Alan Wake 2: Every Weapon, Ranked

Choosing the right weapon for the playthrough of Alan Wake 2 is a big choice players are going to have to make as they progress through the story. Upgrade materials are limited, and choosing to upgrade one weapon over the other can potentially lock players out of choosing a different weapon down the road.

There are eight weapons in total that can be unlocked in the game, five for Saga and three for Alan, and not all of them are created equal, which is why we’ve compiled a list of every weapon obtainable in Alan Wake 2, ranked from least to most powerful.

8 Revolver (Alan)

Medium Range, Extremely Low Damage, Fast Reload

• Pro
  : Reliable damage, always available in a pinch. Ammo is easy to come by.

• Con
  : Body shots are a letdown.

Alan’s section of the game focuses less on combat and more on the mind-bending story and puzzles that are at the core of the Alan Wake 2 experience. The revolver is a reflection of that.

If you can land headshots consistently, it’s an okay weapon, but if that’s not your forte, you’ll need to empty an entire clip for a single, non-elite enemy to take them down. Creating weak points using the Flashlight helps, but not by that much. The revolver is best served as a backup option for when you’re completely out of ammo in your bigger guns. Nothing to write home about.

7 Crossbow (Saga)

Medium Range, High Damage, Extremely Slow Reload

• Pro
  : Decent upgrade options. Headshots are deadly.

• Con
  : Easy for shots to miss.

Without upgrades, Saga’s Crossbow can only fire one shot before needing to reload. By itself, this isn’t really a dealbreaker, but considering the downright glacial reload animation Saga is forced to go through, it puts her in an extremely vulnerable position enemies can easily take advantage of.

Fortunately, you can upgrade the Crossbow from the Mind Place to get two shots instead of one. Even with that, the Crossbow is only useful when picking off individual enemies from a distance or getting a few high-damage shots in at the start of a boss fight. Try to get headshots as much as possible to take advantage of the Crossbow’s already high damage. It one-shots most regular enemies.

6 Pistol (Saga)

Medium Range, Low Damage, Fast Reload

• Pro
  : Extremely reliable. 12 shots in each clip.

• Con
  : Chews through ammo like nothing else.

What Saga’s pistol lacks in firepower, it makes up for in sheer ammo capacity and decent upgrades. If you’re willing to spend a few manuscript fragments to make the pistol more viable, all three possible upgrades are decent options.

Again and Again unlocks the ability to turn the pistol into a semi-automatic, significantly increasing the rate of fire, which, when combined with More Bullets (50% increased magazine capacity), can turn a single enemy into mincemeat in a matter of seconds. The ammo hit is going to be massive, though.

5 Hunting Rifle (Saga)

Long Range, High Damage, Slow Reload

• Pro
  : Undeniable stopping power. Five shots in each clip.

• Con
  : Pause between each shot.

Like the Crossbow, the Hunting Rifle is nothing without its upgrades. It’s a slow weapon that takes a long time to get consecutive shots off and has an extremely long reload animation. In its default state, it is only useful at extremely long range.

What makes it better than the Crossbow are its upgrades. Feedback Loop is a must-have as it makes it so that landing consecutive hits on enemies bypasses the pause between each shot, allowing Saga to get all five shots off quickly if she doesn’t miss. The Way Home is another good one, as it directly damages enemies through the shroud of darkness without Saga needing to burn it away first using the Flashlight.

4 Double-Barrelled Shotgun (Alan)

Short Range, Extremely High Damage, Medium Reload

• Pro
  : Big payoff for close-range hits. Alan’s primary high-damage option.

• Con
  : Requires reloading often.

Although the Double-Barrelled Shotgun comes into play fairly late into Alan’s story, there is plenty of opportunity to get use out of it as the truly strong enemies only appear in the later stages of the game.

The high close-range damage is especially useful in boss fights or when fighting off elite enemies that can surround Alan. The shots from this weapon have a slight spread, allowing Alan to hit multiple enemies with one bullet if he positions himself correctly. Useful for when you need to fend off groups of enemies and the Flare Gun is out of ammo.

3 Sawed-Off Shotgun (Saga)

Short Range, Extremely High Damage, Slow Reload

• Pro
  : Boss killer. Stopping power.

• Con
  : Only suitable in very close range.

The Sawed-off Shotgun can be unlocked right from the start of the game, allowing Saga to get tons of use out of it throughout her investigation. It’s an excellent weapon without upgrades and a downright beast with them.

Fluid Motion is a requirement if you’re planning on using this weapon for a long time. It fixes the one problem the Shotgun has: its reload speed, allowing it to be used in boss fights. Ready for More is another good one, especially in the harder difficulties, as it restores Saga’s health when she kills an enemy with the Shotgun. Incredibly useful.

2 Pump-Action Shotgun (Saga)

Short Range, Extremely High Damage, Fast Reload

• Pro
  : Faster firing speed. 6 shots before reloading.

• Con
  : No heal from kills upgrade.

Astonishingly powerful, the Pump Action Shotgun is a definitive upgrade to the Sawed-off variant. Dealing nearly the same amount of damage as the other Shotgun but with a full 6-bullet magazine, it is a menace at close range and decent at medium.

The Faster and Faster Upgrade is especially useful as it drastically increases the rate of fire, turning bosses to mush in a matter of seconds. Under Control and Stay on Course are nice to have quality-of-life upgrades for this weapon, but nothing mandatory. It’s in a league of its own regardless.

1 Flare Gun (Alan)

Long Range, Extremely High Damage, Slow Reload

• Pro
  : Area of effect damage. One shots most regular enemies.

• Con
  : Ammo takes up lots of inventory slots.

The Flare Gun is a fantastic weapon for Alan as it totally changes the way he can approach fights, primarily because of the Flare Gun’s area of effect damage. Any time you get a shot off the Flare Gun, not only does it deal massive damage at the point of impact, but it also explodes in a conflagration that stuns nearby targets.

This means that instead of picking off targets one by one with the Revolver, Alan can now lure enemies into groups and fire a single shot of the Flare Gun to devastate the entire group. The Flare Gun also naturally goes through the darkness shroud, giving Alan the opportunity to save his flashlight charges.