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Death’s Cold Embrace - Act 1, Scene 2: A
Formula For Success It’s
always tough to follow up on a solid first mission. Although ‘A Formula For
Success’ doesn’t reach the same level as its forerunner, it’s still a very
good attempt. Here we are confined to one property, which increases the
tension, but reduces the scope. Overall, I had more fun ghosting this one
than playing with no restrictions. Take away the element of patrolling
guards, and the pressure completely disappears. I’m also happy to report
Supreme Ghost being achievable, but not for a lack of challenging locations,
especially when you can’t switch off electric lights for that mode. A
good day or so after our escapades in Miller’s basement, we were headed for
the Highwater Estate. This time our goal was to
steal the formula itself, supposedly kept in a safe in the second floor
office. We were also tasked with retrieving Fairbank’s stolen sword,
providing us with a nice monetary bonus. An additional loot goal of 6,000
existed, as well as procuring some incriminating material on the Sir. We
needed to end the night at the northeast gate also. Getting Inside Right
off the bat I had to walk up the road a bit and hide in the shadows to the
left. One patrolling guard covered the outside grounds and this was the only
way to avoid a first alert. The only mode of entry into the mansion proper
was through a pickable window into the north guard
station. It was a difficult pick, and I was in view of a nearby stationary
guard while working it (left image below). He needed to face north or
northeast for me to enter Supreme clean. It took a few tries, but well
doable.
Next
was getting into the mansion itself. I always try to avoid picking locks that
can’t be relocked, which meant the double doors to the storage bay were
undesirable, for now. The front doors were furthermore locked shut. The two
gates that connected the three gardens were open though, so I could access
the kitchen entry dodging the patrollers. I
tried to plan my route from here on carefully. I didn’t want to enter the
dining hall yet, to avoid triggering the patrols of the servants in there. In
fact, I figured that would be one of the last rooms I’d cover. I found a dark
spot in the northwest corner where I could observe the chef. He alternated
between facing the fireplace and the middle island. After a while he headed
downstairs to the pantry. At this time, Captain Ellinsworth
coincidentally entered from the hallway. He had a rather lengthy patrol, with
random destinations on all floors of the manor. For now he exited to the
front yard, but before long returned to resume his trip to the hallway (right
image above). He could instead have headed into the dining hall with the
servants, in which case he would’ve caught me standing in the corner. Since
he didn’t, I grabbed his key and purse, along with the kitchen loot. Now
I could safely clean the barracks and the captain’s safe within. Found Highwater’s combination in the locked safe behind the
painting. I made note of the code and dropped the scroll back immediately. I
figured on top of the safe was the nearest logical place. Also dropped the
captain’s key back in the snow along his patrol route.
Climbing Followed
the captain into the hallway from the kitchen. Across the way was the exit to
the inner courtyard. My target was a goblet in the snow dropped by a drunk
guard on the balcony. Despite his intoxicated state, he could still alert to
my presence. He either gave a “Heayyyy!” or “Whoshh there?!” I found the best predictable path as
shown in the image above and to the left. At least two patrollers had the
courtyard as part of their route, plus many of the surrounding windows left
me exposed to other guards inside. Difficult, but manageable. The crypt door
was locked and inaccessible for now. There was another, easier way in there
anyway. Back
in the hall I headed south, following the patrollers’ direction (always the
safest bet). Many of the guards had purses, so I snagged those when I had the
chance. Due to the many lights and candles around, and since those can’t be
eliminated for Supreme, I didn’t pass the ballroom going east. I found a spot
in the shade, safe from everyone passing (right image above). From here I
grabbed the ballroom guard’s purse, then headed for the southwest staircase.
Had a tough time dodging the swordsman upstairs, until I realized the doorway
was pitch black (left image below). I took the coin purse off the desk while
he was downstairs.
Despite
the many patrollers, the third floor wasn’t that difficult. The bedrooms
served as good hiding spots to let the guards pass. One swordsman had a key
hidden underneath his purse, very clever. I missed it the first time through.
Cleaned the entire floor clockwise. Captain Ellinsworth
was the only one who walked the opposite direction. One of the guards entered
Philip’s bedroom and turned on the light. He often gave an alert when leaving,
without me being anywhere near. Not sure what that was about, as it didn’t
always happen. It was almost as if he alerted to the light being on. Other
than that, all the bedrooms were unoccupied. Brought the stool from Philip’s
room for the library secret. Had to leave it on the rugs in order to avoid
spawning comments. The cache behind the burrick
head was nicely concealed (right image above). It was the last loot I found
in my practice run.
Into the Depths The
second floor was much more difficult. Both side halls were in view of the
balcony drunk, plus it was tough to hear his alerts. Since I was carrying the
stool, I did the east hallway first, cleaning the library (left image above).
The captain actually had the library as a tiny part of his route. Seemed like
he went all over the place. Don’t think I ever saw him in the basement
though. Next came the most difficult piece of loot in the mission; a purse on
a patrolling guard above the foyer. He strolled back and forth along the
northernmost walkway, doing a scripted search maneuver at each end of his
route. Both floors of the foyer were brightly lit, and removing light sources
is not allowed for the Supreme Ghost mode. I found I could hide in the
northeast corner of the hall, leaning in through the drapes to observe said
guard (right image above). Here I was also safe from passing patrollers, with
the exception of the captain, who occasionally arrived from the floor below.
