Unlocking all 8 playable characters in Arms of God requires more than just beating the main story; it demands completing secret quests, defeating hidden bosses, and achieving the game's true ending. This guide details every step for unlocking the full roster of divine Arms, transforming your playthrough with entirely new combat styles and lore implications. While you begin as The Silent Knight, seven others await those with the will to find them.
Each character, or "Arm," is a vessel of a forgotten power, offering a fundamentally different way to experience the blighted world of Solace. Some are straightforward rewards for your progress, while others are hidden behind the game's most obscure puzzles and moral quandaries. Let's break down the requirements for every last one.
The Core Roster: Story and Side Quest Unlocks
These first three characters will likely form your early-to-mid-game roster. They are unlocked through standard progression and completing a major side quest, making them difficult but not impossible to miss on a blind playthrough.
The Silent Knight
- How to Unlock: This is the starting character. You have The Silent Knight from the moment you begin a new game.
- Playstyle: A balanced swordsman, the Jack-of-all-trades of the Arms. He is the standard by which all other characters are measured, with reliable damage, defense, and mobility. He has no glaring weaknesses but also lacks the specialized, game-breaking strengths of the later Arms.
The Crimson Executioner
- How to Unlock: Defeat the second major story boss, High Lord Valerius, the Second Son, in the Cathedral of Dusk.
- Playstyle: A heavy-hitting brute focused on staggering enemies and dealing massive damage with two-handed weapons. The Executioner is slow but devastating. Unlocking him is a major power spike, as his high Strength and Poise allow you to trade blows with formidable foes that would otherwise overwhelm the Silent Knight. The unlock is automatic upon felling Valerius and absorbing his corrupted essence.
The Gilded Inquisitor
- How to Unlock: Complete the entire side questline for Sister Elara of the Golden Order.
- Playstyle: A faith-based hybrid character who wields holy incantations and a blessed spear. The Inquisitor excels at controlling space with miracles, healing, and exploiting enemy weaknesses to holy damage. This is the first character you can permanently miss in a playthrough.
To secure the Inquisitor, you must:
- Find Sister Elara in the Weeping Grotto, trapped by penitents.
- Give her the Chalice of Tears item found in the Cathedral of Dusk.
- Meet her again at the Grand Archives and defend her from a Golden Order ambush.
- Finally, speak to her after the High Lord Valerius boss fight. She will deem you worthy and grant you the Sigil of Inquisition, unlocking the character.
The Hidden Arms: Secrets and Obscure Challenges
This trio of characters is locked behind the game's most esoteric secrets. Unlocking them requires careful exploration, puzzle-solving, and a willingness to engage with the world's darker covenants. Finding any of these on a first playthrough without a guide is a significant accomplishment.
The Abyssal Seer
- How to Unlock: Defeat the optional, hidden boss The Drowned Choir located in the depths of the Sunken Basilica.
- Playstyle: A high-risk, high-reward caster who uses forbidden blood magic. The Seer's spells are incredibly powerful but often consume the player's own health as a resource. To find their arena, you must first acquire the Rusted Key from a chest behind an illusory wall in the Grand Archives. Use this key on the locked sewer grate in the Basilica's main flood chamber. This drains the lower levels, revealing a hidden passage to the Choir's domain. Defeating them grants the Eye of the Abyss, unlocking the Seer.
The Clockwork Scribe
- How to Unlock: Solve the Orrery of Sin puzzle in the Chamber of Stars, located at the highest point of the Grand Archives.
- Playstyle: A technical, dexterity-based character who uses intricate clockwork gadgets and dual daggers. The Scribe is all about precision, critical hits, and controlling the battlefield with traps and automatons. The Orrery puzzle requires you to align three concentric rings depicting celestial bodies to match a pattern found on a scroll in the Forgotten Library. The correct alignment is Serpent, Moon, and Broken Sun, from outermost to innermost ring. Solving it reveals a hidden chamber where the Scribe's vessel, the Brass Automaton, awaits.
Arms of God in-game screenshot
The Heretic Saint
- How to Unlock: Pledge allegiance to the Covenant of Whispers and offer three Tears of the Innocent at their hidden altar.
- Playstyle: A corrupted shadow-mage who summons wraiths and uses debuffs to cripple enemies. This character thrives on draining life and sowing chaos, a stark opposite to the Gilded Inquisitor. The path to becoming the Saint is morally compromising.
Here is the exact process:
- Find the Altar of Murmurs hidden behind a breakable wall in the lower levels of the Weeping Grotto.
- Pledge yourself to the Covenant.
