Casing the Joint

Mission 13: Casing the Joint

[This report has recently been verified with TFix/NewDark 1.27. Although the original text for OldDark has been preserved, any situations affected by these patches are discussed in green. 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.]

I could write an entire report on how bad of a mission ‘Casing the Joint’ is, but I’m not going to. I won’t let myself expend that much energy. The designers clearly didn’t. I dare say that if this and ‘Trace the Courier’ had been removed, Thief 2 would have been a better game, and considerably so. You can talk about rushing to make the launch date all you want, ‘Casing the Joint’ should never have made the final release. And with the immediate regurgitation come ‘Masks’, it’s beyond my comprehension how it was even considered. Most mediocre fan missions are more enjoyable. Anyway, you get the point.

Overall score: 4.5/10

I was to stake out Gervaisius’ manor in order to successfully steal his precursor masks later. I had to find his secret stairway and whatever correspondence he’d undertaken with the mechanists. In addition, two strange objectives were to uncover seven secrets and half of the map. Lastly, I had to escape to the streets in the east.

Outside

The biggest challenges came outside the mansion in the west. A total of four purses were found on stationary guards in this area. The two problematic ones were on the first and second floor balconies. Both guards were stationed outside doors that spawned comments when utilized, the obvious intended way to pilfer the loot. Well, Supreme didn’t allow for first alerts, so I had to put my thinking cap on. I could ascend to the uppermost balcony using three boxes on the south shed (left image below). The outer rim up here was dark enough to allow me to encircle counterclockwise to the pillar closest to the pursed guard (right image below).

All outside guards had the same pivoting pattern; three facing angles, never resting for more than 2-3 seconds in either position. This guard’s angles were southwest, west and northwest. The two latter were safe for me to creep-crouch-strafe out from the shade and over to the double doors (left image below). He caught me in the act several times by turning southwest before I reached safety. I guess I reloaded 5 or 6 times before getting it right. It was just a matter of retrying and being patient. Had to use the same method to get back around said pillar.

To move further north I flung a vine into the southeast corner of the wooden overhang. To eliminate noise (and hence a Supreme bust) when attaching to the vine, I crouch-walk-jumped onto it. That usually removes the clunk from Garrett’s boots. I could mantle the roof, retrieve the vine and slowly make my way to the northwest corner (right image above). Both guards could still hear my footsteps.

With a little accuracy I could hop over to the next roof, past the gap made by the wall. I was now situated above the second guard with a purse. I tried dropping onto the lamp by the door, but it was too great of a fall to eliminate damage. Instead I used another vine. I had to shoot the arrow from the corner to the west. That way I got the arrow to stick out far enough to be able to grab hold of it from above. I climbed about halfway down and waited (left image below). The next move was tricky, very tricky. As the guard swung northwest, I jumped onto the lamp. This was completely silent. From top of the light fixture, the guard could be positioned northwest and west without seeing me. If he turned southwest, I was caught. After the tenth reload or so he turned west, then back northwest, and that’s when I made my move. I slid down onto the step and snuck into the dark corner by the door (right image below). There was enough room to avoid a nudge (a Supreme bust) and I was safe regardless of his facing angle. To get back, I again waited for the northwest turn, then sprinted out to the left towards the vine. As soon as I hit the marble I had to slow down and pray he didn’t turn southwest again. This also took quite a few tries, but in the end I had him. He stayed facing northwest long enough for me to sneak a little bit out from the rope. Then I could make my small crouch-walk-hop and quickly climb to the top. Done deal!

I dropped to the overhang directly west of the second floor balcony, then to the grass below. The two remaining purses down here were no problem whatsoever. I returned the crates to the pile by the shed and entered through the secret entrance.

Inside

The guard by the street entrance turned around during the conversation with the lady. I saw that as maybe being a way around having to nudge him, so I didn’t trigger their conversation yet. She just remained standing by the western entrance. The rest of this floor was a breeze.

The second floor was more of the same. Lots of coin pairs spread around, in seemingly random locations. One behind a covered couch in the north control room (left image below). Two more were suspended in mid-air in the dining room (right image below).

Yet another pair of coins was found on the ledge next to the turret in the south hall (left image below). I could easily sneak over on its east side without getting caught. The camera in the southeast hall was turned off, but the turret was fully operational still. This prevented me from being able to reach the office here (right image below). I tried to enter through the window using a vine arrow from the first floor, but to no avail. I got stuck in the window frame and could never get through. I tried multiple ways of attaching the vine, leaning, jumping and swinging around, but no progress was made. It ended up being the only skip for Supreme, a total of 40 gold. For plain Ghost I could easily turn off the turret and enter normally. In NewDark (with newmantle on), you can easily mantle into the window of this office using a vine arrow, thus eliminating the Supreme bust.

Cleared the library and found the secret staircase via the clock. I skipped the top floor altogether. All that was up there at this point were three worthless masks. For extreme purists, they can be taken without any first alerts. It involves vine arrowing over the first lookout window to pass the swordsman’s view. The frame have a small ledge that keeps you out of his vision.

Back in the downstairs foyer I was ready to leave. I triggered the conversation and could surprisingly sneak all the way over to the double doors (left image below). Not a single peep from either of them. I stole his purse, picked the lock and rushed out to finish the mission. I still consider this a possible Supreme bust. I know it doesn’t go against any specific rule, but I feel it clashes with that mode’s spirit. It tastes too much like an exploit to grant the success. I’ll leave it to the readers to decide.

Statistics:

Time: 52:23

Loot: 2685 out of 2685 [Supreme in OldDark: 2645]

Pickpockets: 9 out of 9

Locks Picked: 1

Secrets: 9 out of 9

Damage Dealt: 0 Damage Taken: 0

Consumables: None

Ghost: Success!

Perfect Thief: Success!

Supreme Thief: Success!

Perfect Supreme Thief: Failed! [NewDark: Success!]

(Norwegian Thief: Failed!)

Notes:

- Had to skip 40 gold in the second floor office southwest of the foyer for Supreme. The turret outside caught me going for the entry door. Had to turn it off for plain Ghost. Easily avoidable in NewDark.