marbleman on 28/7/2019 at 13:03

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Game: Thief Gold
FM: Catacombs of Knoss Part 1

Ghost - Success
Perfect Thief - Success
Supreme Ghost - Success :D
Perfect Supreme - Failed
Time - 43:50
Loot - 3398/3398 (Supreme: 3248)
Pockets Picked - 3/3
Locks Picked - 1
Backstabs - 0, Knockouts - 0
Damage dealt - 0, Damage taken - 0
Healing taken - 0, Other Kills - 0, Bodies Discovered - 0
Consumables - none

When I was setting out to Supreme this campaign, I expected the second mission to be the tough one. The introduction was supposed to be a breeze. I was wrong. While this mission is easy to Ghost, it is insanely difficult to avoid first alerts in it due to tight interlocking patrols. Well, I welcomed the challenge. :)

Our goals are to find the key to the catacombs, break into Lord Karthman's armory, leave coins near a statue for good luck, and get 2200 loot. Then, it's time to enter the catacombs, where this mission ends and the second one begins. Here we go.

The City

My first task was getting into the cemetery to pick the armory key off the sleeping Lord Karthman. The biggest issue here was the archer stationed on the balcony across the street. Had to creep crouch strafe my way in to avoid first alerts from him and get the key. The shadows in the cemetery are a bit deceptive, so I had to rely on luck when creeping over to the opposite end. Picked up a goblet from the caretaker's shack and hopped over the fence. This is out of the archer's range of view, but the three other patrollers could still catch me. Pickpocketed one of them and made my way to the end of the street where I climbed a ladder. Patrollers below could still catch me up on the ledges, so had to be careful while trying to get inside Lord Brock's estate. From here, the mission became quite easy for a while. Looting Lord Brock's, the tower across, the inn, and the apartments posed no challenges.

(http://www.imagebam.com/image/16d7fc1287267784) http://thumbs2.imagebam.com/d4/57/42/16d7fc1287267784.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/0fbde01287267864) http://thumbs2.imagebam.com/26/b7/54/0fbde01287267864.jpg

Lord Gristwood's estate was next, and it offers the best way to break into Lord Karthman's. The guard inside patrols out into the inner balcony, the door to which is locked. Had to wait for him to unlock the door and then frob it to leave it open once he was gone. While there is another way to break into Lord Karthman's through the apartments, it is too well-lit. This balcony offers a much safer approach. Once inside, made my way to the top floor, creeping past the stationary archer. The next room is tricky. There is a practicing archer who shoots the target and then makes a short loop around the room. Additionally, there is a swordsman who comes in and out of the room quite frequently. Timing them both, had to unlock the armory door, which the archer could alert to if he was too close, and get inside to check off the objective. I didn't have to take anything; simply getting inside was enough. The good news is that I was able to do this Supreme-clean. The bad news is that there is an attic opening down the shooting range, and it's hard enough to make it in there with only first alerts. Getting inside for Supreme was out of the question, which meant that 150 loot inside had to be skipped and that Perfect Supreme was busted. Returned to Gristwood estate and exited it on the other side.

(http://www.imagebam.com/image/d6c3661287268004) http://thumbs2.imagebam.com/fe/8d/fd/d6c3661287268004.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/9f54261287268104) http://thumbs2.imagebam.com/3a/4d/97/9f54261287268104.jpg

To get the purse off the archer patrolling the outer balcony of Gristwood estate, used a rope to hang down from the fence. Had to be careful as he could still spot me if he got too close. Next, looted the lower floors of the brick apartment building. To get inside the pagoda, had to wait for the guard near the apartment building entrance to turn away and all patrollers who could catch me to be elsewhere before I was able to leap over. Got back the same way, and then roped up to the upper level of the apartment building.

