Author: Stoxy
Contact: doshemekluta@yahoo.com
Started: 02/06/02
Last Modified: 26/08/02
To do: There are more .cfg commands I need to test. To date, I have only
listed the basic 'cheat' commands
Most of the guide needs proof read
This guide is written for players of Thief Gold, both beginners, and experts.
It is intended to inform and guide, without "holding the reader's hand" i.e. it
is not a walkthrough.
When I said "beginners and experts", I mean playing on Normal (and I assume
for
the first time); and playing on Expert difficulty. I won't cover Hard and to be
honest I have never played on Hard.
I have assumed that you are smart enough to read the manual and work out the
basic controls.
The only controls I would like to point out are:
FORWARD LEAN:
LEFT SHIFT + LEFT ALT + W
SWIPING AT YOUR FEET:
When standing: SWORD SWIPE then immediately LOOK DOWN + CROUCH
SCREENSHOT:
Alt+f10
As for conventions used, I write proper British English, so some words (e.g.
"centre") might look slightly wrong to Americans; however I will use the
American convention of calling the ground floor of a building the "first
floor", as this is how Thief names it's floors.
Because this is maybe the only FAQ I'll ever write, I can't pass up teh
oppurtunity to say:
THIS FAQ IS COVERED BY US FEDERAL COPYRIGHT LAW IF YOU SO MUCH AS COPY A
SINGLE LETTER FROM IT MY DAD WILL FIND OUT AND YOU WILL GO TO JAIL FOR NO MORE
THAN FIVE YEARS AND PAY A FINE OF NO MORE THAN US$15,000 AND MY COUSIN CAN GET
YOUR HOUSE ADDRESS FROM YOUR IP ADDRESS
I learnt a huge amount about playing this game from other guides or message
boards (namely material at http://www.thief-thecircle.com and
http://www.ttlg.com ); but this guide was written entirely by me, and contains
only information that I personally found useful in playing the game.
For some of this guide's content, I only deserve credit for compilation.
I would like this guide not to be changed. E-mail me if you want something
added or changed or credited.
Thanks to Jeroen for proof reading this guide.
The following TTLG users (and probably others I unfortunately don't recall)
deserve credit:
Azal;
Luthien (provided advice and corrections on several occasions, also listed CFG
commands);
BR796164 (specifically: advice on playing Return to the Cathedral);
Santaclaws;
Our Newest Acolyte;
Darkwanderer ("Lytha" sneaking);
Tacky;
Theef;
MechLean (explained the undocumented forward lean, among other help);
C. LEVEL GUIDES
1- A Keeper's Training
2- Lord Bafford's Manor
3- Break from Cragscleft Prison
4- Down in the Bonehoard
5- Assassins
6- The Downwind Thieves' Guild
7- The Sword
8- The Haunted Cathedral
9- The Mage Towers
10- The Lost City
11- Song of the Caverns
12- Undercover
13- Return to the Haunted Cathedral
14- Escape!
15- Strange Bedfellows
16- The Maw of Chaos
17- Blooper Reel
D. SPECIAL TECHNIQUES
1- Lean 'n Jacking
2- Hopping
3- NPC Jumping
4- Stacking
5- How to kill (without it counting against you)
6- Nudging
E. MISCELLANEOUS
1- SHAS
2- Level Skipping
3- Config commands
F. DARKLOADER (Playing Fan Missions)
1- Getting Darkloader
2- Installing Darkloader
3- Getting Missions
4- Playing Missions
G. DROMED (Level editing)
1- Installing Dromed
2- The Tutorials
3- Where to get more tutorials/help
1- Blackjack.
This is used to knock enemies unconcious. The manual makes the obtuse
statement that you should "aim for the head, if indeed your enemy has a head".
In fact, you can be quite sloppy when aiming at your foe; and whether a foe
has a head does not imply it can or can't be blackjacked.
Anyway, I'll cover particulars in section B. DEALING WITH PARTICULAR ENEMY
TYPES.
In general, an enemy must be unaware of you to be blackjacked. The exceptions
are innocents, who will always go down, and enemies struck using the "Lean 'n
Jack technique" (see D. SPECIAL TECHNIQUES).
In all cases, the blackjack does 1 point of damage. If the enemy has only 1
point of health, they will die.
It is possible to guard with the blackjack, using the spacebar or third mouse
button (press mouse wheel in, if you have one); but I never use this.
2- Sword.
Some question Garrett possessing a sword. It's rather misleading for new
players, who may spend a lot of time trying to sword fight everything in Lord
Bafford's. However it can be useful, and later in the game it is essential.
The sword will make Garrett more visible, and slow him down. It can make
certain Non Player Characters become hostile, but only in special cases.
Put it away with the key left of '1', above the tab key.
To swipe, just tap the left mouse button. The stronger blow occurs if you
hold the mouse button for a second. You can tell when this is by Garrett's
grunting. The overhead blow is performed by holding the mouse button longer
still. Garrett will make a second grunt, and raise the sword over his right
shoulder.
Note that Garrett slows when attacking, and is much slower still when ready to
make an overhead swipe.
The quick swipe does 2 points of damage, 4 for a hard swipe, and 6 points of
damage for an overhead swipe.
To block, hold space, or the third mouse button (i.e. press in your mouse
wheel). You will need to 'aim' to actually catch your opponents blow. Turning
left and right is *very* slow while holding block.
In general, the best way to sword fight (and you should always aim *never*
to sword fight) is to try and keep behind your enemy's back. Keep half an eye
out for an escape route (up or off a ledge is best, so your enemy can't follow).
To sword fight facing an opponent, the most important thing is to keep the
right distance away. Stay out of reach, but not too far, or you will prompt
them to close in on you. Charge up an overhead strike, and move in and strike.
If you do it right, you will stun your opponent long enough to pull out again;
but more usually when using this tactic, the enemy will get a quick side swipe
in. If playing on Normal, you can live with this; on Expert you may have to
consider re-loading.
3- Broadhead arrows.
Basic arrows, but pretty useful. You should practice hitting at a distance.
I find overlapping the bottom centre of the aiming reticle with my target
helps, it's easier to judge the power from there.
The broadhead flies in an arc, and does a random amount of damage, affected
by the arrows velocity and the target's AI state.
If the broadhead strikes grass or wood, it can be retrieved and re-used.
You are slightly more visible with broadheads selected.
4- Water Arrows.
I find putting my target just below centre of the aiming reticle helps (the
target is usually near to you, if not just round the corner).
Water arrows can be used to put out torches, and clear up bloodstains; but
the level designs mean you rarely *need* to use one.
Water arrows are totally silent, you can hit an enemy in the face and they
won't notice. I believe dousing a fire makes a hissing noise, that can be
detected. Enemies will forget though, if they aren't disturbed again for the
next few seconds.
You are quite visible with water arrows selected.
Water arrows do no basic damage, but harm some fire-based enemies; and can
be made holy to damage the undead, either using a holy water vial (see 18-
Holy Water), or holy water font.
Holy water arrows remain holy for 30 seconds, in which time an undead enemy
can be taken out with 1-2 arrows. They do "splash damage" i.e. they damage in
a radius, so try to bunch up enemies to make the most of your arrows. I don't
think the velocity of the arrow affects damage.
5- Fire arrows.
The top of the aiming reticle determines what direction the arrow will go.
The length of time you draw back the bow determines the velocity. I do not
think the velocity affects damage; in any case fire arrows do a *lot* of
damage, and should be used sparingly.
Fire arrows do some splash damage, and can relight torches.
You are a lot more visible with fire arrows selected.
All enemies can be killed with fire arrows, bar fire haunts and elementals
(in fact, elementals will regain health from them).
6- Moss Arrows.
Like water arrows, these arrows can be fired without fear of attention. Aim
carefully to hit the part of the ground you want to silence. Several moss
patches will appear. You can walk silently anywhere inside the square they
make up, not just on the moss patches themselves.
They do zero damage to enemies.
7- Noisemaker arrows.
Fire in an arc, they bounce off walls until they come to rest. For a while,
they will make noise that alerts any enemies in the area. Noisemakers are
pretty useless, it's probably better to use a broadhead.
You can retrieve noisemakers after they have landed. Experiment with them,
but I do not recommend ever buying any at the start of a mission.
They do zero damage.
8- Rope arrows.
Rope arrows are very useful. Fire them into wood or earth, and they will
drop a rope straight down for climbing. If you hit an unsuitable surface, your
arrow is destroyed. They act just like Broadheads, up until they hit something.
Enemies do not notice these ropes, no matter how obvious their position.
Rope arrows can be retrieved, by grabbing the arrow at the top of the rope.
If you are climing the rope at the time, you will fall. If you have more than
one rope arrow, you can fire it nearer to a ledge, and get the first rope
arrow by climbing the new rope, then collecting the second rope arrow from the
ledge. Note that you do not *have to* get your rope arrows back.
Rope arrows are slightly buggy, I would save before firing them, and
recommend you do not save while actually on them. When you load a game, the
ropes are respawned.
A final note: it's possible that if you can't see a wooden edge, but you
can see the corner where it adjoins another surface, you can try firing the
arrow at the corner.
9- Gas arrows.
Share the fire arrow's flat trajectory; these arrows are expensive, rare,
but powerful. They knock out enemies with a small cloud of gas. It's hard to
knock out more than one enemy at a time, but you should try, so as to make the
most of the arrow. They can also extinguish torches, and possibly damage fire
elementals.
10- Compass.
Simple, the red arrow points north, which is usually the top of the page on
your map. Not too useful, as the maps aren't to scale, let alone complete or
accurate.
11- Lockpicks.
Appear after you complete 'Down in the Bonehoard'; these will open chests
and doors, and also defuse mines. To use them, you have to be near the object
in hand. You can open doors from about 5 feet, but need to be roughly within 2
feet to pick the lock.
Try to learn the sounds they make, rummaging noises mean progress, while a
click means the pick won't work; try the other pick.
If you can start to pick an object, then it can be fully picked i.e. there
are no "half-pickable" red herrings; and you can't fail.
One more thing, Mr. Garrett: try to open doors and chests with keys first,
as it's quicker and quieter.
12- Health Potions.
Restore some health. You get one point back as soon as you consume, and
about 3 slowly regenerate later. Not a lot, but proportionally more on expert.
You can drink more than one at a time, they will act independantly of each
other.
13- Speed Potions.
For a few seconds, Garrett is granted more speed. Useful for escaping,
quickly moving while the enemies back is turned, or fighting. It can also help
Garrett reach platforms he normally could not, but the level designs mean
there's nothing you need a speed potion exclusivly to see (well... nothing
they intended you to see, anyway...).
Note that Speed potions are not bound to a key, you will need to use the
inventory cycle keys (Default '[' and ']').
14- Breath Potions.
Restore Garrett's air to full when underwater. Use when air is low to make
the most of it. The level designs mean you never *need* one of these, and they
are rarely needed, but are useful when swimming somewhere you have never been
before, or somehow miss an essential air pocket.
15- Mines.
These landmines cause damage similar to a fire arrow. Drop or slide them
across the floor, you do not need to worry about them exploding as they land.
If you want to slide them, aim nearer to your feet than you might expect, they
slide quite a bit. When they come to rest, they will take a couple of seconds
to arm, then anything that comes nearby will cause them to explode. This
includes yourself, or inanimate objects (but not doors). The object need not
be moving either.
The sound of their landing often invites enemies to investigate.
The main aspect that you will need to consider when using them, is that
they do damage in a radius, but also trigger when their radius is intruded.
The consequence of this is that enemies are likely to be only at the edge of
the blast radius. If possible, try and tempt enemies to run straight over it
in order to take full damage.
Mines can be lockpicked, so as to be made safe, and reused. This is quite
tricky, you need to get just close enough to use the picks, without being
close enough to set them off.
Finally, if you see one lying in the level, and you didn't set it there
yourself, then it's not armed, and you can safely pick it up.
16- Gas Mines.
Similar to regular mines, but release a burst of gas instead of a blast of
fire. This will knock out but not kill enemies, but only damage enemies that
can be KOed. The gas burst is quieter than the explosive mine, and can
extinguish torches. Possibly, it can also damage Fire Elementals?
Useful against guards who are hard to approach, can also be used to take
out pursuants, but with the 3 second set up time, you might have a Benny Hill
style chase on your hands to get your enemies to trigger the mine.
17- Flashbombs.
*Very* useful. These objects cause a bright flash that stun some enemies,
and damage others. If used improperly, you will catch yourself in the flash,
and for some reason, the enemies will then get away without being affected.
Anyway; to use them, either lean round a corner and toss; toss and turn
away; or drop straight to the ground while running (it will be behind you when
it lands). You have about 6 seconds to blackjack any guards caught in the flash.
I find it good to have these ready to hand when exploring new areas where you
don't know the guard layout.
18- Holy Water.
Turns Water arrows holy for 30 seconds, so that they can damage the undead.
Killing one or two zombies will take about 10 seconds, and you might be
tempted to dash off looking for more to get your 30 seconds worth, be careful
not to put yourself in a precarious position. If possible, round up some
enemies before using. If your 30 seconds runs out while you have your bow
raised, the arrow remains holy; but cancelling the shot will make the arrow
turn back into a plain Water arrow.
19- Food.
Does nothing, apart from the large purple fruit later in the game, which
has the most... restorative effect.
20- Keys and puzzle items.
Click right mouse button once to put these in the centre of the screen,
them press again while facing a door or recepticle.
21- Papyrus (Papyrii?)
Click right mouse button to read. If the bottom right corner is dog-eared,
you can click it to see the next page. Press the right mouse button, or a
keyboard key to return to game. The game is effectivly paused while reading.
Basic AI guide
AI either stand around, or patrol (it's possible for them to patrol
entirely at random, but I do not think any AI in the game actually do this).
There are 4 basic AI states: completly unaware, suspicious, actively searching
for you, and attacking you. You can tell what state an AI is in by their
animation, and what sounds they use. Human AI make rather obvious noises, for
most other AI you will have to learn what each sound means (you can also guess
by the tone and inflection). Being familiar with an enemies grunting/hissing
etc also goes some way to being less afraid of them, too!
AI have a morale associated with them. This is basically a health level at
which they will stop fighting and run. Some AI will immediatly run on becoming
aware of you; while some never run, and will fight to the death! A morale
broken AI will try and put some distance between you and them, then go back to
the state of actively searching for you. If they take any damage, they will
flee again. As far as I know, AIs neither run to their comrades, nor get a
morale boost from being near comrades; although they will stimulate any other
AI they encounter.
