Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove

Warning:

Once you complete the game the first time, the next time you select your save file, (it will be marked with the word "Clear!"), you will be given the option to start New Game+. Once you start New Game+, it overwrites your save and you cannot go back to the standard version of the game on that file. As such, it is best to do any last-minute trophy cleanup on your "Clear!" file before starting New Game+ or you can simply use the "Copy" feature from the Profile Select to duplicate your file first so as not to lose access to the end game "Clear!" save.

For New Game+, the difficulty gets ramped up a bit. All sources inflict DOUBLE damage, food pick-ups in stages (Platters of Chicken and food dropped by defeated enemies) are replaced with Bombs and there are fewer checkpoints in each stage (2 per stage). The only exception to the food change is the Platters that you get between Bosses during the Boss Gauntlet. The Platters alternate between Bombs, and Chicken with a Magic Pot. Just be careful if you don't open a Platter. If you don't open a Platter that would be a Bomb and you defeat a Knight that would give a Chicken and Magic Pot, the Chicken and Magic one will not appear, and it will just be skipped in the rotation. Just remember: Knights 1, 3, 5, 7 give Bombs, Knights 2, 4, 6 give Chicken with a Magic Pot.

However, the news is not all bad. You get to keep ALL Relics, Health and Magic upgrades, Armor, Shovel Skills, and Gold that you had when you decided to start New Game+.

Despite being able to start with a fully upgraded character, New Game+ is nothing to scoff at. Taking twice as much damage from everything, while having a severe lack of food pick-ups will probably wear on you pretty quickly. One handy trick if you want to refill your Health is to go fishing in any NON SHINEY pit with the Fishing Rod Relic. Sometimes you will pull up trash but if you keep at it, you can pull out Fish that will restore your Health. One word of caution, though. Don't fish in lava. If you do, you'll only pull up Lava Fish, which will actually cause damage if they touch you. Another great tactic, particularly in Boss fights, is to make ample use of the Phase Locket which makes you invulnerable for a few seconds. With careful timing, it is possible to avoid all damage in almost any situation. Just keep an eye on how much Magic you have left, as it doesn't take long to burn through it.

If New Game+ is still giving you trouble, I have a series of videos on my YouTube channel, HERE, showing how I acquired this trophy, plus Impossible!, Perfect Platformer and Checkpointless in a single run. One thing to note about my videos is that I used the Armor of Chaos, a special suit of Armor that you get from the optional battle with Kratos. If you need a video on how to find Kratos and unlock the Armor, click HERE. However, if you are not interested in using the Armor of Chaos, a noteworthy, if not maybe even better, substitute is the Dynamo Mail.