PREVIOUS MISSION THIEF
2X NEXT MISSION Mission 11: The Grand
Hotel [This report has been updated for TFix/NewDark 1.27. Situations
affected by these patches and differences between them and OldDark have been inserted in green. All screenshots have
been updated, and new ones have been added.] This is an outstanding mission! It definitely
rivals some of the very best from the original games. Very challenging, and
with high replay value; it just can’t get better than that. It’s obvious that
the mission authors were inspired by First City Bank and Trust, and that is
certainly working in its favor. A non-linear map with lots of entry points
and freedom to move around the compound in whatever way one chooses. Lots of
loot spread around the map, and a solid story to back it up. A must play for
all Thief fans this. My task was simple: Break into the Grand Hotel and
find out where Kedar was being kept. I would then
have to knock him out and carry him with me off the premises. The only other
objective was 1,500 in loot. Let’s go! Outside I started outside the main gates with nowhere to go
but towards a swinging watcher. The pickable locker
turned off the lights right inside the gates, but that busts Supreme. There
was a black patch behind the right part of the gates, but this meant running
through a very bright spot. I opened the gates easily and timed the watcher.
As it turned left I ran out, closed the gates blocking the left part, and ran
back inside. A small chirp from the camera is a first alert, so I had to do
this quick. Now I stood well-hidden inside the gates, with only the left door
open. This gave me time to slide right as the watcher turned east, swiftly
crouching into the corner (left image above). I then closed the gates fully.
Around this time, the guards came by. I waited them out to avoid further
obstacles. Next up was crossing the main path. Again as the viewer curved eastwards,
I moved speedily in behind the west pillar. I could position myself right
underneath the camera without getting detected at all. The front doors were pickable and led to the main foyer. Beyond was the lobby
area, totally covered in cameras and people, absolutely Supreme impenetrable.
The jar on the lobby table thus had to be skipped. To bring the artifact
statue from the foyer I needed to relock the front doors, requiring the
entrance key. Two guards outside the hotel were in possession of such a key,
both quite possible to snag. I’d say the patrolling guard further east was
the easiest. The other was stationed outside the double doors closer to the
gardens, and he occasionally gave a comment. If
wanting all the goodies, one needs to enter this area anyhow to snatch the
moss arrow north of the hedges. Fortunately, no keys in this mission
could be dropped back. I slipped into the entrance by the restaurant too to
grab the golden plates (right image above), but traversing the room was
impossible so I had to go back outside. Instead
of using the entrance key to access the hotel on the ground floor, I ascended
a wooden ledge just southeast of the garden (left image above). The vine hung
just low enough for me to climb to the roof. From here I could access a
storage room in the far northwest of the compound (right image above). There
was a piece of loot in there next to a sleeping guard, plus a scroll with a
security code. The intended exit from here was a pickable
door leading to a second floor hallway. I knew of other ways in that didn’t
require leaving a door unlocked, so I quickly returned to the roof beams. I
instead entered the main compound by way of a hatch just east of here,
arriving in a storage closet. Second Floor (brief) I only needed two items
from this floor right now: the security door key from Cassagrande,
and the blackmail note from the accounting office. The former patrolled
outside the storage room in the northwest, after finish a conversation with a
fellow guard. He was quite easy to pickpocket. To enter the accounting office
I either had to pick the lock or pilfer the key (left image below). Guess the
lockpicking tactic is the most Supreme, as it
evades an unnecessary pickup. However, both picking the door and closing it
alerted the guard and busted Supreme. True, if you clean the office quickly,
the guard won’t settle by the time you leave, so closing the door won’t
technically trigger another alert. But then again, picking open the door
causes the key to vanish, so it’s as if you took it. Using the key removed one
first alert, but closing the door still spawned a comment, so I was back to
square one. In conclusion, I think avoiding the pickpocket is probably the
most Supreme way, but I’m honestly not sure. Grabbed the blackmail note and
learned the security code for the watcher cameras again. Descended via a
staircase west of the ballroom. First Floor First up on this floor
was the lobby, the most difficult area in the entire mission, by a long shot.
It couldn’t be avoided either. The office key was needed to continue the
mission, and the hotel room keys were required to relock the respective
doors. There were two long hallways to the east and west of the lobby, plus a
secret entrance from a recreation room just north of the ballroom. Every
viable entry point spawned a first alert from the living room iron beast,
there was no way to avoid that. I entered through the west doorway, rushing
into the corner and coming to a quick halt. The key for rooms 6-10 and the
master suites key were obtained by reaching from the west side of the
counter, neither setting off the watchers nor the clerk. The office key was a
different story. It had to be picked from the box on the small ledge inside
the lobby counter. Dodging the clerk was the least of my problems, as he only
alerted to the lockpicking, not to spotting me. The
watchers were difficult. The one on the east side detected me if I was too close
to the box and standing up, while the other could see me if I crouched. This
called for very quick movement back and forth in between the closest
watcher’s movements. As it turned away, I walked towards the box and started
picking; after a few seconds I headed back and crouched. Did this three
times; then had to leave for the dark corner inside the doorway to avoid the
patrolling guard (right image above). Once he left, the next picking session
opened the box (left image below). There
was a hard-to-reach gas arrow on the lobby counter canopy, and it was a
pickle to Ghost, I assure you. I did it without causing any further busts
though, not even for Supreme. Dodging the clerk, the watchers, the patrolling
guard and the iron beast in the nearby room, this situation almost got to be
the hardest challenge of the mission. First, I leaned out from beneath the east
watcher and flung a vine arrow into the canopy itself, not the wall. Jumping from a vine in the wall alerts the clerk
below. To hop onto the vine hanging from the canopy I had to stand very
close, time the watcher, and do a silent creep-walk-jump. A normal
running-jump alerted pretty much everyone. I quickly ascended the vine and
mantled onto the overhang. Funny thing is, the patrolling guard com,mented on spotting the vine arrow, so I had to
retrieve it before he returned. I grabbed the gas arrow and prepared for my
way down. As the patroller disappeared I fastened a vine again, this time
into the eastern wall, fairly close to the ledge. Timing the watcher, I
caught the vine mid-air. I realized afterwards the vine had to be shot
halfway down the wall also, in order to retrieve it from the floor silently. Just as I was about to
leave the lobby area, I took a last long look at the jar on the table close
to the main entrance. For Ghost, the intended way is to turn off the watchers
in the security room. The clerk then leaves to turn them back on, leaving the
lobby empty for a brief period. This obviously cannot be done for Supreme,
due to rule #8. But then an interesting thought came to mind. Remember the
goblet in the lava caves in Down Among Dead Men? I used water arrows to knock
that piece of loot over to the other side, so that I would avoid triggering a
moving wall trap. Could the same thing be done here? I quickly restarted and
entered the main doors just to try. And it could!!! Oh sweet golden delight!!
