INTRO

Into the Breach

An Illustrated FAQ/Strategy and 100% Achievement Guide

version 1.1 - September 2018

Controls

Left Alt = Attack Info Overlay

Left Ctrl = Hover mouse to get Info Overlay
Spacebar = End Turn
A = Select Mech 1
S = Select Mech 2
D = Select Mech 3
F / G / H = Select Deployed Unit 1 / 2 / 3
Z / X = Select Mission Unit 1 / 2

ROADMAP

Into the Breach is a turn-based, Rogue-lite strategy game so it has a very random
element. Instead of a traditional walkthrough, this is a roadmap of how to
"progress" in the game with the end goal being the unlocking of the Secret Squad
which involves getting all the Global and Squad Achievements.

Initial Timeline

Create a Profile
Start the Initial Timeline with Ralph Karlsson and the Rift Walkers
Initial Timelines always start on Archive Island with access to the other
Corporate Islands locked
You can do the Combat Simulation Tutorial
Mission Prep
Assign Pilots to Mechs
Select Weapons and Equipment for Mechs
Install Reactor Cores into Mechs to power Weapons, Weapon upgrades,
Equipment, and Pilot Abilities
After completing four missions, you have to defend the Corporate HQ from the
Vek (see #9)
Select a mission by clicking on a red region on the island map to get a mission
overview
To decline the mission, click outside the mission overview
To start a mission, click on the mission overview map
Start the selected mission
Keep a look out for the Beacon which summons a Strange Pod
Protect the Power Grid by preventing Grid Buildings from getting damaged
Complete the mission's Bonus Objectives
Kill the Vek
Don't let Mechs get destroyed and their Pilots killed
Earn Corporate Reputation, Grid Power, and Reactor Cores
Find Reactor Cores and sometimes Pilots and Weapons from
recovered/protected Time Pods
Work on Squad and Global Achievements to unlock additional Squads
Protect the Corporate Tower from the Leader Vek
If you completed all Bonus Objectives, select a Perfect Island reward
After protecting the Corporate Tower you can use Corporate Reputation to trade
for Equipment, Reactor Cores, and Grid Power
You can also trade away Equipment and CorPilots for +1 Corporate Reputation
 You can trade away a Pilot for +2 Corporate Reputation
Completing Archive Island unlocks R.S.T. Island
Completing 2 Corporate Island unlocks the Volcanic Hive
Completing R.S.T. Island unlocks Pinnacle Island
Completing Pinnacle Island unlocks Detritus Island
After securing 2, 3 or 4 Corporate Islands go to the Volcanic Hive to make "The
Last Stand"
Select a Pilot or the last surviving Pilot to follow to the next Timeline

Other Timelines

Keep the Pilot from the previous Timeline or select a Pilot from the Hangar
Keeping the Pilot from the previous Timeline, the Last Traveler, retains
their previous experience and piloting skills
Selecting a Pilot from the Hangar resets the experience and piloting skills
of the Last Traveler
Select a Squad
Selecting the Secret Squad resets all the Pilots in the Hanger including
the Last Traveler
Deploy the Squad
Select the starting island in the new timeline
Mission Prep
Mission Select
Mission Start
Continue to work on Squad and Global Achievements to unlock the Secret Squad
Complete 4 Missions
Protect the Corporate Tower
Select Perfect Island Reward
Trade Corporate Reputation
Select another unlocked Corporate island
Complete 2 Corporate Islands to unlock the Volcanic Hive
Complete "The Last Stand" mission on the Volcanic Hive
Select a Pilot to follow to the next Timeline (go to step #1)

COMBAT SIMULATION TUTORIAL

After the Artillery Mech is deployed, we have this scenario.

The Hornet is D6 is low priority because its attack can simply be avoided
The Firefly in G2 is easily pushed out of the way preventing the attack on the
building in H2
The Combat Mech in D3 is under attack from two Vek, but there's an easy
solution
The Combat Mech attacks C3 killing the Hornet
The Artillery Mech is moved to the E column and fires upon E2. This pushes the
Firefly in D2 into the water drowning it

So we just have the Hornet in C7 and the Firefly in F2. Both Vek can be killed in a
single turn

We move the Combat Mech to F3 and kill the Firefly in F2

The Combat Mech is out of range of the Firefly which has 2 Health. The Artillery is
too close to attack immediately.

We move the Artillery Mech to G7. We move the Cannon Mech to F7.
 The Combat Mech and Artillery Mech can attack in either order to kill the
Hornet.

