How to get all endings in one playthrough

A small guide on how to get all Sekiro endings in one playthrough and the point of no return for each ending.

Save file location

Like in all previous Soulsborne games, it's impossible to get different endings by normal means because the game doesn't offer alternative saves for the same playthrough. Lucky for us, this can easily be circumvented on PC by making a backup copy of your save file, so if you don't feel like playing through Sekiro 4 times you can use that to get all possible endings.

The save file for Sekiro is located in:

C:\Users\<your name>\AppData\Roaming\Sekiro\<steam id number>\S0000.sl2

Just make a copy of the file with another name and then copy it back with the original name every time you need to.
Make sure to save & quit to the title screen before making and reloading a backup copy.

Keep in mind that if you're going for all achievements you'll still need to play through NG+ at least once. This only allows you to avoid playing through the game two extra times only to see two different cutscenes at the end.

Point of no return for all endings

There's a point in the game where you're supposed to climb your way to the top of Ashina Castle for a 2nd time. You'll know when this time comes because most of your previous idols in the area will be greyed out.

Once you reach the rooftop, a cutscene will trigger. After the cutscene, a character will be standing there waiting for you to talk to him/her. Make a backup save BEFORE talking to him/her - your choice in this dialogue will already cut out certain endings.

Anything you do before your 2nd trip to Ashina Castle has no impact on the ending, so feel free to explore the world at will!

The next sections include SPOILERS, so don't scroll down unless you're prepared to know what's next.





















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Ending 1 - Immortal Severance

Last chance to get it: None

This is simply the standard ending to the game. After you made the most obvious choice in the dialogue with the Owl (staying loyal to Kuro), simply proceed to beat the game and after beating the final boss choose to give Kuro the Frozen Tears only. You will always have this option available even if you completed the subquests for the alternative endings.

Ending 2 - Shura

Last chance to get it: Before answering to the Owl's question in Ashina Castle

As mentioned in the spoiler-free section, this is the first branching path for Sekiro's endings. You can choose to stay loyal to the Owl instead of Kuro (you'll need to answer this twice); after that, you will have to beat two bosses in a row and once you've done that this ending will be automatically achieved.

Choosing to stay loyal to Kuro and initiating the fight with the Owl will lock you out of this ending, as every time you go back there you will skip straight to the fight.

Ending 3 - Purification

Last chance to get it: Before beating the Divine Dragon*

If you choose to stay loyal to Kuro when speaking with the Owl, you'll have to fight your old master. Once he's beaten, go downstairs at rest at the idol. Emma will now be downstairs in the same room as Kuro. You can hide behind a wall and eavesdrop on Kuro saying she should "do what must be done" (you DON'T need to go eavesdrop on Isshin and Emma for this conversation to happen). Do it then rest at the idol and go speak to Emma (which will have now moved upstairs) about what you overheard. Rest at the idol then talk to Emma once again and she will tell you she will be going to Lady Tomoe's grave. Fast travel to the Old Grave idol in Ashina Castle (or just drop down there) and talk to Emma once again, which will say she will go speak with the "Orangutan" i.e. the sculptor.

After this dialogue is over, fast travel to the Dilapidated Temple idol where you'll find Emma next to the sculptor. Go all the way to the back of the temple until you find a crack in the wall from which it will be possible to eavesdrop on their conversation. Confront Emma once again about what you overheard and she'll end up giving you another bell you can use to teleport to Hirata Estate in the past. This is an alternative version of the Estate with new bosses and new enemies.

You'll start right away at the burning gate where you met the dying Owl the first time, but this time a mini-boss awaits you there. Once beaten, make your way inside the castle like before, beat the mini-boss guarding the door and then go to where you fought Lady Butterfly the first time. Go inside and beat the boss here (you might've already guessed who it is).

