Amnesia The Dark Descent Puzzle Guide (2024)

Title: Amnesia: The Dark Descent

Date: September 13, 2010

System: PC, Mac

Author: Adenosine

E-mail: NOSPAM@classiccase@hotmail.com (Remove NOSPAM@ to contact me).

Version: 1.10

**********************************************************************

History:

V 1.10 - September 13, 2010, Added another solution to

"Escape From The Cell"

- Added "Cell Escape Solution 2"

V 1.00 - September 13, 2010

Table of Contents:

Part 1

- Introduction

- Preparation

- Basic Controls

- Basic Strategy

Part 2

I. Following The Liquid Trail

II. Secret Door in the Local History Room

III. Exiting The Archives

IV. Trip to The Laboratory

V. Chemical Hunting

VI. Creating The Acid

VII. Trip to The Refinery

VIII. Cellar Archives

IX. Back Hall

X. The Machine Room Key

XI. Elevator Parts Hunting

XII. Fixing The Elevator

XIII. Prison Exploration

XIV. Prison Northern Block Exploration

XV. Cistern Exploration

XVI. Cistern Control Room

XVII. Morgue and The Vaccine

XVIII. Sewer Exploration

XIX. Escape From the Sewer

XX. Nave Exploration

XXI. Collecting The Orb Pieces and Agrippa's Tonic Ingredients

XXII. Escape From The Cell

XXIII. Making Agrippa's Tonic

XXIV. Assembling The Orb

XXV. Facing Alexander

Part 3

- Extras

- Thanks

Part 4

- Copyright Information

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Part 1

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-------------

Introduction:

-------------

Hello once more horror fans! Welcome to Amnesia: The Dark Descent! This is

truly a game that can give you genuine fear from start to finish. You play

as Daniel, a man who wakes up in a castle and has no recollection of what

he is doing there or who he is. His only reality is that there is no other

way out and he has to explore the castle on his own in an effort to

uncover the mystery of his lost memories and the castle itself.

The game is very atmospheric. Rays of light penetrate the beautiful

windows of the castle early on, only to be replaced by an embracing

darkness as you make progress in the castle. Creepy sounds such as the

gust of wind blowing to creaking doors can be heard. Are you truly alone

in this castle, or is there someone else?

Tension builds slowly as moans and angry howls start to be heard. What

is it that is making those sounds? Why is the source getting nearer and

nearer? You know that whatever it is, you don't want to be seen by it.

Where can you hide? The darkness that is the source of your fear will

have to do as your temporary security blanket as whatever it is hunting

you passes by nearby.

Fortunately for you, there are candles and lamps that you can light up

in the castle to make your exploration less taxing, but for how long

can you keep your sanity? Were the things you heard just your imaginings?

Was that figure that saw slowly shambling around the corner just a

product of your anxiety?

Whatever happens, there is only one way to learn the truth, and that is

to gather as much courage as you can and brave on into the darkness.

------------

Preparation:

------------

The first thing that you have to know about this game is that there is no

way of fighting back against whatever thing it is that is hunting you.

Your only options are to run away or hide in a room or a closet. Sometimes,

you can also hide in the corner where there is darkness to avoid being

detected.

Sanity plays a big role in the game. The more you stay in dark areas

without a light, the worse your sanity gets. Sanity is represented in the

game by how clear your vision is and how easy you are to control. The

worse the condition of your sanity is, the more your vision tends to

blur and become wavy, and you become harder to move around, as if you're

drunk. Your sanity is sometimes forced by the game as part of an

important situation, but sometimes you can recover it slowly by staying

near lights.

Before you begin exploring the castle, it is important to make sure that

the key configuration suits you well. Make sure that the controls to

running, leaning left/right, crouching, and bringing up the lantern are

easy for you to do.

---------------

Basic Controls:

---------------

You are just a simple human being with amnesia. You have no super powers,

and you don't even know how to use weapons. Your only hope of survival is

through your stealth, agility, and intelligence.

Picking Up Objects - left click on anything where your mouse cursor becomes

a hand and you will be able to pick it up by moving the mouse.

