In reality, if it weren't for an announcement from Sony that the Uncharted 3 Multiplayer servers are due to close in early September 2019, then this would have more than likely continued. However, the suddenly limited opportunity to grab these trophies has prompted some immediate action to be taken regarding the completion of this DLC set. So, here we are.
Just like all Uncharted 3 DLC packs, this is more of a top-up than anything else. There are 3 new character skins added to be used in-game, and a Prelude co-operative level to complete called Fort.
The package also adds 10 new trophies, following a similar template to the rest of the Uncharted 3 content. All geared towards the game's Multiplayer, there is a nice mix of competitive wins required, acquisition of certain volumes of in-game medals and the crown jewel of the set, the collectible treasures from the Artifact treasure set.
The majority of the trophies within this DLC are simply in-game medal accumulation tasks, and will come naturally over time. In reality, the treasures are what this package ultimately comes down to. Not just for this specific set of DLC trophies, but also for those who aspire to full completion. That's not to say there aren't other challenges along the way, but get ready for a strong task at hand if you're looking to complete this package;
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| Team Player - Win 50 matches of Team Objective Hoarder - Complete the Artifact Treasure Set |
The "Team Player" trophy, awarded for winning 50 matches of Team Objective, is the obligatory win based objective for this list (every DLC pack requires you to win 50 games of something). Team Objective is one of the more exciting game modes within Uncharted 3, where a series of objectives will pop up on a rotational basis, and you have to win that objective to score a point for your team. This continues on a first to 3 basis, and the rotation includes modes such as King of the Hill, Turf War and Chain Reaction.
50 wins is a heavy demand, but games generally are nowhere near as long as Plunder can be, and these trophies lend themselves well to the slew of in-game medal trophies that accompany these DLC packs, so even when you lose matches along the way, which you inevitably will, it never feels like a waste of time. This will take you somewhere in the region 25-30 hours alone, accounting for possibility of defeats en route to 50 victories.
The "Hoarder" trophy, awarded for completing the Artifact Treasure Set, is where the challenge of this package spikes heavily.
The treasure sets were not a new addition to the game via this DLC offering. They already existed as part of the base game. So, it may well have been the case you had already made progress towards this trophy without even realising it. The Artifact Treasure Set is the larger of the 2 sets (with the Antiquity Treasure Set being the other), at 22 sets containing a cumulative total of 58 treasures. The achievement of these are all spread over the various components of Uncharted's Multiplayer, including Co-op adventure, Co-op Arena and Competitive Team Deathmatch/Objective and Plunder.
This trophy is the solitary reason for the 2 and a half year gap since the completion of the Co-op Shade Survival Mode pack back in February 2017. The acquisition of treasures is completely random, and there is absolutely no way this can be influenced by the player whatsoever. The sets are checklisted, and the game will tell you which component of the wider game you can obtain each treasure from within, but that's about as much help as you'll get.
Otherwise, it's merely a case of loading up said game modes and hoping you'll get the treasures you need from killing opponents/enemies in-game. The biggest barrier to completion here is the fact that treasure drops will constantly duplicate, which eventually turns this trophy into a needle in a haystack task once you get down to the final handful of treasures you still require. You'll need to absolutely plow the hours into this, and the level of dedication required to persevere with farming these treasures is extremely high. You'll also need to be mentally prepared to go through prolonged periods of time picking up duplicate treasures as your list gets smaller and you find yourself only needing the last few. It has a very, "so close yet so far" feel to it, and can be easily demotivating when you're not seeing any signs of progress.
The key is to just stick at it. That's really the only piece of advice you can give, for a trophy which is without question the most challenging luck based trophy I've ever unlocked. There are a few recommended methods which can prove to be formulas for success, but for me, exclusively playing Hunter Arena will net the majority of the treasures with higher success rates, especially the last listed treasure in each set, which is considered "rare". It is also important to note that, you'll also need to be prepared to play through the 5 adventure chapters on the grueling Hard/Crushing difficulty too, which is another challenge within itself, as 13 of the 58 treasures are exclusively granted from level bosses within these chapters when only playing on these 2 difficulty levels. Just in case you needed another degree of challenge here.
A timescale is hard to nail down, both from a personal perspective, and an overall perspective. When I eventually came back to tackle this trophy when the date for the server closure was announced, and assessed my situation properly, I actually only needed 23 treasures across both the Artifact and Antiquity Treasure sets, but even then, it took me a solid 2 and a half weeks of exclusively playing Uncharted 3 to obtain every treasure, and some days I was easily playing for as long as almost 10 hours a day, which is well over my normal average, not to mention extremely tedious at times.
To add some level of perspective, my chosen method was to farm Hunter Arena, which on average will see you earn around 3/4 treasures per game, with each game lasting 24 minutes in total (4 rounds of 6 minutes each), with no guarantee you'll get any new treasures. It's also important to note that, you'll only be active for 2 rounds, as you'll share with your opponent who will also have their turn at farming treasures for the other 2 rounds, whilst you sit back and await your next turn. Along with whatever progress I managed to make prior to my lengthy break from this game, it wouldn't surprise me if the treasures alone took me around 60-70 hours, but even that would be a very loose bottom end estimate.
It's ultimately the fear of the unknown that gets to you. There's always that niggling doubt in the back of your mind that you'll be one of these people that spends 30+ hours on that final treasure, which is only ever a concern that's alleviated once you actually have it and if you can see this one through to the end, that final treasure is hugely satisfying. I certainly consider this DLC pack to be an excellent scalp to add to the collection. You can read up on the challenges the treasure sets have posed for other people, and some have even given up entirely. Whilst I never felt like I was ever at the point of quitting, I was absolutely glad it was over, and this package takes pride and place towards the top end of my collection.
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