Trial Ground is one of Grim Trials' key late-game challenge spaces, and two achievements make its goals especially clear: The Untouchable requires completing a Trial Ground run without taking damage, while In Their Final Forms requires completing a Trial Ground run with a Level 3 Mastercrafted Weapon and Gear. The safest way to approach Trial Ground is to treat it as a build-validation mode: prepare your permanent progression first, bring a reliable melee/ranged setup, preserve movement space and learn rooms before attempting the no-hit challenge.
What is Trial Ground in Grim Trials?
Trial Ground is a combat challenge context used by the released game's achievement system. Two separate achievements explicitly require completing a Trial Ground run, which confirms that a full run is a recognized completion unit rather than simply one ordinary room in the story. The achievements also reveal two very different goals: one asks you to demonstrate execution by taking no damage, while the other asks you to demonstrate build progression by bringing Level 3 Mastercrafted equipment through a complete run.
This distinction matters because Trial Ground is best approached after you already understand the normal combat loop. Grim Trials is built around crafted equipment, a persistent Skill Tree and randomized Blessings, while the moment-to-moment fighting combines melee weapons with a crossbow. In a regular run, a slightly inefficient setup may still succeed. In Trial Ground, especially when chasing The Untouchable, every extra attack commitment, awkward dash and unreliable cooldown becomes a source of risk.
Trial Ground vs Kai's Training Ground
Do not confuse Trial Ground with the Training Ground accessed through Kai. Pre-release developer-facing coverage introduced Kai alongside an endless Training Ground where players could test builds, weapons and abilities and practice combat. Its purpose is experimentation and rehearsal. Trial Ground, by contrast, is directly tied to completion achievements in the released game.
A useful mental model is simple: Training Ground is where you learn whether a build feels good; Trial Ground is where you prove that the build actually works. Before attempting a no-hit run, use any available practice environment to learn attack commitment, crossbow timing, dash distance and how quickly you can recover after a missed melee string. That preparation is more valuable than copying a high-damage setup you cannot control consistently.
How to unlock The Untouchable
The Untouchable requires completing a Trial Ground run without taking damage. The wording is strict: it is not a boss-only no-hit requirement and it does not say "finish with full health." Healing after being hit should therefore not be treated as equivalent to a no-damage clear. If you are specifically pursuing the achievement, restart mentally as soon as damage is taken rather than relying on healing to erase the mistake.
The most important preparation is reliability. Favor a build you can execute repeatedly without overcommitting. Use the crossbow to keep pressure on enemies when melee entry is unsafe, and save long melee strings for clearly open windows. The post-launch v1.0.20260829 update reduced obstacles that could interrupt dashes and improved melee telegraphing/tracking, which makes current movement more readable than some older footage, but it does not eliminate positioning mistakes.
For a no-hit attempt, fight from open space whenever possible. Avoid dashing toward arena edges, corners or dense obstacle clusters unless you already know the next safe lane. The biggest difference between a normal clear and a no-hit clear is that "probably safe" is not enough. One unnecessary melee extension can invalidate the entire attempt, so treat damage uptime as secondary to clean positioning.
A practical no-hit Trial Ground plan
Start by separating practice runs from achievement runs. On practice attempts, deliberately watch enemies rather than racing to clear rooms. Learn which attacks force a dash, which can be sidestepped and how long enemies remain vulnerable after their own attacks. Then repeat with your actual intended equipment until the build's rhythm feels automatic.
On the real attempt, enter each room with a conservative opening. Let the enemy pattern reveal itself before using a long commitment. Keep ranged pressure available so that backing away does not mean doing nothing. When the arena becomes crowded, prioritize restoring a clean movement lane over finishing a low-health target. A dead enemy is useful, but a safe route through the room is more important when one hit ends the achievement attempt.
Finally, do not judge your first failed no-hit attempts by clear time. The goal is to remove uncertain decisions one by one. If the same room or attack keeps causing damage, solve that specific interaction in practice rather than repeatedly running the entire challenge and hoping for better luck.
