Why can't I get credit for some of the Kerrigan achievements in the HotS campaign?

I've gotten most of the different achievements from the Kerrigan sub-group of the Heart of the Swarm campaign achievements, the ones for using the various abilities Kerrigan gets. But some of the ones I haven't gotten are for some of the first achievements you get.

At first I couldn't figure out why, then I looked at the achievements, recorded their progress, used the associated abilities a lot in a mission, then checked them again. No change. So I tried swapping to some other abilities for a mission or two then swapping back. Nothing. I finished the campaign and tried using them in the Master Archives. No progress. I gave up and restarted the campaign from the beginning. Still no progress.

Is there anything else I can try? Has Blizzard said anything about this issue?

Edit: Oops, forgot to mention the specific achievements. The ones that won't update for me are Smoking Corpses, Get a Grip, and So Many Banelings!


In several threads (1, 2, 3) on B.net Tech Support forums, people say that those achievements have to be done in a single mission. Blizzard has acknowledged this as a bug too.

Affected achievements include everything from Swarm Campaign / Kerrigan category that requires to use X skill Y times.

  • Smoking Corpses - kill 50 units/structures with Kinetic Blast
  • Leaping Death - deal 15000 damage with Leaping Strike
  • Get a Grip - hit 150 enemies with Crushing Grip
  • Unchained - deal 5000 damage with Chain Reaction
  • Shifted Priorities - deal 5000 damage with Psionic Shift
  • So Many Banelings! - kill 100 units with Spawn Banelings
  • Worker Rush - morph 36 pairs of Twin Drones

The following achievements I personally did not have problems with, and they may be cumulative over missions. If anyone can confirm, please do.

  • Endless Swarm - reconstitute 500 zerglings
  • Where The Wild Things Are - hit 100 units with Wild Mutation
  • Surprise! - kill 100 units with Infest Broodlings active

The rest of Kerrigan achievements directly state the requirement "in a single mission".


Blizzard had the achievement system down for a bit the day of the release. For whole campaign things (example, level 80) must be done again in a brand new campaign.

In just a one level/game achievement you should be able to get it.