The NIKKE Fading Affection lake unlocks after you collect the Path memory in Maria’s Record. First obtain Attack and Trap to reach the cat, then collect Cat, Storage and Collapsing Ceiling. Those memories open the hiding-place choices that award Path.
You can collect these memories over several runs. Once Path is in your collection, travel from the old downtown area to the lake. After you’ve visited it once, the lake appears as a starting-location option.
Why the NIKKE Fading Affection lake is locked
Maria’s Path initially lets you choose the old downtown area, but the lake option is locked. Completing the hiding-place branch and obtaining Path opens the next destination. It is a memory unlock, not one of the routes released later on the event calendar.
Open Fading Affection through MARIA-n, choose Maria’s Record and check the Memories menu. Look for the prerequisite entries before attempting the lake route. Memories earned through death branches still help, because they unlock choices on later runs.
Prerequisites for the NIKKE Fading Affection lake route
| Memory subject | What it unlocks |
|---|---|
| Attack | The cautious choice before the commercial building |
| Trap | Careful inspection and trap avoidance inside the building |
| Cat | The life-related decision on the hiding-place route |
| Storage | The option to search for somewhere to hide |
| Collapsing Ceiling | The careful-search option |
| Path | The way into the lake area |
Attack and Trap come from Death Endings 1 and 2. Death Ending 8 awards Blacksmith and Storage, while Death Ending 9 awards Collapsing Ceiling. All four are recorded in Maria’s memories and can be used to unlock choices on later runs.
Cat is collected during the commercial-building sequence. You also collect Hunter there, immediately before the cat encounter. Both are recorded as memories when you follow the correct branch.
NIKKE Fading Affection lake: How to get Hunter and Cat
With Attack and Trap collected, follow this route through the commercial building. The actions below identify each decision by what it does, so you can follow the sequence as the scene unfolds.
- Continue forward at the beginning of the route.
- Stay alert using the decision unlocked by Attack.
- Head left towards the commercial building.
- Enter and inspect the inside carefully, using Trap.
- Avoid the trap and enter the room to obtain Hunter.
- Share your food with the cat to obtain Cat.
You need food for the cat, so keep it until the encounter. If the alert choice is locked, complete Death Ending 1 to get Attack. If careful inspection is locked, complete Death Ending 2 to get Trap. After sharing food, confirm Cat appears in Memories.
NIKKE Fading Affection lake unlock: Get Warmth of Life and Path
The hiding-place sequence uses Storage, Collapsing Ceiling and Cat. Each unlocks the next decision, with Warmth of Life and Path awarded before you leave.
- Choose to look for somewhere to hide, using Storage.
- Choose to search carefully instead of rushing, using Collapsing Ceiling.
- Choose the option about facing or valuing life, using Cat. This grants Warmth of Life.
- Leave the location to receive Path.
- Return to Maria’s Path and follow the open route from the old downtown area to the lake.
Once you receive Path, select Maria’s Path and follow the newly opened route to the lake. The NIKKE Fading Affection lake unlock doesn’t require all 15 endings; it depends on completing this chain of memories.
NIKKE Fading Affection lake: How to start there again
After your first visit, return to the area selection for Maria’s Record. The lake is available as a starting point, so you can explore its branches without replaying the old downtown route.
That shortcut is useful for exploring the lake branches, including the route connected to the Lake Rapture memory and the 504 Error Ending. Unlocking the NIKKE Fading Affection lake gets you into the area; the ending comes from the decisions you take there.
NIKKE Fading Affection lake still locked?
Can’t choose the hiding place: Complete Death Ending 8 to earn Storage, then return to the scene.
Can’t search carefully: Complete Death Ending 9 for Collapsing Ceiling, then revisit the hiding-place choice.
Life-related choice is locked: Get Attack and Trap, enter the commercial building, avoid its trap and share food with the cat to earn Cat.
Already earned Path: Follow the new route out of the old downtown area and visit the lake. That first visit makes it selectable as a starting area.
Our Fading Affection minigame guide explains how to replay decisions, review the memory collection and use the Back function. You can retry Maria’s Record without an attempt limit.
When does the NIKKE Fading Affection lake close?
Fading Affection ends with MARIA-n on November 19, 2026 at 04:59 KST, which is November 18 at 7:59 PM GMT in the UK. The wider MARIA-n guide covers the separate story missions, map rewards and anniversary Selection Box.
Related Guides
Official publisher source: Level Infinite’s NIKKE fourth-anniversary announcement.