1- Swordsmen
There are a few variations on the basic guard, they vary in health,
attacking strength, AI (how easily they notice you), and morale level.
Avoid getting into a sword fight with them, especially if the mission has a
No Kill condition, as you simply can't win.
The best thing to do is to sneak past, or methodically blackjack these
guards. If they are unaware of you, you can easily blackjack them, and walk
right behind them no problem. You can also backstab them with your sword, but
this is slightly trickier than blackjacking, and risks leaving bloodstains.
They never regain consciousness from blackjacking anyway, so really
backstabbing is a bad option. Note, 'backstab' is just a phrase, you can
strike any part of them, as long as they are unaware of you.
If the guard is suspicious, they will complain, call into the darkness, and
look about. If possible, wait a bit, and see if they go back to their
business, then have another go at getting past. If you attack or move past
them at this point, you may or may not get away with it, depending on your
visibility and noise.
If they are actively looking for you, they will confidently demand you come
out and face them, or call out to fellow guards. At this point, you can sneak
past if in total darkness and over a quiet surface, but you have no chance of
blackjacking or getting a backstab damage bonus; with the exception of the
Lean 'n Jack trick (D.1- Lean 'n Jacking).
Guards in this state will basically cheat, and move right towards you, even
if they have no logical reason to suppose that is where you are. Eventually,
they may go back to patrolling, but they will retain alertness and will be
harder to catch unawares. To handle guards in this state, either run (try not
to let them know what direction you took), fight, hide somewhere they can't
get to, or use an item such as a flashbomb or gas arrow.
A guard attacking you can be Lean 'n Jacked when running at you, but not
while actually sword swinging. Guards in this state will run straight for you,
and can see you even in complete darkness. Run, use a gas item or a flashbomb,
or stand and fight. If you get far enough away, or somewhere they can't get
to, they'll curse you, and return to the actively searching state.
The final guard state is to flee. When their health drops to a certain
level, they'll run off shouting at the top of their voice. I'm not sure how
they choose where to go, they don't seem to actively find comrades. After a
while, they will stop running, but remain alert.
Sword guards can swordfight *much* better than you, doing more damage, and
landing more blows. If you want to fight them, try using broadheads as they
run at you; you can *almost* draw the arrow right back in the time it takes
them to recover from an arrow, so you can take off most of their health by the
time they reach you. When actually melee fighting, keep some space behind you,
and don't get within striking distance unless you are going to strike
yourself. A good tactic is to circle strafe behind, and make many quick swipes
at the guard's back. As soon as their morale breaks (he will change animation
and cry out), get in and KILL HIM. Don't let him run, and don't worry about
him hitting you back.
A final tip, if you are unsure what direction a sword guard faces, note
that their sword is always in their right hand.
2- Archers
Similar to the sword guard, and normally used in combination with sword
guards (usually 2 or 3 swordsmen to one archer); or placed where they can view
a large area.
The difference from sword guards becomes apparent when they start to
attack: rather than getting right up to you, archers will try and put at least
10 feet or so between you, and then start shooting arrows. Once an archer
starts firing, he will always fire, he never stops halfway through firing.
Use this aiming period to either get sprinting, or break line of sight.
Sprinting isn't a great solution, the archer's have a good aim, although
jumping as well can improve your chances. To break line of sight, simply put
something between your self and the archer. The archer will then move to where
he can get a clear shot at you. If you get enough distance, he will revert to
searching for you. There's a few tips you can learn here:
a. If you hide behind wood or earth, the archer's arrows will stick into the
surface, and you can steal them later;
b. If you get another enemy between you and the archer, he will shoot them
instead! Because he is commited to firing once he starts, he will even hit his
own comrades;
c. This is a bug really, but the arrows are particle projectiles, that start
from the tip of the archers bow, and are fired in your direction. If you can
get *behind* an archer when he's aiming, then the arrow he fires will be shot
*backwards* from his bow; and hit himself!
If you wish to fight an archer, the obvious tip is to get close up. They
*will* still fire even if they are right beside you, but being next to them
makes it easier for you to maneuver. A good tip is to use either weak sword
slashes, or even blackjack blows on them. The reason is that the archers will
be knocked back with each blow and need to recover; and hopefully you can land
another blow before they recover. If they start to aim an arrow, however, it
may be impossible to put them off, no matter how hard or quick you hit them;
so either take cover (may not be time for this), or run and jump behind them.
3- Hammers
A nasty surprise; Hammers are similar to sword guards, but tougher. They
weild heavy hammers that do a good amount of damage, but the really nasty
thing is that they can pull off three hits in quick succession. This means
death, or at least an unacceptable amount of damage.
The levels where Hammers appear don't lend themselves to archery, although
you might be able to land 4-5 arrows on one running down a passageway before
he gets into swinging range. In general you should try to stealth past, or
methodically blackjack them. The levels are designed so you can sneak past
Hammers, so always look for the quiet route through. If you alert one, either
Lean 'n Jack; reload; or use a flashbomb.
4- Hammer Priests
Not a lot of these fellows in the game, but they are your first encounter
with the 'mage' AI caste. Weaker than the Hammer guards; Priests use a ranged
spell, similar to an archer. Because of the long casting time, the melee
tactic of constant quick attacks works well: you can kill these enemies just
by constantly blackjacking.
5- Zombies
A warm welcome if you've just joined us; yes, I expected you might skip
straight to this section! There are quite a few of the walking dead in the
game; and if you engage them expecting them to act like zombies are supposed
to (George Romero/Resident Evil style), you would get a nasty surprise. They
have a strange stabbing action, and can pull off several 'stabs' in quick
succession; that will tear through your health as fast as a sword. I think
they also have a biting attack, but you should never be close enough to find
out!
The next nasty surprise, is that they are almost invunerable. Knock them
down, they will get up almost immediately if you hang around, and they are
only slightly easier to knock over the second time. They need to be 'gibbed'
with holy, fire, or flashbomb items.
The actual way their health works is a bit odd. Enough damage of any type
will knock them to the ground. Then, they will start to regain their health.
To destroy them, you need to put their health below zero, which means doing
more damage than they can heal. Unfortunatly, your sword is not fast or strong
enough to compete with their healing; you need to use Fire; Holy; or Flashbomb
items. If they have been lying down long enough, they may regain full health,
and your flashbomb or holy arrow will only reduce their health, and not
destroy them.
I'll handle zombie encounters in the level guides, but in general you
should take advantage of the zombie's sluggishness and stupidity. Here's a few
zombie fighting tips:
a. While they can strike with lightning speed, they move and react slowly,
you can run past them quite easily, and they will soon give up chasing you;
b. Don't worry so much about your visibility when you are moving close to a
zombie. While they can't see into dark corners, they will sense you, if you
are within a couple feet. With their slow reactions, you can make quite cheeky
dashes between 'safe' positions. Because they don't stay alert for long, and
can never be caught unawares; you can safely alert them if you have somewhere
to dash to. I don't think simply leaving their sight is enough; putting a good
distance betwen you is best;
c. Zombies will investigate disturbances, but are unconcerned by corpses,
noise arrows etc., that would normally panic an enemy;
d. A dead end is a THE end. There's a few places in the game with dead ends
that you might get trapped in. I don't really have general advice for this
situation; except to say be careful where you quicksave, and remember that you
can flashbomb them to stun them for a few seconds, and you need not worry
about catching yourself in the flash;
e. Zombies have no particular grudge against you, they will attack anything
living; let someone else handle them! However, there's only a few places you
can take advantage of this, and if a zombie is alerted, they will home in on
*YOU*, even if it was another creature that disturbed them.
f. If there are several zombies, try and 'round them up' to make best use of
the items that will destroy them. Mines work well, on Expert you will have few
other uses for them. If there is only one zombie, you should think of just
getting past it, or using one item just to distract it and get past.
g. To swordfight a zombie isn't actually that tough. If you are going to do
this, consider luring it to a quiet corner, where others won't join in, and
you need never disturb the thing again. To fight the thing, move in and out of
it's stabbing range, teasing it into wasting it's blows, then move in and hit
it. You can get strong blows in, but overhead attacks might let it get in a
quick swipe. Zombies can block your sword attacks with their arms.
h. While sneaking up on them is tough, hitting them unawares with an arrow
or thrown item will do extra damage.
i. When shooting water or fire arrows at them, aim at their midsection,
where their spine is exposed. Possibly this is an intended weak spot, or
possibly it puts the centre of the arrows particle effect at their centre
point, for maximum damage.
After facing them a few times on expert, they aren't so bad.
I have also read in a couple of places that zombies can be destroyed by
luring them into water, but I have never managed to do this. I lured one into
roughly shoulder high water (high enough that I could not use my sword), and
it was entirely unaffected.
6- Burricks
Strange reptilian animals that live in burrows. They are not entirely
hostile, and in fact seem more distressed and afraid if you run into one. They
attack by breathing gas, which starts at their mouth, and spreads out towards
you. They will fire at point blank if necessary, and taking them out with
quick swipes has variable success; both because of their attack, and because
their morale breaks easily.
You should avoid these creatures, just run past, they won't give chase. If
you are nervous dealing with them, try for a backstab, then several quick
stabs before they get to run or attack; but beware they are rarely alone.
Oddly, you can Blackjack these animals, they will bow their heads and stand
stock still; but it's tricky to do.
7- Spiders
Appear in three versions; small, large, and super. Small spiders are an
annoyance more than anything else, but losing energy to them is a waste. They
have only one point of health, so anything will kill them. They can easily be
outrun, as they usually appear in caves etc. with ledges and pools. The
annoying thing is that they are rarely alone, and are hard to hit. If you try
and sword swipe while crouched, Garrett will stand up. Irritating. To strike
the ground, you need to start your swipe, then crouch.
However, the best way to kill these things is with broadheads. Even if they
are real close, and you only draw the bow back lightly, it'll kill them. The
skill is picking them off at a distance without wasting arrows or making them
charge at you.
They can jump, which normally puts them somewhere close to you; so if one
does jump, move away and turn to find it again without letting it bite.
The larger spiders have more health, and are best dealt with by
backstabbing, or firing several broadheads before it know where you are. They
can also jump, and have a habit of landing on your head, which does no harm,
but can panic you if you're trying to find where the critter went! These
spiders can block swordswipes with their legs, strangely.
The 'super' spiders are the same size as large, but use magic and 'web'
projectiles. The magic projectiles damage you, while the webs hold you until
you can get rid of them; a counter bottom centre of the screen shows how many
mouse clicks you need to do before you will be freed. Against one of these
spiders, you can get one or two sword attacks in before they web you again;
but against two they can keep you constantly webbed.
So, best bet is to backstab, or use some heavy firepower, or just avoid
them altogether.
8- Hammer Haunts
Hammer bodies pervaded by an evil power; they are as tough as living
Hammers, but quick and fearless. As they are possessed , rather than having a
conscience; they never morale break, and they cannot be blackjacked. If *you*
decide to run, these nightmares can keep up with you easily, so look for a
ledge to put between yourselves. THE way to get rid of these things is to
backstab them. Be careful, as they go from unaware to alert quickly; and the
backstab may not deal enough damage to kill.
Fighting these things close up is a bad idea, they are as vicious as
Hammers, and a bit faster with it. Even with practise, they will usually be
able to land a quick sword swipe or two. This damage is maybe acceptable on
Normal, but on Expert you may need to consider re-loading. Fire, unholy, and
flashbomb items will do most damage, catching them unawares does extra damage;
they will also recoil so you can get in some sword swipes; or make a break for
it.
9- Apparitions
The ghosts of Hammer Priests. They are similar, but tougher; have no morale
break; and their spell casts three skulls, rather than one or two cogs. Get
them on their own, and use several quick sword swipes. Be careful of them if
they get to start casting, as they will normally get to finish no matter what
you do; so try to stay at their side or back.
10- Fire Shadows
Found lurking in a couple levels, Fire Shadows are similar to Hammer Haunts
in behaviour. They are new to Gold, and added to cover the problem of players
getting stuck on levels that have puzzles involving fire arrows. Upon being
defeated, they drop a fire arrow crystal, and run away. They will return at
full health after a minute or so, at normal AI state, but if you are still
hanging around, they will immediatly start attacking you again!
Presumably, using fire arrows and mines is ineffective; and generally a
backstab is best, to make beating them "cost effective".
A final note, they generate light, and might spoil your nice dark corner.
On the other hand, you can see them coming around corners easier.
11- Fire Elementals
Sentient balls of fire. They fly in midair, but follow the same route-
finding AI as other enemies. The trickiest aspect of these entities is working
out their state. You can see what direction they are moving from their tail,
but they are expressionless and all their sound effects are similar (they do
have a full set of sounds though, I think it's possible to learn what their
different noises mean). They grow and shrink according to their health.
Fire Elementals generate their own light, and can spot you from a distance.
They attack by firing fire particles at you, and also having a charge attack
they use less often.
Water arrows are best against them, but sword and broadheads also work
though it would be a bad idea to try. If you are actually stupid enough to use
a fire arrow on them, they will regain health. One water arrow will usually
kill, if not; hopefully it will do enough damage to make the thing flee.
Remember you only need the water arrow to touch it, pulling the drawstring
further back won't inflict any more damage.
The best strategy against these things is to dash past them quickly but
discretely with water arrows ready. Lurking isn't as good as it is against
other enemies, as you'll get little notice that they've spotted you. If you
know there are Fire Elementals in the area; keep on the move, but peer around
corners rather than run straight out. If you are spotted, find cover,
preferably where you can predict where the Elemental is going to re-appear, so
you can pull off a water arrow.
12- Elemental Mages
Four types: Earth, air, water and fire. Similar to hammer priests, and can
be easily killed by keeping them stunned with weak attacks. They attack using
their respective elements, the Earth Mages using crushing vines. You will need
to tap the mouse button to break free; if you come up against two Earth Mages,
you'll be in trouble, as they'll keep piling the vines on.
13- Craymen
Humanoid creatures that attack with their claws; and act rather similar to
swordsmen. Not too tricky really, they can be backstabbed and blackjacked.
They aren't too quick, if you want to run; and if you're not too bad with your
sword, killing them won't break a No Kills goal.
Often the best tactic is to run, though, as they donn't guard anything
useful.
14- Craybeasts (Blue Craymen)
Tougher versions of the craymen. Appear towards the end of the game, and
are best avoided; certainly there's little point in standing and fighting.
