Return 5: Old Gods (Saga) Walkthrough – Alan Wake 2 Guide

Return 5 (Old Gods) is the fifth chapter in Saga Anderson’s story in Alan Wake 2, involving the search for Odin and Tor Anderson at the Valhalla Nursing Home. Our walkthrough includes how to accomplish every goal, how to reach the Nursing Home and Wellness Center, how to restore power to the manor, and how to enter the overlap, as well as locating collectibles along the way including Manuscript Pages, Alex Casey Lunch Boxes, Cult Stashes, and how to solve Nursery Rhyme Puzzles.

Picking up where things left off, Saga is now alone in the forest outside of Bright Falls, near the bridge where Alan Wake fell unconscious. You’re still able to retrace your steps back to the Elderwood Lodge Hotel, but you’ll find most of the slaughter has been already cleaned up, and your beloved headquarters stripped bare. Lucky Saga still has her Mind Place.

Instead of backtracking, it’s time to press on and find out more about the Cult from Tor and Odin, who just happen to be at the Valhalla Nursing Home further up the path you are on. Tor will even call you, but will be cut short by something strange going on at the home.

You’ll reach a small shack at the other side of the bridge that has a place to save at, plus the chance to swap over to Alan Wake’s next chapter in the Dark Place. Be sure to also grab the Manuscript Page here, which happens to feature a familiar name from the first Alan Wake game.

Before taking the path south to the nursing home, you can still find a narrow path curving to the north, and through large rocky cliffs.

Once you reach the top of the path, look for a group of rocks and boulders with a cult symbol draped on them, and you can find a Cult Stash around the back that has another memory lock puzzle (6 flashes). Repeat the pattern, and grab the Rifle Ammo, First Aid, and Hand Flares inside. It’s a good idea to stash the ammo for now until you find the rifle that needs it!

Further up along the path at the edge of the cliff overlooking the Break Room shack below, you can find a Nursery Rhyme placed here among children’s toys by the stream. The puzzle here reads, “Mother, may I go outside, may I run and play? I say to you Daughter dear, go outside and play. But only by the light of day and only ‘round the trees so grown. Never near the lake, my child, and never may you drown.”

Hitting a little too close to home, but you should have the Child Doll from Watery (or else you may find it nearby). Since the child was asking to go outside, it stands to reason the Mother Doll should be placed inside the House Icon. Meanwhile, the only safe place to play is where the Child Doll should go — at the Tree Icon.

Placing them will cause a shift, and new toys can be spotted nearby black marks in the ground leading away. Follow the trail of goop and toys as it leads back down the hill towards the shack.

Once you reach the bottom of the trail, you can spy the Lantern Charm up ahead (which adds an extra flashlight charge), but the sudden wolf prints in the ground should clue you in to ready your shotgun, as a Wolf will burst out of the bushes and attempt to charge you.

Take the main path leading south from the Break Room as the winds pick up. Two wolves will wait in ambush at the bottom of the slope, so be sure to stand your ground with the shotgun or crossbow ready until they pause before attacking to line up a shot.

Up ahead, a sign will point to the right up a hill towards the Nursing Home, or left down some stairs to a Ranger Station. Just to the left of the sign, you can find several ornaments hanging from trees, and you can follow the narrow path up a hill to find an Alex Casey Lunchbox here with 7 Manuscript Fragments.

Take the left path going down first, and swing left at the stairs to find an old abandoned truck. Around its back, it has a Cult Stash locked up in the truck bed, and the combination to the lock comes in form of another dreaded math puzzle:

A factory has 200 vehicles which consist of bicycles (2 wheels) and cars (4 wheels). If there are 754 wheels in total, how many cars are in the factory?

If you want to make this into an equation, where X = the amount of cars, and Y = the amount of bikes, you could write it as

4x + 2y = 754

Following this equation will lead to Y (the bikes) being equal to 23, which would make X (the cars) equal to 177. Enter this code into the lock, and you’ll be awarded Shotgun Shells, a Propane Tank, and a Hand Flare.

The path past the truck will lead to a container near the bridge you crossed earlier up on the ridge, but you’ll soon find the trail leading back to Billie’s Boat Yard is flooded and can’t be traversed.

The same can be said of the southern path going to the Ranger Station, but as the trail winds into a small ravine, you can head up a hill to the left to find a trail of hanging God’s Eye decorations. They lead to an Alex Casey Lunchbox you can collect with 8 Manuscript Fragments.

Now it’s time to reach where Tor and Odin are at. Retrace your steps to the path going north up the hill (and watch for Taken who may have appeared during your side questing), and fight your way through until you can spot a large manor in the distance.

Once you reach the relative safety of this new area, you won’t have to worry about Taken… for now, anyway.

To the right, a large manor stands tall, while the wellness center can be found off to the left by another of Mayor Setter’s campaign slogans to read and collect for your Mind Place.

Mayor Setter Slogan – Sit in Office

Find Tor and Odin

Unfortunately, the door seems to be closed, and the door to the manor locked — even the gate around the side has a heavy lock on it. However, you can look around the front walkway outside the manor to pick up a new Manuscript Page.

Though the door is locked, you can find a doorbell just outside to ring that will cause someone to answer.

Rose will open the door, and when you ask to see Odin and Tor, you’ll be told that they “can’t see anyone today”. That doesn’t sound good.