(http://www.imagebam.com/image/654b671287268164) http://thumbs2.imagebam.com/38/fc/7f/654b671287268164.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/0919c81287268184) http://thumbs2.imagebam.com/e3/94/15/0919c81287268184.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/0813061287268214) http://thumbs2.imagebam.com/8f/23/8b/0813061287268214.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/50554c1287268234) http://thumbs2.imagebam.com/aa/5a/0b/50554c1287268234.jpg

A single guard in the corridor was easy to dodge. First, broke into the doctor's office and looted his safe. Thankfully, I was able to pick up everything through the banner, so I didn't have to slash it. In the next room, had to dodge the doctor himself and get out through the window. Dropped my lucky coins into the bowl under the big statue to complete another objective. The last place to loot before breaking into the church is the shops and law firm, which is essentially one building. While it is possible to get inside through the law firm and to avoid picking any locks, it is not an option for Supreme as the place is too brightly lit. Therefore, I had to rope down to the street level and pick the door to the rightmost shop to get inside. Additionally, picked up a pair of coins near a fountain next to the brick apartment building. Having looted the shops and law firm, roped back up, looted the artist's studio, and used a ladder to get into the church.

(http://www.imagebam.com/image/8d9d321287268264) http://thumbs2.imagebam.com/ed/1e/97/8d9d321287268264.jpg

klatremus on 29/7/2019 at 07:57

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Game: Thief 2
FM: Death's Cold Embrace - Act 2, Scene 2: Cold Reception

Ghost - Success
Perfect Thief - Success
Supreme Ghost - Success
Perfect Supreme - Failed
Time - 1:00:10
Loot - 2575/2575 (Supreme: 2375)
Pockets Picked - 3/4
Secrets - None
Locks Picked - 6
Backstabs - 0, Knockouts - 0
Damage dealt - 0, Damage taken - 0
Healing taken - 0, Other Kills - 0, Bodies Discovered - 0
Consumables - None

See the entire report with screenshots (http://www.klatremus.org/DCE6.htm) here!
Loot list (http://www.klatremus.org/DCE6_L.htm) here!
YouTube Let's Play (https://youtu.be/FxT5Qhz0_VE) here!


Comments:
Unfortunately, Cold Reception seems to me superfluous and a slightly unnecessary part of the campaign. The meeting with Robert Highwater could've been handled in a simpler way, without having to backtrack through very familiar territory. Even many of the loot items are in exactly the same place as in mission 2. The most interesting parts are the disappearance of Ellinsworth and the trailing of Robert Highwater. I must admit I was waiting for the next mission through the majority of this one.

So we basically had to make our way to Robert Highwater's room and speak with him privately. I figured there would be a twist since the objective specified not to let him see us until we were alone. Nothing else was on the agenda besides no kills and getting in and out.

The Manor
Snuck in through the gate following the conversation. I could have picked the lock on the north guard station, but I wanted to avoid that. Didn't need to enter the south guard station; nothing but weapons in there. Looted the barracks easily enough, and got introduced to the aftermath of Ellinsworth's demise. Quite gruesome.

There wasn't much to report from the bottom three floors. Standard sneaking was all. I knew the layout well from before, including any dark patches good for hiding. The crypt entrance from the basement had been sealed off, but other than that, the map was the same. Had to skip the gold candlesticks in the basement and the first floor ballroom like last time. Supreme disallows dousing them. The only tough piece of loot was the nugget behind the counter in the game room. The maid there prevented entry through the hallway doors, so I came from the parlour to the north instead. Timed her random cleaning patrol in order to pick the lock on the box (see image below). Had to leave via the parlour also, and I was careful passing the maid's view again heading south in the hall.

http://www.klatremus.org/DCE6_files/image001.jpg

Lord Highwater's office was the only place of interest on the second floor. This time I could reach it without alerts from the balcony guard as long as I snuck slowly ((http://www.klatremus.org/DCE6_files/image002.jpg) see image). No need to mantle the statue like last time. The Sir left his office from time to time, and he was gone long enough for me to clean his quarters. He did carry a purse and a copy of the crypt key. Found the newly appointed captain along my travels on this floor too; he also carried a purse.

