klatremus on 7/1/2023 at 22:14
These were really cool reads, Galaer. I like that you are taking on the challenge of trying previously unghostable missions. The nuance between olddark and newdark was also interesting. I usually keep it all in the same report, but that is ok. Thanks
klatremus on 13/1/2023 at 23:52
Game:
Thief 2FM:
Ruins of Originia, Mission 4: Ashes to AshesGhost -
FailedPerfect Thief -
FailedSupreme Ghost -
FailedPerfect Supreme -
FailedTime - 1:07:53
Loot - 7607/9207 (Supreme: 7507)
Pockets Picked - None
Secrets - None
Locks Picked - None
Backstabs - 0, Knockouts - 0
Damage dealt - 0, Damage taken - 0
Innocents Killed: 0, Other Kills - 0
Consumables - 2 Speed Potions, 2 Explosive Charges, 2 Flares, 2 Slow-fall Potions
See the entire report with screenshots (
https://www.klatremus.org/RuinsOfOriginia4.htm) here!
Loot list (
https://www.klatremus.org/RuinsOfOriginia4_L.htm) here.
YouTube let's play (
https://youtu.be/MutNCB1djYk) here!
Comments:This mission takes us back to the style of the first two. Set in a deep, underground, ancient museum, YcatX’s creative power yet again becomes evident. The museum itself is harmless, but the exhibits are not. Gameplay wise, this might be the most difficult mission in the campaign. Though the quality still doesn’t reach the heights of Mines of Margroth, this is still a campaign every Thief fan should play.
I had to find my way into the Museum of the Ancients at the bottom of a volcanic crater. There I had to obtain 7,500 worth of valuables, then escape. Once I entered the museum, however, I got additional tasks to find four gemstones, the crown jewels, and the corpse of the first builder. I also had to visit every exhibit in the museum. This last objective would be the ghost killer, as several of the exhibits required busts.
MuseumDodged the shadow beasts easily getting to the museum. Went for the clear mystic stone right away. The invisible key was a light source. I returned the key afterwards, but strictly speaking this is a bust, although I didn’t use to avoid being seen. You can avoid this bust by instead returning to the power cells exhibit each time you need a second stone of a specific color. Since I knew the mission couldn’t even be regular ghosted, I wanted to avoid this tediousness.
In the Mines of Montserrat, I encountered a small problem. One part of the mines was boarded up, and there was a gold nugget on the other side. The northern entrance had only two boards, with quite a large gap between them. It was pretty easy to figure out a predictable method to get through. Stand in the eastern end facing the wall (first image below). Crouch, then quickly lean right and jump, while letting go of crouch. I bounced through to the other side and ended up almost at the southern wall (second image below). Going back I could use the same method. The nugget had to be taken by sneaking over to it. The level below had more shadow beasts and they could hear any step on the gravel.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/RuinsOfOriginia4_files/image001.jpgInline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/RuinsOfOriginia4_files/image002.jpgThe Rainbow Rose exhibit loot and bonus objective were skipped entirely. The piranhas and crayman saw me both approach and enter the water. No chance.
In the Royal Tomb exhibit, a much bigger problem arose. There was a floating eye (a beholder?) protecting the exit area of the exhibit (image below). It saw me even in pure darkness, forcing me to use hardcover. It always spotted me heading for the exit teleporter. Luckily, I found I could use a speed potion and rush to the exit and only trigger a first alert. To double check this, I quickly reentered the exhibit and saw that the eye hadn’t moved location, so I knew it hadn’t second alerted. Using the potion and getting a first alert were both against Supreme rules, but I was fine with that. I even managed to grab the trickster statue before teleporting out of there. I had to skip 525 loot in total in this exhibit.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/RuinsOfOriginia4_files/image003.jpgThe Loknara exhibit brought the first inevitable Ghost busts. Two spiders alerted immediately upon spawning, there was not even a fraction of a delay (image below). I could jump, grab the loot and teleport out of there within a good second, but if I went back in, the spiders had moved.
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https://www.klatremus.org/RuinsOfOriginia4_files/image004.jpgThe Crown Jewels exhibit annoyed me a bit. The cage with the loot was enclosed by an unfrobbable gate. I was supposed to blow it open with one of the explosive charges from the mines, but this of course was property damage and another severe Ghost bust. I desperately tried to climb over the cage pillars. With some potions I could get onto a rope fastened in the ceiling. I even managed to hop into the top corner of the cage, but couldn’t for the life of me get inside (first image below). The slope was too steep to move up and I got stuck pretty much immediately. I’m not sure how I would’ve survived the fall had I made it through, or how I was supposed to get out of there, but it would’ve been fun to at least obtain the loot without a bust. I managed to avoid alerting the guards by throwing a flare at the charge (second image below). Many of them muttered some comments, but that was more than acceptable. The use of a flare like this is a new trick discovered by Galaer during the Gilded Rivalry run. It’s excellent because it doesn’t make any sound.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/RuinsOfOriginia4_files/image005.jpgInline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/RuinsOfOriginia4_files/image006.jpgIn the Izu exhibit was another one of those eye of the beholders. This room didn’t have anything else of value, I just had to visit it in order to meet the objective of triggering all exhibits. The way to avoid a bust was to do a forward strafe-run immediately upon entering. I checked by entering a second time and saw the eye hadn’t moved its angle. Whether I got a first alert or not I couldn’t tell. I didn’t hear anything before teleporting out of there.