Good thing was most of the patrol routes were random, so upon a reload most
enemies would take a different path. As
soon as the guard started to head west, I went for it. I could crouch-run and
catch up with him just past the halfway point (left image below). I turned on
a dime and headed back. Though irrelevant, the foyer guards had started their
little chat by now. When turning the corner to head back south, the swordsman
had stationed himself the same direction. If I moved too fast now, he could
give a comment from across the room. Also, depending on coincidence, other
patrollers might come up the stairs or down the hall and catch me. I
creep-crouch-strafed into the aforementioned corner, just in time for no less
than three patrollers, a swordsman, a servant and a nobleman, pass by from
the south. Safe! It was nice to get this purse without any Supreme busts.
Lastly
on this floor, I needed to reach Highwater’s
office, accessible from the western hall. It held my main objective and quite
a bit of loot, over 500 worth, in fact. A lone guard did a short loop from
the receptionist room outside the office door and the decorated hallway
beyond. The double-doors leading to this hall concealed me from all
patrollers, except if they bumped into me. Almost a perfect shadow. I could
observe the aforementioned guard from safety along the left wall, leaning out
from behind the unlit night light (right image above). This spot did not hide
me from any patrollers though. The rest of the hall was too bright for
comfort, except for a tiny spot in the middle of the runner. That being said,
the problem wasn’t the guard or any of the patrollers; instead it was the
drunk on the courtyard balcony. I tried to hear for alerts sneaking down the
hall, even by leaning into the window, but I couldn’t tell. I had a feeling
he did though. Just to make sure, I went ahead and left the double-doors to
the hallway open, and I also opened the sliding balcony doors. This spawned
an expected comment from the drunk. Next I waited for a few minutes to make
sure he settled, although I don’t think he actually indicated this by a
remark of any kind. Nevertheless, this made me able to hear him as I snuck
for the office. And sure enough, creeping between the statues triggered a
comment. This first alert wasn’t allowed for Supreme, so I’d have to figure
something out. I noticed, however, that his view didn’t extend much further
back than the edge of the closest statue. The southern side of the window
frame blocked his view somewhere in that vicinity. That’s when I got the idea
to try traversing along the statue pedestal. Those extra few inches might
just hide me enough to avoid the comment. Fortunately, this worked! Inching
along the marbled base I never got an alert. I probably did the move a good
10 times, and the result remained the same. The picture below is taken from
atop the pedestal at the northernmost point. Notice how half of the guard’s
body is out of view. I’m not sure what point determines his field of sight,
but it must be further back than what is shown. Although I had to reload and
leave the doors closed when I did this move for real, I knew with 100%
certainty that it wouldn’t bust Supreme. Getting into the office and stealing
the stuff there was a cakewalk, relatively speaking.
Descended
via the southeast staircase, arriving again by the ballroom. Had to skip the
burning candlestick for Supreme. There was a discussion on the forums
recently regarding whether or not taking loot items emitting light should be
allowed for that mode. The suggestion to allow it was vetoed by the majority
of the active ghosting community. No need to think about it then, was there?
Cleaned the game room and the parlour to the east
effortlessly. The
purse on the foyer guard wasn’t difficult, but I had to get close enough not
to highlight his front door key (right image above). It was the only one of
its kind, I believe. From here I moved through the storage room towards the
basement.
Both
the crypt and the basement was easy. No point in reporting anything from
either area. The locations were beautiful, with an especially nice use of
color. No tension, but it served as a welcomed contrast to the upper parts of
the manor. Lots of loot scattered about, including a tough-to-find coin in
the small sewer section (left image above). Accessed the servants’ quarters
through a ventilation shaft (right image above). Had to skip another burning
candlestick here for Supreme. Wrap-Up Retraced
my steps all the way to the third floor, remembering to bring the stool left
outside the library. Returned it and the three stolen keys to their original
locations. The bedrooms key I dropped outside Lord Highwater’s
quarters. This time I noticed that several of the bedrooms were visited by
guards, not just Philip’s. I must have just been lucky on my first visit to
this floor. Headed back down to the kitchen the same way as before. Now I
could finally trigger the conversation in the dining room, in order to get
the last pieces of loot in there. I hid next to the fireplace and waited for
the ladies to leave. It was trickier to leave through the back exit now that
the extra servant was in the kitchen, but she stayed in the dining room from
time to time, enough for me to sneak out undetected. Since
I didn’t want to pick up the gate key, I left through the barracks window the
way I got in. Again I had to time the guard to the east and his pivoting. If
facing northeast, I could drop out and rush in behind his back (image below).
Once facing northwest, I snuck over to the gate and ended the mission Supreme
clean.
Statistics: Time: 1:36:19 Loot: 9134 out of 9134 (Supreme: 9034) Pickpockets: 16 out of 17 Secrets: 5 out of 5 Locks Picked: 13 Damage Dealt: 0 Damage Taken: 0 Consumables: None Ghost: Success! Perfect Thief: Success! Supreme Thief: Success! Perfect Supreme Thief: Failed! Notes: -
Skipped a lit
candlestick in the ballroom on the first floor for Supreme. Can’t put out
lights for that mode. -
Skipped another
such candlestick outside the servants’ quarters in the basement, for the same
reason as above. |
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