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BONES EPISODE 1: The Old Quarter I
cannot believe this mission has been out for almost 14 years and I haven’t
heard about it. This is top notch quality from start to finish. A snow covered
city mission with a great story. Visit the tombs below and the rooftops above
to achieve your goals. Help out the locals and rob the rich, all while
soaking in the atmosphere of the rebuilt Old Quarter. Do not miss this! I
was tasked with obtaining four items; some spice from EastPort
Beach, a scepter from Master Mortlock, a mask from
the Old Watch Castle, and a book from the local inventor, the latter of which
was optional. In addition, I was to steal 2,400 worth of valuables, and make
my way to the safe house in the north. Cool beans! Tombs Once
out of the cemetery, I entered the ship. The water in this mission instantly
took 1 point of health away. Garrett didn’t give any verbal grunt though, so
it was very easy to miss. To get the nugget in the chest below deck, I had to
hop onto the two closest crates. Entered
the tombs to the north next. The running haunt didn’t give first alerts, so I
could get the three artifacts without issues. Further down, none of the
sleeping zombies gave moans when close either. This made it a lot easier to
move around. I can’t even imagine how hard it would’ve been had they behaved
like normal zombies. The traps were all triggered by pressure plates, which
were easy to avoid. The precursor mask could be found in randomized
locations, but I think it was always on the bottom floor somewhere. A hidden
part of the tombs could be opened by lighting a torch (left image below).
Using the nearby fire arrow was not possible without enemies hearing it, so I
used a flare. That doesn’t go against Supreme rules and I could close the
door by dousing the torch afterwards. Both flares and water arrows were in my
starting inventory, so no pickups necessary.
Exited
the tombs via the cave to the north. Headed straight for the Dockhouse. I could’ve whacked the icicles in the boarded
up doorway, but I instead jumped from the front door bridge. It seemed
cleaner. Entered via the west side shutter. The front courtyard was pure hell
to pass through anyways. Grabbed the stuff from the vault, including Ethan’s
message (right image above). It severely incriminated us, so although the
Supreme rules technically don’t permit it, it seemed silly to leave it
behind. City, South Headed
back through the abandoned area and moved west from the guard house. There
was only one piece of loot here, a stack of coins on a snowy ledge. Then
climbed the rooftop northwest of the gate house and started to tackle the
main part of the city. The streets were generally tough to navigate, but
there were more shadows than first anticipated. Perhaps the white snow made
it seem brighter than it actually was, I’m not sure. The
first issue came in a shop southeast of the hammer statue plaza. A shop owner
faced north behind the counter, with a money box on the far back wall (left
image below). He didn’t react to the lockpicks and
I could sneak in and climb the counter without comments. I had to go behind
him to avoid busts, but sliding along the ledge made me nudge him off the
chair, which isn’t allowed for Supreme. I found I could drop down next to him
safely. From here, I started experimenting with a rope arrow. I found I could
hop onto one without comments, if placed on the near side of the chair.
Climbing up, if I flipped around and swung along the south wall, I ended up
hovering above the back of the chair (right image below). If I now grabbed
the arrow I could slide off to the left without any nudging. I grabbed the
loot and used the same method back. Nice!
William Headed
north to Eltz Court from here. Could enter both Belgoi’s and the inventor’s via the top floor windows.
This avoided me having to pick up any of the keys from these buildings. Got
new objectives to bring medicine and the factory worker (William) back to his
home in the southwest. This was possible to do Supreme clean, otherwise I
could skip triggering it entirely. William could be found in any one of five
different locations. I have seen him in the northeast docks (which is the
location furthest away from his home), and in the alley just north of Eltz Court, which is where I found him this time (left
image below). I
approached his apartment from the south, as there was a stationary guard on
the north side of the building, blocking access up the ramp to the top
walkway. I roped up a small bridge that had a wooden railing. The apartment
door was pickable, but since I couldn’t relock it,
I wanted to avoid it entirely. I could reach the window from said railing and
shoot a rope into the snowy ledge. From below I could climb up carrying
William. There were a few patrollers around, but they could easily be
avoided. The problem now was once I got into the room, due to the lip of the
window, I wasn’t able to get back out. I’m sure it’s possible, but I couldn’t
find a predictable way of doing so. To get around this, I instead slid in as
far as I could while still being under that lip, and dropped William and the
medicine bottle onto the table (right image below). That still checked off
the objectives and neither of them were visible from outside once I closed
the window.
