You're standing in the middle of the Wasteland, staring at a rusted shipping container, wondering if you've already opened it. We've all been there. Hunting for the Stellar Blade Meticulous Explorer trophy isn't just a test of your combat skills; it's a test of your patience and your ability to spot a tiny flickering light against a backdrop of post-apocalyptic brown and grey. Honestly, it’s one of the most grueling grinds in the game because the tracking is, well, a bit of a nightmare.
If you’re going for the Platinum, this is likely one of the last hurdles standing in your way. To unlock it, you need to collect 200 data bank entries. That sounds easy enough until you realize the game has over 300 possible entries, but they aren't all created equal. Some are sitting right in your path. Others are tucked behind a breakable wall in a corner of Eidos 7 that you haven't visited since the first hour of the game.
What Most People Get Wrong About Meticulous Explorer
The biggest misconception is that you need to find every single document in the game. You don't. The Stellar Blade Meticulous Explorer achievement triggers at 200 entries. This includes "Memory Sticks," "Messages," and "Information." Because there’s a surplus of items—roughly 300+ in total—you have a margin of error. You can miss about a hundred items and still hear that satisfying trophy "pop."
However, don't let that safety net make you lazy.
Some areas in Stellar Blade are "points of no return." If you blast through the story missions without scanning thoroughly, you'll lock yourself out of entire zones like Abyss Levoire or the Spire 4 facility. Once EVE heads to the final act, certain fast travel locations become unavailable. If you’re at 195 entries and you've already triggered the endgame sequence, you’re looking at a New Game Plus run just to find five pieces of paper. That’s a lot of extra work for a digital icon.
The Strategy for Efficiency
Stop running. Seriously. EVE moves fast, and it’s easy to zip past a corpse tucked under a staircase.
The most effective way to hit the target for Stellar Blade Meticulous Explorer is to abuse the Drone Scan. If you haven't upgraded your drone’s scanner range and duration at Lily’s workbench, do that immediately. It is the single most important tool for this trophy. A fully upgraded scanner will highlight interactable objects through walls, making those "hidden" memory sticks in the Matrix 11 sewers much easier to spot.
Focus on the Big Three Hubs
Most of your progress will come from three specific regions. If you clear these out, you’re basically home free.
- Xion: The city is dense. Talk to everyone. Check the back alleys near the Sisters' Junk shop. There are dozens of documents just lying on tables or in trash heaps.
- The Wasteland: This is where the grind gets real. Use the Hoverboard to cover ground, but drop off whenever the drone pings. Check the Altess Levoire entrance area thoroughly.
- The Great Desert: It’s huge and empty, which makes the loot stand out. Look for the ruined buildings buried in the sand.
Memory Sticks and the "Human" Element
The data bank isn't just fluff; it's the game’s primary way of world-building. Each memory stick represents a citizen of Mother Sphere’s world who didn't make it. From a gameplay perspective, they are your bread and butter for the Stellar Blade Meticulous Explorer trophy.
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You’ll find a lot of these on "dead" Naytibas or fallen soldiers. There's a specific set of entries in the flooded sections of Eidos 7 that people often miss because they don't want to deal with the platforming. Go back there once you have the double jump. It makes the vertical exploration significantly less frustrating.
Common Missable Locations
There are a few spots that act as "trophy killers."
Spire 4 is a big one. Because it’s a high-octane linear mission, it’s easy to focus on the combat and forget to check the side rooms in the Orca Space Station. There are several documents in the lounge areas and maintenance halls that you can't go back for later.
Also, pay attention to the bulletin board side quests in Xion. Some documents only spawn or become accessible once you've accepted a specific request. For example, the quest "Recruit Information" leads you directly to data points you might otherwise ignore. If you're ignoring side content, you're making the Stellar Blade Meticulous Explorer journey twice as hard as it needs to be.
Tracking Your Progress
Open your menu. Go to the Data Bank tab.
Check your totals. If you see you’re at 180, you’re in the home stretch. At this point, I’d suggest doing a sweep of the Great Desert. It’s much easier to find the final 20 items in an open desert than it is to hunt for one specific flyer in the neon-soaked streets of Xion where everything blends together.
Remember, "Information" items count too. This includes the passcodes you find written on walls or in journals. Every time you open a locked door using a code you found, you’ve likely just added an entry to your count. It all adds up.
Actionable Steps to Finish the Collection
To wrap this up and get your trophy, follow this specific workflow:
- Upgrade the Drone: Max out the Scanner range. It’s non-negotiable.
- Clear Eidos 7 Early: Do a full sweep once you unlock the Double Jump. Many areas are gated behind this mechanic.
- Talk to Every NPC in Xion: Even the ones without quest markers sometimes have data entries nearby.
- Complete the "Life of the Scavengers" and "Memory in the Doll" Quests: These take you to specific locations with high data concentrations.
- Check the Great Desert Solar Tower: The area around the solar towers in both the Wasteland and the Desert are hotspots for memory sticks.
- Don't Progress to the "Point of No Return": When the game warns you that you can't turn back, stop. That is your final chance to fast travel and mop up any missing data.
By the time you hit the 200 mark, the Stellar Blade Meticulous Explorer trophy will trigger instantly. You don't need to finish the game or reach a checkpoint. Once that notification slides into the corner of your screen, you can breathe a sigh of relief and get back to the actual boss fights.
Focus on the hubs, keep the scanner active, and don't leave a map until you've explored the "dark" corners of the mini-map. The 200 threshold is generous, so as long as you aren't sprinting past every corpse and computer terminal, you'll hit the mark well before the credits roll.