Tenebris Somnia: How to Unlock All Four Endings

Tenebris Somnia has four endings, and each one unlocks a Steam achievement with the same Latin name. You can get two of them from a single playthrough. The other two require a new game, and they only work after you have already finished the first two endings.

Quick answer: Once you have the Aurifer, spare every Relicta ghost for Ending 1 or kill one for Ending 2. In a new game, collect three Iron Crosses for Ending 3, or use the Apartment Key on the lobby door for Ending 4.

Image credit: New Blood Interactive via YouTube/@iampanax

Tenebris Somnia endings and unlock conditions

Ending	Trigger	When it’s decided	Hidden on Steam
1 · SOLVE ET COAGULA	Kill no Relicta ghosts with the Aurifer	Finale, after the Aurifer	No
2 · MAGNUM OPUS	Use the Aurifer to take down one or more Relicta ghosts.	Finale, after the Aurifer	No
3 · VIVUS EX MORTIBUS	Place three Iron Crosses on the 3rd floor	Early puzzles in a new game	Yes
4 · RENUNTIATIO	Apartment Key on the lobby’s front door	First minute of a new game	Yes

Ending 1 is widely viewed as the favorable outcome, while Ending 2 is considered the negative one. You make no dialogue choices or collect any hidden items along the way. The outcome depends entirely on Julia’s use of the Aurifer in Desiderium’s final stretch. To reach Endings 3 and 4, complete Endings 1 and 2 first, then start a fresh save.

The Relicta ghost rule for Solve et Coagula and Magnum Opus

The Aurifer is the knife you forge late in the game. You start with the Lapis Fictus Knife and put it through three treatments, using electricity, mercury, and moonlight. After that, the Relicta ghosts along the finale route change their behavior. They stop attacking and try to run away from Julia. That single change drives the whole choice:

Spare every Relicta ghost and you get Ending 1, Solve et Coagula, with Lacuna as the final boss.
Kill one Relicta ghost with the Aurifer and you get Ending 2, Magnum Opus, with Hermes as the final boss.
Killing more than one ghost doesn’t change the outcome, and a kill can’t be undone in that run.
Killing every Relicta ghost unlocks a separate hidden achievement, Heart of Lead.
You never have to fight the ghosts to progress. They can be avoided entirely.

Before leaving the room, save at the Save Point beside the spot where you complete the Aurifer. That save lets you view both endings without having to replay the rest of the game.

Finale route to Septimo Arte

The route is the same for both endings. The only difference is whether you swing the Aurifer at a ghost along the way.

Exit the Aurifer room through its south door. A Relicta ghost waits in the hotel room and tries to flee rather than attack. For Magnum Opus, hit it here; this is your easiest chance to kill one. For Solve et Coagula, leave it unharmed.

Go through the hotel and make your way back to the apartment building’s stairwell. Climb to Floor 3, ignoring any ghosts if you’re pursuing Ending 1.

From the Floor 3 corridor, exit through the door on your left to reach the street beyond the Bar. Head left along the street to the entrance of the Septimo Arte building. Relicta ghosts can also appear along this route.

In Septimo Arte, follow the corridor to the large door with an unusual symbol and inspect it. Then head back in the direction of the entrance.

Vitria appears and talks to Julia. Finish the conversation to start the final fight. You’ll face Lacuna if you spared every ghost, or Hermes if you killed one.

You can’t use the Aurifer against Lacuna, so bring Revolver and Shotgun ammo into the Solve et Coagula fight. Hermes, by contrast, is finished off with strikes from the Aurifer.

Beating the final boss plays that route’s closing cinematic and unlocks the matching achievement.

How to unlock Vivus Ex Mortibus with the Bible and three Iron Crosses

Vivus Ex Mortibus is the longest of the four. With Endings 1 and 2 done, start a new game. Each Iron Cross comes from a fight you trigger with the Bible before you solve a specific early puzzle the normal way. That timing matters. The first cross is lost for good if you solve the TV puzzle first, because doing so removes the Bible from your inventory with a “YOU’VE LOST BIBLE” message. It hasn’t been confirmed whether the second and third crosses can still be earned after you solve their puzzles normally, so do each one before its matching puzzle.

Once your new game begins, collect the Bible from the glass table in the ground-floor lobby. The pages look blank, but opening the book at each ritual site reveals a sketch that serves as a hint.

Before you solve the TV puzzle, go to the living room of the 2nd-floor apartment and use the Bible. Stand on the Man/Mars (♂) symbol on the rug and run counterclockwise around the symbol circle six times in a row.

Take out the cultists that appear, then collect the first Iron Cross from the floor.

Visit the 1st Floor Community Center and use the Bible on the lock before entering the phone code to open the projector-room padlock. The hint shown is “6 6 6 ?”. Type 6666, defeat the cultists who appear, and collect the second Iron Cross.

Before you go through the door that opens with the Copper Key, enter the green door on Floor 0 and use the Bible in the cinematography room. Connect the yellow RCA cable to the camera on the tripod.

Cycle the camera’s channel switch until enemies appear. Defeat them and collect the third Iron Cross.

On the 3rd floor, take the blue door positioned to the elevator’s left. Place the three Iron Crosses in the poster on the brick wall to the right, then pass through the door it opens.

Beyond that door, you’ll encounter Amy, a secret boss and a character from the FAITH games. Defeating her unlocks Ending 3. The ending card prompts you to check your inventory; when you begin your next new game, a Golden Cross is already there. Julia says this equippable item resembles the priest’s cross. It’s unconfirmed whether Ending 3 alone awards it or if you need to complete all four endings.

How to unlock Renuntiatio at the lobby front door

Renuntiatio takes about a minute. After finishing Endings 1 and 2, start a new game and let the opening dream cutscene play. In the ground-floor lobby, before you take the elevator or move the story forward, open your inventory. Select the Apartment Key and use it on the glass entrance door on the left side of the room. Julia walks away from the building and the credits roll right away, which confirms the ending.

Fastest order to get every Tenebris Somnia ending

One full playthrough plus two short new games covers all four endings.

Play normally until you forge the Aurifer, then save at the nearby Save Point and keep that file.

Spare every Relicta ghost, beat Lacuna, and watch the Solve et Coagula credits.

Reload the Aurifer save, kill one Relicta ghost, beat Hermes, and collect Magnum Opus.

Start a new game and use the Apartment Key on the lobby door right away for Renuntiatio.

Start another new game and do the three Bible fights, each before its matching puzzle, to reach Vivus Ex Mortibus.

Every run also makes you permanently give up three save points during the cursed film canister puzzle. Pick the ones you can live without, especially on the Vivus Ex Mortibus run.

An achievement popping confirms each ending. The 1.0.1 hotfix, released on October 18th, left every ending condition unchanged. It does make the bloody slimes in the final fight appear later and move more slowly. The update also fixes an inventory bug caused by dying during the finale’s second phase, and retries achievements that activate at the same time, such as an ending and Wrench Queen popping together.