Sabotage at Soulforge

Mission 15: Sabotage at Soulforge

[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.]

While not the best mission in the game, ‘Sabotage at Soulforge’ stands out to me as a good end to a decent campaign. Thief 2 has 5-6 great missions, while the rest are par for the course or worse. 3-4 of them are absolutely terrible. This mission separates itself as being different, and different in a good way, something the designers didn’t dare try as much as they should have. I really enjoy exploring through Soulforge Cathedral, the ultimate creation of this mechanical faction.

Overall score: 8.3/10

Viktoria had already made her way into the cathedral, and I was left alone to stop Karras. My main objective was to redirect his servants back to Soulforge Cathedral. I needed to find information on how to use the guiding beacon in order to accomplish this. My tasks would get more specific then. I wasn’t to let Karras in on my plan, an objective I still don’t know how to fail. Lastly, I had to leave the cathedral in one piece.

Unfortunately, my Ghost run was busted the very second I started (left image below). I definitely think the watcher is intended to spot you, as a way to make Karras’ announcement seem deliberate, but that doesn’t prevent the bust. I tried buying an invisibility potion, but there was no way to get to it in time. It seemed like the camera started in yellow, but it always made the second alert noise and turned to follow me; clear signs of detection. Like with ‘Trail of Blood’, I do think the original archived community assumed the exception, but I don’t. I was still intent on Ghosting (or even Supreming) the remainder of the mission though. Some players might disagree, but I have a much easier time accepting these kinds of busts than the ones where I feel there might be a way to avoid it. [UPDATE 7/24/21: Galaer found a way to avoid this bust! If you buy an invisibility potion during the loadout screen, you can quickly use it as the mission starts and get away with not even first alert. You have to set the potion to a hotkey in the controls first, in order to pull it up quick enough. Keep spamming the potion and use keys as you start the mission and you should be fine. Buying and using the potion are still busts to Supreme, but this is a massive improvement on previous runs.]

The mission didn’t have any loot or pickpockets, so I added the extra challenge of trying to steal all the gear, including all the production resources spread around the compound. My goal was also to manufacture the three secret weapons, thereby visiting all the machine bays. I would skip the infamous quote scroll, as it involved killing several combat bots. Parts relating to the stealing of gear will be marked in blue, as it is unnecessary for plain Ghost and disallowed (and thus skipped) for Supreme.

Machine Bays

I could move quite freely around the machine bays. Some areas would occasionally get crowded, but the patrollers had routes long enough to easily wait them out. A watcher and a patrolling bot forced me up a ledge in the east (right image above). I had to pass this area in order to get to the storage rooms and retrieve the required items for the guiding beacon. Got new objectives in the plans room that specified guiding beacon production and deactivation of 7 out of 8 signal towers. Revealed the secret study by mantling up the end of the open safe door. Didn’t have to use a vine arrow that way. It wasn’t retrievable without taking damage anyway. Opened the northern apse and left the study open. I would return to close them both later.

Initially I thought I had to circle the entire area counterclockwise to return to bay C. The aforementioned ledge around the watcher seemed too high up to warrant a harmless drop. But I found an efficient way to drop onto the staircase railing safely. Hitting the wall just before landing kept me unharmed. This sped things up considerably. I could now move straight back to the starting area and begin assembling the beacon.

The entire assembly process was carried out with no trouble. Had to be careful in bay A as the bots here were on high alert due to the scattered mech bodies. Bay B/C had a dangerously roaming spider bot. I only moved when it had its back turned, just to stay on the safe side. Took the secret tunnel to bay D. Was careful to listen for alerts when producing the beacon pieces here. The blind bots alerted to the thumps of the objects exiting the machines. The 3 water arrows in the pool here couldn’t be obtained without a comment from the stationed iron beast. Skip these if you wish to stick to Supreme rules. Entered bay E through the overhead walkway. Hopped onto the north camera overhang and furthermore onto the generator (left image below). Reached the production machine this way. Left through the secret panel.

