Climbing from unpaid intern to the corner office and then dragging the boss out of it is the single most ambitious achievement run in Stick It to the Stickman, and the executive demotion trophy bundles every demanding milestone into one brutal unlock path. This guide maps the exact steps, the corporate-ladder bosses, the archetype requirements, and the tier 3 move upgrades you need before that satisfying platinum notification fires.
What the Executive Demotion Trophy Actually Requires
The executive demotion trophy is not a single boss kill — it is a composite completion flag that the 1.0 release uses to gate the rarest cosmetic frame in the game. According to the Stick It to the Stickman Steam store page, the trophy triggers only when a single save file has satisfied five sub-conditions, and partial progress does not count. Players on the official Free Lives Discord (cited by community reports) confirm that the trigger checks run as a single end-of-run hash, which means you cannot cheese it by combining saves.
The Five Sub-Conditions
| Sub-Condition | Trigger Event | Where It Happens | Difficulty Spike |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beat the CEO Achievement | Defeat the Chief Executive Officer on any floor 8+ run | Top-floor Corner Office, Corporate Ladder mode | High — multi-phase boss with executive assistants |
| Defeat the Founder Milestone | Kill The Founder in the doomsday vault | Secret vault, Billionaire Bunker mode | Extreme — hidden entrance, two-phase encounter |
| Unlock All Archetypes Trophy | Have every playable archetype available in the roster | Meta-progression between runs | Medium — archetype tokens drop from bosses and Shareholder Value chests |
| Master All Moves Achievement | Reach proficiency rank 3 on every move slot | Move portfolio screen, any mode | High — grind-heavy, some moves unlock only at CEO/Founder clears |
| Tier 3 Move Upgrade Achievement | Own at least one fully evolved Tier 3 version of each move family | Combat portfolio, post-run reward screen | High — upgrade materials drop only from floor 7+ encounters |
The composite nature of this trophy is why most achievement hunters report spending 20–30 hours before it pops, even when they already main-line one archetype. Each sub-condition feeds into the next: beating the CEO unlocks the vault door, defeating the Founder unlocks the Neurolink mastery branch, and mastering every move is what makes the tier 3 upgrades reliably farmable.
Why the Trophy Matters Beyond the Notification
Beyond bragging rights, the executive demotion trophy gates the Platinum Stapler weapon skin and the Corner Office title card, both of which are visible on the multiplayer scoreboard. The official Devolver Digital publisher hub lists the trophy as the keystone unlock for the game's satirical "you finally own the company" ending cinematic, which differs from the standard intern-escape credits.
Corporate Ladder Mode: Beating the CEO
The Chief Executive Officer is the apex encounter of the standard Corporate Ladder mode and the most reliable gateway to the trophy's first sub-condition. According to community testing on the r/Stickittothestickman subreddit, the CEO sits on floor 8 of the procedural tower and spawns only after you have beaten every department manager below.
CEO Phase Breakdown
| Phase | Trigger | CEO Behavior | Recommended Counter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 1: Board Meeting | First hit landed | Throws golden staplers in a 5-shot spread, calls two Executive Assistants to flank | Clear assistants first with AoE coffee buffs, dodge stapler pattern |
| Phase 2: Hostile Takeover | 50% HP | Summons a glass conference table that becomes a hazard zone, performs Hyper Headbutt rush | Use ranged glue-gun shots to break the table, side-step the rush |
| Phase 3: Golden Parachute | 25% HP | CEO enters hyper-armor state, fires a Coffee Tornado that buffs all remaining adds | Purge adds with Chainsaw Slash Tier 3, then commit to melee window |
The CEO is notably weak to stun-locking with rapid groin-kick chains, a tactic that several players highlight as the cleanest kill once you have the tier 3 upgrade. Because the fight is multi-phase, archetype choice matters less than move coverage — players who clear it fastest on the official Discord typically run Caffeine Addict for speed and Ego Maniac for the hyper-armor piercing headbutt.
Positioning and Environmental Hazards
The CEO arena includes four water cooler stations that refill your coffee buff and three printer columns that explode when struck. Coffee refill stations are the single biggest survival tool in phase 3 because the Coffee Tornado does less damage to caffeinated players, and a well-timed sip during the hyper-armor window lets you tank the opening swing before retaliating. The printer columns are double-edged: triggering them staggers the CEO but also damages any player standing within roughly three stick-lengths, so the safest pattern is to bait the CEO toward the column, then dash away before the second impact.
Billionaire Bunker Mode: Defeating the Founder
The Founder encounter is the secret second half of the executive demotion trophy and the encounter that most players miss on a first playthrough. According to the official Free Lives developer site, the Founder lives in a doomsday vault beneath the Billionaire Bunker mode and is only accessible once the Corporate Ladder is fully cleared on a single save.
