Flashlight is a piece of equipment, which is absolutely essential and you can't beat the game without it. It is mainly used to kill the Darkness inside your opponents, which makes them vulnerable to gunfire. What is more, with the flashlight you can find hidden supply stashes or detect and avoid bear traps. The flashlight will surely come in handy during the game, but you must pay attention to the battery level. When you concentrate the light, batteries are running low very quickly and you must either insert new batteries, or give the flashlight a break, so the battery can regenerate. In order to insert new batteries, use [Y].
There are three types of flashlights. You start the game, with the weakest, but while you progress, you find more powerful flashlights.
Flares are - just like the flashlight - for killing the Darkness inside the Taken. When you hold [RB], Alan launches a flare and rises it above his head. Thanks to that, you can break up the fight and scare your enemies off for a few seconds. In such a condition, you can't run or shoot. Releasing [RB] will result in dropping the flare to the ground. Of course, it will keep on burning, but its efficiency in scaring enemies off seems to be a little lower than usually. Also, remember that the flares don't last very long. Don't build your fighting tactics on flares!
Flashbangs are purely awesome. You can throw them by pressing [RB]. These things are extremely efficient against most of your enemies. They have a nice blast radius, so you should throw them among whole groups of opponents. Unfortunately, flashbangs are quite rare in the game world.
