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PREVIOUS MISSION THIEF GOLD NEXT MISSION Mission 9: The Lost City [This
walkthrough has recently been updated for TFix,
running NewDark 1.25. Although the original text
for OldDark has been preserved, situations affected
by these patches have been inserted in green. All screenshots have been
updated, and many new ones have been added. Keep in mind that there is a
difference between playing the game in NewDark with
or without TFix. TFix
updates the core mission files, as well as applies .dml
files that tweak the environment in numerous ways. These changes aren’t
supposed to have a significant impact on gameplay, but when ghosting, slight
changes could occur. If wanting as close to the “vanilla” experience as
possible, install just NewDark, without any further
patches. I have ghosted the game 1) in OldDark, 2)
in plain NewDark, and 3) in NewDark
with TFix. This walkthrough will discuss
differences between all varieties.] I had a fun time through
this mission. While not among my favorites, it adds a nice chapter to the
diverse world of Thief. Personally, I dislike enemies where alert levels are
difficult to recognize, so fire elementals are not exactly my cup of tea. But
that being a trifle, the rest of the mission is rather enjoyable. Tough to
Ghost, but Perfect Thief is possible, believe it or not. Supreme got busted
even though I didn’t have any 1st alerts, kind of bummed about that. The lost
expedition is a nice side story supplement. Mapwise
I have not covered the Overall score: 7.4/10 The next relic is the
Talisman of Fire, hidden by the keepers in a place called the My purchase screen
includes a commission from an acquaintance regarding some possible antiquity
finds. This information will increase the total loot amount from 2845 to
3205. Obviously not allowed for Supreme, I will buy this for plain Ghost to
raise my chances of reaching the loot objective. No other purchases are
necessary. Another rope arrow could come in handy, but I can find one in the
streets close to start. I begin in an alley near
the town canal. Approaching the river, I can see the cryptic lock in the
water underneath the boardwalk. I won’t enter just yet though. To the west I
spot a closed set of wooden gates. They seem to hide a backyard alley of some
sort. But how do I get across? My rope arrow attaches to the walls of the
street buildings, but it’s the only one I got and I need it to get back (left
image below). What if I could leap towards the steep roof and quickly turn to
grab the arrow before falling down? That just might work. Yes, it works, but
I took damage in the fall. Reload. Ok, if I aim for the carriage, I can grab
the rope and avoid any loss of health. 5 crates here for future reference.
Behind them are a golden goblet (25)
and a golden plate (75). Behind the wagon I locate 2 broadhead arrows and a rope arrow. Back across the
wall I use the same method as earlier. There is nothing else of interest in
the streets, so I plunge into the water. The key fits perfectly in the
underwater lock, and it triggers a moving wall in the canal. Using the key
and leaving the door open are not busts; finding the entrance is in the
objectives, and the moving panel can’t be closed nor locked. I follow the
only way possible.
A pocket of air midway
through the cave system sufficiently supplies oxygen to complete the dive
harmlessly. I emerge in a narrower fast flowing river. A ledge to my
immediate right works as an exit point, but it leaves me visible to a pack of
nearby spiders. Two of the three critters face the other way; the last one,
however, is positioned towards me and lets off a first alert on my appearance
around the corner. The exit from the ledge they’re on is across the river at
the top of a tall waterfall. Perhaps I could mantle onto that ledge from the
river directly. Let’s try that! Well yeah it worked, but the spiders all got
alerted from the swimming; I make much noise whirling through the water.
Here’s a trick players might not be aware of: running along the bottom gives
you more control against the current, provides better speed and makes less
noise. Therefore, letting the current lead me along the stream floor won’t
alert the spiders at all, and with a nicely timed mantle I can reach the left
side well within Supreme rules (right image above).
From here into the next
cave I have to be very careful. Cc along the left wall and down the sloping
rocks. The next spider faces south, away from my entry (although with the
butt-vision he seems to be staring in my direction). He is stationed right on
a split in the rocks leading down towards the cave exit. I watch him
carefully and notice he is actually sliding down the small fissure. Every
turn pushes him closer to the southern wall. Nifty! He seems to stop about
halfway down there, remaining permanent at his station (left image above).
