The Long Dark Full Walkthrough (Episodes 1-5): all Puzzles, Keys, and Caches

Walkthrough of the second chapter of the Wintermute story mode for The Long Dark. We explain how to find the keys to the lake house, escape the bear's den, find all caches, and repair the trapper's radio.

In this chapter, you will find yourself in the Mystery Lake location, where you will meet the trapper. The man needs medical help, so he asks you to go to the abandoned dam and find parts for the radio.

You can reach this area in several ways: along the left edge of the map through the sawmill or along the railroad tracks. In the first case, you will be able to inspect several different structures, including houses and watchtowers.

We recommend following the left edge of the map. This way, you will reach the Nameless Pond and find the guide Frontier Shooting in the hunting tower.

Upon reaching the hydroelectric plant gates, you will encounter a locked grate. Enter the trailer to the right of the entrance and take the note and key from the table.

Inspect the first floor of the building. From the entrance, turn right and enter the restroom. There is a corpse with a briefcase: inspect the body to obtain the key to the administrator's office.

Find the stairs and go up to the office premises. In the far part of the room, there is a workbench, and on it lie the radio transmitter parts.

To the right of the workbench, open the door to the administrator's office. You can open the safe (the combination is always different, so you will have to guess) — inside are several flares, shotgun shells, and a first aid syringe. On the table, take the key to the first aid kit and read the note. The first aid kit itself is in the previous room, next to other lockers.

Do not rush to leave the office. Inspect the desks and find the crumpled note, from which you will learn about the cache. Once you do this, a marker will appear on the map.

Before leaving, you can inspect the other rooms and go down the stairs to find a corpse with several rounds.

To find this key, head from the hydroelectric plant building to Alan's Cave and take the supplies from the cache. Go outside and find the hunting blind. Next to it lies a corpse, inside which is the key.

The house itself is located in the southeastern part of the lake. Inside you will find firewood, food, and some clothes, as well as a note on the table.

If you go to inspect the lake houses, you will inevitably pass by the administration building of the tourist base. This is a large two-story building on the western side of the lake. When visiting this place, search the filing cabinets behind the potbelly stove on the first floor. In the second drawer from the bottom lies the key.

The house is located on the southern side of the lake. Inside you will find some food, several flares, and a warm winter jacket.

Return to the trapper and listen to his story. The man will say that the bear must be defeated first, but this can only be done with a spear. The complication is that it is located in another area — you will have to cross the Lonely Marsh.

Head to the transition to the location and go forward along the railroad tracks. After a few dozen meters, you will see several derailed cars. In one of them will be the guide to wolf hunting. Picking it up, you will receive a mini-quest to kill wolves, for which the reward will be a blueprint for clothing made from these predators.

There is no point in inspecting the entire location now; just follow the tracks in the opposite direction. Note that most of the map is covered with water. In some places, the water is deeply frozen, while in others, there is thin ice.

When you reach the overturned train with logs, inspect the only corpse there. Next to it will be a note, picking it up will reveal the coordinates of the cache at the end of the canyon in the Broken Railroad location.

If you are not yet ready to move to the next location and want to fully explore this one, we recommend going back a bit and heading north to the waterfall. To the right of it, there is a cave entrance where you will find a climbing rope and some supplies. Go through the cave to exit west on an elevation. The found climbing rope will help you safely descend and also return to this area at any time if desired.

Run to the Ruined Railroad Tracks, upon arrival at the location, go forward and descend to the water. Here will be an old canyon where you can inspect the cache of the deceased townsman. Return back to the tracks and reach the collapse. To pass, you will have to climb the rock on the right, but you can also bypass the landslide along the frozen river near the canyon.

A little further you will come across the locomotive engine. Find the open window and climb inside the car, then interact with the door to watch the cutscene. After that, talk to the old man and head to the repair hangar.

Enter the open door and pick up the note on the bench to get the additional activity Shots from the Lake.

The further passage depends on what time of day you reached the hangar. If you arrived here during the day, inspect the building and read the Forest Talkers' note next to the man's corpse. Examine the room for valuable items and exit.

Now you need to reach the large building on the elevation. To do this, run to the lake and find the bridge on its right side.

Cross the bridge through the gate and climb the elevation. There are quite a few wolves in this area, so it's better to scare them away with any weapon. When you are near the hunter's cabin, inspect the outer part of the stairs outside — there is a note with the cache location.

Enter the building and take the spear on the wall to the left. Mackenzie will suggest going down to the basement — as soon as you do this, the phone will ring. You can ignore it for now and inspect the room. On the right, take the lantern from the chest. With this item, you can scare away wolves during the electrical anomaly.

On the table, find the Forest Talkers' note, reading which will open the optional task Forest Talkers' Caches. One suitcase with supplies is hidden in each location, and you will have to find them to complete the mini-quest. We have detailed all the caches below.

In the basement, do not miss the climbing rope. It can be secured to the rock behind the house to shortcut and head directly to the repair shop, inspecting the Forest Talkers' supply cache along the way. There are no particularly valuable items inside, so you can just find it to complete the quest.

In the repair hangar, light the furnace. The fire will be infinite, so you can start repairing the spear. First, find the heavy hammer (located to the right of the furnace) and some scrap metal. The latter resource can be found in the shop. If not, go outside and take the hacksaw from the workbench, then use it to saw any metal shelf.

Return back to the trapper through the Lonely Marsh — you can check the bunker and, if desired, find the second Forest Talkers' cache, although it makes no sense, as you will go to this location anyway to complete the next quest.