15- Frogbeasts
They don't follow the usual AI, or at least their patrol routes are
strange, and they have no expressive animation. Their sounds are all similar,
so it's hard to judge what they are up to. They basically just hop about. When
they see you, they'll stand for a second, then jump at you and explode! Nasty.
If you suddenly find yourself near to one, be very cautious; it's hard to tell
if it can see you. The best way to take them out is from a distance with a
broadhead. Your sword is useless, as you'll be in their blast radius.
They can be blackjacked, but it's too tricky to be a useful tactic.
The explosion will damage and alert other enemies.
16- Apebeasts
Look and sound like rats, maybe slightly baboonish up close. Basically
sword guards, but slightly weaker and a bit faster on their feet (their
reaction times are about the same). With practice, you can cut them down with
your sword easily, but that's not as elegant as a blackjack, and they're
normally found in groups; and backed up by a bugbeast; see next entry...
17- Bugbeasts
Praying Mantii like creatures, quite slow, and have a *lot* of health. They
have no melee attack, but instead spit out swarms of bugs (possibly wasps).
These swarms either impact for damage, or become a stationary cloud that hurts
to walk through, and eventually explode outward, damaging anything nearby.
The bugswarms appear to hurt anything other than Bugbeasts, so try and get
some Apebeasts in between.
When you face these creatures, Gas arrows and mines are your best bet;
indeed, the levels in which they appear will give you plenty of Gas items, so
this may well be the intended way you are to deal with them.
18- Innocents
Human, non-combatant characters. Follow the basic AI, except on becoming
alert, they will flee instead of attacking. Therefore, they have no real moral
breaking point. The other difference in AI is that they can always be
blackjacked. They can usually be found standing around, and often can be
pickpocketed.
Beginner's sections cover the Normal difficulty levels.
Expert covers the levels playing on Expert, and points out things of
interest, alternative ways to play the level etc.
1- A Keeper's Training
Overview- A small training mission, but a mission nonetheless. Teaches the
basics, but you'll spend a while dying miserably anyway when you get into the
game, don't expect this mission to make you any better.
Beginner's Guide-
Objectives: Follow the Keepers' instructions to complete the training course.
If this is the very first time you've played Thief, this mission will cover
the basics. If you've ever played a First Person perspective action game, it's
a piece of cake. Use the mouse to look about, and W, A, S and D to move about.
Other controls appear as text tips when necessary.
This course doesn't teach all the controls, and you should have a go at
leaning (Q, E, and Shift+Alt+W) as well.
Expert Guide-
Objectives: Follow the Keepers' instructions to complete the training course.
Not much to it. There is one secret though; run through the level as fast
as you can, get the key off the table in the courtyard, then beat the sparring
guard as quickly as you can. When you beat him, quickly run down the passage
he walks down, there is a secret room at the end if you got here quick enough.
2- Lord Bafford's Manor
Overview- Straight up burglary. Get in, past all the guards, and steal the
sceptre. Starts out on the streets, and makes you enter from the sewer, then
work your way to the top floor. Expert difficulty is pretty much the same, but
with some extra conditions, mainly that you have to get back out. On normal,
the level can be completed in just over about two and a half minutes.
Beginner's guide-
Objectives: Get into the manor by breaking into the well house.
Get the sceptre.
Don't try the front door! It won't work. Wait outside the wall, and listen
to the guards, then continue on up the street. Don't forget your arrow cache
at the SouthWest corner, water arrows are always useful.
All in all a rather fun mission, but if you are new to the game, you will
die many, many times. Biggest tip I can give you is to keep your sword
sheathed, as the game progresses swordfighting will be out of the question.
Try and blackjack guards, then hide the bodies somewhere dark. Try and spot
which of the four AI states a guard is in, and see how cheeky you can be in
terms of making a disturbance then running away. If things do turn sour, load
or restart, or pull out your sword and try your luck.
It's possible to get lost in Bafford's, dues to the psuedo-symmetry of the
place. You're best remembering objects and places around the level; rather
than trying to use the map. Later in the game, your map is near useless.
If you happen to pick something up but it turns out to be useless, stand on
carpet or grass, crouch, and press 'r', and you will drop it as quietly as
possible.
On the top floor, there are a lot of hard tiled surfaces. Even a single
step will put the guards on alert. There's about three or four guards up
there, and you might want to pickpocket at least one for the key to Bafford's
'throne room'.
Another copy of the key is kept in Bafford's counting room. There is a
staircase in the centre of the top floor, that eventually leads down to a room
with a chest, the throne room key on the wall, and a ledger book on the table.
You can also get in there by a secret passage hidden behind a banner in one
of the roof garden areas, but getting down from there can be tricky without
disturbing the guard. If he gets to strike the gong, dodge him until his two
comrades show up, then try and flashbomb them all.
Actually, his first reaction is to strike the gong, at that point you could
just grab the scepter. You have about five seconds to wait before the level
actually ends, just stay off the guards' swords and you'll be fine!
A final tip- if you hear two Non Player Characters talking, don't disturb
them, wait for their conversation to end, and they'll go about their patrols.
Expert Guide-
Objectives: Get into the manor.
Get the sceptre.
Get 700 loot.
Kill no-one.
Get out.
Not too bad, if you are used to playing no-kills. You'll either have to run
away, reload, or learn to Lean 'n Jack if you get caught out though. If you
choose to run, try and lead the enemy round somewhere you have been before,
and take corners and close doors behind you, until you can't hear footsteps.
Keep an ear out for the guard muttering or cursing. He'll return to his normal
patrol, hopefully.
A useful tactic if you have a guard on your tail is to run and jump into
the pool in the centre of the manor.
The 700 loot shouldn't be too hard. In the sewers out in the streets,
there's some loot in the room with a switch, that also allows you to exit the
sewers beside the well house, handy for getting the key and getting down the
well without even a KO. Once you fall down the well, find the small chamber
below and to your left that contains 4-5 spiders and a chest. Vault out of the
water, open the chest, run back into the water. Get the loot in the library
and master bedroom, both northeast of the top floor. That's about 400 cleared,
you'll have to do some random burgalry about the manor.
The "get out" goal is easy. There's a side door on the north side of the
manor, the switch to open it is in the alcove just before it. The front door's
not that tricky, if you want to try it. On the top floor, two archers overlook
the foyer. There is a swordsman near each one too. Blackjack one swordsman,
then douse the torch behind the archer then KO the archer. Hopefully, all is
dark, and the other archer can't see. If he does see you, and starts running
round, get back out to the corridors, or simply jump down to the foyer. If he
hasn't seen you, go round and deal with him, then get down to the foyer. Douse
the two torches beside the main gate, then flick the switch to the right to
open the gates. Just run through the three guards, and you're out.
Not much to see on this level, you can get on the roof if you like, though.
Also, from the roof garden area, there is a passage leading into the throne
room. The roof of this passage is incomplete, and you can jump up and see
stuff you're not supposed to.
3- Break from Cragscleft Prison
Overview- You got the sceptre, but your fence Cutty has been thrown in jail.
The jail is in a mountain face, above an old mine, and you will be breaking in
via the mines.
Beginner's Guide-
Objectives: Get into the prison area
Get Cutty out alive
Righto, best get under way. This level has new enemies for you, first and
foremost, zombies. Your best bet is to just avoid them, and keep on your feet,
but you can maybe take them on one at a time with your sword. Just remember to
get moving again when you do knock them down, as they'll get back up in a
couple of seconds.
To get out of the mines, you need to get to the third floor. Find the
elevator, and press the top button. There's a couple of zombies on this floor,
just run until you see or hear the Hammer guards. At this point, you can
either wait for the Hammers to talk, and go about their business, or lure them
to fight the zombies for you. Their Hammers can break the zombies limb from
limb. Just be careful, when one side wins, they may be alert and looking for
you!
Once you are up the stairs, you are in the factory area. From here on in,
it's a case of carefully moving between dark areas, dealing with the Hammers
one at a time. There's some tricky bits where the floor is metal, use moss
arrows to soften the ground at those points. The level is quite tight, so
getting away from a guard chasing you is hard, and killing the Hammers is
*very* hard, so make good use of quickload and quicksave.
When you get to the prison, you'll need to open Cutty's prison cell.
Opening the others risks having prisoners running about drawing attention.
Each cell block has a guard post overlooking, with a Hammer guard, alarm
button (one alarm system for each cell block), cell door buttons, and a book
listing prisoners. Once in Cutty's cell, the goals change. You need to get
even further up in the complex to get into the evidence box.
Follow directions to the barracks, there's more sneaking involved, but you
have a bit more breathing space.
Wait wait, I've been meaning to say: if you don't already know, the loot
you collect in a level is the money you get to buy equipment in the next
mission. If you're feeling confident, or want to make the most of your time
here, the upper levels here are a good opportunity to get some loot. You can't
carry equipment over to the next level, so you might as well use it getting
loot.
Anyway, eventually, you'll come across a T-junction, with a hammer emblem
on the wall ahead. At this point, the room to the right has a secret passage
behind a banner with some loot, and the room to the left has the evidence box.
Expert Guide-
Objectives: Get into the prison
Break Out Cutty
Break Out Basso
Find Issyt the Beggar and get back the Lucky Hand of Glory
Get 1000 loot
Don't kill anyone
This level changes a bit from Normal difficulty, the lift no longer goes to
the third floor, so you will have to climb up the hard way. Where the tracks
go outside, and there is a zombie lying, the wall to the right is cut away,
and this is the start of the route up. There is also no holy water font on the
second floor (the floor you start on), but there is a ruined Hammer chapel on
the third floor, with a water arrow, holy water vial and a font, and some loot.
You might want to clear the third floor of wandering zombies as you'll be
coming back later.
When you get into the Hammer area, there is a chest that puts a heavy
hammer in your hands, you might want to take it with you (see section D.5- How
to kill (without it counting against you)).
When you get to the area with the security camera device, there is a hole
in one dark corner that's worth investigating, you'll be asked to come back
later.
The way the goals change in this mission, when you find Cutty he will tell
you to get Felix' notes from the evidence safe. When you get to the safe,
there is a note saying a prisoner has escaped with the plans and half the loot
in the safe.
If you come across Basso before you're ready to go, keep a note of where he
is, and leave him for later.
The loot condition on this level isn't too tough, there's a couple of
whiskey bottles behind the banner in the room next to the evidence box room,
some more in the Hammer habitation area (I think there's only one Hammer
around there), and some in the mines.
One weird thing you can do on this level is KO Cutty when he's talking- and
he won't die!
4- Down in the Bonehoard
Overview- Cutty couldn't pay you for doing the Bafford job, but he gave you
the notes of another thief, which talk of a valuable relic residing in a
series of underground tombs. Presumably Felix failed, so you're going in to
get the relic yourself. 'Down in the Bonehoard' is hard and scary, and perhaps
not what you expected to see in the game, but is all in all a very nice level.
The designers have put in plenty of traps and triggered events, and seems like
they had fun making it.
Beginner's guide-
Objectives: Get the Horn of Quintus
Yup, more zombies. Stock up on holy water, water arrows and fire arrows.
Try not to kill zombies in the first half of the level unless necessary, and
you should be fine.
The map for this level is pretty appalling, I would try and navigate by
memory. Keep a look out for hairlines on the ground, indicating a trap. Also
keep an eye out for holes in the wall, that might shoot arrows. Another thing
to look for: Felix' party scratched arrows into the wall to help them find
their way back out. Since you are going IN, you'll want to head the other way.
You should be able to get through the first bit without getting stuck.
Eventually you'll come across a hexagonal tunnel with glowing mushrooms on the
wall. I'd like to comment on this area. First of all, this is where Felix
started marking arrows, remember you want to go the other way. Your eventual
goal is 'The Halls of Echoing Repose'. Second, you will meet a new enemy here.
The lovable Burricks. The previous section on how to deal with Burricks maybe
made light of them, and I want to be careful you don't run up and try to
stroke them! The first one you encounter is in the adjoining stone tunnel.
This is maybe too tight a space to disregard the Burrick as a threat, wait
until it is at the far, uphill end before running downhill to the next tunnel
section. Finally, I want you to make a small detour, turn right at the next
junction instead of left as the arrow might indicate (actually it indicates to
go up the tunnel you came down, but anyway...), follow this tunnel to a drop
into some water, then swim ahead to a stony area. There's some traps in here,
and I'll let you find your own way round them, but your reward is six fire
arrows. On harder difficulty levels, you might need these to complete a
puzzle, but you are free to use them to kill zombies.
Later, you'll meet more burricks. Keep moving, and you should be okay.
There are two ways to get into the halls of echoing repose, one is to fall
down into a large vertical shaft flooded with water. Look for a golden bone
floating (floating?!), then find the way out, it's a spiral staircase. The
other way in is through a red burrick shaft, in any case you'll know when
you're in the halls due to the haunting tune that plays. It's actually the
Horn, and you can use the sound to roughly guess which way the Horn is.
Once in the Halls of Echoing Repose (you might like to make a seperate save
here if you feel you have done well), you will face many zombies. At least 10
are just wandering around. The next paragraph details how to kill them 'for
free', but you should have enough items on you. Use holy water arrows and fire
arrows to gib them. If you can hit two with one arrow, all the better. There's
a few more zombies lying around the level, but the main threat are these ones
wandering around. Felix corpse is around here somewhere too. Somewhere near
the downward steps will be two more golden bones. If you didn't get the one in
the water down the stairs, get it now.
Next, find the ramp that leads up to the walkways above, as you walk up,
you will hear small explosions to your left. This is a constant fire
projectile trap that shoots across a passageway, and out the door. This is the
aforementioned zombie killing oppurtunity. Lure zombies here, and a couple of
hits will gib them. The only problem is that it you will have to engage them
close up to keep them in the blast radius. If you kill a zombie here, you will
hear the zombie 'splat' noise constantly for a while, this is because the
explosions are pushing the zombie parts about. Yuck.
I will leave you free to wander the upper ramps, but will detail the
chambers you might come across (although I really insist it's more rewarding
discovering this stuff yourself):
There is a room with a pit containing bones, and a face on the wall. Use a
rope arrow to get down (fire it into the ceiling). I'll let you find out
what's down here yourself, but I'd like to point out a small bug in the game.
You might not be able to get out on the rope. In which case, find the chest in
the room containing a rope arrow, and use this to get up. Collect your
original arrow from the roof, it will work next time you use it.
