T2 Demo: The Unwelcome Guest

Demo: An Unwelcome Guest

[This mission was updated to version 1.13 in 2014, adjusted for NewDark. This report has been verified with NewDark version 1.27. Although the original text for OldDark has been preserved, situations changed by NewDark have been inserted in green.]

I wanted to start my Thief 2 Supreme Ghost run with the demo mission ‘The Unwelcome Guest’. It’s basically an alpha version of ‘Life of the Party’, mission 10 of the full game, but I still view it as a separate mission with a plot of its own. Who wouldn’t want to play a mission of this quality twice anyway?

The objectives were as follows: get the schematics from the mechanist tower, the diamonds from the local bank, and break into Carlysle armory, plus 1,700 in loot along the way. I was more than well-equipped and easily skipped any purchases. I started by the bell tower in the southeast.

During my blackjack run, I realized the objectives had to be completed in a specific order. The Carlysle armory required a key found in the mech tower, but it had to be replaced due to the rule that makes Supreme Ghost much tougher than plain Ghost. Rule #7 states: “Put Everything back that can be put back: doors closed and re-locked if they are re-lockable, chests and gates closed if closable; keys returned, books/scrolls/letters returned to their original place.[...]” If breaking into the armory is the last unchecked objective, the mission simply ends successfully, leaving you with no possibility of returning the key. I needed to ensure I had the opportunity to return to the tower after completing this objective, which meant that other objectives had to be unchecked as well. I could wait with stealing the bank diamonds, but then the mission would end before managing to close the safe. No, the only option was to hold off stealing the schematics in the tower. My route was therefore as follows: to the bank, to the tower to pick up the key, to the armory, back to the tower to drop off the key, snatch the schematics, then leave the tower.

The Thieves’ Highway

The first minor challenge came west of the bell tower. The building didn’t have a name on the map, but was located somewhat southeast of van Vernon’s. There was a sleeping archer upstairs and a patrolling swordsman walking unpredictable rounds below. The archer had broadheads, but they were unfrobbable unless I woke him first. An artifact stood on display above some stairs at the other end of the same building. The picture below to the left is taken from the only spot in the staircase where I was safe. The patrolling guard and another archer (awake this time) were nearby, but with a small hop the loot was mine.

Moving west I approached the famous archer fight best known from ‘Life of the Party’. There was a route circumventing this whole scenario, but it involved property damage on a boarded up passage in a nearby building. As the quarrel went on, I could snatch the broadheads from the westernmost Willey-archer. I couldn’t ascend the ladder, as both the Vernon-archers spotted me mantling or leaping. Instead I roped up the southwestern corner of the hole and grabbed the arrows from the air. It was a very close call reaching them from the line. The arrows went in and out of reach as the archer idled back and forth. There were two ways past the archers after the battle was over. One went along the southern wall, the other through a small apartment accessible from the northern guard tower. The van Vernon archers usually won the clash, and in my case both of them survived. Afterwards, while the archers had their backs turned hunting, I could rope up the west side of the tower without alerts (right image above). From there I could wait for them to settle. The archers went directly to alarm mode if alerted. As seen in the left image below, I could approach and hide behind the southwestern pillar undetected. From here I could snatch the broadheads from the second (dead) archer. Astonishingly, the archers didn’t mind me rushing through the wooden window. Getting shot half dead by their rivals didn’t seem to heighten their senses at all.

East of this area and south of Fieldstone I found a cracked roof with a spider below. Had to gently lurk myself down the hole to get the ring in the corner (left image below). The adjacent building had more loot and some equipment, but the only way in was by breaking an unbarred window. This was against ghosting rules, so I skipped it.

The housebreakers north of Fieldstone (right image above) posed a tricky challenge. The outside guard stared straight towards the entrance and alerted as soon as I appeared in the doorway, often directly to hunt mode. The patrolling guard charged them if detected, but this is not a legal way to obtain the loot inside. Rule #5 of the Official Ghost Rules states: “Garrett must not cause suicides of AI or melees that intentionally cause AI to attack each other […]” However, the thieves had a conversation upon entry and during this chat their alert level was heavily reduced. I don’t know whether this difference in behavior during a scripted convo is intentional or an engine exploit, but I treated it as the latter, so I skipped the loot for Supreme. I could enter the room at normal pace, steal the loot and leave safely without any objection. If I waited until they were done talking, I had to use a speed potion to enter fast enough to avoid anything more than a first alert. For plain Ghost I chose to clean the room during the conversation, as the use of a potion would render the stats a ‘chemical success’, a little less honorable. Engine exploits are allowed as a last resort for that mode, as long as they’re reported. [UPDATE 11/27/2019: Avoiding alerts during enemy conversations is not considered an engine exploit after all. It is totally fine to take these pieces of loot while the thieves are talking for Supreme. It makes sense that they would be preoccupied and not detect you while conversing. However, I always get a first alert sneaking into the room before their conversation triggers. I’ve tried triggering it outside, then running in before it ends, but I never make it in time. The only way to get the loot for Supreme is if the outside guard somehow wanders in there and gets killed. In that case, the outside thief normally positions himself further north, so that he doesn’t see you when you enter. I have been able to get the loot successfully like this for Supreme. Remember though, you can’t leave the door open to construct a fight between the thieves and the guard; only if he happens to open the door himself is this allowed, and that does happen from time to time.]

