New achievement: One Hit Wonder. Destroy the Core with a single hit, from full hull. 10,000 ions.
This is the hardest achievement in the game — and it’s just barely doable, but only in Orbit. There, the Core’s hull scales with the minute; in a sector, it scales with the wave instead:
| Where | Core hull |
|---|---|
| Orbit, minute 8 | 26,400 |
| Orbit, minute 12 | 31,447 |
| Orbit, minute 20 | 53,583 |
| Sector 50 | 182,457 |
A fully built rail shot lands a crit for around 25,000. So if you’re down there early enough, have built a burst weapon, and secured the wreckage beforehand — without it, the Core’s armor eats 85 % of the damage — you’re within reach. Doing exactly that math is the achievement.
The condition is checked before the damage is subtracted, otherwise there’d be no way to tell afterward whether the hull was still full. The Core doesn’t heal, so its hull only ever falls: a second hit can’t satisfy the condition retroactively. Confirmed: two hits of 60 % each don’t count.
Achievements are now also granted when you quit. In Orbit, the Core doesn’t end the run — it switches you to the next system. Anyone who pulled off something big there and then quit used to only get the achievement on their next death. Earned is earned, no matter how you leave the flight.