There is a room with tiled floor, and you can see a firey but dark humanoid
wandering around inside. This is a fire haunt, and it might be hard for you to
sneak up to him and beat him. Rest assured, on Normal you need not worry about
him, or the contents of this room, unless you feel up to the challenge, and
have 5-6 spare fire arrows.
There is a Hammerite crypt with a large hammer lit up on the floor. There
is a trap here, but it can't kill zombies (although it does hold them in place
quite well). Anyway, there is a ladder leading down in this room. Down there
is an open sarcophagus and two golden bones. Throw the gold bones in, and any
you have in your inventory. If you collected all three (two near the staircase
on the floor of the halls, and one in the water down the stairs), you will be
awarded with some more zombie killing equipment. Rocking.
There is a deep chamber with many purple projectiles flying about, and many
stone beams crossing the chamber. You need not worry about this room, but if
you do try exploring it, you will come to a room with many statues, seemingly
randomly placed. If you step in front of any statues, you will die. Sneak
behind the statues, and use the columns for cover (this bit is admittedly very
hard). The best route is along the right hand side of the room, then weave
closely in and out of the columns, then follow the left hand wall out to the
exit. In the next room you will get an early encounter with a Hammer Haunt.
These are very tough, so run past it, grab the crystal from the pedestal, then
stand in the white marble booth behind the pedestal... and you're free!
Finally, near the roof of the halls you will find a circular platform with
3 posts firing projectiles. A passage leading off from here takes you to the
Quintus family tombs, and your goal. First though, more burricks... If you
found Felix' corpse and read his diary, he'll mention the horn soothes the
normally territorial creatures; and you should be able to just wander through
this set of caverns freely.
Expert Guide-
Objectives: Get the Horn of Quintus
Get the gem 'The Mystic's Soul'
Get 2000 loot
Get the gem 'The Mystic's Heart'
Get out alive
A rather tricky level, to do it on expert you should have no fear of
zombies. You should scour this level for loot; but note that the two gems you
are charged with getting will add to your loot total.
There's a few points where you can get more items: firstly, a room below
the Burrick tunnels holds six fire arrows; next, if you collect the three
golden bones and take them to the Hammer crypt you will get some more
equipment; finally you can get fire arrows by beating off the fire shadow (use
water arrows on him if you have spare).
To get the Mystic's soul, find the chamber with tiled floor, and a Fire
Shadow patrolling inside. Shoot the unlit torches with fire arrows to open the
trapdoor on the floor, then jump in, to get to the chamber holding the gem. On
your way out, you'll hit hard tiles, and probably gain some attention. You can
cause some free carnage by running next door to the Hammer crypt and luring
enemies onto the booby trapped floor.
To get the Mystic's Heart, find the chamber with two ramps along the side,
and a Burrick in the middle. Beyond there is a room where you have to drop off
beams to get to the ground. The room after that is tricky. A good route
through is walk towards the right hand side of the rightmost column, then walk
behind and round it, then follow the left side of the next column closely, and
weave as close as you can in and out of the next two columns, finally hug the
left wall of the chamber to get to the next room.
Getting the horn should be easy, but on the way out, the Burricks may be
agitated. I would just run for it, you can get through these caverns without
passing too close to any, and they won't give chase.
To escape the level, there is a crawlway leading out on one of the higher
walkways; there's nothing else up there except a barrel you can knock off the
edge for a laugh.
Not much of interest, there is a bug to point out in the room with the
stone face. If you use a rope arrow to get down, the rope might not be
climable when you try to get back up! The designers put in a chest with
another rope arrow to make up for this.
Also, near the start of the level is the entrance to the 'Alarus
Extension', but it's long destroyed. However, Thief lore reputes this is the
location of the Bow Upgrade. If you look at the gap at the top, there *is*
room to get through. A few players have got over (Yametha at
http://www.ttlg.com deserves credit for this), and report nothing but rubble
on the other side. Several more possible locations for the Bow Upgrade have
been suggested, including above the Holy Water Font, where the light shines
in, and the map area marked 'Noble Houses'. These two *might* be the same
place though. (Disclaimer: The Bow Upgrade is a myth. If it does exist, it's a
coincidence; or only the very first whispers of it's existance were true.)
5- Assassins
Overview- After selling the Horn of Quintas, Garrett has money to spare,
and invests in some quality lockpicks. Eager to try them out, he decides on
the spot to rob the local Hammer temple. However, he has picked up some
unwanted attention...
An arrow shoots through the window, killing the shopkeeper! You hear voices
and realize the arrow was meant for you...
The mission goals change completly in this level, and (*rejoice*) we're
burgling a mansion again! It's back to swordsmen and archers, but these ones
are tougher than Lord Bafford's, and this Lord is more security conscious than
Bafford was...
Beginner's guide-
Objectives: (Initially)
Raid the Hammer temple for 1000 gold
(Becomes)
Trail the thugs without being detected to find out who wanted you
dead.
This adventure begins in Farkus' Functionals. You'll have your new
lockpicks and their instructions in your inventory. After Farkus is shot, you
can hear the thugs talking. Beware you can alert them while they are talking,
and automatically fail the new objective to trail them.
After they start moving, you might notice all the stuff left in the shop.
You have time to grab it all, but you'll have to run to catch up with them.
They headed down the street, to the right as you leave Farkus', then left.
Trailing these guys takes about four minutes. It's quite easy, but peer
round corners if you are not in absolute darkness, and be careful of metal
surfaces.
Once they get to their boss' place, the objectives change again:
Objectives: (Final)
Teach Lord Ramirez a lesson, steal the purse from his belt!
Get 1000 loot while you're at it
At this point, the mission is similar to Lord Bafford's; but you should
take note that the guards here are tougher, and Ramirez has a security alarm
system. Once an enemy becomes alert, they might run for the nearest alarm
button, and it's hard to stop them. Once the alarm is sounded, any guards who
hear it will be alerted... furthermore, guards will rush and stand in the
doorway of the room Ramirez is in! If possible, get through without allowing
the alarm to be set off.
One specific tip I'd like to impart on this mission, keep to one side when
opening doors, and lean to look inside rooms. There's a couple of places where
guards have been placed so they can see the doorways easily. You can also use
the anti-terrorist tactic of leaning into a room, chucking in a Flashbomb, and
leaning back to avoid the flash.
This is the first mission you'll get to try out your lockpicks. To use
them, you'll have to stand near to a door or chest, have a lockpick selected,
and hold down the right mouse key. Make sure that the door isn't already
unlocked, or that you don't already have the key first though.
The level from here on in is pretty small, so you might like to make a save
point starting at the mansion. Then, you can retry just the mansion part of
the level. Don't be afraid to use your items too, given the level's size, you
can use as many water and moss arrows as you like.
You'll have to explore a bit to get your 1,000 loot; but to get to Ramirez
you'll need to find the basement key, which is kept in a chest beside his bed
on the top floor of the mansion. There's also a secret passage in his bedroom,
see if you can find it.
Once you get down to the basement, getting Ramirez' purse is tough if the
alarm was set off, as there will be two guards watching him. You'll need to
lure them out to deal with them one at a time. Ramirez himself carries a mace;
and will attack you. Search inside his counting room for a couple of
documents, and some loot.
Expert Guide-
Objectives: (Initially)
Get 1,000 loot from the hammer temple
Don't kill anyone
(Becomes)
Follow the thugs without being detected, to find out who wanted you
dead
This one's a good bit tougher on expert. Following the thugs, however,
doesn't seem to be any different, possibly they look over their shoulders a
bit more, but that's all. Your final objectives are:
Objectives: (Final)
Steal the purse from Ramirez's belt
Get 2000 loot
Get Ramirez prized fire poker
Get out when you are done
Don't kill anyone
The best way inside seems to be to get over the outer wall by stacking
crates from the streets, or firing a rope arrow into the wooden shutters of
the buildings in the street. Just to the right of the main gates is a good
spot; take a wooden crate with you to get on top of the wall surrounding the
mansion, then drop down and blackjack the archer (this might take a few
attempts). From the ramparts, you can walk round to the west hand side, and a
small hut in the outer wall lets you jump into Ramirez's bedroom.
The no kill objective is quite a nuisance, you might like to make a save
point before you enter the mansion so you can retry quickly. Don't hoard your
items, you'll have little margin for error with the guards. They'll run for
the alarm if there's trouble, and they are placed in some sneaky places. If
you don't consider it a cheap way to play, the Lean 'n Jack is literally a
lifesaver.
Once inside, a good tip is to avoid the first floor. Scour the second floor
for loot; and the silver firepoker, which will add to your loot total. It can
be found by searching in his bedroom. There is also quite a bit of loot on the
Eastern side of the second floor. You can make up the rest of the 2000 in
Ramirez counting room; unless you count on not knocking him out and not
letting him see you; in which case getting the loot in that room will be hard
if not impossible (perhaps it's do-able with speed potions and good timing?).
The Northwesterly staircase will take you right down to the basement from
the second floor. I think there is only one guard you can encounter here, and
he has a long patrol route, so you may well never encounter him.
Getting Ramirez in the basement is tricky if you set the alarm off; as a
couple of guards will stand right in his counting room doorway. Even the Lean
'n Jack might not help here. Oh, for a gas arrow! It's possible to lure
Ramirez and his bodyguards round the back of the basement to the Burricks, but
it's hard to set up the guards in the gas clouds without getting gassed
yourself, and without letting the guards land any blows. The upper basement
(that is, the first floor underground) gives you more space to play, you can
maybe lure the guards out here to give them room to wander about and
eventually revert to patrolling.
If Ramirez is alone in his counting room, he's easy to deal with. I suspect
that if you get crates and put them in front of the alarm button, you can
alert him and he will get stuck trying to run through them.
When you have Ramirez's purse, several thugs will appear around the
mansion, making an escape hard. The waterway out to the East is the best
route. If the alarm in the mansion was never set off, you're finished. But if
the alarm was set off inside the mansion then Ramirez will have men out on the
street, and you need to get safely back to your home turf! Look on your map,
it's to the south, but you will need to go right up north to get onto the
path. From this point, there's nothing to it, you can methodically blackjack
your way through, or you can just run for it.
6- The Downwind Thieves' Guild
Overview- New to Thief Gold, this level spans a few urban locations, starting
out on the streets, and has a more linear feel than the other levels so far.
Plenty of guards to deal with here, and although there's plenty of shadows,
the level often makes you run through well lit passages with the knowledge
that a guard is somewhere close by...
Beginner's Guide-
Objectives: Break into the Downwind Thieves' Guild by the secret passage in
the Overlord's Fancy
Find out where the Sapphire Vase is, and steal it
Get 1000 loot
Get back out onto the streets when you are done
This is quite an easy level, compared to the last few, the biggest problem
is that it's so well lit. You should have plenty of water arrows, so use them.
You will also get a few mines to play with in this level. They're a bit crude,
but do a lot of damage, and can be quite fun to watch a cocky guard have one
go off in his face. If you are tempted to buy one at the shop, don't bother,
as they're a bit pricey; and you'll pick them up during the mission. Stick
with healing potions and water arrows.
At the very start of this mission, creep forward in the dark patch on the
ground, so you can see the conversation taking place while remaining completly
obscured. The three characters will disappear inside, and you can start on
your way. As usual, you want a side way in. The soldier on patrol will leave
you alone if you do not have a weapon readied.
Hopefully you can get inside and upstairs on your own, the next tricky bit
is what to do when you get upstairs. Look for a metal opening going into the
floor. See the wooden roof above it? A rope arrow will take you down to a
fireplace inside the Overlord's Fancy. You *can* grab your arrow while on the
rope, but you will have a hard landing (Clang!), and you will get the
oppurtunity to get the arrow back later anyway, so just leave the rope hanging
for now...
Now, the casino area is quite tricky. To the left of the fireplace, a
passageway lets you get behind a lookout, and to the right leads to the main
casino, which is well guarded. Use some water arrows, and take your time
dealing with the guards. You are looking for a secret passage into the
Thieves' guild, and if you look at the walls carefully, you can see the door's
outline; and the secret switch for it is nearby. The main entrance to the
guild is here too, but seemingly impossible to get through quietly.
Once into the thieves' den, your next goal is to work out where the vase
is, and get it. A conversation just inside reveals that Donal has the vase
locked up, but Reuben has the only key to the safe.
From here on, the level is quite well mapped. Keep an eye out for control
panels you can operate, you are looking to get into the sewer systems to get
to Reuben and Donal's houses. You will come across an area with planks laid
down to walk over, and two guards overlooking from a gray stone area. In the
area they are patrolling is a couple of sewer gate switches, make sure you get
these.
You want to go to Reuben's first for the key. His house is quite well
guarded, but there's a couple of secret passage ways inside to help you. One
is in the fireplace just as you come up from the basement, the other is opened
with a secret switch on a waist high bookcase on the first floor.
To get to Donal's, get back to the Thieves' guild and follow your map
again. Inside Donal's isn't so bad, but watch out for hard surfaces. A note to
the servant will give you a clue as to where the vase is, and a downstairs
door leads outside to complete the mission.
Expert Guide-
Objectives: Get into the Thieves' Guild
Find and Steal the Vase
Get 2000 loot
Get Lord Randall's bracelet as well
Don't kill anyone
Get out onto the streets, when you are done
For a laugh, distract the thieves talking at the start so they don't go
inside. If you can keep them wandering about till the street guard shows up,
he'll attack them. Be careful, he'll be looking for you if he kills them!
Inside the casino is probably the trickiest part of this level. Security is
*tight* and there's not many places to run to. Use plenty of water arrows, and
flashbombs if you need them.
After that, the level's not too bad. You might have to reload quicksaves if
you are seen, or run away to the sewers until your pursuer calms down.
Again, the loot goal isn't too hard, but requires you to visit most of the
level. There's a few easy to overlook items, but plenty to get to make up 2000
anyway. There's a few purses to pickpocket too. Getting ALL the loot on this
level would be quite a challenge, I notice more bits and pieces every time I
play.
The bracelet goal is maybe the trickiest goal to complete, as it's location
is easy to overlook, and I don't think there's any clues to where it is. The
general location of it is in the small sewer den just before Reuben's basement
door.
Once you are done, there are three 'street' areas to get to. Where you
start; at Donal's; and strangely, the courtyard at Reuben's (looks like a
street, but is surrounded on all sides by Reuben's house).
Not a lot to see on this level. It's quite easy to get on the roofs back at
the start, by stacking a couple of boxes on the south wall. Nothing you can't
see from on the ground, but check out the roof above the restaurant's side
door, you slide about and can't jump!
