Galaer on 25/4/2022 at 19:21
RANSTALL KEEP (THIEF 1 VERSION)
Thief 2 version of this mission has been reported by Hexameron. He mentioned 3 causes of failure:
1. Cannot acquire lock picks without breaking glass skylight of weapon shop.
2. Cannot infiltrate abandoned house without breaking a glass window, which alerts three tiny spiders.
3. Cannot reach thief friend in crypt below church without destroying floorboards, which alerts multiple Hissie's in the vicinity.
In original Thief 1 version there is only one ghost bust - last one. Destruction of floorboards is unavoidable and like mentioned in Hexameron's report it alerts patroller and possibly archers on wall. As for windows - they are frobbable, so there is no need to break them. I have no idea why author decided to force players to break these windows in rerelease of this mission. This version doesn't have 2nd area of city and some building in 1st area. Also there is no stationary Hissy near Weapon Shop.
To enter spider house don't try to mantle inside. Instead run towards window and jump through it. Inside I can grab almost every piece of loot through glass except golden nugget worth 100. To grab it you need to break 3 glass doors. On 1st floor of Keep is switch near oven activating secret wall in one of cells. If you walk along wall you will not step on pressure tile closing wall. In next cell is disfigured zombie with 2 nuggets. You must quickly run in and out while avoiding patrollers walking through prison. You can't stay in cell as zombie will wake up and 2nd alert to you. You need to hide in next cell. In next room is elevator with 2 nuggets on top of it. You can hide behind elevator from patrollers. To get nuggets you need to mantle on pole with switches and for 2nd nugget you need to jump from table.
2nd floor has very sensitive patroller. You must go behind him, but you don't want to see him. Go to stationary haunt and douse torch. Steal his Tower key. Now you need to quickly run to door, open it and enter without 2nd alerting haunt and zombie from cell. 3rd floor has stairs leading to wall above city. Here I was forced to douse torch as one of archers fell from wall on roof and stopped moving. To progress I fell down to street and mantled on Inn's roof, then went to door. 4th floor has 2 training rooms and I noticed that one of Hissies in archer's training room decided to charge towards wall with sword. I have no idea why. Unlike Hexameron I didn't go through any of the training rooms.
Next area is small canyon with scepter in cage. You can grab it without going through frogbeasts area by mantling on top of cage, but there is loot there, so put boulder on pressure tile and use lever to bring elevator down. Go behind lower frog without getting spot by mid level frog and take 2 nuggets. Be careful, jumping frogs may suddenly change direction of hopping. Return to 1st lever. There is nothing on mid level, but frog can operate lever triggering ledge. Highest frog is stationary and face towards elevator. You can't use elevator, because you will clip through it. Plus you can get spotted by mid level frog. You can mantle directly on higher level, but stationary frog will probable spot you. But there is way to progress. After mantling on highest level immediately jump forward. This way you will ghost stationary frog. Use lever to send elevator down and when it will hit ground, drop on it. Don't ride this elevator, because you will keep loudly drop on it.
I had some problem figuring out how to get Magic Rock without losing health. Hexameron didn't mention anything how to get it. Eventually I noticed that small pole on ceiling above Magic Rock is made out of wood. In foyer there is apparition in front of book and there is switch under it. Hexameron mentioned that he nudged apparition forward. I was unable to do it. You don't need to read book as you can mantle through window, but there is some extra loot in lord's rooms. Luckily I noticed that 2 candles can be doused. Fountain room was also easy. I went along shadow, mantled on narrow ledge on NW side of fountain under angle, so I will not fall immediately on the other side.
There is no ladders in this version, so you must jump and mantle upstairs in lava room. In lord's rooms I used the rest of my water arrows. Reading book will open hole, but sight what's below will be cover by black texture. Simply save and load to know where to drop. Lastly there are some nuggets at the bottom of river and you can end this mission.