But he might have slid far enough for me to leave unseen... This can hardly
be called an engine exploitation; most often he has finished his slide by the
time I get down there, as I use plenty of time edging away from the trio
across the creek. Creep-crouching and tapping the walk key I can inch around
the right corner into the shadows outside. No alerts! But I still need to
cross the cave opening to reach the lower plateaus. Running past the gap I
only get a first alert, but I would like to eradicate that too. I see two
stony ledges below to the southwest, the lowest with two small spiders I can
spot from here. What if I could leap down and grab hold of the edge? I have
to do an angled running jump from the shadows aiming for the right side of
the shelf (right image above). Yes, I can reach it, but I got spotted by the
spider behind me and I made an awful lot of noise mantling. Try again. It
seems like I can avoid any alerts if I jump far to the east. I can prevent
the mantle thump by cutting it off before completion, sort of a half-mantle.
This is a very difficult jump, with
a complex set of consecutive moves and fast key-strokes, but it has been
repeated and keeps Supreme intact still. I have not
been able to repeat this jump without a first alert since I did it back in
2006. I have tried it both in NewDark and OldDark. I know it’s possible, as I remember doing it
multiple times, I just haven’t been able to rediscover the correct method. I now spot the last spider
further down the incline, right by a t-junction; a
big nasty green one, perhaps the mother of the others. All three are staring
directly down the pathway ahead. The cave is lit and I need to get past them
to continue. Guess it is nudging time and unfortunately a Supreme bust. Small
spiders cannot be nudged by mere pushing, they are too short for that. They
need to be pushed by an object, preferably a crate. There were some crates in
the hidden alley up in the streets. I better reload and bring one. Back in
the caves I drop the crate onto the first spider. I place it on top so that
it tilts towards me, applying pressure to the backside. As it does its small
fiddling turn, I notice they do a small jerk away from the crate’s side.
Putting the crate on either side allows one to lead the spider in any desired
direction. Using this technique, I press the two small spiders together, so
they almost merge into one (left image below). This way I can consider them
as a single AI object. I need to move them down to where the cave walls turn
and preferably closer to the right corner. The green spider is insignificant;
I can sneak past the left corner without it spotting me. The right image
below is captured once I was able to inch around the left bend. Supremers should bring the crate along as it is needed
later in the mission to avoid a bust. I will point out when to leave the
crate behind. Ghosters won’t have to mind; just
leave it here in the corner and pick it up on the way back. The west path is
a dead end, so I follow the east road until I finally reach the first lost
city building. I drop down the hole in the left corner.
I’ve
entered the lost city library. I can hear the soft footsteps of a burrick fade away somewhere. The room straight south has 2
goblets (105) on one of the windowsills. Back in the previous room I see
the burrick enter the room through the left doorway.
