You play as Ethan Winters. You wake next to an overturned truck in a snowy forest, with no Mia and no Rose, and reach a mountain village overrun by Lycans. This chapter arms you (the Knife, the LEMI and the M1897), teaches you to craft, guard and read the map, and tests you with the game’s first big fight: the Lycan ambush in East Old Town, where the goal is not to win but to hold out. Afterwards you follow the survivors through the Church, the Fallow Plot and Luiza’s House to gather the two crests that open the Graveyard gate toward the castle.
Chapter order: Crash site (Mission Briefing) → forest and cabin → castle vista → West Old Town (outhouse 1) → Old Man’s House (Knife, LEMI) → first Lycan → Old Man’s Shed → Bolt Cutters → back-yard gate → East Old Town: the radio barn → Farmer’s House (M1897) → Lycan ambush and Uriaș (refuge: the Stable) → the Hag → Chapel and Maiden of War → Graveyard (Goat of Warding #1) → Church (Maiden Crest, typewriter, Goat of Warding #2) → Fallow Plot (Goat of Warding #3) → the survivors’ shed → Luiza’s Yard (outhouse 2) → Luiza’s House (typewriter, Truck Key, Screwdriver) → Demon Crest → crest gate → lever (chapter 3).
Prepare: this is where you get your whole starting kit: the Knife (always carried, cannot be sold), the LEMI (10-round magazine) and the M1897 (5 shells). On reaching the village you automatically learn the first two recipes: First Aid Med (1 Herb + 1 Chem Fluid) and Handgun Ammo (2 Gunpowder + 2 Rusted Scrap = 15 rounds). Craft them from the inventory (X), tabbing over to the crafting screen with L/R; your first craft completes the “Crafter” challenge. Materials take no slots. Chem Fluid is half of every First Aid Med (and later goes into shotgun and sniper rifle ammo too): don’t spend it carelessly. Knife every crate marked with yellow paint, and read the map (−): a red room still has items; a blue one is empty. There is no merchant yet: the Duke turns up in chapter 3, so this chapter’s Lei and its 2 Crystal Fragment (2,000 Lei each when sold) are for later. Learn to guard (hold L) now: it cuts damage and stops grabs. Right after you block a hit, press L again to push the enemy away and get a clean shot (“Push Comes to Shove” challenge). Save at the Church typewriter and at the one in Luiza’s House, each time in a different slot: there is no chapter select, and those 20 slots are your way back.
What you can lose: only the inside of Luiza’s House, which burns down: the Dangerous Creatures file, the 500 Lei, the Shotgun Ammo ×2 and the Herb in the kitchen and dining room. Everything else in the village is still there when you return in chapter 5, and the M1897 can’t be lost either (see the Farmer’s House).
You can skip: the wells (they need the Well Wheel, chapter 5), the locked drawers (they need a Lockpick; the first one comes in chapter 3), birdcages #3 and #4 (they can come down now, but they are still there in chapter 5) and killing Uriaș (that is for New Game+).
Difficulty: Evil Resource only tells Standard and Village of Shadows apart: on Casual and Hardcore the items sit where they do on Standard, and what changes is how much the enemies take and deal. Village of Shadows adds three encounters in this chapter: a Lycan sitting in the Chapel, 2 large Lycans in the Fallow Plot and a large Lycan in the basement of the M1897 house; the ambush also ends differently (see the boss). On Standard, after several deaths the Game Over screen offers to drop you to Casual: the switch is one-way.
Crash site and forest cabin
Crash site (Village Outskirts). Ethan wakes next to an overturned truck. Turn around right at the start: on the ground beside the vehicle lies the Mission Briefing, file 5 (Chris’s orders: eliminate the target, recover the body, and move Rosemary and Ethan Winters to “site C”). In this stretch the flashlight only points at the ground. Walk up the slope following the headlights and the tracks, and crouch (right-stick click) to get under the barbed-wire fence.
Forest cabin. The drawers, the tap and the wardrobe on the ground floor are interaction tutorials; there are no items. Go down to the basement, open the bloody wardrobe at the end (scripted scare) and head back up. Crawl under the furniture tipped into a doorway, leave through the hole in the wall on the right and hop the fence. The path leads to the castle vista; then you slide down a slope next to a dead horse.
