Old Archives

Guide to the Old Archives in Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Find essential items like tinderboxes, a lantern, and oil, and uncover lore about Daniel and Alexander.

Continue following the trail, and as you turn right, another gust of wind blows the lights out and another door opens. Enter the room and go down. In the middle shelf just in front of the water puddle are two tinderboxes, grab them.

Get out of the room and continue following the liquid trail into the next room.

IMPORTANT: Inside this room, you'll find a lantern/oil lamp, which is one of your most important belongings in the game! Don't leave without it!

Upon entering this room, another gust of wind blows. Follow the trail to the table and on the ground, you'll find a lantern. If you're facing the table, to the left is a chest. Open it. This is the first chest of the many that you can open throughout the game. A tinderbox is inside so take it.

Follow the trail into the next room. Another earthquake with a weird sound will rock the castle. Continue moving forward and you'll find a furnace in the room, as well as a cabinet. Open the cabinet and you'll find one more tinderbox. You can also open the furnace. There will be furnaces later on in the game that are not lit, and sometimes they contain tinderboxes inside.

When you're done, follow the trail and enter the next room. You'll automatically look at the table. You'll see two items on it, a piece of paper and some oil that you can use to fill up your lantern. Grab the oil and then read the paper.

We find out that Daniel apparently wrote this letter to himself. He drank a potion that made him forget a lot of things, but reminds himself in the letter to always hate Alexander. He tells himself that he has to kill Alexander, who is an old guy located in the Inner Sanctum of the castle. Strangely, the letter also states that a "shadow" is hunting Daniel down. There is no other way to fight it, so his only choice is to hide from it.

There's nothing else left in the room to be picked up. On the left side of the room is a level on the wall. Pull it down and a nearby shelf will move. Move in there and go through the door to the Entrance Hall.