From the northwestern doorway, I could sneak over to the western wall and
stay concealed from the watchers. Sneaking as far south as possible, I flung
a water arrow into the jar slightly on the right hand side. That made it fly
across the floor over towards the northeastern doorway. If I hit it too far
to the right, it would bounce in behind the large vase next to the couch,
totally out of reach. When I snuck around to the east, I could now reach the
jar from the shade (left image below). Great stuff! Back in the lobby I could
finally leave. I managed to avoid another first alert by exiting behind the
painting. I snuck as far south as possible without getting lit up (right
image above), then rushed southeast around the corner without getting seen.
When moving from darkness, there is a slight delay in the light gem, and this
can be used to reach hardcover before you light up. It only works going from
dark to light, not the other way. The hallway to the east
of the lobby had the security office. The patrolling guard was covering this
area extremely well. He didn’t walk
into the east-west going hallway to the south at all; he just stopped for a
few seconds and then returned. I followed him, but couldn’t sneak by both
doorways fast enough without getting caught when he turned around. The iron
beast from the lobby and the large woman in the restaurant first alerted if I
sped up. I tried with vine arrows in the ceiling, but he always commented on
at least one of them. I was ready to call it quits when I suddenly found a
dark spot behind the pillar south of the lobby doorway (left image below). It
totally didn’t look like it, but it was enough to stay hidden! The eastern part of the
floor was easier. The casino and bar had some loot, but it could all be taken
without problems during the women’s conversation. Entered the library from
the hidden passage in the south. The guard in there used both locked doors
and I could have blocked them open to gain entry, but I felt using the secret
was thiefier. Passed Second Floor Again I had genuine hopes of
reaching the flute on the ballroom scene, but the two guests in the northeast
corner just wouldn’t let me pass. The merchant blocked the west side. I tried
using several vine arrows in the ceiling, leaping from shadow to shadow, but
the nobleman noticed me every time. Then I tried again coming from the second
floor and I finally found a way to do it! I shot a vine arrow into the
overhang above the top floor railing (right image above). The vine had to
hang as close to the southeast corner as possible, while still giving me
enough space to descend. I first tried a foot or two further north, but then
the woman downstairs saw me climb down. Plus, I then got too close to the
lamp on one of the pillars below. With the correct placement, I could lower
myself without detection, but I had to turn around on the vine once I got
below the railing (left image below). If not, the woman commented, so the
margin was very small. I snuck along the south wall across the chairs and
grabbed the flute easily enough. Made a creep-walk-hop back onto the vine and
climbed up. Excellent! Headed back downstairs in
the northwest, in order to reach the hotel safe room and Finkle’s
office. I had to dodge the watcher and the iron beast in order to enter those
rooms, but that wasn’t an issue. The living room in the northwest was supremable too. The small robots only alerted to sound
and physical contact. I could therefore position myself underneath the
watcher and grab the jar as it swung south. The merchant was hidden behind
the pillar during these events and hence no worries (right image above). Went back upstairs and
cleaned the rest of the rooms to the north and east on this floor unhindered.
The only thing worth reporting was in room 7. I had to use the key to unlock
the door, as the lockpicks alerted the nobleman
inside. It was one of those weird situations where he was close enough to
hear the lockpicks, but not close enough to hear
the door closing. The grandma in there shifted around quite a bit, but I
timed her turns and the patroller in the hallway when leaving. Basement The basement was even
easier, posing no difficulties whatsoever. Had to knock out Kedar to bring him along, so no bust. Dodged the spider
in the wine cellar by slipping into the barrel holes. Found the secret at the
end and ran out. What an incredible mission!! STATISTICS: Time: 1:55:45 Loot: 3244 out of 3244 (Supreme: 3194) Pickpockets: 7 out of 16 Secrets Found: 6 out of 6 Locks Picked: 15 Knock Outs: 1 Damage Dealt: 1
Damage Taken: 0 Consumables: 1 Water Arrow (to move the piece of
loot in the lobby) Ghost: Success! Perfect Thief: Success! Supreme Thief: Failed! Perfect Supreme Thief: Failed! Norwegian Thief: Failed! Notes: -
Got an alert from the guard outside the accounting office
on the second floor. He commented on picking open the door. Supreme bust. -
Entering the lobby through the western doorway spawned a
first alert from the iron beast. Bust to Supreme. Avoided the extra alert
when leaving through the secret passage though. -
First alerted the clerk when picking the lock on the box
behind the lobby counter. Small Supreme bust. -
Had to skip the purse worth 50 in the executive suite for
Supreme. The woman gave a first alert rounding the south corner. -
The damage dealt is Kedar’s
blow to the head. Necessary to bring him along and follows the objective, so
no bust. |