The DarkOne exhibit had another invisible monster. I could tell its location by the smoke off the top. Three of the four nuggets were possible to take, but I could not reach the one right by its feet without setting it off (image below). It almost seemed as if it had a proximity trigger, because at a certain distance it went straight to wake-up mode, which is a second alert. Another 75 skipped. Got a first alert as I entered the teleporter to leave.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/RuinsOfOriginia4_files/image007.jpgThe last difficult exhibit was the First Temple. There were 5 pickpockets around the temple, those were easy enough to take. Then there was a diamond on the back wall. This was a light source, but I had to take it for Supreme. I had already skipped 1600 for that mode, which left only 107 to spare to reach the loot goal of 7,500. The diamond was worth 200, so it was a required pickup. In the top floor shrine was another piece of loot, a staff worth 100. I was not able to get it without first alerts from the surrounding patrollers, so this one I skipped for Supreme. The four patrollers on the second to last floor were all running, and they were spaced out enough to cover the lit up front entrance every 4-5 seconds. There was no way for me to grab it and get back to shadows without one of them or somebody on the lower levels spotting me. There was simply too many enemies around here for that to be possible. The back of the temple had to be hit with a sword or like force in order to open it. It opened like a secret door, but felt more like a puzzle. However, since force was applied, I counted this as property damage and another Ghost bust. However, using a sword or arrow alerted multiple enemies to hunt mode. However, I found I could use another explosive charge and a flare to circumvent those alerts, just like in the Crown Jewels exhibit. I got some first alerts from the fireballs, but those were only Supreme busts.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/RuinsOfOriginia4_files/image008.jpgInside the temple came a much bigger problem. A huge arrow trap area lay before me (image above). The pressure plates could not be touched at all, or else the arrows came flying, and several of the outside enemies went to full alarm mode. Not only that, but they always came searching down the staircase leading to this chamber. I hadn’t taken second alerts from anyone besides spiders so far, so I desperately wanted to avoid these busts. I had a speed potion left, but this wasn’t enough to get me across. Even with a full-speed angled jump, I hit the back half of the final plate. Although speed potions boost your velocity, they do not increase your height. But slow-fall potions do! They reduce your gravitational pull, which makes you jump considerably higher. The problem is, once the slow-fall potion takes effect, your velocity is back to normal. After quite a bit of experimentation, I found a solution. If I drank a slow-fall potion at the same time as jumping (already having downed a speed potion) the slow-fall would take effect as I rose in the air, while still keeping the increased speed. This took me across all the pressure plates with no trap triggered! The next issue was I had to get back again before the speed potion lost its effect. Luckily, the slow-fall didn’t last as long, so I regained my boosted speed for a few seconds a bit later. In the meantime I had to super quickly grab the corpse and all the loot, then pull out my second slow-fall potion and do the same maneuver back. It took a couple of tries, but this was awesome to get out of with no further busts. Of course, drinking the three potions are against Supreme rules, but that was practically irrelevant at this point.
LeavingOn my way back to the crater, a new shadow beast had spawned close to the exit tunnel. I could approach it from behind on the left unnoticed, but I couldn’t sneak over to the tunnel. Instead I had to climb up the slanted wall to the left and hug the top corners (image below). Then I could approach the tunnel from above. If I dropped quietly, I could do it without any growl. I had to land as far northeast as possible to accomplish this.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/RuinsOfOriginia4_files/image009.jpgAround the volcano all the shadow beasts were patrolling counterclockwise, so it was easy to just go right and enter the newly opened tunnel. I destroyed the book at the bottom level, but had to run out of the way quickly, otherwise I’d get killed (image below). Up top again I continued walking counterclockwise until I could ascend to the vine. Then climbed all the way up top without issues.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/RuinsOfOriginia4_files/image010.jpgI’d really like to thank YcatX for this mission pack. It is the most unique creation I’ve ever played for Thief. Too bad none of the other 9 missions were finished. Mines of Margroth still lands in the top 10 of all time for me. The rest of the campaign is good too, especially missions 2 and 4, but don’t quite reach the level of the first one.
Notes:- Bought two flares, two slow-fall potions and two speed potions from the loadout screen. Supreme busts.
- Taking the invisible key to obtain the clear mystic stone in a Supreme bust, since the key emits light. This can be avoided if you instead return to the power cells exhibit and pick up colored stones multiple times.
- Had to skip 1,000 worth of loot in the Rainbow Rose exhibit. The fish spotted me as I approached the flooded part of the grotto.
- Had to skip 525 worth of loot in the Royal Tomb exhibit. I also had to use a speed potion and get a first alert from the beholder in order to leave this exhibit, both of which are Supreme busts.
- Alerted two spiders to full alarm in the Loknara exhibit upon entering. Unavoidable Ghost busts.
- Blew open the gate in the Crown Jewels exhibit with an explosive charge. This was property damage and Ghost bust. I also got a bunch of first alerts in the process, meaning more Supreme busts.
- I might have gotten a first alert in the Izu exhibit. I teleported out of the room before I heard anything. Possible Supreme bust.
- Skipped one of the nuggets worth 75 in the DarkOne exhibit. It was too close to the shadow monster to obtain.
- Got a first alert from the shadow monster in the DarkOne exhibit when exiting. Could possibly be avoided, if lucky.
- The diamond on the back of the First Temple was a light source, but I had to take it to meet the loot goal. Supreme bust.
