Overview:
- Estimated achievement difficulty: 9/10
- Offline: 50 [1000]
- Online: 0
- Approximate amount of time to 1000: 18+ hours
- Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 4
- Number of missable achievements: None!
- Do cheat codes disable achievements?: Yes*
- Does difficulty affect achievements?: Yes
- Glitchy achievements: None
- Unobtainable achievements: None
- Extra equipment needed?: Guitar Controller x2

*The “Unlock All Songs” cheat disables saving, which is required for some of the achievements.

This is a very difficult game to get 1000 on because it relies on your hands being able to move in a certain manner and speed. Realize that even with lots of practice you may eventually reach a point where you can no longer improve. Fortunately this is not an issue for most and the only achievement that will stand in the way for a lot of people is the "Kick the Bucket Award". Unfortunately, you will need to find a partner for co-op, and to conquer this game you will both need to be playing on the higher difficulties.

Introduction:
Guitar Hero II has 50 achievements for 1000. These are split into 40 single player achievements for 720 and 10 co-op achievements for 280. You will have to play through the setlist four times for the 1000, once on each difficulty since the achievements are not stackable.
 
Step 1: Starting off
This guide will assume you’re new to Guitar Hero and will be starting on Easy. That said, ignore the time listed in the overview- that is more or less the minimum amount of time required, and that’s for people who can five star everything on Expert right off the bat.
Start by getting some easy achievements. Finish the tutorial to unlock "Rock School Grad". Start an Easy career and fail intentionally (or by sucking) to unlock the "Long Road Ahead Award". From there go to practice mode and play three different sections of a song to unlock the "Teacher’s Pet Award".

Step 2: Career Mode
Start with Easy. Once you beat Easy, you will have unlocked Roadie", "New Kid", "Young Gun", "Axe Grinder", "Shredder", "Rock Star", and "Easy Tour Champ" in that order. Unless you just stumbled through Easy, you will have also unlocked the "Scoremonger Award" and the "Dimebag Darrell Award".

Move on to Medium where you now play with four buttons. When you get to your first encore, decline to unlock the "Rock Snob Award". Play through Medium to unlock the "Guitar Hero" achievement and complete Medium to unlock "Medium Tour Champ". By this point you will have unlocked the "100K Club" achievement and most likely the "200K Club" achievement as well.

At this point, this guide has not expected that you have five starred all the songs on either Easy or Medium, so now is the time to go back to Easy. The developers consider you a player on a certain difficulty level once you are able to beat roughly 80% (the sixth tier) of the career on that difficulty. You are now officially a Medium player, so back to Easy it is. If you haven’t unlocked them already, unlock both the "Perfectionist Award" and the "Eddie Van Halen Award" by getting a full combo on Heart-Shaped Box on Easy. Five star everything on Easy to unlock the "Sandbox Hero Award".

Move on to Hard where you now play with all five buttons. Beat career once again to unlock "Hard Tour Champ". If you practice hitting Orange and using hammer-ons/pull-offs you will probably also pick up "300K Club" along the way. Now go back to Medium, five star the rest of the songs, and unlock the "Most Likely to Succeed Award".

Finally, play on Expert. Beat the career one final time to unlock "Expert Tour Champ". One last time, go down a difficulty and five star the rest of the songs on Hard to unlock the "Guitarmaggedon Award". You’ve now beaten career on Expert and five starred all songs on Hard and below. All you can do now is practice the songs on Expert. Eventually, you’ll unlock the "Start a Real Band Already Award". Through the course of five starring everything on Expert, you will most likely unlock the "400K Club" achievement as well.

Step 3: The Store
After five starring everything on Expert, you’ll have enough money to buy everything in the store. Do so. Buy all the characters, outfits, guitars, guitar finishes, and bonus songs to unlock the "Life of the Party Award", "Fashion Plate Award", "Gear Head Award", "Fanatical Completionist Award", and "Record Collector Award" respectively. Among all that spending, you’ll also unlock the "Big Spender Award".

Step 4: Bonus Songs
Play through all the new songs you just bought, on Expert. Roadblocks you may hit include the hardest song in the game, Jordan, and possibly Six. You’ll unlock the "Kick the Bucket Award" for beating Jordan, the "Saturday Morning Award" for beating both Trogdor and Thunderhorse, and the "Scenester Award" for beating all of them.

