Alan Wake 2: Tips and tricks Alan Wake 2 guide, walkthrough

On this page you will find the best tips for beginners for Alan Wake 2. Our guide mentions issues related to combat, exploration, investigation, as well as collecting finds and upgrading equipment.

Last update: 18 January 2024

Before entering the nightmare world of Alan Wake 2, we recommend reading the following starting tips. Our tips will help you learn a few good tricks and avoid common mistakes during combat, exploration, improving your equipment, or when conducting investigations.

• Check the progress on the case board regularly
• Return to the locations
• Aim at the source points on the enemies
• Not all fights are mandatory
• Mind Place or Writer's Room does not pause the game
• Search for items that increase equipment
• Assign frequently used weapons and other items to shortcuts
• Buy the most useful weapon upgrades

Check the progress on the case board regularly

1. In chapters where you play as Saga, it's very important to add new leads to the case board in the Mind Place. Ignoring this step may temporarily block further progress and, for instance, the game won't allow you to enter the car in Cauldron Lake or leave the morgue in Bright Falls.
2. New traces are at the bottom of the screen - move them to the case board. Every clue fits only in 1 spot, you can figure this out by trial and error. Check the files of other active cases, because the traces obtained may relate to a different investigation than the one currently displayed on the board.

Return to the locations

1. Alan Wake 2, unlike the first installment, allows you to explore the same location multiple times. Saga and Alan can return to locations such as Cauldron Lake, Bright Falls or the streets of New York.
2. You can't enter every area right away. The protagonist may initially not have tools or quest items, or the location may only fully unlock by making enough progress in the story. For example, in Cauldron Lake, the water level will get lowered or you can unlock the shop's side room. Check new locations for loot and collectibles. The game adds markers on the map. Thanks to this, for example, you can easily locate locked passages you found earlier.

Aim at the source points on the enemies

1. Enemies controlled by darkness are protected by a darkness shield. You can destroy it by using the flashlight boosting on a monster.
2. After the enemy loses protection, aim at its source point - the red weak spot on its body. Depending on the enemy, it can be, for example, on the chest or back. Destroying the source won't necessarily kill the monster immediately, but it can deal serious damage.

Not all fights are mandatory

1. After a certain point, you will start encountering regular enemies who may appear at random times. Fighting the Taken is only recommended when you have to defend yourself and you can't escape.
2. Fighting monsters quickly uses up ammunition and there is also a risk of receiving damage. However, you will not receive rewards for defeating them. Sometimes it's better to avoid them from a safe distance or escape, for example, to the nearest source of light. You can also reload the save point - there is a chance that they will disappear.

Mind Place or Writer's Room does not pause the game

1. The game encourages visiting Saga's Mind Palace and the Writer's Room for Alan. In these places, you can, e.g., analyze traces, review investigations, or upgrade weapons. The game does not pause when you get there - it will keep going "in the background."
2. This situation can be a problem in locations with Taken and other enemies or threats. You may be suddenly attacked and, in extreme cases, killed. Visit the Writer's Room or the Mind Place in locations where you are sure there are no enemies or they won't reach you (e.g. you stand under a lantern or you are in a safe place).

Search for items that increase equipment

1. In Alan Wake 2, your equipment has limited capacity. You can carry a limited number of weapons, ammunition, medicines, throwable items or charms. Larger weapons can take up several slots, which fills up the inventory even faster.
2. You can store unnecessary items in shoeboxes found at selected Safe Havens. Use them and do not discard items from your inventory, because they will be lost forever. You should also try to look for items that increase the inventory - they are counted as collectibles. Every such object found will add 1 new inventory row.

Assign frequently used weapons and other items to shortcuts

1. There are shortcuts for items - quick slots. You have to assign items from the inventory yourself. Choose an item and the appropriate command from the menu, then the quick slot.
2. We recommend always having 1 type of each weapon ready to quickly switch between them. Additionally, you should have painkillers and flares set up so that you can use them quickly in fights.

Buy the most useful weapon upgrades

1. Upgrading weapons allows you to improve their statistics or add new useful features to them. For example, you can improve reload speed, make attacks grant you health regeneration, or have a weapon gain an alternate firing mode.
2. You have to find lunch boxes - they are counted as collectibles. Each of them contains several manuscript fragment, which are used as material to make upgrades. Weapons are upgraded at the table in the Mind Place.