Thankfully, Saga will come up with a way to get her foot in the door by asking to see the other residents, and Rose will allow you inside. Follow her down the hall and into the Main Hall where you’ll meet the toweled man you may have met outside Watery’s sauna earlier, Norman, and Mandy-May.

Once Rose excuses herself, it’s time to get investigating. You can stop and chat with the residents first, and find that Odin is sleeping upstairs, but Tor apparently hurt himself either with his hammer or shocking himself with a telephone.

Be sure to add Rose and Norman’s testimony to the Case Board, and also ask what Mandy-May is knitting to find a clue towards the Alex Casey Lunchboxes and the ornaments you keep finding around them.

Speaking of which, retrace your steps back to the manor entrance and head through the door marked Admin to find Rose’s office is a literal shrine to Alan Wake (not much has changed from the first game it seems). You’ll also find more ornaments Mandy-May has knitted, plus an Alex Casey Lunchbox stashed on a shelf by the door, with 5 Manuscript Fragments inside.

Be sure to get the Manor Map behind the admin desk and loot the filing cabinet, and then check out the Alan Wake Shrine full of newspaper clippings.

Past the Admin Room is the Rec Room, where you may spot another of the Koskela Bros Television Commercials. Outside in the hall, you can view a welcome message and info about Valhalla’s founding by a drawer that may have loot.

Across the hall in the Lounge, there’s a drawer to loot and framed photos of the Old Gods of Asgard, but not much else.

Return the large dining room where Rose is chastising Ahti, and you can ask her about the Wellness Center to the left as the doors block your progress.

You can also take the time to speak to Ahti the Janitor, and hear him play the iconic song that guided Alan Wake in the first game. After chatting with everyone, you should head upstairs to see Tor and Odin’s rooms.

Up on the second floor, take a right, then check the first room on the left to find Tor’s room. The place looks like the God of Thunder himself attacked, so you’ll need to do a bit of investigating to find where he is. Be sure to add the Tor’s Bedroom Has Been Trashed to the Case Board, then head to Odin’s room.

Odin looks like he’s had better days, in his hospital bed rather than his regular one, and is suffering from a bad hangover. Trying to talk to him will yield no results, so instead you’ll need to resort to Profiling Odin.

Once you select the Hangover option however, Saga will be in for one hell of a shock when Odin manifests himself right into her Mind Place, putting a new twist on her profiling technique. He’ll mention that she has certain gifts like all of the Andersons, and you’ll be able to ask him even more questions.

Through more conversations with Odin in the Mind Place, you’ll be able to gain a ton of information to make new deductions and further your investigation. Be sure to add the Clicker is an Amplifier and Wake’s Writing can Change Reality clues to solve what Odin knows about the Clicker, then Bad Things Happen in the Wellness Center to make a deduction for if Tor is Okay.

Get Into the Wellness Center

As you leave Odin’s room, be sure to check Odin’s Musings on “where he left his eye”, and the interesting portrait on the wall by the door that appears to depict the whole Anderson family, and you can add this clue to the Fact vs Fiction Case File.

You can check the room across from Odin and Tor’s to barge into Donna’s room and steal some items from a drawer, or head down the hall to the next room to find another large Lounge. The place doubles as a Break Room, has some drawers to loot, plus a deer head to pet!

Down the hall, the Asgard museum is locked, but you can peek in on Pat Maine and his radio broadcasts (just don’t interrupt him!), and outside by the window, an old woman will beckon you closer… but she’s not what she seems.

If you want to check the third floor next, you’ll find Mandy-May’s room at the top of the stairs, though her room only has one drawer of items. Norman’s room nearby only has a Book of Riddles but little else.

Outside, you’ll find Cynthia, Gail, and Ahti’s room are all locked, as is a door with a strange yet familiar spiral symbol, and Ahti will appear behind to warn you of that room… very odd.

Head back down to the first floor (where Ahti has somehow managed to beat you downstairs), and confront Rose with the knowledge that Tor is in the Wellness Center. Pulling the FBI card, Rose will have no choice but to open the path for you, but will offer a cryptic warning as you leave.

Since the path to the garden to the right is locked tight, you can only walk straight into the Wellness Center.

The atmosphere will be much less pleasant than the manor (which was already creepy). Be sure to look to the left as you enter to find a Wellness Center Map — you’re going to need it.

The place is quite dark, so have your flashlight ready as you explore the reception area. Though you can’t reach the Staff Lounge and Safe Haven light behind the desk, you can at least check the nearby bathroom for a medical container.

Head south through the main doors into the next hall and you’ll hear what sounds like Tor rampaging further away. Some of the doors in this hall are locked, but you can still check Examination Room 2 for supplies.

Next, head left into Patient Room 102 to find a Manuscript Page on the desk as you enter.

Past the lone Safe Haven light bulb in this patient room, check the last bed at the end of the room for several bits of evidence.

Add The Wellness Center image to your Case Board, and then start answering what questions you can, putting Tor’s Empty Bed next to Where is Tor, and the Manuscript clue, Bloody Bandages, and Tor Acting Volatile next to Tor Becoming Taken. The signs don’t look good.

You can’t head down the last hall yet, so instead exit the Patient Rooms and head past the banging coming from Examination Room 1 towards the Dispensary to save your progress in the Break Room and store items in the Shoebox.

With no other optional places to explore now, head across the hall to Rehabilitation. You can spot Tor rambling and raving as he tries to fight off whatever has a hold on him before he disappears through the far door.