The top floor had the Lord and Lady's bedrooms accessible, while the other kids' rooms were sealed off. Two more lit candlesticks had to be skipped in Lady Highwater's quarters for Supreme, for a grand total of 200 loot skipped for that mode. Although I picked the lock on Lord Highwater's bedroom, this is strictly speaking not necessary for Supreme, as the Sir has the bedroom as part of his patrol route. I only realized this after I had picked it and didn't bother backtracking.

Robert
I studied the Robert Highwater objective for a while before figuring out the bafflingly simple solution. I was not allowed to let him see me before he entered the crypt, yet I had to figure out that he was indeed going there. At first I thought I had to trail close by, not to let him out of my sight. If so, I had to be extremely lucky with the multitude of random patrollers on all three floors, in order to avoid any first alerts. Luckily, I realized you only have to visually see him stop atop the stairs in the courtyard. This could conveniently be done from the second floor balcony, next to the stationary guard there (see image below). That way I only had to worry about the top floor patrols and a few of the random noblemen in the second floor foyer. The guard on the balcony only alerted to me frobbing the right door, but not the left one; same when closing it. I could safely drop into the courtyard from the balcony on the west side, but I couldn't sneak over to the stairs without him spotting me from above. The lit window right by the door was too bright. I could reach the stairs unseen coming from the first floor hallway though. Had to inch my way down the top stairs to avoid the comment. The crypt itself was uneventful in terms of ghosting. Had to return the old key to Lord Highwater's patrol route afterwards for Supreme.

http://www.klatremus.org/DCE6_files/image003.jpg

Left the manor via the kitchen exit, though it took a while to find an opening with all the patrollers. Dodging the last guard by the south courtyard gate also turned out to be tricky. There was no room to sneak by without nudging, which is only allowed as a last resort for Ghost and disallowed for Supreme. I eventually found I could mantle the inside wall by the broken door, and furthermore onto the roof to the south unseen (see image below). The easiest way to check the last objective from here was to inch off the roof directly to the west. I got an ‘objective complete' even before fully falling off.

http://www.klatremus.org/DCE6_files/image004.jpg


Notes
- Skipped a gold candlestick (50) outside the basement servants' quarters. Dousing the flame in order to take the loot is a Supreme bust.
- Skipped another candlestick (50) in the first floor ballroom for Supreme, for the same reason as above.
- Skipped the final two candlesticks (100) for Supreme in Lady Highwater's bedroom on the third floor.

klatremus on 29/7/2019 at 16:00

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All missions are valuable to have reports on. It doesnt matter how easy they are. Like you said, Supreme has other challenges like relocking doors, no triggering of traps, no property damage, etc.

klatremus on 29/7/2019 at 20:33

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Game: Thief 2
FM: Death's Cold Embrace - Act 2, Scene 3: Waking the Dead

Ghost - Success
Perfect Thief - Success
Supreme Ghost - Success
Perfect Supreme - Success :D
Time - 1:08:16
Loot - 5155/5155
Pockets Picked - 4/5
Secrets - 7/7
Locks Picked - 0
Backstabs - 0, Knockouts - 0
Damage dealt - 0, Damage taken - 0
Healing taken - 0, Other Kills - 0, Bodies Discovered - 3
Consumables - None

See the entire report with screenshots (http://www.klatremus.org/DCE7.htm) here!
Loot list (http://www.klatremus.org/DCE7_L.htm) here!
YouTube Let's Play (https://youtu.be/23NxOTko_DY) here!


Comments:
This is a very strong and immensely enjoyable mission. A beautiful cathedral compound with spellbinding atmosphere and a thrilling plot twist. The audio-visual experience is top shelf. Not too difficult before the surprise meet, when things get a lot more challenging. This one can be perfect supremed, but the last third is quite unpredictable and I imagine could break the ghost for some. Having plenty of hardsaves is crucial at that point. Lots of hidden loot as well. It's been a long time since my count was that low after the first playthrough. This campaign is now sailing up as one of the all-time best. And there's still more to come!

