TABLE OF CONTENTS
I am happy to make any corrections if more accurate information is discovered. If you have any comments, you can either post here or e-mail me at: [email protected]
All of the screenshots in this post were taken by me.
1. INTRODUCTION
49 Keys is a novel-style puzzle game with a heavy Lovecraftian theme, some medieval occult elements, and a few religious aspects. There is no RNG, combat, or character building - the game is about exploring the environment, reading through the thematic descriptions, and solving various puzzles. While it is similar to Omen Exito: Plague, has the same publisher, and is often bundled together in Steam deals, the two games were made by completely different development teams.
There are 14 Steam achievements and this guide explains how to unlock each of them. Obviously, there will be SPOILERS involved so tread carefully....
2. THANKS FROM THE TEAM!
Watch the credits to the end.
This achievement can be unlocked before you even start playing the game. The credits take about 2 minutes to roll through them.
3. ISLAND
Complete the island.
Once you use the Axe on the door in the Cave, you can enter the Palace, which will unlock this achievement.
4. VISIONARY
See all the visions triggered by the arcane illness within the palace.
There are three visions you have to see. First, you have to go to the southern chamber on the Third Floor and investigate the Hissing and Bed. This will afflict you with the arcane illness and show the first vision, of a woman on the bed.
After this, a red eye icon will appear in the dining hall on the First Floor, where you will have a vision involving a knight.
The third vision comes after obtaining the Bow from the centaur statue. The first time you attempt to go through the darkness you will be injured. You then have to go to the sleeping quarters in the North on the First Floor where you can search the Chest for some Bandages and use the Knife on them. Then when you return to the darkness on the Second Floor, you will find the centaur statue. After you use the Red Eye Drops on it to obtain the Bow, you will have a strange vision of a man riding a crocodile with a falcon on his shoulder.
This will then unlock the Visionary achievement.
5. NATURAL MAGE
Collect all of the ingredients.
To unlock this achievement you need to obtain:
Boar Fat + Hare Fat + Sheep Fat from the provisions in the Southwest on the First Floor.
Garlic from the kitchen oven in the West on the First Floor.
Rapeseed Oil from the altar in the Southeast on the First Floor.
Ram's Horn from the room with the brazier in the South on the Second Floor.
Saffron found within the lion statue in the room to the Northwest on the Second Floor.
Hyssop + Verbena + Herb Chinosta + Mint which are the herbs that can be found in the garden in the Southeast on the Third Floor.
Bear Blood from using the bow on the bear in the Northeast corner of the Third Floor. You have to first learn about Occult Powers and Mixtures.
Mandrake Leaves + Basilisk Eye + Phoenix Feathers + Salamander Scales obtained from the locked door in the Southwest on the Third Floor. You need to complete the astrological puzzle first.
6. PALACE
Complete the palace.
After you create the Ointment from the Salamander Scales, you can use it to pass through the Fireplace in the Southeast library on the Second Floor.
7. ERUDITE
Find all of the notes.
You unlock this after obtaining all of the notes from both the Palace and the Labyrinth.
From the Palace:
Astrology and Bestiary Notes from the Southeast library on the Second Floor.
Fire Notes from the North fresco room on the Second Floor.
Sun, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars Notes from the Master's room on the Second Floor.
Occult Powers and Mixtures Notes from the West chamber on the Third Floor with the mirror and chest. You have to use the Silver Eye Drops on the blank parchment in the chest.
Arcane Phrases Notes from the West chamber on the Third Floor with the mirror and chest. You have to use Red Eye Drops on the mirror.
From the Labyrinth:
Mirror Notes from the inscription in the Mars Hall.
Watchtowers Notes from the inscription in the Saturn Hall.
The Labyrinth Model from the Southern Corridor near the Saturn Hall.
Reliefs and 49 Spirits Notes from the Northern Corridor near the Mercury Hall.
The Revealed Table from the Northern Corridor near the Moon Hall.
8. LABYRINTH
Complete the labyrinth.
After you summon the "???" (Zepar) spirit you can choose to teleport back to the Convent or proceed to the Sepulcher. This will complete the labyrinth portion of the game.
9. PURE...IN SOUL AND BODY
Complete the game untainted by the arcane illness, having collected the Gold Ducat from the basin.
This requires either completing the game without ever contracting the arcane illness or completing the game after having being cured from the arcane illness.
In the former case, you would avoid the southern chamber on the Third Floor of the palace and thus skip the three associated visions. You would still need to pick up the gold ducat. After you complete the game, you should unlock this achievement at the same time as unlocking Pure...From Prologue to Epilogue as well.
