The Sinking City 2 Tips: 12 Things to Know Before Playing

The four that cost the most time

1. ERC crates need a pen. An ERC Activator Pen is a separate item found elsewhere on the level. A shut crate is not a bug.
2. Use the stomp. Melee does not finish downed enemies or break certain objects — the stomp does. On PC it is Ctrl or the lower mouse side button. More here.
3. Talents start at the third safe room. Dream Essence accumulates before that, but the Talent Table is not available until then.
4. No chapter select. Sweep before every point of no return — checklist.

Combat and resources

1. Not every fight is worth taking. Frogwares' own advice for players struggling with combat is to avoid encounters and come back better equipped.
2. Aim for weak points while focused. Also from the studio's FAQ, and it is the single biggest ammunition saving available.
3. Commit to two weapons. Spreading upgrades and ammunition across all six is how inventories fill up and damage falls off. See best weapons.
4. Night Ore is a life. It recharges the Night Shade mask for a one-off revive — how it works.

Progression and searching

1. Pick up every clue. Evidence connected correctly in the Investigation Space pays Talent Points and Dream Essence.
2. Do optional investigations. They are the main essence source and several trophies depend on them.
3. Check flat surfaces. Inventory upgrades sit on tables in the open, and this is a very dark game.
4. Save at the conch player. Safe rooms are the only save points and enemies cannot enter — details.

Two more things worth knowing

• Difficulty is not a commitment. Four modes, switchable at any time from the pause menu, and the lowest can be made outright forgiving. No trophy punishes you for it — how each mode differs.
• Do not ram things with the boat. Frogwares lists boat collisions in its known issues as a cause of a black screen requiring a reload.

Things the game never tells you

• Weapon parts are conditional. They trigger on back shots, weak points, sustained fire or movement rather than adding flat damage — see how parts work.
• Ammunition drops favour what you use. Committing to two guns tends to keep those two fed.
• Optional investigations are the build. Skipping them is effectively choosing a harder game.

If you are coming from the first game

Adjust two expectations. This is not an open world, and it is not primarily a detective game — investigation is now the progression system rather than the core loop. It is also considerably shorter, at 8 to 12 hours against the original's sprawl.

You do not need to have played it. See do you need the first game.

What to do in your first hour

Search everything in the opening interiors, find all three fuses for the fuse box, step outside and read the radio shop sign for the 1908 safe, then take your time with the church: the Star Key on the corpse by the gate lever unlocks both the trident and an ERC crate.

That single hour teaches every habit the rest of the game rewards — look outside for clues, loot bodies, and never advance an objective with a side room unsearched.