STATS:
Time: 0:54:00; Loot: 5523/5798
Pockets Picked: 2/2; Locks Picked: 6
Back Stabs: 0; Knock Outs: 0
Damage Dealt: 0; Damage Taken: 0; Healing Taken: 0
Innocents killed: 0; Others killed: 0
GHOST: IMPOSSIBLE
klatremus on 25/4/2022 at 23:55
Game:
Thief 2FM:
Feast of Pilgrims [TMA 20th Anniversary Contest]Ghost -
SuccessPerfect Thief -
SuccessSupreme Ghost -
SuccessPerfect Supreme -
FailedTime - 2:54:10
Loot - 5938/5938 (Supreme: 5853)
Pockets Picked - 8/8
Secrets - 12/12
Locks Picked - 9
Backstabs - 0, Knockouts - 0
Damage dealt - 0, Damage taken - 0
Healing taken - 0, Other Kills - 0, Bodies Discovered - 0
Consumables - 1 Holy Water Vial, 1 Water Arrow
See the entire report with screenshots (
https://www.klatremus.org/TMA20AC/TMA20AC_FeastOfPilgrims.htm) here!
Loot list (
https://www.klatremus.org/TMA20AC/TMA20AC_FeastOfPilgrims_L.htm) here.
YouTube let's play (
https://youtu.be/p6c440Z8woA) here!
Comments:The winner of The Metal Age 20th Anniversary Contest, and for good reason. By many coined as one of the best thieves’ highway missions of all time, Random Taffer and Marbleman has made something very special. Although I put Into the Odd just a tad higher for innovation, Feast of Pilgrims is classic Thief 2, obviously inspired by the game’s best mission, Life of the Party. If you still haven’t played this one, do yourself a favor and get to it.
My initial task was fairly straight forward: Get to St. Ives Cathedral to steal a chalice and some maps. I also needed to grab 3,500 worth of valuables along the way. The free contract gave me three more optional objectives. Although free items at the loadout screen are now deemed allowed for Supreme (since they are not “purchases”), I didn’t actually read it until I knew the objectives could be completed. Remember, all objectives are required for that mode, even those that are termed optional in-game. I also had a fourth optional objective that could be triggered later on. I planned on getting the items for that objective on my way to the cathedral, in case it could be finished ghost-clean.
Eastern StreetsI decided to cover the east part of town first, mainly since the dispersal concoction had to be made in the west tower, and the required items were spread across town. Covered most of the buildings here without issues. I entered Rothchild’s from Talford Manor’s balcony, as the archer was very difficult to dodge coming from the south. Not sure what was up with the thief and the unconscious guard north of Rothchild’s. The thief stared straight into a sealed window, and the guard didn’t make sleeping noises, but would still wake up if alerted. Passed through Balle Estate and reached the soap factory. Got the cray egg from here and moved on.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/TMA20AC/TMA20AC_FeastOfPilgrims_files/image001.jpgOnly looted the northern half of Silvershade Apartments, as the doors connecting towards the south were pickable, but unnecessary. I instead headed into the cathedral grounds and looted the cemetery. A hidden hammer was located behind one of the mausoleums (image above). The intended way to get out was to ring the bell, spawning Murus who opened the door. However, he would also open the door to two other crypts, releasing hammerite zombie patrols (image below). This eventually ended up in a fight between one of the zombies and a thief that occasionally appeared from the crypt double doors. Since the scenario was instigated by me, I felt this wasn’t in the spirit of Supreme. However, I eventually found I could mantle back onto the mausoleum roof without ever summoning Murus. I just had to stand on top of the skull and leap a bit towards the right. Not sure if this was deliberate or not.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/TMA20AC/TMA20AC_FeastOfPilgrims_files/image002.jpgCathedralWent up to get the ruby objective and the reliquary key. Decided to go ahead and loot most of the cathedral while I was here. It felt more logical to get the potion recipe before starting to gather the ingredients also. I didn’t need to turn off the reliquary cameras. I could monitor the nearest camera from the library doorway (first image below). I had to unlock the door, then run back to the doorway; otherwise I got caught. The cameras just stopped if spotting me, but didn’t utter a sound. I thus had to make sure they continued pivoting until I was fully out of view. The pilgrimage maps in the study required good timing of the two hammerites. The priest made three stops. When in the northeast corner of the room, I was safe to go in. Upon entry, the best method was to mantle up the nearest bookshelf as soon as possible (second image below). From here I could grab the candlestick and better time my descent and exit. Downstairs I cleaned the main library and Devan’s office. I really liked how I could use the bookshelf ladders to reach the upper walkway.