Moving Picked Up Objects Nearer Or Away - left click on anything where

your mouse cursor becomes a hand, click on the thing to pick it up, and

then move the mouse wheel towards or away from you to move the object

the same.

Throwing Objects - pick up any object and then right click.

Moving Objects - some objects are too heavy to pick up, such as huge

rocks and wood used as framework. To move heavy objects, left click on it

and then move in the direction you want to push or pull it.

Running - simply hold down the run key as you move around.

---------------

Basic Strategy:

---------------

1. When staying in a room, always close the door behind you.

You never know when a monster might suddenly wander around nearby and

spot you. It is good practice to always shut the door behind you to

avoid being discovered. Even if a monster senses you and starts making

sounds, it'll take a few seconds for it to break down the door to your

room, giving you enough time to hopefully hide in a dark corner or

inside a cabinet.

2. Always leave one of a cabinet's door open.

When you are in a room, find a cabinet and leave one of its doors open.

If ever you hear a monster approaching, you can quickly hide inside and

wait until the monster leaves the room.

3. Always leave doors to potential hiding places open.

As you explore the castle, you will encounter long hallways. There are

times in the game when a monster will suddenly wander around and you'll

have to quickly find a hiding place. Having the doors already open will

save you time so that all you have to do is concentrate on shutting the

door tight behind you and quickly finding a dark corner or a cabinet to

hide in.

4. Conserve tinderboxes and oil.

Tinderboxes are used to light up candles and lamps, while oil is used to

light up your portable oil lamp. You will only be able to find a few of

these so don't waste them all in just one area.

5. Light up important areas.

Since you are on limited supply of tinderboxes and oil, only light up

areas that could serve as a place to regain your sanity. Good places to

light up are inside rooms where it's relatively safe so that you can

actually spend some time regaining sanity, and corners of hallways so

that you'll have a better view of what might be there.

6. Open all drawers, check behind/under grouped objects.

Some tinderboxes and oil can be found inside drawers or behind objects

that are grouped together, such as barrels. Always open and check behind

or under anything that could be moved to find these important supplies.

7. Don't panic.

It's dark and you think you saw a monster. Don't panic because it will

cause you to make mistakes or even bump into the thing. Just remember

that you have a plan for such situations, such as quickly hiding into

a nearby room which you already prepared beforehand.

***************************************************************************

Part 2

***************************************************************************

Archives

--------

Upon entering, you'll notice that to the right is a door. The sign says

"Libra Rari" or "Rare Books". Enter the room and on the table you'll

find a piece of paper. Pick it up.

We find out that Daniel was on an expedition in Africa with a certain

Professor Herbert. They were looking for a tomb related to the "Tin Hinan",

translated as "The Mother of Us All".

Get out of the room and go inside the one in front of us called "Catalogi"

or "Catalogues". On the shelf in the left corner is a note. Pick it up.

It's just a 3 year contract for a man named Wilhelm, employed by

Alexander.

Open the drawers of the table and you'll find a tinderbox. To the right of

the room is a door. Go through it and you'll be in the hallway. Across

you is the "Studium" or "Study". Go inside.

On the far side is a table. Open the drawers and you'll find another

tinderbox. There's also a piece of paper on the table so pick it up.

It's a continuation of Daniel's expedition diary. We find out that on

that day, he took some people with him to explore the underground passage

and they found an ante-chamber. A rock suddenly blocked their way so

he ordered his men to raise it. As he got through, the rock came down and

he was trapped.

After reading, go through the other door in the room. You'll be in the

hallway once more. The door in front of you leads to "Libri Veteres" or

"Old Tomes". Go inside it.

Whoa! A book suddenly fell on its own! Behind the table is a chest and

a furnace. Open the chest to get a tinderbox and oil. Open the furnace

to get a tinderbox. Get out of the room and back to the hallway.

Turn right and you'll see another door. It's the "Historia Loci" room or

"Local History". You can't open it and something will be written in your

journal. You'll have to find another way in. Turn right and continue down

the hall into the next area. You'll be in a very large room. To your right

is a piano. Go near it. Eek! It closed on its own! Maybe it doesn't want

you touching it.