So, we were finally getting serious. We had to break into St. Aldan's cathedral and dig up Julia's body. We had to find a shovel first, plus 2,500 worth of loot. Lastly, we needed to leave through the front gates, something which wouldn't end up being as straight forward as it sounded.

Due to my foreknowledge of the turn regarding Edwin, I wanted to make sure I got all the loot I could before exhuming Julia. Once the undead would spawn, although they would disappear once I replaced Edwin's body in the grave, at that point any surviving hammerite would be on high alert, potentially blocking progress through certain areas. Then, even regular ghosting would be far too unpredictable to leave anything to chance. The graveyard would therefore be the last place I'd visit. I was carrying 3 rope arrows, so no need to look for those.

St. Aldan's Cathedral
A purse lay on a windowsill in the opening courtyard ((http://www.klatremus.org/DCE7_files/image001.jpg) see image). Easy to miss that one. The door up here was locked and unpickable. The basement acolyte could see me through the purple windows, so I waited for him to walk away before entering. Other than his little dance, there was nothing to report from this floor. There was a locked gate further east, but it didn't protect any loot.

Arriving on the ground floor, there was only one patrolling hammerite in the northwest. I cleaned this section easy enough. Found one of the gems mentioned in the readable atop a beam further south. Next, I went upstairs and cleaned Thaddeus' floor. Again only one patroller and he was easy to dodge. A nicely placed nugget lay by the foot of a statue beyond the walkway railing (see image below).

http://www.klatremus.org/DCE7_files/image002.jpg

Back downstairs I moved on to the library. Both the visuals and ambiance were breathtaking ((http://www.klatremus.org/DCE7_files/image003.jpg) see image). Found another gem on a ledge here; that made 2 out of 3. A couple of patrollers in here, but there were plenty of shadows to help me out. Reached the loot goal as I took a candlestick in one of the study halls to the north. Cleaned the “unreachable” balcony and the larger study hall nearby also with ease. The entire compound was so far requiring nothing but standard sneaking.

Passed through the inner courtyard and approached the main chapel from the west. Found a very cleverly hidden tiara embedded in a mosaic window near here. Don't think I've seen that before. I expected the chapel to be more difficult. There was only one patroller solely confined to the chapel, with one more passing through, and an archer occasionally stationed on the upper balconies. I think more of the torches should've been lit on expert, plus an extra pivoting hammerite by the pulpit. Generally, none of the loot items were even remotely challenging to steal. Found the third and last gem by one of the statues here as well (see image below), plus heaps of scattered coins and left behind loot items between the pews.

http://www.klatremus.org/DCE7_files/image004.jpg

The graveyard had lots of loot, some of which was well-hidden. Three patrolling hammerites with fairly long routes. I could dig up Julia in peace, but that seemed to have disturbed it. First time around I thought I had released the undead then and there, but realized they were just audio cues playing on repeat. Nothing had changed around the compound just yet.

The Dead Awaken
Once trying to escape with Julia, things got real. First I met Julia's brother Edwin, or his ghost, who told me in order to lay the spirits to rest, I needed to put his body into Julia's grave and cover it back up. Then his farewell note needed to be put on Thaddeus' desk. Plenty of haunts, zombies and apparitions had spawned around the compound. Ensuing fights were widespread and highly unpredictable.

