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PREVIOUS MISSION THIEF GOLD NEXT MISSION Mission 11: Undercover [This
walkthrough has recently been updated for TFix,
running NewDark 1.26. Although the original text
for OldDark has been preserved, situations affected
by these patches have been inserted in green. All screenshots have been
updated, and many new ones have been added. Keep in mind that there is a
difference between playing the game in NewDark with
or without TFix. TFix
updates the core mission files, as well as applies .dml
files that tweak the environment in numerous ways. These changes aren’t
supposed to have a significant impact on gameplay, but when ghosting, slight
changes could occur. If wanting as close to the “vanilla” experience as
possible, install just NewDark, without any further
patches. I have ghosted the game 1) in OldDark, 2)
in plain NewDark, and 3) in NewDark
with TFix. This walkthrough will discuss
differences between all varieties.] This is a very different mission from the rest, seeing as most of the time you are, naturally, undercover. There are, however, many factors to consider if wanting to Supreme this mission. The order of events is important, as is triggering of scripted conversations. Overall, the mission’s quality is par for the course, but nothing more. As a stealth game, removing that aspect from any mission can only hurt it. The same is to be said here. Although short lived, the frantic post-talisman atmosphere is somewhat redeeming, but not enough to save this from being fairly mediocre. Overall score: 7.1/10 So I need to steal the
Talisman of Air from the hammerite temple. I have
gotten hold of some novice credentials from an associate, so I can walk
around the grounds undetected. I have to stay clear of forbidden areas
however, and avoid getting caught looting of course. I should bring along
2,400 worth of gold and their holy First Hammer from the reliquary, as well
as the talisman. I start the mission without anything useful, except for the
hammer education credentials. 6 water arrows could come in handy if things get rough, but I’ll hope for otherwise, namely a
smooth day at work. I won’t describe my endeavors as detailed as in
other mission, especially not before triggering the alarm. There is hardly
any sneaking prior to this point, and if there is, I will point it out. This
mission is critical when it comes to the order of sequences though. There are
three hammer conversations that should be triggered rather late, or not
triggered at all, mostly due to the dangerous halls by the forbidden doors on
the lower floor. For this very reason, the best way to enter the Hammer
temple is not by means of the front
gate. Instead, I will climb the walls to the east, quietly entering the
garden. I start off just southwest of the temple entrance.
To enter the hammer compound, I need to make a difficult mantle onto the
doorframe of a nearby building. It’s located around the street corner to the east of the main
gates. I’m not quite sure what makes the mantle difficult, other than the
fact that sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Garrett has to be
positioned in the exact middle of the flat part of the top frame. Also, he
has to take a small step back to mantle successfully, not by hugging the doorway completely. In
NewDark, the door can easily be mantled from either
side. From there I hop onto the north ledge, and further onto the
temple roof like (left image below).
Here I can spot the front entrance guard, totally oblivious to my presence.
The right image below shows how I need to make a long jump and land in
another mantle to reach the garden beyond. It’s just a matter of jumping at
the right time. Although it looks very spectacular,
there’s nothing more to it. TFix adds a slanted roof to the left, from where you can
safely drop onto the plateau south of the balcony.
There are a total of 5
loot items that, if stolen, will be detected by patrolling hammers (see loot
list). They will, in turn, sound the alarm. At least to me this constitutes a
bust for all ghost modes. These 5 items combined has a value of 450 gold.
Deducted from the total loot count, I’m left with 2,308 gold, 92 below the
required amount for expert. This means that after stealing the talisman (and consequently setting the alarm),
but before leaving, I will have to steal at least one more item of value. 3
of these 5 items have a value of 100 gold; the 2 remaining ones are 75 each.
The required First Hammer will also get noticed if stolen, so I will have to
pick that up along with the remaining loot. For Supreme I also have to
replace a certain scroll that I will come to later. All remaining loot and
items I will bring along now, prior to my main objective. Stealing the
talisman follows directly from the mission requirements, so raising the alarm
this way naturally does not cause a
bust. We will come to all of this later. I just wanted to elucidate for safe
measures. I drop to the garden level
and round the northwest corner, past the barracks and into the sparring room.
I avoid the doorways and descend the staircase in the corner to the
underground tomb. At the t-junction I make a right,
then left and a right again. Around this next corner is a stationary hammer
facing west. One of the 5 tougher loot items is placed on one of the coffins
up a small slope directly in his view. I will eventually have to come back
for that later. There is, however, another piece of loot right behind his
back. Even though the AIs don’t react negatively to my presence, they have
the same alert levels engine-wise. Thus, I cannot run past him from the front and steal the loot. He’ll
notice the event and start whacking. If I sneak up the slope from the corner
and stay undetected, then I can take the vase
(100) and leave the scene unbothered (left image below). And that’s
exactly what I do. There’s another vase
(200) on the coffin in the hall further up the same slope. I take
thereafter the hall the guard is facing, turn the corner and head down the
next left. A tipped vase (300)
lies beside the coffin to my right. To the front at the end of the hall is
another coffin with a vase (400)
resting on top. The tomb is done for now, so I head north, make a right and
fly up the stairs to the south. Arriving in the basement, I take the next set
of stairs past the barrels, to the tiled hallways of the lower floor.