- Skipped the staff worth 100 on the top floor of the First Temple for Supreme. I was not able to obtain it without at least a few first alerts.
- Had to blow open the secret entrance to the First Temple with an explosive charge and a flare. I considered this property damage and thus another Ghost bust. I also got a few first alerts in the process, so more Supreme busts from that.
- Had to use a speed potion and 2 slow-fall potions inside the First Temple in order to avoid springing the trap and alerting the outside guards. Supreme busts.
klatremus on 28/1/2023 at 23:53
Game:
Thief 2FM:
A Keeper of the Prophecies, Missions 7-9: The InheritanceMission 7Ghost -
SuccessPerfect Thief - N/A
Supreme Ghost -
SuccessPerfect Supreme - N/A
Time - 0:51
Loot - None
Pockets Picked - None
Secrets - None
Locks Picked - 1
Backstabs - 0, Knockouts - 0
Damage dealt - 0, Damage taken - 0
Healing taken - 0, Other Kills - 0, Bodies Discovered - 0
Consumables - None
Mission 8Ghost -
SuccessPerfect Thief -
SuccessSupreme Ghost -
SuccessPerfect Supreme -
SuccessTime - 24:18
Loot - 1441/1441
Pockets Picked - None
Secrets - None
Locks Picked - 3
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 (
https://www.klatremus.org/KOTP/KOTP8.htm) here!
Loot list (
https://www.klatremus.org/KOTP/KOTP8_L.htm) here.
YouTube let's play (
https://youtu.be/6u6FjBr5ALc) here!
Comments:The ending to a very unique campaign. This mission could’ve been made a lot shorter, rather than trekking through the enterprise all over again. There are hardly any enemies, so all tension is gone. It is just to get done with the mission pack at this point, which is rather unfortunate. If the compound had been sealed off except for the southern offices, this map would’ve made a lot more sense.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/KOTP/KOTP8_files/image001.jpgThere is hardly anything to report. Only one live guard existed in the whole mission, a patrolling swordsman close to the southern offices. Two other guards were sleeping in the northern complex. Only two problems were encountered, both relating to loot. The first were some coin stacks under the north freight lift. I chose to wait for the southern lift to ascend all the way up so I could drop underneath it. I used the ledge of the central pillar to break the drop into the canal system (image above). After getting the loot, I ascended to the northern lift with a rope arrow into the side of the wooden outcropping. Climbing down from above was nearly impossible.
The other loot in question was in Waxman’s office. His purse was protected by a couple of mines and an explosive charge. I picked the lock from atop the table (image below). I had to grab the charge first, otherwise it fell into the metallic safe and made a whole heck of noise. The aforementioned swordsman was in this area and he could hear the commotion. I dropped it into the safe quietly afterwards; I figured this was the most logical place.
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https://www.klatremus.org/KOTP/KOTP8_files/image002.jpgYou can actually take damage during the camvator sequence where you speak to Alicia. I doubt this is a bust, as you have no control over anything during this sequence, plus the camera is not showing Garrett’s point of view any longer. It’s silly that you even can get hurt during this. Anyway, if toggling crouch before the sequence, you lower the risk of getting struck by the arrows. It sucks that you have to wait through such a long sequence just to see if you take damage.
BR4ZIL on 29/1/2023 at 18:40
Nice to see such in-depth attempts at ghosting. The amount of dedication is huge sometimes... memories of pushing guards for 10 minutes so they can more out of the way and thus allow ghosting come back to me.
I tend to do my own "freestyle" ghosting of FMs, 99% of the time i ghost the missions, with notable exceptions such as undead (where i vehemenly try to kill every undead i come across) or missions that allow some sort of in-fighting, where i tend to like getting some AI vs AI action going on. Theres also some rare exceptions where it is more "thrilling" to just ghost an entire mission but then run towards the exit while alerting the AI along the way, making a "great escape" feel to it.
Great reads overall!
klatremus on 3/2/2023 at 00:03
Game:
Thief 1FM:
Gems of Provenance, Mission 4: MercenariesGhost -
FailedPerfect Thief -
FailedSupreme Ghost -
FailedPerfect Supreme -
FailedTime - 1:03:25
Loot - 1073/1293
Pockets Picked - 16/16
Locks Picked - None
Backstabs - 0, Knockouts - 0
Damage dealt - 0, Damage taken - 0
Healing taken - 0, Other Kills - 0, Bodies Discovered - 0
Consumables - 2 Water Arrows and 1 Moss Arrow
See the entire report with screenshots (
https://www.klatremus.org/GemsOfProvenance4.htm) here!
Loot list (
https://www.klatremus.org/GemsOfProvenance4_L.htm) here!
YouTube let's play (
https://youtu.be/5s0x3pr9TZ4) here!
Comments:This is my favorite mission of the campaign by quite some distance. The first three maps were all enjoyable, but this is on a different level. The design of the thieves’ compound is very unique and highly challenging. The underground puzzles are among the best I’ve ever seen. StinkyKitty really outdid himself with this series finale and gets cemented as one of the best mission authors our community has seen.
I had to break into the old keeper compound and obtain four keys from a group of mercenaries. These keys gained entry to a set of keeper vaults, which I had to access. I also had to grab 1,000 worth of loot, before leaving across the property walls.
