Synapse Trophy Guide
Author: Trozenator.
Genres: First Person Shooter.
Welcome to the Synapse trophy guide which will help you dual-wield brutal weaponry and telekinesis in the ultimate VR action shooter. Unleash your inner anti-hero and invade the twisted subconscious of a notorious enemy of the state.
- Platforms: PlayStation 5, PS VR2.
- Trophies: 42: Platinum: 1, Gold: 3, Silver: 10, Bronze: 28.
- Release Date: 4th July 2023.
- Missable: None.
- Glitched: 1: Nothing Is Permanent Except Change.
- Online: None.
- Difficulty Rating: 4/10.
- Approx. time to 100%: 6 Hours.
Stage 1: Attempt to Beat the Game.
Synapse is a rougelike game, where every time you die, you have to restart the entire playthrough, but you come back stronger. If you die in a run, you will be placed back into the Relay (spawn), where you can upgrade your person and try again. This part of the game should take a few attempts, as you’ll slowly become more and more powerful. The best thing you can do first is just get through the game.
If you’d like a walkthrough of the game, refer to The Truth Is Subjective for a breakdown off all zones, including a video playthrough. You will unlock the following trophies:
Stage 2: Revelation Cleanup.
The rest of the trophies are Revelations, which are in-game challenges. You can check the Revelations from the Relay, and once you complete them you’ll get Insight (upgrade points) to upgrade your skillset. During Stage 1, you will complete many of these without thinking. The final part of the game will be spent trying to complete the Revelations tied to trophies.
NOTE: There are a few hard Revelations that are not tied to trophies. These can be ignored. The Revelations tied to trophies tend to be easier.
- Necessity Is the Mother of Invention.
- The Best Defence Is a Strong Offence.
- Everything Has a Weakness.
- Practice Makes Perfect.
- The Nail That Sticks Out.
- Fools Seldom Differ.
- A Light Touch Is Required.
- A Stitch in Time.
- First Impressions Last.
- Reason Is Not Automatic.
- You Buy Cheap You Buy Twice.
- No Rest for the Wicked.
- If You Play with Fire.
- Fools Seldom Differ II.
- No Rest for the Wicked II.
- You Can’t Take It with You.
- Talent Means Nothing Without Precision.
- Everything Comes to He Who Waits.
- Make the First Shot Your Best.
- The Bigger they Are.
- Everything Has a Weakness II.
- What Goes Up.
- If You Play with Fire II.
- A Taste of their Own Medicine.
- Fools Seldom Differ III.
- You Can’t Take It with You II.
- What Goes Up II.
- No Rest for the Wicked III.
- Nothing Is Permanent Except Change.
- The Bigger they Are II.
- Dare to Dream Bigger.
- Your Mind Is the Deadliest Weapon.
- You Can’t Take It with You III.
- Fools Seldom Differ IV.
- A Bird in the Hand.
- The Bigger they Are III.
- Many Birds One Stone.
With everything above complete you will then unlock:
Synaptic Perfection
Collect all trophies.
You will need to earn the other 41 trophies throughout Synapse to unlock Synaptic Perfection.
Embrace the Subconscious
Reach the Subconscious.
The Subconscious is the ninth and final zone you will enter. Refer to The Truth Is Subjective for a walkthrough of the entire game.
The Truth Is Subjective
Finish the game.
To complete the game of Synapse, you will need to beat all nine zones in a row, without dying. Each zone gets progressively harder, with more, higher powered enemies coming to stop you from proceeding. You will start out as a weakling, but after every attempt, you will become a little stronger, due to unlocking more abilities. While attempting to beat the game, you will unknowingly finish Revelations, which are in-game achievements. Completing Revelations will give you Insight, which allow you to purchase upgrades in the Relay (spawn).
You will likely die three or more times before you are strong enough to complete the game. If you die, do not get upset, as it really means you weren’t high-powered enough to beat the section. Go back, upgrade yourself some more, and before you know it you will be overpowered.
These mechanics will come very naturally after a few deaths, as you’ll find yourself getting through the beginning sections faster than ever. In total, there are nine zones you’ll need to complete (shown below). You will slowly be introduced to more enemy types and different weapons.