The halls here are
patrol-free, simply because I have avoided triggering the conversations of
any of the five hammers that normally walk here. Even if you don’t have to
sneak, doing a thorough research of the map before starting the Ghost run can
be the difference between a failed and a successful mission. I walk straight
and make a left into the dining hall. 3
bottles of fine wine (550) are placed on the table. I then pass through
the kitchen to the west. I bring along 2 cheeses from the table and carrots and 3 apples from the counter. In the hallway I walk straight
and stop by the first door marked with a hammer symbol on my left. This
indicated the room is off-limits to novices, hence me. But do I care? Naah. Two hammers are stationed in the foyer to the
north. They will start a conversation if I enter the doorway, but I won’t, at
least not now. The forbidden door here is visible to the hammer facing west,
but if I sneak slow enough, he won’t react. Inside I grab the golden goblet (575) on the cabinet.
There is also a silver key on the
same shelf, and a cheese in the unlocked chest. Sneaking out the same way is
safe. I run back south all the way to the kitchen doorway, make a left and
turn left again at the corner. Through the first
door on the right I find a silver key,
an apple and a healing potion in a chest. The first door on the west side of the hall leads
to the High Priest Chamber. Obviously this is another one of those forbidden
rooms marked with a red hammer. The High Priest is in there right now,
walking about. He stops (although somewhat randomly) in his study and in his
confession chamber. Conveniently there’s a window, so I can watch his
movements while planning my acts. As he walks from right to left towards his
study, I open the door and slip inside. Quickly I grab the bottle of fine wine (625) and the loaf from
the shelf. Furthermore I open the chest in the corner and steal the diamond (725) inside, as well as the hammer
from the pedestal. The priest is still in his study, so I hop onto
the chest and wait for him to leave (right image above). As he heads past the
bed I enter his study and grab the stuff from the table; another bottle of fine wine (775), a golden hammer (850) and a grey key. He usually stays in his
confession chamber long enough for me to leave the chamber altogether. I
normally eavesdrop outside the window for a little while afterwards, to check
for remarks. Funny enough, he won’t alert to the missing loot. The next
forbidden room on the east side contains a tiara (975), and a bottle
of fine wine (1025) in a chest. If not playing for
Supreme, I would suggest cleaning the last two forbidden rooms now. This
involves triggering the conversation of the two guards I saw earlier, but two
patrolling guards are better than five right? I’ll describe the way around
for Supreme, since that includes normal Ghost as well. It’s a little bit
trickier, as I have to replace the two keys from this floor. I leave this
floor the way I came: down the steps to the basement and further on through
the tomb. I arrive in the sparring room to the lower floor. From here I enter
the east garden and backtrack to where I entered from the streets. I can
mantle onto this wall with an angled jump from the flower patch to the right.
It’s not that hard but might take a try or two if you’re new to Thief.
On the balcony I take the
south exit. This small chapel has a table with a scroll resting on top of it. It is the Prayer of the Wallbuilder, and I carry it with me. I make sure not to enter the foyer through the
doorway to the west. This will trigger a conversation and send one of the
hammers downstairs (left image above). Instead I take the door in the
southwest corner of this room, pass this entire hallway, and enter the next
two doors in front of me. I’m now on the west side balcony, above the
cemetery below. Here I have to make sure not to enter the concrete part of
the balcony, but stay on the inner tiled area. There is another potential
conversation trigger below that might screw things up later. Instead I enter
the door leading to the library. Nothing of interest in here except for a
locked door, and it’s forbidden. It unlocks with my silver key. By taking
this route through the upper floor I should have triggered one conversation
in the northeast, and the patrolling guard involved could come through here,
so I re-lock the door once inside. On the shelf are 2 precious bottles of fine
wine (1125). The chest contains a scroll
describing the procedures on how to obtain the talisman, and the location of
all the switches involved (right image above). I suggest bringing it along
for Ghost, but for Supreme just write down the message and reload. I leave
and re-lock. Then I retrace my steps to where I picked up the silver key on
the lower floor using exactly the
same route. I sneak inside (once again making sure not to alert the hammer
waiting to converse) and place the key back onto the cabinet shelf. Nice! Out in the hallway I walk
north to finally trigger the conversation between the two hammers here. It is
inevitable in order to enter the last forbidden rooms. As they walk off I
quickly run inside the door here and grab the purse (1225) and the loaf inside. Out again I walk
straight across the foyer and enter the marked door on the opposite side. The
room holds a chest with another purse
(1325) and the last silver key.
