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Scratch, the main antagonist ofAlan Wake 2, appears as a boss fight at the end of Return 6, a chapter that bears his name. By the time you face him, you’ll likely have encountered his incarnation as the Dark Presence in Alan’s story. When Saga fights him in the real world, he’s more tangible but no less relentless or deadly.
Unlike previous bosses, Scratch can’t be defeated through raw firepower. Instead, you’ll need to use the FBC’s containment equipment strewn about the area to banish him before he can take the Clicker from Saga and rewrite reality according to his whims.
How To Prepare For The Fight With Scratch
Return 6 is a fairly short chapter, and takes place entirely within the Sheriff’s Station in Bright Falls. You’ll have to fight roughly a half-dozen Taken, including Hammer and Mirror variants. In other words,you’ll probably need to heal and restockbefore facing Scratch.
Use the Break Room in the stairwell between the main floor and the basement to access your inventory storage and top up your supplies.
The battle with Scratch triggerswhen you speak to Alan in his cell, at the end of the block on the right. Before approaching Alan, you shouldget the Pump-Action Shotgunfrom Sheriff Breaker’s office; it’s a great weapon in general and perfect for the coming fight.
Heal up and make sure you have plenty of ammo; if you’re getting low,search the medical boxes in the morguefor some extra supplies.
How To Beat Scratch
Scratch attacksimmediately after the cutscenewhen you talk to Alan. He starts within arm’s reach and can deal heavy damage if you let him, soimmediately turn around and run out the back door. This will take you to the impound lot behind the building, which serves as the main arena for the boss battle.
Scratch hasinfinite healthand his Darkness Shieldcannot be destroyed by any means.However, he can still be staggered by shotgun blasts and abilities such asAnother Headshot.Use this to your advantage; if you need time to use Painkillers or reload, stunning Scratch briefly should give you just enough.
Estevez will tell you over the radio touse the FBC’s containment array.Look forglowing red cratesthroughout the area; they’ll be at the edges of the lot. You need toactivate three of themto stop Scratch’s onslaught.
To turn on one of the devices, you’ll need tohold the action button for several seconds.However, Scratch will always teleport to you and interrupt the action,throwing Saga to the ground and dealing a small amount of damage.
Scratch may be unkillable, but he’s not invulnerable; if he takes enough damage, he’llstop to regenerate.Listen for a high-pitched screeching to fill the air and watch for Scratch’s Darkness Shield to grow; these indicate that you’ve gotroughly ten secondsbefore your foe is able to fight again. During that time,get to the nearest deviceand turn it on.
Containment devicesturn bluewhen activated; you can’t just activate the same device three times.
Repeat the process twice more; once the third device is activated, a cutscene will trigger, ending the fight and the chapter.