North of Sir Cullen’s Keep I ran into more unobtainable loot. I emerged on a roof with visible coin stacks in the office below, but, alas, the glass had to be broken to reach it. Instead I headed east through an open apartment and snuck into Dayport Trader’s Bank. Not much to report here except for one strange thing. The patrolling swordsman alerted to the vault being open when wandering down the next door hallway, not when passing through the room with the vault itself. There has got to be a glitch in the design where he accidentally spots the vault through the wall and alerts that way. It was only a comment so plain Ghost was good, but it had to be avoided for Supreme. I simply flipped the switch in the office, rushed out to steal the vault contents and returned to close the vault door before the guard ever ventured down the hall.

The double doors led to the balcony with archers peering in both directions. Nothing of interest out here except for Lady Louisa’s house to the northeast. Unfortunately, it was impossible to enter from either side, since two of the three women were staring straight out the two windows. I would try later from the north end coming from the tower, but I was fairly sure another 200 gold had to be skipped. That meant 425 missed so far for Supreme, leaving me with only 600 left to lose while still making the loot objective.

A nice challenge for equipment purists is to attempt to steal the arrows off all three archers in this area. The bank archer was easy enough, and so was Shemenov’s back door archer, as soon as I made the leap across the street below. Worse still was the archer on the fancy balcony across from the bank (left image above). Not only did he easily spot me coming out from the bank’s double doors, but he covered the entire ledge along the south side of Baron’s Way (the east-west going street below). The only option was to mantle across the roof to the south and approach the dark corner to his southeast. From there I could leap and mantle onto the marbled railing. Occasionally the bank archer would see me flying through the air, but more often than not I was in the clear. Had to creep-inch my way down the railing just beyond where it started to curve. I could reach the arrows while still on the railing, without being seen by either archer (right image above).

I couldn’t rob Shemenov’s from this side, so I had to backtrack through Sir Cullen’s keep and approach it via the rooftops in the east. I had a hard time figuring out how to evade the gaze of the archer on the wooden balcony. In the end I needed four rope arrows in the building at the opposite side (left image below). The eave was dark enough to avoid any comments. I had to descend the last rope a bit in order to successfully cross the street and land in a mantle. There was not much shade and a patrolling swordsman on the other side. I had to inch along the walls to lurk my way into Shemenov’s chimney. Putting out the kitchen fireplace would bust Supreme, so I jumped off and quickly got out of the way to avoid damage. The servant was extremely alert and I had to creep-crouch the entire way to prevent comments. The hallway guard had a long route and I got the only piece of loot while he was away. A banner on the wall concealed a hidden chest with a necklace (right image below). It could be reached through the banner, I simply slashed it for sake of the screenshot.

The way back was tedious due to the above patroller and the wary archer, but I made use of the few spots of darkness I could find. I found a sunburst device and some fire arrows in a nearby observatory. Flipping the telescope revealed a hidden compartment with the goodies. Retrieved the rope arrows going back westward.

Towards the tower I had to skip a gas arrow in the greenhouse. Daddylong (the spider) caught me passing her view when traversing the left counter. I could still reach the two moss arrows though.

The Tower

Passing the buildings north of the greenhouse, the only way into the tower was via an open top floor window. I waited for the conversation to finish and then snuck inside. I could grab two of the four pieces of loot in here by hugging the walls. Some of the guests were extremely jumpy and I had to make use of my creeping abilities most of the time. I could not reach the three purses on the east side of the hall without triggering first alert comments, so that loot (40 gold) had to be skipped for Supreme. To round the corner by the door for plain Ghost I could either run and come to a quick halt or turn off the lamp on the wall. That took care of the purse on the single nobleman, but the woman directly to the east of the fountain was much tougher. Not only was she positioned directly under a chandelier, but she was talking to a man facing the opposite direction. Together they covered pretty much every entry point. Once I realized that the ceiling was rope attachable I soon figured out the solution. The image below is taken from the corner opposite the door, in the southeast end of the ballroom. Coincidentally, the fountain’s east side was the only place dark enough not the be seen at ground level. Everywhere else was too illuminated. I could traverse the rope arrows and descend into the water just to the left of the couple. I actually made a hop onto the fountain ledge before leaning in to grab her purse. The arrows were positioned close enough for me to turn around and grab them as I Tarzaned my way back.

The 8th floor was packed with enemies, but scattered with dark patches, making sneaking tough but doable. The main junction was just outside the double-doors to Karras’ office. The outside guard covered the western part of the lit hallway, forcing me to venture through the library. At least that’s what I saw it as; a carpeted area with bookshelves and a tome. No less than two stationary guests, one sentry and two patrollers covered that room. With good timing, and proper use of shaded spots, I found my way to the easternmost wall (right image above). The rest of the floor was quite standard. Plenty of smaller rooms to clean, but nothing significant to report. The kitchen servants didn’t have first alerts, which made the job a bit easier for Supreme. I found the Carlysle key in one of the bedrooms to the west.

