How to solve the hero and wolf riddle in Alan Wake 2

Alan Wake 2: woman in FBI jacket with torch walks towards an old wooden house
Credit: Remedy Entertainment

Alan Wake 2: woman in FBI jacket with torch walks towards an old wooden house
Credit: Remedy Entertainment

On the hunt for another charm in Alan Wake 2? How about one of the most powerful charms in the game? We've got all the information you need to solve the hero and wolf riddle, the second of the Cauldron Lake Nursery Rhymes.

Completing the hero and wolf riddle will reward Saga with a Coffee Mug charm, which if equipped, will allow her to gain a second life the next time she dies. This makes the charm a must-have if you're about to take on one of Alan Wake 2's boss fights.

For more Alan Wake 2 guides like this, visit our guides on how to fast-travel and how to manually save the game. We've also got a guide for how long it takes to beat Alan Wake 2, as well as a breakdown of the cast of Alan Wake 2 if you've seen some familiar faces, but can't put a name to them.

Alan Wake 2: map of Cauldron Lake showing the location of the hero and wolf riddle
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Credit: Remedy Entertainment

How do you solve the hero and wolf riddle in Alan Wake 2?

After solving the crow riddle, you can now solve the hero and the world riddle. To find the riddle, continue up the northbound path until you come across the abandoned Witchfinder's Station. The exact location is shown in the image above, with the house located in the very north-west of the map.

When you're at the Witchfinder's Station, you'll encounter the second of the Cauldron Lake riddles on a stone slab in front of the house. Again, it will be surrounded by chalk symbols. The nursery rhyme shall read as follows:

"The Hero brave and strong
left home to right a wrong.
From the woods came the
Wolf so greedy and hungry
That he ate what he found in
the house without a host.
The Hero returned to find
she'd lost the thing she
loved most"

Once again, you must find the relevant dolls to complete the riddle. Therefore, head inside the house to look for them, and walk up the stairs. From the landing, head to the left, and you'll find the wolf and hero dolls in the children's play area.

Alan Wake 2: locations of the hero doll and the wolf doll, in the children's play area
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Credit: Remedy Entertainment

Also inside this room, is an item that reveals the purpose of the riddles. Found on the bed next to where you found the doll is a file that reveals the truth about what the Federal Bureau of Control is doing and why the riddles exist.

Now you've got the dolls, you can head back to the stone slab where you found the riddle, and interact with the sheet to place down the dolls. Use the riddle to determine the corresponding chalk drawing for your two statues. If you can't make sense of the riddle, we've got the solution here.

To solve the riddle, place the Hero on the boat drawing in the bottom left and the Wolf on the tree drawing in the bottom right. The hero doll on the boat represents their "journey to right a wrong", whereas the tree represents the wolf coming "from the woods". You won't need to use the crow doll from the previous nursery rhyme.

Alan Wake 2: solution for the hero and wolf nursery rhyme riddle
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Credit: Remedy Entertainment

Solving the riddle will earn you your first Coffee Mug charm of the game. As highlighted earlier, this charm is one of the most powerful in the game, preventing you from dying when you otherwise should have. When the Coffee Mug charm is used, the charm will break permanently, meaning its ability is single use only.

Before leaving the hero and wolf riddle, remember to pick the dolls back up to take with you. Now that you've solved this riddle and the crow riddle, you'll be able to go on and complete the final Cauldron Lake nursery rhyme.

That's all there is to know about solving the hero and wolf riddle in Alan Wake 2. For more guides like this, why not check out how to get your hands on the sawed-off shotgun or the flare gun to bolster your armoury with? We've also got the latest news on the upcoming DLC for Alan Wake 2, with two expansions expected in 2024.