Basic Progress Achievements represent the foundational milestones that every player naturally encounters during their gaming journey—and they’re far more significant than most people realize. These aren’t just digital participation trophies; they’re carefully designed checkpoints that teach core mechanics, reward skill development, and track your evolution from novice to expert.
Think of Basic Progress Achievements as your gaming passport stamps. Each one marks a moment where you’ve mastered a specific skill, survived a particular challenge, or reached a meaningful milestone. Whether you’re upgrading your first tome to Level 5, surviving your first Final Swarm encounter, or reaching that sweet Level 30 power spike, these accomplishments tell the story of your growth as a player.
Here’s why Basic Progress Achievements matter more than you think:
- Natural Learning Curve – They guide you through game mechanics without overwhelming tutorials
- Tangible Progress Tracking – Visual confirmation that you’re improving and advancing
- Build Optimization Practice – Teach you which strategies work (Holy Trinity meta, anyone?)
- Confidence Boosters – Small wins that motivate you to tackle harder challenges
- Community Benchmarks – Shared experiences that connect players across skill levels
⚡ Tome Upgrade Achievements
We’ve found that mastering tome upgrades creates the backbone of your entire run. These power-ups stack with every level, turning weak starts into dominant finishes.
Battery stands as your first major milestone - getting Cooldown Tome to Level 5. We can’t stress enough how this tome changes everything. When you reduce cooldown times, your weapons fire faster, your skills refresh quicker, and your damage output explodes. Think of it like this: a weapon that hits every three seconds versus one that hits every second. That’s triple the damage, triple the crowd control, triple the survival chance.
Here’s what we do to grab this one fast:
- Prioritize Cooldown Tome in every level-up screen - skip other options if needed
- Farm XP near enemy spawn points for faster leveling
- Combine with Attack Speed items for maximum weapon efficiency
- Target Level 5 by the 10-minute mark in your run
Most players unlock Battery within their first three successful runs. We’ve noticed it becomes almost automatic once you understand the leveling rhythm. The key? Don’t get distracted by shiny new weapons when Cooldown Tome appears.
Turbo Socks requires Agility Tome at Level 5 - and trust us, speed saves lives. We’ve survived countless Final Swarms purely because we could outrun the horde. Agility Tome boosts movement speed with each level, letting you kite enemies, dodge attacks, and reposition during boss fights.
Speed builds around characters like Calcium become unstoppable with maxed Agility. We pair this with:
- Speed boots power-ups found in chests - stack them for crazy mobility
- Circular movement patterns to avoid getting cornered
- Quick repositioning between enemy waves
- Escape routes during boss special attacks
The difference between 100% speed and 150% speed? That’s life versus death when the screen fills with enemies. We always grab Agility Tome early, especially on fragile characters who rely on dodging rather than tanking.
Tome Collector asks you to max three different tomes to Level 5. We call this the “Holy Trinity” achievement because it introduces you to the meta build: XP Tome, Curse Tome, and Luck Tome. These three create a feedback loop that accelerates everything else.
Here’s how the synergy works:
- XP Tome speeds up all leveling - more levels mean more upgrade chances
- Curse Tome increases difficulty but improves loot quality dramatically
- Luck Tome boosts rare item drops and crit chances
We’ve tested dozens of tome combinations, and this trinity consistently outperforms others. XP Tome reaches Level 5 first, which then helps you level faster to max the other two. By mid-game, you’re swimming in power-ups and upgrades.
This achievement takes multiple runs because you need to balance three different upgrade paths. We recommend focusing one tome per run until you understand the rhythm, then attempt all three together. The payoff? You’ll understand the core progression system that drives all Basic & Progress Achievements forward.
⏱️ Survival Time Achievements
Ghost requires 60 seconds in the Final Swarm - that moment when the stage timer hits zero and enemies flood the screen. We won’t lie: your first few attempts feel chaotic. Enemies spawn from every direction, projectiles fill the air, and standing still for even two seconds means death.
Our survival strategy:
- Run in large circles around the map edges - never cut through the center
- Keep moving constantly - stopping equals dying
- Use speed power-ups before Final Swarm triggers if possible
- Pick weapons with 360-degree coverage like Aura or Aegis
We grab this achievement with almost any decent build. The trick isn’t killing enemies - it’s pure evasion. Think of yourself as a race car on a track. Maintain your line, keep your speed consistent, and don’t panic when enemies get close. They’ll fall behind if you maintain momentum.
Bob (Dead) demands two full minutes of Final Swarm survival. Now we’re talking serious defense. Speed alone won’t cut it - you need armor, shields, and health regeneration working together.
Best character choices we’ve tested:
- Sir Oofie - his armor passive reduces incoming damage significantly
- Megachad - Aura weapon provides constant 360-degree protection
- Athena - Aegis blocks projectiles automatically
We stack defensive stats aggressively for this one. Evasion helps you dodge attacks entirely. Armor reduces damage when hits land. Lifesteal recovers health during combat. Together, they create a tank build that laughs at enemy damage.