I saved Karras’ office for later, and instead made my way to the top floor and back through the city to the armory in the west. A bit tedious to backtrack to this extent, but I guess it was worth the trouble. Everything there was ghostable. The armory door was protected by a pivoting swordsman; no bother whatsoever. I didn’t have to steal anything to get credit for the break-in. Found the last piece of loot north of the compound inside an open bedroom window.

Back in the mechanist tower my last tasks were to return the armory key for Supreme and head for the main office. The only way to approach it was from the east, where I could creep-crouch unnoticed all the way up to the stationed guard. Then came the blow. Unlocking the door spawned a comment from the guard. This inescapable Supreme bust slapped me in the face like an iron gauntlet; so close, but yet so far. My sorrow was short lived, however. Instead I started worrying about how to at least keep plain Ghost intact. Blocking the eastern door as the other swung open was the only method of entry, but even then the guard somewhat blocked my progress. In the end, I had to nudge the guard forward enough to squeeze through (left image above), before the patrolling mechanist appeared from the library. Not more than a couple of inches was needed, but still another Supreme bust. This was a last resort option, so plain ghosting rules do allow it. The schematics could be taken through the painting, without triggering the alarm. If not, the alarm wouldn’t be a bust (remember Undercover?), but exiting the tower would’ve been near impossible. Strangely, relocking the entry doors didn’t spawn another alert and I could sneak eastward without trouble (right image above). Leaving the complex was just like before, except this time carrying the bitter taste of Supreme defeat.

One thing different in version 1.13 for NewDark, is the guard by the office door. I’m not sure if he is positioned closer to the door or whether he simply is more alert, but he is much more difficult to sneak up on. On either side of the door there is a narrower part of the hallway (right image above) that I had to round before being able to hug the wall just next to the guard. I couldn’t sneak to that wall without getting a third alert, let alone just a comment. I used to be able to do it completely undetected. The only way to get there was to rush around the corner, accepting a first alert. I could unlock the door from a few feet away, triggering another first alert like before. However, I could not get in behind him to push him forward in order to enter. I couldn’t even get close enough in order to block the closest door. It seemed like my proximity to him, as well as the angle, set him off. If Garrett’s mid-point is in front of a guard’s mid-point, even if it’s ever so slightly, bumping into them from the side will make them catch you. I knew that if I couldn’t get behind him, then this mission wouldn’t be ghostable. I tried climbing ropes attached to the wooden door frame, and then lower myself behind him, but to no avail. Next I tried tossing crates by him, hoping this would push him away. Again, no luck. There are no invisibility potions available in this mission either, thinking I would have to accept a chemical success. I was almost ready to give up hope when I figured out the solution. The key was unlocking the doors and letting the closest one block the guard’s view. If I pushed against the door and frobbed it twice in quick succession, I’d inch forward while still having the door block me. Once I did this a few times, I could close the door and rush in behind him immediately without getting caught. Perhaps his view doesn’t get unblocked until the door is fully closed, or something to that nature. Regardless, I was successfully in the position where I could push him west, enough for me to get into the office. Brilliant!

This was a very nice start to my Thief 2 ghosting exploits, and I was already looking forward to the full release missions. It would be interesting to see the differences between this demo and the actual ‘Life of the Party’.

Statistics:

Time: 2:08:59

Loot: 2310 out of 2735 (Supreme: 2270)

Pickpockets: 24 out of 27

Locks Picked: 6

Secrets: 3 out of 4

Damage Dealt: 0 Damage Taken: 0

Consumables: None

Ghost: Success!

Perfect Thief: Failed!

Supreme Ghost: Failed!

Perfect Supreme Ghost: Failed!

(Norwegian Thief: Failed)

Notes:

- A sleeping archer west of the bell tower carried 3 broadheads. They were unobtainable unless I woke him first. No bust.

- Could only get 3 of the 4 pickpocket counts in the archer fight. Had to wait until the western Willey-archer was dead before stealing his arrows undetected.

- Had to skip the loot (150 gold) and the flares in the building southeast of Fieldstone. Breaking the window to gain entry is not allowed.

- Had to skip three more coin stacks worth 75 gold in the office directly north of Sir Cullen’s Keep. Breaking the window (property damage) is in violation of every ghost mode.

- Skipped 200 worth of loot at Lady Louisa’s for all modes. Both windows were covered by women staring straight at the openings. No way around it.

- Skipped the gas arrow in the greenhouse. The spider alerted and there was no way around it.

- Had to skip 40 more loot on the tower’s top floor for Supreme. The three guests carrying purses to the east were out of reach and commented.

- Got a comment from the office guard in the tower when unlocking the double doors. Also had to nudge him forward a tad to enter the office. The latter is a last resort and therefore allowed in plain Ghost. Both of these are Supreme Ghost busts.