SQUAD DEPLOYMENT

Squad Deployment takes place at the start of every new Timeline.

You select the game difficulty (Easy, Normal, Hard), the Pilot, and the Squad.

The main difference between difficulty levels is how many Alpha Veks spawn
during a mission

You can change which Mech in the Squad the Pilot or Time Traveler operates, but
this can also be changed before starting a mission.

The Squad panel shows you what what game length you've completed with the Squad (2,
3 or 4 islands secured) and the Squad Achievements. You can change the default
color of the Squad and even rename the Mechs.

Once you press Start, you can't change the Squad, but you can change the Pilot if
you find another Pilot in a Time Pod or earn a Perfect Island reward.

MISSION PREP

Mission Prep involves:

Selecting an island

Before each Mission:

Selecting a Pilot for each Mech

Selecting Weapons and Equipment for Mechs
Installing Reactor Cores to power Weapons, Equipment, and Upgrades

After you've configured the Mechs, you select a Mission from one of the Regions on
the Island.

MISSION SELECT

Mission Select involves selecting which Region you want to secure against the Vek.

Regions can only be secured when adjacent to other secure Regions.

At the start, only the red Regions adjacent to the Corporate HQ can be selected.

The symbols in each Region are the Bonus Objective rewards

Star = Corporate Reputation
Lightning Bolt = Grid Power
Circle = Reactor Core (rare, only after the first island)

Clicking on a red Region brings up a mission overview.

You can select a different region by clicking outside the mission overview.
You can start the mission by clicking on the region map.

A green Region is secured.

You can attempt to secure four Regions per island which triggers a Vek assault on
the Corporate HQ.

The remaining three regions are overrun by the Vek during the assault on the
Corporate HQ.

PERFECT ISLAND REWARD

A Perfect Island is when all Bonus Objectives for an Island are completed
successfully.

This includes protecting Time Pods and the extremely rare Strange Pods.

After successfully defending the Corporate HQ and killing the Vek Leader, you get
offered an additional reward from the Corporate CEO.

The Perfect Island reward is always a choice between:

1 piece of equipment, usually a Mech weapon

A randomly selected Pilot
+2 Power to increase or overcharge Grid Power

CORPORATE TRADING

After defending the Corporate HQ, no matter the outcome, you can trade the
Corporate Reputation earned on the Island for equipment, Reactor Cores, and Power
for the Power Grid.

Corporate Reputation does not carry over to the next Island so spend all the
Corporate Reputation you have available.

You can donate equipment and reassign Pilots to the Island in exchange for
additional Corporate Rep

Unwanted equipment can donated for +1 Corporate Rep each

Useful for getting rid of weapons that can't be used with the Squad
Don't accidentally donate away weapons being used by the Squad
A CorPilot can be reassigned to the Island for +1 Corporate Rep
A Pilot (with a special ability) can be reassigned to the Island for +2
Corporate Rep

There are always 4 pieces of equipment available (weapons or passive equipment)

plus an unlimited number of Reactor Cores and an unlimited amount of Power

Reactor Cores cost 3 Corporate Rep each

Equipment costs 2 Corporate Rep each, but sometimes 1 item is on sale for 1
Corporate Rep
Power costs 1 Corporate Rep each

Early on Reactor Cores are the most valuable items so try to get 9 Corporate Rep
through a combination of completing missions and donations so you can get 3 Reactor
Cores after the first island.
ACHIEVEMENTS

Into the Breach has 55 Achievements. There are 25 Global Achievements and 3
Achievements for each of the 10 Primary Squads (30).

Completing an Achievement earns 1 Coin.

Coins are used to unlock additional Squads.
Squads can be unlocked in any order as you just need the Coins
2 Coins to unlock the Rusting Hulks
3 Coins to unlock the Zenith Guard and Blitzkrieg squads
5 Coins to unlock the Steel Judoka and Flame Behemoths
6 Coins to unlock the Frozen Titans and Hazardous Mechs

GLOBAL - VICTORIES ACHIEVEMENTS

Game length is based on how many islands are secured before destroying the Volcanic
Hive.

Shorter games are harder due to less time available to gain XP and gather resources
such as Reactor Cores, Pilots, and Weapons.

Squads are unlocked by using the Coins earned for completing Achievements.

Victory - Beat the game (any length)

Hard Victory - Beat the game on Hard (any length)

Adaptable Victory - Beat the game at least once per length (2, 3, & 4 Islands
secured)

Squads Victory - Beat the game with 4 different Squads (any length)

Complete Victory - Beat the game with all 10 primary Squads (any length)

GLOBAL- METAGAMES ACHIEVEMENTS

These tend to be some of the harder Achievements to unlock, except for Emerging
Technologies, due to the accumulative nature of these tasks which requires playing
through multiple timelines.