Reset the plans room immediately after installing the finished guiding beacon. I like to get things done right away.

Signal Towers

The frogbeast egg among the foliage outside the west entrance to the barracks couldn’t be stolen without multiple first alerts. I had to douse the nearest torch also. Accepting those Supreme violations, I could rush into the grate alcove and lean out from the shade (right image above). If you don’t care about using the arrow, be my guest. I don’t use eggs, I just wanted to see if it could be done.

I had no real problems until the underground exploratory inventing workshop. A watcher guarded the conventional entry in intimidating fashion. I could turn off the lights to pass it, but that was against Supreme rules, plus I found another way around. I could drop into the water from the upper hall to the north (left image below). The lone mechanist stationed on a ramp below didn’t alert. I could mantle up the metal wall to the chute ladder without any comments, despite my light gem going red (right image below). This area was also out of view of any of the cameras. The mantles were tough and had to be done close to the west wall. Check the red arrow in the left image. The first mantle was up the metal slope. I had to let go of the jump key before completing the move, to avoid the typical “clunk”. To get further up without making noise I had to crouch-run, then mantle again. I heard no remarks, although it was tough to tell over the generator. I could only tell whether he said something, not what he said. If I heard him talk, I reloaded and tried again. I set the ladder option to ‘touch’ and climbed the signal tower. To slide back down to the lever side I leaned out and shot a vine arrow into the carpet. The vine ended up hanging down onto the slope. I inched over and Garrett caught hold with a small jerk. From here I could turn around and back up slowly to descend. As I reached the end I slid down and grabbed the rope in the process. Nice to get out of that one clean!

The room with the patrolling iron beast in the same workshop couldn’t be reached without turning off the lights. The door was protected by the aforementioned camera and the window couldn’t be mantled. I didn’t find useful stackables either and wasn’t in the mood to search. If you want the goodies in there, go ahead and kill the lights. Then it was easy enough. To avoid a chirp (first alert) from the watcher, however, thing got more complicated. The doorway was too bright to be utilized, but the adjacent window was dark. Jumping into it was possible, but not without the watcher alerting. There was only a tiny flicker in the light gem, but that was enough to receive the first alert. The only way to avoid it was creating a stack of six scrolls and one explosive charge (left image below). Then I could slide onto the sill and out of view.

The tower in the computer room to the far southeast wasn’t a problem. It was only a matter of dodging all the iron beasts and flipping the gate levers. The tower just to the west of this was harder still. A stuck spider bot outside the chapel (more on him later) made access to the metal rafters difficult. It blocked the way to the intended chute. I had to use an alternate way via the tunnels in the abovementioned computer room. Once there, a watcher covered a lit-up portion above the second water tank. Choosing the right moment, I could strafe-run past the two lamps and come to a halt as it swung back to face me (right image above). Luckily, this spot was dark enough to avoid alerts of any kind. There wasn’t much time to spare and maximum speed was of essence. The iron beast stationed by the elevator didn’t detect anything going on atop the rafters, and I could safely make my way to the signal tower. I used a vine arrow into the ceiling grate when returning. Plunged into the tank and climbed over the edge while monitoring the camera.

The hall outside the chapel was the access point to the remaining two towers. Unfortunately, the previously mentioned spider bot was still stuck (left image below). In fact, I have never played this mission and not seen something getting stuck there. You cannot rush into the south opening and avoid hunt mode. You can get by with backtracking and dousing a torch outside the barrack’s main entrance, but that busts Supreme. The trick to solving this problem with Supreme intact is finding one of the three other robots patrolling the same route. To my knowledge, two other spider bots and an iron beast do exactly that. There might be a mechanist or two that also venture down there from time to time. Anyway, the robots have set paths with random pivot points in certain locations, making their routes semi-predictable. If studying their patrols, you can learn the locations of the pivot points and quicksave right before they reach one. If the robot turns and you didn’t want it to, simply reload and it might not turn the next time. If you follow one or more of these robots all the way to the chapel, they will eventually end up at the same ladder as the stuck spider. Once that happens, both will get freed due to a programmed response that causes both AIs to shift laterally, thus rounding the ladder altogether. In my case, all three robots found themselves in bay A, forcing a rather lengthy addition to the playthrough just to deal with this problem. Once found, I had no trouble following them to the chapel and freeing the other bot as explained.

