House of Ashes: How to save infected Rachel & get best ending

Rachel is the main character of The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes, and is a core element of the game’s twisted mystery. But how can you save her from dying and get the best ending?

The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes features a variety of interesting characters that you are tasked with keeping alive. That being said, it’s worth mentioning that not all choices are the same – but there are spoilers ahead.

One of these characters in the game is Rachel King, played by High School Musical’s resident mean girl, Ashley Tisdale. While Sharpay’s “queen b**ch” reputation manages to worm its way into House of Ashes, players can’t help but love her – even if she is cheating on her husband.

Wondering how to save Rachel from the twisted world of the House of Ashes? Here’s how to keep her alive whilst also achieving the best ending for the game.

Can you save Rachel in House of Ashes?

As any Dark Pictures Anthology enthusiast knows, during your playthrough you really need to take care of your characters. One wrong step can mean a bloody death, and despite Ashley (and in turn, Rachel) being House of Ashes’ poster child, she’s no different from any of the other characters.

There are several incidents where Rachel can die, or get infected, so you’ll need to navigate through these if you want to keep her alive.

In order to save Rachel and get the best ending in House of Ashes:

1. Cut the Rope: During the sequence where Rachel takes a tumble off the cliff face and you have to choose whether Eric cuts the rope, cut it.
   • You can choose not to cut the rope, meaning Eric dies and Rachel survives and doesn’t get infected. However, this will not result in the best ending.
2. Tell Salim to hide: When Nick and Salim work together to kill the creature (provided you complete all of the instructions,) tell Salim to hide when the rest of the team approaches.
3. Abandon Clarice: Despite saving Rachel in The Pit, Clarice cannot be saved, therefore when you get to the rope crossing abandon her.
4. Let ’em rip: During The Assault chapter, the team is attacked by a host of monsters in the temple. Have Rachel use the machine gun to ward them off.
5. Save Rachel: As the action heats up and the squad is scattered during the assault, Salim will have the option to shoot the creature lunging for him, or the one going for Rachel. Shoot the vampire attacking Rachel and, although she is infected, she won’t die.
6. Don’t use the phosphorus: If you have taken the White Phosphorus explosives, Rachel will try to take her own life when she finds out she is infected. Do not let her, and then stop Jason from shooting her.
7. Survive the final assault: Once the squad gets out of the depths, all things seem to be going well – until the eclipse shows up. Survive the final assault using the prompts on screen and Rachel will survive.

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So that’s how to save Rachel in The Dark Picture Anthology’s House of Ashes. If you’re looking for our take on the installment, be sure to check out our House of Ashes review.