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Death’s Cold Embrace - Act 3, Scene 1: The
Ritual This is another pretty good mission. It’s the fourth
time we visit Dayport, with no real change to the previous
layout. Although these streets are becoming a bit tedious to navigate for the
nth time, this is a highly necessary mission to further the plot, and there
are enough newly accessible buildings to make it enjoyable. The ritual itself
is very cool, and it showcases just how far NewDark
has taken this engine. The thick fog made this a tougher ghost run than first
anticipated. Our
first and only goal was to bring Julia’s body to the secret entrance in
Fairbanks’ manor. We would probably receive further instructions then. Bringing the Body The
thick fog immediately made it more difficult to spot patrollers from a
distance. Occasionally I would hear an alert without even seeing any enemies.
Luckily I knew the layout so well I could anticipate the most dangerous
areas. Listened to the conversation outside the chapel first. To avoid
backtracking, I wanted to get into the chapel right away. One of the hammerites involved in the chat headed in there when he
was done talking. I could block the door from the shadows, and I thought this
would prevent me from having to pick the key off the outside sentry.
Unfortunately, the door closed on its own, so there was no way to leave it
open without being locked inside. The lock was pickable,
but then I was back to square one, as Supreme then required it to be
relocked. I accepted needing to steal his key and headed inside.
The
only places of interest were Nathaniel’s bedroom and the restricted library.
His bedroom door was pickable, which of course I
wanted to avoid if at all possible. Not that it is required for Supreme, but
it feels more Supreme-like. After some experimentation, I managed to mantle
the balcony railing from a rope arrow into the chapel beam (left image
above). The jump had to be absolutely perfect, in addition to dodging all the
chapel patrollers in bright surroundings. I started by saving in the
southeast corner of the altar. There was a safe, dark nook there. An archer
had two spots in the chapel where he stood for a long time before resuming his patrol. Fortunately, he mostly
faced west, or away from the pulpit. I then snuck over so I was placed directly underneath the middle of the
balcony. It had to be exactly the middle, otherwise the jump wouldn’t be
perpendicular to the balcony and I wouldn’t make it. Next, the rope had to
hang as far away from the beam as possible, meaning the arrow had to hit the
beam straight on. This was only possible by lightening the tension on the
bow, making the arrow have a higher arc. I saved at the top of the rope so I
could retry the jump quicker. Even still, I needed about 10-15 jumps before
nailing it. It seemed like it had to be pixel perfect, only then would I
reach the balcony high enough to catch the top of the railing. Of course, I
couldn’t leave through the bedroom door either, so after taking the key I
silently dropped from the balcony onto the railing by the altar stairs. The
library was easy to pass and the keystone simple to obtain. There was a lit
candlestick in there that had to be skipped for Supreme though. Too bad.
Removing light sources is not allowed for that mode. Next I had to make the
balcony jump a second time, in order to put back Nathaniel’s key. I returned
it to the top of the nightstand, as it was physically impossible to place it
back onto the ledge underneath (right image above). The priest kept sleeping,
so no worries there. Left the balcony once again, and retrieved my arrow when
the coast was clear. Back
outside, I dropped the chapel key by the guard’s feet and brought Julia
towards Fairbanks’. Entered by way of the cellar chute. It was a bit fiddly
to operate the lift while closing the shutters and frobbing
the body. Got new objectives once dropping Julia. She ceased to be frobbable at this point. Keystones and Such The
only area of interest in the city from now on lay north of Redleaf Square. I needed three more keystones, the last
page from the Book of Shadows, and three types of paper from the bookstore.
Getting to that area of the city involved passing the jeweler’s, where Jill
Black could spawn having set off the alarm. She would run east, alerting 4-5
guards along the way. They quickly settled, but were on edge following this
incident. At least one guard spawned as a part of that whole debacle. I found
a way to get through the square without spawning miss Black, but I’m not 100%
sure how. I snuck from Fairbanks’ back door heading north, quite close to the
fountain. If coming from the southwest, she usually spawned. Same when
approaching from the east. The
bookstore and the keeper compound were both easy to ghost, the latter of
which had no way of busting even, from what I could see. That area provided
two of the three keystones. The scene on the roof was quite spectacular, to
say the least (left image below).
The
final keystone was in the freezer at Ingram & Sons, but I had to get the
freezer key from the mech center first. Entered
through Cavador’s office window on the west side.
There I found Vilnia’s key in a lockbox. This was
needed to obtain the freezer key downstairs. A stationary female guard was
positioned right outside Cavador’s office entrance,
so I had to enter the hallway through the windows further east. The ceiling
lights made a pattern of shade on the floor that was quite simple to follow.
The doorway closer to the main staircase however, had some sort of blue light
emitting from the doorframe. Creeping through it slowly triggered a comment
from the aforementioned sentry. Instead I had to inch up closely in the
western corner of the doorway, then rush through and come to a crouched halt
on the north side (right image above). Occasionally I would do it so fast the
light gem wouldn’t even trigger, therefore avoiding the first alert. Neat!
Both the library and Vilnia’s office downstairs
were easy. Plenty of shadows or hardcover to exploit. The metal key carried
by Gorrick upstairs unlocked the door to the alley
with the homeless guy. However, I always avoid picking keys off pockets if I
can, so I retraced my steps and left via Cavador’s
window instead. Of course, after taking the keystone, I had to return both Vilnia’s and the freezer key for Supreme. No issues
there. The Ritual Headed
back to Fairbanks and assisted Thaddeus as needed (left image below), with
the inevitable tragic ending that pursued. Following proceedings, I spawned
back at the high priest’s residence. I could end the mission there if I
wanted to, but the bonus objective of obtaining Fairbanks’ payment required me
to head back there one last time. I had to creep crouch down Thaddeus’ front
door steps and around the corner going southwest. The slightest speed
enhancement caused a comment from the hammerite
guarding the chapel. Fortunately, the streets were currently quite empty.
Found his gem collection in the upper bedroom (right image below), before I
returned to Thaddeus and finished the mission.
Statistics: Time: 1:22:52 Loot: 1815 out of 1815 (Supreme: 1765) Pickpockets: 1 out of 3 Secrets: 1 out of 1 Locks Picked: 5 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) in the restricted library at the chapel for Supreme. |
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