Anyway, from where you came in before you looked at the piano, turn left

and move forward. To the left is a room, go inside. Continue on your way

and you'll find a table on the right. It has a bottle of oil on top of it

so grab it. Move on and you'll find a room to the right called "Delineatae

Imagines Tabulatis", or simply the room for the "Floor Plans". Enter it.

Go to the middle of the room and look to the left. You'll find a board

with paper on it. You'll have another flashback where Daniel and Alexander

are talking about weaknesses in the structure that have to be reinforced

due to the shadow. Anyway, on the far corner of the room is another chest.

Open it and take the oil and the tinderbox inside. Get out of the room.

The next room is called "Tabulae" or "Maps". Before you can even set foot

inside, the ceiling from where you came in from collapses! Anyway, go

inside the room and check the table. Open the drawers first and you'll

find a tinderbox. On the table is another piece of paper, read it.

Daniel collapses after picking up the paper. An interactive flashback

occurs. As Daniel narrates, you'll see a glowing light in front of you.

Move forward and you'll find some sort of orb. Grab it with your hand and

it shines even more. Daniel gets up soon.

Get out of the room and look on the wall to your left. You'll notice that

on the corner it is badly damaged. Touch it and it will tell you that it

is fragile but not breakable by hand. Look around in the hallway and find

something to throw at it and it'll break open.

***ALTERNATE SOLUTION******************************************************

Instead of throwing something on the weak spot of the wall, you can simply

keep on left clicking it and it will eventually break.

***************************************************************************

After the wall breaks open, jump into the next room and another flashback

occurs. It's Daniel and Alexander talking about some secret room

mechanism in the Local History room.

*****************************************

II. Secret Door in the Local History Room

*****************************************

Now is our first real puzzle to solve. Before anything else, the shelf in

front of you has an oil bottle, so pick it up. On the far left side of the

room is another piece of paper inside a glass case. Pick up a book or

something else, and then throw it at the glass case. It will break and

you'll be able to pick up and read the paper.

On the other far side of the room is a shelf where if you get too close,

you'll notice that there's another room behind it. The way to make this

shelf move is by pulling three books fast enough.

The first book is on the shelf to the left from where you entered this

room. Don't worry, the three books all look the same and are very easy

to spot. It's the bright colored book that is simply screaming to be

pulled out. Pull the first book and you'll hear the mechanism to start

moving.

The second and third books are on the shelf facing the main door on the

other side. The second book is near the secret door, while the third book

is near the glass cases. Pull them quickly and the secret door will be

revealed.

Go inside this new room and you'll notice that there is a cabinet to the

left. Open one door of this cabinet, just leave it open. Before taking

the key, check the tables drawers. You'll find another piece of paper

you can read.

It seems that Wilhelm and his gang have been kidnapping people and the

sheriff's after them. The writer of the note contemplates of locking them

up because they can't seem to stay out of the public eye and they would be

endangering his research.

After reading the note, go ahead and grab the key on the table. It's the

key to the Wine Cellar, which we'll need later on. Oh no! Something just

busted the door open! Fortunately it's nothing!

*************************

III. Exiting The Archives

*************************

Get out through the newly busted open door. Turn left and head on straight.

Yikes! Something just growled! Quickly run back to the Local History room

then into the secret room, and finally hide in the cabinet that you left

open! Wait for awhile until you think whatever it is has moved away.

Get out of the cabinet and exit the Local History room. Turn left and go

to where you heard the angry sound earlier. It's gone! Now we can exit

the Archives. Turn right to where the piano is and move forward. You'll

find another hallway to your right so go there.

You might suddenly encounter another sound from whatever it is. If you do,

quickly run back to the secret room and hide in the cabinet and then wait

a while. When you think it's safe to go out, then go back to that hallway

and then you can finally exit back to the Entrance Hall! If you are near

the exit and you hear another sound, just make a run for it!

**************************

IV. Trip to The Laboratory

**************************

As soon as you exit the Archives and arrive at the Entrance Hall, the

area around the door will suddenly transform into the red organic matter!

Don't touch it, just run forward and try to jump over it. Those things

will hurt you!

After you've gotten past them, move to the far other end, then go down

the stairs. Turn right and then go down the stairs again. You'll have two

directions to go, left and right. To the left is the Wine Cellar. To the

right is the Laboratory. Let's go to the laboratory first.

