Quick Answer
The safest way to begin The Sinking City 2 is to conserve ammunition, save whenever you reach a Safe Room, and use the map before leaving an area. In the opening route, collect the apartment notes, reach the first gate by boat, enter through the window marked by a white sheet, and recover the fuses from the Allen Radio Store route. Apartment 5 uses the safe code 1908, while the gate opens after the three fuse shapes are connected to the matching wire colors and the solution is validated.
Search the opening apartment before leaving
After the introduction, walk through the apartment and collect the available documents before heading outside. The confirmed opening notes include Excerpt From The Dream Realm, About The Mask, Final Warning!, and Restricted Section Inventory. Other objects add story context, but the collected walkthrough identifies those notes as the clear items to check before continuing.
Reach the Miskatonic Library Annex gate
Leave the apartment, look toward the Miskatonic Library from the balcony, and descend the fire escapes to the boat. Follow the water route until a closed gate blocks progress, then turn right and dock at the nearby jetty. A window marked by a white sheet provides the way inside, and the building route leads across a bridge to the gate side.
Trying the gate immediately reveals that it will not open and that the Fuse Box is missing the required items. Continue to the first Safe Room, where you can save, store items, and unlock abilities before moving through the other door. Downstairs, a shop counter holds the Gate Switchboard note, which points you across the street toward the fuses.
Use the Allen Radio Store clue and Apartment 5 safe code
Outside the shop, look at the Allen Radio Store and remember the wording Est 1908. The store cannot be entered from that side, so move around the large hole in the road and use the open white door instead. Inside the next building, collect the wall map from the office before going upstairs to Apartment 5.
The note beside the Apartment 5 safe describes the combination as a proud and miraculous moment. The confirmed solution is 1908, the same year shown on the radio store sign, and entering it opens the safe for items. The clue appears later in the route, but the safe can be opened as soon as you reach the apartment if you already know the connection.
Find the gate fuses and create the shortcut
Continue into Apartment 6, where a hole leads into the room below and a cupboard contains an item. The desk holds the Gate Fuses and Wire note, which can be connected with the Gate Switchboard note in the Investigation space. The supplied walkthrough reports that completing this connection awards an upgrade point.
Pull the bolt on the white door to create a shortcut back toward the entrance, then pass through the hole in the wall to reach the shop. Search the yellow box and collect the From a Sister note near the till, which can be connected to Martin in the Investigation space for another upgrade point. Taking the fuses triggers an enemy encounter, but defeating every creature is not required if retreat is the safer use of resources.
Solve the gate fuse box puzzle
Return to the Fuse Box beside the closed gate and place the recovered fuses into the board. The straight fuse connects the two blue wires, the T-shaped fuse connects the three yellow and green wires, and the right-angle fuse connects the red and orange wires. Rotate the pieces as needed, then choose validate; the gate will not work until the arrangement has been validated.
Pull the lever after validation, return to the boat, and continue through the newly opened route. After an explosion occurs behind another gate, dock at the jetty on the left and collect the nearby item plus the Lost Letters — Death Awaits note beside the stairs. Enter the damaged building, follow the chase route upstairs, make the required jump, and open the next gate before travelling to the following jetty and cutscene.
Opening-route checkpoints: apartment notes → fire escapes → boat → white-sheet window → first Safe Room → Gate Switchboard note → Apartment 5 safe → Apartment 6 investigation → radio-store fuses → Fuse Box validation → chase route.
Treat ammunition as a route-planning resource
The collected beginner material consistently recommends avoiding unnecessary fights. Ammunition, healing supplies, and crafting resources are limited, while ordinary enemies usually give no reward simply for being defeated. If an explored room is already clear or a group would consume too many supplies, running to a door or Safe Room can be the better decision.
One collected beginner test reports that a typical zombie can take six ordinary bullets, while visible weak points provide substantially better damage efficiency. Weak points can appear on different parts of the body, so aim carefully instead of firing in panic. The same source notes that waiting for the reticle to close improves accuracy early on but does not provide bonus damage until the relevant upgrade is obtained.
Dodge first and use melee only on clear openings
Enemies often signal an incoming strike, giving you time to dodge, but the collected guide warns that the move does not grant invincibility frames. Keep some distance because a very close enemy may still grab you during the motion, and begin the dodge slightly earlier than you might expect. Practising near a recent checkpoint can help you learn the timing without risking a large amount of progress.
Melee attacks are powerful but deliberately awkward, so repeated swings are a poor default plan. After a successful evade, watch whether the enemy becomes winded, turns away, or falls to the ground, then take one or two safe hits before creating space again. Stomping a vulnerable enemy can conserve ammunition, but relying on this method in every encounter remains slow and risky.
Let the map decide when an area is finished
The map records locked doors, interactable objects, and rooms that still contain items. According to the collected beginner guide, a red room still has something to collect, while a blue room has been cleared. Checking this color state before crossing a point of no return reduces the chance of leaving useful resources behind.
Save manually and protect important progress
The game uses autosaves at major checkpoint moments, but the collected walkthrough warns that progress between those moments can be lost. Safe Rooms block enemies, provide access to storage and Talents, and allow manual saving at the conch record players. Saving when you enter a new Safe Room is the most reliable way to avoid repeating a long search or combat section.
Choose weapons around inventory and ammunition
Higher-tier weapons deliver more power, but they occupy more of the limited inventory and use ammunition that is harder to replace. The collected beginner guide recommends keeping the basic pistol useful for ordinary encounters because its ammunition is easier to stockpile and the weapon remains effective after upgrades. Stronger weapons are better saved for crowded rooms, difficult enemies, or moments when the pistol cannot create enough space.
Beginner checklist before the next major route
Before leaving an explored area, confirm that the map rooms you care about have turned blue, the local investigation clues have been connected, and a recent manual save exists. Carry a practical mix of ammunition and healing supplies, but move surplus items into the Safe Room stash so larger weapons do not consume every available slot. If the next encounter looks too costly, retreat, craft what you need, change Talents, and return better prepared.
The route continues beyond the first gate into the Library Annex, church, fire station, printing house, hotel, hospital, fish market, and later locations. Use the dedicated safe-code and puzzle pages for the verified combinations and mechanical solutions in those chapters, while this beginner article remains focused on the opening route and the survival systems needed throughout the campaign.