Getting KeysTwo of the keys were on the ground floor, and the only feasible way in there was plunging into the cistern. Nobody heard the drop and the first key was right there. The fire key was in the foyer fireplace. Two stationary archers were in lookouts on the floor above, but neither of them covered the middle of the room if I stayed crouched (image below). Two other thieves patrolled through this room, but they both went the same direction. The archer patrolled faster than the swordsman, so I could wait until he had almost caught up and make my move. I listened for the door to close so I knew they were outside, then I had to douse the flames for the fire key to spawn. I know this technically was a Supreme bust, but I think it should be excused. After all, it’s not like I doused the torch in order not to get seen stealing the key. Instead, by design the key doesn’t even exist in the game until the flames are out. The objective also explicitly says to get the key. Doesn’t that imply to first make it appear in game? I compare to the objective of kidnapping Cavador in Kidnap. The ghosting community very easily agreed that since the engine doesn’t even make this possible without first blackjacking him, the knockout and damage dealt were both excused. I argue the same thing to be the case here. Objectives should prevail, to me that’s the spirit of all modes.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/GemsOfProvenance4_files/image001.jpgRealized I couldn’t climb to the upper floors from here. I could grab some loot and pick a few pockets, but I was stopped by three thieves in a conversation in a foyer two floors up. Two of them left, but the third kept standing, covering the well-lit room comprehensively. So I backtracked and left via the northern main entrance and reentered in the back.
I deliberately waited with triggering the aforementioned conversation, as it altered the location of two of the involved thieves. I thus cleaned the southeastern barracks and tower first. No problem until I got to the roof. A purse on a thief by a telescope was hard to reach without an alert from a second thief nearby. I had to slowly creep along the ledge to his right to avoid the comment (image below). It can be tough getting onto the silent edge without a speed enhancement, but using crouch-creep did the trick. In order to get to the roof from here, I fastened a rope in the northeast corner of the tower ceiling. Then I could safely jump onto the rope from behind the thief alert free. The tower’s roof was nice and dark.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/GemsOfProvenance4_files/image002.jpgGot the air key using a moss arrow easily enough, then dropped into the eastern attic. Had to skip three pieces of loot behind a banner here (image below). I didn’t find a way to obtain them from either side or without cutting the banner. They simply wouldn’t highlight unless the banner was gone. I dropped further into the leader’s chambers and got the last keeper key.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/GemsOfProvenance4_files/image003.jpgI couldn’t leave this room through the door, so I had to use a nearby window into the adjacent lookout (image below). I absolutely loved that so many of the windows could be opened and quietly utilized. This is one of the best missions I have ever seen designed for stealth, while clearly not being made with the Ghost rules in mind. Brilliant.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/GemsOfProvenance4_files/image004.jpgOn a floor below this I thought there was another loot item I’d have to skip behind a banner. This would’ve put me below the loot goal of 1,000, so I’m happy I found I could grab it from the staircase, almost directly from the side (image below).
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/GemsOfProvenance4_files/image005.jpgKeeper VaultsNo further issues until entering the vaults. I could only close two of the four doors at the elevator chute. Unfortunately, one of the two that couldn’t be closed was right by a transparent window, and any patrolling guard passing by outside would first alert to it being open. I suspect these door not being closeable is an oversight from the author, as they both highlighted like normal, but still didn’t close.
The elemental chambers were ingeniously designed. Depending on which door I used in order to take the elevator down, a different chamber would open up first. Then I had to pass each chamber in succession. The fire chamber forced traps to be triggered, which was a Supreme bust. But I could pass it without getting hurt and without alerting anybody else. The air chamber had statues that acted like normal AI. They didn’t have first alerts, but they could both see and hear me. Luckily, there were shadow lines laid out on the floor (image below). I wanted this chamber to be the last one, otherwise it would lead to a statue spotting me as I entered the fire chamber. That’s why I instead had started with the fire chamber, in order to end here. The riddle room also gave different clues depending on which chamber I had started with. Amazing!
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/GemsOfProvenance4_files/image006.jpgAfter this I reached what I call the sanctuary. I had to remove large vases from atop pedestals in order to open the doors. The vases could be returned, but they didn’t push back down the pedestals. I could, however, lock the doors manually. Another trap caused another Supreme bust here.
I didn’t count the spring loaded ramps as traps. One of the keeper journals even talked about them being the intended way of traversing the maze. In one room a door opened, sending a statue towards me. This wasn’t a live statue, but it could be counted as a trap. I could instead jump over the gap in a different location to avoid this whole scenario. Towards the end of this section, however, I unfortunately had to break a window. I could get up on the ledge without it breaking, but I couldn’t push through without applying force. This was property damage and a forced Ghost bust. Sad, but true. The fourth and final glyph was behind a live statue in the staff room (first image below). I could slowly sneak up and frob it unseen. Then snuck out quietly after grabbing the staff. Had to remove a light source in order to open the door back into the abbey. However, this also lit up the nearby torch and interestingly, if I put this back out (required for Supreme), the keeper statue reignited (second image below). The door was left open though, but I wish it could’ve been locked up manually like the sanctuary doors below.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/GemsOfProvenance4_files/image007.jpgInline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/GemsOfProvenance4_files/image008.jpgBack In the AbbeyA bunch more thieves had spawned throughout the compound. Most importantly, the leader had returned and was in his chambers on the fourth floor. He had a purse worth 120. This was necessary to take to reach the loot goal. It couldn’t be taken from inside his quarters, so I had to grab it from outside the window. It was difficult to find a reliable method to do so, as the roof was slick tile. I found if I crouch-ran up about halfway, sometimes I didn’t make noise, and I could quickly lean in and steal the loot (image below).