Step 5: Co-op
Start by getting the easier co-op achievements "200K Pair", "Lennon & McCartney Award", and the "Joan & Lita Award" which can be done with a bad player. You’ll need a decent player to unlock the "Joe & Steven Award", "Keef & Mick Award", "Page & Plant Award", and "400K Pair". You’ll need another Expert player to help you get the "600K Pair", "800K Pair", and "Millionaire Pair" achievements.

Step 6: Mop Up
If you haven’t gotten the "Yngwie Malmsteen Award" yet, go play Monkey Wrench on Hard or Free Bird on Medium. Play a song on Easy using Lefty flip to unlock the "Hendrix Award". Finally, go get that "Champagne Room V.I.P." achievement by playing either Freebird or X-Stream on Expert. If you choose the latter, you’ll need to full combo the song and use star power perfectly. Watch a Youtube video or check out scorehero.com to find the star power path required.

Conclusion:
Now you have 49/50 achievements. You’re still missing the "Extra Credit Award" which, if you’ve been following this, you’ve saved for last. Credits do go at the end, after all. The credits are almost a half hour long, so unless you’re really that interested, watch TV during them and then enjoy your 1000/1000.
 
[XBA would like to thank dakisbac for this Roadmap]

Guitar Hero II Achievement Guide

Printable Guide
Show completed achievements
Show secret achievements

There are 50 achievements with a total of 1000 points

  • Get 100,000 points in a song

    This achievement can be done on any difficulty, easy included, so if you arent that great you can still shread to 100k on lower difficulties just manage to hold streaks and star power when necessary. Can be done on almost any song on medium difficulty or above.

    K_Dog's Picks:

    War Pigs - Easy and Above
    Heart Shapped Box - Medium and Above
    Sweet Child O' Mine - Easy

  • Get 200,000 points in a song

    This achievement is a little more tasking than the 100k, easier on medium up but still capable on easy, 100% on easy songs such as Monkey Wrench, Strutter, Madhouse, etc... will probably get you this achievement if your playing on easy, again, keep combos and star power.


    K_Dog's Picks:

    Freebird - Easy/Medium
    Monkey Wrench - Hard

  • Get 300,000 points in a song

    Best if done on Hard or Expert, this can be challengeing, it requires concentration, good combos, and correct star power locations. Getting a bit more difficult as most would only be able to do this on Expert.


    K_Dog's Picks:

    Killing in the Name - Expert
    Monkey Wrench - Expert
    X-Stream - Expert
    Freebird - Hard (If you're Decent)
    Heart Shaped Box - Expert (have to be at (99%) * thanks to cybenddragon

  • Get 400,000 points in a song

    Do this one on expert folks, SOOOOO much less work. Some good songs to do this in are: Monkey Wrench, Beast and the Harlot, Freebird, and X-Stream, X-Stream being the easiest.


    K_Dog's Picks:

    Killing in the Name - Expert
    Monkey Wrench - Expert
    Freebird - Expert

  • Get 500,000 points in a song

    Ok, this is where i start telling you to try ALOT, this one is challenging, probably the hardest achievement in the game. There are only 2 songs i know of that this is possible. X-Stream, and Freebird. I have done both, X-Stream is WAY EASIER, but you need to 100% it. It will take a couple of playthroughs before you figure out where to use your star power to maximize your score. To 100% this song you need to master the 3 cord switches such as G-R-B to R-Y-O to Y-B-O and so on. With time and dedication you will join the VIP.

    K_Dog's Picks
    This is where you're put to the test. I'm only going to list songs that it's possible on:

    Killing in the Name - Expert
    Freebird - Expert
    Fall of Pangea - Expert
    X-Stream - Expert

  • Roadie

     

    10

    Unlock Rat Cellar

    Unlocked after finishing the first tier of songs in Career Mode.

  • Unlock Blackout Bar

    Unlocked after finishing the second tier of songs in Career Mode.

  • Unlock RedOctane Club

    Unlocked after finishing the third tier of songs in Career Mode.

  • Unlock Rock City Theater

    Unlocked after finishing the fourth tier of songs in Career Mode.

