XCOM: Enemy Unknown
55 Achievements
1,100
82-103h
Edison
In a single game, complete every Research Project.
25
How to unlock the Edison achievement in XCOM: Enemy Unknown - Definitive Guide
Please note, finishing all of this research requires a sizable amount of these resources:
Elerium
Alien Alloys
Weapon Fragments
Various alien corpses
So, it might be smarter not to sell any of those items on the "Gray Market," until all of your research is completed.
**Edit: Also, if you find yourself well into the game and haven't yet caught a live Sectoid or Thin Man, make sure to use the Council Missions to your advantage -- the "Asset Recovery" Council Missions are almost exclusively populated with Sectoids, and most of the other council missions have Thin Men. Too, you may re-load saves just before Council Missions come up, and you will likely get a different council mission option, so you can pick exactly the kind you need.
If you're missing the basic Floater, keep an eye out for "Terror!" missions, as you will occasionally see groups of Floaters, as well as groups of Heavy Floaters, during these missions. End Edit**
Here is a list of ALL 53 Research Projects, as listed exactly in the Research Archives (it looks as though the completed list will be in the same order for each of us, as the list is not in any chronological order of research performed):
Xeno-Biology
Arc Thrower
Outsider Shard
New Fighter Craft
Hyperwave Communication
Ethereal Device
Weapon Fragments
Alien Materials
Experimental Warfare
Elerium
Psi Armor
Carapace Armor
Skeleton Suit
Titan Armor
Ghost Armor
Archangel Armor
Beam Weapons
Precision Lasers
Heavy Lasers
Plasma Pistol
Light Plasma Rifle
Plasma Rifle
Heavy Plasma
Plasma Sniper
Alloy Cannon
Plasma Cannon
Fusion Lance (requires obtaining an alien "Fusion Core" from a Battleship)
Guided Fusion Launcher (requires obtaining an alien "Fusion Core" from a Battleship)
Alien Nav Computer
UFO Power Source
EMP Cannon
Interrogate Sectoid
Interrogate Floater
Interrogate Muton
Interrogate Sectoid Commander
Interrogate Berserker
Interrogate Thin Man
Interrogate Heavy Floater
Interrogate Muton Elite
Interrogate Ethereal
Sectoid Autopsy
Sectoid Commander Autopsy
Floater Autopsy
Thin Man Autopsy
Muton Autopsy
Chryssalid Autopsy
Cyberdisc Autopsy
Berserker Autopsy
Heavy Floater Autopsy
Muton Elite Autopsy
Drone Autopsy
Sectopod Autopsy
Ethereal Autopsy
** Note: Having the "Slingshot" DLC will likely give early access to the "Fusion Lance" and "Guided Fusion Launcher" projects, as one of the missions in this DLC package will have you invading a grounded Battleship quite early in your campaign, where you may recover 2 alien "Fusion Cores" (they are recovered automatically, at the end of the mission, provided you haven't blown them up) that are required for these research projects.
Note: Sectoid Commanders rarely show up after you encounter an Ethereal for the first time so make sure to get one as soon as possible or hold off moving the story forward to make sure you capture one.
If you're missing "Floater Interrogation" terror missions will be your best bet to find one
If you're missing "Sectoid Interrogation" Asset Recovery council mission will be your best bet to find one
If you're missing "Thin Men Interrogation" just about any council mission will do
Xeno-Biology
Arc Thrower
Outsider Shard
New Fighter Craft
Hyperwave Communication
Ethereal Device
Weapon Fragments
Alien Materials
Experimental Warfare
Elerium
Psi Armor
Carapace Armor
Skeleton Suit
Titan Armor
Ghost Armor
Archangel Armor
Beam Weapons
Precision Lasers
Heavy Lasers
Plasma Pistol
Light Plasma Rifle
Plasma Rifle
Heavy Plasma
Plasma Sniper
Alloy Cannon
Plasma Cannon
Fusion Lance (requires obtaining an alien "Fusion Core" from a Battleship)
Guided Fusion Launcher (requires obtaining an alien "Fusion Core" from a Battleship)
Alien Nav Computer
UFO Power Source
EMP Cannon
Interrogate Sectoid
Interrogate Floater
Interrogate Muton
Interrogate Sectoid Commander*
Interrogate Berserker
Interrogate Thin Man
Interrogate Heavy Floater
Interrogate Muton Elite
Interrogate Ethereal
Sectoid Autopsy
Sectoid Commander Autopsy
Floater Autopsy
Thin Man Autopsy
Muton Autopsy
Chryssalid Autopsy
Cyberdisc Autopsy
Berserker Autopsy
Heavy Floater Autopsy
Muton Elite Autopsy
Drone Autopsy
Sectopod Autopsy
Ethereal Autopsy
Note: Sectoid Commanders rarely show up after you encounter an Ethereal for the first time so make sure to get one as soon as possible or hold off moving the story forward to make sure you capture one.
