Many doors in Amnesia The Bunker will be locked tight with chains and the only way to get them open will be with the Chain Cutters tool.
The Chain Cutters (also commonly called Bolt Cutters) are one of the most important tools in the game, and getting them requires working through a few steps that the game doesn’t exactly hold your hand through.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through how to access the Prison area and exactly where to find them, so you can get back to surviving.
And for more tools, make sure to read about finding the Wrench in the game, after you’ve learned everything about the Chain Cutters.
The Chain Cutters are locked inside a cell in the Prison area of the bunker, which means your first job is getting that area open. That requires lifting the emergency lockdown, and there are a couple of steps to get there.
How to Access the Prison in Amnesia The Bunker
The first step to accessing the Prison area is finding the Valve Handle. Navigate to the west hallway of the bunker near the generator room and interact with the Valve there, which will break down.
Enter the Mission Storage room right across the valve through the vent on its right side. This will be a large storage room with multiple lockers on the back side.
As long as you’ve gotten the J Delisle code, you’ll be able to access his locker and get the new valve. Use that in the place where the old valve broke down and you’ll lift the lockdown in Amnesia The Bunker.
With the lockdown lifted, continue following the hallway outside the Mission Storage room where you just found the valve and you’ll enter the Prison area.
Also read: How to Find and Use The Rabbit Toy in Amnesia The Bunker
How to Get the Chain Cutters in Amnesia The Bunker
Before entering the Prison, make sure you have enough Fuel in the Generator for the next few minutes (one or two cans of fuel will suffice), and that you have the Wrench on you.
To get the Chain Cutters, enter the Prison area and follow the main path. At the end of it, turn left and open a booby-trapped wooden door. Make sure to step back to not get damaged and be ready to hide if you hear the Beast as the noise will attract it.
From the room you just opened, take a brick and use it to break down the door at the end of the hallway (check the picture above).
Enter the room where you just broke the door and on your right, you’ll find a vent. Use the Wrench to open it and go through to find yourself in the Prison Control Room.
This room works as a safe room, so make sure to save your progress at the lamp behind you.
Access the Cell Doors Controls Panel at the center of the room and from the right cells, open the second one from the top. This will only work if you have fuel in the generator.
Keep in mind that the noise will attract the Beast. Since the Control Room you’re in works as a safe room, you can choose to wait it out. Alternatively, you can always shoot it with your Revolver to make it go away.
After driving away the Beast, enter the cell you unlocked and you’ll find the Bolt Cutters.
Also read: Guide to All Endings in Amnesia: The Bunker.
A Note on the German Prisoner
Once you open his cell and the Beast makes its entrance, there is a way to save the German prisoner if you’re fast enough with the cell controls.
It’s risky and puts you in a dangerous position, but pulling it off rewards you with the Life Preserver Achievement.
It’s entirely optional and I’d only attempt it on a second playthrough when you’re more comfortable with the Beast’s behavior, but it’s worth knowing it exists.
What the Chain Cutters Can Do
The Chain Cutters will let you cut through chains and padlocks on doors and storage containers throughout the bunker, but they’ll also let you disable tripwire traps. I have a full guide on how to disable traps here.
When you encounter a tripwired explosive, you can use the cutters to disarm it and actually pocket that explosive for your own use. That alone makes them worth having equipped and ready.
Wrapping up
To sum up, players can get the Chain Cutters in Amnesia The Bunker by lifting the lockdown and accessing the Prison Area.
Find the Control Room across the cells, open the correct cell, avoid the Beast, and pick up the Chain Cutters.
Did you choose to fight the Beast or wait it out? Did you find any other useful items in the Prison area? Let us know in the comments below.
With the Chain Cutters unlocked, the next step is to find the Detonator Handle. But that is a topic for another article.
He has a Master’s Degree in Philosophy, which allows him to always come up with a fresh approach to solving in-game puzzles and challenges, but also to create content that’s to the point, clean and easy to follow.
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