In the Vampire Souls-Like Action Game Code Vein, players will eventually make a decision that locks them into one of three possible ending paths. The requirements for each of these paths may not be immediately clear, but this guide will help shine a light on how to reach each of the game's endings.
Each of Code Vein's endings offers different rewards benefiting a player going into new game +, including several Blood Codes that can only be unlocked by reaching the right ending. Players should be aware that this article will contain spoilers for many parts of the game.
Ending 1: "Heirs" - How to Unlock
The "Heirs" ending is one of the easier endings to achieve in Code Vein, as it simply requires you to avoid meeting the requirements for either of the other endings. It is also considered the bad ending of the game, for reasons that become clearer as the game progresses and come into sharp focus at the journey's conclusion.
In order to achieve the "Heirs" ending, players must avoid restoring the memories of any of the Successors they encounter throughout the game. (Details on how to restore their memories can be found in the guide to Ending 2). To do this, players must walk past the stone heir at the end of the post-boss fight memory walk and just leave. This will result in the player absorbing a special blood code from that successor.
Failing to restore a single Successor's memory throughout the entire game will trigger this ending.
Ending 1: "Heirs" - Synopsis and Rewards
By absorbing the relics of the Queen from all of the Successors, the player will ultimately find themself overwhelmed and begin their transformation into the Queen. To prevent this, Louis stabs the player through the heart and kills them. In order to maintain order, Louis will take Silva's place on the throne to maintain the red mist, while the other surviving party members (apart from Io) take the relics and become new Successors. Io is shown resting at the bloodspring from the beginning of the game, where the player's weapon now rests. After a moment, Io turns to ash and dies.
This ending, despite its bleak nature, does offer some useful rewards that can be useful in later playthroughs. First, players will receive the Hades bloodcode (received regardless of ending for defeating the final boss). This is a bloodcode that grants excellent Strength, Dexterity, and Fortitude, making it an excellent choice for anyone wishing to use heavy weapons.
Additionally, as a result of failing to restore the Successor's memories, players will have received all four of the Queen Bloodcodes along the way:
- Queen's Ribcage: A Bloodcode that prioritizes the Willpower and Mind stats and excels at ranged combat using offensive gifts. It grants a number of deadly offensive gifts that can be used to devastate foes at mid-long range.
- Queen's Breath: A Bloodcode that grants large bonuses to the Strength and Mind stats and specializes in using gifts to enhance the player's capabilities in direct combat.
- Queen's Claw: A Bloodcode that grants large bonuses to Dexterity, Willpower, and Strength stats while specializing in battlefield control through the use of gifts.
- Queen's Throat: A Bloodcode that prioritizes the Mind and Willpower stats and excels at gift-based combat. Notably, it grants a buff gift that greatly strengthens the next dark gift used.
These Four Bloodcodes are each obtained after defeating one of the Successor bosses if the player fails to restore their memory. As these can also be obtained by making certain choices during ending 2, there isn't a reward that is unique to this ending.
Ending 2: "To Eternity" - How to Unlock
The ending known as "To Eternity" is also quite a simple ending to unlock, requiring one additional step compared to the "Heirs" ending. In order to achieve this ending, the player must successfully restore the memories of at least one of the Successors after a Successor boss fight. They must not restore all of the Successors, however, as this will result in a different ending (see ending 3 for details).
"To Eternity" is considered the normal ending of the game.
To restore the memories of a Successor, the player must first collect and repair all of the Vestige parts associated with that successor. These are usually found in the zone explored in the lead-up to the boss, and are listed below:
- Successor of the Ribcage: Collect the six Isis Vestige parts in the Cathedral of the Sacred Blood and repair them into Isis Vestiges I, II, & III
- Successor of the Breath: Collect the three Fionn Vestiges and four Vestige parts in the Ridge of Frozen Souls and repair the parts into Fionn Vestiges II & IV.
- Successor of the Claw: Collect Scathach Vestige I and the five Vestige parts in the City of Falling Flame and repair the parts into Scathach Vestiges II, III & IV.
- Successor of the Throat: Collect Harmonia Vestige IV and the five Vestige parts in the Crown of Sand and repair the parts into Harmonia Vestiges I, II, & III.