- Acquire three Tears of the Innocent. These are special items dropped by specific friendly NPCs if you kill them instead of helping them (e.g., the Lost Pilgrim, the Mourning Mother).
- Offer the three Tears to the Altar. This act will bestow upon you the Mark of Heresy, unlocking the Heretic Saint but also locking you out of the Golden Order questline for the remainder of the playthrough.
Arms of God in-game screenshot
The Endgame Roster: NG+ and the True Ending
These final two characters are the ultimate reward for dedicated players who have mastered the game and are ready to uncover its deepest truths.
The First Penitent
- How to Unlock: Beat the final boss and begin a New Game+ (NG+) cycle.
- Playstyle: A powerful, lore-heavy character representing the very first soul to challenge the gods. The Penitent has incredibly high base stats and starts with a unique weapon, the Blade of Origin. This character is designed to let players dominate their second playthrough, offering a victory lap of sorts while also providing new lore insights through unique item descriptions and dialogue interactions.
The Shattered Vessel
- How to Unlock: Achieve the "Age of Dissolution" True Ending.
- Playstyle: The ultimate glass cannon. The Shattered Vessel has the highest damage potential in the game but has its health permanently capped at a single point. It is a character for masters of the game who can flawlessly execute no-hit strategies. Unlocking it is the game's most involved secret.
To achieve the True Ending and unlock the Vessel, you must perform these steps before fighting the final boss:
- Collect the Three Eyes of Truth: These are hidden items. The Eye of the Father is a reward for defeating The Drowned Choir. The Eye of the Mother is found at the bottom of the Weeping Grotto after offering 3 Tears to the Altar of Murmurs. The Eye of the Son is given by Sister Elara if you complete her questline.
- Reforge the Blade of Apostasy: Take the three Eyes to the ancient blacksmith in the Forlorn Keep. He will combine them with the Hilt of Defiance (found in the Grand Archives) to forge the Blade of Apostasy, a weapon capable of killing a god.
- Confront the Final Arbiter: You must enter the final boss fight with the Blade of Apostasy equipped.
- Refuse the Throne: After defeating the boss, you will be given a choice to take the throne and continue the cycle. Instead, walk away. An option will appear to "Embrace the Void." Choose it. This triggers the True Ending and unlocks The Shattered Vessel for all subsequent playthroughs.
Arms of God in-game screenshot
Character Unlock Checklist
Use this table to quickly reference how to unlock each Arm.
| Character | Unlock Method | Type | Missable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Silent Knight | Starting character | Default | No |
| The Crimson Executioner | Defeat High Lord Valerius | Story Boss | No |
| The Gilded Inquisitor | Complete Sister Elara's full questline | Side Quest | Yes |
| The Abyssal Seer | Defeat the hidden boss, The Drowned Choir | Secret Boss | Yes |
| The Clockwork Scribe | Solve the Orrery of Sin puzzle | Puzzle | Yes |
| The Heretic Saint | Offer 3 Tears of the Innocent to the Whispers Covenant | Covenant | Yes |
| The First Penitent | Start a New Game+ cycle | NG+ | No |
| The Shattered Vessel | Achieve the "Age of Dissolution" True Ending | True Ending | Yes |
Arms of God in-game screenshot
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I unlock all characters in one playthrough?
No. The First Penitent is explicitly tied to starting a New Game+ cycle, meaning you must complete the game at least once. Furthermore, unlocking both The Gilded Inquisitor and The Heretic Saint in the same run is impossible, as their questlines are mutually exclusive. You must choose one per playthrough.
What happens if I miss Sister Elara's quest for the Inquisitor?
You are locked out of unlocking The Gilded Inquisitor for that entire playthrough. You will have to try again in NG+ or a fresh save file. She will disappear from the world if you progress too far into the main story without completing her objectives.
Is The Shattered Vessel the best character?
It depends on player skill. For an average player, it's the worst character due to its one-hit-point health cap. For an expert who has mastered enemy patterns and dodge timing, its unparalleled damage output makes it the most powerful character for speedruns and challenge runs.
Do I need any DLC to unlock these characters?
No. All eight of the playable Arms are included in the base version of Arms of God. No additional purchases are necessary to complete the roster.
Final Word
Assembling the full roster in Arms of God is a journey that reveals the game's true depth. It forces you to explore every dark corner, make difficult choices, and master the intricate combat system. Each unlocked character is not just a new toolset but a new perspective on the decaying world of Solace. While some are handed to you, the most powerful and interesting Arms are those you must truly earn, transforming the quest from a simple adventure into a genuine pilgrimage.