When you try to follow, the door will slam shut — no doubt the work of Cynthia. Since it’s now locked electronically, you’ll need to find a way to unlock everything in the Wellness Center to give chase. Be sure to add the Tor Left and Door is Locked clues to your Case Board to update your objectives.

Find A Way to Unlock the Door

The only other door in this large room is located to the left, and you can open the double doors in this hall to create a shortcut back to the previous hallway.

Enter the opposite room to reach the Offices, and inside here you can find a large container to loot, plus a Safe Haven light in the corner by filing cabinets with more possible items.

Down the spooky hall beyond, there’s an empty bathroom, and a door that reads “Blum’s Workroom” — but it’s missing a doorknob and can’t be opened, unfortunate, since you can make out a shiny rifle through the window.

Head to the Security Office to the left to find a room with a locked computer, which will require a heavy dose of investigating to find out the code.

Aside from adding the Password-Protected Computer clue you gain by inspecting the computer, there are three more pieces of evidence to obtain in the room to point you towards the answer.

The first is on the left wall — a large calendar on the wall featuring many circled dates and phases of the moon. The second is a notebook against the far wall by a picture of a dog. Along with detailing that he was very happy about joining something, Saga also notes he writes his dates European style (MM/DD).

Finally, search the filing cabinets near the far door to find a sheet of paper, a Cult Acceptance Letter by none other than the Koskela Brothers. Not only will you have new clues to add to the Cult of Tree Case File for who is involved, but you’ll also gain a clue that the ceremony happens the day after the next full moon.

Consult the large calendar on the wall, and remembering that Blum was excited for something in the month of August, look for the lunar calender to find the New Moon on August 16th, making the ceremony for the 17th.

Since Blum uses a European dating style, the password to the computer will be 170823.

Enter the code to gain access to the computer, and press the prompt to unlock all the doors in the Wellness Center. While you’re here, note that you can tab through the different applications on this computer, meaning you can also check Blum’s emails and get a Riddle for your Rifle that mentions the doorknob is at the “greet” inside a “bright glassy cage where pretty flowers bloom”.

Finally, tab over to the media window, and you can view CCTV footage of Tor going wild on camera, and add the Tor Behaving Erratically Clue to your Case Board.

As for the riddle of the rifle, exit the Security Room and look to the right to find the answer right in front of you: A glass walled desk in the reception (greet) area, filled with various potted plants (pretty flowers).

Now that the doors are all unlocked, you can head through the first sliding door, take a right into the Staff Lounge, and then right into the reception desk to find the Door Knob in a cardboard box on the floor.

Before you go running off to claim your reward, you’ll probably want to make a quick stop at the Dispensary and make use of the Shoebox here to stash a good amount of items to make room for the Rifle. Inventory management will get a bit tougher until you find more expansion pouches, so you may be forced to leave one weapon in storage or vastly reduce your aid/throwable items on hand.

Once you have at least a row of 4 slots of room in your inventory, head back through the Security Office and place the Door Knob on the door to enter, where you’ll find blood, hunting trophies, and a Manuscript Page.

Off to the right, you can grab the Hunting Rifle, and even pet a deer head on the far wall of mounted trophies.

As you might expect, its bolt-action boasts a great deal of range and stopping power with good accuracy on landing headshots from afar, and can reload a bit quicker than the crossbow. It can even be upgraded with Manuscript Fragments to deal increased damage when standing still, or punch through shadow shielding on enemies.

Now it’s time to return the hunt for Tor. However, as you head down the hall back towards Rehabilitation, you may be wondering what happened to the banging sounds coming from Examination Room 1 opposite the door to Rehabilitation. The room is a mess, but you can gain some essential clues about the occupant by picking up a Manuscript Page off the floor, and reading the Doctor’s Note on a clipboard nearby. Don’t forget to search the cabinets before moving on.

Entering Rehabilitation, you’ll finally get to meet the other Wellness Center patient: Gail. As swirling shadow points seal the door behind him, he’ll emerge halfway from a floating pool of water that mirrors his image above and below to create a horrifying image.

Waste no time in burning away his shadows, and use the moment he’s stunned to line up a shot or two from your new Hunting Rifle to hit him in his new glowing weakspot, plus his head.

He can and will hide himself after taking some damage by receding back into the floating pool of water, making it hard to predict where he’ll appear next. Listen to his babbling and look for a rippling effect in the room to pinpoint the “water” he will appear from.

As the ripple moves closer, sprint away and to the side, or he’ll lunge out to grab you, which can deal a lot of damage if you don’t have a Hand Flare handy to knock him away. You can also force him out of hiding by aiming your flashlight and boosting it at the ripples, or tossing flares near it.

After dodging his lunge, follow up with several shots to his (upper) face, and take him out before he can pivot or hide himself again. Once he’s down, you can then focus on clearing away the shadows blocking the door.

In the Cafeteria, you can check a board on the left wall for Notes from Rose and Blum mentioning rifle ammo stashed away.

A bloodstained hammer has been left embedded in the wall next to the door to the Kitchen, along with a nasty surprise.

You can find another container here to loot, plus one in the locker area just past the Kitchen, but otherwise you should run back outside just in time to witness Tor vanish into the Overlap as Rose tries to get him to come back.

Find A Way to Enter the Overlap

When you race over to speak to Rose, she’ll shut down and refuse to admit what you both just witnessed. This is a good opportunity to delve into her head, so pull up some Profiling on Rose to learn that she’s still waiting for a key phrase from Alan Wake to know the hero of the story has arrived. You can also learn a bit more about Cynthia and her fall into darkness.