Note: At the beginning of the quest, a corpse will appear at the Nameless Pond, which you can find to get the key to Hank's safe at the lookout tower in Mystery Lake. If you want to take the supplies, don't forget to inspect the corpse.

The quest will begin after talking to the trapper in his house. The old man asks you to visit three radio towers in the Marsh and find additional parts for the radio receiver. It seems simple, but near each tower, you will encounter several wolves.

If you meet wolves at the eastern tower, a bear will appear at the western one. Shooting it is pointless: take the spear in your hands and hold the fire/attack button before it lunges at Mackenzie, then quickly press the indicated key on the screen. Repeat the actions three times, after which the beast will run away.

A similar encounter will occur at the northern radio tower, so be prepared. The bear may not make any sounds but will attack at the most inopportune moment. Unlike the previous fight, you now need to impale it four times with the spear, after which it will run away.

However, when you try to move to the adjacent location, the bear will attack Mackenzie again. You won't be able to fend it off, so just watch the cutscene after which you will appear in a cave.

The main character appears in a large cave that the bear has made its den. Crawl after the bear and find the ascent on the left side. Climb up and always go forward. The beast will also follow the direction of your movement. When you see the descent, pass behind the bear and hide in a small adit you can crawl into. Wait for the bear to turn away and move into a small recess where water flows.

At the end of the tunnel, you will have to wait a bit, get out, and find another passage. At the fork, you will find a corpse and some supplies.

Continue moving through the cave until you find yourself in a large adit with a spear. Immediately run to the weapon and fend off the beast. If you want to restore stamina, hide in one of the nearby shelters. You will need to strike the bear three times to kill it.

This is the final mission of the second chapter. If you are not ready to leave Mystery Lake and its surroundings, we recommend first completing all side quests, finding bunkers and caches. When you are ready, head to Carter Dam and wait for the northern lights. In front of the building, by the way, you can talk to the old man and warm up food/boil water on a free campfire.

When you see the lights, interact with the panel on the door and find the switch that activates the elevator. Here you can also look around and open the safe, but don't waste time, as the geomagnetic storm may end.

Take the elevator down to the lower hall of the dam and proceed to the airtight door, avoiding the red wires on the floor.

In the next hall, to proceed, you will first need to cut off the power supply. To do this, go along the first machine and turn left. Here is the passage to the switch.

When you reach the stairs, pay attention to the wires below. They occasionally spark, so you will need to wait before continuing. When you find yourself in the small rooms on the upper level, watch the cutscene after which the chapter will end.

This side quest can be started by reading the note in the repair hangar at the entrance. To complete the activity, head to the cabins on the shore of Mystery Lake. Here you will find a corpse that was not there before if you inspected this area. Follow the bloodstains to a locked cabin nearby.

You will meet a stranger who will refuse to open the door but will ask you to bring some supplies and documents. You will also receive the key to the trailer at the logging site where these supplies are located.

It doesn't matter where you go first. If for supplies, open the only locked trailer (there are three here) and take the backpack from the table on the left.

Don't forget to find the Forest Talkers' cache nearby behind the trees on the hill.

Now head to the hydroelectric plant building. Go down the stairs and find the loose tile, then interact with it to retrieve the documents.

Returning to the stranger, you will have a choice: leave all supplies or take the ammo. We chose the first option. Rest in the nearby house, and the next morning you can search the cabin where the guy was. On the table, take the deerskin pants and the note.

To start this mini-quest, first visit the hunting lodge in the Broken Railroad location. On the stairs in front of the lodge, there is a note with the coordinates of the stash. Find it and get another note with the code for the bunker in the Forlorn Muskeg — 0794.

Head to this location and find the radio tower in the north. Nearby is the entrance to the bunker. You can enter and exit it only during the northern lights. Enter the code and collect useful supplies. The bunker can also serve as a shelter during bad weather.

To start this mini-quest, you first need to progress through the story to the Signal/Noise quest. Right after it begins, a campfire and a corpse will appear at the Unnamed Pond, where you can find Hank's safe key.

The safe itself is hidden under the couch in the lookout tower at Mystery Lake. You can reach it via the Frozen Creek. Once there, open the safe and take the note with the code for Hank's bunker. It is located nearby on the way to the dam.

Unlike the bunker in Forlorn Muskeg, this one can be opened at any time using the combination found in the note at the lookout tower (45-18-32).

The first note is on the table in the office at the dam on the second floor. The stash can be found in Alan's Cave.

A note can be found in the southeast part of the lake, in an unlocked cabin (next to cabin #2) on the table. The stash is located in the logging area between two trees.

Another letter can be found next to a corpse in the Muskeg location. When following the railroad tracks, inspect the corpse lying next to the overturned train cars containing logs. A marker will appear on the map — the stash is hidden in the neighboring location, at the end of the canyon. Inside, you will find some clothing and other useful items.

Reaching the hunting lodge in the Broken Railroad location, you can find a note attached to the outside of the stairs. A marker will appear on the map — this place is nearby, at the landslide next to the cave. On the hill, you can see a fallen tree, and right under it is a box. Inside, you will find good footwear and a note with the code for the light-sensitive bunker.

The next note can be found at the lookout tower at Mystery Lake, on the table. Along with it, a marker will appear on the map indicating a stash — it is located near the transition to Forlorn Muskeg.

Broken Railroad

The cache is hidden near the maintenance shed, behind a large hill.

Mystery Lake

Hidden in the logging area, next to the logs under a stump.

Forlorn Muskeg

Can be found near one of the four radio towers. It is located on the eastern side of the location.