A Note on Estimated Time: This DLC can technically be done in a single playthrough if you so choose, which would reduce the estimated time by one hour. However, the guide assumes you will be doing a second playthrough on Easy difficulty for Return of the Founder King to make your life easier as the DLC is fairly short anyway. You can also reduce the time by a further hour by skipping cutscenes on both playthroughs if you have no interest in watching them (the Guide assumes you will watch them on the first playthrough but not the second).
If you wish to complete the DLC in a single playthrough, skip straight to Stage Two.
Assuming you are doing the two-playthroughs method, the first stage will be to play through the DLC's story on Normal difficulty, getting used to the controls and enemy types as you do so. It is also a good idea to take down all seven emitters during this playthrough, to get used to each of the Guardian fights, though it is not required as you'll need to do this in Stage 2 anyway.
During this stage, your main goal is to get an A+ or higher Score for the DLC's story mode, which is easier to do on Easy Difficulty. For tips on how to achieve this, see the Return of the Founder King trophy.
You should also clean up any of the trophies related to ability use during this stage - if you follow the tips linked in the above trophy, these will all come naturally without you needing to go out of your way for them.
 | Fallen Savior Unleashed a spectral assault 10 times. | 17.73% | |
You can unleash a spectral assault by holding and pressing when your phantasm bar (similar to the Royal Armiger from the main game) is filled. It doesn't need to be maxed out at 12 in order to make progress on this trophy.
If you follow the strategies in Return of the Founder King, you will get this during the final boss battles, but you can also grind it out anywhere within the city by daemonifying enemies to fill your bar (or, if you have unlocked the Spectral Charge ability, use to fill the bar even quicker).
 | The Pyreburner's Keeper Used Ifrit's techniques 10 times. | 19.22% | |
You will be able to summon Ifrit after returning to the city after completing the Research facility. To summon him, use and (or, once you have the other techniques unlocked from your Descension grid, or ) once you have two or more bars filled in your technique bar - you can fill it by using normal attacks. After using any techniques 10 times (it doesn't have to be the same one), this trophy will unlock.
You will likely want to use Ifrit against each Sector Battle, along with the battle outside the gates to the final boss, and likely multiple times against each of the two final bosses, so this trophy should come naturally unless you continually forget to summon him.
If for whatever reason you want to grind this out, you can max out your phantasm bar by daemonifying enemies, then attack using and , as this hits enemies a lot of times without doing much damage. But be aware that your technique bar will reset at the end of each battle so make sure there are enough enemies to attack if you want to try for this.
 | King of the Daemons Daemonified 100 enemies. | 14.61% | |
You gain the ability to daemonify enemies near the beginning of the DLC.
You will need to demonify at least 100 enemies in order to obtain an A+ rank for Return of the Founder King, making this trophy unmissable as a result.
 | The Nightmare Ends Completed EPISODE ARDYN on Normal. | 17.68% | |
When you start a New Game you will be prompted to choose a difficulty - you must choose Normal in order to unlock this trophy after defeating the final boss and watching (or skipping) the end credits.
The story is fairly short, and Ardyn is very mobile and easy to use, so the enemies and bosses should not cause too much trouble. If you are having any issues, the strategies under Return of the Founder King can be used to get through Normal difficulty as well as Easy.
 | Mastering the Darkness Unlocked all of Ardyn's abilities. | 14.43% | |
After reaching the City of Insomnia, you will unlock the Descension Grid, which can be accessed from the menu. You must obtain all abilities on this grid in order to unlock this trophy. Abilities can be unlocked by using AP, which (like the main game) can be gained from completing battles, with tougher battles awarding more AP. You will need a total of 292 AP to unlock all abilities.
If you haven't got enough AP by the time you reach the final battle, simply run around the city fighting enemies (some will be marked on your map, and others will randomly ambush you as you move around) until you have enough. Once you've unlocked the final ability on the grid, this trophy will unlock.
 | Insomnia Insurgence Overtook all sectors of Insomnia. | 17.15% | |
There are seven total sectors in Insomnia, each with an emitter that must be destroyed in order to take over the sector (battles within the sector are not required as they respawn indefinitely, only the emitter is necessary). All seven emitters are marked on your Map from the beginning of your attack on Insomnia, and waypoint markers also point you in their direction, making them very easy to find.