The barracks had one troublesome item; a healing potion in a pickable footlocker. It was in a brightly lit area straight out from another pivoting watcher. The closest place to wait was in a dark alcove in the northeast (right image above). From here I could make lockpick-runs while the camera swung west. I needed three such runs to undo the lock and get the potion.

The last towers went by worrilessly. Used the passageway from the trap-maze tower to bypass the furnace room with all the wandering mechanists. This saved me quite a bit of work. Utilized the shades carefully to bypass the cameras and the iron beast to reach the tower across the pit.

I did give the turret production facility a wholehearted shot. I just couldn’t pass up a room that intimidating without a fight. Sneaking along the most shaded route I could find, I actually made it quite far. Farther than I thought at least. The last walkway towards the tower itself ended up being the end of me. The image below shows the sweet spot before getting nailed by the turret on my left. As you can see, I even got the tower gate open. If property damage had been allowed, I could’ve easily downed two of them. One flinging a scouting orb into the hydraulic press button, and a fire arrow into the explosive charge on the workbench. But none of that matters much. It was fun trying anyhow. I’m not sure how to interpret turret alerts, but I counted a turning noise as a first alert, then a shot as a Ghost bust. For unknown reasons, with T2Fix you can’t even sneak over to the first doorway without getting spotted. The entire area is much more brightly lit because there is a lamp just above the first speaker which was never there in the original release.

The last skipped area was another machine room close to the chapel. It was guarded by a golden child staring straight down a long, brightly lit hall (right image above). There was no way to circumvent him, not even by waiting for him to fidget. He idled differently compared to his Angelwatch counterpart. With T2Fix, the golden child now does a small patrol back and forth, which makes you able to sneak past him. Another example of ridiculous decisions made by modders. The changes observed in my NewDark playthough have actually made me abandon all patches and fixes for future playthroughs, unless they are guaranteed to only fix game breaking bugs.

There were no real issues leaving the compound. Several bots had gotten stuck in or near bay A, but nothing I couldn’t sneak past. Overall, I Supreme Ghosted the entire mission bar the watcher in the beginning. If you excuse that bust, then this mission is Supremable; though I’m always too hard on myself to allow such justifications. With that, Thief 2: The Metal Age is done and I’m off to pilfer some fan mission. See you next time!

Statistics:

Time: 2:31:16

Loot: None

Pickpockets: None

Locks Picked: 6

Secrets: 4 out of 4

Damage Dealt: 0 Damage Taken: 0

Bodies Discovered by Enemies: 1

Consumables: None

Ghost: Chemical success!

Perfect Thief: N/A

Supreme Thief: Failed!

Perfect Supreme Thief: N/A

(Norwegian Thief: Failed!)

Notes:

- Had to buy and use an invisibility potion in order to avoid detection by the starting watcher. Supreme busts. Renders the run a chemical success for regular Ghost.

- Skipped the quote scroll in bay A, as it involved the killing of three iron beasts.

- The three water arrows in bay D couldn’t be taken without a comment from the nearby stationed iron beast. It heard the splash when entering the pool.

- Getting the frogbeast egg outside the west barracks entrance necessitated the use of a water arrow. I also received several first alerts in the process.

- The flux spheroid and the spring wiring in the exploratory inventing workshop couldn’t be obtained without shutting off the lights. After that, no further busts were necessary.

- Couldn’t retrieve any of the items on the turret production facility workbenches. There was no way to get within reach safely.

- Skipped all the items in the machine room beyond the golden child close to the chapel. He covered the only passable area.

- The body discovered is one of the destroyed iron beasts in bay A. These are already present upon starting the mission and naturally no bust.