TLOU: What Does Ellie Collect in The Last of Us Games?

Naughty Dog’s masterpiece video game franchise The Last of Us is known for depicting a harrowing struggle for survival in a fungus-induced apocalypse. Much of the game is an intense fight against the zombified Clickers and other human survivors. Playable characters like Ellie, Joel, and even Abby are focused on protecting themselves in the harsh and unforgiving environments.

But fighting isn’t the only way to make it through the days — scavenging is also an important part of navigating the world. And it is a video game, after all. There are plenty of side quests and secrets to discover. So, are there any collectibles in The Last of Us games? Yes, lots!

Across the entire TLOU series, including DLC, there are about 440 discoverable collectibles in all. These items come in several categories depending on which installment you’re playing, and range from world-building, lore-based items to practical upgrades for the playable survivors and their weapons. And of course, for the gaming collectors out there, finding all the items will reward you with fun digital trophies for your game stats. But the collectibles themselves also give insights into the world before it crumbled — including fun and geeky pieces of pop culture that survived the fall of society.

Let’s go searching for all varieties of The Last of Us collectibles — just try not to alert any Clickers on the way.

Artifacts

Artifacts are by far the most plentiful variety of collectible from The Last of Us games. There are a total of 85 in the first installment, 14 in the Left Behind DLC, and 127 in The Last of Us Part 2. Quite simply, artifacts are various pieces of world building material, ranging from notes and posters to plot-relevant objects like Sam’s robot and Riley’s pendant, that can be found scattered throughout each level.

Select additional types of artifacts are required to progress the story, like keycards for various locked locations. Some may describe where loot caches can be found or they’ll show location maps. But on the whole, the majority of artifacts are optional bits of lore that give players no distinct advantages in gameplay. Mostly, they are wonderfully detailed little environmental elements that enhance a player’s overall understanding of the narrative.

Each installment of the series awards a trophy for locating the artifacts, as well as all collectibles, available in the game. The Last of Us Part 2 even has additional trophies for collectibles called the Strange Artifact and the Engraved Ring, so players are encouraged to explore all walls, surfaces, and crevices of the world to discover everything the programmers have hidden.

Firefly Pendants

Firefly pendants appear frequently throughout the first installment of the series as Joel and Ellie search for the militia group. The pendants are similar to dog tags, with the names and identification numbers of various members stamped on them. The front of each bears the Firefly group insignia as well. There are a total of 31 in the game, often found hanging from tall objects or shining on the ground.

The introduction of these pendants was originally intended to be a nod to the treasure hunting of the Uncharted franchise, and Firefly pendants have popped up in Uncharted as Easter eggs in return. Prior to the game’s launch, developer Naughty Dog hosted contests wherein the winners would have their names inscribed on in-game pendants. A total of 24 of the collectible pendants were named this way. Players can earn a trophy called “Look for the Light” for locating all of the objects.

Comic Books

While a real-world series of The Last of Us comics was published by Dark Horse Comics, within the decaying world of the games, Ellie can collect up to 14 issues of a sci-fi adventure series called Savage Starlight in the first installment of the game franchise. Each one of these collectibles is accompanied by a small plot blurb that describes the intergalactic adventures of Dr. Daniela Star, as she travels faster than light and combats hostile aliens known as the Travelers.

Just because these are fictional comics in a video game world doesn’t mean they don’t have some serious publishing pedigree, though. Artist Mike Oeming, known for his work on Powers, Judge Dredd, and more, created the cover art for each Savage Starlight issue. A small Dark Horse Comics logo can be seen on the back of the books too, as a nod to the publisher’s collaboration with Naughty Dog.

But what happens if you collect all the comics in The Last of Us Part 1? Dedicated gamers who find all the floppy copy comics receive an achievement called “Endure and Survive.” Plus, collecting all the comics is a step towards unlocking the achievement called “Scavenger,” awarded for finding all 140 collectibles in The Last of Us Part 1.

Training Manuals

Training manuals are one of the methods of of upgrading crafted items for the playable characters in both primary installments of the franchise. They help improve traits like weapon durability, stealth abilities, effectiveness of incendiary ammunition and healing items, and increasing damage radius on throwables. In the first game, there are 12 different manuals that can be obtained by Joel. In the second, there are four unique manuals for Ellie and four for Abby depending on what chapter you are playing.

There are varied trophies for finding every training manual between the games, and they are required for completing the trophy awarded after all collectibles have been found.

Trading Cards

A fungal zombie apocalypse isn’t going to stop the geeks! Exclusive to The Last of Us Part 2, 48 trading card collectibles are only found and catalogued while Ellie is playable.

These cards are part of the same Savage Starlight franchise from the comics found in the first game, and appear to be part of a larger TCG set called Society of Champions. Each card’s front has a fully illustrated portrait and the back contains details about the featured character such as their moral affiliation, stats such as Brains and Brawn, and character biographies. The card art was created by artist Paul Reinwand and art directors Alex Neonakis and Ashley Swidowski.

Within the Society of Champions collection, the featured characters can be affiliated with one of five factions: The New Dogs, the Society of Champions, SPARK, the Future Alliance, and none/unaffiliated. The Last of Us Part 2 awards players trophies first for finding 5 and then all 48 of the collectible trading cards.

Notable characters in the set include Dr. Daniela Star, the protagonist of Ellie’s Savage Starlight comics, and Doctor Uckmann, named for game developer Neil Druckmann.

Coins

The coin collectibles in The Last of Us Part 2 are only able to be found while Abby Anderson is the playable character. In all, there are 32 unique coins to collect, each representative of one of the 50 state quarters from the U.S. — though these designs vary from the real world coins minted between 1999 and 2008.

Their state-inspired designs are each distinct from their real-world counterparts, save for the traditional George Washington portrait on the face. In the set, no state is represented twice. Players are awarded achievements for finding 5 quarters and all 32 quarters.

It’s nice to know that even the end of society as we know it can’t stop the human spirit from collecting fun, shiny, and geeky objects. Collectors, get ready to scavenge after you defeat all the infected zombies.

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