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Patriot, Mission 8: Detective This
is an extremely clever and unique creation by Zontik. I don’t think I’ve ever
played a mission quite like it. Murder mystery maps are tough to pull off,
but this is done in style. A well-built, yet simple city mission with a
mesmerizing story and lots of creativity. A police station, a cathedral, and
a time-warped lawyer’s residence are just a few of the locations found in
this gem. Go play it! During
my last job, Victoria had been murdered. My main goal was to find the
identity and location of the killer. In doing so, I had to discover 14 pieces
of evidence, of which there were 17 in total. There was no loot goal, and I
was to end the night in one of two possible keeper locations. West The
west part of town was easy bar a couple of buildings. A residence southwest
of the pub was pickable, but I avoided it by using two crates from the home
apartment to reach the window (left image below). The crates were very close
to (but not on) a patroller’s route, but they were in total darkness, so I
counted it as ok. The patroller was a friendly cop anyway, but I’m not sure
if that matters. To
get into the police station without picking locks I used the same crates as
before and made a small stack in the streets to the northeast (right image
below). From here I could easily jump onto the roof. Again I made sure not to
put them on a patrol route and in the shade. Now I could get onto the second
floor balcony and wait for a guard and block the door as he went inside. The
building to the west I could access from the police station roof later via
the window. This was the opposite way of the intended method, but it
circumvented picking the front door then.
Inside
the station wasn’t difficult except for one area. I needed to overhear a
conversation between some guards in the tower to obtain a piece of evidence.
It started once I dropped back a loose board on the floor above. I could do
that without making noise after a few tries, but the board didn’t cover the
hole back up perfectly. However, this wasn’t possible to do because then it
would fall down the hole and hit the guards in the head. My solution was then
leaving it in the nearest possible location, and that is all Supreme requires.
I had already looted the entire compound before this conversation, since it
added an extra guard to the front office. When he emerged from the bedroom, I
could block the door open in order to steal the key from the guard in here
(left image below). Unfortunately, this door couldn’t be closed up without a
first alert, plus the key would have to be returned later for Supreme, which
wasn’t possible without big busts. This key was the only way to reach a piece
of loot later in the mission, so I skipped it for that mode. The
whole pub scenario and permission slip also had to be skipped for Supreme.
The front door guard first alerted to the door opening, even after allowing
us entry. Such situations are unfortunate, because it’s really caused by an
engine limitation, since he is a neutral guard and not supposed to alert at
all. This meant another 70 loot would have to be skipped, in addition to the
evidence given by the bartender. This also meant that for Supreme, I’d have
to find a different way into the eastern part of town. I found a very good
way by climbing a gear next to the well to the south (right image below). The
archer up here didn’t care about my presence, and this route could easily be
taken both ways.
East I
ended up using the same crates as I had before to enter another building at the
south end of the canal (left image below). If not, I’d have to pick the lock
on the nearby house and also take a key from the pants on the clothesline. It
couldn’t be returned besides to the ground below, so the crates seemed
cleaner for Supreme. There was a patroller going through here, but he walked
around the boxes by a few feet, plus they were in the dark. Used
the canal to travel further north, utilizing a convenient ladder to get out.
Cleaned the lawyer’s and the baker’s easily enough. I did not end up
blackjacking Philip. Dealing damage isn’t allowed unless it is explicitly
instructed or heavily implied in the objectives. I didn’t even have an
objective to justify it until after the fact. I did end up taking Violet’s
doll in the small patch of grass outside Philip’s house. It required taking a
rope arrow in order to get out of that area, but I felt this was justified as
it meant getting two additional evidences. I treated those almost like loot,
where we had an objective to get a certain amount, yet more existed. Only 15
was found before entering the cathedral, and you need 13 for the cathedral
door to open. The pub had to be skipped and if we also skip the two doll
evidences, we were suddenly one below the required amount. Galaer found a way
to circumvent this by taking the 13th evidence by breaking the mission’s
sequence. This is ok if you don’t value the extra evidence and have no need
for the rope, but I did.
I
did not enter the alchemist’s for any Ghost mode. It required shooting a
window latch with a broadhead arrow, and although this could be done without
alerts, it yielded no extra loot or evidence; it only provided more weapons
and a book. This book was required to reach the bonus mission later in the
campaign, but I already knew that couldn’t be done without property damage,
so it was pointless. Returned
the crates to my apartment before entering the cathedral. Nothing to report
from there or the catacombs. Steel End In
order to reach the murderer’s house unseen, I had to do a weird mantle over
some bushes outside the abandoned chapel (right image above). This took me up
to a ledge above the next plaza which was way too lit up to avoid getting
spotted (left image below). This is where the key from the police station
tower mentioned earlier worked. The door was in direct view of a stationary
watch guard. The only way to get through it for Ghost was by using the
invisibility potion from the alchemist. I thus went back and fetched it for
that mode. Supreme had no chance of reaching it and getting the drill bit in
there. I tried without using the potion by dropping from the parapet above,
but the guard both saw me and heard me take fall damage.
Entering
the murderer’s house sounded like I took damage, but no loss of health
registered. Entering the bedroom, there was only one way to proceed in the
mission: by blackjacking the murderer. This was not stated in the objectives
and thus an inevitable bust for Ghost. “Find out who is working behind the
scenes” was the objective I was following, but that was way too vague to
justify dealing damage of any kind. Knocking him out was definitely intended
from a story perspective and thus an easy bust to accept. I tried using a gas
arrow, but that just failed the mission. Likewise was getting spotted by him
prior to the knockout. At one point, I tried replaying the entire mission
without triggering this objective, which spawned only when reading one of two
hidden notes around town. Those could be skipped, thus all the objectives
were done when entering the murderer’s house. Problem was, the objective
would then trigger again when opening the bedroom door. If I instead skipped
the bedroom entirely, the keeper key
used to end the mission didn’t work, so I was back to square one. No matter,
as this was a super fun mission to play and ghost, despite the bust so late
in the run. Statistics: Time: 1:26:30 Loot: 700 out of 700 (Supreme: 590) Pickpockets: 3 out of 6 Secrets: 8 out of 8 Locks Picked: 5 Back Stabs: 0 Knock Outs: 1 Damage Dealt: 1 Damage Taken: 0 Innocents Killed: 0, and Others Killed: 1 Evidence found: 17 out of 17 (Supreme: 16) Consumables: 1 Invisibility Potion & 1
Broadhead Arrow (Supreme: None) Ghost: Failed! Perfect Thief: Failed! Supreme Thief: Failed! Perfect Supreme Thief: Failed! Notes: -
Had to skip the pub for Supreme, which meant 70 worth
of loot missed. The front door guard alerted to the door opening. -
Had to skip a drill bit worth 40 in the industrial section
towards the end for Supreme. Taking the key from the police station couldn’t
be done without a first alert, plus returning the key wasn’t possible. -
Knocking out the murderer isn’t explicitly stated in
the objectives and is thus is a bust for all modes. Killing the murderer
shortly after might be scripted, but still registered in the stats. There was
no way around this event. |
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