage, I promise.

During the first round, about 8 necros will spawn from the windows to your left and right, the drill will veer to your left and take out a few, but sometimes one will make it through. Alternate fire between left and right and eventually they stop spawning, giving you plenty of time and room to take out the drill.

During the second round same thing, except maybe a few more necros will spawn but it's the same idea, keep shooting/stasis until they stop spawning...during this round the drill comes SO close to you I swear it seems crazy you are not dead.

It gets tricky during the third and final round. You can either wait right next to the drill and quickly take it out (it cancels out all the feeder spawns) but you have about 5 seconds maybe. Or you can do the same as rounds 1 and 2 and fight them off. About 20 feeders will spawn but they do stop spawning giving you room to take out the drill later.

Anyway, this is the only way the drill will not touch you and gives you a chance to work on the necros rather than being shredded, Good luck!

Just to let everyone know, there is a MUCH MUCH easier way to do this and you can do it solo with pretty much any gun on any difficulty. I just did it on classic mode: hard difficulty and can confirm it works like a charm!

All credit goes to newyorkjetsfan on xbox360a.org

Play the Drill section, I would advise using the OP'ed Seeker Rifle to shoot the yellow spot. When you get hit simply dive into the drill to kill yourself (or theoretically you could just let the Necros kill you too). Make sure to immediately stasis the drill and shoot at that yellow spot.

Important Note: Now I don't remember if you have to kill the entire wave of Necros during the first and second wave, even if you shoot the yellow spot first. There might be stragglers after shooting the yellow spot during the first two waves but be on the lookout for any extra Necros.

The major point is if you are hit any point in time, simply dive into the drill. It is like a free checkpoint

On the third wave just immediately stasis the drill again and shoot at the yellow spot. The Feeders will hesitate for a little while before getting to you. If they do hit you just dive into the drill like before and you will restart at the start of the third wave. Once you destroy the yellow spot for the third time the Feeders will run away and not hit you.

Simply walk to the next door and the achievement should pop. I don't remember exactly how this sequence happened for me but I just remember simply walking up to the next door (with the Dead Space trademark blue circular things on them) after the drill sequence and the achievement popped for me. It may have popped as soon as I pressed A button to open the door too, I don't remember though.

*GLITCHED ACHIEVEMENT SOLUTION*

This is a method for people who know they're doing it flawlessly and still aren't unlocking the achievement. I completed the sequence 3 times without getting hit and still didn't get it. Luckily I found a solution from Unstoppable Gamer (video linked below). The video isn't really necessary to watch, but the description has a list of steps that helped me unlock it.

Here are the steps:
Step 1- Go to the drill platform.
Step 2- Activate the drill and when the first necros come out let them hit you.
Step 3- Save and quit immediately
Step 4- Load from last save (aka continue from your last save instead of last checkpoint)
Step 5- Complete the drill sequence without getting hit by the drill and necromorphs.
Step 6- Go to the door you leave through but don't activate it just go up to it or inside of it. And keep moving around in that area until the transmission ends.
Step 7- Your achievement should pop! Enjoy!

I unlocked the achievement immediately upon entering the exit doorway. I hope this helps you out. Any of the other solutions here that say the achievement isn't glitched probably just didn't run into this issue.

Here's how I avoided getting hit (it is an amalgam of the different solution you may have already read here):
1. Stay directly left of the Stasis Refill Station directly across from the exit. The drill will never hit you in this position.
2. Stasis the drill when it is in front of one of the two vents that the necros pop out of. This allows you to only worry about shooting at one vent while the drill slices up the enemies coming out of the other.
3. Make sure you kill every necro during each wave before firing at the drill.

As far as guns go I just used a line gun with a stasis attachment for de-limbing and killing necros and a rifle to take out the drill core. Make sure you have plenty of spare stasis packs so you don't have to get distracted by turning to refill at the station. Just keep a cool head and you should get this without worry.