West Old Town
West Old Town Farmer’s House. Go through the door on the right past the horse. On the left there is a locked drawer. Interact with it so it gets marked on your map: it holds Sniper Rifle Ammo ×7, but it needs a Lockpick and you have none yet; come back in chapter 5.
Outhouse 1 of 10. Step back out of the Farmer’s House and go through the door on your right into the next building. Follow it round to the right (a corridor with cages on the left) to the half-open door at the end; a Lycan dashes past, but it doesn’t attack. Step out: you are in the well yard (the well is no use yet) and the outhouse is on your right. Opening the door is enough. Another outhouse nearby is locked and does not count. The “When You Gotta Go…” challenge wants all 10 opened in one playthrough, so don’t leave it for later.
On to the Old Man’s House. From that yard, climb the steps, loop left around the “do not enter” gate and go right into the burned-out building (you’ll hear footsteps upstairs). Head down the path past the crashed tractor to a dead end: a locked gate on the left, a locked chicken pen on the right and, ahead, the Old Man’s House, the one with the lit brazier outside. There are no enemies on this first pass.
Old Man’s House and the first Lycan
Old Man’s House. The Knife is stuck in the table by the kitchen doorway. With it, go back to the wooden crate by the entrance and break it: there is a First Aid Med inside. Interact with the curtain at the back: the old man, Grigori, hands you the LEMI and Handgun Ammo ×10 in the cutscene. Then go through the corpse-filled cellar; a cutscene puts you outside, in the back yard, facing the first Lycan.
First Lycan. The game’s first 2 Lycans are tougher than normal ones, so don’t fire wildly: this one can eat more than half your ammo. Aim at the head (the LEMI does ×2.4 there) or at the legs to slow it. When it closes in, hold L: guarding stops the grab. After blocking a swipe, press L again to shove it (“Push Comes to Shove”, 1,000 CP) and shoot its head while it recovers. Lycans duck and dodge when you aim at them: wait for them to lunge. They never drop ammo or healing; they do drop Lei, materials and sometimes a Crystal Skull (900 Lei).
Old Man’s Shed. It is the house on the left of the fight. Chem Fluid on the stone plinth under the boiler and Herb on the metal shelves in the corner. If you got hurt, craft a First Aid Med now.
Bolt Cutters. Go back into the Old Man’s House: they are on the shelves behind the curtain. Use them on the chained gate in the back yard (Old Man’s Back Yard), the one opposite the hole in the wall you came out of. It leads to East Old Town: on the other side, a bridge crosses a shallow river to a barn.
East Old Town: the radio barn
The radio barn (East Old Town Barn). Cross the bridge and enter the barn; a radio crackles inside (you can switch it off). As soon as you are in, turn around and barricade the door with the yellow-taped shelf next to it: the fight starts the moment you pick up the upstairs items, so barricading first is the safe order.
- Handgun Ammo ×5 on the boxes by the far window (ground floor).
- Go up the stairs: Handgun Ammo ×15 on the metal shelves in the west corner and Chem Fluid on the floor in the middle of the upper floor.
The barn fight. Once you take the upstairs items, 4 Lycans surround the barn, but only one gets in, by the stairs (it slips through the wall above them). Wait for it upstairs, with the stairs in view and at a distance, and shoot its head as it climbs: the easiest shot you’ll get. If it reaches you, guard with L and push it away. Once it dies, the rest pull back. Go back to the radio: the message tells survivors to head for Luiza’s house, near the fields. That is your goal for the rest of the chapter.
From the barn to the Farmer’s House. Remove the barricade, go out and turn left at once: a blood trail leads to the house next door, the Farmer’s House (the one with Lycans on its roof). Those Lycans don’t attack yet; one may drop into the street and lunge if you get close. Don’t shoot them unless you have to: one shot wakes the whole pack. Before going in, pick up what’s around it:
- The crate in front of the house holds a Herb. Go round the building the other way (not up the stairs): behind it is another crate with Handgun Ammo ×12. It is a dead end; head back.