Oblige her by saying the secret phrase, and she’ll instantly open up with more clues about what’s going on, along with giving you a new Manuscript Page that paints a picture of how you can enter the Overlap and get to Tor. You’ll also get Rose’s Keyfob to access certain areas of the Manor that were previously inaccessible.

The key to accessing the Overlap in this area is by playing a specific song from the Old Gods of Asgard, and that sounds like something Odin can help you with.

Before you go back into the Manor, take the time to talk to Rose further about a few topics, including Cynthia, Wake, and even the Lunchboxes. With these new clues, you can make some important deductions on your Case Board, wrapping up Rose’s involvement in the Cult of the Tree, the Alex Casey Lunchboxes, and also adding the new Into the Pond clue on your main Case File, with Rose’s testimony about Cynthia and the Overlap Ritual.

Be sure to cross back to the other side of the pond and investigate the darkened gazebo to find one last Manuscript Page here, and then return to the Manor.

As you head back inside, you might spot a glimpse of the other senior citizens leaving out the front door to stand in a Safe Haven on the porch, so at least you won’t need to worry about them, though you can have a chat with the elders if you want.

Up the stairs on the first landing, be sure to stop and pick up another Manuscript Page detailing Odin’s dilemma. You can run up to meet him in his room, but he’s still in no condition to help… in the physical realm anyway.

Return to the Mind Place and use your Profiling Technique to speak to Odin directly about the record you need. The record is apparently a special one, and kept in the museum on the second floor. Be sure to also add Odin’s testimony not only to your main Case File, but to the Fact vs Fiction Background Case on your connection to Odin, opening up the question of why Saga’s mother left.

Leaving Odin’s room, head down the hall and use Rose’s Key Fob to open up the door to the Old Gods of Asgard Museum.

It’s a very small museum, but you can find Old Gods of Asgard Newspaper Clipping on the left shelves. One record frame has been ripped from the wall and thrown to the floor, and its contents now missing. No doubt this is the work of Cynthia Weaver, so take the clue back to your Case Board, and try to Profile Odin and Cynthia.

You can speak to Odin first via Profiling to ask about what he knows about its location, which confirms Cynthia has it. Along with trying to find out more about Tor from Cynthia, you’ll run into a roadblock like the past profiling of Taken in trying to find the key to the Overlap. Pressing the question again, you’ll learn that it’s inside Cythina’s room on the third floor, in her bathtub.

Take all the clues you’ve collected from Profiling and add their testimony to your Main Case File, then head up to the third floor.

Before going to Cynthia’s room in the far left corner, be sure to use Rose’s Key Fob on the door to Gail’s room. Inside, you’ll find one more Manuscript Page about the Valhalla Nursing Home and Barry Wheeler’s part in all this.

However, when you try to access Cynthia’s room, the power will shut down, rendering the electronic locks inoperable. Of course.

Ahti will appear behind you as he seems to do, and offer the sage advice of checking the basement below the Manor to restore power. You can also follow him back to his room to ask what he knows about the Cult of Tree, confirming Mr. Blum’s initiation.

You’ll need to leave the Manor to reach the basement, by way of the path back into the back gardens. Unfortunately, things have taken a sinister turn, Rose is nowhere to be found, and Taken will soon emerge from the pond.

Be ready to deal with a charger as well as an axe tosser that can split up when you remove his shadow, and use your crossbow or rifle to line up headshots after dodging ranged attacks, then swap to your pistol or shotgun when the melee-focused Taken approaches.

Approach the bridge, and turn left at the lamp post, and you’ll find a small dirt path leading to stairs down to the basement entrance.

In it’s flooded halls, you’ll find the body of Mr. Vladimir Blum, murdered by Cynthia no doubt. Head left past his body and through the small storage rooms full of musical equipment.

Once you reach a large blue generator, you can find a note mentioning to find more Fuses, because of course this will turn into another fuse hunt.

Just to the left, look for a small raised platform above the water to find a Manuscript Page to add to your collection.

Find the Code to the Fuse Storage

To the left up ahead past the page is a room above the waterline, where you find the breaker box with the busted fuse. You can also save here (and you should), plus store or take out items from the shoebox as needed.

Move up the flooded path to a toolbox next to a barred door, so head right instead past the generator and under a broken beam to the next room. This area may look like it’s a dead end, but by moving to the far wall you can find a desk drawer with items, and a Note From Blum that the fuses are locked away, and the code is in the laundry room.

Double back in this room, but turn right near the door to find an alcove with a small flooded crawlspace next to another Manuscript Page you can grab.

Crawling through to the other side, you’ll end up in what appears to be someone’s secret lounge area, complete with a nice chair and (unpowered) projector. Against the far wall by the doorway is the locked toolbox that holds the fuses you need, but you can also find a House of Zane Note on the desk about the former inhabitants of the manor.

Through the doorway you’ll find the flooded Laundry Room, and the door on the left leads back to the generator, plus you’ll find a Manuscript Page here about how Cynthia was finally corrupted.

Head around the rows of washing machines and look for a note board at the far wall, where you’ll find the code to the toolbox is 723. Return back to the toolbox in the basement lounge and unlock it to find the Fuse you need.

Try your best to ignore the creepy noises from all around, and return to the break room to power it back up with the missing fuse, bringing in a much needed bright light to this area.

