Dying Light 2 Best Ending: Choices That Decide It

Spoiler warning: this guide discusses the end of Dying Light 2 Stay Human's story. The best ending comes from three choices: keep Hakon alive, give the VNC Tower to Frank and the Survivors, and in the final mission go to Mia while Lawan detonates the missiles, which lets Hakon save Lawan and keeps the city standing. Below we explain where each choice happens, every ending it can lead to, the point of no return and what the rest of your decisions change.

We compared Den of Geek's ending breakdown, Gameriv's ending guide, SVG's explainer, The Loadout's ending summary, Upcomer's guide to the Hakon decision and Techland's update notes, all checked in November 2026. Where they disagree, we say so.

The Short Answer

Most guides agree on the recipe. Den of Geek lists the best ending choices as save Hakon, give the VNC Tower to Frank, and save Mia and let the bombs be detonated. Gameriv gives the same advice, recommending you choose Mia at the end, and SVG describes the same result in its best ending section.

In that outcome, Lawan destroys the missiles and survives because Hakon pulls her out before the blast. Aiden cannot save Mia, but he gets to share her final moments. The Survivors take charge of Villedor and set up a democratic order, and Aiden and Lawan leave together as Pilgrims. Den of Geek calls it the most optimistic ending and the closest thing to a win the story offers.

One fact surprises first-time players: Mia dies in every ending. Gameriv states it plainly, and The Loadout's summary of the Mia route has Aiden burying her under an oak tree a few hours after the escape. The best ending is about saving the city and Lawan, not Mia.

The Three Choices That Decide It

Dying Light 2 is full of decisions, but only three feed directly into the ending you see.

1. Hakon's fate. Hakon's story runs through the whole campaign. Upcomer describes an early timed choice to save him or leave him, and later you confront him directly and decide whether to kill him or spare him. Keeping him alive is what lets him reappear at the end and rescue Lawan. SVG notes that Hakon can die in a few different missions, so treat every chance to spare him as important.
2. The VNC Tower. During the main quest Broadcast you choose who controls the tower. Gameriv explains that giving it to Frank sides with the Survivors, while handing it to Jack Matt or Juan sides with the Peacekeepers. This decides who runs the city in the epilogue.
3. The final choice at X13. In the last mission, Lawan prepares to detonate the missiles. You either stay with Mia and let Lawan do it, or rush to save Lawan. If Hakon is alive, choosing Mia lets him save Lawan off screen.

The early Hakon decision deserves extra attention because it comes with a timer. Upcomer describes it as a quick choice to save Hakon or leave him to die. If you choose to help, you chase down the crossbow sniper, who turns out to be Lawan, before returning; if you leave, you head on toward the Central Loop without seeing what happens to him. Upcomer notes that this decision plays out massively later, which is why so many players who rushed it end up locked out of the best ending without realizing why.

Everything else, from faction quests to side missions, colors the world but does not change which of the main ending scenes plays. That makes the ending easier to plan than it first appears.

Every Ending Explained

Den of Geek counts two definitive endings plus a secret one, with minor variations giving up to eight finales depending on how you count. Gameriv groups the same eight variations into four categories. Here is how the combinations play out.

• Best ending: Hakon alive, VNC Tower to Frank, stay with Mia. The missiles are destroyed, Lawan survives thanks to Hakon, the Survivors lead Villedor and Lawan leaves the city with Aiden.
• Bad ending (Gameriv): Hakon alive and he saves Lawan, but the Peacekeepers control the city. The city is saved, yet neither Lawan nor Hakon joins Aiden when he leaves.
• Worst ending: kill Hakon, give the tower to the Peacekeepers and try to save Lawan. Den of Geek and SVG both describe Aiden and Lawan becoming infected, Aiden attacking Lawan before regaining control, the missiles destroying the city, Lawan dying soon after and the Peacekeepers ruling the ruins.
• Secret ending: Hakon alive, the tower to anyone, and you save Lawan. The missiles launch and the city is destroyed, and Hakon leaves Villedor with Aiden. Sources disagree on Lawan here: Den of Geek and Gameriv say she survives but refuses to go with Aiden, while SVG says she dies of her injuries. Den of Geek notes that saving both Hakon and Lawan is the only way to get Hakon to come along.

The Loadout adds a small epilogue detail shared across endings: the courier Spike later delivers a package to the Fish Eye Canteen. If you want to see more than one of these outcomes, the easiest route is New Game Plus, covered below. Whichever ending you get, it does not lock you out of the open world, so you never lose access to Villedor itself by picking the wrong scene.

The Point of No Return

Dying Light 2 gives you a clear warning before the finale. Den of Geek explains that after the quest Assassination you reach a door that warns you to complete any unfinished business in the city before continuing, because passing it starts the epilogue.

The warning sounds more final than it is. According to Den of Geek, after the credits you return to the open world with your GRE Access Key, most content remains available and the city reflects your ending choices. Two things do change: enemy scaling stays at the level you were when you started the epilogue, and you cannot replay the epilogue sections in that playthrough.

Before you open that door, take the warning literally: finish the side quests you care about while the city is in its current state, and upgrade your gear first, because enemy scaling locks at the level you are when the epilogue begins. That makes the door a good moment to tidy up anything tied to your current world state. If you are a completionist, it is also the time to check your Inhibitor count. Two of the missable groups depend on faction choices earlier in the story, and our Inhibitor locations guide explains which ones. Saint Paul Island, where the late story takes place, also has two of the best safes in the game, listed in our Dying Light 2 safe codes guide.

Choices That Change the City, Not the Ending

Beyond the three key decisions, your choices still leave a mark. The Loadout notes that earlier decisions change who runs Villedor, how many people survive the rocket launch, whether the Bazaar is populated, which factions survive and whether The Butcher is alive.

Some of those decisions also gate content. PowerPyx's Inhibitor route notes that assigning the first water tower to the Survivors leads to the main quest Revolution, while siding with Juan in Welcome On Board leads to the quest Cathedral, and each of those holds Inhibitors you will not see on the other path. Your path through the faction story is therefore worth planning as carefully as the final scene.

When Den of Geek covered the endings in 2022, Techland had not confirmed which one is canon, and the writers suggested it might not become clear until a later game. Our guide to every Dying Light game in order explains how the stories connect.

Seeing the Other Endings With New Game Plus

At launch there was no New Game Plus, which is why older guides tell you to make a second save. That changed with Update 1.3.0 on 27 April 2022. Techland's notes describe New Game Plus as a replay of the story with your character progression intact, along with a new legendary weapon tier, 30 new Inhibitors and enemy difficulty that scales with your level. Push Square's coverage adds that it changes enemy distribution and brings gold encounters.

That gives you a clean plan for seeing everything. Take the best ending on your first run, then use New Game Plus to make the opposite choices, ideally keeping Hakon alive once more so you can see the secret ending without losing him. A strong late-game character also makes the Saint Paul Island stretch far less punishing, especially if you finished upgrading your tools first with the help of our Military Tech upgrade guide.

Gearing Up for a Second Run

A New Game Plus run is the perfect time for a full kit, since enemies scale to your level. If you would rather skip rebuilding your arsenal, the store's All Modded Items in-game transfer for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 covers every modded item category: weapons, outfits, gear, consumables and materials, crafted from fully upgraded gold-tier blueprints, with medkits, grenades and consumables stacked up to 99. It is a co-op drop, so no account login is needed, and the page puts a typical session at about five to ten minutes.

The store's other services for Dying Light 2, the original and The Beast are listed in the Dying Light section.

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