Essential Tips and Tricks – Alan Wake 2 Guide

While it can be tempting to solve all the mysteries and find all the collectibles in an area ASAP, if you’re really stumped, don’t be afraid to continue the story as most areas are accessible later on. Once Alan and Saga have their respective introductions, you can even switch back and forth between them at any time to tackle their objectives in the order you choose. It’s strangely non-linear for a game this heavily focused on story.

Wear Headphones

And speaking of the story, this game is a LOT spookier than the first one, so we recommend wearing headphones. If not only for the spook factor, directional audio is incredibly helpful when you’re surrounded by enemies, as they love to attack from all sides.

Pick Up the Maps

When entering a new area, make sure you grab the map as soon as possible, and get well acquainted with your surroundings. Alan Wake 2 is full of environmental puzzles, backtracking, and scouring the levels for clues and collectibles, so you’ll need to get your bearings. These maps are usually very easy to spot, but we have missed one or two, and then needed to go back for it later. Trust us, you don’t want to be stuck in the subway without a map, in both this game and real life.

Don’t Hoard All Your Resources

If you’re playing on Normal, spend those damn resources. The amount of ammo and healing items you find in boxes, drawers, and other places depends on how much you already have in your inventory. If you open containers and don’t find anything, that means you’re pretty well off! Plus, there’s a charm that increases the chance of getting better items.

There’s a Quickturn

Like other third-person shooters that have a really close camera, Alan Wake 2 has a quickturn. This one’s a little weird as instead of pressing back plus a button, tap back on the left analog stick twice (or the S key on PC). Many of the Taken you face will actively flank you, so this is an important shortcut to avoid becoming overwhelmed.

Collectible Clues

Most collectibles have hints in the environment that lets you know that one is nearby:

• Alex Casey Lunchboxes often have colored egg-like stones, and crosses woven with colored yarn called God’s Eyes nearby.
• Finding mysterious twin triangle symbols often lead to Cult Stashes.
• Low, warbling radio noises indicate a Nursery Rhyme puzzle is nearby.
• Yellow arrows that reflect light off your flashlight will point towards spirals that hold Words of Power.

Pay Attention to Capital Letters

The Nursery Rhymes are pretty vague and leave a lot up to interpretation, but pay attention to the capital letters when you read them, as they often denote important words or clues. Then, look out for the black sludge that you can follow to your reward.

Alan Wake’s Shadow Enemies

Unlike the Taken that Saga has to deal with, the shadowy enemies in the Dark Place can appear anywhere, but not all of them are hostile or even tangible. As Alan, you can go slowly when enemies appear and just point your flashlight at most of them for a moment – as many of them will simply disappear without wasting battery power by boosting your flashlight.

However, those that don’t fade away can sometimes grab you first, or will warp over you and attack, and must be killed like regular enemies. Always move defensively when encountering a crowd of these foes.

If you really need to wade into a thick mob of shadow people, use a Hand Flare to immediately dissipate entire groups, and catch the real attackers off-guard by stunning them with the flare.

Regain Lost Ammo

Ammo is limited in Alan Wake 2, especially on higher difficulties. With Saga’s Crossbow, you can get some of that ammo back by harvesting the arrows after defeating a Taken. Certain enemies that spawn randomly in an area will also drop items on death, and appear in small boxes when their body vanishes.

Choose Your Perks Wisely

You won’t get resources to upgrade all your abilities/weapons, so keep that in mind when spending your points. Saga can find Manuscript Fragments in Alex Casey Lunch Boxes stashed around hidden spots to upgrade her weapons. Meanwhile, Alan can find spiraling Words of Power that give you a point in specific perk trees to choose from three different abilities that can be ranked up by finding more words for that specific upgrade category.

Since some of Alan Wake’s upgrades can affect weapons you may not have yet, you may also want to stockpile a few points until you find that shotgun or flare gun to invest heavily in them right away.

Get Help Finding Items

During the endgame, before the point of no return, you can get a charm that gives a slight help with collectibles. You need to pet the dog at the stage in Suomi Hall (Watery). It will give you a charm that marks resources and points of interest in nearby areas on the map