7- The Sword
Overview- After humiliating Ramirez (or killing him), your reputation is
spreading in the city. A woman named Viktoria would like to pay you for your
services; steal a magic sword from a nobleman's mansion. She admits the job
will be tough, but the pay will be good. Garrett's main concern, however, is
that the nobleman is new in town. No-one knows for sure who he is, or what the
mansion's layout is like; but Garrett isn't going to be put off; a nobleman's
a nobleman, and a mansion's a mansion...
Beginner's guide:
Objectives: Get the sword from the upstairs in the mansion
Get 500 loot
Get out of the mansion with the sword
From the start, go left (North) and look for wooden struts above that will
let you fire a rope arrow up.
Once in the mansion, your biggest question is probably how to handle the
guards. On this mission, they are quick and alert, but not that tough fighting
wise. You should try to blackjack *carefully*, failing that, pull out your
sword. The key to sword fighting these guys is to pick your swipes. You only
need three good blows to kill them ,but they can land blows on you very
quickly, especially when you've struck them. Overhead swings aren't such a
good idea, as they slow you down, and let the guards get a stab in.
The mansion can *roughly* be divided into it's three floors, plus the
garden. The first floor is what we're used to. Be careful of the marble floor
tiles, and generally take your time.
The second floor is a bit strange. Be very careful of booby trapped floor
pieces, and bas relief faces that shoot at you. Double doors lead to stairs,
you will need to get a key (pickpocket a guard) to unlock the stairs up.
The third floor is twisted. It's full of guards, and all the hallways are
well lit, with marble floor. However, grass tunnels 'swiss-cheese' this part
of the mansion, you can duck into them to escape, if needs be. The sword is in
the centre, floating in a large chamber. It's held up by magic, if you can
destroy the generator above this chamber (you can get there by one of the
grass tunnels), it will fall to the floor. Or, you can use rope arrows to grab
it in midair. Either way, it's almost certain that you will cause a stir. Best
thing to do now- run for it! If any guards keep up with you, detour through
the grass tunnels, climb/drop ledges so they can't follow, and get to the
second floor again. As long as there weren't guards right on your tail, you
can forget about them. Now... notice the sword has replaced your normal sword.
Don't think you can go on a killing spree now, but see if you can work out
what's so special about it...
You won't need to visit the garden on normal difficulty, but I find it good
to make up the 500 loot easily, and you can go here first to get some extra
equipment. There's about four guards patrolling about, quite spread out, so
they shouldn't be a nuisance.
There is another large area of the map, exclusive to Thief Gold. If you
come across this area, well done! I'll talk about it in the expert guide.
You might want to consider spending time in this level to get plenty of
loot, every couple of hundred you collect here is another item in the next
level.
For the 'Get out' goal, either get to the balcony you entered by (the
balcony itself counts as 'outside', you won't need a rope arrow); or you can
be cheeky, and run through the main gates!
Expert guide:
Objectives: Get the sword
Get 2000 loot
Find some information on this 'Constantine'
Don't kill any guards
Rather a nice level, you can take your time, or do a mad commando run! The
guards really restrict your freedom though, they are quite alert and quick to
react. Often, your blackjack attempts may fail, all I can imagine is that the
single step out of the shadows to get into range makes them suspicious.
Either that, or they are somehow aware of you even out of their view! There's
a theory about the guards on this level, their attributes are very similar, if
not identical to, a later enemy...
I would advise going to the gardens early on to get some equipment and
loot. Possibly, you could go upstairs and get Constantine's key first; as it's
needed in the garden for the 'Get Information' goal. A good way to get loads
of arrows is to visit Little Big land.
There's a room with two pillars, with stone faces on them. A small bridge
crosses over to a doorway. In this room is a switch, which opens a gate just
in the stream below. Go through there, follow the current, and you'll be in
'Little Big land'. Little Land has a breath potion, and one guard. A waterpipe
leads to Big Land. Some nice ideas here: You can get rope arrows from the
pincushion on an upper shelf, and from the bedside chest; fire arrows from the
matchbox on the next shelf; water arrows in the watertub and the ink well on
top of the desk; and moss arrows on the bed and the food plate While you're
here, be sure to check out the mouse trap, and the back of the sofa. The mouse
hole by the bed is the way out. I imagine it's possible to get stuck in here,
if you waste rope arrows. So don't.
To get the full 2000 loot, you'll have to explore most of the mansion.
Little Big Land has only 20 loot, I think, and upstairs does not have much
either. You'll have to explore the first and second floors and garden quite
thoroughly. There's plenty of vases sitting about, some chests, and gold and
silver lumps just lying around (?!) The drinks bar downstairs has a bit of
loot too. A couple of the guards can be pickpocketed for money, but not a huge
amount
In order to get the sword, either jump down on it (it's hard to aim
though), climb up to it with rope arrows, or destroy the magic generator above
and collect the sword from the pedestal. In any case, it's likely the guards
will all be on alert, and running might be the best option. The guards won't
wander down to the other floors, so unless they're right on your tail, you're
fine. Constantine's Sword does normal damage, but does not increase your
visibility when drawn. There's a slight bug in this level, your old sword is
removed from your inventory, and moved somewhere in the level. Where exactly?
I think it changes, but you may come across your old sword. It might even be
beside the new sword's pedestal. If you collect it, you will lose
Constantine's sword for the rest of the level. The 'Get Sword' goal remains
completed, however.
To get out of the mansion, either return to the balcony on the western side
(you only need to be on the balcony for the goal to be completed), or run out
the front door! A guard patrolling near the front door has a purse, get him on
your way out, if you're after total loot.
There's some fun climbing to do on this level. At the start, when you are
on the western balcony, you can get up onto the western and south-western
outer walls, and also onto the south-western roof of the mansion. An invisible
barrier prevents you walking all over the roof though. There's a couple of
hidey holes on the turrets on the mansion's south face. I've tried hard to get
into these, but never managed it. There's nothing in them anyway, but I
suspect that the western one is *possible*.
You can also climb the tree in the garden, but save first as the tree's
physical shape does not match it's appearance, and you might loose rope
arrows. It's apparently possible to get *inside* the tree, too.
Big Land is an obvious climbing opportunity, if one knows how to use rope
arrows well. A series of rope arrows can get you very high up the two doors.
[A CUTSCENE FOLLOWS]
8- The Haunted Cathedral
Overview- Garrett has been hired to retrieve a gemstone from an abandoned
Hammer cathedral. To be more precise, a cathedral in an abandoned part of
town. No-one's sure what happened, but the whole area is burnt out, infested
by zombies, and walled off. (You might have seen part of the wall in the far
northeast of 'Assassins'). Sounds daunting, but the pay is too good to refuse.
Beginner's Guide-
Objectives: Find the cathedral
Steal the Eye
Get 750 loot
Get out of the ruins with the Eye
Yes, more undead to deal with. Note the shop sells a 'tip'. A small cheat
here, buy it, read it, then restart the mission, and spend the 50 gold on
something else. I like to buy destructive items. I'd like to give you a tip
here about the flashbombs, as I did not know this the first time I played
Thief: they damage the undead. They are very useful as they are cheaper and
quicker to use than arrows and mines. The downside is that they do less
damage. Back in B. DEALING WITH PARTICULAR TYPES OF ENEMIES, I said that
zombies must have their health depleted in order to make them fall over, at
which point they will lie down and regain health; and in order to destroy
them, their health must drop below zero having taken damage from fire, holy,
or flashbang items. This may sound confusing, and you normally won't need to
worry about this with the severe damage that fire and holy water arrows do,
but this health system should be understood when using flashbombs. Three
flashbombs are usually needed to destroy a zombie, but less if you've already
damaged it. If you get the chance, weaken a zombie with sword or broadheads,
then flashbomb it as it staggers to fall. Once it's fallen over, it will be
regaining health, and may regain enough health to necessitate three flashbombs
again. Another point is that it's easy to damage several enemies at once with
the flashbomb, compared with the difficulty of bunching up zombies for fire or
holy water arrow attacks. Finally, the undead will take damage, regardless of
whether you get caught in the flash or not. As far as I can tell, the
flashbomb wil still do normal damage.
Also note that this level has plenty of drops, ledges, and overhead wooden
structures, which you can take advantage of to keep enemies out of clawing
range.
The level requires that you cross the entire map to get to the cathedral.
Use whatever items you need to get there, don't worry about hoarding items. Be
sure to check dark corners for loot of extra items. This level has a Fire
Shadow like in the Bonehoard. It's in a cellar underneath a building, and you
will hear it as you approach. See if you can drop down and backstab it,
that'll deal with it in one hit. Pick up the fire arrow, and get out of the
room. When it returns, you can sneak up and backstab it again.
There's about four utility buildings in this level, which turn on the
nearby electric lights. You can turn these on if you like, I find it helps to
reveal items lying around.
Around the middle of the level, you may come across a draw bridge, with
buttons to operate. If you are on the far side of the river, a nice trick is
to use a broadhead to shoot the buttons.
When you have found your way to the cathedral, have a look at the front
doors. No good. Head round the back of the cathedral, and climb up to where
you can see inside. There's the eye, just out of reach. You will get new
objectives here. If you can't make out, or forget what the eye says, it's
instructions are to head back west to where the bridge is, find the Keeper
statue, stand on the centre pedestal then 'light the way'.
When it says 'light the way' it means light the two torches either side of
the Keeper statue. Use mines or fire arrows here, then take the new passage to
your left. To get through the next door, you need to add weight to the two
pedestals either side.
Once inside the building, keep an eye out for pressure plates. There is one
door inside with a pressure plate immediatly below it. Vault up and over
instead. Examine the tables in the two small libraries.
Expert Guide-
Objectives- Find the cathedral
Steal the Eye
Get 2000 loot
Find the Serpentyle Torc
Leave coins at the Watchman's Grave
Get out of the ruins
The more loot you got from The Sword, the better. Don't hoard items, but
see if you can bunch up enemies first of course. If an apparition joins in,
you might want to use whatever items are possible to kill everything. Around
the middle of the map you will find the Fire Shadow. By jumping down and
backstabbing, you can get fire arrows easily.
To the east of the level, I found a good spot. The bridge by the Keeper
statue has maybe four or five zombies wandering about. The bridge has a wooden
overpass above. Make a commotion, then use a rope arrow to hang up out of
harms way. The zombies will hang about below you, and you can just drop
flashbombs on their heads!
There's a few burricks here as well, I found they can appear out of
nowhere. Avoid or backstab them.
To make up your loot total, keep an eye out on dark corners and splintered
rafters for plates and cups.
The Serpentlye Torc is hinted at in a small room in the middle of the map.
It's in a small Cul de sac you may find off the main street, or as an exit
from the underground tunnels. It's worth finding the hint, there's also a few
fire arrows nearby. To actually get the torc, find the drawbridge near the
north (if you are on the wrong side of the river, use a broadhead to trigger
the lowering button). Look up to your left, and you can see a doorway. You'll
need to mantle to get up there, but it will lead you to the house where the
Torc is kept. The door is locked, but the house owner was a senile old man, so
he kept a key nearby. A couple of Hammer Haunts patrol inside. Sword fighting
them would be a no-no, a good tip is to run back to where you came from, and
mantle up onto the ledge. There's nothing they can do now, you can sit and
listen to their taunts for a bit. If you have many broadheads left, take them
out with this. If you are *good* at swordfighting, you could have a go at one
on it's own, or just use whatever items you can to get rid of the thing.
Inside the house is the Torc, and some more items.
The watchmans grave is in a courtyard near the centre of the map. A gate
will let you see inside, but it can't be opened. Go back out to the street,
and climb up to find an upper way in. Some spiders lurk in the courtyard, if
the lights are off they can be dealt with easily. If not, you could possibly
run in, use the coins on the dish at the grave,then run back and up the fallen
rafters.
This level is dissapointing for climbing, the broken up buildings look like
a fun challenge, but the invisible ceiling is set low, so often you can't get
on roofs. However, making up for this is the cathedral. You can climb right on
top of it. You'll need to do a bit of stacking, the bones lying nearby are
enough. Be careful where you save, or you'll be stuck.
9- The Mage Towers
Overview- Nothing is ever simple! Garrett will have to track down all four
talismans in order to get the Eye. New to Gold, this mission is to steal the
Talisman of Earth from a sect of mages known as the 'Hand Brotherhood'.
Beginner's Guide-
Objectives: Break into the Central Library and discover where the talisman is
being kept
Get the Talisman of Earth
Get 400 loot
Get out by the sewers
We start at the north end of the map. Have a quick look at your map, this
level consists of a central Keep, surrounded by four gardens, and with four
elemental towers at each corner. This probably goes against the grain a bit,
but the front door is a possability here. There's guards having a conversation
inside, in fact. Right across the main hall, dark passageways lead off left
and right, which are good for getting deep into the keep.
If you want, you can head east or west into the gardens. Guards and mages
are wandeing around, it's rather fun to run about in the dark bonking them on
the head!
This level's nice and big, clearing one or two of the gardens of enemies
helps as it gives you somewhere to run if things get hot.
Once you are in the library, a note on a table on the top floor completes
our first objective. Sort of. When I first played this game, I got rather
confused about what to do from here. Seemingly, each tower guards another's
key. But how do you get into any tower in the first place? There's no way I
can 'hint' at this, so I'll just tell you that the door at the bottom of the
Water Tower is damaged and unlocked. So that's your next stop.
Each of the four towers is similar, a door on the side can be unlocked to
let you get into the keep, and a chest at the top holds the key to another
tower. The Water Tower is rather simple, it will give you the Earth Key. This
unlocks the lower door of the Earth Tower, it fits into the recipticle beside
the door.
The Earth Tower is trickier, but not too hard. Don't bother with the
floating platforms on the second floor, use a rope arrow in the ceiling to get
to the stairs. Now, you have a couple of floors where you will have to sneak
past Earth Mages. Best not to let these guys fire at you, use right mouse
button clicks to escape if they manage to wrap you in vines. If you need to
kill them, use many quick attacks (the Blackjack will even do the job) to stop
them pulling off an attack or running. The last floor requires you to climb
and jump about to get to the chest containing the Air Tower key.
The Air Tower isn't too bad. There's a gas arrow on the first floor, it's a
dark crystal with smoke rising from it. An extremely useful item, read the
above description, and remember you have it if you need it later. To get the
chest on the top floor, run across the top walkway and lower the two
telescopes. Quickly drop down and lockpick the chest. You will have to lower
the chest 3-4 times in order to pick the lock and open it.
