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BEHIND CLOSED DOORS This
is a highly recommended mission from who is growing to be one of my favorite
Thief creators. A vast, daytime city map with tons of objectives up front,
and more given throughout. Lots of establishments to visit, but not all of
them are accessible right away. Clever design with objectives that lead you
in certain directions, but still allow you the freedom to decide your own
route. Just a solid map through and through. My
list of objectives was long, and it would get much more plentiful as the night wore on. For now I first had to
meet Letchie in a building close by. My main
objectives were then to steal the Codex of Alavash,
as well as the Urn of St. Tannis from the local hammerite church. I also had to find my fence’s case file
in the prosecutor’s office, while also acquire some dirt on the prosecutor
himself. After realizing Letchie had been killed, I
was directed to find information on the Highmarket
killer at the watch station, in addition to stealing some valuable on display
in Lord Davenish’s castle. West At
the watch station, it was a bit tricky getting the loot from the prison cell.
However, one of the guards in the conversation pivoted and the other started
patrolling. The prisoner in the nearest cell didn’t first alert, so I could
sneak in on the right and operate the cell door levers undetected (left image
below). I then had to proceed through the north hallway and approach the
prison again from the east. I ended up having to open cell 4 also, just to
get a break in traversing the hallway. The pivoting guard never seemed to
face west long enough for me to walk the whole stretch. I could monitor the
patroller and the sentry from inside this cell, then scoot over to cell 2
when the coast was clear (right image below).
The
only way to proceed from the southwest was picking the lock on the gatehouse
door (left image below). I had to cross a very exposed part of the streets in
order to do so, and the lock was not the easiest of picks. Didn’t open the
gate, as that would require closing it up later on. Instead I traversed
across some ledges to Taker’s Rise. Got a rope arrow in a basement with a
spider. It was extremely alert and detected the tiniest light flickers or
missteps. The loot in the apartment above was also tough to get. The nobleman
had a predictable route, but there was an annoying archer on the outside
balcony. Luckily, I found a dark spot in the western windowsill (right image
below). The guy inside would still first alert here when heading back towards
the bookshelf, but I could use this spot to wait for the right moment to
steal the valuables, plus hide from the archer’s view. I was only a fraction
of the way through the mission, but already had to use some serious moves to
avoid detection.
However,
the most difficult piece of loot in this part of town by far was a yellow gem
on a ledge north on Boltgrime Lane. There was a
street lamp just below and the ledge wasn’t deep enough to hide me, so that
the entire area was super bright. Two guards had a conversation, before one
of them started patrolling while the other pivoted north, east and south. I
climbed up the large crates and observed from the darkness (left image
below). The first ledge going north was stone, so I could run across without
getting heard. The problem was the next one, which was marbled. If I reached
this one when the patroller came to a halt by the gate, that was the best
timing. The stationary guard had to be turned south at this point and stay
there until I got back. However, once I did, a different guard emerged on a
balcony above to the east. He caught me every time before I reached the
crates. I could have reloaded and done the whole move again on the next
round, but instead I dropped to the lamppost and used the street ledge to pass
the stationary guard once he pivoted (right image below). This definitely
felt less stealthy, but I had to improvise given the circumstances.
At
this point, I had three ways to proceed. Since I now had a rope arrow, I
could go back to the starting plaza and ascend into Lady Miranda’s courtyard
and pass through her house to the courthouse plaza. However, this forced a
first alert from a stationary guard when I closed her front door. It also
left that door unlocked, since Letchie’s key
disappeared upon use. The remaining two options both required mantling up the
east balcony on Boltgrime Lane (left image below).
From here, I could either head through this balcony’s apartment and emerge on
Truckle Row, or go through a window to the south, arriving on a roof above
Sinner’s Walk. Since I wanted to complete as many objectives as possible for
Supreme, and since the spirits required by the inn owner didn’t become frobbable until I talked to him, I chose to head east to
Truckle Row. East This
part of town wasn’t that difficult, mostly due to streets being wider and
patrollers less frequent. I realized something that pertained to Supreme late
in this area that caused me to replay a good chunk and reevaluate my route. A
footlocker on a roof east of The Stag inn contained both loot and a rope arrow (right image below).