It turns around and heads back. I follow it through two rooms and spot a set
of stairs going down to the left. Downstairs I head left and catch another burrick strolling north in the next room. Here I choose
the east doorway and walk straight past the large open hall. Supremers can leave the library down this hall, but ghosters should continue to the next section which has a
small set of stairs on the south side. Beyond the south turn is a small drop
to the lowest level. The big main hall down here has an unexciting dead end
exit to the east. The left path however is a bit more interesting. It needs
to be handled with high accuracy, so I’ll describe the area in detail. It’s
an empty square room that illuminates upon entrance. A burrick
patrols in both directions east-west, having a total patrol time of about 65
seconds. Through the south doorway is another burrick,
and though stationary, he’s very difficult to dodge. His vision covers about
two thirds of the east side of the room. The north wall has a big hole in it,
and the cave beyond has two more stationary burricks
covering the western half. Altogether there are 4 creatures to avoid, the
patrolling one being the easiest. My goal is to reach the western hallway
going south; it eventually leads to three pieces of loot. The east side of
the room receives light from both the large hall to the east and the room with the burrick to the south; the west side doesn’t. Taking this
into account, and the fact that the light crystal in the ceiling takes a
second or so to become fully lit, traveling from east to west is the least
problematic. I wait for the patroller to exit west and then have to pass the
room alert free. Strafe-running is the best way to achieve maximum speed. On
my way west, the burricks to the north catch me
about half the time. The image below is taken from the northwest corner and
illustrates the best routes. The tomb at the end of the hall holds a scroll, a diamond (155), a necklace
(330) and a goblet (345). The burrick
does a wide u-turn to its right, making it easy to
dodge. Crossing the room to the north once again is not as easy though. Since
I’m coming from the west, the room will be fully lit as I reach the area
covered by the south burrick. One needs to cross
this last part as fast as possible, and with some luck he will settle with a
grunt. This is possibly the hardest move in the mission, even worse than the
leap in the spider caves, but I have twice been successful. I guess about one
in twenty attempts turns out triumphant. With TFix, it seems these stationary burricks
are jumpier. In order to pass them, you need to generate greater speed by
jumping through the room. You also need to use a moss arrow at either end of
the room to soften the landing. Big thanks to Marbleman
for discovering this method! In NewDark without TFix, the burricks act like
they did in OldDark. Upstairs
I enter the west doorway and leave through the half-covered exit to the
south. Directly to the right in a grassy corner I find another diamond
(395). Having completed the library area, I move on to the old residential
streets to the south.
Another
burrick patrols the first street, so I slip into
the right building. He passes and I spend some time to look around. All of
the ground floors on this street are empty, but there’s an open window on the
roof of the corner building to the front. Aha! A golden goblet (420)
beside some ghastly remains lies just within my reach (right image above). Further up on the top roof ledge is a fire arrow. I
continue on this street until I have a choice of going right or left. Instead
of doing either, I head up the staircase in the building on the southwest
corner. Upstairs further to the west is a golden plate (470). Down and
out I take the north path towards a side cave
system. By the first set of houses I notice a broken wall to the right. I
can’t mantle onto that building from here, but I can climb the structure on
the opposing side and from there hop across. Down the roof hole are 3 fire
arrows. I continue east and reach a lava lake. This part of the city has
been struck fiercely by the melting rocks. There’s a pathway along the
rooftops, but only the first building holds anything interesting. I mantle up
by the slanting rock and enter to grab another 3 fire arrows. I head
back to the street crossroads and choose the south road. The next turn
is the meeting point for two burricks patrolling in
opposite directions; I avoid them by hiding in one of the plenty doorways
around here. I follow the burrick traveling west
then south until I reach another doorway on my left. Southwest from here is
another burrick; he’s stationed in a small alcove
between two of the ruined buildings. I crouch inside, and peeking over my
shoulder I note the burrick stays calm. The tiara
(570) in the soil here is worth another 100 gold. The ruins further
southeast lead to a larger cave with some fire elementals. These creatures
have a disliking for burricks and could potentially
cause a mess. This is dependent on the timing of the patrolling burrick. However, there is no need to get involved with
their situation any further. I rather need to get out of here pronto! I
mantle onto the building where I found the tiara and hop northwest across the
street to the nearby roof. Directly south I find a cave in the wall. I enter
the cave and leave the residential area. I
follow the cavern north and ignore the first opening to the left. Straight
ahead I spot a fallen brick wall uncovering a brighter cave. Two fire
elementals appear from the south, turn and head back where they came from. I
enter the cave slowly. A wall and a gate enclose the area to the north, as
well as another flying elemental beyond. However, the fallen bricks can help
me get through. As the fire elemental floats west, I mantle up the east side
and quickly cross the lava pit. The opposing side has enough darkness to hide
me sufficiently (left image below). The first
building contains a quiver of 10 broadhead
arrows. Outside in the corner are 11 moss arrows. Ten of them are
packed into a weird-looking giant arrow, while the last one lies beside it. The
middle building has a necklace (720) worth 150 gold. The ruin at the end has another fire arrow in the
doorway. To get back across the pit I use the wall to the west of the
gate. Behind the elemental’s back I drop from the stony plateau onto the
wall. Reaching ground level I must be careful not to make noise. There is a
graveled patch right in front of the gate, and with an aimed jump I reach it
before the elemental turns around. Quickly into the shadows and save!