The Fire Tower is a bit tougher. Use plenty of moss and water arrows. Near
the top, two Magi wander around a pool of lava (as you do!), note there is no
way for them to get out, so you can run past; or you can gas arrow them if
they are close together. The side door leads out to the Keep, the metal stairs
up take you to the final room. Hot plates surround the chest, you will need to
lockpick while keeping half an eye out on the ground beneath you. The Treasure
Room key is your reward.
The Treasure Room is at the top floor of the Main Tower in the Keep. A
couple of Magi patrol inside, if they become alerted, run back out into the
stairwell, and wait for them to calm down, or sword fight using the stone
supports for cover. There are apparently eight Earth Talismans up in here!
Only one is real, the others will hurt you. You might have come across a clue
during the level. Draw your sword to make sense of the third line of the clue.
As for the fourth line, you need to count starting with the talisman you can
see just to your right as you enter the room. Grab the other treasure in the
room while you are at it.
Almost done. I'd like to point out though, that 400 loot is rather pitiful.
Remember, the loot you get in one level makes the next easier. If you've
cleared out this level of guards and Magi, take some time to explore for loot.
The last thing you have to do is escape. The central staircase will take
you to the basement. Here, one secret passageway will lead back up into the
garden; another leads to the sewers. Both are 'out of place' brickwork, which
you can see if you pay attention to the walls.
Expert Guide-
Objectives: Break into the Central Library and discover where the talisman is
being kept
Get the Talisman of Earth
Get 1800 loot
Get the jewelled reading glasses hidden in the Central Library
Get the Medallion of St. Burringden from the Captain's Quarters
Get out by the sewers
Kill No-one
Not a lot to it, really. By now, you should be used to playing with No
Kills, and getting most of the loot. There's a few more guards and Magi
running around, but no cruel enemy placements.
The loot total is a bit strange in that it asks for 1800, even though it's
no harder to get 2000+ than in the other levels.
The other two objectives demand you track down particular items. The
Reading Glasses are in the Central Library. As you get to the top of the
stairs inside the library, the wall straight ahead opens up. A book in a
nearby bookcase is the trigger. The Medallion is sitting on a table in a room
to the south of the Keep. This is presumably the guards' and servants' living
quarters. To get here, there's a side door off from the central staircase. The
captain's quarters are to your right (south). A few guards patrol, but there's
plenty of darkness to work with.
There's a bit of climbing to do on this level, but it's fairly tricky. The
secret passage from the basement to the garden has three crates, the level's a
bit sparse apart from that (in fact, I found the level design in this level
rather poor; apart from the library, the level is pretty empty and
unconvincing). One good stacking opportunity (kind of) is in the fire tower,
stacking just one item protects your feet from hotplates; useful for
lockpicking the chest at the top.
10- The Lost City
Overview: One down, three to go. The Keepers have hidden one of the two
talismans they held in the ruins of an ancient city, buried under the city.
The Old Quarter library pointed out how to get in, so Garrett begins his
search in the streets marked as being the entrance...
Beginner's Guide-
Objectives: Get into the Lost City
Get the Talisman of Fire
Get out
Run through the streets until you find the river. Jump in and use the stone
you got on the cleft. Swim through the caverns until you can break the
surface. At the bottom of this cavern, you will reach a path that extends left
(you can see a firey burst spraying out of the wall) and right. To the right
will give you a view of the Fire Talisman, and left leads to the Lost City
proper. It is actually possible to make the jump, and get the talisman, but
I'll put that in the Expert guide.
Again, we only have a rough map to go on. It's not entirely useless,
though. Throughout the level, stone pillars have emblems corresponding to
where you are on the map. You can only get to the talisman by a long
roundabout route (of course), so just explore the whole level. If you get
stuck, a major branching of the level is at the central area, marked by wheat
sheiffs (is that what they are called?), so explore around there.
A new enemy on this level is the Fire Elemental, read up on them in Section
B.
Once you get to the central tower, inside part of the stairway is
destroyed. Turn around, and climb out the window. Travel around three sides of
the tower, and look up for a good rope arrow opportunity. Try to hit the
wooden block as far away from the tower wall as you can, or climbing up will
be tough.
With the talisman in hand, you just have to get out! More fire elementals
have appeared, you can generally run through them, keep your water arrows to
hand and plug any that stand in your way. The platform at the very bottom of
the waterfall cavern counts as outside the city. We're done.
Expert Guide-
Objectives: Get into the Lost City
Get the Talisman of Fire
Get 2000 in loot, including 500 in gems
Retrieve the medallions of the Keepers who perished secreting the
talisman
Get out
Not much different from Normal difficulty. In fact, this level doesn't even
impose No Kills. There are more burricks and magi, but not many more fire
elementals, if any. Don't forget any fire arrows you have, but don't use them
on fire magi or elementals. The density of burricks, where they appear, is a
nuisance. If you face more than one, you might be best finding a nice corner
to hide in, as it can be hard to keep track of where gas clouds will be coming
from.
The 2000 loot isn't too hard, but if you need to backtrack to make it up,
it would be annoying. You should have 2000 by the time you get the Fire
Talisman. For the 500 gems, make sure you find the building with blue gems
around the walls, near the centre of the map.
The Keeper medallions are easy to get, one is found outside the building
where you get the drawbridge lever; the other is by the collapsed obelisk just
before the Fire Medallion tower.
Now, it's possible to do this level in about 3 minutes; but only on Normal
difficulty. You will need to get both speed potions from the shop. Then head
right after the waterfall cavern, and you will get the 'teaser' view of the
Fire Talisman. The jump across is very tricky, but not impossible.
11- Song of the Caverns
Overview: The Keepers made a new hiding place for the Water Talisman. Not
far from reach, but many Keepers died putting it there, so it's unlikely to be
easy; plus the Keepers will have put their own protection around the talisman.
Of course, it won't be *impossible* to get, so let's get to work. The Song of
the Caverns is one of my favourite levels, the design is excellent, and
perhaps hints at the quality of level design to come in Thief 2.
Beginner's Guide-
Objectives: Find Giry to get information on the caverns
Find and steal the Water Talisman
Get 200 loot
Get out
We start out on the streets. Doors to the right lead down into the cave
system. You'll soon find Giry. There's one objective done already... continue
down into the water.
When you get out of the water, there's a chance you won't have met the
enemies wandering in this area before. They're the Craymen; treat them like
swordsmen. Running is your best bet, but which way? The way out is to the
SouthEast. Another swim will lead you out into a cavern with brickwork ahead.
This is the Keeper shrine. Open the chest.
You didn't think it would be that simple, did you? Oh well, onwards... step
out of the shrine, and there's another water passage. Stop before you jump
in... listen. Then swim through till you come out in another cavern, with a
wooden hut ahead.
If you KO or kill the man in the hut, you weren't supposed to. You haven't
failed the mission, but I'd highly advise playing again and leaving him alive.
Approach the man and listen. Look to the ground for the map and key he speaks
of, then up the rope, and along the passageway. Examine the scroll Raoul gave
you, then turn left (East) at the sewer.
New Objectives: Find and steal the Talisman of Water
Break into the opera house
Get 700 loot
Get out of the opera house when you are done.
From the sewers, you should come out in a store room; this is in the
basement of the operahouse. Examine your map again. Large 'X's indicate a
secret passageway. This level isn't too tricky to get through, although you
have to take the upper floors carefully, as the theatre has marble flooring
and electric lighting. Use the secret passageways to avoid contact as much as
possible.
I would advise going for the Water Talisman first. If you cause trouble
with the guards, two men will be posted by the talisman, making nabbing it
that much harder. A secret passage leads right into Lady Valerius' office; and
the key Raoul gave you will unlock the chest holding the talisman.
As for the loot; again I advise you get as much as possible, and not just
the required 700. If you are good, you can get around 2000.
To get out of the opera house, return to the sewer you came in by, then
take the western exit hatch out, or simply walk out the front door. It's hard
to get to the front door without raising trouble, but all you have to do is
run through the guards, and survive for about five seconds out on the street,
and you're finished.
Expert Guide-
Objectives (final): Get into the opera house
Steal the Talisman of Water
Get 2000 loot
Get Cribb's silver flute
Get the takings box from the ticket office
Don't kill anyone
Get out of the opera house when you are done
Quite challenging. Lots of guards, lots of hard surfaces, lots of electric
lights. Fortunately, there's plenty of places to run to. Make sure you get
into the armory in the basement for some more gear. Also check out your map
for the large 'X's that indicate a secret passage.
I'd advise getting the Water Talisman first; as at the first sign of
trouble, extra guards will be posted. If they show up, you'll have to either
gas them, or lead them on a merry chase, the latter option being hard as two
more guards stand just outside.
While you're in Lady Valerius' office, get the key from her desk and read
the note. Cribb's room is upstairs, by the stage.
The takings box is on the first floor, the ticket office is the small room
with 3 or 4 small booths.
As for loot, be sure to pickpocket the patrons. The first and second floors
are quite well furnished with plates and vases, as well.
12- Undercover
Overview: One talisman to go. This one is held by the Order of the Hammer,
and is heavily guarded, day and night. The usual off-the-cuff thievery just
isn't going to cut it: Garrett needs a plan.
Beginner's Guide-
Objectives: Get into the temple as a novice
Get the Talisman of Air
Get out to the streets
This makes a nice change! Of course, you'll have to behave. The way the
enemies on this level work: they will ignore you unless they detect something
amiss; at which point they will regard you as an enemy. They may return to
patrolling, but if they see you again, they will know you are Garrett. While
alerted, the Hammers will get the attention of other nearby guards, and these
newly alerted guards will view you as an enemy, even if they did not see you
do anthing wrong. Here's a quick list of things that will distress a guard:
Seeing you with a weapon drawn;
Being struck by you;
Hearing your weapon striking a solid surface;
Seeing a dead or unconscious body or blood;
Nearby loot being lifted (even if they cannot see the loot from where they
are standing);
The alarm being activated (even by you!);
Seeing you in an area that you are not allowed to enter (these rooms have
an upside down red hammer symbol outside the door to let you know);
They will normally say something, this will let you know that your cover is
blown. It's possible, though, to trigger them to say this line, but not
actually alert them. Presumably there is a difference in the amount of
stimulus required for them to talk, and the stimulus required for them to be
alerted, so that the Hammers will stand about while they say their line, and
not immediatly start to bludgeon you?
At the start of the level, when the guard asks for your papers, use the
scroll in your inventory, then exit back to game, and the Hammers will let you
inside. Once inside, explore around as much as you can without causing alarm,
but always look for a red hammer before you enter a doorway. Keep an eye out
for Hammers on their own, and nearby dark corners where you can stash them.
You may want to blackjack them later. It's likely that you will be caught out
during this level, so doing away with a few guards quietly will make things
easier.
There are catacombs under the temple, they are loosely guarded, and pop up
in three parts of the temple, so you can use this to travel around. Note that
one of the catacomb exits comes out in an out of bounds area.
When I refer to floors on this level, the top floor is the second floor;
the floor with the outside areas to the East and West is the first floor, the
floor below is the basement.
At the NorthWest of the second floor (i.e. the one you entered the building
on) is a small locked room with a locked chest inside. This chest contains
details of how to get the Talisman. To unlock the chest, you will need the
High Priest's key. His quarters are in the center of the first floor. Wait
until there are no guards within earshot, then run in (the door is unlocked)
and close the door behind you. There is a small window between this room and
the corridor, but it doesn't carry sound between, so you can slaughter the
High Priest. Grab the key off his table and listen for a patrol outside before
you leave.
At the East of the second floor, just NorthEast of where you entered the
temple, is a room with a scroll on the table, you will need this too.
Once you have the scroll from the locked chest and the prayer scroll, you
are ready to get the talisman. Five switches need to be triggered within 5
minutes to get to the talisman, and you must recite the prayer to remove the
ward spell on it. Note that you don't need to do the whole lot in five
minutes, you just have to get all five switches. Their locations are (in no
particular order):
1. Behind St. Yora's skull, NorthEast 2nd floor
2. Under the ledge running round the Eastern garden area, behind a tree
3. In the ceiling of one of the Hammer tombs, outside West area
4. In the treasury in the basement (this is where the kitchen was at the
time of writing)
5. Behind the rack, in the South of the basement (you can get here from the
catacombs, or from the North if you deal with the Inquisitor)
A noise will let you know that all the switches have been triggered, and the
talisman is accesible; a different noise informs you that 5 minutes have
passed since the first switch was triggered.
To get to the talisman, go to the South of the first floor. Stand on the
Hammer tile, and a bridge will extend. Walk across, and use the switch in the
left cell. Go into the right cell, and use the Hammer prayer scroll. The
particle effect around the talisman will dissappear, and you can grab it.
Oh good, alarms. You've overstayed your welcome. As always, you need only
survive a few seconds outside the building to win the level, even if a hammer
is only a hair's breadth from your head at the time. You can either escape out
the front door on the second floor, or out of the West and East outside areas,
a reasonably low wall lets you out onto the street. You can use the second
floor balconies to escape over these walls.
One last thing- this level has no loot requirement, but I would highly
advise you get as much loot as possible. Once you are ready to grab the
talisman, this is a good point to go back into the temple and use up all your
items dealing with Hammers so you can lift loot easily. Bear in mind if you
find the next level hard, this one is quite easy and short the second time
round and you can replay it to get more loot, and therefore more items.
Expert Guide-
Objectives: Get into the Hammer temple under the guise of a novice
Get the Talisman of Air
Get the "First Hammer"
Get 2400 loot
Don't kill anyone
Get out onto the streets when you are done
Quite a few demands are made on you; but it's still a small level. The loot
and "First Hammer" objectives stop you just running through the level. You
should re-acquaint yourself with the level's layout, before going round and
taking out lone Hammers. Getting the talisman is no different on Expert, but
this time round you don't need to get the instructions (although both the room
with the chest and the room with the key for the instructions contain loot).
The First Hammer is the shoddy looking one in the reliquary. The Hammer
guard here can be easily blackjacked and flung into the Eastern garden. It's
possible to hide inside the large bell too, and it's fun for a while to watch
the Hammers strike the bell to try and get you. You're not completly safe
here, unfortunately, as they can swing underarm too.
The loot objective is tricky not because the loot is hard to find; but
because it means dealing with most of the guards. You can either deal with
guards whilst they are fooled by your disguise, or you can experiment saving
and loading to see whether or not you get away with stealing the item(s).