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/TMA20AC/TMA20AC_FeastOfPilgrims_files/image003.jpgInline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/TMA20AC/TMA20AC_FeastOfPilgrims_files/image004.jpgOne problematic loot item was a holy hammer behind a banner in the northwest corner of the compound, just above the staircase to the aforementioned office. The intended technique was to slash the banner, which of course is disallowed for all Ghost modes. Even then it was difficult to reach. I had to jump from the upper railing and land in a mantle to get to it. When trying this method again, I realized you can also grab the hammer
through the banner, without ever slashing it! This was impossible to do from above without taking damage, however, so I’d have to think of something else. There were no rope attachable surfaces nearby. Neither were there anywhere to land directly in a mantle, breaking the fall. The only option would be a stack. A hammerite guard patrolled nearby, but not exactly where the stack would have to be. In addition, I would probably be able to make the stack, grab the hammer, and retrieve the items in between his rounds, which made it even less rule violating. After some experimentation with one of the saves from my blackjack run, I discovered I needed 6 potions to successfully reach the hammer. Of course, all those items would also have to be returned for Supreme. I was making another trip through town anyway, so I would pick up what I could then. Interesting problem this. It had been a good while since my last proper stack, and this solution really excited me. More on this later.
While I was in the library, I opened the door in the southwest corner to trigger the hammerite-novice conversation in the courtyard. This was important, since when I’d approach the cathedral from the west later, they would actually first alert to the nearby door opening. They wouldn’t actually give a verbal remark since their conversation triggered, but they would be in a first alert state and give settling remarks later. This meant there were now two extra patrollers, but that I would simply have to deal with.
Back Through TownReturned to Balle’s and skipped west to Maximillian Estate. Had to use one of the two northernmost statues, otherwise the thief on the balcony further south commented (image below). Once I was on the statues along the wall, I was hidden by hardcover. Cleaned this house and the southern of the Silvershade apartments easily.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/TMA20AC/TMA20AC_FeastOfPilgrims_files/image005.jpgInline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/TMA20AC/TMA20AC_FeastOfPilgrims_files/image006.jpgLooted my way southwest. Grabbed a tough to reach candlestick on the upper sill of a wooden ledge here, before entering this house through a window on the lower level (image above). Clever design in this part of town; probably my favorite so far. This was sort of the central hub of the city, with multiple paths in all directions. I needed the magma crystal from Al’Darude’s estate, but I couldn’t drop into the courtyard coming from the east (first image below). Even if I had been able to, getting into the actual building was equally impossible for Supreme. Unfortunately, this meant the wine bottle on the table and the green vase from the courtyard apartment had to be skipped for that mode. For regular Ghost I could take them, but it was quite tough without dousing any torches. I had to use the shadow cast by the staircase and approach the stationary guests from the side. There were four mages in this area also.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/TMA20AC/TMA20AC_FeastOfPilgrims_files/image007.jpgWhat this meant was I had to move south and instead wrap around through Fort Romero, then plan to approach Al’Darude’s from the west. This strategy quickly fell to pieces, however, when I realized I couldn’t leave through the window of Knobb & Job (image below). The balcony was simply too lit-up, and the patrolling archer always caught me. If he had stopped during his patrol, then I might have been able to reach the smuggler’s hideout in the southwest, but it was not to be. Thus, I was forced back to the central hub and this time wrap around to the north, through Butcher Bill’s.