I
continue south and head into the first building on the right. The two fire
elementals from before will come back and pass this area, so I better hide. I
stay inside the doorway here until they fly out of sight. There’s a papyrus
(needed for Supreme) on the ground, containing information on the arena
bridge controls. I slip out and head further
south, ignoring all the exits to the west. By the final exit to the west I
leave my crate for now (Supreme only). At the theatre I enter the cave to the
left. There is a side entrance to the theatre just after a steep hill, but I
continue south and eventually end up at another sunken residential area. The
ground is flooded with lava halfway through, but the rooftops keep me dry for
now. I leap between the houses and spot a clearing up ahead. Approaching the
clearing I notice a disturbed campfire, and what seems to be a fire mage
circling it. I sneak in behind him and pause to observe; there is a hiding
spot on the backside of the piled bricks (right image above). He patrols in a
clockwise pattern around the campfire remains. The chilling corpses might be
part of the alleged expedition. I crawl after the mage as he does his rounds,
picking up a medallion and a purse (790) from the first
skeleton. I also find a scroll, a rope
arrow and a fire arrow on the ground further south. Behind
what looks like a half-sunken barbican lie a silver nugget (840) and a gas arrow. From here it’s safest to
follow this ledge around the lava pit, mantle onto the roof and approach the
mage from the north again. This
time I slip into the cave opening to the south and inch along the right wall.
Inside the next cave two mages are having a chit chat further east, but I can
avoid their attention if I creep-crawl directly to the stairs ahead. Wow,
this looks like a sacred tomb of some sort. At least it’s well protected! Hidden in one of the flames outside the tomb is another fire
arrow. I descend into the steep hallway. A water mage patrols
these halls (and partly outside) but can easily be avoided using the dark
alcove at the top of the stairs. The next section is rather tricky. A huge
lava pit prevents further travel, but those wooden rafters are nice targets
for my rope arrows. I fling one into the rafter farthest away and grab the
rope in mid-air. I then swing safely to the next doorway and turn around to
retrieve my arrow. Phew that was hot! I watch out for the water mage not
spotting me from the other side.
Ok.
A ladder in the corner takes me even further down into the tombs. Hmm...bones
and corpses all over, this doesn’t look good (left image above). OUCH!! The
ceiling swung down and knocked me into tomorrow! Reload and try again. I’ll
be sure to duck this time. Crawling forward I still spring the trap although
I don’t get hit. This unfortunately busts Supreme, as rule #9 says no
triggering of traps whatsoever. [UPDATE
May 7th, 2018: I recently found you can pass this hall without ever springing the
trap! There is an area in the entrance to the hallway with the dead mage that
you can jump over to avoid the trigger. It works both ways, and thus allows
you to enter this tomb for Supreme. It took a few attempts before I found the
sweet spot, and it doesn’t always work, but it is definitely repeatable.] Surrounding the corpse are 3 water arrows. Moving
into the next room the pillars provide some shade from the surrounding fires.
An unalerted mage crosses in front of me. I spot 2 fire arrows in the two flames ahead, which
I grab without any commotion. I notice one more mage patrolling in a
lit room to the east, and yet two more mages in a tiny dark chamber further
southwest, both of which are stationary. The room to the west only holds a lever,
which isn’t necessary to complete the mission. Although it can be obtained
without any alerts, there is no need to even enter that room. The
loot down here however, is more of a struggle. There is an artifact statue
(940) in a small nook south of the room with the lever. The biggest obstacle
getting to it is the pair of mages mentioned above. They spot me rounding the
corner going down the stairs. Instead I follow the patrolling mage and drop
from the fence onto the burning fire pit (right image above). To do this
without a first alert from the stationary fire mage I have to go extremely slowly over the edge. From
here the best method is to crouch-strafe past the flame and off the brazier.
