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CALENDRA’S LEGACY Act 3: A Winter’s
Eve I like how all three missions in this pack each has
their distinct feel, while still keeping to the main story. Act 3 is perhaps
the most out-of-place mission, but I love it regardless. The first mission I
ever played with snow, and ever since has been the source for comparison to
other snowy maps, most of them falling short. The ropeable icy ledges
provided an additional element to the gameplay. My initial objectives were 5,500 in loot, rob
Dayport Bank and kill Gaston the Red. I suspected meeting Mercedes at the
bridge would yield additional directions. Again a note in the purchase screen
spawned a new objective in-game, this time stealing a diamond called The
Night Jewel. As in act 2 I skipped the shop altogether. The skeleton key
could be handy, but not necessary to finish the game. My inventory included
Kharras Drahg plus the assembled Zjilich Amulet. Mercedes worked on putting
it together over the last couple of months. She used all the charges
experimenting on her own. My beloved rope arrows were also present. I was set
to go. The huge clash in the
beginning could have different outcomes. It all depended on whether the
thieves left their hiding spots before the fight started. If they didn’t,
they usually won. I never intended to orchestrate the outcome, but when all
five thieves survived on the first attempt, I stayed with it (left image
below). One of them fell to two hammers descending from the streets above a
little bit later. The remaining thieves killed a final hammer mage on the
above plateau before returning to the initial alley. This was very convenient.
East of the seminary a thief
appeared from an alley to steal loot off a stationary hammerite. I grabbed
both the hammer and the thief’s dagger without getting noticed. With a little
luck, the hammerite would chase after the thief long enough for me to grab
the decorations above the seminary door, oddly valued at 51 gold each. The
pursuer soon gave up and returned. In the meantime, yet another hammerite had
emerged from a warehouse close by. I knew of his existence, so I waited to
prevent the door from shutting. If it did, and the hammerite died, there was
no way to reenter. He followed the thief’s tracks and picked a fight with
them in the alley. I have seen him kill them all, in which he resumes a
patrol back and forth from the warehouse. This time he fell in 5 seconds. The
thieves luckily doused the bonfire, so I could steal their wine unalerted.
The remaining thieves stood their ground in the snow (right image above).
Without the skeleton key,
the only way to enter the pawnshop was by stealing the front door key through
the attic window (left image above). A couple of nicely placed ropes took me
up there. The candlestick on the desk doused when opening the window, which
was a nice little touch. Though highlighting the candle without opening the
window would also put it out. Fortunately I could grab the key through the
glass as well, although it had to be done without extinguishing the light.
Supreme rules prohibit extinguishing light sources. I guess you could argue
taking an object through a window as an engine exploit. However, this
extension of items’ frobbable distance is normally an accepted part of the
engine’s functionality, especially when the barrier is a window, grate or
banner. Taking items or hitting switches through solid walls or doors is
different, though this really is up to each individual player. I had no
problem with the aforementioned situation. Retrieved the arrow while
suspended and dropped to street level unharmed. The pawnshop key disappeared
upon use. The shop itself was free of enemies. Had to skip another
candlestick by the upstairs bed for Supreme. It was of the same kind as the
latter; extinguished when highlighted. Noticed the locking mechanism and the
elevator behind the statue. Knew there was an alternate way to enter the shop
from last time playing, but also remembered it was near impossible to reach
for Ghost. I would have to check that out later. Found the hidden stash
underneath the bed also (right image above), though I only needed the purse
(at least for now). I could reach the top
floor of the warehouse west of the seminary via a metal walkway and ladder
system. The peaked roof at the bottom could be mantled with a rope arrow.
Stole the coins from the chest in there and left through the broken window.
Was a little tricky getting onto the rafters, but a rope arrow from the large
crate did the trick, and the hammer didn’t say a peep. This escape route was
the only way for Supreme, as unlocking the door with the guard’s key spawned
a comment. The warehouse to the north of this had to be skipped (see images
below). It contained 95 loot and the ultimate Easter egg, but breaking the
side window was the only means of entrance. Perfect Thief was therefore
unachievable, but I knew that from before.
