Safe Havens are safe zones that appear throughout nighttime sequences in the Alan Wake franchise. In safe havens for the original Alan Wake game, Alan regenerates health at an increased rate, a checkpoint is triggered and some may have a red emergency supply box usually containing batteries and ammo. Any Taken in the immediate area will disappear when Alan enters a Safe Haven, with or without their shield.
In-Game Notes[]
Safe havens usually come in the form of lamp posts, but also appear in different forms. They are generally a very bright light source. They are usually a constantly-available light source, that can be walked into again to regenerate health and remove enemies, but they sometimes break after their first use. Some also need to be activated by a nearby generator before they can be used.
Combat Tactics[]
Safe havens can be used as weapons on occasion, as a few can be circumnavigated partially or even completely, which can be used as a hazard against the Taken, as they will walk into it. The Taken can also walk into it when you're entering the safe haven, generally as they are attacking you, accidentally destroying themselves in the process, meaning that you can save ammo and batteries.
Changes in American Nightmare[]
In Alan Wake's American Nightmare, safe havens now turn off a few seconds after Alan walks into one. This not only adds more danger to the game play, but it could also be explained that since Alan is in the Dark Place, light can barely keep a hold of itself.
Changes in Alan Wake 2[]
Instead of fully healing you, in Alan Wake 2 safe havens will only heal the player when they are in a "critical" state, and will only heal a small amount of HP, with the player requiring med kits and pain killers to fully heal themselves.
Safe havens are often found as environmental lights, such as lampposts or car headlights, and can also be found in Break Rooms where saving and inventory management can be done. Safe havens no longer kill enemies, but staying in a safe haven makes Saga and Alan invisible to enemies. You can still attack enemies while in a safe haven, but this will cause the light to disappear (unless the light is from a Break Room).