Key takeaways
- Persistent badges — earned any time, no deadline. These are the ones worth grinding first, since progress is safe.
- Seasonal badges — tied to a limited window, usually 2–4 weeks. These need scheduling, not grinding.
Grace Spread Love Update Badges Guide: Every Unlock Mapped
The fastest way to finish the “Spread Love” badge set is to work outward from the three badges that unlock themselves as you play — presence-based badges — and save the “connection” badges that require other players for a coordinated session. A full set typically runs 8–12 hours of normal play, or roughly 4–5 hours if you target requirements deliberately.
This guide maps what each badge in the Spread Love line asks for, where the requirement triggers, and the order that avoids backtracking. Names are grouped by requirement type rather than listed alphabetically, because the game checks some badges only at specific locations and times.
What Counts as an “Update” Badge
Update badges are awarded in waves: a base set ships with the mode, and later patches append seasonal or event badges to the same tracker. That matters for planning, because event badges often expire. If a badge has a countdown or a season label on its tile, it cannot be earned after that window closes, and progress does not carry into the rerun.
Two categories exist:
- Persistent badges — earned any time, no deadline. These are the ones worth grinding first, since progress is safe.
- Seasonal badges — tied to a limited window, usually 2–4 weeks. These need scheduling, not grinding.
Badge Requirements, Locations and Timing
The table below is the core of the guide. “Trigger point” is where the game registers credit; “timing note” is when the window is actually open.
| Badge | Requirement | Trigger point | Timing note | Est. time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Light | Complete the intro route once | Any starting area | Always available | 20–30 min |
| Steady Hand | Finish a route without failing a single check | Any route, no restarts | Always available | 40–60 min |
| Warm Welcome | Greet 10 different players in one session | Social hub only | Hub is busier evenings and weekends | 30 min |
| Long Reach | Send 25 gifts across separate sessions | Any zone | Counts once per session per recipient | 3–4 days |
| Shared Skies | Complete a route with 3+ players present | Co-op zones only | Needs a full party; solo runs give no credit | 45 min |
| Every Corner | Visit all 12 named landmarks | Each landmark’s center point | Two landmarks only open after the mid-game unlock | 2–3 hours |
| Season’s Heart | Event-exclusive: 5 tasks in the holiday rotation | Event zone | Limited window, typically 2–4 weeks | 2 hours |
| Completionist | Hold every other Spread Love badge at once | Tracker auto-checks | Seasonal badges must be active, not expired | — |
One detail the in-game tooltip does not explain: “Long Reach” counts each recipient once per session, not each gift. Sending five gifts to the same player in one sitting advances the counter by one. Spreading gifts across separate logins is genuinely faster than farming them in a single evening.
Unlock Conditions Behind the Scenes
Several badges are gated by progression rather than by skill. Understanding the gates prevents wasted sessions:
- Shared Skies needs a party of three. The matchmaking pool does not backfill for badge credit — an under-filled lobby still runs, but the badge will not tick.
- Every Corner is two-stage. Ten landmarks are open from the start; the remaining two sit behind the mid-game unlock. Attempting a full sweep in the first hour is impossible, not just slow.
- Completionist is retroactive. It checks the tracker the moment the final badge lands, so there is no separate action needed — but an expired seasonal badge breaks the chain.
- Steady Hand is per-route, not per-session. Failing a check and restarting the route is fine; failing a check and continuing with a penalty is not.
The Efficient Completion Order
Do them in this sequence and you avoid roughly a third of the backtracking a random order produces:
- First Light — it completes on its own during a normal intro run. Do not detour for it.
- Every Corner (first ten) — sweep the ten open landmarks on the way through the main route rather than as a separate trip.
- Steady Hand — run a clean route once you know the layout. Attempting it before you know the checks is wasted effort.
- Warm Welcome — social hub, 15 minutes of evening play. The hub population matters more than your actions.
- Long Reach — start it early and let it tick in the background across sessions. It is the only badge with a multi-day floor.
- Every Corner (final two) — after the mid-game unlock, grab the last two landmarks in a single run.
- Shared Skies — schedule this with a party. It is the only badge that fails purely from scheduling.
- Season’s Heart — whenever the event is live. Check the tracker at the start of each season so it never sneaks past you.
- Completionist — auto-awards when everything else is held simultaneously.
Where People Get Stuck
Three failure modes account for most incomplete trackers. First, treating seasonal badges as optional: they are the only items with an expiration, and the Completionist chain depends on them, so the calendar — not playtime — is the binding constraint. Second, farming gifts in bulk: the per-session, per-recipient limit makes bulk gifting nearly useless for Long Reach. Third, running Shared Skies with a two-person party; the badge silently shows no progress, which reads as a bug but is not.
A realistic schedule for a persistent-only run is four to six play sessions spread across a week or two, with the multi-day badge as the pacing item. Add a seasonal window on top and most players finish in the same month they start, provided they begin Long Reach on day one.
FAQ
Do expired seasonal badges block Completionist forever?
No. They block it until the season reruns or a replacement badge occupies the same slot. The tracker only requires the badge slot to be held, not the original event to be active.
Can Long Reach be finished in one long session?
Practically, no. The per-session recipient limit means a single session caps out low. Plan on logging in across at least three separate days.
Is Shared Skies possible with random matchmaking?
Sometimes, but it is unreliable. The party must be three or more at the moment the route completes; joining mid-route may not credit every member. A pre-made party is far more dependable.
Does the mid-game unlock reset landmark visits?
No. Landmarks already visited stay credited. The unlock simply opens the final two to be visited.
