Indirect Kills are a means used to destroy enemies in Alan Wake and Alan Wake's American Nightmare.
Characteristics[]
Indirect Kills are a form of fighting moves that lead to a Taken being killed by something other than the player's direct actions. There is even an achievement for doing so 20 times, called Collateral Carnage.
Locations[]
- During Alan's nightmare: Before the bridge that leads to the lighthouse dash, a Taken pops up over a cliff ledge. The instant he comes up focus your flashlight on him and since they stumble backwards when stunned, he will tumble over the cliff and crash on the rocks below. This is perhaps the easiest indirect kill throughout the whole game and it appears in a lot of cases, not just this one occasion.
- Episode 1: Around the lake, guiding or pushing taken back with the flashlight into the water.
- Episode 5: In the transformer yard: As soon as you drop down into the transformer yard, there is a button that opens a gate. The instant that the button is pressed, run through the gate and focus your flashlight on the big Taken to the left. He will stumble back into the electrified power line and die. This can be done very rarely, and is also the flashiest kill, so if you have friends over, pull this one off.
- Episode 3: During the 1st fight with a bulldozer: Simply allow the Taken to chase you into the path off the bulldozer. It's difficult to pull off as it puts you in danger off being run over but the effect of "Taken-killing-Taken" is worth it. This form of indirect kill also appears many times throughout the game, but you have to be creative and find other dangerous objects paths to lure into.
- Episode 3: After the train/bridge: Many times barrels that explode when shot are around you, so lure a Taken close by one and then shoot it a few times for it to explode. The record of Taken killed with a single barrel is 7.
- Episode 4: when you enter the barn, there are four barrels next to each other which you can shoot making the other barrels ignite and spread causing more chaos.
- Episode 4: At the end of the stage fight: Barry will set off the remaining fireworks killing any remaining Taken you didn't kill. This indirect kill will probably give you the Collateral Damage achievement assuming you got a few kills beforehand.
- It's a rare event, but after Alan dodges a Taken's axe swing while another Taken was already stunned, the attacking Taken can accidentally kill the stunned one.
- Episode 4: After the Anderson's barn: Occasionally there are broken power lines dangling down. Lure a Taken into one and he will instantly die, even on Nightmare mode. This is a great way to save bullets.
- Special 1: In the basement: You can kill Taken by using the furnace blasts.
- Special 1: The foggy area with light poles: Lure a Taken into one of the flickering lights and if the timing is right the light will fully turn on and blast the Taken with light.
- Special 1: Some areas contain words that say "Boom!". If you shine your light on it, any nearby Taken will die but if you are too close, you will take some damage. there are also some words that say "fireworks" that instantly remove shield form any Taken. however, these do not kill.
- It's highly unlikely but you can actually trick a Taken into walking into a Safe Haven. walk behind the Haven and let the Taken walk right into it. Alternatively, find a generator and let it rip just as the Taken walks underneath. Just be careful not to walk into the Haven yourself otherwise they will disappear for a little while.
- The shotguns can be used to force humanoid taken backwards if they have their shields up. This can be used to push taken into hazards like electric cables, safe zones, and off cliffs. During episode 5, there are several opportunities to push strong enemies into power cables.
- Standing behind electric cables is a good way to remove strong enemies. Some chainsaw enemies can be tricked into power cables.
- A thrown weapon from a taken can, in rare occasions, collide with another taken. Should that Taken be exposed, the taken will be eliminated.
- In American Nightmare, Taken Grenadiers grenades can be used for indirect kills.