Reputation are the stars earned for completing missions.

You can get 0 to 2 Reputation per mission with a maximum of 5 missions per
Island
Since Missions are random, except for the 5th mission, you typically get 8 to
10 Reputation per Island if you can complete all the missions
Expect to have to play through a minimum of two or three timelines to gain 50
Reputation

Civilians live in the Buildings on each map. Destroyed buildings = dead civilians.

You can save a maximum of 500 Civilians per Mission on Easy (200 missions
minimum)
You save a max of 1,000 Civilians on Normal (100 missions)
 You save a max of 1,500 Civilians on Hard (67 missions)

Mechs or Veks can block emerging Veks. More Veks emerge on harder difficulties.

A Perfect Island is one where all mission objectives are completed and all Time
Pods are recovered.

Emerging Technologies - Unlock a new Mech Squad

Friends in High Places - Spend 50 Reputation across all games

Immovable Objects - Block 100 Vek across all games

Humanity's Savior - Rescue 100,000 civilians across all games

Perfect Strategy - Collect 10 Perfect Island rewards across all games

GLOBAL - ISLAND CHALLENGES

A Perfect Island is one where you completed all mission objectives and recovered
all Time Pods.

Grid Power can be earned by completing certain missions or bought from the
Corporate Shop after completing each island's final mission

Getting 9 or more Reputation per island depends on which missions are available.
There are five missions with the 5th and final mission always being a 2 Reputation
mission. Pinnacle has the most 2 Reputation missions available.

Perfect Island - Do not fail any objective on a single Corporate Island

The Defenders - Finish a Corporate Island without taking Building Damage

Untouchable - Finish a Corporate Island without taking Mech Damage (Repaired damage
is still damage)

Backup Batteries - Earn or buy 10 Grid Power on a single Corporate Island

Good Samaritan - Earn 9 Reputation from missions on a single Corporate Island

GLOBAL - PILOT CHALLENGES

Karlsson is always going to be the Pilot that unlocks the Field Promotion due to
his XP bonus unless he dies early or you swap him out early.

Pilots get a level after earning 25 XP and 50 XP

Cyborg Pilots do not have levels, but use XP to revive themselves in the field
1 XP = each HP of a destroyed Vek so a 3 HP Vek is worth 3 XP
XP carries over to the next timeline for the Last Traveler. Other Pilots in the
Hangar are reset to 0 XP.

Pilots are most often unlocked by recovering Time Pods.

A Pilot is always a choice for getting a Perfect Island (complete all objectives).

Getting to the "The Last Stand" is not easy, but getting the achievement does not
involve having to win the Final Battle.

Distant Friends is the hardest Pilot Challenge to earn. You have to find and
recover a secret Pilot from the FTL Universe.

Field Promotion - Have a Pilot reach maximum level

Best of the Best - Have 3 Pilots at maximum level simultaneously

Come Together - Unlock 6 additional Pilots

I'm getting too old for this... - Have an individual Pilot fight the final battle 3
times across multiple games

Distant Friends - Encounter a familiar face

GLOBAL - CHALLENGES RUN

You can keep up Grid Power by preventing Buildings from being destroyed and
prioritizing missions with Grid Power rewards.

Powering weapon modifications requires Reactor Cores. Simply don't activate any
Reactor Cores for any Weapons.

To get Chronophobia you have to intentionally destroy every Time Pod encountered.
If the Time Pod is left intact at the end of the mission it is automatically
recovered.

You have to get 3 Perfect Islands meaning you complete every objective and recover
all Time Pods.

Sustainable Energy - Finish 3 Corporate Islands without dropping below 4 Grid Power

Engineering Dropout - Finish 3 Corporate Islands without powering a Weapon

Modification

Chronophobia - Finish 3 Corporate Islands and destroy every Time Pod discovered

There is No Try - Finish 3 Corporate Islands without failing an objective

Trusted Equipment - Finish 3 Corporate Islands without equipping any new Pilots or
weapons

Squad Based - Rift Walker

See the Rift Walkers section for details on getting the squad achievements

All of the Rift Walker default weapons have the ability to push targets or units in
adjacent tiles

Watery Grave - Drown 3 enemies in water in a single battle with the Rift Walkers
squad

Ramming Speed - Kill an enemy 5 or more tiles away with a Dash Punch with the Rift
Walkers squad (Requires Upgrade 1 / 2 Reactor Cores)

Island Secure - Complete 1st Corporate Island with the Rift Walkers squad

Squad Based - Rusting Hulks

See the Rusting Hulks section for details on getting the squad achievements.
Grid Power starts out at 4 with a maximum of 7. You need to complete missions that
reward 2 more Grid Power or buy Grid Power using Reputation after completing the
5th and final mission for an island.