Since Supreme discourages picking up weapons unnecessarily, and because this
mission only required a single rope arrow, I reloaded and skipped the arrow
previously taken in the basement with the spider. In order to get to this
newly discovered rope arrow without the use of one, I had to travel via the
rooftop ledges outside Gastrule’s. This was no
issue, though I did have to move slowly through the openly lit areas. The
archer in the building just below said arrow was the most difficult one. I
had to time when he was patrolling behind hard cover to make my moves safely.
I then dropped down to the inn and got the spirits objective. Eldridge Estate
and Gastrule’s offices were looted next, also with
no issues. The patroller in Gastrule’s hallway had
to be timed when opening the door. Only when he was farthest away did he not
alert.
I
now went back to the starting plaza via the sewer canal from Taker’s Rise in
order to get the spirits from the Estate Agent, as well as some loot from
Miranda’s roof and courtyard. The coin on the windowsill here I had to get
from atop the fence. It was brightly lit for most of the way, but if I went
slow, nobody alerted. Could drop back safely using the ledge outside the
tower to the southwest. Back
on Boltgrime Lane I again leaped across to the east
balcony, but this time I headed south through the window. This took me to a
balcony with a generator controlling the electrical fence in this area. I am
unsure if this should be considered a “security system” and thus covered by
Supreme rule #8. I think the systems referred to in the rules are supposed to
mean alarm systems that alert others of your presence, or systems that alert
like enemies (watchers), and not just protective devices meant to hurt you.
However, this system couldn’t be turned back on, so it was in my best
interest to leave it untouched no matter the interpretation. It was tough
navigating this balcony without alerts, as the patroller heard the door and I
wasn’t perfectly dark anywhere. The inside patroller could also easily see me
through the windows. I managed to climb the roof and get the gem without
alerts also, but it required some quick movements. I tried jumping east from
here to the bank ledge. I managed to avoid the fence, but not without making
noise and getting alerts. A more predictable and concealed way was to jump
from atop the door frame onto the frame of the vent shaft to the south (left
image below). I sometimes took damage from this, but not always. Luckily, I
could reach the door from below afterwards. The purse on the hanging corpse was a bit fiddly to
obtain also. I used a rope arrow, but also needed to mantle the wooden pulley
assembly. It was mostly a matter of timing the guards below, as well as the
pivoting archer above.
I skipped the whole Lady Miranda area for now; I
didn’t have her key yet anyway. The rest of this plaza was not a problem to
Supreme. Was a bit tricky traversing the ladders and the west ledge of the
bank unseen. Robbed both vaults and used the castle ledges to continue moving
east. The loot in the east guardhouse was somewhat tricky. I waited in the
patch of shade outside and timed the archer (right image above). The back of
the room was dark. Moved through the storage room to the church plaza next. Church and
Beyond Nothing much to report from the areas outside or
inside the church. The bronze mask I could obtain only if I used the cotton wool
on at least two of the bells. Otherwise, multiple hammerites
normally alerted. The rest of the building was fairly easy to ghost. Had to
skip two gold candlesticks in the chapel for Supreme (left image below). They
were light sources and those are not allowed to remove for that mode. In the crypts I had to skip Killian’s treasure for
now, as I didn’t have the copper mask yet. In the sewers I picked up the
hatch key and Davenish’s key, before emerging via
the Fellows Lane manhole. Both of those keys would have to be returned later.
Davenish’s
castle was small, but difficult. I found it best to arrive via the northern
window; this reduced the amount of backtracking. It was easier to dodge the
patroller archer going down also. The ramp in the treasure room had a
convenient dark spot behind the small pillars (right image above). The guard
down here only stayed in this room, but his route was predictable. To go back
up I found it easiest to use a rope from atop the large crate and wait for
the archer to head east (left image below). It was possible to use the other
door on this balcony also, but that involved perfect timing from both guards
on this level, and it was unnecessary with the aforementioned method. I
dropped into the canal via the toilet to leave. Swam
back south to get the loot in the canal pourout.
Didn’t find a way up to the streets here, so I had to go back north and go up
to the generator station, then jump across like before. Now I could hit Lady
Miranda’s. I had to get the control room key (which disappeared upon use),
plus also pick a lock to the bottom level of Miranda’s staircase, but that was
inevitable. The only problematic piece of loot in there was a gold plate in a
footlocker in the living area (right image below). A guard walked in and out,
while another one was pivoting west, south and east on a small balcony. He
had to be facing west for me to get the loot. Just waited them out, really.