De Zabrus Textiles Decided to finish off
Gaston next. The order of things didn’t really matter, but to avoid
backtracking, it came natural. Entered via the secret entrance. Entering the
upper door included spawning more AIs in the streets, which was highly
unwanted. This way I also didn’t need to worry about the tripwire in the
stairs. Five thieves down there, two archers and three swordsmen, one of
which was Gaston. The archers took me for just another thief and didn’t
alert. If I went for their arrows, they turned around and started shooting
though. Kept my sword drawn at all times. This made a significant difference
as many places were dark but not black, which often spawned comments. Two of the patrollers
(not Gaston) had the same route. They did a round over by the treasure table,
then headed east either to the archer or down the hall to the secret exit. I
don’t think they were random patrols, so I learned their timing quite easily.
Gaston had frequent visits to his chamber, either doing a quick pivot or
stopping to examine the safe. Two out of three times he just turned and left.
The blackjack didn’t work on him; well it worked but he didn’t go down. I
could have kept on hitting him with the club until he dropped, but I don’t
think this is allowed. Objectives prevail unless you break any other rule,
which includes alerts, as well as the person being clubbed. I could whack him
with the sword, but this alerted people outside. Sneak
reported using a broadhead arrow unalerted, and kudos to him, but alas I was
not able to. I whacked/shot Gaston as he finished inspecting the safe and
immediately leaned against the door to check. Even though I managed to avoid
the patrollers’ attention, the nearby archer always came looking. Since he
was stationary I figured there was no way to fool him like this. Gas then
became the final option. Both a gas mine and two gas arrows were easily
accessible in the pawnshop, the latter sounding far more controllable. I
reloaded, fetched an arrow from the secret compartment under the bed, and
headed for Gaston’s guild once more. Shot the arrow from the door, so I could
time the outsiders concurrently (yes you can eavesdrop on a door while facing
the opposite direction). The picture was taken from the corner for
illustrative reasons. Undetected I sent Red to dreamland, but he’d be
crossing the river
The rest was fairly
straight forward and certainly much easier now that Red was gone. The archers
still didn’t alert so I only had to watch the two swordsmen. Picking the big
safe yielded a golden nugget, but alerted the thieves a few times before I
got it right. Most of the loot was in chests or on the table. One commonly
missed pair of lucky coins lay in a corner behind some barrels (right image
above). I’ve seen time and time again people missing 20 or 40 gold short of
full loot; this pair and the one in the warehouse earlier are easy to
overlook. Grindle & Boggs Went to meet Mercedes
under the bridge. She cursed the weather and told me to get her into the
factory, then toasted one of the hammers downriver. The objectives now
disregarded the bank. I entered through the cracked window above Mercedes.
One rope arrow into the snow pile there was enough. I have heard many stories
about the spiders inside, but in truth, I have always seen them in the same
spots. Occasionally, the brawls outside have alerted them, but they have
always returned to their resting positions. I presume if you save while they
are looking they might get screwed up on a reload. Undoubtedly they were red
and extremely swift, but not more alert than normal. For sake of clarity I
will describe their positions. The closest, Powdy, was placed by the powder
keg in the sloping tunnel facing south. The other, Disty, past the corner to
the north also facing south. I assume most of you know stationary spiders see
with their butts.
This was my approach.
Watch the image above carefully. I could pass Powdy’s north side up to the
corner. Disty covered the east hallway with her keen eyes, so I needed to
figure something out. The light source was a partly covered bulb directly
above. The metal covering formed a cross-shaped shadow in the tunnel, as seen
in the screen capture. As seen on the south wall of the ramped tunnel, the
light only covered the bottom foot of the tunnel. My immediate thought went
to the keg and whether I could get on it. I tried using the regular crate from
the pawnshop at one point, but the angled floor and low ceiling made it
impossible to get fully onto. Then I tried leaping directly for the powder
keg. I noticed that if I landed exactly on the northern tip of the barrel,
Powdy didn’t mind. I was also dark here, and I was outside Disty’s field of
vision. The next step was to inch clockwise along the rim of the keg until at
the east side. If this didn’t work, I either roused Powdy’s temper, fell into
Disty’s wrath, or simply got stuck in the frame of the barrel. After some
trials and frustrations, it all came together. I had to be in a crouching
position to quietly land on the floor again from the east side. Sometimes
this isn’t possible from the edge of an object, so I had to climb onto the
keg fully for the crouch-function to respond. I let Mercedes in and she
opened the floor panel. Had to skip the loot from The Sanctuary After descending the
stairs I snuck around grabbing all patrollers’ daggers, just so I wouldn’t
forget. Think there were 4 in total. One goblet stood on a reading desk by the
ramp down to the pool area. The study room had lots of loot and was easy to
Ghost. Nothing to report there. There was a hallway with several railed
lookout points down to the study area. The entrance was located close to the
stairs leading to the parlor. Two keepers protected the halls in there. Both
had daggers. The first couldn’t be passed without a little nudge (left image
below), so I skipped the furthest for now.