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/GemsOfProvenance4_files/image009.jpgI wasn’t able to get all the pickpockets for Supreme. The newly spawned archer on the roof was tough, but his potion was possible to reach (image below). The one I had to skip was a guard by the southern entrance. He heard the door opening, and nobody used that entry. I could enter through the top floor window and descend the stairs like before, but I couldn’t get back out of the window unseen. The aforementioned rooftop archer saw me. For regular Ghost, it was no problem to get them all.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/GemsOfProvenance4_files/image010.jpgNotes- Had to douse the fireplace in the ground floor foyer in order to spawn the required Fire Key. Supreme bust, although I think it should be excused due to the objective.
- Had to skip three pieces of loot worth 220 behind a banner in the eastern attic. Slashing the banner is property damage and not allowed for any mode.
- Got first alerts from outside guards leaving the water door open when entering the keeper vaults. Supreme busts.
- Triggered traps in the fire chamber in the vaults. More Supreme busts.
- Triggered fireball traps when entering the keeper sanctuary. More Supreme busts.
- Had to break a window in order to reach the staff chamber in the inner vaults. Inevitable Ghost bust.
- Had to remove a light source in order to reenter the abbey. This was a Supreme bust, although the flame was reignited.
Galaer on 12/2/2023 at 22:40
THE NIGHT WATCH
MISSION 1 - INFILTRATION
This is my favorite mission in this campaign. There is no weapons other than arrows. This campaign was reported by goldsla. In this mission he had problem ghosting spider at the top of Night Watch tower. This spider only notice us if we get treasure from chest. I could use trapdoor, but it's well lighten and goldsla had problem to verify if he ghosted this spider or not. So I went outside back to ladders. By the way, this spider nudges itself on top of trapdoor. That's why I left it closed. From ladders I can silently drop on lower floor to retrieve equipment and read note. Just like goldsla I also dropped on garden's vine, so I didn't need to use rope arrow.
When falling on vine I noticed alerted frogbeast. Frog is neutral to me and I was silent, so it wasn't me who alerted it. Later when I returned to tower I noticed that spider that was on top of crate fell on floor and is alerted. But all spiders (except spider at the top) are neutral to me, so I'm suspecting that somehow both beasts alerting themselves through wall.
Here I need to escort Gwendoline to east gate. Her steps can easily alert guards. Luckily it was easier to do than in my test run. Also I ignored archer's purse for now. In my test after stealing purse archer started alerting to me and Gwendoline making impossible to even finish this mission. When I returned to steal his purse I noticed that he doesn't alert to me. I guess in my test run I stole purse a bit too quickly.
The intended way to get to south gate is by roping up to wooden beam in civilian area. This however can be really easily noticed by other civilians. That's why I decided to use alternate route. I returned to Night Watch tower and used outside ladders to jump to metal door. Door is locked, but with new mantle you can mantle on metal fence and go around.
On roof we need to move barrels and shoot arrow into elevator switch. Guards are very deaf, so they don't hear anything. You also have objective to kill Dogett by creating accident. This accident is done by freeing locked guard. He will also kill Dogett's comapnion and then commit suicide. Burrick will help him. Killing Doggett's companion isn't part of objectives, but it's a result of completing objective, so I think it's excusable. Afterwards you can use elevator, but first you need to jump to pickup barrel from elevator, put it on ground, climb on it and mantle on elevator.
South gate has interesting problem with purse on table in front of sleeping guard. Out frob range in this campaign is very short and guard can actually see us when we get closer. So we need to go to his side to wake him up. He will stand up on top of table. Then just nudge him a bit and lean for purse. There is no need to douse torch to get out. Simply go a bit closer to door and you will safely get past observing guard. All objectives are completed including optional objective of getting all secrets, 3 objectives got cancelled. There is no Pockets Picked stat in mission stats. And there is Bodies Discovered stat even if there was no discoveries.
STATS:
Time: 1:10:35; Loot: 2570/3010
Locks Picked: 2
Back Stabs: 0; Knock Outs: 0
Damage Dealt: 0; Damage Taken: 0; Healing Taken: 0
Innocents killed: 0; Others killed: 0
Iron Beasts Destroyed: 0; Disabled: 0
Bodies Discovered by Enemies: 0
Secrets: 4/4
GHOST: SUCCESS
PERFECT GHOST: NOT POSSIBLE? Goldsla mentioned in his report that some loot requires breaking wooden planks. I didn't find this loot, so it's hard for me to tell.
MISSION 2 - ELICITATION
First of all I'm skipping notes in astronomer's and Scurrish's rooms. They trigger optional objectives of getting Death Coin, Horath's Eyes, Ancient Mask and Crystal. Out of 4 items only mask can be obtained withing ghost rules. Crystal requires lowering bridge and this one is unfrobbable until you lure ratman to skeleton (Horath), which is a ghost bust for causing infighting. Horath's Eyes requires from us to kill Horath and you do that by getting him chase us to goddess, which is a ghost bust again. I never found Death Coin. By the way, all these items are also part of loot.
Vault was problematic. Here is marble floor, pipe camera and if you make even small noise flying bot will get released and it can shoot you. You need to jump on marble floor to open hatch to vent, so you need to moss floor. In vent I had problem to get to fan, because ceiling cable was blocking my path. It turned out you need to mantle on small ledge and then drop from it into passage. You can go through side of fan when you do downward step. This makes noise, but luckily not release bot. Since i don't want to leave rope arrow I need to return the same way to vault.
