How to solve the painting puzzle in Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines 2

Bloodlines 2 painting puzzle atrium ysabella — (Image credit: Paradox Interactive)

The Bloodlines 2 picture puzzle comes up when you need to find a way into the Atrium to prevent a masquerade breach. After Tolly asks you to look into Ysabella and an incident at the club, you'll first have to find (and fight) your way in, before you finally hit the picture puzzle. It's the last step to reaching Ysabella and finding out what happened, but can take some time to work out as the clues you need - other paintings - aren't immediately obvious from where the puzzle begins. If you're stuck and not sure what to do next, I've solved the Atrium painting puzzle in Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 below.

How to solve the picture puzzle in Bloodlines 2

After fighting your way through to get inside the Atrium you'll eventually reach this room, with four paintings around a body on a table. Using your vampire sense will reveal an image on each painting which, from left to right, as you enter the room are:

1. A teardrop.
2. An ankh (cross)
3. The symbol on your hand
4. A rose

You can interact with each of these paintings and press them, but without any clues it's unlikely you'll figure out what to do. Speaking to a woman you find nearby will tell you the answer is to do with Ysabella's work, but that's not the most obvious help.

What you actually need to do is find four paintings away from the main room that, when you look at them with your vampire sense, will reveal these symbols on them. Each one appearing a different number of times. The number of times a symbol appears then denotes the order you push the paintings in. Here's where to find them and the numbers involved:

1. Teardrop x 4 - Found on a painting of a Ysabella drinking blood from a chalice in the room directly behind the body on the table, if you're facing the four main paintings.
2. An ankh x 2 - Found on a painting of Ysabella in a bedroom on the teardrop painting side of the room.
3. The symbol on your hand x 1 - Found on the painting of Ysabella with a cage you passed coming out of the lift to find the puzzle.
4. A rose x 3 - Found on a painting of Ysabella in a bedroom if you take the exit by the rose painting.

So, to open a secret door and solve the painting puzzle in Bloodlines 2 you need to press the paintings/symbols in this order:

1. The symbol on your hand
2. An ankh
3. A rose
4. Teardrop

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The secret door will open up between the two large dog statues obviously placed either side of a secret door. Once it's open you can finally get into the Atrium itself and confront Ysabella in her nightclub refuge. If you haven't mastered the lunge parry yet then now's the time to learn, as there's a boss fight coming up that is super easy if you can do it. You'll lose all your Bloodlines 2 clan abilities shortly, so parrying will be the only trick you'll have during this battle.