Amnesia: Guide for new players

This guide contains everything new players need to survive in Amnesia: The Dark Descent

Welcome!

First off, Welcome to Amnesia, a world of scares, and monsters.

This Guide will help you understand Amnesia and avoid dying alot.

I am planning on making a walkthrough of the game in another Guide, some other time.

You should do as the game says, Play in a dark room, put on headphones, and do not play to win, Immerse yourself in the story, try to make sence of what is going on, and don't try to fight the monsters, hide instead. have fun mocking them as they pass by you, wondering where you are.

If you are new to Amnesia, then its okay to leave a light on, this game is really scary. You can have someone nearby to comfort you if you get too scared. Take breaks every now and then, to recover from scares.

The best way to get used to playing Amnesia in the dark is leave about four or five lights on, and talk to a friend while you play. Every time you start Amnesia, turn off one light and play, this will help you get used to playing in the dark.

Items

Bold Text indicates an item that is in the original storyline. Italic Text indicates an item that was coded to be in the game, but wasn't added in the original storyline, but are available in custom stories.

Tinderboxes are the most common light source in the game, these are useful for lighting areas you know you are going to return to, you shouldn't use these in long corridors, because this is where monsters are common, lighting up corridors will make it hard to sneak by monsters. use tinderboxes in small rooms or hubs for the best effect.

Oil Potions are not very common in Amnesia: The Dark Descent, so use it in corridors only, it is meant to be used in areas like the Storage. Try to conserve your oil, or you will be stuck using tinderboxes near the end of the game.

Oil Barrels are rare, they only appear in about 6 areas of the game. they hold from half a refill to a full refill of oil, which is useful if you are low or out of oil. If you have a choice between filling an empty lantern with an Oil bottle or Oil barrel, take the barrel, because oil bottles are for if you run out of oil far from an oil barrel.

Laudanum is commonly found throughout the game, it restores Health upon use.

Large Oil Potions are like Oil Potions, only they refill twice the amount of Oil for your lantern.

Sanity Potions are like laudanum, only they restore Sanity instead of Health.

Monsters!

Monsters usually appear if you've picked up an important item, or if you walked into a certain area. There are five kinds of monsters in Amnesia, four of which appear in The Dark Descent and one in the Justine expansion.

Grunts are the most common monster in Amnesia, their appearance is quite disturbing. they have a drooping flappy jaw that doesn't appear to have any tongue, and a large bear-like hand with several metal claws poking out. They have large snake-like eyes, that point in different directions. They can kill you in about three to four hits, and they can break down a door in four hits. You can run from a grunt if he sees you, but don't look back until you've lost him, because he will be right on your heels.

Brutes are less common then the grunt, and only appear a few times in the game. These are very deadly creatures, they run faster than you, break down doors in two hits, and can kill you in one to two hits! these have a large head that looks like it was split down the center, and wear what looks like over-alls made of metal, they drag a large blade where its left arm should be and above all, they sound really, really scary!

Lurkers (Sometimes called the water monster) are only found in maps where there is waist-high water, they are known as the only killable monster in the game. they can only hurt you if you are in the water with it, you can see them splashing through the water if you throw something in, to kill a lurker, take anything thats the size of a crate and smash it down on top of them while they are moving, you can tell if it worked because it will leave a short glimps of yellow blood where you killed it.

The Shadow, or Gaurdian, Is only seen once in the game, chasing you through the Jail towards the end of the game, it appears to be a small red cloud, surrounded by black clouds. if you look at it, it will quickley drain your sanity, and slow you down, so if you are being chased, Don't look back!
Suitors are only found in the Justine expansion pack for steam users, they are are entirely blind, but will sence you if you use your lantern, run, or if you get to close, they have eyeless sockets and are covered from head to toe with scars, and have large wheels around their necks, which is why they make wheesing noises. there are four presets for the Suitors, Alois, Basil, Malos, and the regular Suitor.

Sanity and Health

Sanity is effected by being in the dark, looking at a monster for to long, and witnessing unsettling events. there are four stats for sanity: Crystal Clear (High), A Slight Headache (Normal), Head is Pounding, and Hands are Shaking (Low), and ... (Very Low). at Low or Very Low, your will have illusions of monsters, that disolve as soon as they get close enough to hit you, and paintings will be altered to look disturbing, you should stay in the light for a while, drink a sanity potion, or solve a puzzle.

Health is effected by taking damage from monsters or the enviroment (Falling touching spikes etc).
It is only restored by drinking Laudanam. Just like sanity there are four stats, All is good (High), A Few Cuts and Bruises (Normal), A Wound is Bleeding Quite Badly (Low), and Barely Conscious (Very Low).

Useful survival info

A good habit is doing what mom asked you to do, Close the door behind you, because if you leave the door open, and you pick up something important, a monster will likely stroll in, see you, and kill you. To avoid this you should always close doors behind you, and scope out the nearest hiding spot, which may be: A dark corner, A small wall of objects to block you from the monster's veiw, Or a Closet, Remember to turn of your lantern.

Sometimes you can't hide, if this is the case, then do what mom told you not to do, RUN! Thats right, RUN! because you can't fight monsters, and if you can't hide, then run, close doors behind you and knock objects in the way to slow down the monster, or even throw an object directly at the monster, stunning him long enough to get further ahead.

As i said two pages ago, Try to conserve your Oil, Because if you run out of oil, then you have no portable light source, and have to move slowly through corridors. in order to see what you're doing, even then, you can still barely see where you are going, and your risk of accidently running into a monster is greatly increased.

