There are 22 Cult Stash locations in Alan Wake 2, and some of the solutions can be a bit tricky. But don’t worry; we have all the details you’ll ever need to find and solve each one.
All Cauldron Lake Cult Stash locations and solutions
There are five Cult Stash locations in the Cauldron Lake area in Alan Wake 2. Check out the map below with all their locations and continue to read the solutions.
Cauldron Lake 1 – ‘Rock Rock Tree’
The first Cult Stash you may come across in the Cauldron Lake area is the one with the vague ‘Rock Rock Tree’ puzzle.
Solution: We have a guide you can follow, but the answer is 6-5-8
Cauldron Lake 2
The next Cult Stash location is just south of the Murder Site, next to a picnic table near a trailer. The Puzzle reads:
- Wash hands
- Take the chicken out of the Fridge
- Take a nap
You need to find three triangle symbols in the trailer near the things that the puzzle is cluing you to search.
Solution: The first symbol is above the bathroom sink, the second is on the side of the fridge, and the third is above the mattress in the bedroom. Here’s the solution:
Cauldron Lake 3
The third Cult Stash location is next to the western campsite near the Crow’s Foot Hills on the map. Your clue on how to open it is a crudely drawn picture of a lightbulb.
Solution: Use your flashlight to spot a painted arrow close by. Follow the arrows until you find the Streamside Stash Key, just south of the Cult Stash.
Cauldron Lake 4
You gain access to the fourth Cult Stash location after the flooding recedes. Go to the beach and find the box nestled between waterlogged trees.
Solution: Repeat the flashing light pattern.
Cauldron Lake 5
The final Cult Stash location is in the Rental Cabins area which can’t be accessed until you get the bolt cutters in the chapter, Return 5: Old Gods. It’s also the most confusing puzzle in the area to crack.
The piece of paper on the box shows a series of pictures with numbers drawn on several and arrows pointing toward the direction in which you need to proceed. It goes from a window to a tornado, to a castle with the number ‘3’ on top, under a bridge, to a cave, a tower, a corpse, and finally a tree with the number ‘2’ on the trunk.
Solution: Time to go on an adventure! Leave the cabin and enter Cabin 3, aka our ‘castle’. Go out the back and turn left, then walk until you need to duck under a fallen tree, the ‘bridge’. Enter the next cabin on your left and go out the front door. You should see a covered bench building, which is the ‘tower’. To the right is the rusted remains of a vehicle; our ‘corpse’. Behind the car are trees with numbers painted on their trunks. Look for the key to open the stash behind the tree with the number ‘2’.
All Watery Cult Stash locations and solutions
There are eight Cult Stash locations you can find in the Watery area of Alan Wake 2. A couple of them are a bit infamous in the community as being real pains in the ass to solve. But don’t you worry, because we have the map and all the solutions below.
Watery 1
The first Cult Stash location you’ll likely find in Watery is on the way to Coffee World. Before you get to the area before the Radio Tower, take a sharp right and head south into the little trail on the eastern part of the map. It’s past the first Nursery Rhyme location in the area, which you should complete before continuing.
Solution: Repeat the pattern that lights up on the lock.
Watery 2 – Crossbow
The next Stash location is to the west of the prior one, right outside a Safe Haven. Outside, there are numbers attached to various targets. The hint on the box points to a Crossbow.
Solution: Three numbers have been shot with crossbow bolts. The number of bolts indicates which number to enter as the first, second, and third number on the lock. One bolt is in ‘5’, the ‘2’ has two bolts, and the ‘7’ has three bolts. Unlock the Stash using the code 5-2-7.
Inside the stash is the powerful Crossbow weapon. Be sure to grab all the bolts before you leave, and check out our guide on the best weapon upgrades in Alan Wake 2.
Watery 3
You can find the next Cult Stash in Coffee World, right next to the Slow Roaster ride.
Solution: After counting the numbers on the striped cups only, we get: 1-4-7.
Watery 4 – ‘What hides behind the smile?’
You can find the next Cult Stash next to the Huotari Well in Coffee World. This puzzle has stumped some in the community, so be sure to check out our guide for the full walkthrough.
Solution: Find the key behind the Coffee World mascot statue.
Watery 5
Make your way down to the Lighthouse Trailer Park for the next Cult Stash. You can find it just outside the trailer south of ‘Saga’s Trailer’. It’s locked and needs a key — but there’s no clue on the box.
Solution: The computer in the trailer has an email hinting that the key is in a location somewhere high up due to the floods. Walk back out the front door and climb the wooden plank to the right, which leads to a blue box. You’ll find the key on top of the meter attached to the power pole.
Watery 6
On the way to the Lighthouse toward the east, take a sharp left and climb a ledge to an area with the next Cult Stash box.
Solution: This one is a little puzzling at first. There are triangle symbols made of branches all around the box. Shining your flashlight reveals other symbols next to the triangles. The puzzle makes sense after you look turn from the box and look down the nearby ledge to see a cult symbol next to the Roman numeral 1.