Of course, that hasn’t exactly made the rest of the basement any less darkened, but do remember you can now return to the secret lounge area and activate the projector. Do so, and you’ll witness a very disturbing film starring some people and places that look way too familiar. Fun fact: the name of the Finnish “movie” is the same name of the song Ahti sang in Watery. It roughly translates to “Nightless Night”.

Head back towards the basement entrance and try not to get too spooked out by Cynthia’s tricks. Near the end, you can use Rose’s Keyfob to access a small storage room that may have items for you, and then head past the body of Blum and up into the gardens.

Now that some of the lights are back on in the Manor and providing some Safe Havens, things shouldn’t be too bad, if it weren’t for Cynthia constantly taunting you. Head upstairs, and stop off at the second floor lounge if you need to save and store items.

Follow the sound of smashing bulbs to the third floor, where you can finally unlock Cynthia’s room to find every light bulb has been destroyed. There’s some interesting clues and callbacks to the previous Alan Wake game here, including a photo of the dam by the door, and across the room are more photos of the power station, the room where the Clicker was originally kept, and a photo of Thomas Zane and Barbara Jaegger at Diver’s Isle.

For tangible clues, you can inspect Cynthia’s Notes by the bedside to see her descent into madness as the Dark Presence slowly took hold, and add the clue to Cynthia and Tor. On the other side of the bed by the window, a heart box seems addressed to Cynthia from Tor, which you can also add to the Case Board. If the recent mentions of Thomas Zane are piquing your curiosity, you can try and Profile Cynthia on him to learn more.

Enter the bathroom, and you can find a Manuscript Page left on the ground by the swirling shadows that block the bathtub. Dispel them, and you’ll find the Anger’s Remorse Record you need.

Be sure to also use the Manuscript notes to complete your questioning on Cynthia and Tor to make a deduction.

Now that you have the key item you need, head back downstairs and you’ll hear the sound of a commotion and someone opening a door. Another of the Submerged Taken floats between you and the jukebox, so toss a Hand Flare or Propane Tank over to them and then unload on their heads and weak points before they can react.

Beware, as these Taken also have a strong telekinesis ability to throw the environment into disarray and knock you to the floor, which they can use the time to hide in the floating water and ambush you.

Remember the Drawing Room’s bright television now serves as a Safe Haven if you need to catch your breath.

When you finally put down the Taken, you can approach the Jukebox and play the song dedicated to Saga and her mother Freya. Interestingly, the jukebox will not only add a lot of songs you can play back in the radio in your Mind Place, but add a clue that Tor’s song mentioned “driving the man away” you can add as a clue to Why Mom Left.

When you’re ready, head into the Overlap that springs forth from the murky pond.

Find Tor in the Overlap

You’ll appear in a flooded bunker not unlike the basement you were in earlier. If you listened to the nursing home residents as well as Pat Maine’s broadcast earlier, you might have heard them mention a girl named Norah drowned in a bunker near the property.

You can search the first room full of old bunk beds to find supplies and a Body Of Missing Youth Note on a table.

In the next hall, you’ll once again hear Saga’s daughter calling for help, and several rooms marked by numbers in the long hallway.

Head down any of these corridors, and you’ll keep seeing signs to “Beware the Drowned Lady” until Saga realizes she’s walking in circles. Backtrack out of the Hallway 1 room, and you’ll find all other doors sealed, forcing you to keep going down the main hall and take a right.

Take a turn when you hit the door marked number 5 to leave the flooded area behind and travel deeper into the bunker, following the sounds of distant clanging. You’ll enter a larger room tinged with red, and a flickering lever with a toolbox on the right, but beware of a Taken in the next room beyond.

After defeating him, search the second room for a generator you can activate, as well as another container to loot.

With the generator operational, head to the previous room and use the lever that’s now powered to turn on the lights, only to find it has changed the room entirely — much like Alan Wake’s ability in the Dark Place.

Look for a small gate to the side to continue exploring as you’ll find yourself in the second “loop” of the bunker.

Return to the hall with numbered rooms, and this time door 3 will be open. Keep turning through the passage until you reach a definitive dead end before turning back, and you’ll find a new path forward to door 4.

However, this turns out to be a loop of its own, and once you end up back in the hall, take a right instead to head down a flooded path and up some stairs.

Note that there’s a crawlspace to the right before the stairs leading to a flooded storage room with several more items, should you find yourself low on supplies.

This area appears to be a dead end as well, but there is a lever next to something tantalizing – Boltcutters in a locked cabinet.

Since you can’t unlock it yet, throw the lever to change the layout of the room, and it will unblock the nearby door. There’s more supplies in here among the cabinets, plus one barred door and the other requiring those cutters to proceed.

Throw the second lever in this room, and search each of the cabinets and drawers here until you find the Tool Cabinet Key.

Return to the previous room and turn off the lever here to bring back the tool cabinet, and unlock it to claim the Boltcutters at last!

With it, you can flip the lever again to head back into the second room, then turn the light off so the door appears that can be unlocked using the Boltcutters.

However, approaching the door will cause a Giant Taken to slam through the wall and ambush you. Immediately scramble away and toss a Hand Flare or Propane Tank and explode it, sending them reeling and allowing you to follow up with a headshot from your rifle or crossbow.

Once they’ve been dispatched, clear the swirling shadows to the previous room, then check the hole in the wall they created to find a Safe Haven room with supplies, looping around to the other barred door.

