After the shooting tutorial, you will be faced with your first group of Taken as Remedy throws you in the deep end. Only one Taken will attack you at first and luckily for you he announces his appearance by taunting Wake as he climbs over the wooden structure directly in front of you as you leave your previous area.
**Nightmare Mode Tip** The
enemies are harder to take down in nightmare mode, even the standard
Taken tends to empty your revolver pretty quickly. Before leaving the
shooting tutorial area, go to the ammo storage crate near the fence and
replenish your stock. If you have already moved onto the new section you
can still return to the crate by following the concrete fence near the
cliff edge back up to the area. Also make sure to reload the revolver after each fight in case of an ambush later.
I recommend not boosting your torch beam or shooting at first, if you do he will fall down off the wooden ledge and will walk up the slope to the right of the ledge. Pushing him off the ledge isn't terrible, but it does make targeting your enemy harder. Instead wait until the Taken has climbed up the wooden ledge and has walked a few steps towards you; there he will be easier to target and shoot.
NOTE: Do NOT drop down and walk along the path before defeating the previous single Taken, as you will trigger two more Taken to emerge from the foliage. It is much easier to take them down in smaller groups especially if you're playing for the first time or on a harder difficulty.
As you proceed forward, things get a little more tricky as two Taken will run at you at once, emerging from the plants either side of the path. Move backwards and use your torch to try to force them away. It's likely that you will run out of space to move, if this is the case run to either side of the two Taken (preferably not down the middle as you are increasing your chances of getting hit) and dodge any attacks. From that point you can either run into the safe haven or fight the Taken.
As you reach the safe haven, the Taken will disappear (if you have not killed them already). Make sure to open the red storage box on the post and pick up your flaregun and flaregun ammo. As you are nearing the end of the first section you can use your flaregun as your main weapon. As it both burns away the darkness and destroys the Taken (it's the most powerful gun in the game). It acts as your quick and easy method of defeating the antagonist. Shooting your flaregun is exactly like shooting the revolver.
Tips for using a flaregun:
- Use it sparingly and wisely in future chapters
- Use it while being over run by a number of Taken for maximum damage
- Always aim for the center enemy
- It covers a wide area so don't fire too many in one specifc location.
- If you've fired it, reload it before switching to another weapon
(You don't want to waste time reloading it if you need it desperately during a later battle)
As you walk on from the safety of the light, you can either drop down to the path directly in front of you OR get another collectible thermos from the bunker to the right. When you drop down, three more Taken will ambush you, however armed with your flaregun you should be able to defeat them in a few seconds.
What if you forgot to pick up the flaregun? It means that things are going to be a little bit more trickier. However, as they're quite a considerable distance away from you, you've got enough time to pick off the Taken one by one with your flashlight and gun. If this is your first time playing the game, and you don't want to face a large group of enemies so soon, I suggest reading the Nightmare Mode Tip below...
**Nightmare Mode Tip** If you didn't pick up the flaregun in the red box, but still passed under the light, I would recommend going into your ingame menu and choosing "Restart Checkpoint". Any time you pass under a safe haven, it automatically saves.
Nightmare Fight Tips
Alan Wake Walkthrough / Episode 01