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/TMA20AC/TMA20AC_FeastOfPilgrims_files/image008.jpgFrom here I could approach the warehouses via the balcony to the north. There was a lone, stationary archer on the western plateau that was just plain frustrating. It took a long time for me to realize he occasionally pivoted northwest (image below). It seemed, however, that he only first alerted in this position. Facing northeast he never said anything. He only stayed in the northwest position for about 10-15 seconds though, so most of the time he didn’t alert at all. Knowing this, I found I couldn’t reach the loot on the table without a first alert. Although taking it without any utterances was possible, it didn’t feel right knowing that something was wrong with his voice cues. It was only worth 10 gold combined anyhow.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/TMA20AC/TMA20AC_FeastOfPilgrims_files/image009.jpgThe entire warehouse district was fairly straight forward. I could now get the magma crystal at Al’Darude’s without ever needing to enter the courtyard. I gave it a real shot trying to leave the doorway and get down the stairs into the shade for Supreme, but the male guest (marbleman, or Andy J) always commented. He did have a conversation with the female guest, but there was no time to get the vase from the nearby bedroom and get back inside before the conversation ended. There was just too much activity with the patrolling mages around. The bottle on the table was even worse, as the stationary mages further west also commented.
The balcony outside Knobb & Hob could now be reached from the ladder in the northwest corner (image below). This was dark and I could sneak a bit further east and approach the gambling table directly from the north. Could take all the loot without problems like this. The smuggler objective nearby posed no issues. Headed back through the northern warehouse and approached the northwestern part of town.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/TMA20AC/TMA20AC_FeastOfPilgrims_files/image010.jpgThis was the easiest portion of the city. Quite the contrast to the heavily patrolled central hub. Luckily, making the monker mash didn’t actually make any sound, though it sounded like it would alert the whole neighborhood. The building northeast of Tuttleshank had two apartments, both with pickable entry doors. I actually managed to avoid picking either of them. After getting the purse from the guard, I headed back to the wizard’s tower and jumped out of the northeast window. Then I could access the eastern apartment and use the secret vent to get to the western one (image below). There was a small patch of shadow behind a wall outcropping in this apartment that kept me hidden from the tenant.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/TMA20AC/TMA20AC_FeastOfPilgrims_files/image011.jpgFinally headed to the cathedral to get the remaining loot. I managed to reach the holy hammer behind the banner using 3 holy water vials, 1 fruit, 1 healing potion and 1 speed potion (image below). There was plenty of time before the hammerite patroller returned. Awesome! Got the hellfire ruby from the belltower next. Although shooting the bucket with a holy water arrow killed the demon, it was clearly a scripted event. No kill or damage showed up in the stats, the demon never alerted to me like a normal enemy, plus I only ever interacted with the bucket. Additionally, if I didn’t use a holy water arrow, I automatically failed the objective. I think most players would say this is ok. If you feel it isn’t, then it is no problem to skip this objective and never bother with any of the required items. That would certainly make your trip through the city a lot easier. I even checked with the mission creators and got a confirmation that the demon isn’t technically killed, which confirms my previous assessment.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/TMA20AC/TMA20AC_FeastOfPilgrims_files/image012.jpgTook the east route back home, dropping off the 5 remaining items used in my stack along the way. The last item was the holy water vial that I used in the belltower. This is definitely up there among the very best thieves’ highway missions I have ever played. Thank you Random Taffer and marbleman!
Notes:- Had to skip a wine bottle worth 25 and a vase worth another 50 in Al’Darude’s courtyard and adjacent apartment for Supreme. It was impossible to get into the courtyard without first alerts from at least one of the guests.
- Had to skip the coins worth 10 on the balcony north of the warehouses for Supreme. The balcony archer pivoted too frequently for me to grab them unseen.