If you're missing "Floater Interrogation" terror missions will be your best bet to find one
If you're missing "Sectoid Interrogation" Asset Recovery council mission will be your best bet to find one
If you're missing "Thin Men Interrogation" just about any council mission will do
Xeno-Biology
Arc Thrower
Outsider Shard
New Fighter Craft
Hyperwave Communication
Ethereal Device
Weapon Fragments
Alien Materials
Experimental Warfare
Elerium
Psi Armor
Carapace Armor
Skeleton Suit
Titan Armor
Ghost Armor
Archangel Armor
Beam Weapons
Precision Lasers
Heavy Lasers
Plasma Pistol
Light Plasma Rifle
Plasma Rifle
Heavy Plasma
Plasma Sniper
Alloy Cannon
Plasma Cannon
Fusion Lance (requires obtaining an alien "Fusion Core" from a Battleship)
Guided Fusion Launcher (requires obtaining an alien "Fusion Core" from a Battleship)
Alien Nav Computer
UFO Power Source
EMP Cannon
Interrogate Sectoid
Interrogate Floater
Interrogate Muton
Interrogate Sectoid Commander*
Interrogate Berserker
Interrogate Thin Man
Interrogate Heavy Floater
Interrogate Muton Elite
Interrogate Ethereal
Sectoid Autopsy
Sectoid Commander Autopsy
Floater Autopsy
Thin Man Autopsy
Muton Autopsy
Chryssalid Autopsy
Cyberdisc Autopsy
Berserker Autopsy
Heavy Floater Autopsy
Muton Elite Autopsy
Drone Autopsy
Sectopod Autopsy
Ethereal Autopsy
Throughout the course of the game, you will have to research alien technology. If you continue to research tech, you will get to a point where you run out of things to research. In this situation, you will need to shoot down an alien battleship, complete the corresponding mission, and you'll have two new research projects to undertake - "Fusion Lance" and "Guided Fusion Launcher." If you are having problems finding battleships, ignore a scout later in the game and a battleship will arrive to take down your satellite.
Widget624's list of projects:
Xeno-Biology
Arc Thrower
Outsider Shard
New Fighter Aircraft
Hyperwave Communication
Ethereal Device
Weapon Fragments
Alien Materials
Experimental Warfare
Elerium
Psi Armour
Carapace Armour
Skeleton Suit
Titan Armour
Ghost Armour
Archangel Armour
Beam Weapons
Precision Lasers
Heavy Weapons
Plasma Pistol
Light Plasma Rifle
Plasma Rifle
Heavy Plasma
Plasma Sniper
Alloy Cannon
Plasma Cannon
Fusion Lance
Guided Fusion Launcher
Alien Nav Computer
UFO Power Source
EMP Cannon
Interrogate Sectiod
Interrogate Floater
Interrogate Muton
Interrogate Sectiod Commander
Interrogate Berserker
Interrogate Thin Man
Interrogate Heavy Floater
Interrogate Muton Elite
Interrogate Ethereal
Sectiod Autopsy
Sectiod Commander Autopsy
Floater Autopsy
Thin Man Autopsy
Muton Autopsy
Chryssalid Autopsy
Cyberdisc Autopsy
Berserker Autopsy
Heavy Floater Autopsy
Muton Elite Autopsy
Drone Autopsy
Sectopod Autopsy
Ethereal Autopsy
If you're facing the final mission and don't have the trophy yet, check two things:
1. Have you fought with an alien warship (Battleship). Capturing it will give you unique components that will allow you to research a homing blaster missile for your heavy infantry, and gain access to the most powerful weapon in the game for fighters. By the way, if you don’t touch the alien reconnaissance ship, then the next one (which will fly to shoot down the satellite) will most likely be a combat one.
2. Check again whether you have interrogated all the aliens. It is possible and necessary to capture everyone except robots and Chryssalids. Improved versions of aliens (eg heavy flyer) count as separate research. Compare the statistics on interrogations with the statistics on autopsies (you will have all the corpses)
It is logical to combine the trophy with those where you need 80 scientists, 80 engineers, and all the projects of the Foundry.
1) Most likely you have not yet shot down a giant combat UFO that has new technologies
2) You did not interrogate all the representatives of the aliens
If point 1 is completed and you have studied the latest weapons technologies, then the reason is in point 2. Look in the laboratory in the research archive, and check whether the list of interrogated people corresponds to the list of “opened” ones. Most likely someone was not taken alive. Don't despair - the game is set up in such a way that even before the final task you can fill this gap. To do this, you just need to turn the time on the globe and wait for either a UFO or a task of any type. In the first case it is easier. Since you will already have a hyperwave module built, which, in the event of a successful UFO attack, will tell you the number of surviving crew and who exactly was on board. ATTENTION! The number and types of aliens on UFOs may change! It's simple. Remember the date of UFO arrival. Make a save in front of her. Spin the globe. Shoot down a UFO and see who's on board. If there is a representative of an uninterrogated species on board, we grab the arc throwers and grab the prisoner. Upon arrival we interrogate and receive . If the desired “future” prisoner is not there, then load the save before the UFO arrives and shoot it down again. And so on until there is a future captive on board the downed UFO.
PS This method has been tested by me personally. Before the final task, it turned out that I had not been questioned by an ordinary flyer, who practically never occurs after the middle of the game. But reloading the save made before the arrival of the UFO bore fruit. After 5 reboots, the crew on board the downed UFO was an ordinary pilot. Who was taken alive. Questioned upon arrival. And actually open
The point is that you need to capture all possible aliens. For this you will need Ark Thrower. And then you need to catch them one by one on missions. Take care of this right away, as there are few enemies at the beginning of the game. You need to injure the alien to at least three hit points, come close to him and catch him in your pokeball.
Over time, weak aliens will disappear and be replaced by stronger ones. However, they can still be found. The exception is Sectoid Commander . Once Etherial appears, they will completely disappear from the game.
Robots themselves are not caught.
Here is a list of aliens:
Sectoid
Thin Man
Floater
Muton
Berserker
Muton Elite
Heavy Floater
Ethereal
There are also 2 upgrades that are unlocked after a successful attack on a Battleship -type UFO. They appear in the sky at the end of the game.
I advise you to devote an entire passage to this achievement. Play on Easy difficulty. Then you will have plenty of money and other resources. Choose Asia as your starting continent, as its bonus gives a 50% discount on Foundry upgrades.