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Mission 11: The Grand Hotel

 

LOOT LIST

VIDEO REPORT (Narrated Run)

VIDEO REPORT (Segmented Run)

 

[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 suite 1 easy enough, just took a lot of sneaking. The executive suite was mostly the same, but I eventually had to accept skipping the woman’s purse for Supreme. Towards the south was the only direction that made sense, but once the light from the second gas lamp hit me, she saw me. The picture above to the right shows the closest I could get while remaining dark. Attempted vine arrows in the ceiling, but that didn’t help at all. I didn’t try much more than this, as it was a pretty obvious skip. The lucky coins in the bedroom were hard to spot also. Couldn’t move further west than suite 2 because of the iron beast outside Finkle’s office (left image below), so I headed to the top floor via the stairs in the south. 

 

 

 

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.