Evil Within 2: 9 Tips To Help You Survive The Nightmare

The Evil Within 2 doesn’t mess around. Right away, you’re thrown into a nightmare world with only a handful of bullets to defend yourself. As you progress, you’ll be able to upgrade your character’s base states and enhance weapons, but there’s always a new horrible monstrosity waiting around the corner.

Shockingly, The Evil Within 2 is more complicated than it first appears. You can’t just run-and-gun to victory — you’ll need to use stealth, traps, and exploration to prepare yourself for threats. The seemingly unstoppable monsters that stalk the dilapidated streams of the cognitive city of Union want Sebastian dead, and we’ve got some tips that just might help you survive.

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9 Tips To Help You Survive | Beginner’s Guide

Whether you’re new to the survival-horror genre or you’re used to the various systems in play, The Evil Within 2 throws a few curveballs with a whole bunch of systems. Here’s what you (might) want to know before getting started.

Return To The Safe House For Coffee & Crafting

The safe house is your home base, and it’s the best place to visit when exploring a new map. While linear levels compromise most of The Evil Within 2’s lengthy story campaign, you’ll often reach new maps Sebastian can explore freely. These maps are a treasure trove of crafting materials and items — so always search, and search often.

There are two major points you’ll want to remember while exploring; every safe house has a coffee maker you can use to completely restore your health. There’s a twenty minute timer, but that’s still a great way to save your healing items. Work Benches are also more efficient places to craft — you can field craft at the expense of more materials. Best to return to the safe house for fresh healing and less wasteful crafting.

On A New Map? Always Complete The Side Missions First

Following the main mission will always lead to points-of-no-return. You won’t be notified or alerted, so it’s always better to get all your exploration before continuing into the main mission. There is no chapter select in The Evil Within 2, so any collectibles or weapons you miss will be gone forever. Take a break and complete the Side Missions first.

Save Ammo With Stealth Kills

Stealth is sometimes required, but even when you don’t have to sneak, you can use surprise to seriously damage enemies or even instantly kill them. Many tough opponents can be ambushed with a stealth attack — then you can retreat and finish them off. It’s a great way to save ammo without putting yourself in too much danger… usually.

Smash Statues For Locker Keys

Along with crafting materials and collectibles, the most valuable items you’ll find in the field are locker keys. Locker keys are located in strange female figure statues. These bits of the environments aren’t easily recognizable if you don’t know what you’re looking for. Smash them to find locker keys inside.

Why do tiny statues have locker keys inside them? Don’t worry about that. Just worry about getting as many locker keys as possible. Locker keys are used in the mirror room (with the strange Nurse) to unlock lockers filled with goodies.

There Are Three Weapons You Can Find In Chapter 3

Technically, there are four. You’ll also find the Shotgun in Chapter 3, but there are three other tools that make life much easier — the Laser-Sighted Handgun, the Warden Crossbow, and the Sniper Rifle.

The Laser-Sighted Handgun is located in the Auto Repair Shop’s fenced-in parking area. Hop the fence and loot the dead body to get this weapon.
The Warden Crossbow is found in the southwest corner of the map, on a crate beside a Mobius truck. Look the dead soldier and the crate for extra bolts.
The Sniper Rifle is found on the roof of the building to the left of the Union Visitor’s Center, directly across from the southern safe house. Climb up to collect the Broken Sniper Rifle.
- To fix it, go to the northwest to find a garage. Open it — there’s a work bench and Sniper Rifle Parts you can use to repair the rifle.

These are great weapons, and you won’t want to miss this on your first visit to the Union Residential District.

After Chapter 3, You’ll Unlock The Shooting Gallery — Use It

The Shooting Gallery becomes available in the strange room with the nurse after completing Chapter 3. It’s just an optional mini-game, and you can play it at any point in the story. One trip through the mirror and you’re back in your home base, ready to play through some Shooting Gallery challenges.

There’s a reason to play, too — you can earn bonus locker keys and green gel for upgrades. Try out every difficulty and mode to see all the bonuses available. Some are pretty tricky, but if you’re a fast shot, you can earn lots of prizes early on.

Unlock the Bottle Break Perk Early

Speaking of green gel, there’s one simple perk you’ll want to unlock early. The bottle break perk allows Sebastian to escape from enemies using a bottle you’ve got in-hand. That’s incredibly useful.

Kick Vending Machines For Loot

Another quick tip involves those ubiquitous vending machines. When you see a vending machine, use it! You’ll get weapon parts, ammo, or green gel as a reward. They’re random, but you can smash a machine up to three times for prizes. Who doesn’t like a little extra loot?

Use The Environment (And Watch Out For Traps)

The environments of The Evil Within 2 are littered with hazards you can use against enemies. Pools of water can shock multiple enemies with Shock Bolts, and leaking gas can be ignited with a single bullet. Kick over red barrels to spread oil, then shoot the puddle to burn multiple enemies at once.

You’ll also want to watch for trip-wires and hidden enemies. Underneath cars, through doorways — enemies like to hide and ambush Sebastian, knocking off a big chunk of health. Always check hidden corners for those glowing red eyes.

Got your own tips? Drop us a comment and let us know if there’s something we missed!

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