Crypt, Rats and Magic Got
the last mask from the sick nobleman and reentered the sewers via the Judgement Street access. Now I could get the wheel that
would open the enclosed area to the north. Returned the sewer hatch key and Davenish’s key before revisiting the crypts. I could use
all the masks and get that objective checked off for Supreme, but I couldn’t
get much of the loot in Killian’s chamber for that mode. A haunt spawned once
the casket opened, and it caught me immediately. I tried blocking the casket
door with a potion, but the haunt could see me straight through it, so that
was pointless to pursue. I had to grab piles from the north and quickly
mantle up, that was the only way. The haunt spawned facing south, before
turning west towards the treasure. That gave me about 1.5 seconds on the
north side. With normal button frobbing, I could
only get four coin piles for Supreme. However, if putting the use button to ‘mousewheel down’, I managed to get nine (left image
below)! Big thanks to kar ras
and WheretIB2 for this method! It might be possible to get more than nine,
but the problem is you don’t have more piles highlight before you have to
move your view. Plus, it all has to be done with one roll of the mousewheel. Doing a second roll takes too long and the
haunt catches you. I had also pre-placed the rope towards the eastern end of
the chute so that the haunt didn’t see me leave (right image below). For
regular Ghost, all I had to do was douse all three torches and then grab the
entire treasure cache, which spawned a bonus objective.
In
the rat chamber, I could sneak in on the right hand side without alerts, as
long as I went slow. The real problem was the small scurrying rats. These
rodents weren’t behaving like normal ones. They had clear alert sounds and
came running for me almost like spiders. Two of the rats were stationary,
seemingly stuck. The last one had random paths around the central electrical device.
If it came to the northeast corner, it spotted me every time. I basically had
to sneak past the first pipe and along the northern wall to the northwest
corner. If I got there undetected, I was safe. One of the rats was stuck in
the middle of the room, but seemed to slide west over time (left image
below). I had to sneak over to the corner with the bones before it got that
far, which was no problem if I went right away. From here I could steal the
rest of the valuables, including the urn (right image below). By this time,
the rat had slid over to the wall, with no way for me to leave. This is why
Miranda’s necklace was so important; it teleported me directly to Faramund’s workshop!
The
workshop was easy. The first time I teleported there, Faramund’s
ghost was right in my face and alerted. Upon a retry, however, I could dart
out of the way quite easily. On later attempts, he was farther away. I guess
it depends on luck more than anything else. The frog was totally unbothered
by my presence, except when I had to return Faramund’s
key. It heard the key drop, so I put it on the paper instead (left image
below). As long as it was on the table, it was fine. I chose to return
Miranda’s painting to the lower floor also. It was the only item that could
be moved back, so it felt like the most Supreme-like approach. When
leaving, I had to pass a window with a servant preparing some food (right
image below). She sometimes alerted and sometimes not. I realized she didn’t
alert when she did her cooking maneuver, though occasionally she gave a
settling remark afterwards. To be safe, I rope arrowed up the railing from
the alley below instead.
Back
in the courthouse plaza I used the canal to head north, then headed through
the building to the west one last time. Dropped from the balcony and took the
canal pipe back to the starting location. I closed the gate behind me as I
swam through. Delivered Winterbottom’s journal and Gastrule’s evidence to the watch station and finished the
mission. Supreme success! Statistics: Time: 4:09:30 Loot: 7882 out of 7882 (Supreme: 6942) Pickpockets: 5 out of 5 Secrets: None Locks Picked: 5 Damage Dealt: 0 Damage Taken: 0 Consumables: 3 Water Arrows (Supreme: None) Ghost: Success! Perfect Thief: Success! Supreme Thief: Success! Perfect Supreme Thief: Failed! Notes: -
Had to skip two candlesticks worth 100 in the church
for Supreme. They were light sources. -
Had to skip 840 worth of Killian’s treasure in the
crypt for Supreme. There wasn’t time enough to grab more than nine coin piles
before the haunt caught me. |
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