Welcome to the Last of Us: No Return Trophy guide!
9/10 Estimated Difficulty Legit or 4/10 with exploits
10 – 15 Estimated Hours to Completion
Several Playthroughs Required
2 Missable Trophies – Failing a daily run will force you to wait 24 hours.
No Return is a new rougelike mode added to the Last of Us Part 2 in the Remastered version of the game. As with any rougelike game, the encounters are randomly generated. Once you die, your run is over and you’ll need to start over.
As noted above, this can be difficult when done with no exploits. Specifically for completing a run on Grounded difficulty. Everything else here is pretty manageable. However, No Return can be manipulated pretty heavily to give yourself quite the advantage here.
Game Modes
There are multiple Trophies tied to certain game modes. All of the modes will not be available from the start. In order to fully unlock everything, you’re going to have to die several times. Each time you die and fail a run, a new mode or aspect of No Return will be unlocked. Total, you’re going to have to die 9 times in order to fully unlock everything required for this Trophy list. So, if you’re looking to get through this as fast as you can, you’re going to want to just let yourself die. Start a run and then get killed. You can repeat that until everything is unlocked.
Keep Track
There are some things here that you’re going to need to manually keep track of.
You’re going to want to keep track of what characters you’ve completed a run with. There are 10 characters and you need to complete a run with each of them.
The other thing you need to keep track of is what mods are active when completing an encounter. These will be listed on the top right of the screen when selecting a encounter in the information. There are 26 different mods and the game does not keep track of which ones you’ve played with.
The mods are random when selecting encounters during a Standard Run. Each time you complete an encounter with mods active, write them down so that you know which ones are done. You can then set the remaining needed mods active in a Custom Run.
Challenges
Each character will have a list of challenges that need to be completed for Trophies. Make sure to be aware of what challenges are active so that you can complete them.
It’s also important to note that you do not have to be the character to do their challenges as long as their name is not specifically mentioned in the challenge description. For example, you can get Jessie challenges done while playing as Ellie. It works the same for everyone.
Making Things Easier
No Return can be made much easier by utilizing a couple of different methods.
First, you can take advantage of accessibility settings to make combat easier. Pause the game, and select Options.
Options > Accessibility > Combat Accessibility
- Enable Combat Accessibility – ON
- Enemies Don’t Flank – ON
- Reduced Enemy Perception – ON
- Reduced Enemy Accuracy – ON
- Enhanced Dodge – ON
- Indivisible While Prone – UNLIMITED
- Weapon Sway – OFF
- Slow Motion – TOGGLE
These options will be enabled across the entirety of No Return. That includes Daily Runs as well as Grounded difficulty. There is another work around for that Grounded run. That explanation can be found under the “May Your Death Be Swift” Trophy.
Custom Runs
The other thing you can do to make things easier on yourself here is to play Custom Runs. Custom Runs allow you to set just about all of the settings possible to make a run easier.
Trophies CAN be earned during Custom Runs.
If you’re looking to get through as quickly as possible, make use of the following options:
- Difficulty – Very Light
Mechanics
- Capture – ON
- Capture is the fastest game mode to complete. You can also collect extra supplies that can be used for other Trophies by opening the safe.
- Turn off all of the other game modes.
Enemies
- Seraphites – ON
- The Seraphites are not as aggressive as infected. They don’t wear extra armor and they don’t use dogs. This will make getting through them easier.
- Bosses – Turn on whatever boss you haven’t beaten yet as you need to beat them all for the “Good Riddance” Trophy.
- Seraphite Elites are the easiest to complete when you just need to get through runs quickly.
- Mods
- Turn on whichever mods you need to complete an encounter with while active. Make sure you’re keeping track of which ones you’ve already played with.
Custom Runs paired with accessibility settings can make No Return very easy to complete.
Get kills with 5 different weapons in an Assault encounter in No Return
Assault is a type of game mode. In Assault, enemies will spawn in waves and you’ll need to kill them all. In order to earn this, you’re going to need to use 5 different weapons to get kills. This has to be done in a single encounter. Not the entirety of your run. So, get a kill and then switch to a new weapon.
You can buy extra weapons in between encounters, so it is possible to bring a few different weapons if you go for this late in a run.
Otherwise, you’ll want to get a kill with your default weapon, switch to a throwable or trap. These can be molotovs or the trap mines. Melee weapons also count toward this. Various melee weapons can be found during encounters. Use a melee weapon, find a different one, pick it up and use it to get a kill. You can then repeat that until 5 different weapons have been used for kills.