Beating the boss will give you an item called the Aromatic Flower. Go talk to Emma at the Dilapidated Temple once again and she'll tell you to present them to Kuro at the right moment. Proceed therefore with the rest of the game and once you've beaten the final boss you'll be given the choice to give the Aromatic Flower to Kuro together with the tears. Do that in order to achieve this ending.


* Emma will stay in the room with Kuro until you eavesdrop on them, so you can start and complete this subquest at any point before killing the Divine Dragon and obtaining its tears. However, you can actually finish the alternative Hirata Estate subquest and obtain the Aromatic Flower after the Divine Dragon as long as you obtained the prayer bell before beating it.

Ending 4 - Return

Last chance to get it: Before beating the Divine Dragon*

This is the ending that requires the most work to unlock. You can't do all of the steps required to get this ending before finishing the Folding Screen Monkeys boss fight and getting to the Inner Sanctum.

Step 1: Gathering all the items

In order to get the final item for this ending you will have to get a certain number of items first. Here's the full list:

• Persimmons. These can be found all throughout Mt. Kongo or be bought at the Memorial Mob near the Shugendo idol for 30 coins. You only need one of them to progress through the quest.
  
• Fresh Serpent Viscera. At the beginning of Mt. Kongo there's a kite guarded by a small hatted man down the cliff. Backstab him and watch him wind the mechanism to keep the kite permanently up in the air (this is what the old rice eating lady alluded to by "winding the puppet"). Now make your way up to where the old woman is and climb on the big tree on the cliffside. At the end of the tree you'll be able to grapple the kite to swing yourself across to the other side. Follow the path down the cliff on the right until you get to a cave with a sculptor's idol. From there you can get back to the Sunken Valley area where the big white serpent will be waiting for you sleeping peacefully on top of a mountain. It's time to finally get your revenge on him! Just drop on him to get a deathblow (Ancient Wyvern anybody?) and once killed the Fresh Serpent Viscera will be yours as well as an achievement for slaying the beast.
  
• Dried Serpent Viscera. Fast travel to the Bodhisattva Valley idol in Sunken Valley. From there, drop down and follow the path through the poison area until you find the Memorial Mob vendor that will tell you not to go through the cave guarded by the serpent. Do it (because you're not smart) and after getting through various poison lizards and jumpscares you'll end in the face of a serpent - yes, there were more than one - guarding a small temple. From there drop down the left side and climb the cliff until you find a scared monkey holding its back. Once again, backstab and use the Puppeteer ninjutsu on it, then go back up the cliff. The monkey will start distracting the serpent, allowing you to grapple safely and run under its body. Past the small hut you will find a statue with the Dried Serpent Viscera. You can then use Homeward Idol to get back or climb up to get back out near the Poison Pool idol in Ashina Depths.
  
• Holy Tome: Infested. If you got to Senpou Temple before beating Genichiro, there will be a monk near the Main Hall idol that drops this item. If you didn't then you will have to beat the Corrupted Monk past Mibu Village first to gain the ability to breathe underwater, then go to the Temple Grounds idol in Mt. Kongo and drop down into the pool with the treasure carps. The tome will be found at the center of the pool (there's also a loose Prayer Bead in the back of the pool!)

Step 2: Getting the child sick

The next step is to get the Divine Child to be sick. If you haven't got the rice before, fast travel to Inner Sanctum and make sure you get the rice from her at least once. Eat the rice, then fast travel to another place and back to the Sanctum (this is in order to make the rice healing effect go away). Ask her for rice once again; once she's given it to you, rest at the idol and you'll now find the child gasping in pain.

If you talk to her she will she would really love to eat persimmons. Give her one of those you have and she'll feel well once again, and will also give you a special rice for Kuro at the same time.
From there on she will give you Fine Snow instead of rice (and some very awkward giggles from her while doing so).