The process of becoming more powerful and replaying the game until completion will probably take around three or four hours. A single playthrough will usually take around 45 to 60 minutes, depending on playstyle and upgrades. Watch below for a full playthrough of all nine zones.
Credit to Troz Trophy Guides for the video.
Necessity Is the Mother of Invention
Complete Revelation “Necessity Is the Mother of Invention”.
This Revelation requires you to block ten bullets with a block using Telekinesis.
This trophy will come naturally when all you can control with your Telekinesis are blocks and barrels. This can be from any number of blocks, and doesn’t have to be all from the same enemy or block. Pick up a block with L2, and hold it in front of you while an enemy fires your direction.
The Best Defence Is a Strong Offence
Complete Revelation “The Best Defence Is a Strong Offence”.
This Revelation requires you to kill ten enemies while holding cover.
To hold cover, press either L1 or R1 with your hand against an object, wall, or anything really. At the beginning of the game, you’ll be hiding behind cover like your life depends on it (because it does), so this trophy will most likely come naturally. If not, grab your grenade launcher, grab yourself behind some cover, and start blasting at some enemies.
Everything Has a Weakness
Complete Revelation “Everything Has a Weakness”.
Refer to Everything Has a Weakness II for more information.
Practice Makes Perfect
Complete Revelation “Practice Makes Perfect”.
This Revelation requires you to kill a total of 100 enemies with your pistol.
This will be one of the first trophies you unlock in the game, as your pistol will be your only weapon for a while. Either you will unlock this during your first few playthoughs, or unlock this while attaining 250 headshots for Everything Has a Weakness II.
The Nail That Sticks Out
Complete Revelation “The Nail That Sticks Out”.
This Revelation requires you to kill ten enemies by bashing them with blocks using Telekinesis.
This trophy will most likely come naturally within your first few playthroughs, as when you first unlock Telekinesis you can only move objects with it, so you’ll be smashing a lot of people with the blocks. This is easier in the first few zones with weaker enemies.
Fools Seldom Differ
Complete Revelation “Fools Seldom Differ”.
Refer to Fools Seldom Differ IV for more information.
A Light Touch Is Required
Complete Revelation “A Light Touch Is Required”.
This Revelation requires you to kill 30 enemies with exploding barrels.
This trophy will definitely come naturally while playing through the game. You can either shoot the barrels to blow them up or use your Telekinesis to being the barrels over to the enemies and press down on L2 to blow it up right next to them.
A Stitch in Time
Complete Revelation “A Stitch in Time”.
This Revelation requires you to attain S-rank on a zone.
At the end of every zone, after you’ve killed the last enemy, you will be presented with a rank based on how quick you completed it. Time is the only factor when determining your rank, so don’t worry about accuracy or damage taken. The easiest zones to get an S-rank in are Zone 1 and 2.
You will most likely earn this naturally when you’re rushing through the first few zones on later playthroughs. The quickest way to complete a zone is to hurl everybody off into the sea, or into the air and have them all die of fall damage.
Credit to Troz Trophy Guides for the video.
First Impressions Last
Complete Revelation “First Impressions Last”.
This Revelation requires you to kill ten enemies by bashing them into walls/the ground.
This trophy will definitely come naturally pretty quickly after you purchase the Brutal Mind upgrade under the Tactician skill tree, that allows you to pick up enemies with Telekinesis. This will be one of the first upgrades you purchase. To pick up an enemy, look at it and press L2. You can then move your hand and smash him into the wall to kill him.
Reason Is Not Automatic
Complete Revelation “Reason Is Not Automatic”.
This Revelation requires you to kill a total of 100 enemies with the SMG.
To unlock an SMG, you will need to purchase the Fully Automatic upgrade under the Assassin skill tree. This will make it so SMGs can appear at weapon shrines in-level. Note that it’s random when they show up, it won’t happen every time. You can also purchase the Pre-Meditated Polychronicity upgrade so you will start out with the SMG, and you can switch to it with Cross.
This trophy will likely come pretty early as the SMG is a great gun you’ll unlock within your first few runs trying to beat the game. The easiest way to kill enemies with the SMG is to aim center-mass so you likely won’t miss.
