House Of Ashes: How to Save Everyone (Best Ending Guide)

The relationships you form in The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes may determine what ending you get and who you can save from the story's events. Keeping everyone alive can be quite difficult with all the quick-time events and important choices you have to make. Several significant events may lead to a character's death, so your decisions need to be carefully planned ahead of time.

You take control of five unique characters throughout the game, who each have complex relationships with each other that can evolve based on your choices. As they get trapped in a Sumerian Temple, they'll have to work together to survive the dangers within. Special premonitions in House of Ashes may give you clues to avoid dangerous choices or situations, but these can be hard to decipher.

Related The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes Review - An Enjoyable Tale House of Ashes is the most bombastic entry in The Dark Pictures Anthology so far, providing an exciting action horror adventure with lots of charm.

How to Save Everyone (Steps 1 - 5)

Form Strong Connections Between Characters

To get the best ending in House of Ashes, you need to strengthen the relationships between characters at every opportunity during your playthrough. The first steps you should take should be to establish positive connections between characters rather than adversity. For example, choosing the kind, honest, or hopeful dialogue options early will help you foster strong bonds and unlock new choices later in the story.

There are over 60 unique deaths in House of Ashes, making it hard to keep everyone alive despite the game showing some leniency with failed quick-time events that have little impact. The following choices should be your first steps toward rescuing each character:

Step Correct Choice(s) Air Support At the beginning of the story, Eric should call in air support as suggested by Jason for added safety. Doing this can help kill the creatures near the end of the story and protect survivors. The Farmer Do not shoot the farmer as Jason when the facility is raided. This prevents Salim from shooting Jason later and allows them to help each other in House of Ashes through a stronger bond. Merwin Merwin is a non-playable character you need to keep alive throughout the story. Fail Nick's quick-time event when Jason is giving Merwin morphine and take the safe route when escaping the monsters so that this character can survive and call in air support later. The Rope When Dar is chasing Rachel and Eric, choose to let Rachel fall when holding on to the rope. Eric holding on will cause both characters to fall and for Eric to die, while letting Rachel go lets her survive the fall and move on. Salim's QTE While Salim is running from the monster, complete the quick-time event. This causes Salim to learn about the creature's weakness to sunlight, which will open up new options later.

How To Save Everyone (Steps 6 - 10)

Be Supportive, Not Combative

As you can see in the above video by YouTube creator 100% Guides, the next steps you must take to save everyone are determined by how you dictate character interactions. Despite the dire situation of the story, you can form supportive relationships that unlock new choices if you stay calm. This process acts similarly to how you keep everyone alive in A Little Hope and other games from The Dark Pictures Anthology.

The next steps you need to take as the story continues are:

Step Correct Choice(s) Medical Kit Nick will hear Joey crying out at one point, but you need to send Jason to watch Merwin and bring Eric to look for Joey. While you search for Joey, walk down the darker path to your left to find the medical kit. This item lets you heal Salim before entering the vault, allowing him to save Nick later. Nick and Salim Strengthen the bond between Nick and Salim by choosing supportive dialogue options when Salim is explaining info about the monster to Nick. Sneak By The Monster Succeed on many quick-time events as you are sneaking past the monster later in the story. Clarice When Clarice meets up with Rachel, be emotionally supportive to her as she explains that the creatures implanted a parasite within her. Despite her impending transformation, have Rachel tell Clarice she isn't looking well later. Rachel must abandon Clarice so that she doesn't kill Eric, but you need to succeed at a QTE event to save Rachel and Eric when Clarice shows up as a monster. The Stake When Nick and Jason enter the chamber from the prologue, have Jason grab a stake from a body to the right of the area's entrance. This allows him to defend himself against Joey.

How To Save Everyone (Final Steps)

Make Your Last Choices Count

Like many games in The Dark Pictures Anthology, the culmination of your choices will boil down to the last hour or two of the story, where chaos erupts in a desperate final sequence. House of Ashes takes this to an extreme, forcing you into scenarios where you have to act fast to get the best results. Stay patient and ready for anything as you tackle these last few steps:

Step Correct Choice(s) Machine Gun Rachel needs to stay behind and shoot the machine gun when the opportunity arises. A successful QTE will give the team time to escape as they recall the location of the mines in the catacombs. Crucifix When Kurum approaches Nick in the Assault, you should choose to pick up the Crucifix, not the rifle, when facing off against him. Salim's Shot Salim has a chance during the Assault to shoot the monster coming after him or the one attacking Rachel. Keep Rachel alive by shooting the creature attacking her. Saving Eric When playing as Rachel, choose to save Eric instead of retreating during the Assault to rescue him. The White Phosphorus As Rachel raises her knife to slash the white phosphorus, choose to wait out the QTE and do nothing instead. This act of desperation has untold consequences, so it's best to just wait it out. Going Back For Salim While playing as Jason, go back for Salim as he calls for help on the radio. Both can survive if you succeed on a QTE during the rescue attempt, but Salim will die if you don't go back for him. The Final Stand During the last mission, succeed on a QTE for each playable character. Failing any one of these will result in that character's death, so you need to pass every check.

Completing each sequence correctly during The Final Stand will allow everyone to live following the events of the game. Finishing the story with every character alive unlocks "The Golden Path" trophy/achievement, a rare testament to the relationships you made. Following a plan and listening to premonitions will give you the best chance to save everyone in The Dark Picture Anthology: House of Ashes.

Source: 100% Guides/YouTube