How to unlock In Their Final Forms
In Their Final Forms requires completing a Trial Ground run with a Level 3 Mastercrafted Weapon and Gear. This is one of the clearest released-game references to the Mastercrafted progression ceiling. It also connects Trial Ground directly to the crafting system: the challenge is not only about combat execution, but about preparing sufficiently advanced equipment before entering.
The achievement wording is important. It requires Level 3 Mastercrafted Weapon and Gear, so a partially upgraded loadout should not be assumed to count. Before starting the run, verify the equipment actually displays the required Mastercrafted level rather than relying on rarity color, overall power or an unrelated enhancement system. Grim Trials includes several progression layers—crafting, Gear Enchantment, Skill Tree upgrades and Blessings—and they should not be treated as interchangeable terms.
If your goal is only In Their Final Forms, you do not need to combine it with The Untouchable unless you deliberately want to. Separating the objectives is usually easier: first confirm the Level 3 Mastercrafted equipment requirement with a normal completion, then pursue the no-hit clear using whichever valid build gives you the most control.
Best build priorities for Trial Ground
There is no verified universal "best Trial Ground build," and randomized Blessings make rigid prescriptions especially risky. Instead, optimize around three principles. First, use a melee weapon whose attack commitment you understand. Second, keep a crossbow option that lets you deal damage while creating space. Third, spend persistent resources on Skill Tree and equipment progression that improve consistency rather than building around a single lucky Blessing combination.
For achievement attempts, survivability and control are usually more valuable than theoretical peak damage. A build that clears a room ten seconds slower but rarely puts Avelin in unsafe positions is better suited to The Untouchable than a burst setup requiring repeated close-range commitments. Likewise, a Mastercrafted build should still be tested before the run; high gear level does not automatically make the playstyle comfortable.
Current patch context
Two release updates matter when comparing modern Trial Ground play to older videos. Version v1.0.20260824 adjusted gear values, ranged attack combinations and ranged weapon cooldowns. Version v1.0.20260829 reduced obstacles that interrupted dashes and improved melee attack telegraphing and tracking. Therefore, old pre-launch or launch-week builds should not be copied without checking how their ranged rhythm, gear values and movement assumptions behave now.
Trial Ground video status
A focused current-version Trial Ground walkthrough that clearly demonstrates the full achievement conditions was not found during this verification pass. Rather than embedding a generic trailer or an unrelated boss clip, this page stays text-first until a video clearly shows either a full no-hit Trial Ground run or a Level 3 Mastercrafted completion in the released version.
Trial Ground FAQ
What is The Untouchable achievement?
Complete a Trial Ground run without taking damage.
Can I heal after getting hit and still unlock The Untouchable?
The achievement says "without taking damage," so healing should not be assumed to preserve eligibility. Treat any damage as a failed no-hit attempt unless current in-game testing proves otherwise.
What does In Their Final Forms require?
Complete a Trial Ground run with a Level 3 Mastercrafted Weapon and Gear.
Is Kai's Training Ground the same as Trial Ground?
No. Kai's Training Ground was introduced as an endless practice environment for testing builds and abilities, while Trial Ground is tied directly to released-game challenge achievements.
Should I attempt both Trial Ground achievements at once?
You can, but there is no need to. Completing the Mastercrafted requirement first and practicing separately for the no-hit run reduces unnecessary pressure.
Related Grim Trials guides
Sources & verification
- XboxAchievements — The Untouchable — confirms the no-damage Trial Ground requirement.
- XboxAchievements — In Their Final Forms — confirms the Level 3 Mastercrafted Weapon and Gear requirement.
- Steam achievements — confirms the released PC achievement set.
- TrueTrophies — PlayStation trophy cross-check.
- Grim Trials on Steam — current combat, crafting and progression framework.
- The Magic Rain — documents Kai's endless Training Ground as a build-testing and practice environment.
- Steam Community updates — post-launch gear, ranged, movement and telegraphing changes.