Note each symbol in order using the Roman numerals and you get:
Watery 7 – ‘Battery Amps’
Hoo boy, now we’re talking true puzzles. The next Cult Stash you should head to is at the end of a dock in Watery, which can only be accessed after the flooding has receded. This puzzle in particular has baffled many, mostly because it challenges you to… use math. The horror.
Solution: I’m not even going to try solving this one when a much smarter person on the Destructoid team already did it. Check out their guide to figure out how they got the solution of 4-9-6.
Excuse me, I have to go sit down for a moment.
Watery 8
The final Cult Stash location in Watery is back at the Kalevala Knights Workshop. You can only access it after getting the bolt cutters in the chapter, Return 5: Old Gods. Open up the gated door and walk around to the back to find the box. But, watch out! I got attacked here by two beefy Taken.
Solution: You need to count the number of spare ride parts as requested on the box. Feel free to skip the tiresome counting and use this to unlock the stash: 5-4-2.
All Bright Falls Cult Stash locations and solutions
Bright Falls contains the most amount of Cult Stashes in the game. There are nine in total, scattered around the town and Bunker Hills area. Check out the map and solutions below:
Bright Falls 1
The first Cult Stash you can stumble on in Bright Falls may be the first one you discover. You can find it next to a white delivery truck in front of the Elderwood Palace Lodge.
Solution: This one’s easy. Just follow the Simon Says-like instructions.
Bright Falls 2
The next Cult Stash is in the Bunker Woods area, past the river and to the northwest of the Safe Haven.
Solution: It’s another puzzle where you repeat the pattern.
Bright Falls 3
Go southeast from the last Cult Stash to find the next one on our list.
Solution: Oh, no. It’s another math puzzle. On the paper, you’re told there are 200 vehicles made up of bikes and cars in a factory. If there are 754 wheels in the factory, how many cars are there? Look, the code is 1-7-7.
You’re welcome.
Bright Falls 4
Due southwest of the Valhalla Nursing Home and at the end of a small trail is the next Cult Stash hiding behind a rock. You need to find a key to open it.
Solution: This puzzle tricks you into thinking you need to follow the yellow arrows. However, they just lead you in circles. You actually have to follow the gray signs with the white arrows. The first one is next to the box to its left. Those are the ones that point you toward the location of the key, which is just to the west of the Cult Stash.
Bright Falls 5
The next Stash location is northeast of the save location at the bottom-left of the Bunker Woods. You need three triangle symbols to unlock it.
Solution: Follow the yellow arrows and make note of each of the three triangle symbols. Here is the solution:
Bright Falls 6
Head northwest from the Ranger Station to stumble on quite possibly the Cult Stash with the strangest puzzle in Alan Wake 2. The picture is hard to make out, but it’s a sketch of Santa Claus with a red arrow pointing to the chimney he’s sitting on.
Solution: Well, you need to find a chimney. The only one nearby is at the Ranger Cabin, so head there. Go around the back of the building until you see the bottom of the chimney. There’s a red handprint, and below that is the key to the box. Happy holidays!
Bright Falls 7
Time to head back to town! Look for the locked backlot between Harbor and Main St. Use the bolt cutters on the lock and head inside to find the next Cult Stash. The puzzle on the top of the box includes a work log. It mentions ‘TV reception’, a ‘giant moose statue’, ‘flowers’, ‘trash can’, and the ‘bench in the sheltered area’. Head to the park now and look for the triangle symbols with your flashlight.
Solution: You’ll find one symbol behind the circular flower bed as you walk in, and another in the structure with the covered benches. I’ll be real with you, fam: I couldn’t find the third symbol. But since we have two already, figuring out the third just takes a bit of experimentation. Here’s the solution:
Bright Falls 8
Now that we’ve finally brute-forced a puzzle solution, let’s head to the Bright Falls docks and do it again! Use the bolt cutters to enter the dock on Harbor St. Go inside the small boating shack to the right to find the box. The puzzle on the paper shows numbers 1-3 on a pole coming out from the water.
Solution: Head outside and look for the numbers attached to the poles coming up from the water all around the dock. I found two and just fudged the third: 6-9-7.
I’m a professional.
Bright Falls 9
We’ve made it to the last of the Cult Stash locations in Alan Wake 2. For this final box, you’ll need to have progressed enough in the story to reach chapter Return 6: Scratch. Head to the Sheriff’s Station in Bright Falls and go down to the basement. The box is past the evidence room. On top of the box is a piece of paper with a line with two shapes underneath.
Solution: A number ‘1’ written next to the line. Using our massive brains, we can deduce that the number sequence for the lock can be figured out by counting the number of lines per shape. The first is a line, which counts as one.
After counting, the code we get is 1-4-6.
There you have it! All the Cult Stash boxes have been solved. So, what’s next?
Your reward: How to unlock the Lighthouse in Alan Wake 2
No matter which Cult Stash is your final one, it’ll reward you with a key to the Watery Lighthouse. Inside the lighthouse, you’ll find some rewards and a bit of flavor text.
Published: Nov 30, 2023 11:40 am