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Patriot, Mission 5: Saboteur This
is probably the most impressive mission in the campaign so far design wise. The
mechanist factory feels very natural, yet unique in construction. Building
explosive charges and then placing them is very satisfying, and ties well in
with the overall plot. Zontik continues to astonish
me with his varied settings and creative building style. I only hope it can
continue with the same beat. I
had to visit Blackbrook Robots and place 5
explosive charges in key locations, then detonate them remotely. Problem was I
had to give up my charges before entering the facility, adding an objective
of finding additional explosives along the way. Main Factory Dropping
the charges into the chute at the start could be done silently, once I
discovered the method. I had to stand right up against the chute, then lean
and immediately press drop. If the charge hit the metal frame, it would set
off the nearby guard. Said guard also had to be dealt with. I found a
predictable way to nudge him over to the right of the exit (left image
below). Guards in this campaign normally cannot be nudged without second
alerting, but this guy could be fooled. I had to crouch and just walk into
him from behind, no leaning or standing up. He gave tons of first alerts, but
that was acceptable. The alternative was the blackjack.
On
my first playthrough I found a big bot stuck in the
foundry. This eliminated the possibility of sneaking through this room
southward, so I headed for the cannonballs in the west raw materials storage
first. I wouldn’t need to go through the foundry again after that, as there
were ways around it. Timing the camera in the materials room was a bit
tricky, but doable. Then picked up the empty shell from the outside dumpster
and filled it with gunpowder from the armory. Went
south from here through assembling. Used the conveyor belt to enter soul
forge. A stationary mechanist made life difficult here. I needed to use the
upper walkway to avoid any alerts. To get there I found a method by mantling
up the windowsill directly from the belt, then furthermore up the big robot
here, and lastly up the metal walkway (right image above). The mechanist
working on the robot didn’t give first alerts, so he only busted if he
started hunt mode, which he didn’t. Encircling the room I had to time the
windows opening into the forge itself. They emitted a bright light when open.
Got the wrench from the worker in Packing & Shipping, which was the only
reason for coming down here. Headed back the same way, but had to make a hop
from the upper walkway directly to the aforementioned conveyor belt (right
image above). Landing in a mantle is quiet, so nobody detected me.
Grabbed
the explosive charge and an invisibility potion from the lab, as well as the detonator
from the parts storage. I couldn’t enter Experimental Design without an
access card, so I’d return here later. The security robot could see me
through the double doors, so I treaded carefully. Used the bay door back into
stamping and went to the alley with the dumpster. Since I now had two charges
ready, I could place those in the two sockets in this area. The first was
beyond the gate, but there was no lever from this side. I had to mantle up
the lamp and onto the gate itself (left image above), then climbed onto the
roof and dropped down a bit further east. The surfaces up here were noisy, so
I listened for alerts. Then in the northeast I could reenter the facility via
the canal in the water power station, dodging the camera and a worker (right
image above). Placed
the charge in the fuel station and picked up an empty can nearby. Then went
back to the armory and built most of the next charge; this one had to be
finished in the experimental design area later. The last thing in this part
of the facility was getting the charge from the director’s office. This posed
a problem, as there was a camera staring straight out from the office’s main
entrance. There was a security office where I could turn the camera off, but
that is a Supreme bust, plus I’d have to pass the camera in order to get to
said security office. This is what I needed the invisibility potion from
earlier for. However, I found that if fast enough, I could sprint down the
hall, into the office, get the charge and leave again, just in time before
the potion wore off (left image below). This was still a bust for Supreme,
but it circumvented the need to turn off the camera. Plus the camera would
have to be left in the off position, so this essentially brought the Supreme
bust count down from 3 to 1. I also realized I didn’t need to get the access
card from the director’s office at all. I could instead climb the roofs from
the gate by the dumpster like before and mantle the railing of the small
bridge to the south (right image below). I was in no need of returning to the
northern section of the facility again anyway.
Experimental Design This
entire area was much easier to navigate, due to the lack of enemies in
important rooms. Made the next charge in the stamping room and headed down to
the test area. The giant robot presented several new challenges. First, it
had a cloaking device that made it phase in and out of visibility. If it
disappeared, I could simply wait and it would reappear. To begin with, it was
stationary, facing east outside the northwest entrance to the outer rim. As
long as I stayed on its west side, it didn’t see me. I used the wrench to get
the impulse source. The panel I had to drop further south, otherwise the
robot would hear it. Whenever I used one of the four doorways to the outer
halls, the robot had a scripted response where it would patrol over to the
entrance to the same doorway. This was not an alert, but a programmed script
and thus no bust. I could use this to decide where the robot would go. After
placing the impulse source in the fuse slot, I needed it to go to the far
south in order to destroy it. If stationed to the west, I could use the
southeast doorway and lure it close enough to the impulse to destroy it, even
outside the wall (left image below). Although it didn’t show up as a kill or
iron beast destroyed in the stats, this was still property damage. Destroying
the robot is not explicitly stated in the objectives, so this unfortunately
was a Ghost bust, albeit forced by mission design. Removing the fuse also
turned off the lights, which was a Supreme bust.
Shortened
the robot shell back in the armory using the saw, and placed it in the last
slot in this very room. Exited to the streets and got ready to detonate. Had
to jump on the top crate in the shed in order to reach the lever. Picking up
the crates was possible, but they broke when I set them down. I wedged my way
down behind the bottom crate in order to finally highlight the lever (right
image above). The
guard next door heard the explosion, and that is a clear Ghost bust. However,
everyone in the facility also died, along with the security bots. Is that a
bust also? Rule #11 of the regular Ghost rules says: “Unavoidable consequences triggered at the same time as completing a
required objective are also excused, but must be reported.” The
interpretation section furthermore says: “Events
that happen at exactly the same time as the objective being completed, but
not resulting in Garrett being seen or heard, are ok.” I would say these
deaths follow along with both of these statements, and therefore I argue that
they are not busts. Statistics: Time: 1:11:56 Loot: None Pickpockets: 1 out of 1 Secrets: 7 out of 7 Locks Picked: 2 Damage Dealt: 0 Damage Taken: 0 Innocents Killed: 0, and others Killed: 23 Iron Beasts Destroyed: 5, Disabled: 0 Consumables: 1 Invisibility Potion and 5 Explosive
Charges Ghost: Failed! Perfect Thief: Failed! Supreme Thief: Failed! Perfect Supreme Thief: Failed! Notes: -
Had to nudge the guard in the first room to the side in
order to pass. Allowed as a last resort for Ghost, but disallowed for
Supreme. He also gave lots of first alerts. Early busts. -
Used an invisibility potion in order to obtain the
explosive charge from the director’s office. Supreme bust. -
Had to destroy the special iron beast in the test
chamber in order to obtain the last explosive charge. Property damage and a
Ghost bust. -
Also had to remove the fuse and thus turn off the
lights in order to destroy the aforementioned iron beast. Supreme bust. -
Alerted the nearby guard when detonating the charges
from the shed. Ghost bust. -
Are the guards and iron beasts destroyed in the
explosion a bust? Or are they an immediate consequence of completing a
mandatory objective? I think no bust. |
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