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CATACOMBS OF KNOSS
[REMASTERED] Part 2 This is stellar mission
making from Nicked. We travel deep into the catacombs looking for Knoss’
tomb. Crypts, traps and puzzle solving on the highest level. This is clearly
a throwback to Down In the Bonehoard, but made in a fresh, creative way. The
new enemies are both creepy and clever, enough to keep you intrigued and
scared all at the same time. And all this from stock resources only.
Magnificent. My tasks were simple: Find
a way into Knoss’ tomb and retrieve his grimoire, along with 3,200 in other valuables.
Let’s go. Upper Catacombs My first problem came in
King of the Night Sun. A cleverly hidden throne room on the top level
revealed a valuable scepter (left image below). Unfortunately, this scepter
was a light source and thus couldn’t be obtained for Supreme. On the bottom
level, two skeleton spiders spawned once taking the Talisman of Air. I could
prevent this by placing a deer leg on the central pedestal prior. It would
still spawn the spiders, but immobile and unresponsive (dead?). In order to not
have to bring a deer leg from the previous mission, I managed to grab the
talisman without getting spotted by the spiders by immediately running to the
northwest corner (right image below). I then had to close up the chest and
sneak around the caskets back to the ladder. I’m not sure taking and using
the deer leg method would be a bust to Supreme, but I felt my method was
cleaner and safer. It was also a nicely added challenge.
The first inevitable
Supreme busts came not long after. In the Nameless Ancients tomb there was a
sleeping zombie sitting just beyond the entrance to a cave I was forced to
walk through (left image below). Either entrance was just a foot away, and
the doorway ceiling was too low to jump above its detection level. It only
gave a growl and didn’t wake up if I quickly ran through. Additionally, the
chest with the Earth Talisman was guarded by arrow traps, a further bust for
Supreme. This trap also triggered when closing up the chest, the alternative
being to leave it open. I chose to close it. Got another growl from the
zombie when leaving. The Hall of the Hundres
Heroes wasn’t difficult, except I had to skip the four blue chests with loot
at the eastern end of the wooden beams for Supreme. They were all protected
by traps that I never found a way to avoid triggering. This amounted to 365
more in loot. The trap in the water shrine could be prevented by using the
Wand of the Sunken Blades on the submerged swords ahead of time. I reset the
swords afterwards for good measure. After taking the Talisman of Fire, 20
apparitions spawned on the lower 2 levels. They spawned in hunt mode, but
quickly settled. I could slowly sneak out of there without any alerts. I
reset all the switches for the mathematician’s tomb afterwards. Then used all
the talisman’s and entered the lower levels.
Lower Catacombs The Towers of Runelight,
Silence, Doors, and Dead Thoughts, as well as the Ziggurat of Elders all went
without issues. The Halls of Eternal Tranquility were much harder. Lots of
patrolling and sleeping zombies, and not too much shade to go around.
Especially heading up ramps and climbing to upper levels I was very exposed.
Taking my time and waiting for patrollers to clear out did the trick. To get
back down after taking the Hand of Knoss, I dropped from one of the top level
caskets onto the walkway quite close to the entry point (right image above).
That circumvented a lot of backtracking. The burrick tunnels
weren’t tough to navigate, but there was one piece of loot guarded by two
patrollers and one stationary burrick that gave me issues. I found coming
from the eastern cave was the easiest, as the two patrollers could pass here
without detecting me. The stationary beast faced north and south, and when in
the former position, I could rush around the corner and get the purse and
head back without a first alert (left image below).
Further down in the fire
shrine, the intended way to cross the lava chasm was to shoot an arrow into
the button on the other side. However, there was no way to retract the
bridge, so I found a way across that didn’t involve the bridge. In Thief 1 you
gain a speed boost with every successive jump, and with three jumps I gained
enough momentum to carry me across (right image above). I don’t count this as
an engine exploit, as it was well known from the early days of Thief and not
very complicated to pull off. Knoss’ tomb wasn’t hard to
Ghost. The skull guarding his casket didn’t give first alerts, and it pivoted
in all directions. I remembered to lower the cloud lift and also close the
alternate exit back up after leaving. I also dropped the ossuary key back
before finishing. Outstanding mission this! Statistics: Time: 1:28:21 Loot: 4973 out of 4973 (Supreme: 4508) Pickpockets: None Locks Picked: 0 Damage Dealt: 0 Damage Taken: 0 Consumables: None Ghost: Success! Perfect Thief: Success! Supreme Thief: Failed! Perfect Supreme Thief: Failed! Notes: -
Skipped a scepter worth 100 in King of the Night Sun area
for Supreme. It was a light source, which isn’t allowed to remove for that
mode. -
Got two first alert growls from a sleeping zombie in the
Nameless Ancients tomb; one coming in, and another one leaving. Supreme
busts. -
Triggered traps when opening and closing the chest with
the Talisman of Earth. Nobody heard the noise and I didn’t get hurt, but
these were also Supreme busts. -
Skipped 4 pieces of loot for a total of 365 for Supreme
in the chests in the Halls of the Hundred Heroes. All of them triggered traps
when opened. |