Cut the lock with your new tool to proceed onward, and you’ll arrive in the third “loop”.

Now the first door in the hall has been smashed away, but has a room full of supplies to loot if you spent a lot fighting the previous Taken.

Keep moving down the flooded hall and follow the sound of Tor’s voice to enter a large room only for the light to go out and warp it, leaving you alone in a large circular area.

Approach the center platform and look for a button with three lights. By pressing it, a door will appear on the far side, but Cynthia will appear as well, and dive into the water.

You’ll have to imagine her as a shark now, which means staying out of the water when you see the splashes that mean she’s close. Luckily, there are several raised platforms around the circular room to clamber onto if she draws close. If she catches you, you’ll take a bunch of damage from the encounter, so plan your movement carefully.

Once you reach the raised platforms by the open doorway, head inside to an outer circular ring, but note that she’s still chasing you in the water.

You’ll need to keep finding platforms to climb onto and stay out of hear reach, while you make your way forward. Taking the right path leads to stairs up to a small storage room you can find healing supplies in.

By going left from the center room, you can make your way up the outer circular ring and keep finding platforms or stairs to small rooms to hide in.

Once you make your way past a room with an orange light, keep moving ahead to find a platform on the side that has a generator you can turn on.

You’ll be just opposite a high platform to jump up to and return to the central circular room now. Once you land, make your way right to a platform nearby to get out of the water.

Make your way back to the center platform and hit the button once again, since it should now be powered by the generator, and the room will shift to leave the flooded area behind.

Boss Fight – Cynthia

Head down the stairs to the bottom of this chamber, and the room will shift again to be flooded, but this time, Cynthia will appear and float above.

Now you can target her with your crossbow and rifle to get some quick shots off, but she isn’t helpless.

She’ll alternate between sending three explosive currents of water at you in a prong you’ll need to run to the side to avoid before taking aim and firing again, but be wary to not back yourself into a corner.

She can also summon a host of black floating shadows to send at you, similar to the shadows in Alan Wake’s Dark Place, meaning you need to straight up run away before they find you and detonate.

Once you get a moment to breathe between her attacks, take him and unload to send her falling to the ground.

When he hits the ground, she’ll start shrieking and running towards you, which is a good time to toss a Hand Flare her way to burn away the shadows, and follow up with a few pistol shots to stun her, and a shotgun blast to follow up as a combo attack.

She’ll be erratic and unpredictable in this stage, flailing around and trying to hit you multiple times, making it hard to repeatedly dodge.

Thankfully, a Hand Flare can keep her at bay, and giving you ample time to heal and keep unloading at close range with your firearms.

When she finally goes down for good, you’ll get another strange meeting with Alan Wake as you exit the Overlap.

Thankfully, Tor is alive and well back on the other side, and the chapter will end with Saga and her apparent grandfather reuniting.

Now that Tor is back in one piece, he’s got some explaining to do, which he’ll insist be done via the Mind Place. Be sure to profile him on all the important conversation topics so that you have a clear picture of what the Clicker is and how Alan Wake can stop the horror story (though he keeps referring to Alan as Tom, the name of the man who Cynthia Weaver loved, and who you’ve found notes referencing in many places).

Take the time to loot any remaining containers left in the Manor or Wellness Center (no more enemies will appear here so you’re clear to explore at your leisure). Most of the residents of the nursing home have returned to their usual routine so there’s not much left to do here.

To leave, you can use your newfound Boltcutters to open up three gates in the gardens – the one leading to the Manor’s front door, the one between the Wellness Center and Manor, and most importantly — the one leading south to the western Bunker Woods.

As you exit, be sure to stop along the bridge crossing the pond to find the last Manuscript Page here.

Entering the Bunker Woods, don’t be too concerned about going off the beaten path so soon, and instead focus on heading down the main path while keeping an ear out for several Taken who can spawn among the trees, and can come in several varieties. At this stage, they often appear in groups of three, making explosive throwable items a good investment.

If you spot them before they spot you, you may have a good opportunity to toss a propane tank into the group and detonate it, then finish off whoever survives.

Once you travel a bit down the path, you may find a tree stump with several cult symbols on it. If you look to the right, you can spot several trees posted with God’s Eyes ornaments, and run between them up the hill to find an Alex Casey Lunchbox holding 9 Manuscript Fragments.

Return back to the path where the tree stump and cult symbols are, and look a bit to the left to spot several more cult symbols and yellow arrows around a large boulder.

On the opposite side of the boulder is a Cult Stash, but it’s locked and provides no clue. However, if you back up and swing your flashlight to the left, you can spot a series of painted arrows on the trees leading back north and to the right.

Look for an arrow painted on a small mossy stone and you’ll find another arrow on a blue panel placed on the floor. Follow its direction left leading back to the tree stump, where another arrow points left again to a ridge overlooking the path going down by the water.

From this vantage point, you can spot another blue panel against a thin tree with an arrow pointing straight at the ground, and you can scramble down the slope to find the Bunker Woods Stash Key at its base. Return to the Cult Stash to open it, and you’ll get some Shotgun Ammo and a Rocket Flare – which is similar to a one-time use Flare Gun round!

Before you head down the main path as it curves away to the east, look for a small path along the wooden rails going west to a small campground that overlooks the sealed creepy bunker off in the distance.

In this small campsite, you can find a Manuscript Page to add to your collection, as well as a container that may have items. You can also listen to another Pat Maine Radio Broadcast, but at this point you may just start hearing the same looping broadcast that won’t be added to your Mind Place.