  • Unlock Vans Warped Tour

    Unlocked after finishing the fifth tier of songs in Career Mode.

  • Unlock Harmonix Arena

    Unlocked after finishing the sixth tier of songs in Career Mode.

  • Unlock Stonehenge

    Unlocked after finishing the final tier of songs in Career Mode. Not available in Easy.

  • Get a 100 note streak

    This cam be acomplished on every song on any difficulty.

    K_Dog's Pick:
    Heart Shaped Box - Easy

  • Get a 500 note streak

    "Sounds tough but if you play the same song as the above all the way through, you'll get this as well.

    K_Dog's Pick:
    Heart Shaped Box - Easy

  • Get a 1000 note streak

    Get a 1000 note streak, "MUST BE DONE IN ONE SONG!!!" So how do i do this you ask? Well 100% Monkey Wrench on Expert (1037 notes) or X-Stream (1337 Notes). USE YOUR HAMMER ONS AND PULL OFFS. I CANT STRESS THAT ENOUGH. HINT HINT HINT HINT For Hammer-Ons and Pull-Offs, the tutorial claims you must hold down the other frets ex: to hammer on red you must hold down green. WELL GUESS WHAT..............THEY LIE!!!!!!!!, just press the button like you normally would. How do i Distinguish which notes i can hammer on or pull off?, IF your like me, you have been playing long enough to just judge distances, if not, the hammeronable notes have no black line around the white top. Good Luck!!

    K_Dog's Pick:
    Once again, sounds tough, but fortunately we have a winner:

    Freebird - Medium

  • Beat the Easy tour

    Finish Career Mode on Easy Difficulty. Only three frets are in use, easy. Complete every song.

  • Beat the Medium tour

    Finish Career Mode on Medium Difficulty. Four frets here.

  • Beat the Hard tour

    Finish Career Mode on Hard Difficulty. Uh oh, u gotta stretch for that orange one, (tip, shift and stretch) what do i mean by that? Learn to shift your hand positions around rather than just stretching the pinky.

  • Beat the Expert tour

    Finish Career Mode on Expert Difficulty. Not as hard as it sounds, just use the hammer-ons/pull-offs, keep those combos goin, practice your cord switches, etc.... you will get this in no time, or more like 48 songs time!

  • Earn five stars on all songs in the Easy tour

    5 star every song on easy tour, not including bonus tracks. This isnt difficult at all, you should have not trouble with this, even new comers will be able to do this once they get a feel for the game. See https://www.scorehero.com for 5* cut off charts.

  • Earn five stars on all songs in the Medium tour

    5 star every song on medium tour, not including bonus tracks, This isnt too bad, once you get a feel for the songs and master the blue fret, you shouldnt have a problem. See https://www.scorehero.com for 5* cut off charts.

  • Earn five stars on all songs in the Hard tour

    5 star every song on hard tour, not including bonus tracks, Mastering the orange fret can be challenging, just practice shifting and stretching, once you got that down, 5 stars will come naturally. See https://www.scorehero.com for 5* cut off charts. Prepare to be challenged and master when to hit the star powers for more points!

  • Earn five stars on all songs in the Expert tour

    Ok this is difficult, for you at least. To do this you need to master EVERYTHING. A suggestion would be get familiar with the song, like know the rhythm and have an understanding of the layout before attempting this achievement

  • Complete all tutorials

    These are listed in the "Tutorials" section of the main menu. If you pay attention, some of you that are new to the game might learn a few things as it covers basics of notes, chords, hammer-on's, and pull-offs

  • Get an 8x multiplier

    Done on any song. This is done once you have built up enough star power. After you reach a x4 multiplier, you activate your star power by either pressing select or tilting the guitar back. The later is the preferred method of the most metal heads. m/

  • Get 100% notes hit on a song

     

    Fairly easy on any song on Easy difficulty. Use the first tier of songs as they are the simplest out the lot.

  • Refuse to play an encore

    This is done in "Career" mode. After playing the initial set list, you will be prompted to play an Encore. Refuse that bad boy for an achievement.

  • Fail a song on Easy

    This is harder than it sounds as the game won't even let you "traditionally" fail the song until 50% of the way through. After than, just strum until you're boo'd off the stage. Way to suck!!

