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THE DARK MOD - Thief’s Den 4: The Alchemist A
step down from The Heart of Lone Salvation, but still a very enjoyable mission.
Events in the streets can be quite unpredictable due to already alerted
enemies, but that should take away from the fun. The street layout is perhaps
a bit rough around the edges, but the atmosphere is great. The manor and
crypts below is stellar stuff and absolutely worth the admission. I
basically had to get a holy healing potion from an alchemist named Vaydeth. I
had to use it in order not to end up like Martha. In addition, I was to nab
4,500 worth of valuables. The briefing informed me the city watch would
already be on high alert, which was bad. I had to return to the starting
point when done. Let’s go. Streets A
hard piece of loot right away. It was a trophy outside the inn entrance,
guarded by a stationary swordsman. He wasn’t on high alert from the start and
never moved from this spot. He pivoted between facing southwest and
southeast. I could approach from the northwest corner when he faced southeast
(left image below). I had to grab the trophy and get back around the house
corner before he saw the loot was missing. Spotting missing loot has been
deemed acceptable in the ghost rules for The Dark Mod, as it doesn’t affect
the stealth score and happens quite often. Most often than not he would turn
and spot me before I got back, but I managed to do it unseen a couple of
times. Once he spotted the loot, his voice lines was very different. Instead
of saying “Is someone there?”, his remark was along the lines of “We’ve been
robbed!” or “Who has stolen it?”. I watched my stealth score carefully throughout
the move, as occasionally it would flicker to a 1 and then bounce back to 0
when he spotted the loot being gone. I’m not sure why that is, but I counted
such a situation as a bust. I’m still trying to figure out the alert levels
in TDM, especially when they are alerted from the start, but it definitely
requires the use of a stealth tool. I did skip this piece of loot for
Supreme, however, although it could be taken with a perfect stealth stat
intact. Since the guard alerted more or less instantly, it felt like I got
caught although I technically wasn’t. We have left it up to each player’s
conscience in the rules, but this felt too much like a Supreme violation to
me. I am ok with taking loot that is on an enemy’s patrol path, where it
won’t be noticed until much later, and you have the chance to leave the
premises in the meantime. This was no such situation. I knew the mission
couldn’t be Perfect Supreme ghosted anyway, so it wasn’t that big of a deal. Robbed
the inn and left via the secret sewer exit. This avoided the need to pick up
the old sewer key. None of the keys in this mission could be put back, so I
wanted to pick up as few as I could. Robbed the little house (it was actually
called that) in the southeast next without issues.
I
could not get to the city watch station from the south. There was a patrolling
guard carrying a scroll on high alert. There were random thieves released at
certain intervals during the mission, and one of these had been killed right
outside the southern entrance. I thus entered from the north plaza, where the
inventor and the jeweler was found. The city watch could be cleaned without
any Supreme busts. Surprisingly, I could drop to the basement level from the
railing above without getting a comment from the sitting guard. Occasionally
he gave a level 1 alert, but more often than not he didn’t. The guard
downstairs alternated between napping and visiting the cells. I have never
seen such a patrol route before. The captain’s quarters was easy since part
of his route was visiting the balcony. I just his room in two rounds. One
piece of loot was embedded in the wall inside the hidden panel by his bed. I
could still take it though. Didn’t need any of the captain’s keys. The
jeweler’s posed several issues. First, none of the loot inside the glass
displays on the counter could be taken. They required breaking of the glass
to be obtained, which is property damage. I barely managed to get into the
back room for Supreme. I had to lean into the shadows of the doorframe in
order to not get spotted. The owner stood by his bed and never moved. He carried
a key that was needed to open a glass cabinet in the storefront. However, I
couldn’t get that for Supreme. At least one of the light sources in this room
had to be removed to even get near him. The coins in the cash box plus the
items in the cabinet thus had to be skipped for that mode, a total of 861 now
for that mode. I did manage to get the loot on the mantelpiece for Supreme
though, but not without issues. I had to lean right while mantling up the
table to avoid an alert. Next, I had to lean forward around the front corner
of the fireplace, then turn back up towards the wall in order to reach the
goblet. The bottle was worse still. I had to lie in wait until the jeweler
turned his head south (right image above). I immediately stood up, leaned forward
to snatched the bottle, and then quickly crouched back down again. If fast
enough, no level 1 alert triggered. All stationary enemies do these kinds of
head movements, and it can sometimes be used to avoid detection. In
order to get the rest of the loot for regular Ghost, I doused the mantelpiece
candle with a water arrow. I couldn’t reach it to douse it manually. If I
slid down to the floor, the jeweler gave a level 1 alert. If I ran onto the
edge of the nightstand, he didn’t mind. I could do everything I needed to
from here. Went back the same way and snuck out unseen.