Only use Sanity Potions or Laudanam if you're on Low or Very Low Health/Sanity.

Being very aware is useful too, because if a monster rounds the corner you won't flip out and cry like a five-year-old. Get used to your surroundings in a new map, so you know where to go if a monster appears and starts to chase you. Leave the door to your "Safe Room" open, and always leave a closet door open in case you have to dart in to hide from a monster.

Hubs and "Safe Rooms"

Hubs are the safest places in the game, they provide light and safety for the player, and are slowly taken by red goo as you progress. Hubs are entirely corrupt with red goo by the time you finish everything in them.

Safe Rooms on the other hand are much more dangerous than a Hub therefor it is extremely important that you use the following advice.

1: Your safe room must have a hiding place (Closet, Dark corner, Wall of objects) or darting in to ditch a monster will be pointless, as he will likely break down the door and kill you.
2: It is highly recommended that your safe room be lit, to avoid sanity loss due to darkness.
3: Block broken down doors with objects you can jump over, because broken doors never respawn.

Custom Stories

Custom Stories are for people who are either too scared to play the original storyline, or are bored of it, and want something different.

Some custom stories contain custom made items, models, and sometimes custom monsters.

To get custom stories go to moddb.com and download one. To install it (unless otherwise specified by the readme)
1: Extract the zip with a program like Winrar or 7zip.
2: Drag the custom story folder to your amnesia folder at C:\ProgramFiles(x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\amnesiathedarkdescent\customstories
3: Then start Amnesia and select your custom story from the list.
4: Have fun!

Total Conversion Custom Stories

Now, People have asked me how to install a total conversion. I know how, but it's not as straight-forward as just dropping it in your custom_stories folder. Check if the webpage you downloaded your story from has instructions, or if the download has instructions. If they don't follow these instructions:

1. Drag the zip or rar file to your steamapps/common/amneasiathedarkdescent/
2. Right click the zip or rar file and select "Extract Here"
3. Use the shortcut that has the custom story name on it (For Example: If you install Felix's Nightmare, a new shortcut should be created in the amneasia folder called "Amneasia: Felix's Nightmare"

Not all Total Conversion Custom stories install like this, Some have installers that do it automatically,
But I would make sure to scan these for viruses first.

Anyway, Enjoy your new custom story, and keep ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ those brix!

A Machine for pigs

Similar to The Dark Descent, except you don't have an inventory, you can't pick up very many items, your lamp is electric, and your lamp doesn't require any refilling.

Basically its another storyline. But when I finally was able to beat it (on a friend's computer), I thought the ending was way to anticlimactic for an amnesia story. That, and the fact I didn't have an inventory.

Gameplay is farely nice though.

But weather you choose to get it or not is up to you, not me. I'm just saying, Not a really good storyline.

A Machine for Pigs: Monsters

Well, As funny as it sounds, these pigs WILL beat the living crap out of you in a matter of seconds.

Wretch Man-Pig You can think they are funny all you want before you play the game, but as soon as you encounter one, you will not find them even remotely funny. What they lack in Strength, they make up for with speed. Deadly Speed. They won't do much damage to you, but the will chase you down, and they can hit, faster than any other monster from The Dark Descent. They look like, well, Man-Pigs, they squeal, grunt, and growl, like a pig, obviously. They seem to have the mind of a child, as later in the game, you can see a few of them playing.

Engineer Man-Pig These Man-Pigs hit harder than their Wretch counterparts, and the look like you took a Wretch and a Brute, and threw them together. These things don't seem to like Wretches, and at one point, you can see an Engineer shove a Wretch to the side as they cross paths.

Tesla Man-Pig These guys are the most dangerous Man-Pig in the game, They can kill in two hits, and they have tesla coils all over their bodies. I think the phrase "Bloody hell, these ones can fricken' teleport!" will be good enough for now.

Thanks for Reading!

Thanks for Reading Amnesia: Guide for new players, and have a good time scaring yourself.

If you have any questions, please contact me via steam, or by my email, [e-mail].

Also, If anyone writes a hater/troll comment, I will Report it, and will remove it from my guide, I will never accept any BS for Haters or Trolls. Ever.

Holy Crap! It's on the top three rated guides of all time! Thanks guys, and Happy New Years!

Edit September 8th:

Well, guys, I'm going to be honest with you.

I have made NO progress WHATSOEVER on the walkthrough.
It is mainly my fault because I waste my free time watching too much anime, and playing too many games.
So I'm giving up on the walkthrough, I hope you guys aren't too disappointed.
But I'll definitly write a guide on another horror game to make it up to you guys.

Sincere apoligies, Nathan.

[Griss]

nahh, let bro happy
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[Sa7ana3a]

Such sad attempt for advertising a mediocre game
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[Borang]

great guide! ive already mastered this game and know it like the back of my hand ( i beat it on a different system :p ) this was still very interesting to read!

[𝕚𝕟𝟚𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕥𝕖]

Thanks for writing this guide. I found it very useful as I'm only halfway through the game. Cheers!

[Cosmic]

You forgot the water monster pig in A machine for pigs

[m1lu]

merci beacoup

[M3GATR0M]

gracias buen resumen.

[MeisterMody]

^You can stun the Monsters if you throw big Props on them

[sourgreenapple1234]

Fantastic job with this article! But I am having trouble dowloading full conversions, I have been researching this for quite some time, and haven't come across anything that works. I do everything right but when i click the .bat file it says "FATAL ERROR: Could not init steam". Does anyone have a solution for this?

[Ozarcus]

Good work!