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With a name like the Dark Place, you’d expect the nightmare realm of Alan Wake 2 to be full of monsters. The small town of Bright Falls is a less likely suspect, but it’s by no means a safe harbor for Saga Anderson. As an FBI agent, she’s prepared for almost everything the world can throw at her, but the developer’s newest survival horror title might be even more than she can handle. On the game’s higher difficulties, Saga will need every advantage she can get to survive. Thankfully, she has a stash full of weapons to see her through. Here are the best weapon upgrades in Alan Wake 2, ranked from good to indispensable.
5. Magnetic Pull
Magnetic Pull causes bolts lodged into enemies to attract bullets fired near them. It’s an effective crossbow upgrade but a bit of a strange one. To get value from this upgrade, you’ll need to shoot an enemy with your crossbow and then immediately swap to a gun. It’s not time efficient, and during tense fights, you might not have that luxury. That said, magnetically drawing bullets toward your target is a game-changer, making this one of the best weapon upgrades in Alan Wake 2.
4. Another Headshot
With Another Headshot, when you land two headshots in quick succession, you stun an enemy for an extended duration. Some enemies drop in just one or two shots anyway, making Another Headshot unnecessary. Others, however, can take quite a bit of punishment. It’s not a great pick for boss fights, but when you’re trying to wade through multiple enemies, you’ll be thankful you had it. Another Headshot is particularly good in close quarters when you need to buy yourself some precious time and reposition.
3. Two Shots
It doesn’t get much simpler than Two Shots, which allows you to fire two bolts before you need to reload. Saga’s crossbow is an exceptional weapon, but its single-shot capacity is a glaring weakness that makes it dangerous to use in many circumstances. Two Shots makes it much easier to get value from the crossbow’s other upgrades as well, which is enough to make it one of the best upgrades in Alan Wake 2. Whether you’re a dedicated crossbow enthusiast or only draw this weapon when all your other ammo is depleted, Two Shots should be a top priority as you continue your investigations.
2. Faster and Faster
Hold the fire button to activate auto-fire mode with Faster and Faster, significantly increasing the rate of fire. You don’t need a ton of FPS experience to understand why increasing a shotgun’s RoF is a big deal. The shotgun is already capable of dealing devastating damage to bosses and other tanky enemies. Faster and Faster is a no-nonsense DPS buff, and it’s hard to ask for more from an already great weapon. Just be mindful of your ammo because you’ll be chewing through it that much faster.
1. Kill Shot
Kill Shot grants you several potent rifle buffs at a cost. During improved focus mode, you gain perfect accuracy, deal increased damage, and have your shots pulled toward enemy weak spots. The catch? You have to be standing still. That might be great for taking in the ray-traced sights, but it’s a bad idea for combat. You’re likely to get swarmed if you stop moving, but you really shouldn’t be using the rifle that close anyway. Assuming you’re fighting at the appropriate distance, standing still is a more than acceptable price to pay for these powerful buffs to your attacks.
Alan Wake 2 is available for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.