Kill 12 enemies in a Hunted encounter in No Return
Hunted is a game mode where you will need to survive for about 2 minutes. Enemies will continue to spawn and come for you. You’re going to need to get 12 kills during a single encounter of Hunted.
You’ll need to be pretty quick here as it can be a little tricky to reach 12 kills. Try to get to an area that is easy for spawning enemies to reach quickly. Something like an open area where you can see more of the map. This will also make it easier for the enemies to find you can and come straight to you.
Infected enemies are preferred for this. Humans will hide behind cover and try to flank around you. Whereas the infected will just run right at you. They won’t eat away at the time taking cover or retreating.
Win a round of Holdout without your ally falling below 70% health in No Return
Holdout is a game mode where a set number of enemies will spawn and rush toward you. You will have an AI partner for these encounters as well. Your partner will have a health bar in the top right corner.
In order to earn this, you’ll need to stay close to your partner and kill enemies as they rush in. The AI is pretty capable here, so you don’t have to worry too much about them being useless, but that doesn’t mean you should take it easy either. Stay with them and kill the enemies before they can get too close. You’ll need to complete the encounter with your partner’s health above 70%.
Open the safe in Capture without killing any enemies in No Return
Capture is a game mode where you will have 2 minutes to unlock a safe. There is no unlocking mini-game and a code is not required. All you have to do is reach the safe and interact with it and it’ll open.
There will be a group of enemies gathered around and on patrol near the safe. For this, you’ll need to take it as slow as you can with the timer, but stealth needs to be maintained here. If you’re spotted, the safe will be unable to be opened until all the enemies are dead.
Sneak as close as you can to the safe. There are usually two enemies right on the safe or very close. Throw a bottle or brick near them to distract them. When they go to investigate, get to the safe and open it.
This can be made very easy by utilizing accessibility options. Turning on invisibility while prone will allow you to crawl right up to the safe without being seen.
Win a run with every character in No Return
There are 10 characters in No Return. For this, you’re going to have to complete a run with each of them. That means beating the final boss of a run with each character.
Before you can do that, you will need to unlock all of the characters. This is very easy to do as all you need to do is complete encounters to unlock characters.
- Ellie is available by default.
- Dina is unlocked by completing 2 encounters with Ellie.
- Jessie is unlocked by completing 3 encounters with Dina.
- Tommy is unlocked by completing 3 encounters with Jessie.
- Joel is unlocked by completing 4 encounters with Tommy.
- Abby is available by default.
- Lev is unlocked by completing 2 encounters with Abby.
- Yara is unlocked by completing 3 encounters with Lev.
- Mel is unlocked by completing 3 encounters with Yara.
- Manny is unlocked by completing 4 encounters with Mel.
Custom Runs count toward this which can make things very easy.
Complete an encounter with each Mod in No Return
As you play through No Return, there will be mods attached to encounters. Complete the encounter to make progress on this Trophy. You should write down or keep track of what mods you have completed as there is no in-game tracker for this.
You can see what mods are active in the top right of the screen when selecting an encounter.
There are 26 different mods that you will need to complete encounters with. The more modded encounters you complete, the more mods will be unlocked.
Once they are all unlocked, you can set the ones you need as active in a Custom Run. Under the Mods category of a Custom Run, turn off all the ones you’ve completed so that you will only be given ones you need.
There appears to be a potential bug associated with this though. If your Trophy counter is stuck at 25, you can fix this by completing a mystery encounter. This can also be done in a Custom Run. You’ll need to turn all mods on and then play through a mystery encounter during your run.
Mods
- Enemies Drop Bombs on Death
- Melee Kills Restore Health
- Time Slows on Headshots
- Low Health Damage Bonus
- Photo Mode Filters
- Tripwire Traps
- Increased Enemy Health
- Decreased Enemy Health
- Increased Enemy Speed
- Crafting Gives Bonus Parts
- Thick Fog
- Vaulting Boosts Movement Speed
- Temporarily Unlock All Recipes
- Melee Attacks Set Enemies On Fire
- Long Shot Damage Bonus
- Stealth Kills Boost Movement Speed
- Stuns Restore Melee Durability
- Distractions Attract Enemies
- Reloading Discards Ammo Left
- Long Guns Locked
- Invisible Enemies
- Pustule Rain
- Molotov Rain
- Time Limit
- Mirror Mode
- Mystery Encounter
Complete five gambits in one run of No Return
Gambits are extra objectives that will appear during encounters. As you complete them, more will be unlocked. At first, you won’t get enough during a run to earn this. You’re going to need to complete them as they appear in order to unlock the rest of them. The more that you have unlocked/completed, the more often they will appear during encounters.