My first task was to enter the main chapel unseen. The westernmost access forced me through a bright room with a single haunt. He had just downed an acolyte and was in seemingly constant hunt mode. I quickly scrapped that idea. The main entrance actually seemed the better option. I could rush through the double doors and observe the fights unbothered. It was very easy to detect any alerts, as the enemies were all either involved in fights or in hunt mode. If they saw me, they would come chasing. The chapel had a hammer haunt, an undead priest and a zombie. Currently, there was a lone guard fighting them. Replaying the scenario a couple of times, I realized the priest's blows could accidentally kill the zombie. This happened on more than one occasion. Testing this further, one time the guard downed the priest and the haunt quickly, and ended up fighting the zombie heads up. This was too good to pass up, so I saved and replayed until the zombie also got killed (see image below). At this time, another hammerite came in through a door to the south and they both ended up searching around. Like I suggested earlier, more of the torches were now lit, making traversing anywhere near the alter impossible. With their backs turned, I instead made a run for the door to the west. The big pillar in the middle provided valuable hard cover. Safely out the exit from here. Phew!

http://www.klatremus.org/DCE7_files/image005.jpg

It seemed like undead spawned by Garrett's proximity. As I neared the library from the west, I heard commotion going on a few rooms away. This lured a hammer haunt towards the south and I got time to scoot upstairs towards Thaddeus'. Here came another big problem. Eavesdropping on Thaddeus' door, I could hear the hammerite from earlier searching around, probably alerted by the noises downstairs. Then as I passed the threshold of the doorway, he started fighting an apparition. It was almost like there was an invisible tripwire that spawned the apparition, as I could stand listening for the guard, then the instant I stepped into the room the shooting would commence. I could partly observe the fight from the doorway (see image above). The hammerite normally won, as his blows were a lot faster. Plus, the apparition did a slow animation once hit, exposing it to subsequent hits from the guard. No matter who won though, the prevailing enemy would always end up searching right by the door to Thaddeus' office, leaving me no opportunity to get to the adjacent library. I saved once the apparition won the fight, but in retrospect this is not a smart thing, as it lights up a small radius around its body and catches you the instant is comes close. The office itself was also super bright, and although there was a switch, turning off the lights is not allowed for Supreme. I actually ended up heading back downstairs and rope arrowed up the railing on the east side. Most of the enemies in the downstairs library had died anyway. There was a single haunt to dodge, but he wandered quite a long distance. In the meantime, the apparition from upstairs must have somehow fumbled over the railing, as it was suddenly nowhere to be seen. Since it doesn't leave a corpse, it must have gotten killed. At this point, I took whatever I could get. Found Edwin in the hidden passageway ((http://www.klatremus.org/DCE7_files/image007.jpg) see image). Brought his note to the office and lugged him along towards the grave.

http://www.klatremus.org/DCE7_files/image006.jpg

Originally I wanted to cross through the inner courtyard, since I thought it to be empty, but since last time I was there a hammerite must have spawned and killed a zombie. At least there he was stationed in the snow, with body parts strewn all around. So instead I had to pass through the library, again dodging the haunt there. The large study hall further east had a single female zombie roving about, but she was quite easy to sneak by.

The last issue was placing Edwin's body and covering the casket. The problem was the haunts and zombie in the courtyard to the east. Passing the gate was very bright, due to the nearby torch and candles by the gravestone. Remember, Supreme disallows putting those out. However, it was just a matter of patience, waiting for all of them to be away from the gate or having their backs turned. Once past the gate, I could do my deeds from southeast of the casket. I was out of view of the adjacent courtyard and could reach the dirt with my shovel (see image below).

http://www.klatremus.org/DCE7_files/image008.jpg

To get back to Julia's body, the main problem was the chapel. Since the hammerites had won the fights in that area, most of them were still alive. I actually had to circumvent the compound and approach from the west. However, upon entry, the guards quickly settled and went back to their former patrol routes. A few acolytes had spawned it seemed, and they just remained standing when settled. Luckily, they were either facing east or too far away to be an issue. From here, the route out was easy and I could finish the mission with Supreme intact.


Notes
- The bodies discovered are from the hammerite guards fighting the undead. It has nothing to do with me, so no bust.

klatremus on 29/7/2019 at 21:43

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Yeah you basically have to replay and wait for a lucky break towards the end there. I though replacing Edwin's body would be the biggest deal, but that didn't turn out to be that bad. Worst was the chapel and getting out of Thaddeus' office.