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LOST IN THE FAR EDGES - [10 Rooms Contest] This
is a mission I found very intriguing when I played it for the 10 Rooms
Contest back in 2014. It’s the only mission by Soul Tear I’ve played. I’m not
sure if all of his missions are this difficult, but this one is definitely
not for beginners. I challenge everyone to finish this ironman style. Not
only is it tough to navigate without plunging to your death, but the puzzles
are excruciatingly cryptic and loot deviously well-hidden. You have been
warned! I
had to steal a magical crystal from Gerem Crestov. Apparently it was protected by a complicated
security system, which a nearby engineer had information on. I also had to
obtain 5,000 in valuables, which ended up being almost 90% of all the loot in
the mission; a ridiculously high requirement, even for expert (or Garrett).
Lastly, I was to end the mission on Hope Street. “Streets” The
only problem before reaching Crestov’s was I had to
break a boarded up window to a storage room just northeast of the starting
building (left image below). This was property damage and a Ghost bust. There
was 1,250 worth of loot in there, and I could only skip 400 before missing
the requirement. Tossing a crate at it was the intended method.
It
was also a little bit tricky reaching Crestov’s
window without leaving any vine arrows behind. I used two, one in the top
railing and another in the ventilation unit
below (right image above). I could leap from the first and grab the
vine along the way. The second I had to grab looking up, then drop directly
onto the sill. There wasn’t enough space to really get a foothold, so I
immediately pushed against the window in order to stay put. The glass would
break on impact, so I tried to grab the arrow so that I landed on the lip to
the side of the window instead. I got the hang of it after not too long. Gerem Crestov Entering
the building required breaking the window, another Ghost bust. All I had to
do was walk into the glass and it shattered. The nearby guard died from this,
but this was clearly a scripted event, plus it didn’t show up in the stats,
so no further bust. Three other guardians and a monkey alerted to the noise
of the window and came running. Although I’m quite certain they heard the
commotion, this was also at least partly scripted, as they never returned to
their original location once they settled down. The monkey was on a walkway
and thus stayed put. I could hide in the dark corners by the first gate. I
had to make sure the guardians stopped facing towards the south, which took
quite a few reloads (left image below). I could then sneak into the next room
undetected. UPDATE: WheretIB2 found you can avoid
breaking this window by climbing the rooftops and dropping directly down to
the second window described further down. This also avoids
"killing" the guardian by the window, plus it doesn't alert the
other 3 guardians at all; it only alerts the monkey. However, it makes it
very difficult to reach the ventilation system and the loot in there, because
one of the guardians is in the way. The way to get around it is to drop down
on top of it from the walkway above, then drop a few of your starting potions
on the ground and land on them as you slide off his head. You'll get a first
alert when opening the hatch, plus you can't go back to close all the vent
grates, but at least you can get the loot this way.
I
then headed into the ventilation system. None of the enemies above seemed to hear
me running around down there, despite being all metal. Needed to flip four
levers to reach the end. Once there, I had a similar situation as before. Two
vine arrows were needed to reach another windowsill. The arrows were harder
to retrieve than last time, but I managed to do to without taking damage.
This window also had to be broken by walking into it, and yet again the
guardians and monkey alerted to the noise. This time, all the torches in the
main hallway also went out. I’m not really sure if the lights going out
counts as an additional Supreme bust. I think the rules was meant to prevent
the player from deliberately putting out lights to further progress, not to
penalize the player for triggering inevitable, scripted events. I ruled it as
ok, but would like a second opinion. I definitely benefited from the
darkness, as I had to revisit the hallway to get to the security room and
this would’ve been impossible without lights on. The guardians stopped in
said hallway, but couldn’t see me if I went slow (right image above). I could
now also get the diamond on the monkey’s walkway by mantling up the torch. Getting
into the security room involved climbing one of the gated walls. There was
one missing a bar at the top, and that is what the player is supposed to
notice. I remember needed a hint to get in there on my first playthrough 8 years back. Very cruel puzzle that, as
there is no hint besides just having to notice the difference in the door
texture, and it’s not like doors commonly can be climbed. I had to drop down
on the other side and couldn’t crouch doing this, so the guardians heard it
and alerted again. To avoid this I dropped some of my starting gear on the
ground so I could land softly (left image below). Used the same trick going
back. Returned to the vent system to reset the levers from this side, then
got the rest of the loot in the crystal room and teleported to the forest.
Forest Just
for the record, this is the most beautiful and believable forest I’ve seen in
any fan mission. It drew me right in. However, if you don’t have at least
3,250 loot before getting there, you can’t finish the mission. This is utter
failure from a gameplay perspective and should’ve been fixed during testing.
A portal that takes you back to the crystal room would’ve been the easiest
solution, as you can go back to the start of the mission from there. I
understand that the mission is supposed to be difficult, but that is just
wrong. Additionally, a lot of the loot is very well hidden. The
only thing to report from this area was a nugget on a mushroom to the
northwest (right image above). An extremely well-camouflaged treebeast was stationed up against a tree just to the
north, and it gave a growl when I got too close. It wasn’t close enough to
lean in for the grab, so this had to be skipped for Supreme. The only way I
managed to get it without a second level alert was coming from the west. Any
other direction and the treebeast woke up, which
indicated hunt mode. The run was utterly failed already, but it would’ve been
nice to get all the loot for Supreme. There were also two more nuggets in a
hole up a sloped base of a tree just east of here that was tough. I had to
tap the run button climbing the slope in order not to get another first alert
from the same treebeast as before. As long as I
didn’t move too fast, I was ok. Once
I dropped into the final hole, unless I quickly moved into the deeper cave,
the mission ended and the last new objective didn’t check off and that is a
Supreme bust. Any incomplete objectives fails that mode. This one was more
fun on the first playthrough than when ghosting. Statistics: Time: 51:05 Loot: 5600 out of 5600 (Supreme: 5550) Pickpockets: 0 out of 1 Secrets: 5 out of 5 Locks Picked: 1 Damage Dealt: 0 Damage Taken: 0 Consumables: None Ghost: Failed! Perfect Thief: Failed! Supreme Thief: Failed! Perfect Supreme Thief: Failed! Notes: -
Had to break a boarded up window using a crate in order
to meet the loot requirement. Ghost bust. -
Had to break a window when entering Gerem
Crestov’s. This also alerted 4 enemies to hunt
mode. More Ghost busts. -
Broke a second window when entering the room with the
crystal. The same 4 enemies again alerted to hunt mode. Even more busts. -
Arguably, another Supreme bust occurred from the lights
turning off when approaching the crystal. However, this is a scripted event
from crossing an invisible line and not a result of Garrett’s interacting
with anything. -
Skipped a silver nugget on a glowing mushroom in the
forest for Supreme. The nearby treebeast gave a
first alert when I got too close. |
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