They will be in the top left of the screen when active.
There are some tricky ones, but these are usually quick and easy objectives. They shouldn’t cause you too much trouble, just make sure you complete them before finishing an encounter. Remember, this isn’t 5 total. This is 5 in a single run.
Beat all bosses
There are 6 different bosses to beat.
- Arcade Bloater
- Theater Infestation
- Rattler Captain
- Garage Bloater
- Seraphite Elite
- Rat King
The Arcade Bloater will be the first boss you take on. As you beat a boss, the next one on the list will become available. The bosses are found during the final encounter of a run.
Custom Runs count toward this as well. You can select the boss you haven’t beaten yet.
It’s important to note that laying prone to go invisible will not work against bosses. They will still see you.
Complete all Ellie faction challenge tracks
The faction challenge tracks are challenges that are tied to each character. As you complete a challenge for a character, the next one will be unlocked. Make sure to be aware of what challenges are active so that you can complete them as you work on “Roll Call.”
It’s also important to note that you do not have to be the character to do their challenges as long as their name is not specifically mentioned in the challenge description.
Ellie
- Complete 2 encounters with Ellie
- Upgrade all Perseverance Skills as Ellie.
- Ellie’s perseverance skills can be viewed by pressing the Touchpad >
- Ellie’s perseverance skills can be viewed by pressing the Touchpad >
- Kill 4 enemies with molotovs in one encounter.
- This has to be done in a single encounter. Not the entirety of a run. You can buy molotovs from the Trading Post in between encounters or you can craft them. Use a brick to lure enemies together and then throw a molotov at them. You can try to get multiple enemies with a single molotov to save on materials. It doesn’t have to be all four with one molotov, you can use as many as you can craft, but materials are limited during encounters. You can gather materials from previous encounters and then craft 3 of them at the safe house so that you can enter an encounter stocked up. All you will need to do after using the 3 is find enough materials to craft one more mine during the same encounter and get a kill.
- Collect every gun in one run as Ellie.
- For this, you will need to buy every available gun from the Trading Post in between encounters. This has to be done in a single run. You only need to buy guns. Traps and melee weapons do not count toward this. This can easily be done by playing a Custom Run of nothing but Capture. Make sure to select the encounter that pays the most money. The safes in Capture have extra money in them as well. You’re going to need a lot in order to buy everything. Make sure to not waste your money. Save it for guns to ensure that you have enough. If a gun doesn’t appear in the Trading Post, you can spend a few to re-roll the Trading Post offerings. Other than that, hold on to your money. You’ll need to buy 6 guns. They are the Revolver, Bow, Bolt-Action Rifle, Semi-Auto Pistol, Pump Shotgun, Silenced Submachine Gun.
Dina
- Complete 3 encounters with Dina.
- Kill 4 enemies with trap mines in one encounter.
- This has to be done in a single encounter. Not the entirety of a run. You can buy trap mines from the Trading Post in between encounters or you can craft them as Dina. It doesn’t have to be all four with one trap mine, you can use as many as you can craft, but materials are limited during encounters. You can gather materials from previous encounters and then craft 3 of them at the safe house so that you can enter an encounter stocked up. All you will need to do after using the 3 is find enough materials to craft one more mine during the same encounter and get a kill.
- Craft 10 times in a run.
- All you have to do here is craft 10 across one run. Anything that can be crafted counts toward this. Pick up every material you come across during encounters and craft at least 10 times.
- Craft a health kit, molotov, trap mine, stun bomb in a run.
- From the start, you’ll have the crafting recipes for the health kit, trap mine and stun bomb. You will need to buy the molotov recipe from the Trading Post in the safe house. Pick up every material you come across during encounters and craft each item at least once during a single run.
Jesse
- Complete 3 encounters with Jesse.
- Purchase 10 items from the Trading Post in one run.
- This can easily be done by playing a Custom Run of nothing but Capture. Make sure to select the encounter that pays the most money. The safes in Capture have extra money in them as well. Buy everything except for guns that appear in the Trading Post in between encounters. Guns cost a lot, so avoid those and buy everything else.
- Kill 3 enemies with pipe bombs in one encounter.
