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LEGACY OF KNOSS A loose sequel to
Catacombs of Knoss, Nicked again knocks it out of
the park with a very entertaining mission. From what I remember, this didn’t
get as much praise as it deserved upon release. A well-built city with interesting
locations and characters, a cool story, and plenty of fascinating readables to go along. Come along to Greytwist
Murking and discover the not-so-typical tomb beneath
the local theatre. You will not be disappointed! After visiting Tybald, I had to steal some vases from the Trondheim Gallery,
a ruby scepter from Sir Kenington, and a stone key
from some thugs in the sewers. I then had to use the latter to access a
portal beneath the theatre. I also needed to find some information from Lady
Carmella in Shadewall Castle, along with stealing
4,000 worth of valuables. City The city overall was
fairly challenging to navigate, though it didn’t have many individual spots
that required outright tricky maneuvers. There were tight patrols in many
buildings, but just the right amount of shade or hardcover made it possible
to sneak around with a bit of patience. The northern part of town I circled
counterclockwise, visiting the sewers for the stone key from Shadewall Castle. To the east of this building was a
tough piece of loot, a goblet on a windowsill (left image below). I had to
drop from the nearby roof, and further mantle back onto the ledges to return
to the restaurant roof. I think the intention was to grab it as you drop into
the canal, but that wasn’t my preference. At the inn came a bigger issue for
Ghost. A silver nugget behind a banner couldn’t be obtained without slashing
it (right image below). It simply wasn’t frobbable
until the banner was gone. Property damage is of course not allowed for any
mode, so it had to be skipped. By bye, Perfect Thief.
At Sir Kenington’s
the patrols were very tight. I had to find a convenient gap in the patrols to
get the scepter, as there were no dark spots around. I needed long enough to
open and close the cage, and also get out of the room entirely. In the
bathroom on the same floor was Kenington himself
(left image below). He was butt naked in the tub, but no less vigilant. The
guard patrolling this hallway had a short route, which didn’t leave me with
many seconds to get in there. Kenington pivoted,
and needed to be facing away as I entered. The same for leaving, although I
had more time to work with then.
Entering the theatre
presented the first major Supreme issue. There was only one entry door
besides the front entrance, with a stationary guard just inside (right image
above). He pivoted, so he didn’t spot me, but he heard the door close. He
didn’t hear it open, as the unlocking sound actually isn’t detected by
enemies, but the shutting sound is. However, as I was trying to lock-block
the door as close as possible, I discovered something remarkable. I was able
to lean into the door just as it closed, leaving the door shut, but without making
the closing sound! When frobbing the door now, the
door was locked, yet no alert from the guard had been given since there was
no sound! In my 28 years of playing the game, this is the first time I’ve
ever heard of anyone doing this. Trying it a few times more, I realized it
isn’t that hard to repeat either. Incredible! One guaranteed Supreme bust
avoided. The theatre overall wasn’t
difficult at all, only that first door. Caves The main cave with the
candle puzzle was pure terror at first. Once I realized spawning each of the
candles also opened a specific teleporter that
brought the floating skulls, it got a bit easier. The eastern and western
islands had no skulls nearby, so those were easier. On the southern island I
found a predictable way of jumping from the main walkway over to the misty
archway, then furthermore over to the stairs. That really helped. The lights
on the main walkway pulsated slowly, but predictably. I could use this and
make a run for it when at the darkest. The northern island was the worst, as
there were four patrolling zombies, and the area they patrolled was tiny, so
they always seemed to be close to the walkway. I realized I could stay
underneath the ledge of the teleporter outcropping
and be totally dark (left image below). When the skulls were floating away
and the zombie had their backs turned, I mantled up and hid behind the
eastern archway pillar. This was a good place to observe the skulls and time
the lights. I rounded the pillar and did an angled jump northeast to the walkway.
Before not too long I was home free.
In the central house it
was just a matter of staying behind hardcover. I had to skip three pieces of
loot on the fourth level for Supreme. Taking any of them started a continual
spitfire trap system, plus spawned deadly lasers (right image above). Traps
are not allowed to be triggered for that mode. After getting the Crystal
of Power I wanted to avoid picking the lock on the inn basement door, so I
started to backtrack through the caves. However, the door operated by the
candles had closed up, so there was no way to proceed. It might trigger as a
result of taking the crystal, I’m not sure. Instead I reloaded and found I
could block the door from closing using one of my keys, so that I could put
out the candles before entering the house. This left it as close to the
original state as possible for Supreme. I returned the three keys
I was carrying before ending the mission at Tybald’s.
Wonderful mission! Statistics: Time: 2:13:32 Loot: 6599 out of 6649 (Supreme: 6399) Pickpockets: 2 out of 2 Locks Picked: 6 Damage Dealt: 0 Damage Taken: 0 Secrets: 7 out of 8 Consumables: None Ghost: Success! Perfect Thief: Failed! Supreme Thief: Success! Perfect Supreme Thief: Failed! Notes: -
Skipped a silver nugget worth 50 at the inn for all
modes. The only way to obtain it was to slash the banner, which is property
damage. -
Skipped three vases worth 200 on the fourth level of the
skull house in the caves for Supreme. Taking any of them triggered traps. |