Throne room is problematic. You need to douse 4 torches to get loot, but after moving right throne there is shadow looking in your direction. Goldsla mentioned it too and I didn't find way through it. So I tried to use different route. From left throne I mantled on torch and then on brick above my head. Afterwards I used flare to jump into water on ceiling, which isn't visible just yet. This way I managed to get pearl, 2 diamonds and mask and I was only 50 loot away from completing loot objective, but I can't continue this path, because of locked portcullis. Key for it is behind shadow with red eyes. I tried to mantle to bridge above entrance to throne room and that's when I learned that it is unfrobbable. I need 50 more loot and it is near shadow, but leaning to it alerts shadow. Plus I also need to press switch behind shadow to unlock dome with Book of Gold Magic in vault. So I was forced to KO shadow (ghost bust #1). After completing all objectives you only need to nudge knight forward. For this I mossed marble floor.
STATS:
Time: 0:38:45; Loot: 2685/3106
Locks Picked: 1
Back Stabs: 0; Knock Outs: 1
Damage Dealt: 1; Damage Taken: 0; Healing Taken: 0
Innocents killed: 0; Others killed: 0
Iron Beasts Destroyed: 0; Disabled: 0
Bodies Discovered by Enemies: 0
Secrets: 3/3
GHOST: IMPOSSIBLE
MISSION 3: REORIENTATION
In Drakon's Household I had problem with knights randomly going into search mode. I wonder if entrance must be locked to avoid it or is this just coincidence. Later we fall into trap, which is activated by reading note, so it's not really us who activates it. Nobles will come to see us, but they don't alert to us. Knights can alert to sound of a trap. When floor will move drop immediately. There is skeleton on the path. Just dodge him from right and swim left into passage. In new room is white spider with extremely good hearing and fog (you can disable fog by zooming in and looking more up to see spider). Mantle on pipe and silently go to panel. When furniture will fall it will alert spider. After it calms down climb to window. I'm not using fast current water passage, because I can't judge if I alert guard or not. Instead I can strafe run through conveyor belt and when Garrett do downward step - jump to move a bit faster.
After looting this area you return to vortex room with white spider. Here you need to rope into bridge from near panel and jump on rope to reach lever. Since I don't want to leave rope arrow behind I climbed back on bridge. Spider don't hear if you drop on pipe near water and from there into water, so I used this path and to enter hatch I needed to press jump button couple of times to get unstuck.
In control room I had problem with scientist. He leaves portucllis opened and lock it after leaving, but only if he still has a key. If he doesn't he will just lock portcullis without going through it and stand there forever. He doesn't twitch, so he's impossible to nudge. Even if you reopen portcullis and reload, he will clok it again and stand in front of it. So whatever you do, steal his key only if he's outside of control room and you don't need to go inside. This way he will not even approach portcullis ever again. Wet caves are easy. To avoid waking up zombies you need to creep.
STATS:
Time: 0:40:13; Loot: 1090/1090
Locks Picked: 0
Back Stabs: 0; Knock Outs: 0
Damage Dealt: 0; Damage Taken: 0; Healing Taken: 0
Innocents killed: 0; Others killed: 0
Iron Beasts Destroyed: 0; Disabled: 0
Bodies Discovered by Enemies: 0
Secrets: 3/3
GHOST: SUCCESS
PERFECT GHOST: SUCCESS
MISSION 4: CONFRONTATION
So this is ghosting mission. Enemies have really good hearing just like white spider from previous mission, but mission isn't really that hard. I looted it before freeing Jack who kills a lot of them. When going to prison don't frob Jack's cell's lock. It wakes up Jack and he asks for help. This asking 2nd alert woman locked in pit and can alert patrolling warden.
After getting Milly fire elemental shows up and kills Lord Drakon. This is excused as consequence of completing objective. Next you need to take Cell key from fire elemental, which removes it. Elemental is neutral towards us and it's hard to say I killed it by frobbing item from inside of it, so I don't count that as a bust.
Freeing Jack is tricky situation, because opening his cell triggers alarm in the whole mansion. But we have free Jack objective, but alarm happens before completing objective. This is similar situation like in Undercover, but there alarm happens only once. In this mission alarm happens when cell isn't locked, so it's possible to turn off alarm and then launch it again. Because of that I count this alarm as a ghost bust #1. Afterwards Jack will kill every enemy on his path and go to Gwendoline.
STATS:
Time: 0:56:45; Loot: 3355/4115
Locks Picked: 5
Back Stabs: 0; Knock Outs: 0
Damage Dealt: 0; Damage Taken: 0; Healing Taken: 0
Innocents killed: 0; Others killed: 0
Iron Beasts Destroyed: 0; Disabled: 0
Bodies Discovered by Enemies: 0
Secrets: 3/3
GHOST: IMPOSSIBLE
Galaer on 12/2/2023 at 22:42
THE BATHHOUSE
Now I'm starting to play missions reported by Hexameron. There is exactly 24 of them I want to play. This mission was reported as failure for 4 reasons:
1. Cannot drop into water without alerting male thief patrolling the platform.
2. Cannot enter bath house without alerting either the helmeted guard, combat bot, or watcher; one of these AI will have to be alerted.