- Jesse starts with the recipe to craft pipe bombs. Use a brick to lure enemies together and then throw a pipe bomb at them. You can try to get multiple enemies with a single pipe bomb to save on materials. It doesn’t have to be all four with one bomb, you can use as many as you can craft, but materials are limited during encounters. You can gather materials from previous encounters and then craft 3 of them at the safe house so that you can enter an encounter stocked up.
Tommy
- Complete 4 encounters with Tommy.
- Kill 5 enemies in one encounter while zoomed in with a scope.
- Aim with Tommy’s sniper rifle and then press
- Aim with Tommy’s sniper rifle and then press
- Complete a run with only your initial gun or guns.
- For this, you cannot buy any other guns from the Trading Post. You will need to only use the guns your selected character starts with. You can upgrade your weapons, just don’t buy new ones. The Custom Run of Capture can make this easier. This only applies to guns. You can still use throwables and traps.
- Complete an encounter where every kill is a headshot.
- For this, you’re going to want to take things slow and only aim for the head. Do not melee, use throwables or traps. You can only kill enemies with headshots. Toggling on Sow Motion on a Capture Custom Run can help make this easy.
- Complete an encounter without missing a single shot.
- Treat this the same as the previous challenge. You’re better off aiming for the head to reduce the number shots taken. You cannot miss at all. Toggling on Sow Motion on a Capture Custom Run can help make this easy.
Joel
- Complete an infected encounter as Joel.
- Complete any encounter against infected enemies while playing as Joel.
- Kill 6 enemies using the same gun without reloading in an encounter.
- First, you’re going to want to make sure you have a gun that has a magazine with at least 6 rounds in it. You can upgrade the capacity of your chosen weapon at the upgrade bench. Joel’s default pistol has more than enough for this. Aim for the head to maximize your ammo. Just do not reload until 6 enemies have been killed. Toggling on Sow Motion on a Capture Custom Run can help make this easy.
- Kill 3 enemies with shivs in one encounter.
- You’ll want to use Joel for this as he begins the run already knowing the shiv recipe. Craft 3 shivs and save them for the same encounter. Sneak up behind an enemy and press
- You’ll want to use Joel for this as he begins the run already knowing the shiv recipe. Craft 3 shivs and save them for the same encounter. Sneak up behind an enemy and press
- Hit 5 enemies with a bottle or brick in one run.
- This takes place over the entirety of a run. It can be done over multiple encounters as long as it is the same run. Bricks and bottles can be found in the environment during encounters. Pick one up and then throw it at an enemy. You have to hit them for this to count. Look for bricks or bottles before completing an encounter. If you have a single enemy left, you can take time searching the map for a brick or bottle.
- Complete a bloater boss encounter as Joel
- Set up a Custom Run where the final boss is a bloater while playing as Joel. Then, complete the run by beating the bloater at the very last encounter.
Complete all Abby faction challenge tracks
The faction challenge tracks are challenges that are tied to each character. As you complete a challenge for a character, the next one will be unlocked. Make sure to be aware of what challenges are active so that you can complete them as you work on “Roll Call.”
It’s also important to note that you do not have to be the character to do their challenges as long as their name is not specifically mentioned in the challenge description.
Abby
- Complete 2 encounters with Abby.
- Gain 50 health from melee kills and attacks in one encounter.
- Rush the enemies and attack them with melee attacks. Abby gains health by using melee attacks. Just keep swinging at enemies to regain health. It’s okay to take damage here. Once you have regained enough, the challenge will pop up as completed.
- Upgrade 3 melee weapons in a run.
- Pick up a melee weapon and then press the Touchpad crafting menu. Select the melee weapon and upgrade it. Make sure to pick up supplies during encounters. Once a weapon is upgraded, drop it and find the next one. Upgrade it and then repeat that process again. You can do this across multiple encounters. You can also buy melee weapons from the Trading Post in between runs.
- Complete an encounter with all melee kills.
- Rush the enemies and attack them with melee attacks only. Do not use any guns or craftable items. Kill every enemy in an encounter with melee attacks only.
Lev
- Complete 3 encounters with Lev.
- Get 7 kills with explosive arrows in one run
- Explosive arrows can be bought from the Trading Post or crafted as Lev. In order to craft them, you will need to buy the Craft Explosive Arrows skill by using Supplements. Press Left on the D-Pad to select the Bow and then press
- Explosive arrows can be bought from the Trading Post or crafted as Lev. In order to craft them, you will need to buy the Craft Explosive Arrows skill by using Supplements. Press Left on the D-Pad to select the Bow and then press
- Craft 20 arrows of any type in one run.
