The All Collectibles Guide for The Last of Us Part II Remastered: Tips from a No Damage Run

I have spent more hours than I care to count on The Last of Us Part II Remastered. On the surface, it is a brutal story of revenge set in a beautifully ruined Seattle. But for a specific breed of player, it is also a treasure hunt. I recently finished a no damage run on Grounded+ difficulty while grabbing every single collectible, and I want to share what I learned. This all collectibles guide is built from that run, where one wrong step meant starting a whole encounter over. It changed how I see the game, and it might change how you see it too.

Why Bother with Collectibles in a Remaster?

The Last of Us Part II Remastered is not just a visual upgrade. It adds a level of detail that rewards the patient explorer. The developers wove artifacts, notes, and trading cards into the environment so naturally that you might miss half of them on a normal playthrough. On my first run, I collected maybe forty percent of what was out there. I was too focused on survival and story. But when I decided to go for everything, I realized the game tells a second story through its collectible cards, coins, and journals. Each firefly pendant, each training manual, each safe code reveals something about the world or the characters you are chasing or fleeing from.

That is where the idea for this all collectibles guide really took shape. I wanted a single resource that accounted for the quirks of the Remastered version, the new chronological mode, and the tight constraints of a no damage run. Because if you are playing on Grounded+, you cannot afford to wander around looking for a collectible you missed. You need to know exactly where to look, and when to look there.

Understanding the Collectible Ecosystem

The game breaks down into several categories of items, and each has its own logic. You have artifacts of The Last of Us, which are physical objects like the firefly pendants and coins. You have journals and notes that flesh out the backstory. You have training manuals that unlock new abilities. You have safe codes that open locked rooms. And you have the collectible cards and trading cards, which are a whole rabbit hole of their own.

What makes this remaster different is the numbering system. Every collectible now has a clear number in your menu, so you know exactly which ones you are missing. That sounds simple, but it saves hours of guesswork. The old version sometimes left you wondering if you had picked up a specific note or if it was somewhere you had already cleared. Now you can track your progress down to the last item.

The Mandatory and the Missable

Not every collectible is optional. Some are mandatory collectibles that appear in story sequences and cannot be skipped if you want to see the full ending or unlock certain trophies. Others are missable items that disappear if you advance the story past a certain point. The safe codes are a good example. If you do not find them in the right chapter, you cannot go back later and open the safe locations they unlock. The same goes for many training manuals and workbench upgrades. Once you pass a workbench, the upgrade schematic is gone for good.

On a normal playthrough, you can backtrack and sweep through areas you missed. But on Grounded+ with a no damage run, you cannot afford to waste time. You have to plan your route so that you grab everything the first time through each area. This all collectibles guide accounts for that by grouping collectibles by chapter and noting which ones are missable. It also tells you which safe codes you need before you reach the safe locations, so you can open them on your first visit.

How Chronological Mode Changes the Hunt

The Remastered version introduced chronological mode, which reorders the game's chapters into a timeline that matches the story's actual sequence. That sounds like a small change, but it has a big effect on collectible hunting. In the original release, you jumped between Ellie's present-day story and flashback segments with Joel. Chronological mode places those flashbacks where they belong in the timeline, so you play through Seattle in a linear fashion.

For a collector, this is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it means you never have to worry about missing a collectible because you forgot which timeline you were in. On the other hand, it changes the chapter order, so any guide written for the original release becomes harder to follow. You need a guide that accounts for chronological mode, and that is exactly what I built into this resource. Every collectible is listed according to the chronological chapter order, with notes on where each item appears relative to the story events.

Weapons and Upgrades: Not Just for Combat

You might think that workbench upgrades are purely about guns and melee damage. That is partly true. But some upgrades also unlock new paths or make it easier to reach certain collectibles. For example, the upgrade that lets you open heavy doors with the melee weapon can save you time when you are trying to reach a firefly pendant in a side room. And the training manuals that improve your stealth speed help you move through areas faster without alerting enemies, which is critical on a no damage run.

I found that focusing on maximum upgrades early in the game made the later collectible hunts much smoother. The upgrade system is linear enough that you can plan ahead. If you know you want a specific training manual from a specific chapter, you can save your parts and scrap to craft it the moment you find a workbench. That kind of planning separates a casual playthrough from a disciplined all collectibles run.

Safe Codes and Safe Locations

One of the most rewarding parts of the collectible hunt is cracking safes. The game hides safe codes in notes and journals scattered through the environment. The safe locations themselves are usually in locked rooms or behind barriers that require a code. Some codes are easy to find if you are paying attention. Others are hidden in areas you might not explore unless you are specifically looking for them.

On my no damage run, I mapped out every safe code in advance. That way, when I reached a safe location, I could open it immediately without backtracking to find the code. The contents are almost always worth it: rare coins, unique trading cards, or parts for upgrades. The safe in the bank in Hillcrest, for example, contains a coin that is part of a set. Missing that coin means you cannot complete the coin collection for that playthrough.

A Practical Strategy for Grounded+

Playing on Grounded+ means enemies hit harder, supplies are scarcer, and you die in two hits. A no damage run adds the rule that you cannot take any damage at all. That might sound impossible, but it is doable if you combine stealth, timing, and knowledge of enemy patrols. The key is to scout every area before you engage. Use the listen mode to tag enemies and mark their paths. Then find the collectibles in that area before you trigger a fight, if possible. Many artifacts and notes are in safe rooms or corners that enemies do not patrol, so you can grab them while hidden.

For missable items, I recommend checking a guide for each chapter before you finish that chapter's main encounter. Once you clear a major combat section, the game often locks the area behind you. You cannot go back for that firefly pendant you saw on a shelf. So before you move forward, do a quick sweep. The numbering system in the menu makes it easy to see if you missed something. If you are one collectible short in a chapter, it is worth searching a little longer before proceeding.

Final Thoughts from the Trenches

I will not pretend that an all collectibles guide makes the game easy. The Last of Us Part II Remastered is still a challenging and emotionally draining experience. But knowing where every collectible is, and when to grab it, removes the frustration of missing something and having to replay entire sections. For players who want to see everything the game has to offer, especially on Grounded+ with a no damage run, that knowledge is the difference between giving up and finishing strong.

The artifacts of The Last of Us, the trading cards, the coins, the journals, the notes, the firefly pendants - they all tell a story that the main plot only hints at. Taking the time to find them, even when the game is trying its hardest to kill you, is worth it. And if you can do it without taking a single hit, that is its own kind of victory.