If you want to have fun on this level, bear in mind that there are only two
enemies capable of long range attacks, and they are both in the same place
unless you disturb them. Causing a ruckus, and then grouping up Hammers for a
gas attack is a good idea, but there's not a huge amount of space to run about
in.
You can get up on the roofs of this level quite easily, about four wooden
crates will get you on top of the front gate of the temple, then you can run
and jump everywhere else. As all the action is *inside*, with only lone guards
outside; there's no real vantage points from up here.
13- Return to the Haunted Cathedral
Overview- With all four talismans, Garrett can now get into the haunted
cathedral and steal the eye. This won't be easy: the cathedral is infested
with the Undead; and was sealed up for a good reason...
Beginner's Guide-
Objectives: Get the Eye
Get out of the Cathedral
I hope you got a lot of loot from the Hammer Temple; as you will want to
stock up on zombie killing items (fire arrows, holy water and water arrows,
flashbombs and mines).
Some general tips for this level:
You will encounter several types of enemy in the one place. You will need
to prioritise which ones to deal with.
The Hammer Haunts are almost certainly the trickiest to deal with; and
should be handled very carefully. Sword fighting them isn't ideal; and if you
are going to run, find a ledge/drop/ladder so they can't give chase. If they
are on their own, you can swordfight them; see the section above on dealing
with them, and swordfighting in general.
Apparitions are a nuisance. On their own, they can be sliced up easily. If
there are other enemies to be dealt with, then don't give them a good line of
sight, use the other enemies as a shield.
Zombies aren't so bad, but it's very tempting to kill them rather than
avoid or run away from them. On this mission, there are some rooms that are
pretty much dead ends. If you know a zombie is nearby, don't run into side
rooms as you may get trapped. Also note, zombies will be alerted if they see a
defeated Hammer Haunt.
Use whatever items you need. You cannot waste items as such, but every
enemy you get past without using an item is a bonus. There is a lot of
equipment strewn throughout the level, so keep your eyes peeled.
Don't be afraid to restart this level. You might like to make save points
at different places, so you can avoid having to do the whole level again.
Now, on with the actual level. Use the four talismans to open the main
door. Have a look at the general layout of the cathedral - one large central
area, and passages and rooms to either side. You will need to get up to the
second floor to grab the Eye. Just to the east of the Eye on the first floor
is a holy water font and a holy water vial. Once you grab the Eye, the haunts
will be enraged. You may as well deal with them, bunch up the baddies on the
first floor and flash bomb 'em. You may need around five flashbombs, and take
several attempts at doing this. If a zombie drops to the floor but does not
explode, leave it; you should have room to stay away from the corpse. There is
one more zombie, up on the second floor, western side; you might want to dodge
or carefully sword fight this one
With the Eye in hand, time to leave. Of course, nothing's ever easy, and as
the introductory movie suggested, you will need to leave by the back door.
When you get outside, notice the friendly looking Hammer ghost. Sidle into his
view and he will introduce himself.
From here, note the passage to the right. It leads to a broken staircase
that will take you down to the main part of this level. There is a known bug
here, walking on this broken staircase will sometimes kill you. Jumping down
the stairs can help, though you might attract attention at the bottom. Listen
to Brother Murus again, and you will get a new objective- you need to do what
Murus asks of you to escape the Cathedral.
A brief run-down of this level's layout: the main Cathedral AKA "The
Sanctuary" you have already seen. You are now in the cloister area, which
leads to the other buildings. The cemetary is to the North, and there are also
underground tunnels connecting the buildings in the cloister area. Mechanical
lifts let you into the tunnels, they can be powered up by using the generator
back in the cathedral - it's in the far south of the basement. To get back
into the cathedral, you will need to travel through St. Yora's, This building
is tricky to get through, with the zombies patrolling; but you should be able
to get through without using any items on them. Just be careful not to enter a
room and have a zombie block your way out. If travelling from the cathedral to
the cloister area, remember you can just jump down the broken staircase.
Murus' instructions are to do the following:
Retrieve his Rosary beads;
Get a Holy Symbol;
Find the Builder's prayer;
Get a candle;
When you have all the above, consecrate Murus' grave to free his soul.
You can collect the items in any order, and you do not need to see Murus
every time you get an item. Note that when you forge a Hammer symbol, it is
not Holy. In order to Bless it, you will need to visit the observatory at the
top of St. Jenel's.
When you have these items, see Murus at the cemetary to the North.
Eventually you will get a key that lets you into the armory in the cathedral,
3rd floor West wing. In here, you will get an explosive device needed to bust
open the cloister gate. You need to place this by the gates, and blow it up
either with an explosive mine, or a fire arrow. If you don't have either of
those left, there's no way to blow the explosive device. This is unlikely, but
if you are in this situation, see the expert guide for an alternative way out.
Expert Guide-
Objectives: Get the Eye
Get out of the Cathedral
To finish this level on Expert takes guts. It's about the same as on
Normal, but with a few more chores to complete; and plenty more Undead to deal
with. You should know in advance, you will be required to kill all of the
Hammer Haunts, so you can deal with them as you go. An overhead backstab is
the preferred way to deal with them. There are nine Haunts to deal with,
including one in the Winter Tunnels.
You will also have to bury two bodies. One body is in the Northwest, third
floor of the cathedral; the other is in the wine cellar in the basement. You
will need to find the wine cellar key first, or bust open the door with a
hammer. Upon doing this, you will be told of a secret cache in the Winter
Tunnels. Find the small room with the design on the wall, then 'use' the red-
on-white tile at the very top right. A cache to your left will open. Note, you
do not need to be told about this to be able to open it.
It is possible to finish this level without Murus' help. Once you have
recieved the new objectives however, you must help him, to check the objective
box. In the original Thief, it was possible to stop the front door from
shutting by wedging it with a skull or rib cage. In Thief Gold, this was
rectified by making the doors super heavy; and seemingly impossible to jam.
It's still possible to escape though, by climbing over the walls (once you
have the Eye, obviously). In the courtyard between St. Yora's and the
cathedral you can stack some items to climb onto the covered walkway. Zombie
parts are good for stacking, or there are the boxes outside the armory. A few
more items are required to get onto the roof of St. Yora's, then you can walk
around the outer wall, and jump down onto the wall running along the West,
South and East of the cathedral. You still need to get to the mission end
area. Walk around on this wall, then fall off outside (away from the
cathedral) on the Eastern side. Run North (you can't fall off the edge that
seems to drop into outer space), then you can see the end area ahead. Make
sure to jump over the gap, or you will be stuck. Then drop down by the gates,
and walk to the centre of this area to clear the level; or stand by the gate
and tease the Undead on the other side.
It is also possible to keep the four talismans. By collecting the bones
strewn outside, you can stack the surrounding wall. From here, you can jump
and mantle onto the tall wall surrounding St. Yora's garden (and you can jump
straight down, if you land in the water pool); or you can also get onto the
cathedral roof via the palisade on the Western side. Stand on the actual
palisade in order to vault up to the sloped roof.
[A CUTSCENE FOLLOWS]
14- Escape!
Overview- This is not good. Getting stiffed is an occupational hazard; but
Garrett is in over his head, he's injured, and he's defenceless. All that
matters right now is that he escapes with his skin.
Beginner's Guide-
Objectives: Get out
You might recognise the starting room. Behind you leads out into
Constantine's garden. Note the "smoking" gas arrow. Keep an eye out (sorry
Garrett!) for these, as they are extremely useful. Behind the desk is more of
your gear. In general, there are LOTs of arrows just lying around in this level.
This mission introduces new baddies, namely: ApeBeasts; BugBeasts; and
FrogBeasts. See section B for advice on dealing with these creatures.
BugBeasts frequently appear along with a couple of ApeBeasts; and you should
gas arrow the BugBeast and deal quickly with the ApeBeasts. A perfect example
of this is just down the stairs at the start. You will come to a platform
overlooking two ApeBeasts and a BugBeast patrolling. Use your gas arrow to
take out the BugBeast. If possible, hit it as it walks past a torch to take
out the torch as well; or aim to take out one of the ApeBeasts at the same
time. If the ApeBeasts see the fallen BugBeast, they will panic and search for
you. You might want to get used to sword fighting these creatures; with
practice you can kill them quickly without taking damage; just remember to
only get within swinging range if you are swinging, but don't get too far or
the enemy will run up to you. When you have dealt with these enemies; go back
up onto the platform. By the picture behind you is a purple fruit. Pick this
up. Unlike other food, this restores health; even better than a Health Potion
in fact. Turn around and you can see a small window across the gap, and a gas
arrow suspended in mid air. Use a rope arrow to jump through the window. Note
that it's hard to vault up the lower lip of this window, so you'll have to aim
to jump clean through. There's a pile of gear in here, including gas mines.
You can get the floating gas arrow by leaning out of this window. Once you are
back out, note that one of the fires at the bottom of the slopes has a fire
arrow. Get this. You should now have enough equipment to work through the rest
of the level.
The map on this level is useless. Generally, you will want to travel up,
until you find yourself in the mansion; and then get out either by the front
gate, or the balcony on the West side of the mansion. I don't have a lot of
specific advice to impart for this level; you can either work through it
thoroughly, or run like hell.
Expert Guide-
Objectives: Get out
Find out what Constantine is planning
(note: Getting your gear is not a proper objective; it's listed
seemingly as a hint that it's in the level and useful to get)
Get your gear from behind the altar. Your loot bag is missing
unfortunately. It's on the first floor of the mansion, at the bottom of the
central staircase leading to the second floor; and guarded by a bug beast.
To complete the information objective, you need to find and read two books,
both are found inside "tree houses".
This level can be quite annoying, with the volume of enemies. In most
cases, you can make a run for it though. Starting out, you should use a rope
arrow to get into the small room overlooking the first enemy patrol you come
across. You will need to jump cleanly through this window, you probably won't
be able to vault in. You can get the gas arrow by leaning out of the window;
you might want to use it on the BugBeast; or alternatively use one of the gas
mines here, as they are trickier to use. Broadheads work quite well on the
ApeBeasts.
There is a theory that the guards in "The Sword" were in fact ApeBeasts in
disguise; given that Constantine despises humans, and that they behave
similarly.
15- Strange Bedfellows
Overview- The Trickster is planning something big, and Garrett realizes
that his personal greivances must be put aside. He's not stupid; he knows
he'll need help, and the experts on the Trickster are the Hammers. Due to all
the trouble you've given them, getting in touch with someone in charge will be
tough. You'll need to break back into the Hammer Temple and sneak past the
Hammers to see the High Priest.
Beginner's Guide:
Objectives: Break into the Hammer temple and find the Hammer High Priest
Don't kill any Hammers
Hopefully you'll have a nice amount of loot to spend here. I recommend gas
items. If you like rope arrows, buy one here too. You can always restart and
make your purchases after you have got a feel for the level.
You've been to the Hammer temple before, so make your way to the front
entrance. Your objectives change; you no longer need to find the High Priest.
It's unlikely they'll need convincing about the Trickster, you just need to
work out what happened to the Hammers in the Temple. There were no Hammer
corpses outside, so inside we go. You should search the whole temple for
items, before using the secret exit the Hammers escaped by. There are about 3
Healing potions, 80 broadheads and several explosive mines and flashbombs to
collect.
Once you get underground, you'll need to work your way further down. Of
interest, there is a locked door and stairs leading even further down to an
area called the "siege window". Head West at the wooden 4-way platform to find
the siege window. You can speak to a Hammer here, you will need to help them
by saving the High Priest. You will recieve a key and a map. The key is for
the door I mentioned earlier. Looking at your map, you have two more floors to
get down through. Your map doesn't show a waterway connecting these two
floors, but look for a "dock" on the Eastern side. In the original Thief, I
believe there was a boat that you could use here, but in Gold we will have to
swim. You should clear out these two floors to make bringing the High Priest
back easier.
The High Priest is unconscious when you find him. He can die from taking
damage; in which case you will fail. This includes falling and drowning
damage. Bring him back to the siege window the long way; don't try swimming
with him.
Expert Guide:
Objectives (final):
Find out what happened to the Hammers
Save the High Priest
Find the Holy Chisel
Don't kill any Hammers
Kill all BugBeasts*
*The Bugbeast objective appears when you attack, or are attacked by, a
BugBeast. If you avoid all contact with them, this objective will not appear
and therefore does not have to be completed. Note that it is *kill* and not
disable; if you use gas items on them, you need to finish them off.
This level is heavily populated, which provides most of the challenge; but
you can run through the level very quickly.
The Chisel objective is annoying. There's no puzzle or exploring involved,
it's simply lying on the floor in the darkness; but even when lit up to be
taken, you may not be able to see it. This is one of those things were I
cannot provide any hints as such, I'll just tell you that it's in the
SouthEastern chamber of the first floor beneath the temple. There are two
large spiders and an upturned pew here.
16- The Maw of Chaos
Overview- The Trickster seeks to plunge the world into chaos by binding
this world with his own realm, using the Eye. The Hammers have given you a
fake Eye, so that you can get the Eye back from the Trickster. This level
starts at the portal that the Trickster is using to move beasts into your
world, and is quite linear; ending at the portal that is used to move beasts
from the realm of chaos into the Maw; and then to the area where the Trickster
is to perform the ritual to plunge the world into chaos.
Beginner's Guide:
Objectives: Swap the fake Eye with the real one
A long, linear level, this. The level isn't very well explained, in my
opinion. Deep in the belly of the Maw, beasts are being spawned through a
portal. They travel inside bubbles to near the top of the maw, where they
"hatch", and then walk up to the portal right by your starting position. You
do not need to deal with the enemies you encounter on this "production line",
and you are best running from them, as they are infinite in number. From the
start, a slope runs down to the "hatching" area. Side tunnels allow you to
mostly stay off the main path and each contains two Gas arrows. You should
wait for enemies to pass before dashing to the next safe spot. At the spawning
point, a large chamber with lava flowing; you should look for a ledge below
the one you enter the chamber on, it's to your left hand side as you enter.
Drop down and look for a way along the wall (towards the lava-fall) that lets
you
The rest of the Maw is split into distinct rooms. There are a couple of
chambers that are icey, and you will slide down. There are blue crystals here,
and you should avoid touching them; but try and get the ice arrows.
Another chamber contains a huge tree, with spiders inside. You can
carefully broadhead the spiders, or you can also use rope arrows to climb the
outside of the tree. The weird sparkly column running up inside the tree works
like a ladder.