- You’ll be able to craft arrows while playing as Lev from the beginning of the run. While completing encounters, make sure to scavenge for resources to craft more arrows. You’ll also want to not pick up arrows so that you have inventory room to craft them. Make sure to buy the Craft More Arrows, Craft Explosive Arrows, and Craft More Explosive Arrows so that you have 2 types to craft and you’ll get more out of your resources.
- Complete an encounter with all bow kills.
- For this, you will need to only get kills by using the bow. Do not use any other weapons or items. Only use the bow.
Yara
- Complete 3 encounters with Yara.
- Complete a Seraphite encounter as Yara.
- All you have to do here is complete any encounter that features the Seraphites as the enemies. You can do this with a Custom Run.
- Defeat 3 Seraphite Brutes.
- For this, you will need to beat the Seraphite Elites 3 times. The Seraphite boss with the melee weapon is a brute, but that is the only one you’ll come across. So, you’re going to need to do that boss fight 3 times. This can be done with any character.
Mel
- Complete 4 encounters with Mel.
- Craft 8 health kits in a run.
- This is easiest done with Mel. Buy her Double Health Kits ability using Supplements. That way you can craft two medkits at a time. This will save on resources. Make sure to search the environments during encounters for crafting supplies. If your health is full, you can still use the health kit. Equip the health kits and use them so that you make room in your inventory to craft more. This needs to be done over the course of a run, not encounter.
- Heal 80 health with one health kit.
- This is easiest done with Ellie. Buy her “Improved Health Kits” ability and then let yourself get damaged until your health bar is red. As soon as it is red, get away and hide. If you’re using the accessibility feature to go invisible while prone, immediately lay down and the enemies will stop firing at you. Crawl away and heal yourself with a med kit. You can also buy Ellie’s “Endure” ability which will prevent you from dying and give you a chance to escape.
Manny
- Fully upgrade any gun.
- For this, you’ll need to upgrade every aspect of any gun. You use Parts to upgrade weapons at the workbench in the safe house. Save up your parts and use them all on one weapon. This can easily be done while playing Capture Custom Runs. There are extra parts to collect in the safes. You can sometimes buy Parts from the Trading Post as well.
- Kill 5 enemies with incendiary shotgun shells in one run.
- This is easiest done with Manny. You will need to buy the shotgun from the Trading Post first. You will also need to buy the “Craft Incendiary Shells” ability with Supplements. Make sure to pick up resources to be able to craft the shells. Once you have the shotgun and ability, press Left on the D-Pad to select the shotgun and then press
- This is easiest done with Manny. You will need to buy the shotgun from the Trading Post first. You will also need to buy the “Craft Incendiary Shells” ability with Supplements. Make sure to pick up resources to be able to craft the shells. Once you have the shotgun and ability, press Left on the D-Pad to select the shotgun and then press
Get an S rank on an encounter
You’ll be given a rank after completing an encounter. For this, you need an S. Before starting an encounter, you can see what the score multiplier will be for the encounter. The higher the multiplier, the better your chances of getting an S rank will be.
What you need to really watch out for here is taking damage. The less damage you take, the higher your score will be. So, play carefully and stealthily to reduce your chances of taking damage.
This is something you’ll likely get as you work toward the “Roll Call” Trophy.
You only need to S rank a single encounter. Not an entire run.
Win a Daily Run of No Return
See the “May Your Death Be Swift” Trophy below for more details.
Win a Daily Run of No Return on Grounded difficulty
A Daily Run is a run where you can only play once a day. It is completely randomized and you cannot make use of Custom settings. If you die, you will have to wait 24 hours to try again. You will also need to do this on Grounded difficulty. Before this can be played, it will need to be unlocked by dying several times on runs.
You can however use accessibility features here to make it easier.
There is actually a work around to be able to prevent yourself from failing and having to wait 24 hours.
- First, you will need to turn off auto uploads to cloud on your PlayStation.
- Next, start a Daily Run on Grounded.
- While in the safe house, pause the game and select, “Quit to Main Menu.”
- Back up your save to the cloud.
- Play the Daily Run.
- If you die, close the game and download your save from the cloud to your console.
- Then, use the No Return Activity Card from the PlayStation 5 home screen and it’ll load you back into your Daily Run.
- If the game doesn’t load you in, close it and then start the Last of Us Part 2 Remastered and then use the Activity Card while the game is running.
You can repeat those steps to save your game after every encounter you complete. Just make sure you quit to the main menu while in the safe house between encounters.
This will make it so that you no longer need to wait 24 hours and can keep trying.