House of Ashes is a game of choices and consequences. As such, players will have a chance to replay the story multiple times and experience the consequences of different decisions to unlock alternative paths. One of such paths is the golden one, where each survivor is alive at the end.

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There are still many paths that remain unexplored in House of Ashes, but there is a simple way of keeping everyone alive until the end for the best ending. Throughout the story, the Bearings tab will be updated as players make decisions, but not every important decision is marked in the bearings. Here's what to do to keep everyone alive in House of Ashes, and get that perfect ending.

General Advice

Other than making the right decisions, players will face off against various Quick-Time-Events, or QTEs. Being successful during these QTEs is key in keeping people alive, especially during the scenes The Assault, Semper Fi, and Daylight. These three scenes are major QTE checks, as they are the three big battles that take place during the story.

Sometimes, not doing anything or even saying anything is also a valid choice. Choosing not to shoot someone, or even deliberately failing a QTE can be the way forward.

When it comes to dialogue choices, being optimistic, hopeful, and honest when needed are generally the way to go. Players want their characters to be the best versions of themselves. As such, Eric and Rachel should be kind yet honest to one another.

Jason and Salim should be forced to work out their differences by being respectful and kind. Higher relationships guarantee people are more likely to help one another. The two sides of the war should also agree to cooperate.

Bring In Air Support

At the beginning of the story, Eric will hold a briefing to the team concerning their raid on a facility where he believes the chemical weapons are being stored. Jason will ask Eric if they could get air support as an extra safety net. Merwin, however, warns that the enemy will see them easily if air support is present. Eric should choose to bring air support in regardless.

Consequence: Air support will hear the radio distress call. During the final stand, before the eclipse is over, air support will fire at the creatures to help the survivors.

Don't Shoot The Farmer

During the raid on the facility, players will assume control of Jason. After the Iraqi army charges in, Jason is faced with a farmer holding his hands up. Jason has the option to aim and shoot the farmer after telling him to run, or he can choose not to shoot. Despite his personality, it's better to not shoot the innocent farmer.

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Consequence: Salim won't shoot Jason. Jason and Salim will have a chance of becoming friends in the catacombs. Jason will also decide to go back and help Salim even when told that Salim isn't one of them.

Help Merwin Survive

Merwin is the unlikable technician of the team. He's not part of the core five main characters, but he does need to stay alive as long as possible. After falling underground, Jason, Nick, and Clarice will help Merwin down by cutting a wire that holds him hostage. Clarice is abducted by the monsters, but Nick and Jason must escape with Merwin and medicate him.

Make sure to choose to take Merwin with you, and when Jason tried to give him morphine, players should purposely fail the QTE check as Nick to avoid choking him to death. The morphine will kick in and they will be able to escape. Take the safer route, and while in cover, prepare for a heartbeat QTE check.

Consequence: Merwin will fix the radio at the edge of the chasm and the team can call for air support to help them before the final stand.

Cut The Rope

Rachel and Eric's tumultuous relationship is one of the highlights of the game. In general, giving Eric hope is the right approach as Rachel, and being kind to Rachel is the correct approach as Eric. After the pair are chased by Dar, Rachel will fall down and hang by a rope that Eric is struggling to hold. Eric has the choice to either hold on or cut the rope. Not cutting the rope will result in Eric sliding down with Rachel and getting impaled on a rock, while cutting the rope will save Eric. Rachel will also survive the fall, as seen later.

If Merwin is dead at this point, Nick will be able to come and help Eric in time and save him from sliding down when the rope snaps on its own. However, this isn't ideal for the 'perfect' ending. The right option is therefore to cut the rope as Eric since help won't make it to him on time.

Consequence: Eric will survive. Eric will be able to perform an autopsy on the creature and realize UV light is their weakness. Rachel will be able to save Eric using the UV wand during The Assault. Eric will fix the UV wand after it's broken and cure Rachel using the UV wand.

Don't Miss Joey's Medical Kit

After regrouping with Eric, Jason and Nick will hear Joey crying out for help. Players should send Jason to look after Merwin and have Eric and Nick look for Joey. After inspecting a puddle of blood in a large chamber, continue to the other side where two paths appear: one that leads to darkness on the left and one that leads into a cave with a ray of light on the right. Make sure to walk down the dark path first to discover Joey's discarded medical kit.

Consequence: Salim will receive first aid before entering The Vault with the cocoons. Salim is cured and will make it back in time to help save Nick after the explosion.

Leave Clarice Behind

Clarice gets abducted by the monsters early into the game, but after Rachel's fall into the bloody pit, she reappears and helps Rachel escape. The two of them begin a climb up the chasm, but Clarice gets increasingly ill and weak. In the end, Clarice confesses the creature put some sort of parasite inside of her, and that she's turning into one of them.

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Rachel should be supportive and emotional in the first two dialogues. However, once the two of them arrive at the top where Clarice notes they are on the wrong side of the chasm, Rachel should be honest with Clarice and tell her she doesn't look good when asked about medicine. Rachel can then swing to the other side and should throw the rope back to Clarice. Clarice will then question whether she should come or not, to which Rachel should respond 'goodbye, Clarice'.

Consequence: Clarice won't appear during The Assault scene and kill Eric. Clarice will appear at the end and a QTE scene will ensue which allows players to save Eric and Rachel.

Keep The Stake

It's still unclear whether this is a full-on requirement, but it will certainly help Jason's survival against Joey's attack later on, as seen in one of the premonitions. When Jason and Nick enter the catacombs seen at the beginning of the game, inspect the skeletal body of a woman located on the right side of the entrance. Jason should choose to pick up the stake that has been driven through her heart.

Consequence: Jason will be able to stagger Joey after being attacked.

Use The Machine Gun (Or Have Good Memory)

Another moment shown in the premonitions is an explosion of C4 going off. These are the mines that Nick and Jason set up in the catacombs. It's vital that players remember which area they mined, as Nick will have to make the call during an escape sequence to avoid untimely deaths.

Otherwise, when escaping the temple, Rachel can choose to stay behind and shoot with Jason. She will man the old machine gun, and a QTE sequence will start. This is not a necessity, but it will help quite a bit with survival.

Consequence: Rachel will buy the team enough time to escape the temple. The team will correctly remember where the mines were placed inside the catacombs. Even if Rachel doesn't shoot the machine gun, players can still pass this if they remember which side they mined in the pillared hall.

Survive The Assault

This is one of the key fights in the game, which involves a lot of QTEs. Key decisions that will help players through this sequence, and later parts, are:

• Clarice was left behind, therefore Eric will survive.
• Rachel chooses to help Eric, therefore Eric will survive.
• Salim chooses to shoot at the monster attacking Rachel, rather than the one attacking him.
• Nick chooses the cross over the rifle when facing off against Balathu.

Go Back For Salim

This one is a no-brainer, and if Jason and Salim have a high enough relationship, it's ideal. When escaping the underground city structure after blowing up the mountain of cocoons, Jason should decide to go back for Salim when he calls for help on the radio. A QTE sequence will follow.

Consequence: Jason will be able to save Salim, and Salim will save Jason, as shown in the premonition.

Survive The Final Stand

The final stand takes place inside one of the farmhouses. Each character will have their own QTE survival sequence. Players will need to do well here to ensure that their characters don't die just minutes away from surviving the horrors of the night.

House of Ashes was released on October 22, 2021, and is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.

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