If you have any other helpful tips or solutions for working around the glitch, please comment below.

this one is called "drill sergeant" you have complete the drill sequence without taking any damage. follow the video; its not mine credit goes to KalElGamingHD

I attempted this a few times without getting it, although I might have if I tried one more thing. It seems the achievement does not pop after the drill is destroyed but as you are about to exit the room.

To complete this, here is the method I used from first entering the room:

Run down to activate the generator.
Top up your health and use the bench to bring enough ammo.
Lower the gates holding the drill and then stand near a stasis regen point.

Stage 1.
It seems the enemies will spawn from the two grills opposite your position left and right.
Kill all the enemies and then stasis the drill and shoot the yellow core.
Use a stasis regen point.

Stage 2.
Kill all enemies (again from the two grills opposite your position).
Use stasis on the drill and shoot the yellow core.
Use stasis regen point.

Stage 3.
Wait a few seconds before using stasis on the drill (as the yellow core has to lower out of the centre).
Finish the last of the yellow core.

Any enemies will run away at this point.

Go into your inventory and check how many health kits you have and select to use one. If you had full health going in and you did not get hit then no health kit should get used up.

If you managed to avoid getting hit then make your way to the exit and the achievement should pop.

If you did get hit then Save and Quit and then select Continue from last save and you will be back as if you just entered the room.

I think I have the ultimate and easiest solution to obtain this achievement while playing Solo! It's all about where you are positioned on the platform and using the drill to your advantage. Allow me to put the low down facts first and foremost:

- Do NOT press B (Quick Heal) at all during the event. Doing so,even if you have full health, nulls the achievement and locks it.

- If you are hit, dashboard immediately Dashboarding cancels the progress of your failure when you restart checkpoint and/or save/quit. When you load your game the next time, your last save you will be at the ramp leading to the workbench and generator right before the drill platform.

- The easiest method to this achievement is to play it on Casual difficulty. It makes the enemies really weak.

My personal weapon that I used to obtain this:

A S.C.A.F. Seeker Rifle upper tool with a Bouncing Bolas lower tool. Flame Glaze and Damage Support attachments with various random damage boosting circuits for the Seeker Rifle portion.

A Seeker Rifle maxed out and with the Flame Glaze attachment is a one hit kill to any standard Necromorph in Casual difficulty. Whether it be the leg, head, arm or foot. It's going to be a one hit kill. The lower tool, Bouncing Bolas, slices enemies clean through and bounces off walls. Almost as precise and powerful as a Line Cutter.

The key thing for this achievement is placement and enemy control by manipulating the drill to your favor of support rather than being another enemy to worry about. Here is my guide:

As soon as you walk onto the platform, stand by the gate that allowed you inside from the generator. It is the best vantage point and gives a wide ranged view of the entire area. After releasing the drill, stand by the gate from your entrance and stasis the drill immediately as it descends from its position. The key to this achievement is to keep the drill towards the right side of where you are and blocking the vent in that area. It cuts your enemy numbers in half. Keep your stasis support on the drill. Keep it in stasis at all times and in the right side of you and to the back by the vent.

Across from you is another vent that allows enemies to spawn in a steady one by one stream. With the Flame Glaze Attachment Seeker Rifle (or really any one hit kill weapon), just aim straight ahead and to that vent and shoot every enemy the moment they appear. The stasised drill will kill/block all Necromorphs to your right and all you have to do is focus on the one vent ahead. Make sure you kill every enemy, then shoot the yellow core of the drill. Doing so issues the next round.

Repeat the process by keeping the drill in stasis and to the right of you immediately after it descends downwards. It will continue to block the vent behind it and you just have to keep your attention on the vent across the platform. Occasionally, the vent to the left of you will spawn a lone Necromorph but it's usually unlikely. Keep that in mind! Shoot all enemies in the vent ahead until they are all dead and shoot the next yellow core spot.

The third round is filled with Feeders and they swarm you quick and fast. The moment the drill descends down, stasis it and then shoot the yellow core ASAP. When you destroy the drill, all enemies retreat and you're left standing alone on the platform. The achievement doesn't unlock until you walk towards the elevator up the hill where the drill was initially sitting. Enjoy that somewhat difficult 30 G.