Alternatively, you can contract the arcane illness in the palace and see the three associated visions. In the labyrinth, you have to commune with the vassal spirit in the room in the North past the salamanders BEFORE you retrieve the gold ducat in the water in the room to the Southeast. Retrieving the gold ducat from the basin removes the fireproof ointment, so you need to learn about Ipos before you do this. And then you need to summon Ipos for healing before you summon Zepar to teleport.
10. PURE...FROM PROLOGUE TO EPILOGUE
Complete the game without falling to the arcane illness.
This achievement is similar to the other purity achievement but the two main differences are:
You need to never become afflicted by the arcane illness at all. The other purity achievement can be accomplished if you fall to the arcane illness but then get cured by summoning Ipos but this one requires you to never get afflicted in the first place.
The other achievement requires getting the gold ducat from the basin. This one doesn't. Though since you don't need to learn about Ipos, it doesn't really matter if you do get the gold ducat other than taking a little bit of time.
11. HONOR TO MASTER FABIO PORFIDIA
Admire all of the Fabio Porfidia works shown in the gallery.
There are 14 images you have to unlock:
The three visions in the palace that you see once you contract the arcane illness (see section 4. Visionary).
Two images that you see when communing with vassals using the mirror.
After you have seen all of these images in-game, go to the Main Menu --> Options --> Gallery and look at each image in the gallery to unlock this achievement.
12. FIXED STARS
Complete the game having gained the maximum score.
In order to unlock this achievement you need to:
Make 0 Errors during the course of the game. Errors include using an item on a screen where you cannot use it (i.e. make sure you are in the right labyrinth room before using the mirror) or submitting an incorrect/invalid answer to a puzzle (there's nothing you can do with Mandrake Leaves, Basilisk Eye, or Phoenix Feathers).
Never use any Insights or Revelations to get hints. Just read my walkthrough guides instead! 😸
Here is a guide on solving the various puzzles in the game: @byzantinekitty/49-keys-puzzle-solutions
End the game without the arcane illness. You can either never get afflicted at all or you can get afflicted but get cured by summoning Ipos.
Note that you can skip unnecessary ingredients / notes / items / Ipos and also ignore locations / choices with just flavor text and still unlock this achievement.
13. THE ULTIMATE ENDING
Read through all four endings.
There are four possible endings which depend on whether you choose to return to the Convent or go to the Sepulcher upon summoning Zepar and whether or not you are afflicted with the arcane illness when the game ends:
14. SPEED RUNNER
Complete the game in under 20 minutes.
This achievement can be done once you've been through the game several times and know how to fully optimize your time efficiency and what parts of the game you can skip. Timing myself with a stopwatch, I was able to complete this in under 17 minutes. I plan to write a more detailed Speed Runner walkthrough but in the meantime, here are some tips:
Island:
Palace:
First Floor:
Second Floor:
Third Floor:
--> So essentially you can skip some unnecessary ingredients and skip all of the Notes except Occult Powers and Mixtures.
Labyrinth:
Skip all notes except the Mirror notes which you get from reading the inscription in the Mars Hall. You need this along with the inscription in the Jupiter Hall to properly interact with the vassal spirits after using the mirror.
Skip any other inscriptions except that after using Invisibility to get past the big bird, go to the Small Chamber and learn about Wier and in the Moon Hall read the inscription to learn even more about Wier. If you don't do these two, you can't properly identify or interact with Wier.
Skip the pathway through the salamanders where you can learn about Ipos. In fact, skip anything to do with Ipos.
Skip the gold ducat in the basin.
Skip the passage that takes you to the grate where you can view the big bird.
Hint for the Marax puzzle: Think of the Kings portion as an S shape starting from the North. And think of the Marquess portion as a reverse S shape starting from the South.
Hint for the Buer puzzle: Write down the order for the Princes and Dukes somewhere and quickly reference it in order to save time.
After summoning Zepar, you can return to the Convent or proceed to the Sepulcher. The Convent is a little faster (i.e. fewer screens to click through) but I got the achievement after doing the Sepulcher.
Good luck!
15. 49 KEYS
Uncover every secret behind the 49 Keys. Or perchance, might it be otherwise?
This is essentially one of those "unlock every other Steam achievement" achievements. According to the developer, the wording "Or perchance, might it be otherwise?" refers to the fact that the mystery of the 49th Key is never revealed during the game, remaining unsolved. The achievement does NOT require you to uncover every secret within the game. Thus you don't need to waste time reading thematic flavor text or fidgeting around with unusable ingredients to look for combinations which don't exist. However, by the time you unlock all the other achievements, you will likely have thoroughly explored most of the game.
