The Flashlight is a crucial item found and utilized in the Alan Wake series.
Description
A flashlight illuminates your way through dark forests and burns off the cloak of darkness that protects the Taken.
Characteristics
Flashlights have three primary uses in Alan Wake:
- Removing the Dark Presence from the Taken or possessed object
- Finding clues on trails
- Aiming firearms
Variants
- Standard Flashlight: these flashlights have a limited capacity. The amount of battery will slowly recharge over time. However, during combat, it is faster to replace them.
- Heavy Duty Flashlight: (Lithium Ion) – These flashlights are larger and have more capacity and an increased damage rate, which helps kill more Taken and stronger Taken.
- Standard Lantern: with a wider spread and better boost ability, the lantern has improved capabilities at the expense of lifetime
- Heavy Duty Lantern: the improved version of the lantern
Usage
A Flashlight is a multi-use tool. Firstly, you can use it to help illuminate dark areas. Flashlights also uncover hidden messages, which are writings or arrows that appear when illuminated. Finally, light is an essential component of combat.
The regular Flashlight makes a small beam of light and is weak against the Taken’s shadows. Once found, The Heavy Duty flashlight creates a much larger beam of light and seems stronger in comparison, and the Lanterns are even stronger still.
Combat Tactics
You can use a flashlight as a weapon as the light is essential for killing the “Taken,” and possessed objects will gradually destroy their otherwise invulnerable shield of darkness. Shining light on a Taken long enough will make them susceptible to bullets like normal humans. A halo will appear where the light interacts with the presence and will shrink until the object flashes over a short time, which signifies that the light from the Flashlight removed the “Dark Presence” and that Taken can be shot for the Taken. The light will lock and focus onto a single Taken, burning away at its shield of darkness. Alan may focus the light more, draining Taken shields even faster. However, this will drain the Flashlight’s battery rapidly. An audio signal and a flash of light signal the complete removal of the protection of darkness, after which the Taken become vulnerable to physical damage from guns. If the Taken are left unattended for too long, they gradually regain their shield of darkness. For possessed objects, it signifies that the thing is no longer a threat.
Other methods of removing the Dark Presence include mobile construction lights left by the local power company, flares, and flashbang grenades.
There will be specific encounters within the game where it is preferable, or even mandatory, to run away. Alan can use the Flashlight’s boost to disorient pursuers so you can achieve a getaway quickly. This tactic is also helpful in general for Taken, as they will fail to hit you and can be rapidly followed up by gunshots.
Maintenance
- Flashlight batteries slowly recharge themselves when they are not being used in combat. Extra batteries may be found as pickups.
- Energizer makes batteries for the flashlights (never explicit, but brand packaging is shown throughout the game).
- Using boost (left trigger on XBOX), you can concentrate light on a specific Taken or possessed item to remove the Dark Presence faster so that you can shoot it.
Locations
Alan can find flashlights throughout the game in offices, houses, and other places.