Using 3 Reactor Cores to upgrade the Rocket Mech's Smoke Generator doubles Smoke
damage.

Perfect Battle - Take no Mech or Building Damage in a single battle with the
Rusting Hulks squad (Repaired damage is still damage)

Overpowered - Overpower your Power Grid twice by earning or buying Power when it is
full with the Rusting Hulks squad

Stormy Weather - Deal 12 damage with Electric Smoke in a single battle with the
Rusting Hulks squad (Rocket Mech)

Squad Based - Zenith Guard

See the Zenith Guard section for details on getting the squad achievements.

Get Over Here - Kill an enemy by pulling it into yourself with the Zenith Guard
squad (Defense Mech using Attraction Pulse)

Shield Mastery - Block damage with a Shield 4 times in a single battle with the
Zenith Guard squad (Defense Mech using Shield Projector)

Glittering C-Beam - Hit 4 enemies with a single laser with the Zenith Guard squad
(Laser Mech)

Squad Based - Blitzkrieg

See the Blitzkrieg section for details on getting the squad achievements.

Chain Attack - Have the Chain Whip attack chain through 10 tiles with the
Blitzkrieg squad (Lightning Mech)

Hold the Line - Block 4 emerging Vek in a single turn with the Blitzkrieg squad
(Hook Mech)

Lightning War - Finish the first 2 Corporate Islands in under 30 minutes with the
Blitzkrieg squad

Squad Based - Steel Judoka

See the Steel Judoka section for details on getting the squad achievements.

Mass Displacement - Push 3 enemies with a single attack with the Steel Judoka squad
(Siege Mech)

Unwitting Allies - Have 4 enemies die from enemy fire in a single battle with the
Steel Judoka squad (Gravity Mech using Vek Hormones)

Unbreakable - Have Mech Armor absorb 5 damage in a single battle with the Steel
Judoka squad (Judo Mech)

Squad Based - Flame Behemoths

See the Flame Behemoths section for details on getting the squad achievements.
Scorched Earth - End a battle with 12 tiles on Fire with the Flame Behemoths squad
(Flame Mech and Meteor Mech)

Quantum Entanglement - Teleport a unit 4 tiles away with the Flame Behemoths squad
(Swap Mech with both Upgrades for the Teleporter)

This is Fine - Have 5 enemies on Fire simultaneously with the Flame Behemoths squad

Squad Based - Frozen Titans

See the Frozen Titans section for details on getting the squad achievements.

Cryo Expert - Shoot the Cryo-Launcher 4 times in a single battle with the Frozen
Titans squad (Ice Mech)

Pacifist - Kill less than 3 enemies in a single battle with the Frozen Titans squad
(Ice Mech)

Trick Shot - Kill 3 enemies with a single attack of the Janus Cannon with the
Frozen Titans squad (Mirror Mech)

Squad Based - Hazardous Mechs

See the Hazardous Mechs section for details on getting the squad achievements.

Healing - Heal 10 Mech Health in a single battle with the Hazardous Mechs squad
(Nano Mech using Viscera Nanobots)

Overkill - Deal 8 damage to a unit with a single attack with the Hazardous Mechs
squad

Immortal - Finish 4 Corporate Islands without a Mech being destroyed at the end of
a battle with the Hazardous Mechs squad

Squad Based - Randomized Squad

See the Randomized Squad section for details on getting the squad achievements.

Change the Odds - Raise Grid Defense to 30% or more with a Random squad

Loot Boxes! - Open 5 Time Pods in a single game with a Random squad

Lucky Start - Beat the game (any length) without spending any Reputation with a
Random squad

Squad Based -Customized Squad

See the Customized Squad section for details on getting the squad achievements.

Flying Mechs: Jet Mech (Rusting Hulks), Swap Mach (Flame Behemoths), Nano Mech
(Hazarodus Mechs), and Techno-Hornet (Secret Squad)

Mech Specialist - Beat the game with 3 of the same Mech in a Custom squad

Class Specialist - Beat the game with 3 different Mechs from the same class in a
Custom squad

Flight Specialist - Beat the game with 3 flying Mechs in a Custom squad