3. Cannot get to secret room (obj) without alerting two AI.
4. Cannot get required loot in thieves den without alerting at least one AI.
First problem is dropping into water. I found out that sometimes thief on higher floor will only 1st alert. So loud dropping into water is possible.
Next I decided to go for 3rd problem - secret room. Here in alley there is cop looking in our direction. Impossible to ghost. And you want to pass him for rope arrow to get on roof. And there is not enough of crates to climb to roof. So here I was forced to lure cop by jumping twice on street and KO him (ghost bust #1). But i didn't alert any 2nd AI. After getting rope arrow I took body with me. You see, dropping into chimney costs 1 HP. Unless you drop body of a cop and land on it. This way I get equipment for 2nd problem on Hexameron's list.
In my test run outside guard was looking towards basement, in my ghost run he looks in opposite direction, so I can't use this route to get to roof yet. And if you use door behind it you will find mentioned metal helmet cop looking at the entrance. Luckily there is no loot in his room. Instead I use main entrance. Going along right wall allows ghosting bot, but the real challenge is watcher inside. There is lots of marble floor and bot can hear us running on it. But I noticed that after every reload watcher turns left. So I progress a bit, save and reload to force watcher to turn left away from me. After getting under him I mossed floor leading to room on the left to jump and crouch through window. There is lever disabling watcher, but it must be used twice.
I couldn't enter all rooms on 2nd floor, because patrolling cops froze in place near 2 rooms leading to terrace. So i'm forced to go outside and return back to wooden roof and from here jump on guard's back. In basement is locked door, but due to a bug I can walk through it without unlocking it. Here I silently climb to terrace. In left room I'm forced to nudge cop slightly forward to reach purse. To return I need to drop on roof above bot, drop 2 healing potions and drop on them. This way I will not lose health.
Time for last problem - thieves den. With new mantle I can mantle on roof above door near crates and then drop behind thief near window. Nudge him forward and moss window to mantle through it silently. Here is thief looking at entrance and he can't be ghosted as place is too well lighten. Moss floor between chests and throw gas mine to KO this thief (ghost bust #2). Luckily other thieves don't alert.
To exit return outside to crates and climb on them. Here you can see ledge and patrolling it thief. Douse 2 torches and mantle over wall. Go to explosive barrel and wait for thief to pass. Then go to starting point. Mission can't be finished, because loot is split into 2 categories, so I'm forced to use mission skip cheat.
STATS:
Time: 0:26:28; Loot: 1750/1900
Pockets Picked: 0/1; Locks Picked: 3
Back Stabs: 0; Knock Outs: 1
Damage Dealt: 1; Damage Taken: 0; Healing Taken: 0
Innocents killed: 0; Others killed: 0
Iron Beasts Destroyed: 0; Disabled: 0
Secrets: 0/0
GHOST: IMPOSSIBLE
Galaer on 12/2/2023 at 22:43
THE RITUAL
Another mission reported by Hexameron as failure. This is the mission I was looking forward the most, because of problems mentioned by him:
1. Falling down into the well alerts a submerged haunt.
2. Cannot take Seliquary (obj) without causing an AI to continuously chase the player.
3. Cannot sneak through town with Merimee in pursuit; too many agitated AI.
(4). It's very difficult if not 90% unlikely to sneak through the Hammer church to retrieve the Well key.
So the last problem was solved by Hexameron. He somehow succeeded with dousing torch and the trick is RNG. Most of the time Hammerites will go into search mode, but sometimes they will only 1st alert. That's all.
There is also window with servant looking at it. You can sneak quickly inside and also leave, but you can't close window and later some infighting in town will happen and it's possible for this guy to hear it, because of opened window. Inside is crowbar needed to open sarcophagus from catacombs, but it's possible to take loot through it's lid. So I don't need crowbar in the end.
Now it's time to deal with well. At the bottom of it is water and in water is haunt. If you fall into water haunt will go into search mode. So I need to fall quietly. Mantle cancel isn't possible, so maybe flares will work. But not in this mission. They don't stop my fall. Maybe it only works in Newdark missions. What about slowfall potion. Due to hight it only slows my fall and not stop it. So it doesn't work either. I would need to drink 2 slowfall potions, but only one is available in this mission. So what did I do? Simply, just like with church this is another case of RNG. Most of the time when you fall into water haunt will go into search mode, but sometimes he will only 1st alert. Also I close hatch to avoid haunt alerting to later infighting in town.
I used bodies from underwater cave to open entrance to catacombs, blocked door with speed potion, hid bodies in shadow and then opened door. I did that, because there is homing guy in this mission and hopefully after closing entrance he will not manage to chase me through it. If this doesn't stop him, then I could mantle to higher walkway and try to use portcullis to lock him in this area and fall down to entrrance to escape. Ultimately I changed my idea later in the mission.
After looting this place and completing loot objective I decided to save Merimee. I used teleport lever to open exit gate and sneak behind left cultist. Here I mossed floor, because I tried to lean forward to reach girl on altar, but I noticed that if you crouch you can frob her without leaning. I went all the way outside, but before newly spawned cultist. In tunnel I left her body. Now very important about Merimee is that she wakes up near giant rock only if you carry her. If you don't carry her, she disappears from this mission and it's impossible to complete it.
