Into The Depths Endings Guide: All Finales Explained

Introduction to Endings

Into The Depths offers multiple distinct endings, each reflecting the culmination of your choices, exploration depth, and relationship with the underground world. Unlike linear narrative games, your ending is determined by a combination of key decisions made during your runs, the artifacts you collect, and how you manage your colony's final objective. This guide covers every known ending, the requirements to unlock them, and the consequences of each path. Understanding these endings is crucial for players aiming to experience the full story or achieve specific achievements tied to the game's conclusion.

The Ascension Ending

The Ascension ending is considered the "standard" successful conclusion. To achieve it, you must reach the deepest stable cavern layer, construct the Ascension Beacon, and power it with a full set of rare crystals. This ending emphasizes building a sustainable colony and gradually expanding your influence downward. Key steps include:

• Research the Beacon Technology: Unlock the Ascension Beacon blueprint in the Tech Tree under the "Mystical Engineering" branch.
• Gather 5 Purified Crystals: These are obtained by defeating the Crystal Guardian boss in the Magma Caverns.
• Defend the Beacon: Once activated, you must survive three waves of increasingly difficult shadow creatures.

Upon success, your colony is lifted to the surface, securing a new future for your people. This ending is widely regarded as the "good" ending and unlocks the achievement "New Dawn."

The Abyss Ending

The Abyss ending represents a darker path, where you choose to embrace the depths rather than escape them. This ending is triggered by collecting Void Shards from elite enemies and choosing to merge your colony's core with the Heart of the Abyss. Requirements include:

• Collect 10 Void Shards: These drop from specific elite enemies in the Abyssal Trench biome.
• Refuse the Ascension Quest: When prompted, choose the dialogue option "We belong here."
• Complete the Ritual of Binding: Sacrifice 50% of your current population to stabilize the merger.

This ending transforms your colony into a permanent underground settlement, granting unique passive bonuses but locking you out of surface access. It unlocks the achievement "Children of the Deep."

The Sacrifice Ending

The Sacrifice ending is the most morally complex conclusion. It requires you to destroy the World Seed — a primordial artifact found at the bottom of the map — to seal a dimensional rift. This choice prevents the surface world from being consumed by darkness but results in the collapse of your colony. Steps to achieve this ending:

• Locate the World Seed: Found in the Core Chamber, guarded by the final boss, the Elder Wyrm.
• Obtain the Sealing Key: This key is dropped by the Void Herald, a mini-boss that appears after you have activated at least three altars.
• Initiate the Sealing Ritual: This requires a full inventory of 20 units of Starlight Essence, which is gathered from rare surface meteorite events.

After the ritual, your colony is destroyed, but the surface is saved. This ending is considered the "true" ending by many lore enthusiasts and unlocks the achievement "The Last Light."

Hidden Ending: The Loop

The Loop ending is a secret conclusion that only triggers under very specific conditions. It is tied to the game's Roguelite mechanics and requires you to die in a specific way after achieving certain milestones. To unlock it:

• Complete the Ascension Ending at least once in any previous save.
• Collect all 7 Memory Fragments scattered across different biomes.
• Die to the Void while carrying the Echoing Amulet in your inventory.

Instead of a traditional game over, you will be transported to a mysterious void room where a shadowy figure offers you a choice: "Start anew, but remember." Accepting this resets your entire progression but permanently unlocks a special starting bonus for future runs. This ending is tied to the achievement "Eternal Return."

Ending Comparison and Rewards

Each ending provides unique rewards and affects subsequent playthroughs. Below is a quick comparison of the main endings:

• Ascension: Unlocks the "New Dawn" achievement, grants a permanent +10% colony growth bonus in future runs.
• Abyss: Unlocks the "Children of the Deep" achievement, grants the "Void-Touched" trait, which increases mining speed by 20% but reduces surface resource yields.
• Sacrifice: Unlocks the "The Last Light" achievement, grants the "World Sealer" title, which provides a one-time revive per run.
• Loop: Unlocks the "Eternal Return" achievement, and grants the "Echoing Knowledge" perk, allowing you to start with one random rare technology already researched.

For more details on how to optimize your run for a specific ending, check out our progression system guide and boss guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I change my ending after making a key choice? No, once you commit to a major ending path (e.g., building the Ascension Beacon or starting the Ritual of Binding), you cannot switch to another ending in the same run. Plan your decisions carefully.

Do my colony choices affect the ending? Yes, your colony's morale, population, and resource stockpiles can influence the difficulty of the final stages but do not change which ending is available. Only the key story choices and artifact collections matter.

Is there a "best" ending? There is no single best ending; each offers unique rewards and narrative satisfaction. For completionists, all endings should be experienced at least once. The Sacrifice ending is often praised for its emotional impact, while the Ascension ending is the most straightforward.

Can I get multiple endings in one save file? No, each save file can only reach one ending. To see all endings, you will need to start new runs or use the New Game+ feature after unlocking certain achievements.

For further reading, explore our lore explained guide to understand the deeper story behind each ending.