If you’re looking to conquer the intense Nightmare Mode in Five Nights at Freddy’s: Into the Pit and achieve the coveted 3-star ending, you’re in the right place. After completing my own playthrough, I’ve gathered some helpful tips that allowed me to optimize my run and earn all the associated achievements. Let’s dive in!
Quick Overview
Just as a quick overview that you should know during all of the nights, the difficulty for hiding is harder compared to different modes. So I would recommend hiding in vents more often than any of the other places. Vent minigames require you to hit [A / S / D / F] corresponding to the spiders falling. In my opinion this is the easiest game to do.
You can also see an overview of what to expect both in Oswald’s House and the Pizzeria when hitting [F] during the load game screen. This will tell you all of the hiding spots and noise makers present.
Just make sure by the end of the run you have: fixed all of the arcade machines in the present (and played them), find all of Oswald’s Dad’s Belongings, and play all 3 secret minigames.
Oswald’s House | Night 1
First, loot the entire house for all of the collectibles.
Attic
Battery – Suitcase Pile
(Also sometimes Freddy Mask when moving to the attic? Somehow managed to have it drop on N1 instead of the usual N4. I do not fully understand how this item works and when it drops, but make sure to grab it).
Kitchen
Mom’s Number (Important) – Fridge
Battery – Shelf on Right Wall
Hallway 2
Battery – Drawer on Right Wall
Basement
Battery – Toolbox on Walled Shelf
Rope (Important) – Shelf
Weight Resistance Mechanism (Important) – Near the washing machine and drier.
After that, go into the Master bedroom with Springtrap to activate him for the night. For the loud noise to pull him away from the room I had chosen to use the Doll in the Attic.
Then after the loud noise simply move:
Attic –> Hallway 1 –> Dining Room –> Kitchen –> Hallway 2 –> Master Bedroom
To grab the phone.
Next is to follow the tutorial prompt in pulling out the phone but instead of calling run over to the Dining Room and hide underneath the table. If you simply pull out the phone and hit ESC you can put it away, allowing you to move around and in a working hiding spot.
You can then call Mom (555-5683) and go to her when she arrives home.
To escape the house for Night 1 I’d recommend using the rope in the attic window. You can simply run there in time before Springtrap reaches you.
Pizzeria | Night 1
Next, pick up the Wooden balls in the Ballpit room in the past.
Next, run over to get the cutscene with the Crying Kid trapped in the Endo Suit.
You can grab Dad’s Wallet in the Backstage room while you’re running over to interact with the locked door.
Run back to the present and do Jeff’s Quest for the Key. While at the Mill grab the Rat Trap and Puzzle Matrix (Also a battery on the ground).
While you’re in the present you can go run to the Arcade and grab the Space-Age speakers (Far right of the room), Electron gun in Storage (Left to the stack of TVs), and Control Panel in Party Hallway (Purple Table).
In the Party Hallway there is a Power Supply in the trashcan next to the doorway to the Storage room.
You can repair the Arcade machines now to clean up your inventory.
Go back to the past, grab the Screwdriver (And the Token Slot) but DON’T rescue the kid yet.
Spend this time to run to the Entrance and fix up the vent with the screwdriver. The phone should also be ringing there.
Now, to get the three star ending you need to see all of the secret minigames. So, spend this time to constantly interact with the gumball machine to get one of the minigames. Doing it now is completely safe. (Just be prepared to listen to the kid cry for a couple of minutes).
After that, save the kid, run to the ballpit during the chase, and end the night.
Oswald’s House | Day/Night 2
Night 2 is short as well, simply sprint out the front door as soon as you load in.
Pizzeria | Night 2
Simply play Night 2 normally, but if you get into a chase simply run back to the ballpit instead of trying to find a hiding spot. If you get caught in Party Room 2 there is a vent next to the Arcade door where you can hide.
Because you got the Rat Trap early you can trap the rat before going back to Jeff’s to ask for a pizza slice. When grabbing the pizza slice the cabinet with a sink to the right of it has a battery.
Lure Chica out and play the night normally, just be sure to be ready to spam [SPACE] during the cutscene when you move back to the entrance.