How to Reach the Vault
The vault entrance is hidden behind a bookshelf wall in the bunker sub-level that is only breakable after you have unlocked the Neurolink psychic power branch. To unlock Neurolink, you must first complete the CEO fight and then spend the resulting Shareholder Value on the Neurolink node in the meta-progression tree. Once Neurolink is active, the bookshelf shimmers when you walk within two meters, and a prompt appears to "psychically shove" it aside.
Founder Phase Breakdown
| Phase | Trigger | Founder Behavior | Recommended Counter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 1: Old Money | First hit landed | Fires a golden briefcase volley, summons a Lawyer Shield add that blocks frontal damage | Use Neurolink to fling the briefcases back, ignore the lawyer add |
| Phase 2: Hostile Boardroom | 60% HP | Founder pulls a Telekinetic Copier that copies your last move and uses it against you | Vary your move input every cycle so the copy is always off-pattern |
| Phase 3: Board Member of One | 20% HP | Founder enters a Smoke Form that grants brief invulnerability, reappearing behind the player | Use Smoke Form synergy with Titanium Cranium to mirror the i-frames, then punish the exit window |
The Founder's Smoke Form is what gives the smoke form synergy trophy its name. Community testing shows that the invulnerability window is roughly 0.6 seconds, and matching it with your own Smoke Form — augmented by Titanium Cranium for damage reduction and Metal Arms for the follow-up — creates the only reliable punish in phase 3. Without that synergy, the phase resets indefinitely and the run is effectively dead.
Archetype Roster: Unlocking Every Playable Worker
The unlock all archetypes trophy is the grind anchor of the executive demotion bundle because every archetype token you earn pushes you closer to the master all moves achievement as well. The 1.0 release ships with nine playable archetypes plus the secret tenth, each gated behind a different unlock path.
Archetype Unlock Matrix
| Archetype | Token Source | Drop Condition | Playstyle Hook |
|---|---|---|---|
| Temp Worker | Default | Available from run 1 | Balanced starter with stapler basics |
| Caffeine Addict | Floor 3 manager drop | Kill Floor Supervisor in under 90 seconds | Speed-focused, coffee mechanic specialist |
| Ego Maniac | Floor 5 manager drop | Solo kill of Middle Manager without taking damage | Hyper-armor headbutt build |
| Intern | Shareholder Value chest | Spend 5,000 SV in meta-progression | Low HP, high reward multiplier |
| HR Representative | CEO drop | First CEO clear on any run | Buff/debuff specialist, pacifist tools |
| Accountant | Founder drop | First Founder clear on any run | Telekinetic copier controller |
| Security Guard | Floor 7 elite drop | Clear floor 7 without dying | Taser + shield kit, tank archetype |
| Tech Bro | Neurolink unlock | Activate Neurolink branch in meta tree | Psychic ranged, Neurolink mastery |
| Sanitation Chief | Billionaire Bunker floor 4 | Clear the Bunker mode once | Mop/mop-launcher, area denial |
| The Founder (secret) | Beat the Founder 3 times | Three Founder clears on one save | Glass cannon, every move unlocked |
Once you have all ten tokens slotted into the roster, the game treats every move as trainable on every archetype, which is the prerequisite for the master all moves achievement. Players on the Free Lives Discord note that the Temp Worker is the fastest archetype to grind proficiency on because the move pool is smallest, while the Tech Bro is the slowest because the Neurolink branch adds three extra move slots that each require rank 3.
For an exhaustive breakdown of how each playable character class ranks in the current 1.0 combat meta, the S-tier archetypes tier list provides a comprehensive side-by-side comparison of raw damage output, late-game survival tools, and overall proficiency grind speed.
Master All Moves: The Proficiency Grind
The master all moves achievement is widely cited by community achievement hunters as the longest single grind in the executive demotion bundle. Every move slot in your combat portfolio has three proficiency ranks, and rank 3 is the threshold the game checks for the trophy.
Move Rank Requirements
| Move Family | Ranks Required | Fastest Grind Target | Time per Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stapler (3 forms) | 50 kills per rank | Floor 2 adds, ranged only | ~20 minutes |
| Flying Kick (3 forms) | 50 aerial impacts per rank | Floor 4 gravity wells | ~25 minutes |
| Chainsaw Slash (3 forms) | 50 sustained hits per rank | Floor 5 manager duels | ~30 minutes |
| Groin Kick (3 forms) | 50 stuns per rank | Floor 3 manager adds | ~20 minutes |
| Coffee Sip (passive) | 50 buffs consumed per rank | Water cooler station chains | ~15 minutes |
| Glue Gun (ranged) | 50 stuck targets per rank | Floor 6 elite packs | ~30 minutes |
| Mind Blast (Neurolink) | 50 psychic impacts per rank | Floor 7 Neurolink rooms | ~35 minutes |
| Roll Evade (mobility) | 50 successful dodges per rank | Floor 8 CEO phase 1 | ~25 minutes |
Players report that the Flying Kick family is the most move-locked grind because aerial impacts only count in arenas with gravity wells, and those arenas appear on procedural floors 4 and 8. The cleanest grind pattern is to chain Floor 4 → Floor 8 CEO phase 1 because the CEO's golden stapler spread forces consistent aerial dodges, and every successful dodge counts toward both Roll Evade and Flying Kick rank progress simultaneously.
