Each chapter in Alan Wake 2 offers a huge amount of collectibles to find. Here’s how to find all the collectibles in Return 2: The Heart in Alan Wake 2.
Alan Wake 2: All Collectibles and Where to Find Them in Return 2: The Heart
There are over one hundred different collectibles in Alan Wake 2, which can net you trophies or even benefits to Saga and Alan.
Return 2: The Heart has the following collectibles:
- Deer Heads – 1
- Lunch Boxes – 2
- Cult Stash – 3
- Nursery Rhyme Dolls – 3
- Charms – 3
- Weapons – 1
- Inventory Upgrades – 2
That’s a grand total of fifteen collectibles! I’ll be doing this in chronological order so you can follow this guide as you play through the chapter.
Collectible 1: Inventory Upgrade (1/2)
Our first collectible is in the General Store. After you’ve gotten the pages and finished setting up the Witch’s Hut as a safe haven, return to the General Store. You’ll fight a Taken. Once the Taken is dead, enter the new area and turn right. On the toppled-over filing cabinet is a military-like pouch. Interact with it to get your first inventory upgrade.
Collectible 2: Sawed-Off Shotgun (1/1)
This weapon is located on the wall to the right of the door that the Taken bursts out of in the General Store.
Examine it to get a clue that tells you to go to the front counter. Do so, and you’ll find the old combinations for the lock on a notepad. What we’re interested in, however, is the lotto card.
Examine it. The only numbers left to choose from are “739”. Put this code into the lock, and you’ll get your first unlockable gun!
Intermission: Fight Nightingale
So, before we go any further, you need to defeat Nightingale. This will technically end this chapter, but by defeating Nightingale the water will recede. This will allow us to gather the remaining collectibles in the area.
Collectibles 3 and 4: Cauldron Lake Cult Stash (1/3) and Inventory Upgrade (2/2)
Immediately after completing the boss encounter with Nightingale, you’ll appear on the beach with Alan and Casey. Speak to them, then turn left. You’ll see a fallen log. Crouch beneath it, then follow the beach inward.
You’ll pass beneath a fallen log. Keep right, and you’ll see a bunch of fallen trees on the beach. You won’t get an interact queue, but if you approach the tree blocking your way to the beach, you can crouch right beneath it.
The Cult Stash is to the left in the cooler. To open it, watch the colors on the lock flash. Then input the same code in the same order. This will reveal a flare, some medical supplies, and Inventory Upgrade 2.
Be sure to interact with the note to get another piece of evidence for your case board.
Collectible 5: Streamside Cult Stash (2/3)
Return to the Witch’s Sign, where you inserted the heart. But this time, take the trail left. You’ll encounter a Taken wolf. Kill it, then keep your flashlight on. You’ll see glowing yellow arrows that respond to that light.
Follow the arrows to find the key needed to unlock the Cult Stash.
Head back towards the streetlamp and go towards the camp to find the Cult Stash. It’s to the left of the picnic table beneath the tree with the hanging Cult of Tree symbols.
Collectible 6: Nursery Rhyme Doll (Crow) (1/3)
From the Streamside Cult Stash, continue west and take the first path north. This will lead to a bridge which will take you to a new camp.
You can find the Crow Doll on the picnic table.
Collectible 7: Hammer Charm (1/3)
Once you have the Crow Doll, approach the chalk drawing in the same camp. Examine it, and you’ll see there’s a nursery rhyme. It’s quite long, but only the first line matters: one bird for light.
Interact with the sun and place the Crow Doll on it. A crow will then appear and leave something on the picnic table where you found the Crow Doll. Pick it up to get the Hammer Charm.
The Hammer Charm – Attacks stagger enemies more often.
Pick up the Crow Doll before you go!
Collectible 8: Witchfinder’s Station Deer Head (1/1)
After claiming the Hammer Charm, you’ll want to take the North trail. At the top of this hill are some stairs and the Witchfinder’s Station.
There’s a deer inside once you enter, to the right, above the fireplace. Pet it.
There’s also a computer here with some interesting information and evidence.
Collectible 9 and 10: Hero Nursery Rhyme Doll and Wolf Nursery Rhyme Doll (2-3/3)
Once inside the Witch’s Station, head upstairs and turn immediately right; you’ll see a playpen and a camera on a tripod. Beyond the tripod is the Hero Nursery Rhyme doll on the ground and the wolf doll on a filing box. Collect both.
Collectible 11: The Coffee Mug Charm (2/3)
Leave the Witchfinder’s Station, and you’ll find a chalk drawing in front of the house. The poem describes the journeys of both the hero and the wolf.
To solve the Hero and Wolf Nursery Rhyme riddle, put the Hero on the boat and the Wolf Doll on the tree. This indicates where the Hero went and where the Wolf came from.
Approach the stairs, and you’ll see wolf prints. Head back inside the Witchfinder’s Station and upstairs to where you found the Hero and Wolf doll. In the enclosure will now be a Coffee Mug charm.
The Coffee Mug Charm – Saves you from death, but shatters in the process.
Collectible 12: Witchfinder’s Station Lunch Box (1/2)
The next item on our list is a Lunch Box. Leave the Witchfinder’s Station and go behind it, following the trail east.
Keep pressed to the northmost rock wall, and you’ll stumble across the Witchfinder’s Station Lunch Box.
You’ll get nine Manuscript Fragments from this lunch box.
Collectible 13: The Kalevala Knights Charm (3/3)
From the Lunchbox behind Witchfinder’s Station, continue straight. Jump down, and you’ll be in Streamside. Follow the path until you reach the Private Cabin.
You’ll need to crouch beneath the fallen tree to access it.
To the right of the entrance is another chalk drawing. We’ll need all three Nursery Rhyme Dolls (the Crow, the Wolf, and the Hero) to solve it.
This one is pretty straightforward. Put the Crow Doll on the Hatchling, the Hero on the Heart, and the Wolf on the House.
What might trip people up is the placement of the wolf. But remember the last poem, the Wolf was in the house. And the Hero must be between the Crow and the Wolf, so it all makes sense. You’ll then hear some crowing in the distance.
Follow the sound to the small pool of water in Streamside. There will be a birdhouse and a charm beside it. You’ll then be attacked by a wolf. I guess that makes us the hero?
Kalevala Knights Charm – Increases Hand Flare’s duration and area of effect.
Collectible 14: The Private Cabin Cult Stash (3/3)
This Cult Stash is just to the south of the Private Cabin.
It’s clues tell you that you need to look at the two rocks then tree to determine the code. If you have your flashlight on, you’ll be able to see that there’s some simple arithmetic scrawled there.
Through the power of elementary addition, we learn that the code for the Private Cabin Cult Stash is 658.
Collectible 15: River Lunch Box (2/2)
I never thought we’d get here. The final collectible is a lunch box, which can be found in the river that runs south and then north of the Private Cabin.
Follow the trail that’s adjacent to the river. Expect to get attacked by a wolf as the trail moves upward. But don’t take the fork that goes right, towards the Witch’s Hut. Instead, walk through the river to find the Lunch Box.