Our weapon recommendations focus on passive defense:
- Aegis blocks projectiles without player input
- Aura damages enemies who get too close
- Mirror reflects projectiles back at attackers
Two minutes feels like an eternity when you’re in the thick of it. We’ve found that defensive builds actually make it easier than speed builds because you can focus on positioning rather than constant dodging.
Soul Harvester stands as one of the game’s toughest challenges - five minutes in Final Swarm. We’re talking perfect build optimization and flawless execution. Most players attempt this dozens of times before succeeding.
The Walking Apocalypse build gives you the best shot:
- Aura weapon maxed for size and damage
- Mirror to reflect projectiles
- Kevin (if you’ve unlocked him) for his defensive passive
Stack every defensive stat you can find:
- Maximum HP increases your health pool
- Armor reduces all incoming damage
- Evasion lets you dodge attacks entirely
- Regeneration heals you constantly
We also grab offensive stats to clear enemies faster - less enemies means less danger. Size Tome makes Aura cover more area. Damage Tome increases all weapon damage. Attack Speed Tome makes everything hit more frequently.
The mental game matters too. Five minutes tests your patience and focus. We’ve lost runs at the four-minute mark because we got greedy or careless. Stay calm, maintain your movement pattern, and trust your build. These survival achievements teach you the fundamentals that unlock all other Basic & Progress Achievements in the game.
🏆 Boss & Combat Achievements
The fastest boss kills we’ve achieved use these tactics:
- Stack Damage Tome to maximum level - every point matters
- Attack Speed Tome makes weapons fire rapidly
- Size Tome increases weapon hitboxes for more hits
- Ignore defensive stats completely - you won’t need them
Best weapons for burst damage:
- Dice - RNG can produce massive damage spikes
- Katana - incredibly fast attack speed
- Aura - if you’ve maxed its size, it melts bosses
We target the Forest Tier 1 boss because it’s the easiest. Higher tier bosses have too much health for 30-second kills unless your build is perfect. Start your run with a damage-focused character, rush to the boss, and unleash everything.
Here’s our exact approach: pick up every damage upgrade, skip defensive options entirely, and don’t waste time farming. Get to the boss as fast as possible while your damage-to-health ratio favors offense. The boss dies before it can threaten you.
Tactical Glasses asks you to kill a miniboss in 25 seconds. These are the elite enemies that spawn during regular stages - tougher than normal enemies but weaker than stage bosses. We find this achievement much easier than Boss Buster.
Key differences that make this simpler:
- Minibosses have less health than stage bosses
- They appear during normal gameplay when your build is developing
- You can choose which miniboss to target
- Any decent weapon works - no specific build required
Our strategy: focus fire on one miniboss at a time. Don’t split your damage between multiple targets. Weapons with rapid hits like Revolver or quick Sword attacks work great. We usually unlock this naturally while playing for other achievements.
Forbidden Juice requires 100 crits in a single run. This one’s all about CL4NK, the robot character. His passive ability gives +1% crit chance per level, which means by level 20, you’ve got 20% crit chance before any items.
Our foolproof method:
- Play as CL4NK - his passive makes this trivial
- Use Revolver - his default weapon fires rapidly
- Stack crit chance items whenever they appear
- Grab Lucky Charm power-up from chests
By level 30, you’re critting constantly. Each Revolver shot has a chance to crit, and you’re firing multiple times per second. We’ve hit 100 crits before even reaching the first boss with this setup.
The math works in your favor: 30% crit chance with a weapon that fires 3 times per second means roughly one crit per second. That’s 100 crits in less than two minutes of active combat. We love how this achievement teaches you about crit builds, which become crucial for advanced strategies.
These combat achievements push you to understand damage optimization - a core skill for mastering Basic & Progress Achievements across the entire game.
📈 General Progress Achievements
These general achievements track your overall progression and unlock as you play naturally. We consider them milestone markers that show you’re mastering the game’s systems.
Cursed Doll awards you for dying 10 times. Yes, you read that right - the game rewards failure. We actually love this design choice because it removes the stigma of dying. Each death teaches you something: enemy patterns, weapon synergies, or positioning mistakes.
Don’t try to avoid this one. It happens naturally as you learn the game. We died way more than 10 times before our first successful run, and each death made us better players.
Key requires purchasing 25 chests throughout your playtime. Chests cost silver currency that enemies drop. We prioritize chests early because they contain:
- Random weapons to expand your arsenal
- Powerful items that boost stats
- Power-ups that change your build direction
- Occasionally, rare game-changing equipment
Our chest strategy:
- Farm silver by killing enemies efficiently
- Buy chests before rerolls in early game - new items matter more
- Open chests between waves when you have time to evaluate contents
- Save some silver for emergency rerolls later
Twenty-five chests sounds like a lot, but we typically open 5-8 per successful run. This achievement unlocks naturally across multiple playthroughs. Each chest potentially changes your build direction, teaching you about item synergies and strategic flexibility.
Anvil asks you to complete 3 Challenges. These special game modes modify the rules - maybe enemies move faster, or you start with limited health, or certain items are banned. We view challenges as advanced training.