Next was the dining area. The closest keeper had
another dagger; simple enough. The three plates in the fireplace were the
real problem. The keeper and the woman faced opposite directions, which was
kind of good because I could approach them directly from the side without
getting spotted. I never heard any comments from them; they seemed to go
straight into hunt (and furthermore invisible) mode. But this didn’t really
matter. The rules refer to comments as alerts. If they didn’t move I was
clean. If they didn’t make noise I was also clean. Fair and square. The first
two plates were reachable with a lean-in from the keeper’s back. I made sure
not to stand too close as a nudge would’ve been a bust. To get the last plate
I had to rope down from the rafter above (left image below). It hung so close
that the plate would highlight when I descended (right image below). It took
a few shots, but once I knew the method it wasn’t that big of a deal. Using the dining room’s beams I could reach the
window on the eastern wall. From the back yard I could pick the lock on a
door and grab the dagger from the second keeper guarding the study (right
image above), the one I’d skipped earlier.
On to the parlor (left
image below). The most intimidating room ever designed? Might be, but oh so tempting.
One sentry, three guests, loads of tile, two lamps, a lit fireplace and a
glowing chandelier. Oh and let’s not forget, ten pieces of loot. Another
important piece of information is that the loot in here can be knocked
around. Yes, that’s right, arrows and objects will make them fly across the
room. Landing on them with enough force will even break them. It is the only
place in Thief history where I have seen this kind of loot behavior. The only thing I could do
in here for Supreme was stealing the female sentry’s weapon. To me there is
more humor than realism in being able to steal a woman’s long sword right out
of her hand. I know Garrett has special abilities, but seriously. Had it been
sheathed I guess I could have accepted it. No other loot was seemingly
accessible for Supreme. I couldn’t even enter the room without getting a
comment from the sitting acolyte. Normal guards have one set of comments for
idle chatter and a completely different set for first alerts. The sanctuary
acolytes however used both sets for first alerts, meaning upon entering the
parlor the acolyte could say: “Always those hammers banging away up there,
using their heads as anvils”, a comment also used as idle chatter, or he
could say: “That was weird”, a comment only used as a first alert. Sneak
reported being able to creep past the guard, ascend the ladder and enter the
attic without anyone noticing. That might have been due to a blockage in the
sound propagation at the left hand side when entering, directly under the
archway there (left image below). Crouching, Kharras drawn, creep-walking
with the sentry facing away still spawned a comment the instant the light
from the right lamp hit me. I am not saying Sneak was lying, but I don’t see
how our experiences could have been that different. I was moving in
absolutely the most concealed way allowed by the Thief engine, and still
there was no doubt he saw me. I wish with all my heart I could say otherwise,
but I would get busted for not fulfilling the loot requirement. Skipping the
rest of the parlor and the purse worth 1,000 in the attic would put me at a
maximum of 4,912 gold for Supreme, a good 688 away from the required
objective.
So I started to look for
a different way into the attic. The window in the southwest corner caught my
attention. It was positioned directly above the library walkway. Although the
drop was high, a tall stack might do the trick. First, there were 10 holy
water vials in the grotto. They would have to make up the bulk of the stack.
In addition, I was carrying Mercedes’ note, and I knew of two other papers in
the study. I would need more. Although unpredictable when it comes to
stacking, plenty of food items were found in the kitchen (right image above).
The three deer legs were safe, the rest iffy at best. However, any inventory
item is better than junk, as you can’t access those from the top of a stack.