As explained
in the scroll from the library chamber, five switches need to be flipped in
no particular order to get to the talisman. They are initially set to ‘OFF’,
and 5 minutes after flipping the first, they will all reset to ‘OFF’ again.
They are hidden around the hammer complex. The first switch is in the garden
cemetery, situated west from the sparring room. As I enter the garden, two
more hammers start talking nearby. While they chat I can grab the vase (1425) from the northernmost
crypt. The two next crypts also contain loot, but they will be detected if
missing. When the guards leave I grab the 2 vases (1625) from the two southern graves. The switch is hidden
in the ceiling inside the grave of Brother Mason. I flip it and hurry on
towards the other four. The next is in the garden on the east side, back
through the sparring room. On the east side is a ledge about a foot above
eye-level. The underside of that ledge close to one of the trees conceals the
second switch (left image above). Next I hop up to the balcony like before.
The door to the north leads to the reliquary. A switch is hidden on the
backside of the pedestal holding the Skull of St. Yora
in the corner. The stationary guard will alert if he sees me flip it, but I
can easily do it undetected. The hammer on the middle pedestal is the one I
need to grab later. I hurry out the same way, drop to the garden and re-enter
the sparring room. I descend to the tombs and make a right at the junction.
Turn left at the corner, go straight and right when hitting the wall. Up the
slope and left, then left again at the intersection. I arrive in the
inquisitor’s torture chamber. Gritty! I tread carefully as the inquisitor is
asleep next door. To the west is a torture bench, and behind it the fourth
switch (right image above). Flipped. The doorway to the north leads to his
bedroom, and luckily parts are carpeted. A desk to the east holds a stack of silver coins (1637). Out
into the stony hall I make a right and follow the turns twice. To my left is
a locked door to the kitchen/treasury. It unlocks with my grey key. The
patrolling hammer will alert if he sees it open, so I re-lock it once inside.
The last switch is on the wall in the south kitchen area. As I flip it, a
weird sound indicates the talisman now being accessible. This also means the
switches will no longer reset once the timer reaches 5 minutes. Strictly
speaking, Supreme would require the switches to be reset manually, to remove
any traces of a thief’s passing. On the floor to the north I find lots of
loot: 2 purses (1837) and a diamond (1937) in the chests, and on
the floor 8 stacks of gold coins (2137),
8 stacks of silver coins (2233)
and 15 stacks of copper coins
(2308). I leave, re-lock the door, and head to the High Priest Chamber on the
upper floor. Like before, I watch him from outside before entering to replace
the grey key. I also have to watch out for the four patrolling guards
outside. When done, I turn south and make a left at the dining hall.
Instead of
going downstairs I turn right and follow this path through a doorway on the
left. I am now on the upper level of the talisman chamber. If having taken
the hammer from the High Priest Chamber, a red bridge will extend granting
easy access to the other side. If not (like me), I have to make an angled
running-jump to cross the gap. It is possible, and with a nice mantle I pull
myself up on the ledge. The left gate got opened from flipping the switches.
It cannot be closed so no bust. The switch inside opens the talisman cage.
The talisman itself is protected by some magical seal, and like the note said
I have to rephrase the wallbuilder’s prayer to
break it. I fling out the scroll and recite the words. In doing that, the
entire compound goes crazy! The alarm is set and I’m still in the heart of
the temple! I grab the Talisman of Air and close the cage
gate. I can cross the gap again, but that would not be preferable. Instead I
should get down to the lower level safely. Can I jump towards the door and
let the doorframe break my fall? Yes, nice leap! I enter the doorway and take
the slope down to the tombs again. Believe it or not, I love this part of the
mission. The situation going on is what I would expect every other mission to
look like after I have left for the
night. Picture Bafford coming home in the morning,
discovering his entire house being robbed, and in panic raises every alarm
imaginable. This is a peek into those conditions. Circumstances that you
normally don’t get to witness, but now have to move around in. And what a
scene it is! Baffled guards running everywhich way,
screaming irrationally. Hilarious! Anyways, at
the bottom of the slope I come to a halt. There are two guards in the tomb
and I need to try and map their movements. The situation in general is very
unpredictable after sounding the alarm. Some guards run everywhere, some walk
in a small area around where they were when the alarm went off, and some just
stand still taking small patrols, sometimes going to hunt mode. In effect, it
is hard for me to explain what you should
do, but I will to the best of my ability explain what I happen to do. After waiting here for about 10 seconds, a guard runs
past me in the hallway without even flinching. Phew, I thought that was the
end of me! I walk straight, ignoring the slope on the right, and steal the vase (2408) around the corner up
ahead. At least now I have the loot requirement! I pass the coffin and make a
right. Left, left again, then right and up the slope. The upcoming area is
the hardest by far, as it is required to pass in order to leave the compound.