To
my massive surprise, the next time I played the mission during my YouTube
recording, the jeweler was suddenly asleep in his room (left image above)!
The bedroom door was partly blocked from the inside, but I could easily move
the chair out of the way. He must have heard the commotion from one of the
triggered thieves running around in the streets the last two times, but this
time he was sound asleep. This meant all the loot bar the three rings and the
necklace could be taken for Supreme also. Excellent! Manor The
courtyard had only one challenge, a purse in a guard station east of the main
entrance. I had to travel on top of the hedge and drop to the grass at the
east end (right image above). I then snuck along the southern wall and
reached the door. Coming from the southeastern streets always triggered
alerts from one of the front gate guards. From here it was easy to get the
loot. Mantled back up the hedge and entered the manor via the servants’
toilet. I had to use a rope arrow and lower myself into the water, otherwise
the sleeping bloke inside gave a level 1 alert. Those alerts are technically
allowed following the rules, since sleeping AI don’t give any verbal remarks,
so it requires a stealth tool in order to detect. The
rest of the manor was quite easy. There were plenty of shadows to go around.
Had to skip some more loot inside glass displays in the top floor foyer. Used
the secret library passage to Vaydeth’s bedroom, and entered the basement
from there.
The
ritual room seemed a lot more difficult than it actually was. I could move
around the central area quite freely, as long as I creep-crouched. I couldn’t
reach the holy healing potion without first lowering the bridge. It had to be
activated with a lever underneath a bowl in the east pillar. The problem was
getting back down undetected. Although I was creeping as slowly as possible,
landing on the stone always yielded at least two level 1 alerts, probably
from the closest zombie and skeleton. I had to cushion my fall with something
soft, and the best item to use was Vaydeth’s notebook from the lab. It was
close by and big enough to have some margin for error. I could quite
consistently drop with zero alerts once I found the correct placement (left
image above). With the bridge down, I could reach the potion unseen (right
image above). The book could also be used to get the tourmaline gem in the
west pillar, fulfilling the optional objective. Returned
the book and used the sewers to reach the southwestern part of town.
Strangely enough, I had to be damaged in order to drink the holy healing
potion, and this was required in order to check off the objective. Supreme
rule #3 does say “No damage given or taken”, but I interpreted the objective
to prevail here. It literally says “drink it!”, which implies you have to
first take damage. I’d compare it to the “kidnap Cavador”-objective, which
allows you to knock him out to carry him. Statistics: Ghost
– Success! Perfect
Thief – Failed! Supreme
Ghost – Success! Perfect
Supreme – Failed! Time
– 1:35:22 Times
saved – 219 Times
loaded – 100 Damage
Dealt – 7 Damage Received – 7 Health
Restored – 7 Pockets
Picked – 4 Loot
Acquired – 6310 out of 6870 (Supreme: 6020) Killed
by the Player – 0 KOed
by the Player – 0 Bodies
found by AI – 0 Alerts
– 0 Suspicious, 0 Searches, 0 Sightings Stealth
Score – 0 Consumables
– None Notes: -
Skipped the
trophy worth 250 outside the inn entrance for Supreme. The nearby guard
noticed the loot being gone almost instantly, so it felt too much like a
Supreme violation. -
Had to skip 230
worth of valuables at the jeweler’s for all Ghost modes. The only way to
obtain it was by breaking the glass display cases. -
Skipped 330
more loot in the upstairs foyer of the manor. These items were also sealed in
glass display cases and had to be broken to be obtained. -
The last piece
of loot skipped for Supreme was a gold candlestick in the guard’s bedroom
above Vaydeth’s lab. It had to be doused to be taken. -
The damage
received was necessary in order to use the holy healing potion, which was a
mandatory objective. No bust. -
I have no idea
what the 7 damage dealt is from. I certainly didn’t attack anyone. |
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