Please comment or positively rate my guide if it helped you!

This achievement is in Chapter 10.

I used Darkened Night's positioning help, but there was just too much information there. Just run to the Stasis Recharge on your left and watch the two gates on both sides across from you. IF YOU STAY THERE, THE DRILL WILL NEVER TOUCH YOU!

You will need quite a bit of ammo, especially in the last wave. I recommend having at least 60 ammo clip things (3 inventory slots). If you have a gun that shoots fairly quickly and is relatively accurate, the first two waves shouldn't be too hard. It also helps to have a decent sized clip (I used the Evangelizer weapon that is a single-shot rifle). It helps to have its damage and clip upgraded as well. Also, if you can, put an ammo box on it (this automatically reloads it when you've used all shots, essentially doubling your clip size). Just kill the necromorphs coming from the vents. The drill helps because it occasionally kills them or at least blocks them from coming from one side, allowing you to focus on one spot. Just use stasis if they're running at you and pick em apart. Use the stasis recharge after you shoot the drill.

If you get hit at any point of the first two waves, hit 'save and quit' and load it back up. It will restart you at the top of the area before you turn the power on.

**** There is a trick to the third wave!****

The third wave is nothing but feeders and they're quick and come in bunches. The drill should help a bit in covering one side so just use stasis and take em out. If you get hit at any point in the third wave, LET THE DRILL KILL YOU! If the drill kills you, you restart the third wave and as long as you didn't get hit in the first two, it won't void the achievement. This wave is difficult to beat, but after a few tries, you should get it. After you walk through the safety gates, the achievement will pop up.

I did this on normal difficulty by myself. It was difficult, but not impossible. I would recommend doing it in co-op though.

This is how I did it. It worked for me. Hope it helps!

This is a simple guide to getting Drill Sergeant in Dead Space 3.

After trying several different methods of getting the achievement, I came up short on the third and final wave numerous times.

In this guide I used Darkened Night's safe spot by the Stasis Pack to the left. Make sure you are lined up with the red flooring. I did this in Classic mode using only the Plasma Cutter.

The achievement is pretty straight forward - survive the Drill Room in Chapter 10, without getting hit.

There will be 3 waves, consisting of about 10-15 enemies each coming from the two grates by the drill.

The first two waves are pretty straight forward, just mow them down (stasis if you need to, but it is pretty easy without) then stasis the drill and shoot the core. Rinse and repeat for the second wave.

Now here is where it gets a tiny bit trickier. The third wave is the feeder wave. The annoying skinny little husks that are elusive as well as annoying. They will be coming out of both vents quickly, and running at you just as fast.
To deal with them easiest, let the drill come down for its final time. This time, instead of dancing around the middle, the drill will go around the edge of the arena. USE THIS TO YOUR ADVANTAGE! When the drill descends get ready to stasis it in front of the vent on the right, thereby taking care of the threat, and allowing you to focus on the left vent. BUT WAIT! It keeps moving, so continuously stasis it when you think it is running out. Even if you have to stasis it right in front of you to make it easier for you, do it, as it will keep the Feeders from reaching you, mulching them in the process.

When the wave is taken care of, 15 or so feeders later, take out the drill. After this, pick up your wide collection of loot on the ground, and head through the door, popping the achievement!

Okay this is how I did it in coop and the fight is located within chapter 10.

First play on casual just to make it alot easier than it would be on the other modes. Now I was armed with a heavy standard chain gun with a line gun underneath. I used stasis coating to slow enemies down trust me this is critical to making it easier. This was brilliant for moving enemies down before they knew what hit them.

My friend was armed with a standard pitbull rifle with a force gun he modified it to have as much clip and reload as possible so he could just keep firing as much as he could without reloading. He also used stasis coating so we both had the ability to slow down enemies with gunfire.