Step 3: Carrying love letters between immortal children

The next thing to do is to go give Kuro the rice the Divine Child "made" for him. Once you've done that, rest at the idol and go talk to him again. Kuro will have made a Sweet Rice Ball with the Divine Child's rice (you can eat it if you want, it has the same effect as a Pellet + Gokan's Sugar). Fast travel back to the Inner Sanctum and tell the Divine Child what Kuro did with her rice, and she will tell you she would want to meet Lord Kuro one day. From here on Kuro will also be able to give you more Sweet Rice Balls.

[Please note that you need to complete this step BEFORE beating the Divine Dragon. After that Kuro will move permanently to the final boss area and you won't be able to feed him rice anymore.]

Step 4: Divine tomes and dragon cradles

Now give Holy Tome: Infested to the Divine Child (you can really do it at any point before this, but nothing will happen until now). Rest at the idol and the Divine Child will have disappeared. You will find her in sitting alone the Hall of Illusions; if you talk to her she will ask for another tome that can be found in the dark cave on the other side of the Main Hall of Senpout Temple. At the end of the cave filled with mini Voldos you'll find a body with the Holy Chapter: Dragon's Return item on it.

Fast travel back to Inner Sanctum and give this tome to the Divine Child which will now be sitting again at her usual place. She will say she needs to eat two fruits from the serpents. Give her the two Visceras from the great serpents and she'll ask you to go away in order to start the process of becoming the "cradle" for the dragon.

Rest at the Inner Sanctum idol and the door will now be closed. Eavesdrop on her definitely not legal panting and rest at the idol once again (note: if you haven't already used the Mortal Blade on Kuro to light the incense burner, go back to his room and do that instead - credits to DarkSlace). Now the door will be open and if you talk to her she will give you the Frozen Tears item.

Now proceed through the game normally and after you beat the final boss you will have the option to give the Frozen Tears to Kuro to trigger the secret ending. You can still give Kuro the regular tears if you want to get the Immortal Severance ending.


* the 3rd step of the subquest requires Kuro to be in his room in order to give him the special rice, hence why this has to be done before killing the dragon and having him move to the final boss arena. As long however as you've done this before finishing Fountainhead Palace, you're able to complete the rest of the quest at any point before finishing the game, including retrieving the two tomes and the two serpent visceras.

[Bokoblin1]

"the cave filled with mini Voldos..."

Man, I haven't thought about Soulcalibur in a LONG time, thanks for the blast from the past!

[SolsticE8108]

gotcha, thx!

[Stationary Traveller]

If you're not save scumming yes, you're gonna need 4 separate playthroughs to get the 4 endings. That's why this guide is explicitly suggesting save scumming.

[SolsticE8108]

been trying to do this without savescumming, got severance on NG, shura on NG+ and did all the steps for purification and return on +2. after i got purification though Kuro isnt in the field anymore for me to use the frozen tears, do i have to go to NG+3 to get it legit?

[Stationary Traveller]

Owl at Ashina Castle is only the end if you choose the Shura ending. If you don't then you can progress and do all the required steps for the other three endings.

[Ronin60]

Excellent guide! I have a question, I have completed all the steps for the Ending 4, Return, but after finding the door closed at the Inner Sanctum, I went to the castle but I am not able to reach Kuro since the Owl is at the top, waiting to trigger the final. Would I need to beat him in order to speak to Kuro, light the incense burner and then return to the Inner Sanctum or that is not possible at all at this stage? Thank you!

[Sir Lunchalot]

Alright, thank you! your guide helped me a lot, well done

[Stationary Traveller]

Yes, after beating the final boss you get the choice between all the available endings.

[Sir Lunchalot]

if I understood it correctly you can decide which ending you want to have (provided you did all the necessary steps)

f.e:
1) Immortal Severance (Frozen Tear)
2) Purification (Frozen Tear + Aromatic Flower)
3) Return ("special" Frozen tear)

Will there be 3 different options to choose from?
Im asking because I dont want to miss a potential save file along the way. I already got the Shura Ending

[Revalopod]

I know noone else does but maybe in the future you might look back and regret how you did things. idk probably not ehhhh