- Now take the stairs on your left, go round the left of the house and down the slope: at the end of that dead-end street, by the big locked red gate, there is a red barrel. If a Lycan follows you there, let it get close and shoot the barrel; if not, save it for the ambush, when several bunch up next to it.
- Go back up the slope and into the house at the top: it is the East Old Town Stable, your refuge for the ambush (see the boss). Break the crate by the door (handgun ammo), climb the ladder, go straight across the roof, drop down and break the crate outside (more ammo). Go down the slope and follow it with the fence on your left until you are back in front of the Farmer’s House.
East Old Town Farmer’s House (the M1897)
It is the two-floor house with a porch, directly west of the “East Old Town” label on the map: the one with Lycans on its roof. Climb the porch steps (you can see the shotgun through the window) and go in: the moment you step inside, the Lycans jump down from the roof. Barricade the door with the bookcase and grab the M1897 from the table in the middle of the ground floor before anything else. If you leave without it, it reappears in the Church next to the typewriter, and the Duke also sells it for 24,000 Lei, so it is not missable. The rest of the house:
- Gunpowder on the side table by the window near the door and another on a barrel in the corner of the ladder room.
- Herb in a cardboard box on the ground-floor floor.
- Handgun Ammo ×5 in the drawer in front of the window by the door and ×10 on the table in the ladder room.
- Rusted Scrap ×2 on the basement (B1) floor.
- Flour sacks by the ladder-room doorway and in the basement: shoot one and the dust cloud blinds the Lycans.
Climb down the ladder, grab the scrap, follow the tunnel and crouch out of the exit: the survival phase begins.
On Village of Shadows, a large Lycan waits in the basement, where the scrap is. Shoot the basement flour sack as you drop in to blind it and keep a shell for its head; if it goes wrong, get back on the ladder: halfway up it can’t reach you. On Standard the basement is empty.
Boss — Lycan ambush and Uriaș
The arena is the open ground of East Old Town, between the Farmer’s House, the Stable and the Water Mill, with houses, rooftops and ladders. You don’t have to win here: you have to hold out. Lycans keep coming until a scene triggers on its own after a while (one source says about 4 min 30 s). Shortly after you come out of the tunnel, Uriaș appears, the giant hammer Lycan: he hits far harder than a Lycan and on your first playthrough there is no need, and no point, in killing him (he has his own card under Bosses). Standard Lycan: 700 HP. Weak point: the head (×2.4 with a handgun, ×3.0 with a shotgun); legs slow them (×1.5). At point-blank range, one un-upgraded M1897 blast to the head is usually enough to kill one (our own calculation, at Standard’s starting rank with every pellet on the head; if you play well the game toughens enemies and it may fall short).
- Keep the M1897 equipped with the LEMI as backup. Save the shotgun for whatever surrounds you up close; with the handgun, head shots only.
- Hole up in the Stable (East Old Town Stable). It is the highest house, above the stream, and the best place to hold out: inside there is Shotgun Ammo ×4 on the chest of drawers, a Herb on the table in the small alcove, a wooden crate by the door, a barricade for that door, an explosive barrel in the corner by the door and a ladder to the roof. Take everything, barricade the door and fall back to the far side of the room or halfway up the ladder. When several Lycans bunch up at the door, shoot the barrel from a distance. If they break the barricade and get in, climb to the roof.
- Use the houses as chokepoints. If you can’t reach the Stable, barricade doors where you can (the yellow-taped shelf or bookcase) and shoot at the entrance they come through. Climb onto the rooftops if you get cornered. A ladder is a safe spot: halfway up, they can’t hit you.
- Use the scenery. Shoot flour sacks to blind them and red barrels when several bunch up: the one in the dead-end street by the red gate, the one in the Stable and another in the snow by the Water Mill. If you run short of ammo and didn’t break them earlier, break the crates in front of and behind the Farmer’s House and the one next to the Stable.
- Guard every grab with L and push. If you are in the red and can back off, wait before spending a First Aid Med: near death your health creeps back up to yellow on its own.
- Once Uriaș shows up, stop fighting. Wait until he is in view, then run down the path with the water channel in the middle, between the buildings. According to PowerPyx, that triggers the end: Ethan is hit by an arrow and every Lycan leaves. Another guide (TheGamer) says holding out until a Lycan grabs you from behind is enough: that starts the scene too.