- I didn’t count “killing” the demon a Ghost bust. It is a scripted event, part of a puzzle, and no damage or kill count shows up in the stats.
klatremus on 26/4/2022 at 00:00
Hey Galaer, if you are looking to do more Thief 1 versions, Ruins of Originia mission 1, Mines of Margroth was released as a standalone T1 version before the T2 campaign. From what I've heard, it's quite different. I didn't include it in the unreported list, but nobody has ghosted that to my knowledge.
Galaer on 26/4/2022 at 16:36
Quote Posted by klatremus
Hey Galaer, if you are looking to do more Thief 1 versions, Ruins of Originia mission 1, Mines of Margroth was released as a standalone T1 version before the T2 campaign. From what I've heard, it's quite different. I didn't include it in the unreported list, but nobody has ghosted that to my knowledge.
Are you sure about that? I played this version in 2017, but didn't notice any difference. True, I didn't beat it back then. I ended at headless zombies zone right after blue crystal cave and couldn't find passage forward. I gave up, which is weird, because in the past I beat Ruins of Originia. Somehow I had more motivation back in the past. So I have no plans to report this version. As for my plans, I plan to report already reported missions. Originally I wanted to deal with missions reported by Vanguard usually because ghosting was aborted for various reasons (lighting or difficulty). Then I noticed that his interpretation of kill objective is a bit different than now, so I added more missions. And then I read other people reports and I decided to try to ghost them too. So I'm gonna do reports in style of my last report. I have a whole list of missions (mostly Vanguard's and Deadfall's), but I'm going to do it at much slower rate than before.
Also while reading old reports I noticed some mistakes on Reported Missions list. Lord Matt and Lucrative Opportunity have bolded names even though report states failed ghost run. Crom's Blade and Search for Crom's Blade are the same mission, but reports are in 2 different places. The same goes with reports of Keep and Apache Mission Pack 4: The Keep. It's pretty much the same mission.
klatremus on 27/4/2022 at 03:35
You might be right about Mines of Margoth. I only ever played the miners town of the T1 version and that was similar. I just heard from others.
Thanks for those corrections. I will take a look and update the list. :D
Just out of curiosity, how exactly did Vanguard interpret the kill objective?
Galaer on 27/4/2022 at 05:55
Quote Posted by klatremus
Just out of curiosity, how exactly did Vanguard interpret the kill objective?
From what I read in his reports he excused alerting victim, because of killing objective. For example in Assassin at Lord Ganrish he lured out guard. This situation later has been ghosted quietly by RiCh, so I'm not going to report this mission. Another point is excusing fight head on just because of kill objective or killing harder enemies in more than one hit when they are alerted from first hit. That's why I'm going to try Benny is Dead and Inverted Manse.
klatremus on 27/4/2022 at 23:49
Aah, yes some early players assumed you could alert enemies that you were required to kill, but that has later been deemed disallowed. Nice finds those. The Inverted Manse I played way back in the day and is known for being one of the best from that time period, so is Benny's Dead. I think Manse has 3 very different experiences on the different difficulty levels, so you might want to ghost that one 3 times. I did that for A Weekend Getaway, due to the way the mission was structured.
Galaer on 29/4/2022 at 19:42
Thanks for info, I didn't think that rules in the past could be so much different than now. As for Inverted Manse - I actually watched Nexus Letum's video and he mentioned exclusive areas on all difficulties.
Also another thing I noticed on reported mission list - looks like Katharsis has been ghosted by Katharsis. I wonder who is that guy.
klatremus on 30/4/2022 at 01:16
Lol, he must be a new ghoster! :laff:
*fixed*
Galaer on 1/5/2022 at 15:11
VIRTUAL ASYLUM
Reported by Vanguard as a success, but incomplete. So what does that mean? It means that he couldn't figure out how to progress to the next area. And not only he, many others have problem with this area too. It's possible that back in the past mission was broken and it was fixed in the update, but I think that Vanguard just missed correct solution. So now question: should this mission be reported as successful ghost if there was no way to know what this mission has in store for player? I don't think so.
