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Death’s Cold Embrace - Act 2, Scene 2: Cold
Reception 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 (left image
below). Had to leave via the parlour also, and I
was careful passing the maid’s view again heading south in the hall.
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 (right image above). 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 (left 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. 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 (right 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.
Statistics: Time: 1:00:10 Loot: 2575 out of 2575 (Supreme: 2375) Pickpockets: 3 out of 4 Secrets: None Locks Picked: 6 Damage Dealt: 0 Damage Taken: 0 Consumables: None Ghost: Success! Perfect Thief: Success! Supreme Thief: Success! Perfect Supreme Thief: Failed! 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. |
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