Spoilers, obviously
It’s been quite a week since I first obtained Bloodborne. I’m currently on my fourth playthrough and I’m finding out that I missed quite a bit on my first run. Specifically, there’s multiple endings, one of which involves a cryptic process to even see the actual final boss. It took me over 100 hours to piece it together.
I strongly suggest playing the game the way you want to the first time through, and only resort to this guide if you really are stuck and want to see the extra ending. If you’re so inclined, you’ll also find a breakdown of all three known endings below with spoilers.
[Read this for basic tips, and this for an advanced walkthrough of all the other optional bosses in the game.]
Spoilers below for the video and the text:
You’ll need three umbilical cord items to trigger the ending. To my knowledge, there are four in the game.
- The easiest one to get is from the Wet Nurse boss near the end of the main story. You’ll encounter this boss as part of the normal progression loop.
- You can snag another one from the Old Workshop, by watching this video.
- A third can be obtained from the NPC in the clinic. The first three minutes of this video will show you the route. When you reach the end of the line the NPC should be lying on an operating table, talking about a great deal of pain. Kill the character and grab the cord. If the NPC is not lying on the table do not attack or kill them — come back later after defeating more bosses until they are in the right location and not hostile.
- The last known cord that I can confirm is from another NPC. Find Arianna in the Cathedral Ward and tell her to return to the chapel. Later in the game she will give birth down the ladder behind the lamp — you can get a cord here.
Contrary to what I’ve seen online in the past few days, you do not need the Yharnam Stone from the Chalice Dungeons to trigger the true ending. You only need to consume three cords before you fight the boss in Hunter’s Dream, after defeating the Wet Nurse. Make sure you refuse the final choice.
Here’s how to obtain the other two endings:
All you have to do to initiate the other two endings is either accept the final choice (a cutscene plays) for the first ending, or deny it without consuming the umbilical cords and defeat the boss for the second.
Note that with all three endings the game will automatically start a New Game+ — you have been warned.