Start of mission is quite easy. You get 20 water arrows from chest, which you need to use in next room to douse fire at the middle. Before progressing I want you to notice higher ledges above. This is farther part of mission and climbing on these high ledges would allow me 2 ghost busts. Unfortunately I have no items to stack and unlike Thief 2 torches, it's impossible to mantle on Thief 1 torches. Next room has patroller and another fire at the middle to douse. Next is archers area. Just run and then crouch run to left tower. Climb ladder and use lever. You can nudge left archer a bit and descend to black tile in tunnel. It will teleport archers on grass, which makes a bit easier to go to next area. There go right under stationary guard, douse 2 torches, climb upstairs, wait for servant to descend and douse 3rd torch.
Next area is where Vanguard abandoned this mission. You can go to lever, use it and quickly back off under stairs. Lever doesn't open gate, it opens passage in wall, which was noticed by Vanguard, but he couldn't mantle up there. In Newdark it's possible. In Olddark though you needed to return to previous area, douse last torch, which makes room pitch black, climb wooden beam and blindly go to another opened wall. Alternatively you could shoot tiny switch with water arrow, which is visible in last room above barrels. Pressing switch will open gate, but this is where ghost run ends. There is no way to run behind 2 stationary guards standing in front of gate without alerting at least one of them. There is just too much light. I tried to mantle on top of passage I came in, but it was impossible. And I don't have any moss arrows to use jump acceleration to quickly get to corner near right guard. So I just ran to gate and it closed behind me (ghost bust #1).
In next room you can descend to chest with rope arrows, but it's optional. With new mantle you can mantle to gate, which opens when you touch it. Hide in shadow in passageway. Below are 2 burricks and right burricks is watching towards broken bridge we need to walk forward. There is no way to descend quickly enough to nudge this burrick away without alerting him. There is no way to walk on bridge without getting spotted by him. So I just ran forward (ghost bust #2) to high ledges mentioned before.
Next is pool room with marble floor and one patroller. Dousing left torch reveals lever, which to be honest I have no idea what it does. Dousing fire on holy fountain will open trapdoor in floor. Go there. Here is side passage with patroller and switch opening shortcut to ladder, which is pointless. Lever opening gate is protected by stationary guard. He watches tunnel. For a split of second he turns right and quickly return to his original position. Because of that it's impossible to ghost him. I don't want to use flash bomb to stun him as it may alert upstairs patroller. Instead I just ran to guard trying to make him back off, crouched and used lever, then I quickly ran to ladder (ghost bust #3).
Next is bugbeast arena. To progress you must 2nd alert bugbeast behind door. It will use switch and open door. Bugbeast emits light, so it's hard to avoid being spotted even in full darkness. It has key, but because it's alerted you can't steal it. You need to kill it, but in this mission you don't really have any weapons, so you must use traps activating fire arrows. They make you more visible and alert bugbeast even more, so you need to hide from it behind pillar. In my run bugbeast spot me and it backed off on another trap, which killed it. This way I could get key to next area.. In other words, this whole arena is huge ghost bust #4.
Drop on torch and then on floor. Next room is flooded and very well lighted. There are 2 guards stuck in water and they will immediately spot you (ghost bust #5). It's impossible to avoid that. Use panel to open trapdoor. There is switch opening wooden door and activating fire arrow trap. Looks like 2 guards will never calm down. Swim to last room. Here are 2 people looking like Ramirez. They are pretty blind and deaf. You must go over fence, but gate can be only opened by inside Ramirez. You can get there by shooting 2 rope arrows on fence and on ceiling. You can also mantle on cistern and mantle on top of fence. Get your blackjack from chest and mission will end.
STATS:
Time: 0:17:53; Loot: 0/0
Locks Picked: 0
Back Stabs: 0; Knock Outs: 0
Damage Dealt: 0; Damage Taken: 0; Healing Taken: 0
Innocents killed: 0; Others killed: 0
GHOST: IMPOSSIBLE