----------

Laboratory

----------

Move forward and head down the stairs. As soon as you reach the ground,

turn right and go to the left corner. Oh no, a growl! Nothing to worry

about. You'll find a bottle of oil near the fallen shelf in the corner.

To the left of the stairs you'll find some barrels and shelves in the

corner. Jump on top of the barrels and you'll find another bottle of oil

on the top of the shelf.

Go into the next room and down the stairs. To your right, you'll find

a chest hidden by the crates. Open it to get a tinderbox. Move the crates

around and you'll find another tinderbox in the corner.

Move into the main room and look to the right. There's a table with

equipment there. There's also a note on the table so pick it up. It tells

you that the chemicals in the lab have been transported to the Wine Cellar.

Before we go hunt for the chemicals, we'll need to get a few things from

the lab first. On the shelf opposite the equipment table, there's a bottle

of oil for you.

Look into the red grating on the ground. You'll have a flashback where

Alexander speaks of some ingredients. On the other side of the room is

another furnace. Open it and grab the tinderbox. Open the drawers of the

table in front of the furnace and you'll get a tinderbox. You'll also find

a strange canister which seems to act like a flashback diary.

Touch the strange canister and you'll read about somebody who wants to

go home to his lover. The person also states that while others only want

power, all he wants is fair judgment.

After "reading" the canister, pick up the Chemistry Pot on the table and

then read the note there. It's a note that says if you combine four

chemicals, you'll be able to create a strong acid.

Now that we're done with the laboratory, it's time to head to the Wine

Cellar to get the four chemicals!

*******************

V. Chemical Hunting

*******************

Get out of the main laboratory and then up the stairs, then go through

the door to the Entrance Hall. Once you are back in the Entrance Hall,

simply move forward then down the stairs and you'll reach the door to

the Wine Cellar.

The Wine Cellar's door is locked, but don't worry, we already have the

key! Press TAB and find the Wine Cellar Key in your inventory. Double

click on it and you'll notice that it has become your cursor! Click on

the Wine Cellar door and it will be unlocked!

-----------

Wine Cellar

-----------

Move forward and go down the stairs. Another weird sound! Nothing to worry

about. As you reach the bottom of the stairs, you'll hear a bunch of

Wilhelm's men being happy because of the wine despite being locked in.

Look at the wall to the right, there's a map of the place. While looking

at the map, turn right and let's enter that room.

Inside this room in the corner is an oil barrel. Use it to fill up your

lantern if you need to. On the shelf nearby is a tinderbox. On the

other end of the room is a table in the corner with another tinderbox.

There's also a fallen table and near it is one of our chemicals. Get the

bottle of chemical and another earthquake occurs. A barrel falls and

Daniel gets knocked out for a while. After waking up, you'll see that the

door is now blocked by rocks and wood. Move the rocks and the wood away

and get out of the room.

If you're interested to know what chemical we just picked up, press TAB

and we'll find out that it's called Calamine.

Anyway once you're out of the room, turn left and we'll enter that room.

Upon entering, the door to your left will start banging! Nothing to fear!

Open the door and enter the room.

You'll be greeted by pieces of strange meat on the floor. Touching them

only makes a squishy sound. Continue on and explore the room. Another

flashback occurs where Wilhelm and gang start dying horrible deaths.

Open the chest in the middle of the room for a tinderbox. To the left is

another room. Inside, you'll find a cabinet and a table with another

chemical and a note. Read the note.

It's Wilhelm's final words! He finally exposes that he's become a

kidnapper for hire, and in return, Alexander would say good things about

him that will help him get a better place in society. Unfortunately, they

all got locked up in the Wine Cellar by Alexander. Somehow, they're all

dying in weird ways, but he has accepted this as a form of punishment

for all the bad things that he has done.

After reading his touching letter, grab the chemical, which is Aqua Regia.

Get out of the room and you'll be back to where the stairs are. Move to

the map on the wall. We'll enter the door next to it.

Inside is a very simple room. There is a table and a chemical bottle sits

on top of it. Grab the chemical. It is called Cuprite. You'll hear another

weird sound, but it's nothing to worry about.

