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KEEPER OF THE PROPHECIES - Mission 2: Hallucinations This
is my favorite mission in this campaign by some distance. It is very bleak
and depressing, but carries a lot of emotional baggage, due to the author’s
personal history. I love the combination of fog, howling wind and the
occasional snowflake. Having a real timer is an interesting touch, but
certainly not everyone’s cup of tea. Due to the recent .dml
by fortuni and glypher,
this mission now works in NewDark without random
crashes, which means Perfect Supreme Ghost is possible. I
was poisoned, and my primary objective was to find the one responsible.
Furthermore, the keepers directed me to find a way into the hammerite cathedral before 10 o’clock. There was a real
clock keeping time in the town square, giving me about 65 minutes to finish
on time. On my way there, I also had to find Megatfree’s
pocket watch at the mortuary. I started with only 4 health points, and at
random intervals I would lose more. The Supreme rules don’t allow the use of
healing potions, but it doesn’t say anything about food or healing fruits.
When losing health, nearby enemies could also hear Garrett’s grunts, posing
an added and somewhat unpredictable challenge. Reloading in order to avoid
all loss of health seemed like an engine exploit to me, so I avoided that.
Instead, I would try to maximize efficiency early on by moving quickly.
Enemies (both guards and undead) would be released at timed intervals
throughout the mission, giving me an added incentive to act fast. South Got
to my apartment without hindrance. Passed the hammerite-mechanist conversation quickly, before the
fight started. Kevel didn’t alert to me and I had to let him in to
proceed. His key disappeared so the door was left unlocked. Looted Pinchenden’s place next. I skipped reading the diary for
Supreme, in order to avoid the lengthy interaction with Alisha. Approaching
the town square, a conversation started between the surgeon and a nobleman.
Upon completion, Grendius ran to the infirmary
door. To avoid having to pick it open, I managed to block it before it closed
(left image below). There wasn’t much in it, but it was repeatable. Looted
this place with ease, again skipping Alisha’s conversation.
The
only remaining thing to do in this part of town was to get the loot from the easter egg location, which involved shooting an arrow into
the east side of the clocktower. A water arrow was my best and most silent
option. Only one enemy here right now was a stationary hammerite
by the cathedral gate. Plenty of other patrollers would spawn later, making
cleaning the town square this early of utmost importance. I could shoot the
arrow undetected from the gate in the far northeast corner (right image
above). The guard was too far away to see me or hear the shot. I grabbed the
loot in the next room and one healing apple. It would fully restore my health
if needed later. I spawned back on the west side of the clocktower. North The
best way I found to get into the warehouse district was via the frozen river.
It was difficult to navigate the ice quickly without making a lot of noise,
so I had to slow down for parts of it. One narrow portion had breakable ice,
but if moving along the left wall, it didn’t crack (left image below). The
warehouse had two thieves on the east and west sides. They were outside, but
could see part of the inside through a slot towards the bottom. I could
easily climb the crates and get the only piece of loot in here without
getting spotted. To leave this area I climbed the 3 crates on the north side,
then used the icy ledge to reach the exit tunnel (right image below). One of
the aforementioned thieves stood below, but he couldn’t see me if I took this
route and moved slow. There was also a patrolling archer on the icy ledge
itself, but his route was long and not a problem to dodge.
Arriving
at Megatfree’s, no guards had spawned yet and no
zombies were to be seen either. The front doors were pickable, but an
unlocked window on the second floor accessed the master bathroom. Picked up Judy as the extra objective spawned. I didn’t
actually need to pick up the pocket watch though; it checked off as I got
close. However, since the pocket watch replaced the compass if taken, my
regular compass disappeared from my inventory even if I didn’t take the
watch. Not a big deal, just annoying. Skipped the balcony
secret. It required another arrow use and only yielded useless
explosive charges. At this time, two patrolling swordsmen had spawned outside
the mortuary. I used their route to get into the bottom floor and access the
rest of the upper floor without having to pick any locks. I could also get
into Megatfree’s office this way (left image
below). Very nice to be able to leave all these doors locked for Supreme. The
office desk couldn’t be relocked as the key disappeared; it couldn’t even be
reclosed.
The
attorney’s office wasn’t a big deal. As Franticious’
conversation ended, I could either block the double doors as the guard
appeared, or reenter through the now open door from the street, without
having to pick any locks. The cathedral gate key was a necessary pickup, and
it couldn’t be dropped so I didn’t have to return it. At this point, the time
read 9:18pm, so I had 27 minutes left until getting the optional objective
checked off. If I left before this, it would get crossed out, which is ok for
regular Ghost but a bust to Supreme. There was nowhere to hide without first
alerts over by the cathedral gate, so I waited just inside the northeast
instead (right image above). I could monitor most fights from here. My health
was down to 1 hit point, so I ate my magic healing apple to replenish it. At
9:30, a significant wave of zombies and haunts were released, from which the
outcome was highly variable. Most
of the time, the zombie and haunts would kill the mechanists and guards close
to the cathedral entrance in the first wave. Not long after settling down,
the undead would wander off, leaving the cathedral gate empty. When the coast
was clear I rushed over to the corner just south of the gate (image below).
This was the only spot close to the gate that was safe. It had previously been
blocked by the stationary mechanist. Here I sat tight until the clock turned
9:45 and the objective completed.
Statistics: Time: 56:12 Loot: 1223 out of 1223 Pickpockets: 0 out of 3 Secrets: 2 out of 4 Locks Picked: 4 Damage Dealt: 0 Damage Taken: 15 Healing Taken: 9 Consumables: 1 Water Arrow and 1 Magic Healing
Apple Ghost: Success! Perfect Thief: Success! Supreme Thief: Success! Perfect Supreme Thief: Success! |
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