With a bit of luck I stay unharmed. The patrolling mage is now reappearing
from the adjacent room, so I quickly crawl into the dark alcove with the
statue. I can monitor the outside events safely from here (left image below).
To go back I can round the fire pit on the west side and mantle back up the
ledge. Luckily, mantling doesn’t register as a speed enhancement, and thus
doesn’t trigger a first alert. The other pieces of loot in here must be
skipped for Supreme. With the patrolling mage there is no way to get over to
the stationary guards’ tomb without them seeing me. For plain Ghost it’s easy
enough. I run in, get a mumble, then grab the rug (1090) and the 2
artifacts (1130) (right image below), and sprint back out. That’s it, the
tomb’s done!
I
venture back (using the same tricks as I did going in) to where I last
ignored the entrance to the theatre. This
time I enter the theatre, pass the large hole in the floor and follow this
one-way path until I have a choice between going left or straight. The east
path takes me to the upstairs chambers which contain a single scroll (needed
for Supreme). The stage room to the north
contains 2 masks (1370) for regular Ghosting. These are worthless
without the commission. I continue north above the stands and make a right at
the bend. Straight ahead are the stairs to the ground floor. These take me to
the paths of two fire elementals. These creatures are quite easy to dodge, as
they have a fairly limited vision. Their hearing is surprisingly good though,
so I tread quietly. Immediately to the right is a
low passage to a side chamber containing 2 fire arrows. Directly
to the south is a larger chamber and in the corner here lies another scroll
(needed for Supreme). To the west is the
opening to the main foyer, with lots of loot as well as heavy elemental
patrols. The two fireballs protect this room; luckily there are four large
pillars to hide behind. One of the fire elementals frequently leaves the room
to explore elsewhere, leaving me with only one to evade. With patience and
some luck the 23 gems (1715) in the foyer are mine (left image below),
and I can leave safely through the doorway in the north wall.
Directly
north is an exit to the west. I retrieve my crate and follow this path
southwest until I reach another set of ruined buildings. One of the buildings here has 3 fire arrows to
collect. My path continues through the cave to the south and further
around the bend past the lava pool. On the roof of
one of these sunken ruins lie 2 water arrows. The next cave
needs to be passed using a dangerously narrow bridge. A thin ledge to the left has 4 more water arrows (right
image above). The route is more or less self-explanatory from here. I
eventually end up at the arena. I
take the only route inside and make a left at the first junction. In one of
the windowsills here is a valuable tiara (1815). I continue straight
east and bring along a jar (1835) and 2 artifacts (1875) from
this room. I leave through the only other exit and make a south in the
hallway. I then enter the first doorway on my right. This room contains a rug
(2025) and 3 artifacts (2085). Back out, make a left and enter the
first room on my right to grab another 3 artifacts (2145). This room
also conceals a passage to a lower chamber with more loot. A chest holds a ring
(2195), and on the floor lie 3 jars (2255) and a rug (2405).
A scroll is also tucked away in the corner. I
make my way back up and out into the hallway. I turn north and enter the next
room. The stairs to my right brings me to an
underground chamber with the bridge controls. These controls are irrelevant
to me, but there are other goodies in here as well. Across the hall is a
tight passage leading to a room with a gas arrow, a healing potion and
a fire arrow. Reaching the room unseen is hard, as there is a fire
mage peering in my direction, and the gem in the ceiling lights me up. I have
to settle with a 1st alert, meaning another Norwegian bust. The same goes for
sneaking back. I then head back up the stairs. Continue north, past
the stairs and sneak in behind the stationary earth mage to the west. Looking
up I notice a wooden beam and the sound of footsteps. As the steps fade, I
fling a rope arrow into the beam and quickly ascend. I retrieve my arrow and
head out the doorway on the south wall. Hmm...seems like the footsteps came
from somewhere else. I make a right at the turn and enter the next chamber. I
find another tiara (2530) and 2 artifacts (2570) on the floor.