Get out of the room and turn right. Move along the wall and you'll reach

another door. Try opening it. Another weird sound is heard and the door

won't open. Just continue moving along the wall to the next door.

Enter the room. Turn left and move forward. On the shelf in the corner

is a bottle of Laundanum. Laundanum is a potion that restores your health

a little bit whenever you are damaged.

Oh no!!! After picking up the Laundanum, a monster somehow shows up! Near

the door we came from! DO NOT LOOK BACK! The more you look at it, the more

it will notice you! Turn off your lantern as well because it will attract

its attention! Just look at the wall while you're crouching in the corner

and listen for his sounds. Hopefully he'll leave you alone soon.

You can check if he's still around by quickly looking behind you, then

leaning to the right to see if he's still standing around. If he is, just

continue looking at the wall. Check back every 10 seconds or so and

eventually he'll disappear.

Once he is gone, it's time to move forward. You might want to light

one of the torches near the door to make your vision less hazy. Anyway,

move on forward to the other part of the room.

Whoa! Some stuff starts falling through the hole on the ceiling. Continue

on. To the right from where the stuff fell is a torch. In front of the

torch is a shelf with a tinderbox on top. To reach the tinderbox, move

some crates in front of the shelf to create stairs you can jump on. There's

also another tinderbox on the other shelf near to the torch which can be

easily grabbed.

Move into the next room which has a lot of wine bottles. The shelf directly

in front of you has a tinderbox at the bottom. Move forward and the

area with wine bottles to the left has another shelf with a tinderbox

near the corner. Continue on to the last corner of the room and you'll find

another tinderbox and the last chemical called Orpiment on the shelf.

Go back from where you came from and there's a door to your left. Open

the door and you'll see the stairs in front of you. Make your way up

and get out of the Wine Cellar!

After exiting the Wine Cellar, the area becomes full of the red organic

stuff! Run straight and enter the Laboratory quickly!

*********************

VI. Creating The Acid

*********************

----------

Laboratory

----------

Go down the stairs and back into the main laboratory room. Go to the

equipment table with the bottles and stuff. Now it's time to combine

our chemicals!

Press TAB and double click on one of the chemicals. It doesn't matter

which one you pick, as soon as you have chosen one, click on any of the

bottles in front of you and they'll fill it up. Do it to the rest of the

chemicals.

As you try to fill up all of the bottles, another angry roar is heard.

Don't worry about it and just put all of the chemicals in the bottles.

When you're done, turn the valve on the very left to the right. You can

do this by clicking on the valve and then rotating your mouse clockwise.

Suddenly, the flames will come out from under the chemical bottles.

Open your inventory and double click on the Chemistry Pot and click on

the bottles. Your chemistry pot will then be placed under a faucet

connected to the chemicals.

The final step to complete our chemical combination is the turn all of the

four valves above the chemical bottles in a clockwise direction. After

doing so, the Chemical Pot will be filled with glowing acid. Grab

it to have a pot of acid!

*************************

VII. Trip to The Refinery

*************************

----------

Laboratory

----------

From the main laboratory, go up the stairs. Oh no! You'll find that the

stairs have been destroyed due to the earthquake! There's a few possible

ways to solve this problem.

**************************************************************************

Broken Stairs Solution 1:

If you just got up from the main laboratory room, you'll see the now

broken stairs. To the left is a wall with rocks. Near it are two wooden

pieces of floor. Pick one up and put it near the torch in front of the

area without the railings above. It will automatically attach itself there

and you can climb up. Just left click when you see the ladder icon and

you will go to "climbing mode". Just move up and you'll start climbing

until you reach the top.

Broken Stairs Solution 2:

Similar to the first one, but this time, grab a wooden piece of floor

near the rocks on the wall, and then put it near the broken part of the

stairs. It will automatically attach itself and you can climb normally.

Broken Stairs Solution 3:

Some people might not have noticed the wooden pieces of floor, but there's

another way to surpass this challenge without using them. Grab some

barrels from the corner of the room and put them in front of the ground

where the stairs got broken. Next, grab a box and put it on top of a

barrel. Jump on the broken part of the stairs, then jump on the box which

sits on top of a barrel. Now you can jump forward to reach the higher

broken part of the stairs and proceed normally!