But the amount of remaining inventory items were wearing thin and my stack
was nowhere near tall enough. The only junk items around were a drill bit in
the grotto and a skull in the keeper study. At least one of those would be
necessary. After scouting, I resumed my Supreme run and started collecting
items. First I needed the grotto
key from the interpreter’s tower. I could take the other copy off the
patrolling interpreter, but it disappeared upon use and then I would have to
get this copy to relock the door anyway. But how would I get to the library
walkway without a comment from the keeper guard? I knew the hallway to his
front was too bright, even for creep-crouching with Kharras drawn. Instead I
noticed two ledges protruding from the walkway to either side. Wide enough to
traverse? Could well be, and if so, I might be able to reach them from the
library. Leaping from any of the ladders got me nowhere close. Ladders
normally aren’t good for those kinds of maneuvers. Rope arrows wouldn’t
attach to the southern wall, they just disappeared, but they worked fine on
the northern wall. I wonder if this was intentional or a glitch? Anyhow, I
had to clean the ground floor first. This basically involved waiting for the
two keepers to head west. With a little luck they would stay behind the large
blocks long enough for me to snatch the bottle and the goblet off the end
table. I turned after getting the loot and rounded the corner northeast into
darkness. From here I could start placing my ropes. I needed three to get the
proper height. A nice trick when creating a series of ropes is making them
overlap, so they seemingly melt into one. That way when you’re at the top of
the lowest rope, simply grab the arrow from the wall and you’ll drop down an
inch or two but automatically catch hold of the next. No fuzz. The topmost I
retrieved from the ledge itself. I could finally steal the keeper’s dagger
worth a whopping 2 gold. Nice! Grabbed the grotto key and dropped back onto
the ladder on the south side of the railing. From there I could time the
patrollers below and head for the stairs (left image below).
Getting to the grotto
didn’t involve anything special. The stationary keeper by the entrance turned
quite frequently. I crept across the bridge not to risk getting seen without
being able to hear the alert. Stole the vials and returned. Lock-blocked the
gate as I headed back. That way I could return the grotto key and still be
able to leave the gate locked as I finished the mission. Happy I thought
ahead instead of having to redo it later. I experimented some with
stacking of food items next and found, to my astonishment, something I’ve
never realized before. Apples, cheeses, cucumbers, carrots and breads can all
be stacked like any other stackable item, but only if you have one item of
each in your inventory count. The instant I picked up a second cheese, for
example, I was unable to hop onto either. Apples are pretty much useless, as
they elevate you but a smidgeon. Instead I brought along 1 cheese, 1 cucumber
and 2 loaves of bread, in addition to the normal-behaving deer legs. Yes I
know I said breads can’t be stacked if you carry multiple, but I wanted to
try something. Since I could carry one
junk item, I brought the skull from the study. Hopped onto it directly
underneath the window, next to the northernmost fence post. The keeper didn’t
mind at all. Not even a first alert. Next I placed one of the breads in front of the stack. That way I had
one left in my inventory and I could jump onto that on top of the skull. Then
I grabbed the first bread and continued stacking. Using this method I could
use both breads in the stack, contrary to their regular behavior. In total,
21 items got me to around the top of the archway (right image above). With a
carefully aimed jump, I mantled up the fence successfully. YES!!!! What a
relief! I wasn’t out of the woods yet though. Getting off the fence up there
was difficult without alerting the keeper. Found the best way was to hop to
the chest in the corner. Grabbed the purse and reached the loot requirement
(left image below). Could actually use the stack to break the fall dropping
back down. It prevented falling damage and softened the landing so as to
avoid an alert. Returned the grotto key and all the items bar the vials
afterwards. Tedious, but not problematic.
Back to the parlor then.
Found I could take one more item for Supreme. The golden vase on the east
table was reachable from outside the fence (right image above). I could
mantle up there with an angled run from the top of the hallway ramp (left
image below). Had to draw the sword mid-air, otherwise I got alerts from the
guests. I couldn’t have it drawn before, as that weighed me down too much to
get the proper elevation. Imagine this mantle only to be possible with
NewDark’s mantle mechanics, though I never even tried it in the original
version. I had to watch the female sentry before getting up there. She most certainly
commented if turned east. Dropping back to ground level was only possible
with a cushioned landing. Used the holy water vials to dampen the impact and
avoid the comments. Nice to get the extra 100 loot for Supreme.