To
leave this area, I could’ve gone through Sister FlyWheel’s
house, but I wanted to avoid having to pick her pocket. There was also an
attic with a frog nearby, but I wasn’t able to go through it without at
minimum a first alert. So I dropped to the streets further east and went back
to the Hammer Statue plaza on ground level. Stoneleigh Street The
buildings around Stoneleigh Street and Mortlock’s
house was the toughest area in the mission. In the end I found a route that
avoided picking most of the doors, but instead utilized window shutters.
Especially one archer on the snowy walkway east of Mortlock
was pure hell (left image below). He heard every step on the snow, every rope
arrow shot, and every door/window if close by. His route fortunately included
a small stroll down a south alley where he was far enough away to not hear
anything for 5-10 seconds. I wanted to get into the top southwest window in
order to avoid picking the door below. Getting up there also involved timing
a female swordswoman that frequently came out on a nearby balcony. I had to
leave via this window also. Entering
Mortlock’s was also tricky. I wanted to come from
the north, as the balcony door on the south side was pickable,
and I also don’t think it’s possible to get in that way without first alerts.
To the north was a light that conveniently went on and off for about 10
seconds. The two guards by the front door had to face south or southeast for
me to sneak along the ledge towards the windows (right image below). Inside,
the lady woke up if I used the west door, but not the other. Sir Mortlock acted strangely in the office next door. He
didn’t alert to the door, but although he was sleeping, he could see me and
stood up if first alerting. Yet, he didn’t give any verbal remark, and he
even continued snoring while standing! I think he was not actually asleep,
but rather in a sitting position with snoring sounds permanently playing.
Sneaking through here I could loot the gambling room. Getting the scepter was
not a problem.
When
coming back out, getting the purse from the front door guard was my next
issue. They both had to be facing south for this move. I could run and mantle
onto the fencing, then lean forward to get the purse. Next I snuck as far
west as possible and crouch-ran back onto the snowy ledge without alerts. I’m
happy I was able to get this loot using a predictable method. Dock Area Moved
through town towards the northeast, looting a few remaining houses. In the
northeast docks I could pass through an apartment and bypass the frogs in the
sewers. They would’ve been impossible to fool anyways. This way I could
approach the shop at Eastport Beach from the north, without having to deal
with the thugs there. Unfortunately, there was no way to get the coin stack
in there for Supreme (left image below). The storeowner stared straight at
the door and I couldn’t even enter the shop without a first alert, and
several more were required. Easy skip for that mode. I could get the loot for
regular Ghost though, and I did manage to get it without using an
invisibility potion. It was more about speed than stealth, to be honest. Crown
Court was actually quite difficult, with a stationary pivoting swordsman, as
well as an archer on short patrol. I needed the key from the sentry, then
return it after lock-blocking the door to the sewers. I could hide behind the
fencing on the west side and time them both. Tedious, but doable.
In
the sewers I ran into big trouble. There was a bum with a huge spear carrying
a key. This accessed the last piece of loot, but returning the key proved
difficult (right image above). He was stationed in a flooded, dead-end
tunnel. I could sneak up on the right side quite close, but when leaning in,
I was never able to avoid a first alert while also dropping the key silently
into the end part of the tunnel. If looking down, the key could be placed in
the water quietly, but if wanting to avoid the alert, I couldn’t get the key
over the sloping lip to the right. I tried over 50 times, but had to give up.
Thus skipped the ring for Supreme. To
leave the sewers, I had to open a hatch with a patrolling spider behind it
(image below). Unfortunately, it gave a chirp from the sound of the door. I
even timed it perfectly at the farthest spot, but it was impossible to avoid.
The spider occasionally wandered up the ramp and got stuck behind a board up
there, but even then it alerted. Very sad to get the only Supreme bust this
late, but what can you do. This
was still an excellent hidden gem that I recommend to everyone!
Statistics: Time: 2:02:59 Loot: 4768 out of 4768 (Supreme: 4643) Pickpockets: 23 out of 24 Secrets: 9 out of 9 Locks Picked: 8 Damage Dealt: 0 Damage Taken: 0 Consumables: 1 Flare & 1 Water Arrow Ghost: Success! Perfect Thief: Success! Supreme Thief: Failed! Perfect Supreme Thief: Failed! Notes: -
Skipped a coin stack worth 25 in the shop at Easport Beach for Supreme. The shop owner gave several
first alerts entering and leaving. -
Skipped a ring in the sewers worth 100 for Supreme. I
wasn’t able to return the key properly. -
Got a first alert from the last spider opening the
hatch door. Supreme bust. |
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