Ascending the stairs, I can hear hammers screaming and shouting above.
Looking up I spot one guard covering the west doorway to the foyer. I need to
get to the east garden for now. As the voices barely fade I make a run for
it. I get caught a couple of times before finally reaching the east exit
undetected. The best thing to assure successful Ghosting is to be extremely
careful and reload if uncertain. Hammers will spot me on what would be
equivalent to a 1st alert under normal circumstances, and they do so on much
longer distances than anticipated. I know there are two pieces of loot in the
cemetery, so I will make an attempt to reach them. Luckily the east garden is
free of guards. There is a small dark portion right outside the entrance
where I can plan a possible run. In the left image below I’m leaning out
studying the mentioned guard. He stays like that for a few seconds,
disappears through the left doorway, then comes out in hunt mode after a
little while, say 10-20 seconds. He covers a tiny area, so this will be
tight. As he turns around, I run. I strafe along the railing observing the
doorways as I pass, so I can be sure whether I’m seen or not. Fortunately he
has his back turned and I can pass unseen. In the cemetery I grab the 2 vases (2608) I had to skip before.
There is a corresponding dark portion right outside this doorway also, so I use
the same method heading back to the east garden. All right, only 150 gold to
go for Perfect Thief!
All of my
remaining activities lie upstairs, so I mantle onto the wall and enter the
balcony. The reliquary to the north is empty, so I can easily sneak inside
and grab the Stone Hammer. The
door in the northwest corner leads to a small tiled hallway. The door across
leads to the main chapel with loot. I can open the door from here, but still
have to traverse visible across the tiles. There are no less than six (!)
hammer guards in the large hall to the south. Only two of them can see me in
here though. The door to the reliquary fortunately swings out and to the
left, so I can move in behind it and stay hidden a few feet into the hallway.
I turn south, hold creep and strafe right to make sure no-one sees me. After
4-5 tries I’m good. Both guards that originally stayed in the chapel are gone
as well. I grab the hammer (2683)
from the altar and leave the same way traversing the hallway again. I exit
the reliquary to the south and move towards the next door. This is the small chapel
where I grabbed the scroll earlier. I have on occasion experienced a hammer
entering the northwest doorway after the alarm, however most of them seem to
stick to the main foyer. My task is to place the builder’s prayer back on the
table. Unfortunately, it’s in plain view of the heavily guarded foyer, so I
will have to make the most of my inching and leaning skills. I suggest
approaching from the southwest of the table. Like I said, there is usually
one guard having a small hunt patrol right outside (and occasionally inside)
the doorway. When he turns to hunt westward, that’s when I sneak northeast,
lean forward and drop the scroll; then edge back (right image above). As long
as it’s on the corner of the table, I’m good. Sometimes even the hammers further
to the west (or in the staircase) spot me, but with patience it is possible
to clear this area unseen.
The last
loot item is by the main entrance, but I cannot imagine it ever being
possible to obtain. The six guards in the foyer plus two by the front gates
are all mad as bulls, and there are no shadows to hide in. This is an easy
skip. [UPDATE 3/7/12: Seeing Tarvis79 being able to steal this hammer
seemingly alert-free, I wanted to go back and attempt it myself. The first
trouble spot was getting to and from the front foyer from the brightly lit
stone hallway. There was a pitch black spot just inside the door and I had to
rush in, come to a halt and hope for the best. There was one guard close to
the hammer that came down the side of that room on occasion. He disappeared
behind the stone monument from time to time, and that’s when I went for it. I
did it without verbal or visual cues from any of the six roaming guards to
the north (left image above). The next problem was reaching the actual
hammer. There was a proximity trigger that spawned the comment from the east
guard about novices not being allowed in there. I took that as a Supreme
bust. I did manage to grab the hammer
(2758) without triggering it though. I couldn’t reach it from the shadows
behind the wall, but an inch or two around the corner would do it. Both
guards had to face south and sort of standing still (right image above). Upon
a quickload they would occasionally freeze for a
few seconds, easily exploitable. I managed to get the loot without alerts,
and I am 99% sure Supreme was left intact. I have also repeated these moves
on subsequent playthroughs. Huge thanks to
Tarvis79!] From the
outside balcony I can drop to the streets and end the mission. Time: 44:34 Loot: 2758 out of 2758
(Supreme: 2683 or 2758) Pickpockets: None Locks Picked: None Damage Dealt: 0 Damage
Taken: 0 Consumables: None Ghost: Success! Perfect Thief: Success! Supreme Thief: Success! Perfect Supreme Thief:
Success! Norwegian
Thief: Success! Notes: -
Raising the alarm by stealing the talisman is not
considered a bust. It is an inevitable (and intended) occurrence from
directly attaining an objective. |