You Buy Cheap You Buy Twice
Complete Revelation “You Buy Cheap You Buy Twice”.
This Revelation requires you to purchase three items from the same Defiance node.
Defiance nodes are upgrade points where you can purchase up to three upgrades. These upgrades are always a combination of health, ammo, and Mindhacks. The first three upgrades you purchase will add up to 350 to 500 Defiance, depending on what zone you’re in. You can check how much Defiance you have by looking at your left palm.
You can pretty easily earn this within the first two or three zones by saving up all your Defiance. Do not spend your Defiance until you have 350. Defiance can be found where enemies died, in bushes, and collected at the end of zones. If you cannot purchase the health/ammo boosters, either get hurt or use some ammo and you’ll be able to buy it.
No Rest for the Wicked
Complete Revelation “No Rest for the Wicked”.
Refer to No Rest for the Wicked III for more information.
If You Play with Fire
Complete Revelation “If You Play with Fire”.
Refer to If You Play with Fire II for more information.
Fools Seldom Differ II
Complete Revelation “Fools Seldom Differ II”.
Refer to Fools Seldom Differ IV for more information.
No Rest for the Wicked II
Complete Revelation “No Rest for the Wicked II”.
Refer to No Rest for for the Wicked III for more information.
You Can’t Take It with You
Complete Revelation “You Can’t Take It with You”.
Refer to You Can’t Take It with You III for more information.
Talent Means Nothing Without Precision
Complete Revelation “Talent Means Nothing Without Precision”.
This Revelation requires you to kill 25 enemies with critical hits (headshots) in a single zone.
This is one of the harder trophies, and should be left for the end. To start, you’ll need to get to a zone with enough enemies to comfortably headshot 25 enemies. This should typically be either Zone 3 or 4, as Zone 1 doesn’t have enough enemies and Zone 2 has barely enough.
The best method for this trophy is probably running up to the enemies and shooting them point-blank in the head. Use your pistol. It also will not count as a critical hit if you use Telekinesis on the enemy shortly before killing him, so bringing the enemies to you one-by-one is out of the question. Having a large amount of health (150+ health) will help a lot with this, because you will get shot.
Credit to Troz Trophy Guides for the video.
Everything Comes to He Who Waits
Complete Revelation “Everything Comes to He Who Waits”.
This Revelation requires you to pick up a Version 3 Mindhack.
Mindhacks are the upgrades you pick up at the end of zones. After you complete a zone, the game will present you with two or three Mindhacks to choose from. It is completely random which Mindhacks show up, and also completely random if they’re Version 2 or 3. Version 3 Mindhacks will have “V3.0” in the title. Make sure to keep your eyes out for this.
You can increase your odds a bit by purchasing the White Hat Psionics upgrade under the Tactician skill tree. This increases the amount of Mindhacks you can choose from at the end of the zone from two to three.
Make the First Shot Your Best
Complete Revelation “Make the First Shot Your Best”.
This Revelation requires you to kill 100 enemies with a shotgun.
To unlock a shotgun, you will need to purchase the Synaptic Shot upgrade under the Assassin skill tree. This will make it so shotguns can appear at weapon shrines in-level. Note that it’s random when they show up, it won’t happen every time.
Once you get your hand on a shotgun, use it to defeat as many enemies as you can until you earn this trophy. Use the shotgun in close-range for maximum effect, you can’t do much with it far away. If you are having problems getting close, use Telekinesis to bring the enemies closer to you.
The Bigger they Are
Complete Revelation “The Bigger they Are”.
Refer to The Bigger They Are III for more information.
Everything Has a Weakness II
Complete Revelation “Everything Has a Weakness II”.
This Revelation requires you to kill a total of 250 enemies with critical hits (headshots).
You more than likely will not earn this naturally while hunting other trophies, so you may have a small grind near the end to rack up headshots. Headshots are quite hard to do from afar, as for some reason the enemies can sometimes dodge your bullets. Keep in mind using Telekinesis to bring the enemies to you will not count as critical hits for some reason, so try not to use Telekinesis at all for this.