Collecting all of the completed Vestiges will allow the player to restore a Successor's memories by interacting with their stone form at the end of the memory after the boss fight. Doing this to at least one Successor, but not all four, will allow the player to get the "To Eternity" ending.
Ending 2: "To Eternity" - Synopsis and Rewards
Achieving the "To Eternity" ending will lead to the player taking the throne in Silva's place to maintain the Red Mist. Io lays down next to the unconscious player and turns to stone.
Reaching this ending will unlock the Hades blood code (which is obtained regardless of which ending is reached). meeting the requirements for this ending will result in the player acquiring at least one of the four "Queen's X" blood codes mentioned in the "Heirs" ending section (earned by failing to restore a successor) and at least one of the four blood codes obtained by successfully restoring a successor's memory (see Ending 3 rewards for details on these).
There is no reward that is wholly unique to this ending, as both the "Queen's X" blood codes and the blood codes earned from restoring successors can also be earned in Ending 1 and Ending 3, respectively.
Ending 3: "Dweller in the Dark" (& Ending 4: True "Dweller in the Dark") - How to Unlock
The "Dweller in the Dark" ending is the hardest of the three endings to attain, requiring players to restore the memories of all four Successors in order to reach it. As mentioned before, in order to restore the Successors' memories players will need to acquire all of the Vestiges associated with that Successor, and then interact with the Successor's stone form at the end of the memory after their boss fight.
With every Successor's memory restored, it is now possible to achieve the "Dweller in the Dark" ending.
Achieving Ending 4 requires one additional step, acquiring all of the Eos Vestiges and viewing their memories. An Eos Vestige can be found outside each Successor Crypt after defeating that Successor. The remaining Eos Vestiges can be found at the Provisional Government Outskirts and the Provisional Government Center.
Ending 3: "Dweller in the Dark" (& Ending 4: True "Dweller in the Dark") - Synopsis and Rewards
In the "Dweller in the Dark" ending, the player attempts to take the relics in Silva's body, but Io stops them and instead absorbs all of the relics into herself, including those that are inside Aurora, Karen, Nicola, Emily, Eva, Jack, and the Player. Using these relics, Io becomes a giant bloodspring tree, regularly producing blood beads and maintaining the Red Mist. A single amber blood bead forms, which the player is able to use to open a hole in the Mist that leads to the outside world. If the additional requirements for Ending 4 were met an additional scene will play, where the Player stops, looks back, and says Io's name.
In order to get the achievement "Determiner of Fate" (See all Endings) it is necessary to view Ending 3 & Ending 4 separately, despite them being nearly identical.
There is a unique reward for completing this ending, the "Queen" Blood code. This powerful Blood code grants excellent stats, with Mind and Willpower at A while Strength and Vitality are C+ and Dexterity and Fortitude at C. This stat lineup combined with its high ichor stock makes it perfect for making frequent and effective use of gifts. It also grants gifts dealing high amounts of lightning, fire, and ice damage, along with a pair of projectile attacks, one of which drains ichor.
Additionally, reaching this ending means restoring all four Successors' memories. This means the player will also gain access to the following four blood codes:
- Isis: This Blood code excels in Mind, Willpower, and Dexterity. It grants powerful dark gifts that deal electricity damage, and a passive gift that trades max health for increased Ichor stock.
- Fionn: This Blood code excels in Strength, while also granting a powerful boost to Mind, Vitality, and Fortitude. It grants Gifts that deal Ice Damage, enhance damage dealt with hammers, and strengthen the player's defenses, but has a low Ichor stock.
- Harmonia: This Blood code strengthens Willpower most of all, followed by Mind, and then Vitality, Fortitude, and Dexterity in joint third, while also boasting a high Ichor stock. It grants powerful offensive dark gifts, along with a support gift that allows the player to spend HP to cast Gifts while out of Ichor.
- Scathach: This Blood code is well balanced and leans slightly towards Dexterity and Willpower. It excels at mixing melee combat with gifts, and its gifts deal fire damage in a variety of ways.
There is no reward for achieving the true "Dweller in the Dark" ending aside from the extra scene and progress toward the "Determiner of Fate" achievement.
Code Vein is out now for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.