To destroy each emitter, you must first destroy the four nodes surrounding it, which will start a boss battle against a Guardian (for most emitters, further enemies will also arrive to help the Guardian, and all enemies must be defeated to destroy the emitter). For some emitters, the battle will start upon your arrival, or upon attacking/destroying the first node.
Each battle gets progressively more difficult in terms of the number/type of enemies as you move further up the map, though none of them should possess too much of a challenge. If you struggle, there are some tips under Return of the Founder King.
Once you have destroyed an emitter, it will mark all points of interest in that sector. After destroying the seventh and final emitter (they can be destroyed in any order you please), this trophy will unlock.
You will be required to destroy all 7 emitters to receive an A+ ranking for Return of the Founder King, making this trophy unmissable as a result.
 | Return of the Founder King Earned the top ranking. | 5.07% | |
Difficulty does not matter, so you can play on Easy difficulty when going for this trophy as enemies will deal less damage and take less time to kill, improving your rankings in both Battle Time and Damage Taken.
See the following breakdown of how to achieve an A+ in each criterion (including the scores required for A+ ranking, and scores required for A ranking where the A+ is harder to reach) or skip to the end for some general strategies on how to achieve an A+ overall.
Total Score is not the score overall for the story, but instead a total of the Battle Scores you received from defeating enemies along with a Rampage Score which you gain by destroying anything parade-related that is located around the city, e.g. Balloons, Signs, Speakers, Armoured Vehicles, etc.
After each enemy you defeat or propaganda item you destroy, your current Total Score will be displayed at the top right of your screen. You can chain enemy kills and propaganda destructions to increase the score you receive for each one. Enemy locations are displayed on your Map after destroying that sector's emitter, so you can go between enemy locations destroying propaganda on your way in order to increase your score. Alternatively, for a safer but more time-consuming strategy, see the General Tips further down.
You will gain 80,000 Battle Score after entering the gates to the final bosses, so make sure your score is at 1,420,000 or higher if you're aiming for A+ (or 920,000 or higher if you're aiming for A), before you enter the gates. Aiming for an A will cut down your real-world time spent on this trophy, whilst also reducing the Damage Incurred and Battle Time, improving your ranks in both of those criteria. Therefore, if you are confident your Damage will be at least an A rank, you may want to consider just aiming for an A rank score here.
Although this may seem intimidating when you first start out, it is actually very easy to achieve. The first step is to max out your phantasm bar by daemonifying enemies. After it reaches 12, the combos will rack up very quickly during fights.
It is important to note that after you unlock Rising Phantom, DO NOT use and to down enemies, as this will reset your combo to zero.
This is very easy to achieve, though there is no way to track your current kills in-game. If you haven't destroyed much propaganda but still have a score of 1 million or higher, you will have enough kills, though you can always kill some more enemies to be safe. See the General Tips section below for methods of racking up kills safely.
Another one that's very easy to achieve, particularly if you follow the strategies under the General Tips below. If you did not receive King of the Daemons in your Normal playthrough (or if you're doing a single playthrough), you'll know you have enough when the trophy pops. If you already have this trophy, there is no way to track your score within the game, but again if you follow the General Tips section to increase your Score below, you'll receive more than enough.
Do note that you're not actually required to kill an enemy with the Daemonification for it to count - so using it multiple times on each Guardian or the two final bosses will also add to your score.
To control all sectors, you must destroy all 7 emitters throughout the city. See Insomnia Insurgence if you need further information on how the emitters work. Make sure you save before and after each fight so that you can reset if you take too much damage or take too long to defeat each Guardian.
The fights can be made relatively easy by using consumable items to increase your damage and defence, then just holding and moving around constantly (as you will not get hit often by doing this), and summoning Ifrit whenever he becomes available. If you have unlocked the Spectral Charge ability, you can also stock up on Ethers before each fight, then use Royal Retribution regularly (as you're invincible during its animation), refilling your phantasm gauge with , and refilling your MP with Ethers whenever necessary.
When there is only one Guardian left in any location, you can cheese the fight by using and to get behind it, then use only and you should Blindside the Guardian, letting you daemonify it with . Straight after each demonification, repeat the cycle and the Guardian should fall quickly and without damaging you.