- Reward: the “Not Lycan This…” challenge and whatever the Lycans dropped (Lei, materials, the odd Crystal Skull). They never drop ammo or healing.
In New Game+ (optional). Two challenges can only be done in this ambush: “Timber” (kill Uriaș during this ambush, 20,000 CP; he drops 35,000 Lei) and “Unstoppable” (defeat 30 Lycans during the first Lycan attack, 20,000 CP). Do them in New Game+ on Casual with infinite ammo. Dig in at the M1897 house, thin out the Lycans and, when Uriaș arrives, go for the head (×2.6). Game8 recommends the M1851 Wolfsbane and the GM 79. Uriaș returns as a mandatory boss in chapter 10 whether you kill him or not.
On Village of Shadows. Lycans have more HP, hit harder (one grab puts you in the red) and move faster. Dig in at a house with a single entrance, such as one whose basement is only reachable by ladder, or in the Stable, and drop Mines as you run. The ambush ends when, after you lose some health, a Lycan grabs you from behind.
Chapel and Maiden of War
After the ambush. The scene ends with Ethan knocked down and every Lycan withdrawing. Pick up whatever they dropped and sweep the houses and crates you missed before following the old woman (the Hag): she opens the big red gate for you, the one that was locked by the barrel. Story challenge: “Not Lycan This…”.
Chapel. It is the first building on the left past the gate.
- Scribbled Note (file 6) on the corner table in the NW of the main room.
- Chem Fluid on the table against the north wall.
- 500 Lei under the table at the foot of the bed in the back bedroom.
- That bedroom’s locked desk drawer holds Shotgun Ammo ×7: you need a Lockpick (the Duke gives you the first one free in chapter 3; you’re back here in chapter 5). Mark it on the map.
- On Village of Shadows a Lycan sits in the main room: go in with the shotgun ready.
Maiden of War. In the square, the statue has a Crystal Fragment in the middle of its shield: shoot it down. It is the first of the 15 minerals for the “Geologist” challenge (10,000 CP). Rusted Scrap on the seat of the tractor on the right and Gunpowder on the bench by the large blue metal gates at the bottom. The well on the east side (Wooden Animal (Head)) needs the Well Wheel from chapter 5. Head up the slope to the north: you reach the Graveyard.
Graveyard
- At the entrance stands a lit wooden kiosk. On its front is the “Goats of Warding” Placard (file 7) and inside it, Goat of Warding #1 of 20: knife it (“Cynic” challenge). Goats are saved to the profile just like files.
- Herb on a gravestone in the NW corner.
- The crows on the gravestones drop Lei when shot (for the “Squawk Shot” challenge, 5 crows in flight, wait for chapter 5).
- Birdcage #3: it hangs from the tree above the NE path, the one leading to the Stronghold. Evil Resource lists it with no condition, so you can shoot it down now; if you don’t, it is still there when you return in chapter 5. Its contents are not documented.
- The mural door to the north is the crest gate: it has 2 empty slots. You need the Maiden Crest (Church) and the Demon Crest (Luiza’s House).
Church
Go through the iron gate east of the Graveyard. Look up at the roof as you pass the gate: Goat of Warding #2 is up there. It is easy to miss; shoot it with the handgun. Inside:
- The Maiden Crest, on the altar.
- The typewriter (or tape recorder, if you switched on the Trauma Pack one), on the table in the back corner: save here.
- Another Crystal Fragment on the middle picture of the arch above the altar: shoot it.
The well behind the Church (Necklace with Two Holes) is also a chapter 5 job.
Fallow Plot
Leave the Church by the other door, into the field. 3 Lycans lurk in the tall foliage (on Village of Shadows, 2 large Lycans join them). Shoot a flour sack to blind them, cross, and finish them with the shotgun in the open. Do everything in the field before you enter the survivors’ shed: going in spawns 6 more Lycans.
- Gunpowder on the corrugated metal sheet near the entrance and Rusted Scrap by the broken-down carriage blocking the path.
- Fallow Plot Storage Building, the shack on the left: Gunpowder on the boxes on the table, Rusted Scrap on the NW shelves, Handgun Ammo ×10 in the chest of drawers in the east corner and a Mine in the small cabinet in the south corner; there is flour too.
