Nier Automata Endings Guide

Nier Automata Endings Guide

The game gives you five main endings, and getting them all without spending weeks replaying is a pain. I ran through this process twice, once thinking I could just accept whatever showed up and once trying to minimize the grind. The second run saved me maybe six hours. Endings A through D are the ones most people chase. Ending E exists only after you complete certain actions across multiple playthroughs, and the game never explains this clearly enough that a first-time player would guess it. You finish the main story for ending A. From there, you use the message system to find other players' notes. Scanning enough of those messages unlocks ending B, which involves a quick-time-event section where you mash buttons until something happens. The game calls this "helping another player" but it's really just triggering a sequence. Ending C requires you to actually talk to 2B's voice actor in a hidden menu. This takes an existing save file from ending B and a second playthrough. You cannot do this on a brand new save. Ending D is a shooter segment that plays out after you accumulate enough memory data from scanning messages across different files. The game asks for a specific number of scans, and the exact threshold isn't stated anywhere in the tutorial sections.

How the Sequence Actually Works

Here's the practical order I figured out after messing up the first time around. Finish one playthrough and take ending A. Create a second file and replay the game, but skip to the parts leading up to ending B. Scan as many messages as possible during this run. I needed roughly 300 to 400 messages for ending D, though the game itself never tells you the number. The range is loose because some messages give more "memory data" than others depending on how rare they are. After ending B on your second file, load up a third file. Talk to 2B in the main menu before starting. The option only appears once you've completed ending B on a previous file, and it disappears if you start a new playthrough without checking. This triggered ending C for me on the third attempt, which is why I wrote this down. For ending D, keep scanning messages on whatever file you're on. When you hit the required amount, the game forces you into the shooter segment. It's short, maybe twenty minutes, and completely changes what the story is about. People online argue about whether ending D is the "real" ending or just the finale. Both interpretations are correct depending on what you care about.

Ending E and Why It's Different

Ending E doesn't exist in the base game in the way the others do. It requires multiplayer cooperation across multiple accounts. You'll see messages from other players asking for help, and if enough people respond, it unlocks. The game gives you a link to scan after you've finished ending D. This link goes to a dedicated page where you enter codes from other players. It's awkward because the page sometimes loads slowly and the code entry field has a character limit that isn't mentioned anywhere. I found that using a second device to load the page while your main console was still running saved about ten minutes per attempt. The page refreshes inconsistently, and waiting for it on the same system that's running the game causes occasional freezes.

Pitfalls I Ran Into

The biggest issue people hit is forgetting that message scanning has a cap per file. Once you scan too many messages, the game stops registering new ones until you progress far enough in the story to unlock new message clusters. I wasted two hours on my second file thinking scanning wasn't working because I had maxed out the quota for that story chapter. The workaround is simple: keep playing forward instead of standing around scanning. Progress naturally unlocks new message pools. Another problem is the ending C trigger. If you start a new playthrough before talking to 2B on the menu, you lose the option permanently on that file. You have to go back to an earlier save or create a new file. This cost me about four hours on my first run because I didn't read the menus carefully enough.

What This Guide Doesn't Cover

There are a few minor endings tied to side quests and specific choices, but they don't advance the main story structure. The five endings I described are the only ones that matter for completionists. The game also contains a few easter eggs, like the YoRHa logo appearing in certain locations, but those aren't endings in any meaningful sense. If you want to finish everything efficiently, plan for three full playthroughs minimum, plus whatever time you spend scanning messages on whichever file stays active longest. Three playthroughs took me about eighteen hours total across all of them. Ending E depends on community participation and timing, which isn't something you can control directly.