Lowering the difficulty
to plain Ghost mode, I saw a couple of opportunities to get the remaining
parlor loot pieces. I could grab two more items without dousing the fireplace
or flipping the light switch. The two end tables closest to the sentry held a
vase and a goblet; both could be snatched from the ladder area unseen.
Sneaking through the southwest corner, I could reach as far as in the right
image above. From there I could frob the light switch and go to work. Old Man
proposed use of the basketball from the pawnshop to bounce the vases off the
upper ledge. That was possible but very hard. Gas- and water arrows were also
possible. I suggest a different method however. I realized that for every
time I flipped the switch, the sorceress would eventually turn it back on and
end up a step or two closer to the southern wall. That meant traversing past
the ladder got harder. After about three flips it was near impossible. But I
had an idea on how to grab the upper vases while the room was still dark,
thereby cleaning the entire parlor in two flips only. It was possible to save
when she kept looking around then reload and she would start it over, but
that to me was an engine exploit. Instead, as soon as hitting the lights I
crouched to the carpet, went between the couch and Loren, turned right and
lurked toward the ladder. From a crouching position I could make a silent
jump onto the lower steps and fly up to the ledge by the painting. Had to
find the perfect height on the ladder from where to jump, otherwise I clunked
and alerted the sentry. Furthermore I could hop onto the next ledge silently
and take the vases. Back the same way just in time for the lights to turn on
(left image below).
Four items remained. Used
the gas arrow from the secret passage to douse the fireplace. Closed the
secret passage afterwards and dropped back onto the tiles. Last trip past the
sentry and toward the light switch again. Exactly the same maneuver but this
time I took a left after passing Loren and drew Kharras. The sorceress got
exceedingly wary as I entered the northern part of the carpet. She was
already looking from turning off the lights and the windows on the furthest
wall slightly increased my gem. It was hard to notice cause she never said a
word and turned invisible in real hunt mode. The biggest problem was getting
between her and the acolyte. Found the perfect path in the end crouch-running
with Kharras drawn. Managed to grab the remaining loot and even head back to
the top of the ladder without getting spotted (right image above). Altogether
I got a few comments from the acolyte but that is allowed in Ghost. Pretty
happy with that turnout, not needing to reenter the pawnshop. I’m no good at
basketball anyways. Finished by returning the
vials to the grotto and frobbed the wall-plaque to end the mission. I would like to thank
Purah one final time for making this mission pack. It stands out for me as
perhaps the best gaming experience ever. Considering the unpaid effort and
amount of work involved, it simply is a crowning achievement. STATISTICS: Time: 2:09:04 Loot: 6563 out of 6658 (Supreme: 6014) Pickpockets: 14 out of 34 Secrets Found: None Locks Picked: 2 Damage Dealt: 14 Damage Taken: 0 Innocents Killed: None, and Others Killed: 1 Bodies Discovered by Enemies: 1 Consumables: 2 Gas Arrows (to kill Gaston without
alerts; and to douse the fireplace in the sanctuary parlor [plain Ghost
only]) Ghost: Success! Perfect Thief: Failed! Supreme Thief: Success! Perfect Supreme Thief: Failed! Notes: -
Had to skip the two candlesticks worth 50 each in the
pawnshop for Supreme. They both get extinguished when highlighted, and this
is not allowed. -
An artifact statue and a pair of lucky coins (95 total)
in the warehouse northwest of the seminary had to be skipped for all modes.
Breaking the window to enter is considered property damage. -
The gas arrow used (from the pawnshop) and the 14 damage
dealt is from killing Gaston. This is the only way to kill him while also
avoiding alerts from the other thieves. Objective prevails here so no bust. -
Had to skip another burning candlestick worth 50 in
Gaston’s bedroom for Supreme. -
Had to skip 2 more gold for Supreme in Grindle &
Boggs’ basement. I didn’t have the skeleton key and -
A total of 397 worth of loot had to be skipped in the
sanctuary parlor for Supreme. The sitting acolyte commented upon entering.
These items included: a dagger (2), a wine bottle (50), three vases (300),
two goblets (30) and a statue (15). -
The body discovered is from the street brawls in the
beginning and has nothing to do with me. |