The easiest and quickest ways to get headshots is to bumrush a group of enemies and shoot all their heads point-blank with your pistol. This is most effective in the first three levels, as you won’t have enemies spawning all around you. You should also purchase a few upgrades in the Survivor skill tree to have a larger health bank, as you’ll be putting yourself right in the line of fire.
If You Play with Fire II
Complete Revelation “If You Play with Fire II”.
This Revelation requires you to kill 200 Fury (exploding enemies).
This trophy will unlock naturally while hunting other trophies. Fury are very common spawns throughout the entire run and show up as early as Zone 2. The easiest way to kill a Fury is to use Telekinesis and smash it against a wall, and then it will explode and potentially kill other Fury around it, causing a chain reaction. The final zone has several waves of many Fury, so you can easily rack up kills.
A Taste of their Own Medicine
Complete Revelation “A Taste of their Own Medicine”.
This Revelation requires you to kill 30 enemies with their own grenades.
This Revelation likely won’t come naturally, so you need to go out of your way to get these kills. You will first need to purchase the Focused Mind upgrade in the Tactician skill tree. This upgrade allows you to pick up enemy’s thrown grenades with Telekinesis.
Thrown grenades are obvious, as they make a beeping sound and have a large damage radius indicator. To pick up the grenade, slightly press L2 when looking at it. Bring it back to the group of enemies and press down on L2 to crush/explode it.
You can easily bait enemies to throw grenades at you by standing/crouching behind cover and peeking out at them. When they lower their weapon and begin their wind-up animation, be ready to catch it. This trophy not only tracks the enemy that throws it but all other enemies too, so if there are a few enemies in a group feel free to explode it there.
Fools Seldom Differ III
Complete Revelation “Fools Seldom Differ III”.
Refer to Fools Seldom Differ IV for more information.
You Can’t Take It with You II
Complete Revelation “You Can’t Take It with You II”.
Refer to You Can’t Take It With You III for more information.
What Goes Up II
Complete Revelation “What Goes Up II”.
This Revelation requires you to kill a total of 50 Sentinels (flying enemies).
This trophy will likely come naturally while hunting for other trophies. You will come across around twelve Sentinels in a single run, starting in Zone 5. The easiest way to kill them is dragging them to earth with Telekinesis and shooting them with a grenade launcher. The amount of Sentinels greatly increases near the end of the run, so if you do a few runs (as you will for trophy purposes) you will kill enough for the trophy.
No Rest for the Wicked III
Complete Revelation “No Rest for the Wicked III”.
This Revelation requires you to complete a total of 15 zones.
This trophy will definitely come naturally while earning the other trophies. Completing one run will contain nine zones, and you will complete a few runs plus a good few incomplete runs. At the end of your trophy hunt you will probably complete 40 zones in total.
Nothing Is Permanent Except Change
Complete Revelation “Nothing Is Permanent Except Change”.
This Revelation requires you to kill an enemy with all four weapons in a single run.
This Revelation is one of the ones you will most likely need to go out of your way to get, probably one of the final trophies you’ll unlock. First of all, to unlock this Revelation you first need to complete the Revelation Make the First Shot Your Best (100 shotgun kills), and then you’re able to track/progress this one.
You also need to purchase the upgrades Fully Automatic, Synaptic Shot, and Mind Grenades to unlock the three other weapons. You will also buy these upgrades for other trophies and these will be some of the first upgrades you purchase anyways. It is also recommended to purchase the Pre-Meditated Polychronicity upgrade, so you start off with two weapons already (pistol and SMG), but this isn’t completely necessary.
This trophy can be buggy, as sometimes the game just doesn’t count. You can tell if this is happening if you get a kill and the Revelation still says 0/4 on the pause menu. In this case, you’ll need to select Give Up and start a new run. Keep restarting runs until it starts counting.
Once it starts counting you need to hope to get lucky with your Weapon Shrines. During every zone look at the Weapon Shrine to see if it has a new weapon for you. If you start with the Pistol and SMG, you’ll need to look out for the Shotgun and Grenade Launcher.
The shrines are completely random so you’re at the mercy of RNG. If you get all the way to the final zone without seeing a certain weapon, you may need to close the game and re-enter the zone to hopefully get a new spawn.