**************************************************************************

Now that you have reached the higher level again, let's exit the place and

head back to the Entrance Hall.

-------------

Entrance Hall

-------------

As soon as you get out of the Laboratory, run! Turn left and go back up

to the main Entrance Hall. Before we enter the Refinery, let's grab some

extra stuff first.

From the center of the Entrance Hall where the circle is, there's another

hall that we haven't visited yet. Check out this hall. On the left wall

is a chest. Open it to get a tinderbox and a bottle of oil. Proceed down

the hall and near the end, the last shelf has three boxes near it. Move

the boxes to reveal a hidden bottle of oil.

You can try to open the doors at the end, but suddenly those red organic

stuff will cover it. Go back to the main Entrance Hall and then move down

the stairs near the circle. Go through the door and we're back to the place

that the red organic stuff is blocking. Open your inventory, double click

on the Pot of Acid, and then use it on the red organic matter. Watch it

dissolve! Now move along and go through the door.

--------

Refinery

--------

At least we're at the Refinery! Move forward and you'll have another

flashback of Daniel asking Alexander why it's so dark in the Refinery.

Continue moving and you'll eventually hear another weird sound. Just

move along and you'll reach an open room with giant barrels. As you enter

the room, you'll see a monster move in the next room. When it's gone, you

can continue moving forward as well.

The next room has a slightly open door to the left, with another door at

the front and to the right. Giant barrels are also here. Enter the slightly

open door to the left.

The room is just simple. The only thing of interest here is the shelf on

the left which has a bottle of oil. After getting the bottle of oil, turn

around and proceed through the next door.

It's another small room. There's Laudanum on the shelf, and a note on the

table. As you approach, the door to the next room gets blown open by

something. Nothing to worry about. Grab the Laudanum and read the note.

The note is about Daniel's return from Africa. He was forced to go back

home by Professor Herbert. He also found the broken orb, but somehow

couldn't put them back together.

After reading it, proceed to the next room. Don't bother with the door to

the left yet since we're not done with the area. Just move forward and

go through the slightly open door in front of you. The screen will turn

red and another angry growl is heard, nothing to fear.

When you're inside the new room, check the shelf on the right and grab

the tinderbox. Proceed to the next room. As you make it halfway through

the room, you'll hear an angry growl and the sound of something breaking

through a door. Nothing to worry about.

There is a table with a note on one side of the room, and there is a

shelf on the other side with a tinderbox at the bottom. Grab the tinderbox

and then read the note on the table.

We find out the Daniel's beginning to suspect something's strange about

the pieces of the orbs that he has. He asks a geologist about how rocks

change, and somehow felt at ease. Still, he finds the orb pieces bizarre.

After reading the note, go back to the previous room, and then to the

other. Go through the door and you're back to the long room where your

vision turned red. Look to the right and you'll find a bunch of boxes.

Move the boxes away to reveal a hole in the wall that you can crawl

through.

Move forward and you'll find an oil barrel to refill your lantern with.

Turn left and continue and you'll find a trapdoor on the floor with a

rope attached to it. Don't worry about it for now.

To the left of the trapdoor is a shelf with a tinderbox. Grab it. The

left side of a room also has a chest under a torch. Open the chest and

grab two tinderboxes.

Now we're ready to open the trapdoor. Unfortunately, something is jammed

to the pulley so even if you turn the crank, it won't work. We have to

get rid of that stick jammed to the pulley.

**************************************************************************

Trapdoor Solution 1:

Grab a box and throw it at the stick that got jammed just above and front

of the trapdoor. The stick will break and you'll be able to turn the

crank to open the trapdoor.

Trapdoor Solution 2:

Get a few boxes or a barrel and make your own stairs to reach the stick.

Grab the stick and move the mouse around to break it. Turn the crank and

the trapdoor will open up!

**************************************************************************

Now that the trapdoor is open, it's time to get down there! Crouch and

fall through the trapdoor. Just keep going. You'll hear another roar but

it's nothing to be scared of. Go through the door to reach the Cellar

Archives.