Now it’s time to head down on the lower path along the wooden fencing and the water below as you make your way east along a wooden boardwalk. Soon a decent sized shack can be spotted in the distance, so head over and up the hill.

You can find a generator outside to turn the place into a Break Room, which is a good idea considering more groups of Taken will likely appear somewhere outside the cabin.

Be sure to stop inside the shack regardless to claim a Manuscript Page, find a toolbox that usually has items, and stash or take out any items you need using the Shoebox.

Outside the cabin, clear out any Taken in the area before moving further east down the hill from the shack. When the path curves, look around for more hanging cult symbols, and follow them past a large boulder for a Cult Stash at the base of a large tree.

The stash has a drawing of a light bulb on it, and if you swing your flashlight up you can spot a painted arrow pointing left to the rocky base of some cliffs. The first arrow along the rocks here will point to a red symbol – two arrows pointing left and right.

Keep heading left past the first symbol and look along the bushes and rocks to find another painted arrow pointing down. It’s technically pointing behind you, so turn around and you’ll spot another red symbol, two intersecting triangles side by side pointing down.

Finally, an arrow next to the second symbol will point up and to the right. It can be hard to spot, but you’ll have to look into the trees to see another arrow pointing back down to the right, further along the cliff base among the rocks. Follow it and you’ll reach the last red symbol, in an alcove, two intersecting triangles pointing up and down.

Head back to the Cult Stash and input the three symbols in the order you found them, and you’ll gain not only Flash Grenade, Rocket Flare, and Rifle Ammo, but a Clue to add to your Cult of the Tree Case Board as well under who they are working with.

Head down the main path that begins to run along the water, and you’ll find a fork in the road up ahead.

Be sure to take a right once you reach the fork, and you can find a small beach area with a lone Manuscript Page to claim for your own. This one in particular provides some important clues for what the Cult of the Tree’s plans are, and what the FBC is doing here.

The roads past the beach lead to a Bright Falls Ranger Station, but by taking the left path, you can head on a higher path, and look up a hill across from the ranger station to find another Cult Stash.

The clue posted here is difficult to make out, but seems to depict the cabin across from the stash, and part of the side of the cabin is colored in red to look like… Santa Claus?

The clue actually relates to the cabin’s chimney (the thing Santa Claus enters homes through), and if you head across to the station, climb up the stairs and go around the left, you can find the Ranger Station Stash Key in the corner just past the chimney where a blank hand has been painted.

Return to the stash, and you can unlock it to claim Rifle Ammo, a Flash Grenade, and another Rocket Flare.

Now it’s time to explore the Ranger’s Station outside of Bright Falls. You’ll need to break open the front door with your trusty Screwdriver, and then open the door past the kitchen to find an FBC Nursery Rhyme.

The rhyme reads, “A child needs their Mother to keep them safe. And a home as their hiding place. Because outside the Monsters roam and chase. When they ring your doorbell, don’t yell. Don’t tell them to go away. Give them treats and pray. They won’t rock your house down to the ground.”

Hopefully you have the Child and Monster Doll by now or else you’ll need to look for them in the cabin. Though the rhyme mentions a mother, your focus is that the Child Doll needs to be placed in the Home Icon as their “hiding place”. As for the Monster Doll, it needs treats, so place it on the Candy Icon to solve this puzzle.

Doing so will alter the area, and strangely enough you can hear a doorbell ring. Head to the back porch’s door where a puddle has formed, and step outside, only to hear footsteps move past you.

Follow the footprints upstairs and then take a left to find another puddle in the bathtub. However looking inside, there will be nothing there, but turning around you’ll find the footprints now lead out and to the bedroom, where a Coffee Mug Charm has been left for you.

Before leaving, be sure to pet the deer head at the top of the stairs, then head down to the living room.

You’ll find a desk here with all the Test Sites in Bright Falls Clue, plus a computer that lists the main base of operations at each ranger station in the main explorable areas.

Once you leave the cabin, travel down either branching path west until you reach another stretch of the beach to explore. Further up along the beach, you can find a second Nursery Rhyme placed for you to solve.

It reads, “To the beach a Child went wandering. Pretty, shiny rocks she’s gathering. But from the water a Monster rose. A horrible beast with a pointy nose. A flapping of wing and dragging toes! But the Child was wrong, it was her Mother all along. On a boat grabbing a towel that’s already gone.”

There’s a bit of a fake-out for this puzzle, but you should have all the key players – the Child, Monster, and Mother. The Child was collecting shiny things, so instead of the waves, place the Child Doll at the Jewelry Icon. As for the Waves Icon, that’s where to place the Monster Doll. Finally, according to the big reveal, the Mother Doll can be placed on the Boat Icon.

Solving this will cause the area to shift, and footprints will appear along the water going past a teddy bear towards an overturned rowboat and container. However, as you draw close, two Submerged Taken will come out of the reeds to ambush you.

This is a good opportunity to use your Flash Grenades or Rocket Flares you’ve found in stashes to blind and stun the pair, dealing damage to both before finishing them off with well placed rifle or crossbow rounds to the head. Once they’ve been taken out, loot the container by the boat to get the Valhalla Nursing Home Charm, which increases healing effectiveness.

From the shoreline nursery rhyme’s charm location, head straight up into the hill opposite the water, and you can find an Alex Casey Lunchbox stashed among the grass by a small fallen tree, and holds 6 Manuscript Fragments.

