Summary
Alan Wake 2gives players two characters to progress through the game with. They begin as FBI Agent Saga Anderson, but they will eventually unlock Alan Wake as well. Players can flip between them at certain save points and their stories do entangle one another. The two characters play in different worlds with different puzzle mechanics. The combat is all the same though and involves guns and flashlights like in the first game.
Another difference comes in how the two characters get upgrades. Alan can find graffiti in his world called Words of Power. Finding these sketches will give players a point in one of seven distinct categories. Compared to Saga’s upgrades, players will have more variety with Alan. Of the many, these eight are the best that players should unlock on the double inAlan Wake 2.
8Wellness Retreat
Words Of Fix
Wellness Retreat will increase Alan’s health by 15% initially. The more players put in, the more health Alan will gain. It’s a simple procedure found ina lot of action gameslike this. Sometimes the best offense is a good defense and since there are no defensive Words of Power in the game, this will have to do.
Wellness Retreat is the best Words of Fix upgrade in the game with the other two about healing Alan instead. Players should get a lot of healing items in their run, making the idea of extra healing through things like sanctuaries unnecessary.
7Roulette
Words Of Gun
Saga has a different pathway to upgrading herself in the game. Players can do this by collecting Manuscript Fragments and getting upgrades to their guns like Saga’s Pistol orSawed-off Shotgun inAlan Wake 2. Alan will not get specific gun upgrades like this, so the more ways players can save ammo, the better.
That’s why Roulette is a good Words of Power upgrade because it will give players a 5% chance to not consume Revolver ammo. It’s a small window that will increase the more players put into it. Of the three Words of Gun upgrades, Roulette is the one players should focus on completely.
6Paint The Town
Words Of War
Paint The Town Red would have been a more fun name for this Words of Power upgrade as that’s the name of one of Doja Cat’s new songs. Doja Cat would have fit right into the music that plays at the end of character chapters, or she would have even been fun to see in Alan’sWe Sing chapter inAlan Wake 2.
Doja Cat aside, Paint The Town increases the damage of the Double-barreled Shotgun by 25% if it hits multiple enemies. The point of a shotgun in most action games is to gain crowd control, so this direction for the Words of War branch of Alan’s upgrades makes sense. Players should keep in mind to save shotgun ammo for either bosses or when an overwhelming crowd of shadows descends upon Alan.
5ER
Words Of Aid
As mentioned previously, players should be able to find a lot of healing items in the game. One of those healing items is called a Trauma Pad and it should heal a decent amount of damage. ER will increase the success rate of Trauma Pads by 10% and it will heal more with each successful upgrade.
Compared to the other two major healing items, players will probably find more Trauma Pads than anything else. That’s why it is essential to upgrade their effectiveness. As a final note, ER is part of the Words of Aid pathway for Alan.
4Lucky Strike
Words Of Lamp
Like the first game, players cannot simply shoot at enemies and kill them like in a typicalsurvival horror game. They must first break through their dark shield, exposing them with some sort of light. The most effective item for doing that is the flashlight. Doing so will drain the battery and it can sometimes be hard to find batteries in the game.
That’s why Lucky Strike is a good upgrade down the Words of Lamp path. It will give players a 25% chance to regain a flashlight charge after a kill and this will obviously increase the more points players put into it.
3Never There
Words Of Action
How enemies appear for Alan will be slightly different compared to Saga. In Saga’s campaign,cultists will pop outof nowhere either trying to shoot or stab Saga. In Alan’s Dark Place, enemies will be represented by shadows. Players can sometimes stealthily sneak past shadows and not get into a fight, but that cleverness won’t last forever.
Never There is an upgrade down the Words of Action pathway and it will increase Alan’s stealthiness by 20%, making it hard for enemies to detect him. It would have been nice if the game gave Alan a way to crouch to literally sneak around, but this upgrade is good enough.
2Tourist Map
Words Of Stuff
Tourist Map is part of the Words of Stuff track on Alan’s upgrade tree. It’s one of the rarest commodities in the game because there are only three. The ballroom in the Oceanview Hotel is one of the easiest places players can find a skill point for this.
Tourist Map will mark the player’s map with nearby information, making it easier to track things down if players need an extra hand. It’s not going to be as direct a link as say getting the homing lightinDead Space, another fine horror game, but Tourist Map will certainly help players inAlan Wake 2.
1Magic Pocket
Magic Pocket is another upgrade down the Words of Stuff column. It will expand Alan’s inventory by one full row, which will max things out. This is important because his final gun, the Double-barreled Shotgun, is going to take up a lot of space. His inventory and Saga’s inventory work differently.
Players can find multiple pouches to upgrade Saga’s inventory whereas Alan, again, just gets this one. As a bonus note, the inventory for both characters resembles the newerResident Evilgames likeResident Evil 7.
