The Sinking City 2 Dream Essence, Talents and Inventory Upgrades

Four questions come up again and again: where Talent Points come from, where you spend them, how to carry more, and what Night Ore is for. All four answers below come from Frogwares’ own support answers, not from guesswork.

Earning Talent Points and Dream Essence (official)

1. Find clues around the level.
2. In the Investigation Space, connect the related clues correctly.
3. Dream Essence also comes as a reward for Optional Investigations.

So progression is tied to how thoroughly you investigate. Skipping an optional investigation is skipping ability points.

Where Talents unlock (official)

• Unlock and equip Talents at the Talent Table in the Safe Room.
• The table becomes available from the third Safe Room in the game.

Holding points before that is normal, not a bug.

How to expand inventory space (official)

• Find an Inventory upgrade inside E.R.C. crates, or on a table in some dungeons.
• E.R.C. crates open with an ERC activator pen, which appears in different places around the level.

If you keep running out of space, check whether you have missed ERC crates. The official answer puts inventory upgrades and supplies in the same place.

What Night Ore does (official)

Night Ore recharges Night Shade, which gives Calvin a one-off revive when he takes a fatal blow. It can be recharged again after that.

Two official answers worth keeping

• Melee will not break objects or hit enemies on the ground. Use stomp, bound to the lower side mouse button or Ctrl by default and rebindable in Options → Controls → Change Keyboard Mapping.
• Combat feels too hard or you are low on ammo. The official suggestions are to lower the difficulty, hit weak points while aiming, and avoid encounters you do not need. Push the main objective while you are low on resources, then come back better equipped.
• Forgot how something works. The “How to Play” section in the Pause Menu may answer it.

Media and community reports (unconfirmed)

• Red Press reward choice. Community guides record a one-time choice between silver Dream Essence and the gold-side shotgun attachment Cutter’s Sturdy Stock, with the press usable once per run (see the trophy guide; source DualShockers).
• Full Talent lists and how “Alchemical Abundance” changes ammo crafting. Only third-party guides and one dated report (nerdschalk, sportsrant 2026-08-21) cover these. There is no official mechanics write-up, so trust the game over the list.
• Does New Game Plus (Ex Oblivione) carry over inventory upgrades? Players report that it does not (Reddit, 2026-08-28). That is one thread, so this page does not treat it as settled.

FAQ

Is Dream Essence only for story content?

No. It also pays for Talents, and it comes from linking clues and from optional investigations.

Why can’t I use the Talent Table?

The official answer: it only becomes available from the third Safe Room.

Do I buy inventory upgrades?

No. The official answer places them inside E.R.C. crates or on tables in some dungeons.

Can Night Ore be sold or crafted?

The official answer only covers recharging Night Shade for a revive.

Sources

• Frogwares Support: How do I get Talent Points and Dream Essence?
• Frogwares Support: How do I use Talents and Dream Essence?
• Frogwares Support: How to expand Inventory space?
• Frogwares Support: What is Night Ore for?
• Frogwares Support: Melee Combat on breakables or enemies on the ground
• Frogwares Support: Combat is too hard / not enough ammo

Related pages

• Beginner guide
• Trophy guide
• Walkthrough