When you come across the entry portal, you should make a save point here,
as you are near the end. Ropes let you climb up and into the ritual chamber
where the Trickster is creating the compasses that will show the Eye the way
into this world. You need to get up to the Eye in the centre, and grab it. The
fake Eye will be automatically put in it's place. If the Trickster becomes
aware of you- it's over, and you will need to reload. The Trickster cannot be
killed, and he can kill you even if he can't see you. You can get across the
room using moss arrows or putting rop arrows in the ceiling. Once the Eye has
been replaced, get back to where the Trickster can't see you; then watch him
complete the ritual.
Expert Guide-
Objectives: Swap the fake Eye for the real Eye
Destroy the portal so no more beasts can enter the world
Not much different from on Normal mode. In order to destroy the portal
(i.e. the one at the bottom of the Maw); you will need to strike the four
"torches" around it; using an arrow of the opposing element. You will need one
each of Fire, Water, Gas and Moss arrows to do this. The Moss arrow can be
hard to land, and when I first played this level I thought my logic was wrong,
and it was not a Moss arrow needed; so don't worry if you use a few moss
arrows and the gas cloud is not disposed.
17- Blooper Reel
***Note: to get to this level, you will need to edit the file "user.cfg" in
Notepad. Make a back up copy of this file, then open it in Notepad and enter
the following two lines:
play
starting_mission 16
Then start Thief, pick "New Game" and "Skip Training".
You should make a save game here, so that you can simply load it to play this
mission in the future.***
Overview: The Blooper Reel is a showcase of bugs and out-takes in Thief.
Explore Bafford's manor, and see what you can find. Hit the button by the
front doors to quit. The basement and sewers are removed from this version of
the manor; but it's possible to hop the wall into the Southern streets and get
to the well house, although the well is blocked up. Here's a list of things to
find:
Baby burricks
Rejected ambient effects
Graffiti
"Jorge" texture
Unanimated guards
Dancing undead
Apple archer
Minature guard (a failed attempt to populate Littlebig world? This guard has
his own sound bank, rather than his voice being altered by the game engine)
Hostile chests
Drunken guards
Fire Elemental in the hearth
Basso floating (the High Priest in Bedfellows is the same, but plants were
put under him to make it look like he was lying on them)
Bugged Fire arrow
Bugged Gas arrow
Rejected BugBeast design
Fireworks display
Kung Fu servants
Albino Guard
Bugged swimming pool
Spawning apples (these appear in the swimming pool, I can't tell if they
relate to the apple archer or not)
Burrick in the bathroom
The "Throne"
Garrett's "portrait"
Guard who won't fall down
Basketball court
Weird doors
Missing ceiling (this appears in the actual game)
Dinner plates that go into the inventory when picked up (this appears in the
actual game)
These techniques exploit the game system, either making the game easier, or
allowing fun ways to play.
1- Lean 'n Jacking
This trick is very useful, especially when playing on Expert. To do it, you
stand in total darkness, lean forward, and blackjack your opponent. The
advantage is that it works on alerted enemies, whether they are unaware,
actively searching for you, or even running straight for you! In the latter
case, it can be hard to do. You need to catch the guard just as he runs into
range. If it fails, you can reload and try again; or run away and find another
dark patch to have another go.
This doesn't work on enemies who can not normally be blackjacked.
2- Hopping
Quite simple, when Garrett jumps, he gets a speed boost. If you jump twice
in a row, he will keep momentum from the first jump, and get another boost for
the second. Jump a third time, he will get more momentum still. You can jump
as many times as you have the room to do it. When hopping, turning will make
Garrett turn, but he will continue in the direction he is moving. When he
lands, he will get a boost in the direction he is facing, but lose momentum
from the previous jumps, so this needs to be done in an open area.
It is possible to take damage from going too fast; but in most levels you
do not have enough room to manage this.
This trick is good for chasing a fleeing enemy; or for moving faster while
carrying weight or bearing your sword; or for simply travelling through an
area where you have no fear of alerting enemies.
3- Crab walking
Very simple trick, Garrett can move slightly faster if you hold forward and
one of the strafe buttons at the same time. He will move at an angle though,
so you need to turn to one side to compensate. This trick is never really
needed in game; it's useful for running up slopes however. You can also use it
to crawl faster, but with slightly louder footsteps.
4- Slow and silent moving
The amount of noise you make moving depends on your speed. This trick is
simple, but slow to pull off. You simply tap a direction as lightly as
possible, then stop. Tap it again, then stop. This way, you can get across
tiled floors silently, although it can take a long time, and the levels are
designed to not put tiled surfaces in unfair places.
5- NPC Jumping
An odd bug that is hard to make practical use of (NPC- Non Player
Character). A good place to practice is in Undercover, where Hammers stand
about and let you move around freely. To do this trick, stand right beside
someone, then lean into them. Use the mouse to turn around, and you should
spin around oddly. If you turn fast enough, you will be flung across the room.
You can also jump for extra speed. It's hard to pull off, and harder still to
aim your flight (if it is at all possible). You will also take damage if you
hit a wall at speed or fall too far.
6- Stacking
A very nice technique. Put simply, it's making vertical stacks out of
objects. I found this technique out from users of the Through the Looking
Glass forums (www.ttlg.com/forums); and I cannot write this without mentioning
Azal and Luthien; who push for new feats in stacking, including Azal's 27
zombie torso stack; and Luthien's mammoth climb to the top of Angelwatch (in
Thief2).
You know that Garrett can drop and throw items, the skill is to make neat
vertical piles. This technique takes advantage of two things:
1. The physics system in the game is such that if an object is dropped
straight down, it will land in a predictable way; with it's Centre of Gravity
at the centre of the screen;
2. Garrett has no legs;
To look straight down, you need to pull the mouse back until the view
cannot look down any further, and can only slide from side to side. If you
press 'r' to release the object in your hands, it will drop straight down.
Take another object, and drop it, and it will land on top of the first object.
If you looked straight down for both objects, the second one will not slide
off the first, no matter how irregular it is shaped. Only problem... you are
*in* the stack, and will disturb the objects if you move.
Next step, start a new stack, and this time when you drop, jump up. You
should land on top of the object. Drop a second object, and jump again, and
you will land on top of it again. Drop as many items as you have, and you will
reach quite a height! I find it is often easier to drop the item, then jump
after; because it is possible you will land on the stack before the item lands
and get stuck in it. You might also want to hold jump down, in case you manage
to get within vaulting height of a ledge above (if you are aiming to get up on
a wall).
Next step, how many items can you stack? Well, there are all the items in
the level that you can carry, and the items in your inventory. Out of the
level items, the vast majority are stackable; excepting plates, which slide
"into" the stack and add no height; and hammers. Out of your inventory items;
many items are not stackable. Flashbombs, and mines are not, because dropping
them counts as using them offensivly. Some scrolls will land on the stack but
add no height. Keys can be hard to stack as well. You should keep your
inventory items until after you have stacked the level items.
To use as many level objects as possible, gather them all in one place, so
you can stack one, take one off the ground and stack again. Here's a small
problem- when you have built a stack so far, you will be too far of the ground
to pick things up. There are four things you can do here:
1. Leaning will get you slightly closer to the ground;
2. Arrange the items as close to where you will stack as possible;
3. Consider the order you are picking the items to stack. E.g. you may have
a skull and a ribcage on the ground. Stacking the rib cage will make the stack
bigger, but put the skull out of reach. Stacking the skull won't make the
stack as big, but will leave the ribcage within reach;
4. Drop off the stack, and make a new one right beside it. When this stack
is too high to collect items off the ground; you can pick items off the
original stack. The original stack is now a "support stack".
Some general tips for stacking:
Crates are very good for stacking, but are destructable. They can take any
amount of weight on top of them, but will take damage if dropped too far, or
have an object fall too hard on them (crouch to drop heavy objects on them);
It is possible to land on top of a stack, and also to drop an object on top
from any angle; but both are very hard to do. You can save/reload though;
Bodies are very hard to stack, but zombie parts are good; both the head and
torsos can be stacked.
7- How to kill (without it counting against you)
When playing on Expert, no matter how serious you take your non-violent
role; there are times when just want an enemy dead. This section deals with
making enemies die, but not *killing* them; if that makes any sense... Anyway,
there are a few ways to do this:
First and foremost is the mighty Hammer. They first show up in Cragscleft
prison, where you get one out of a chest and need to drop it quietly. The
trick with these is to press the right mouse button to throw these at enemies.
They do quite a bit of damage, and cause your foe to recoil. Two to four blows
will kill most enemies; the harder it hits them the more damage it will deal.
Using hopping (see above) you can kill opponents with one blow. If an enemy
takes more than one blow, you will need to pick up the hammer again. Keep an
eye on where it lands and pick it up while your opponent is reeling. The
hammer can also open doors easily, sometimes this saves you having to find a
key.
Another way to get an enemy to take damage is to trick long range attackers
like archers into shooting them. When an archer gets a clean line of fire, he
will ready his bow; and is commited to firing. If an enemy is between you and
him when he fires, they will take the arrow. It's also possible to make an
archer kill himself by running behind him as he readies his bow.
Luring enemies into damaging themselves is another technique, either by
tricking them into falling off ledges; walking into water or lava; fighting
another enemy; or triggering a trap. In order to get enemies to fall off
ledges, you should note that the game cheats slightly, and enemies can walk
out into mid-air! Presumably this is because they don't normally have to have
their effects under gravity calculated, so the game doesn't bother to do it
every frame. However, when a level is loaded, gravity is calculated for all
objects, so if you see an enemy standing off an edge, save and reload and
he/she/it will fall.
8- Nudging
Put simply, when you stand very near an enemy, they will move away from you
slightly. This is possibly to avoid AI "deadlocks". By repeatedly standing
right beside an enemy, you can move them around. However, this is very slow
and the enemy must not become aware of you.
Features of the game that don't fit into any other catagory.
1- SHAS
This stands for "Sudden Heart Attack Syndrome". SHAS is a strange bug where
the player simply dies. The "heart attack" refers to both the unexpected
death, and the fright you might get from it happening. It most commonly
happens at when walking on the broken staircase between Saint Yora's garden
and the cloister area in the cathedral. It has been noted to happen when the
shapes of the map terrain ("brushes") are small and close together; as in this
example where the edge of the stairs are ragged.
The cause is unknown, but it's possibly a "clause" in the game engine that
provides that Garrett should die if he enters too small a space.
Not that interesting, it's mostly noteable because the game is normally
very well behaved.
2- Level Skipping
You can skip to the next level by holding Control+Alt+Shift and pressing
End (below the "Home" key). A pretty plain cheat, but I find it useful for
replaying old missions, and it frees up save slots that you might normally use
for a "level select".
3- Config commands
There is a file in your ThiefG folder called "user.cfg". You can alter the
way the game plays (not just cheat, you can also make the game tougher) by
editing this file in NotePad. You should make a spare copy of the file if you
are going to do this.
Some useful commands are: (copy the lines at the very left, not the indented
ones)
play
starting_mission xx
Replace xx with a number, 1 to 17 to pick the starting mission when you
pick "new game" at the main menu.
cash_bonus xxxx
Replace xx with a number for bonus cash when you are at the shop. You only
have this bonus once each time you run the program, as when you leave the shop
and start the next level you loose unspent loot.
cheats_active
nokillgoalcheat
This line makes you exempt from "No Kill" objectives.
4- CRF files
In your ThiefG directory, and on the CD-ROMs, are several files of type
".crf". If you open these files with Winzip, you will see they are archives,
containing all sorts of resources used in the game e.g. textures, text
strings, sound files; that you can view at your leisure.
There are many Fan Missions (FM)s available for you to play in Thief Gold.
Darkloader is a program that will back up essential parts of your Thief Gold
game, then alter it to play the FM. Darkloader may not be the only program for
playing FMs.
1- Getting Darkloader
At the time of writing, Darkloader can be downloaded from http://www.thief-
thecircle.com . If this site or download no longer works, go to Google or
Yahoo! and search for "Darkloader".
2- Installing Darkloader
As far as I know, Darkloader can be installed anywhere on your computer.
When you first run it; it will ask for the directory that Thief is installed
to; the directory where Thief2 is installed to (if you have that game); and
the directory that will contain your missions. You can change these folders
later if necessary.
3- Getting Missions
Fan Missions (FMs) are kept as .zip files. They can be found from
http://www.thief-thecircle.com or you can run an internet search for them.
Some fan missions are very large (measured in hundreds of megabytes). It is
possible to get FMs on CD; and as they are shareware you can freely exchange
them with friends.
There are missions for Thief: The Dark Project; Thief Gold; and Thief 2.
Thief Gold can run FMs for both Thief Gold and the original Thief.
Once you have downloaded a mission, put it in the folder you specified as
the missions folder in Darkloader. *DO NOT UNZIP IT!* Leave it as a .zip file.
Unzipping the file might work, but chances are it won't, and will cause
problems.
4- Playing Missions
The Darkloader interface is simple. Click on a mission name; and it's
details will appear to the right and it's readme below. Then click one of the
options: Install only; Play (this option installs the FM if it is not already
installed); or Dromed (open it in a level editor).
On the mission list, there will also be an entry that represents the
original Thief missions; this will restore Thief back to normal.
A short section on how to get started with Dromed- the level editor for
Thief. I may expand this section to cover level editing; but at the moment I'm
just going to cover a few key points for starting out. Namely...
1- Installing Dromed
Dromed is found on the first CD-ROM. Open up "My Computer" on your desktop
(or in the Start menu); then right click on the CD-ROM icon and pick "Open".
Open the folder "Goodies" then the folder "Dromed", and unzip "dromed.zip" to
the folder on your hard-drive you installed Thief Gold to.
*IMPORTANT*: You will be warned that unzipping will overwrite certain
files. You should allow all the files to be overwritten.
2- The Tutorials
Documentation on Dromed is scant, however there is a tutorial that will
explain how to make basic levels. It is called "DromedTutorial.doc" and was
one of the files unzipped to your Thief install folder when you installed
Dromed.
3- Where to get more tutorials/help
Dromed was released with no official support, and the first users of it had
to work it out themselves. Indeed, experimenting/messing around is a good way
to find out new features of the programs. There is a lot of material on the
internet, fortunatly. I wish to refrain from putting URLs in this FAQ; a good
place to try is the forums at http://www.ttlg.com . You should get any
questions you have answered there, but read the FAQ, and search for topics
asking your question before posting.