- Fallow Plot Abandoned Building, over the small fence on the left: Rusted Scrap on the floor and Shotgun Ammo ×2 in the NE cabinet.
- 2 breakable crates: one by the fenced hay bales and one on the rock next to them.
- Birdcage #4: in the tree by the Fallow Plot Shed. Shoot it down now (Evil Resource gives it no condition); if you don’t, it is still there in chapter 5. Contents not documented.
- Goat of Warding #3: behind the cornfield on the left there are some stairs; at the top, look up: it sits on the wall of Luiza’s Yard, in the NE corner of the field (Game8: behind the third shed on your left). Kill the Lycans in the field first.
The survivors’ shed (Fallow Plot Shed)
At the far end of the field, try the orange-and-blue double gate (locked): a scene shows survivors in the shed. Enter the building on the right and meet the injured Leonardo and his daughter Elena.
The 6 Lycans in the field. Entering the shed spawns 6 Lycans in the Fallow Plot, and they disappear after Luiza’s House. You don’t have to fight them: after the scene, go straight out of the shed window into the back yard, cross the wall into Luiza’s Yard and don’t go back into the field. On the way back, after Luiza’s House, the field is empty. If you do wander back in early, fight from the Storage Building doorway and use its flour sacks.
Fallow Plot Shed Yard. Break the crate by the well (Handgun Ammo) and take the Gunpowder on the blue tarpaulin you climb to reach the gap in the wall. That well (3 Pipe Bomb) is also for chapter 5.
Luiza’s Yard and House
Luiza’s Yard. Outhouse 2: once over the wall, turn right; it stands against the wall and has Chem Fluid inside. Open the big metal gate by the lit shrine to let the survivors in (cutscene).
Luiza’s House. The entrance hall holds the typewriter, on the large cabinet (save), and Dangerous Creatures (file 8) on the armchair. Take it now: the house burns down and you can’t go back in for it in this playthrough (once read, it stays in the Files tab). Wait and follow Luiza: the scene ends with a survivor turning and the house on fire.
The burning house. Go into the next room and then left into the kitchen. All of this is lost if you leave without it:
- The Truck Key, in the drawer of the sink cabinet. The game makes you examine it: turn the key ring and open the pouch to take out the Screwdriver.
- 500 Lei in the cupboard under that same sink cabinet.
- Shotgun Ammo ×2 on the desk in the NE of the kitchen.
- Herb in the potted plant by the dining-room fireplace.
Use the Truck Key on the truck in the garage: it rams the wall. Climb up, watch the scene, cross the attic, go out of the window and drop down in front of the gate.
Demon Crest and the crest gate
Demon Crest. In front of the house, next to the metal gates, stands a small blue kiosk: open it with the Screwdriver and take the Demon Crest. Open the gate again and step out into the field: a short scene plays.
Back to the Graveyard. Cross the Fallow Plot (now free of Lycans) and the Church. Save at its typewriter before you open the crest gate: Luiza’s House is out of use and the next typewriter is in the castle (chapter 4).
Crest gate. At the Graveyard mural, put the Maiden Crest in the left slot and the Demon Crest in the right slot, and rotate each one until it matches the carving. Beyond: a wooden walkway with crows (shoot them for Lei), a drawbridge, a tunnel, stairs and a yellow-taped lever. Pull it: chapter 3 begins.
Don’t leave without:
- Dangerous Creatures from the armchair in Luiza’s House (can only be picked up now) and the Mission Briefing that was behind you when you woke: files 5 to 8.
- Goats of Warding #1–#3 (Graveyard kiosk, Church roof, Luiza’s Yard wall).
- Outhouse 1 in West Old Town and outhouse 2 in Luiza’s Yard (they count per playthrough).
- The 2 Crystal Fragment (Maiden of War shield, Church altar arch): your first money for the Duke.
- The Knife, LEMI and M1897, and the First Aid Med and Handgun Ammo recipes.
- A save at the Church right before the crest gate.
- Marked on the map: the 2 locked drawers (West Old Town Farmer’s House, Chapel). Optional: birdcages #3 and #4.