Now the trick was to stand together to the centre and shoot left and right while hitting the drill with out stasis shots. Then open fire on the core when we had a moment to shoot before going back to shooting at the necromorphs.

Now if you get hit simply get the host to reload the checkpoint as fast as possible this will speed up your attempts.

Also as a general note to all my friend got this achievement before me despite the fact that we did it together so I think the achievement may be bugged to the point where only the host can get it. I am not sure if we are an exception though.

But notice in the video I had switched to Isaac when it finally did unlock on our second attempt.

Now watch the video below and just learn to defend as much as possible and stasis the drill at the safest intervals. This is achievement is difficult but very doable good luck guys!

Hey all, just a quick video showing how to get this one solo. I go over all the potential glitches as well. Hope the video helps!

Hey guys

I would like to add how I completed this achievement. Not much of a guide but I had some issues with this. My issue was that I was using a rocket launcher type weapon with the safety guard attachment. Although the attachment stops you taking damage from your own splash/explosive weapon it would seem the achievement will not pop if it is used. I checked and still could not use any health packs at the end each round before I attacked the drill.

In the end I used a weapon that knocked back the enemies with an ammo support attachment (1 instant auto reload). I just hid in the middle next the enemy window and shot left and right when enemies came close and let the drill kill all the enemies. When the drill was in my face I reloaded if needed as I had cover from attacks.

I used the Evo suit also.

The last round (round 3) I swapped to my rocket launcher. I Used status the drill as the yellow light in the middle came down and shot it a few times. The round ends before any enemies reach me and they run off.

Achievement popped as I head to the next area.

Also I used the run into the drill method if I got hit or found I was able to use a health pack before attacking it. This was after the enemies were defeated and were no longer spawning.

On a side not if the achievement did not pop I dash boarded and hit continue when the game reloads from the main menu. It loads you up just before the drill which saves you 10 minutes of running to it from the start.

Good luck guys

The Drill Sergeant achievement requires you to complete Chapter 10's drill section without taking any damage.

Weapons:
A chain gun with another attachment works really well due to the high rate of fire.

Credit goes to Yin, in a guide above, for his excellent personal weapon.



I would recommend having an fire inducing or explosive tip on the weapon. For the bottom, you can have a heavy beam or force gun function. This will knock back enemies that get too close.

There are three sections. After each section the operator will clearly state the percentage of good drill functionality remaining (75%, 50%,).

For the first and second sections, you should start across from the vents near where the drill first starts. If you stay on the edge of the platform, the drill can't touch you. The second section will have a few more enemies than the first. You need to watch out for enemies to the left and right of you, since they can surprise you when you aren't turning around to look there. You can move around a little to hid behind the drill, which also kills enemies for you. After clearing out the enemies in each of these sections, stasis the drill and shoot the bright white center energy bulb.

At the third part, the operator will announce that 50% of the drill functionality is left.
20-30 feeders will come out of the vents and are very fast. If you can, you can take all of them out. What also works is to immediately shoot the drill. Stasis the drill and destroy it right when the section starts. Any feeders in the cutscene will be killed immediately as it crashes.

You'll get the achievement when you walk into the elevator to reach the next area.

Play the Drill section, I would advise using the OP'ed Seeker Rifle to shoot the yellow spot. When you get hit simply dive into the drill to kill yourself. Make sure to immediately stasis the drill and shoot at that yellow spot.

Important Note: There might be stragglers even if you shoot the yellow spot first so after shooting the yellow spot during the first two waves be on the lookout for any extra Necromorphs.

The major point is if you are hit any point in time, simply dive into the drill. It is like a free checkpoint

On the third wave just immediately stasis the drill again and shoot at the yellow spot. The Feeders will hesitate for a little while before getting to you. If they do hit you just dive into the drill like before and you will restart at the start of the third wave. Once you destroy the yellow spot for the third time the Feeders will run away and not hit you.

Simply walk to the next door and the achievement should pop. It may have popped for me as soon as I pressed A to open the door.