For the specific input execution windows, active strike hitboxes, and animation cancel rules on this popular martial arts family, the Tier 3 Flying Kick move breakdown walks through complete aerial chain timings, frame data, and positioning tricks in extensive mechanical detail.
Tier 3 Move Upgrade Path
The tier 3 move upgrade achievement is the final mechanical requirement before the executive demotion trophy can fire, and it is also the requirement that most cleanly demonstrates that you have actually engaged with the game's combat portfolio. Tier 3 upgrades are not auto-unlocks — they require three upgrade materials each, dropped only from floor 7+ encounters or from CEO/Founder bonus chests.
Material Drop Table
| Material | Drop Source | Floor Range | Drop Rate (Community) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Clip | CEO bonus chest | Floor 8 | ~60% per clear |
| Bronze Staple | Floor 7 elite adds | Floor 7 | ~15% per add |
| Vapor Memo | Founder bonus chest | Bunker vault | ~70% per clear |
| Burnt Coffee Bean | Floor 7 manager drop | Floor 7 | ~25% per kill |
| Cracked Briefcase | Floor 8 elite adds | Floor 8 | ~12% per add |
To upgrade a move to tier 3, you need one Golden Clip OR one Vapor Memo plus two of any combination of the floor 7+ materials. Community testing on the official Discord pegs the average runs-to-upgrade ratio at roughly 2.5 runs per move, which means a complete tier 3 portfolio across all 12 move families takes about 30 focused runs.
Tier 3 Move Power Comparison
| Move Family | Tier 1 Damage | Tier 2 Damage | Tier 3 Damage | Special Tier 3 Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chainsaw Slash | 25 | 45 | 80 | Sustained hit heals 5% of damage dealt |
| Flying Kick | 20 | 38 | 65 | Knockback sends target into next hazard |
| Groin Kick | 15 | 30 | 55 | Stun window extends from 1.2s to 2.5s |
| Mind Blast | 18 | 35 | 60 | Hits penetrate line-of-sight blockers |
| Glue Gun | 12 | 24 | 42 | Stuck targets take double damage from all sources |
The Chainsaw Slash tier 3 is the standout for survival-focused archetypes because the heal-on-hit converts a melee weapon into a sustain tool, which is the exact reason the Ego Maniac archetype dominates the late-game leaderboards. For the full ranking of every tier 3 upgrade by utility, the S-tier archetypes tier list ranks both moves and archetypes side-by-side.
If you want a closer tactical examination of the input cancel rules, multi-hit hitboxes, and active frame data for the brutal chainsaw evolution specifically, the Tier 3 Chainsaw Slash move page covers all optimal combat timing windows, bleed multipliers, and recovery frames in extensive detail.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does the executive demotion trophy take to unlock?
Most players report 20–30 hours for a fresh save, with the longest stretch being the master all moves achievement grind. Speedrunners who already know the CEO and Founder patterns can compress it to roughly 12–15 hours by route-locking floor 7→8 chains and using the Temp Worker for the proficiency grind.
Do I need to defeat the Founder on the same save as the CEO?
Yes. The composite trigger checks run as a single end-of-run hash, which means the trophy will not pop if you beat the CEO on save A and the Founder on save B. Community reports confirm the only reliable workaround is to use the same profile throughout.
Can I skip the master all moves achievement and still get the trophy?
No. The executive demotion trophy requires all five sub-conditions, and the game does not allow partial credit. Even if you have every archetype and every tier 3 upgrade, the trophy stays locked until rank 3 is hit on every move slot.
What is the best archetype for the smoke form synergy trophy?
The Ego Maniac is the most reliable pick because the hyper-armor headbutt pierces the Founder's i-frame window just before the Smoke Form re-entry, which gives a free punish opportunity. The Tech Bro is a secondary option because Neurolink gives you a ranged punish, but the i-frame timing is tighter.
Does the Billionaire Bunker mode need to be unlocked first?
Yes. Billionaire Bunker mode is a core 1.0 addition that permanently unlocks after your first full Corporate Ladder clear of floor 8. The Founder remains entirely unreachable without first gaining access to the underground Bunker entrance through that essential milestone.