Our approach to challenges:
- Start with easier ones that match your playstyle
- Speed challenges generally feel easier than restriction challenges
- Use your best character - don’t handicap yourself further
- Attempts don’t matter - you can retry until you succeed
Each challenge teaches specific skills. Speed challenges train efficiency. Restriction challenges force creativity. Survival challenges test endurance. We recommend tackling challenges after you’ve completed several normal runs and understand the basic systems.
Skuleg requires reaching 40% difficulty. This stat increases when you pick Curse Tome and curse-related items. Higher difficulty means:
- Stronger enemies with more health and damage
- Better loot drops - quality increases with difficulty
- More XP from kills
- Faster progression if you can handle the pressure
We incorporate curse items into our meta build because the rewards outweigh the risks. The “Holy Trinity” we mentioned earlier (XP Tome, Curse Tome, Luck Tome) naturally pushes difficulty higher. By stacking curse items across several runs, you’ll hit 40% difficulty while also improving your loot quality.
First Steps, Power Spike, and Godlike track your level progression: reaching levels 10, 30, and 50 in a single run. These achievements measure your XP farming efficiency and survival skills.
| Achievement | Level Required | Strategy |
|---|---|---|
| First Steps | 10 | Basic XP farming - happens naturally |
| Power Spike | 30 | Use XP Tome, collect XP magnets |
| Godlike | 50 | Extended runs, farm during Final Swarm |
We reach level 10 in every successful run - it’s automatic. Level 30 requires intentional XP farming and smart use of XP Tome. We grab XP magnets from chests to expand our collection radius, ensuring we don’t miss any experience orbs.
Level 50 demands extended runs with optimized XP gain. We max XP Tome first, stack XP gain items, and sometimes farm during Final Swarm if our build can handle it. Survivability becomes crucial because you need time to accumulate that much experience.
These general achievements form the backbone of your progression system, teaching you the fundamentals that apply to all Basic & Progress Achievements in Megabonk.
💡 Pro Tips for Basic Achievements
Prioritize the Holy Trinity in every run. XP Tome, Curse Tome, and Luck Tome create a feedback loop that accelerates everything. XP Tome speeds leveling, which gives more upgrade chances. Curse Tome increases difficulty and loot quality. Luck Tome improves drops and crit chances. Together, they make every run more efficient.
We grab XP Tome first, always. Faster leveling means reaching power spikes earlier, which improves survival and lets you attempt harder achievements sooner.
Character selection matters for specific achievements. We use:
- CL4NK for crit-based achievements - his passive is perfect
- Sir Oofie for survival achievements - armor keeps you alive
- Calcium for speed achievements - his mobility is unmatched
- Athena for boss achievements - Aegis provides safety
Don’t force achievements with the wrong character. We’ve wasted runs trying to get survival achievements on fragile characters when tanky options existed.
Build flexibility separates good players from great ones. We enter each run with a plan but adapt based on what upgrades appear. Found amazing crit items but weren’t planning a crit build? Switch gears. Got multiple speed items early? Lean into mobility.
Our decision framework:
- First 5 levels - establish core strategy (offense vs defense)
- Levels 6-15 - double down on what’s working
- Levels 16-25 - fill gaps in your build
- Levels 26+ - optimize and perfect your setup
Chest timing impacts your power curve. We buy chests aggressively in early game because new weapons and items matter most when your build is forming. Later, we save silver for rerolls to guarantee specific upgrades.
Map knowledge helps with survival achievements. We’ve memorized spawn points and safe zones on each map. During Final Swarm, we run predetermined routes that maximize distance from spawn points while maintaining movement speed.
Practice specific scenarios rather than grinding randomly. Want Boss Buster? Do short runs focused purely on damage, rushing to the boss. Want survival achievements? Practice Final Swarm positioning in extended runs.
We also recommend understanding achievement psychology - knowing why achievements motivate you helps maintain focus during grindy unlocks.
Track your progress mentally or with notes. We keep a list of which achievements we’re close to completing, then build runs around finishing 2-3 at once. This efficiency mindset cuts total completion time dramatically.
Learn from failures instead of getting frustrated. Every death teaches something. Boss killed you in 35 seconds instead of 30? You needed more damage. Died at 4 minutes in Final Swarm? Your defensive stats weren’t high enough.
Community builds provide shortcuts. We’ve tested popular builds from other players and found several that trivialize specific achievements. The Walking Apocalypse build for Soul Harvester? Community-discovered. The CL4NK crit build for Forbidden Juice? Community-optimized.
Resource management extends beyond silver. We manage:
- Reroll tokens - save for crucial upgrade decisions
- Health - don’t take unnecessary damage
- Positioning - always know your escape route
- Upgrade choices - plan 2-3 levels ahead
These pro tips apply across all achievement categories, giving you the mental framework to approach Basic & Progress Achievements systematically rather than randomly. We’ve cut our completion time in half by following these principles, and we’re confident they’ll help you too.
Related Guides
Enjoy it!