Time to deal with Seliquary. Taking Seliquary makes one of patrollers walking on both floors to chase after you. So here I got new idea. Near this area is giant elevator like from Precious Cargo. Enemies can step on it, but they don't run smoothly. Instead they warp forward constantly. That's really funny interaction with this elevator. So when this chasing guy is on 1st floor I run to the other side of giant elevator and wait for him. When he's on it I shot moss arrow into switch to send elevator down. Now he's stuck running in place. And this way this homing guy is ghosted.
Time to go to Merimee. After she wakes up she will keep charging at you, then step back and charge at you again. She tracks you, so there is no need to go only on street (I used vent leading to profesor's house and when I stepped on floor she ran to me). Enemies do not alert to her, so no need to worry about her. The only problem is that her charging towards you may push you forward out of a shadow. There are new cultists in town and there is infighting going on. In my run cops killed all cultists on starting street and after calming down their sensitivity returned back to normal. So it was pretty easy to ghost them. In the end "don't let Merimee die" objective gets canceled.
STATS:
Time: 0:57:03; Loot: 1690/1740
Pockets Picked: 3/6; Locks Picked: 9
Back Stabs: 0; Knock Outs: 0
Damage Dealt: 0; Damage Taken: 0; Healing Taken: 0
Innocents killed: 0; Others killed: 0
Iron Beasts Destroyed: 0; Disabled: 0
Secrets: 0/0
GHOST: SUCCESS
PERFECT GHOST: SUCCESS. One of posts in mission thread mentions that one of giant masks enemies counts as 50 loot, but it's impossible to obtain it.
Galaer on 12/2/2023 at 22:45
CRAGSCRIGHT PRISON
Small prison mission with 3 kill objectives. Reported by Hexameron as failure for 4 reasons:
1. Cannot sneak by prisoners or archer in main cell block
2. Cannot sneak by female cop guarding special prisoners
3. Cannot kill the special prisoners (objective) without alerting them and other AI
4. Cannot sneak by mechanists in small chapel
Let's talk about first problem. Hexameron couldn't sneak by prisoners and archer. It's weird that he mentioned prisoners as they don't alert to Garrett. As for archer, he's weird. At the beginning he looks at wall near door. After reloading game he has a chance to randomly turn around. After another reload he can walk towards door I used to enter cell block and freeze in front of it. Since he doesn't twitch it's impossible to nudge him. Because of that the only option is to KO him (ghost bust #1). I moved his body to room with rat. This will bite me later.
Next problem is chapel. Here is another weird situation - it's possible by returning to main cell block to make patrollers walk close to each other, which makes possible to only KO priest. It happened only once to me, but afterwards they went randmoly into search mode, which screwed my save. After returning to previous save this never happened. So I was forced to KO one of patrolling Mechanists (ghost bust #2). I mossed chair on the left and when other patroller passed I jumped left on chair and quickly KO-ed priest (ghost bust #3). I took his body behind patroller, activated secret and hid his body outside. That's all busts in this mission.
Now for special prisoners cell block. Female cop is easy to dodge - just crouch walk and she will never see you. For now, she will become problem later when going after sheriff. From shadow shoot gas arrow in wall between cell #9 and #10. This will KO both prisoners from both cells. Open cells and move bodies to portcullis leading to sheriff's room. Quickly enter sheriff's room and KO him. Be careful, this time female cop can see you. She's really a problem. Return to bodies. To avoid alert from female cop you must mantle with bodies on door. Many times it will end with search mode, but sometimes it will be only 1st alert. Time for executions. Close door. The only safe spot to kill our targets is floor between desk and furthest column. This way female cop will not hear you. After all killings mission will end.
STATS:
Time: 0:26:12; Loot: 695/695
Pockets Picked: 3/3; Locks Picked: 2
Back Stabs: 3; Knock Outs: 4
Damage Dealt: 94; Damage Taken: 0; Healing Taken: 0
Innocents killed: 1; Others killed: 2
Iron Beasts Destroyed: 0; Disabled: 0
Bodies Discovered by Enemies: 1
Secrets: 1/1
GHOST: IMPOSSIBLE
So I scored body discovery stat. I didn't see anybody going into search mode, so I'm quite perplexed what happened. Unless, I put KO-ed archer in room with rat. Rats alerts are excused in ghosting, because they don't alert other enemies and ignore us. But can they discover bodies? So I checked it out and yes, this small rat discovered archer's body. I never knew about that. So I guess, this is ghost bust #4.
Galaer on 12/2/2023 at 22:46
THE GALLERY
Hexameron failed ghosting this mission, because:
- Cannot sneak by apebeast in order to reach the mission end
This ape is indeed the biggest problem in this mission. There are light mushrooms that make cave very well lighten and it's impossible to destroy them. Ceiling despite being grass can't be shot with rope arrows, because they vanish. I managed to ghost this ape though. You must strafe run along left slope and at the end of strafe run, so you will quickly run forward towards pipe. This way ape will only 1st alert. Now you just strafe run and mantle on slope on the right for nuggets and return to pipe. Lastly you jump on vine and quickly mantle into pipe. If you are fast enough ape will only 1st alert.
STATS:
Time: 0:18:01; Loot: 4860/4860
Pockets Picked: 7/7; Locks Picked: 1
Back Stabs: 0; Knock Outs: 0
Damage Dealt: 0; Damage Taken: 0; Healing Taken: 0
Innocents killed: 0; Others killed: 0
Iron Beasts Destroyed: 0; Disabled: 0
Secrets: 0/0
GHOST: SUCCESS
PERFECT GHOST: SUCCESS