  • Beat a song with lefty flip on

    Easy for those of you who are leftys. But for the rest of us, this setting is under your player options. Once done, I recommend you play on easy.

  • Practice three different songs

    Practice mode is under "Tutorials" on the main menu. I assure you, if you plan on getting better (Or if you plan on beating Jordan on expert), you'll be using this more than just 3 times.

  • Beat Trogdor and Thunder Horse

    These are both bonus songs and this can be done on Easy difficulty. The songs first have to be purchased from the store in Career Mode.

  • Beat Jordan on Expert

    Practice mode. That's all I can say. This song combines corkey sounds with odd note progression. If you can play on expert, the song is fairly simple until the solo. The solo is an insane shred that literally does NOT stop. The best advice I can give is A) Practice mode to learn the off beat progression of the solo, and B) Aquire as much Star Power as possible before the solo and save it until you ABSOLUTELY need it.

  • Buy all guitars

    It has been confirmed that you do NOT have to purchase the Unlockable guitars to get this achievement.

  • Buy all guitar finishes

    The finishes are only for Regular guitars and the finishes only appear for the guitars you own so you have to purchase all of the regular guitars first before you can get their respective finishes.

  • Buy all songs

    The songs are located in the Shop and can be bought from the initial start of the game.

  • Buy all characters

    Same as the songs, can be purchased initial, pending you have the cash.

  • Buy all outfits

    Outfit can only be purchased for the default characters so this is the same as the songs, you can buy them initially.

  • View the credits

    The Credits can be viewed under the "Options" on the main menu. Trust me when I say it's one hell of a dragged out achievement. Start them and do something constructive for twenty mins.

  • Spend $10,000 at the store

    Self explanitory, this is easily spent while purchasing anything for the other achievements. Cash is awarded to you in Career mode for playing gigs on various difficulties. Your reward is based on your quality of performance.

  • Beat all the unlock songs

    After purchasing all the songs, you are awarded this for completing all the songs.

  • Get a 100 note streak in Cooperative

     

    Simple as, 100 notes in Co-op, any song, easy difficulty.

  • Get a 500 note streak in Cooperative

     

    Same as 100 notes co-op, any song, easy/medium difficulty.

  • Get a 1000 note streak in Cooperative

    Tough and requires the patience of a saint and a good friend. Most of the higher tiered songs on medium are a good shout.

  • Get an 8x streak in Cooperative

     

    Both activate your star power at the same time when you have a 4x mulitplyer on, then WHAM, Achievement Unlocked!!!

  • Get 100% notes hit on a song in Cooperative

     

    The Co-Op achievements are a bit more difficult as you not only have to worry about yourself, but someone else as well. I recommend doing this on any song on easy with a bass line.

  • Get 200,000 points on a song in Cooperative

     

    Two Players getting at least 90% notes on Freebird on Medium difficulty can aquire this achievement. Along with 400K

  • Get 400,000 points on a song in Cooperative

     

    Ideal Songs:
    Killing in the Name - Expert
    Freebird - Medium
    Heart Shaped Box - Expert

  • Get 600,000 points on a song in Cooperative

    Ideal Songs:
    Freebird - Hard/Expert
    Killing in the Name - Expert
    Jessica: Hard/Expert
    Fall of Pangea - Hard/Expert
    One for the Road - Expert
    X-Stream - Hard/Expert

  • Get 800,000 points on a song in Cooperative

    Get 800,000 points on a song in Cooperative

    Wow, pushing it aren't we? I'm now only going to list songs it's possible on:

    Killing in the Name - Both players on Expert getting 100%
    Jessica - Both Players on Expert
    Institutionalized - Both Players on Expert. Lead guitar must hit 97% and Rythym guitar must hit 100%
    Freebird - Hard/Expert. If on hard 100% from both players. Expert has more oxygen room.

  • Get 1,000,000 points on a song in Cooperative

    Get 1,000,000 points on a song in Cooperative

    Ok, this is only possible on 2 songs:

    Jessica - This has only been done by 4 different players each hitting 100% and 99% notes respectively. Both playing on Expert achieving a score of 1,067,045.

    Freebird - The more realistic of the two, many players have scored 1 million on this song but it requires two players playing on Expert hitting at least 97% of the notes.

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