The Bigger they Are II
Complete Revelation “The Bigger they Are II”.
Refer to The Bigger They Are III for more information.
Dare to Dream Bigger
Complete Revelation “Dare to Dream Bigger”.
This Revelation requires you to kill 100 enemies with the grenade launcher.
The grenade launcher is a late-game item unlocked by purchasing the Mind Grenades upgrade from the Assassin skill tree. Purchasing this upgrade will make it so grenade launchers can sometimes spawn at weapon shrines.
Once you get your hands on a grenade launcher you won’t want to get rid of it. It is the most powerful weapon in the game and by far the easiest to use. This trophy will come naturally once you’ve unlocked the upgrade.
Your Mind Is the Deadliest Weapon
Complete Revelation “Your Mind Is the Deadliest Weapon”.
This Revelation requires you to complete a zone without using any weapons.
If your playstyle heavily favors Telekinesis kills, you may unlock this without thinking. You will be required to have the Brutal Mind upgrade under the Tactician skill tree. This will most likely be one of the first upgrades you unlock.
The easiest zone to unlock this is the first zone, with the least amount of enemies and the lowest-level enemies. Grab the enemies with L2 and throw them as hard/far as you can. If you’re in a zone with an ocean to the side, you can easily toss them into the ocean for instant kills.
Credit to Troz Trophy Guides for the video.
You Can’t Take It with You III
Complete Revelation “You Can’t Take It with You III”.
This Revelation requires you to spend a total of 9000 Defiance.
From the start of the game, you should make it a habit to always be investing your Defiance during runs, because as the trophy name suggests, you can’t take it with you if you die. Defiance is earned from killing enemies, collecting them from certain bushes, and completing zones.
Defiance can be spent at Defiance Nodes, which are upgrade points that allow you to either restock health/ammo or purchase a cool upgrade for the run.
This trophy may come naturally if you make it a habit to spend the Defiance you earn during every run. You can check your total Defiance spent by viewing the Revelation at spawn.
Fools Seldom Differ IV
Complete Revelation “Fools Seldom Differ IV”.
This Revelation requires you to kill a total of 1500 enemies.
This may seem like a large amount of enemies, but this trophy will most likely come naturally while hunting other trophies because the main objective to progress the game will be killing more and more enemies. You can check how many you’ve killed by viewing the Revelation at spawn.
A Bird in the Hand
Complete Revelation “A Bird in the Hand”.
This Revelation requires you to kill 10 Sentinels (flying enemies) with a grenade launcher.
To unlock a grenade launcher, you will need to purchase the Mind Grenade upgrade under the Assassin skill tree. This will make it so grenade launchers can spawn at weapon shrines. Note that it’s random when they show up, it won’t happen every time.
Sentinels will start appearing during Zone 5. To kill them with the grenade launcher, use your Telekinesis to grab them and bring them down the the ground, and then fire a grenade at them to kill them. This trophy will most likely come naturally since this is the easiest way to kill them.
The Bigger they Are III
Complete Revelation “The Bigger they Are III”.
This Revelation requires you to kill 35 Behemoth enemies.
This trophy requires you to play through the game a few times, but luckily it will probably come naturally while hunting other trophies. You will typically come across six or seven Behemoths in one playthrough.
To kill a Behemoth, you will need to use Telekinesis to rip its armour off, and then shoot at the weak spot in the middle. Watch out for their minigun and charge attacks.
Credit to Troz Trophy Guides for the video.
Many Birds One Stone
Complete Revelation “Many Birds One Stone”.
This Revelation requires you to kill three enemies with one exploding barrel.
This trophy will likely come naturally. Slightly press L2 on a barrel to pick it up, bring it over to a group of three or more enemies, then fully press down on L2 to explode the barrel on them. You can also shoot a barrel to explode the enemies.
This is particularly easy in Zone 9 (shown below).
Credit to Troz Trophy Guides for the video.
Let Go of Preconception
Reach the Conscious.
The Conscious will start at the fifth zone you enter. Refer to The Truth Is Subjective for a walkthrough of the entire game.
Death Is Not the End
Die once.
This will no doubt be the first trophy you earn. To progress the game and upgrade your stats, you will be forced to die many times.