The Undying State at the very beginning of the game does not count against you for this trophy as it is unmissable, but all other Undying States do, including the boss battles against Ifrit and Somnus , even though they look scripted. For more information on those fights, see either the Damage section below or the General Tips at the bottom.
If you get an Undying State at any point, reload your previous save as this one should always be an A+, as getting into an Undying State also means you took too much damage.
This is the one that is harder to receive an A+ rank for, especially as there's no way to track this in-game. However, it is still perfectly doable without too much hassle. The first step is to get a Safety Hat as soon as you've completed the first sector, as this will reduce your damage taken for all future battles. You can also stock up on Flesh Fortifiers to reduce your damage taken, and use them at the start of all Sector Battles, the battle outside the gates leading to the final bosses, and both final boss battles (you can use them on other battles, but it isn't really required as they're fairly simple).
Using a combination of constantly moving while holding , summoning Ifrit whenever your Tech Bar is at 2 or higher, and using Royal Retribution will make short work of all battles, whilst keeping you relatively unharmed.
Strategies are the events within battles where you are required to perform a certain action within a time frame.
There is no way to track this within the game, but as long as you were quick during each Guardian battle and boss battle, this shouldn't be an issue as other battles only last a few seconds each.
Do note that time spent wandering around the city does NOT count towards your score here, only time spent within battles. Therefore you can wander around as much as you please collecting treasure or destroying propaganda for score without worrying about the impact on your ranking.
Though the above sections contain a lot of information, this trophy isn't as daunting as it seems. The most important thing is to save regularly (at least once after every Sector you complete) so that you can revert back to before a Sector Battle if you take too much damage during it.
During the research centre segment, ensure you obtain all of the Strategies for an easy A+ and avoid taking too much damage from Ifrit - if you enter an Undying State, reload your save and try again as your Damage Incurred will be too high for this early stage. To easily take him down, warp to him with (without holding ) and just stay airborne attacking and moving, using dodge whenever he attacks you, in order to avoid taking too much damage.
After taking down the first Sector, the first thing you should do is to find the nearest Hat Store and buy a Safety Helmet. This will greatly reduce your damage in all battles and give you an easier time of it. You can also stock up on consumables, namely Muscle Stimulants/Flesh Fortifiers to increase your Strength/Defence respectively during each battle. Ethers may also be useful if you wish to use Royal Retribution regularly after unlocking the Spectral Charge ability. If you need more ¥en, simply gather some items shown on the Map after you complete each sector, and sell them to the vendors.
After this, complete each Sector Battle, saving in between each, resetting if you take too much damage (time isn't as important if you follow the tip for building score below). To easily take down each of these battles, use a Muscle Stimulant and Flesh Fortifier at the start of each battle, then move around whilst holding , avoiding damage as you do, and summon Ifrit as soon as he's available. You may also want to go for a Combo score during one of these battles, or you can leave it until later.
Once all Sectors have been taken over, save again and head to the marked area where you will be ambushed. Use this opportunity to get a 400+ combo if you haven't already, then save again after you've finished if you didn't take too much damage. At this point, you want to build up your score to your desired level (920k if you want an A rank for Total Score, though go a little higher to make sure you have enough kills and daemonifications, or 1.42mill if you want an A+). Going for an A Rank in Total Score will cut down your real-world time spent on this trophy, whilst also reducing the Damage Incurred and Battle Time, improving your ranks in both of those criteria. Therefore, if you are confident your Damage Incurred will be at least an A rank, you may want to consider just aiming for an A rank on Total Score as well.
To get to your desired Total Score, you can go around the city heading for each marked enemy location on your map, destroying any propaganda on your way, or if you want a really simple method that takes slightly longer but guarantees no damage, minimal battle time additions and a lot of daemonifications, simply walk around on the ground level, destroying any propaganda as you go and wait until Crownsguard enemies ambush you. These battles last seconds if you properly time your QTE prompt to knock them all down then immediately follow by daemonifying them all with .
Once your score is at the desired level, go stock up on Ethers (and make sure you have at least two Muscle Stimulants and Flesh Fortifiers) then save outside the gates to the final boss battles and head in.