The last stop before entering the town is the newly explorable Billie’s Boat Yard, which used to be submerged in flood waters.

As you approach over the small bridge, be on the lookout for more of the hanging God’s Eye ornaments on trees before the boat yard. Follow them to the right of the boat yard heading down to the water, and you can find not only another Alex Casey Lunchbox with 9 Manuscript Fragments, but a full Manuscript Page as well.

The interior yard of the Boat Yard is fairly empty save for a variety of boxes and containers that may have items inside to loot, but your main focus is the large pier to the right of the gate you can now break with boltcutters to return to Bright Falls.

The pier itself has one last Nursery Rhyme Puzzle in this region, and the puzzle reads, “Five little Monsters out on the sea. Competing to see who the winner will be. They rocked their boats to find out who floats. Until one little monster did fall. Mama called out to the Sea and cried. And the Sea she replied: On the bottom they will rot if they will not stop rocking their boats.”

The puzzle is a little wordy, but the major players are easy to spot, the mother and monster. It might be a little confusing to figure out who goes where, but since the mother calls out to the sea, it makes sense to place the Mother Doll on the Waves Icon. With that in mind, the Monster Doll should then be placed on the Boat Icon.

Finish the puzzle, and the world will shift, causing black splashes to appear up the boardwalk. As you turn left, the four other “monsters” from the story will appear among the boats. Most will charge you with axes while one may dart around and toss projectiles at you. Try to clump up the attackers and hit them with a well-placed Flash Grenade or other throwable, then mop up the remaining attackers.

When they’ve been dealt with, search the spot where boats are loaded down into the water alongside the smaller pier to find the Anchor Charm, which gives you a chance of stunning enemies with Flashlight Boosts.

Before you head to start the next chapter at the Bright Falls Sheriff’s Station, there’s a few more places to visit in town now that you’ve got some new tools. Start by heading along the docks over to where the large building with the “Fresh Seafood Fish & Shrimp” sign on the front, just behind the Deerfest Float, and use your Boltcutters on the gate to reach it.

Inside the shack by the gate, you can find a Cult Stash here, and the top sports a clue – a drawing of tall wooden posts in the water with three numbers. The number is relegated to the order of the lock combination, as well as the height of the number above the water.

With that in mind, head outside and look right to find the number 6 posted high up on post in front of a blue boat, making it the first code in the combo.

Next, head left behind the large Deerfest Float in front of the seafood building where a man is fishing on a chair, and you can see the number 9 on a post halfway down, making it the second code.

Finally, head around the back of the large building to the side of a smaller building and move past a few crates and bundles of netting to where another fisherman is, and look right to the direction he’s facing to spot another few wooden posts with the number 7 far down the post to the left of a small red rowboat.

Return to the Cult Stash and use the code 697, and you’ll be awarded a much-needed Inventory Expansion Pack, only one more left!

While you’re nearby, be sure to head back inside the Oh Deer Diner, and check out the backrooms if you didn’t back in Chapter 1. In the room on the right, you can find a Deer Head to pet that gets counted back in your Mind Place.

You can also find a locked door down the hall at the back of the diner that can be opened with your Screwdriver, and inside you can find Rose’s Diary in the back room.

Head up the alley to the side of the Oh Deer Diner, and look on the left along the brown wooden fence for a gate you can bust open with the Boltcutters.

Inside this yard, you can find a Cult Stash with a Work Log list of clues, but there’s too many to all be relevant. Instead, focus on the dates on the 1st of January, 2nd of February, and 3rd of March to get a heading. All three of the clues point to Founder’s Park.

Exiting the yard, be sure to turn left through a chain gate, and then face the right as you turn to spot a Cult Symbol Clue on a power box, and add it to the Cult of the Tree Symbols clues (which should be the last one, and will in turn offer a clue for the Cult of the Tree Psychology to complete that question).

Founder’s Park is located across the street from the Oh Deer Diner, and also one of Mayor Setter’s campaign slogans in front of the Clam House that you can add to your Mind Place collection.

The first clue mentions poor TV reception. Look at the large building that borders the park to spot a satellite dish, and aim your flashlight to reveal two intersecting painted triangles side by side pointing up.

The second clue mentions dogs digging up flowers, so look for the central circular flower spot surrounded by benches near the park entrance and shine your light on the ground to spot the second symbol, two triangles pointing to the sides.

Finally, the last clue mentions cooling down on a bench in a sheltered area, which you can find over at the back of the park, and shine your light on the ground to spot the last symbol, two arrows intersecting and pointing up.

Before leaving the park, be sure to check behind a group of small trees to the right of the gazebo, and you’ll find the last Alex Casey Lunchbox in Bright Falls (if you didn’t get it in an earlier chapter) holding 5 Manuscript Fragments. Then return to the Cult Stash to use the combination above to gain a Rocket Flare and Flash Grenade.

With everything else cleared in Bright Falls, you have a few options. Note that with the Boltcutters in hand, you now have the options to track down the rest of the collectibles in both Cauldron Lake and Watery now, or save them for the next chapter’s back-tracking section where we’ll cover them in detail. The area will get dark soon, so it’s up to you if you’d rather search for items with the light still fading.

You can head towards the Bright Falls Sheriff’s Station if you want to continue Saga’s Next Chapter, or stop off by the Elderwood Palace Lodge to swap to Alan Wake’s chapters.

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