Oswald’s House | Day/Night 3
If you had not grabbed the Voucher Validator in the 2nd Classroom during Day 2, do so now. There are also batteries in the far left set of lockers and in the backpack in the Playground.
To escape during Oswald’s House during the night simply just use the screwdriver in Oswald’s bedroom.
Pizzeria | Night 3
In my runs, I’d run to the Kitchen to hide in the cabinet (or the vent in the same room) if Springtrap hadn’t seen me. I’d spend my time waiting to hear where he had gone, if I was instead caught I would run to the ballpit.
When opening the door to the arcade and getting scared by Bonnie I picked up the Photo of Oswald and used the vent to travel to the Entrance.
I would walk back to the Ballpit from the Entrance, picking up the Ticket Counter next to Foxy’s Place. Make sure to interact with Bonnie’s Guitar before leaving.
When back to the present you should now have ALL of the machines in the arcade fixed. This is the perfect time to repair all of them if you haven’t and spend your time beating every machine.
After you have beaten all of the machines and you still need tickets play [Heftin’ With Helpules] as in my opinion its the fastest way to get more.
You need 100 tickets overall.
4 Vouchers in the Present to get the console and 3 stickers. One voucher to use in the Past to get the 2nd Secret Minigame.
When you go back to the past, fix the guitar, and prepare for button mashing [SPACE] when you’re grabbed in the vent.
Play the night normally, and while you’re there in the Arcade get the minigame out of the way. When the chase starts you can make it back to the ballpit (Just make sure not to get grabbed by Bonnie).
Oswald’s House | Day/Night 4
After getting the firecracker just play the game normally.
Pizzeria | Night 4
Make sure to grab Dad’s Wedding Ring next to the Terrified Girl and Dad’s Nameplate in the bottom right of Storage.
When you need to make a distraction I’d recommend either the Broken Soft Serve Machine or the Broken Arcade Machine in the Arcade (As you can run to a safe vent after doing so).
But be mindful when running around as you can encounter Freddy. You might have not encountered him as I didn’t see him in my initial run of Frightening (He is only on Difficulty 1). He will just block doorways and scare Oswald peeking out. Though be warned he can make you think someone has just arrived (Like Chica) in the room. As Springtrap causes a different music track to play out if he’s in the same room as you. If you don’t hear footsteps and a door open, it is most likely Freddy.
Just be ready spam [E] when you’re caught in the Kitchen during the cutscene. You have time to run out to the ballpit during this chase.
Pizzeria | Night 5
Chase starts in Storage (in the Present) –> Party Hallway –> Dining Area –> Ballpit (Travel to the Past) –> Dining Area –> Party Hallway –> Storage and hide in the vent.
After that play the night normally by making it to the Party Hallway and interact with the Party Room door. Use the vent to travel to the basement and backstage to pick up the keycard.
Go back immediately to unlock the door and save the girl (People have commented if you pick up the keycard and take a while to go back the game can softlock, not sure the exact method on this version).
But before picking up the Strange Photo, call Mom (555-5683). This will be the last secret minigame. Be sure that you had played all of the Arcade Machines and done the other secret minigames.
Now you’re in the homestretch, just play the game normally and you’d be able to finish the run. You can run straight back to the Ballpit after Springtrap drags Oswald’s dad away.
The last cutscene just needs a couple of quick QTEs (Hitting F twice).
Doing this, you would achieve the 3 Star Ending. You can tell if its the correct ending if they talk about putting in a movie rather than moving away. If you get the 2 Star Ending, you can simply reload the autosave and make sure you have done all of the necessary requirements.
Play all Arcade Games (and Fix them), get all of Oswald’s Dad’s Belongings, and play all of the secret minigames.
And that wraps up our share on Five Nights at Freddy’s: Into the Pit: Nightmare Mode Tips (Achieving 3 Star Ending). If you have any additional insights or tips to contribute, don’t hesitate to drop a comment below. For a more in-depth read, you can refer to the original article here by Lucarino16, who deserves all the credit. Happy gaming!