Out into the hall again I walk straight (east) and find another room with
loot, a rug (2720) and 2 artifacts (2760) to be exact. East of
the room I entered this floor by is another mask (2880) (if the
commission has been bought). I can drop silently in behind the mage again by
crouching before I fall over the edge. I then trace my steps back to where I
first discovered the arena. The
intention from the mission designers was to use the lever from the King’s
Tomb to extend the bridge in the arena control room. This will bust even
regular Ghost mode. One way around this is to leap across the lava moat and
mantle up the arena wall. The stationary fire mage then alerts with a grunt,
but not enough to bust normal Ghost. Supremers will
have to use a third alternative. The dark empty room upstairs in the arena
building has a collapsed roof. The fallen debris has blocked the balcony, but
the hole is possible to mantle out of using a crate, a papyrus and two
scrolls (left image below). I suggest using the papyrus from the main market,
and the two scrolls from the theatre, as these are easy to obtain and fairly
easy to return later. I find it easiest to climb the north side of the hole.
The objects have to be stacked very precisely though, and this “sweet spot”
is hard to find. It has to be so that you can mantle directly from a vertical
jump after stacking the four objects. Too far away from the wall and you
won’t reach the edge, too close and you’ll bounce right off the crate. I have
captured an image from where I mantled successfully. The objects can be
retrieved from the outer balcony afterwards (don’t ask me how).
The
road towards the tower is easy from here on. I soon come across the final
remains of the lost expedition, including the second and last medallion.
5 water arrows
and 3 rope arrows lie scattered beside the graves. From their
journal it sounds like the fire elementals got the better of them. I continue
east and come to more fallen ruins and a half-sunken statue. “Creepy!” The farthest
building closer to the lava pool has 2 silver nuggets (2980). The
nearest has nothing inside, but a wooden beam makes it possible to climb the
roof where I find a diamond (3030) and 2
fire arrows. I jump the lava and carry on through the next ruins. On
the other side is the final tower. Two more elementals roam here at the
moment, but I can easily slip their tails. Once inside, I drop the crate for
now and head up the stairs. Two stories up I find a scroll,
a rug (3180) and a golden goblet (3205) beside a broken
chest. The next set of stairs is broken, so I have to utilize the narrow
ledge surrounding the tower. Above all the windows there are wooden rafters
for easy arrow attachment. I ascend the line and enter the top floor. The Talisman
of Fire is situated on a burning pedestal (right image above). Nice!!
Let’s get outta here! I return to the bottom of the
tower and pick up my crate. Plenty of new fire elementals have spawned
outside since last time, but fortunately I can take a shortcut out of the
caves. Directly to the left across the moat is a cave reachable with a
strafe-run-jump. It has to be performed very accurately to accomplish, but is
well possible. Patience with the elementals is a necessity, but there are
lots of shadows surrounding the tower. The cave exits by the main market.
Here also one more elemental has arrived. I put back the papyrus and the two
scrolls at the theatre for Supreme, and start my way back to the spider
caves. Outside the library yet one more fire elemental patrols. Back at the
waterfall I lurk past the three spiders and the mission ends. Time: 1:34:38 Loot: 3205 out of 3205
(Supreme: 2415 out of 2845) Pickpockets: None Locks Picked: None Damage Dealt: 0 Damage
Taken: 0 Consumables: 2 Moss Arrows (TFix only) Ghost: Success! Perfect Thief: Success! Supreme Thief: Failed (but
without a single 1st alert)! Perfect Supreme Thief:
Failed! Norwegian
Thief: Failed! Notes: -
Had to crate-nudge the two small spiders at the bottom of the
waterfall. Allowed as a last resort for Ghost; busts Supreme. The crate could
not be put back but was carried out as the mission ended. -
Had to skip the 240 loot in the library basement for Supreme. You
can’t pass the burricks without getting first
alerts from the three stationary burricks there. With TFix, you also need to
use two moss arrows to fool them. -
Had to skip 190 loot in the King’s Tomb for Supreme. The patrolling
mage caught me approaching the tomb with the two stationary mages. -
Obtaining the goodies by the arena control room spawned
two comments from the stationary fire mage. Norwegian busts. |
