The Mystic Estate Aug. 13/04

shadows on 20/8/2004 at 00:01

Quote Posted by joanieS

I WISH I had not started this mission on expert. Too late to restart.
Reading the previous messages, do I understand you cannot get a key to the gambling room unless you are playing on easy?
I think I have been closely examining the wrong room. Obviously, the room with the stage, harp and flutes is not the theater? No wonder I can't find anything. Now, I have to humbly ask where the heck is the theater? Must be behind a door I can't open because I've been everywhere I can go except into the dining room and I cannot get in there with those robots waiting to zap me three times over. Well, wait a second. I have not been able to access the foyer with two archers. The tile floor keeps me from bopping them. Maybe I am missing something huge there. My kingdom for a dozen moss arrows.
:confused:

I played on normal and got a key to the gambling room and got loot in there, not sure on expert.

The threater to me is the room with stairs slopping down to rows of chairs and a raised stage. The hallway to it is guarded by a watcher. To get there starting from the place you think was the threater, go to the hall on the opposite of the fountain and turn left.

hope that was helpful.

bdkl on 20/8/2004 at 01:22

[SPOILER] The gambling room key on expert is on the floor in the sparring room , why we're not quite sure . There is a silver cog on the theater floor to open a second dining room door ( the funny looking lock contraption in the library ) . [/SPOILER] I still have no clue as to finishing the second mission .
:( :confused: :(

Melissa on 20/8/2004 at 06:08

Please tell me that I'm not the only one dorky enough to be stuck from the get go on Expert. I start off in glaring light, no where to hide, three 'bots staring me in the face and one converging from either side. There's no where to go. Running around before dying has told me that there's no where with any shadows on the outside of this house.

Ergle? Am I missing something or is this the way the game is played? :confused:

Thanks!
-M

rastas on 20/8/2004 at 08:12

Melissa

When the mission first starts[SPOILER]scoot over to the shadow behind the tree on the right (just in front of the small windows). Back up against the wall and crouch in the shadow. The mechs notice you but won't get excited enough to investigate. Then follow the bot to the right of your orignal starting position (which is now your left). Theres a sunken door well you can duck into and a door to unlock.[/SPOILER]Hope this helps.

joanieS on 20/8/2004 at 12:14

Melissa:
I will be interested to follow your progress on expert. This is a workout, but rewarding when you succeed in particularly difficult areas. When you get inside just find a nice shady area and start knocking out the guards one by one. Some of them are surprisingly easy to reach.

Whining in general:
I am now wondering how to mete out my fire arrows. I understand some are needed in the ghost library area I haven't gotten to yet. But then, since I only have two left, I won't be able to get into the door in the hallway to the right before reaching the dining room. Will there be more fire arrows somewhere? Has anyone completed this on expert with only 3 fire arrows and been able to get into every area? :weird:

bdkl on 20/8/2004 at 13:50

I used one fire arrow in the dining room on expert , and I believe the other two on bots . Hindsight being 20/20 , it would be much easier to move towards the dining room at the start of the mission , negating the need for anymore weapons at all . There is one secret door in the hallway past the sparring room that dosen't seem to have a button or switch to open it . Maybe something a little farther away ? Just before entering the second mission I killed the metal headed dude and the mission kept on going :erg:

joanieS on 20/8/2004 at 19:01

Well, I am into the second mission but feel kind of let-down because of the guards I simply could not knock out and the areas I couldnt' complete because of a lack of fire arrows (3) and water arrows (8). My hat is off to anyone who played this on expert and did it all!!

:thumb:

Melissa on 21/8/2004 at 05:57

Quote Posted by joanieS

Well, here's the rundown, on expert!

[SPOILER]I blew my invisibility potion at the beginning to get to the basement, and the other one after blackjacking the last guard down there, the one who wandered by the combat bots. That alerted them, and the only way to get back to the stairs going up alive was to take the potion.

After that, I made my way around, blackjacking anyone I could and learning how to get to where I was standing underneath cameras. I was glad to find that I didn't need to crawl to refrain from alerting guards on marble - I could just move in quick little scoots while crouched, using the walk key. This allowed me to blackjack darn near everyone with the exception of the hallway that leads to the kitchen/dining room areas.

Of course, I managed to wind up in the control room, and then find the code hint last. After I turned off the cameras, I ran around blackjacking who was left, gathering up the coins in the lobby fountain, and getting the hauls from the two secret areas (bug-man/pillar and fire arrow/door). I still have to figure out how to get past the guard patrolling a very small circuit at the end of a hallway before two large windows, and there's one back yard balcony (the far right one if you face the dead mechanists) I haven't been to with a single guard on it. There's also a few locked doors I'm hoping to find keys to, and I'm on the alert for additional secrets.

I had just started exploring the kitchen wing when I made my loot total - which ended the mission! ARGH! Thank god I'd saved before hand. So now I can't pick up anymore loot if I want to explore further, and I do (see above). I also found the guards book which led me to the wall door - opening that with a fire arrow alerts all the bots outside so I'm saving that for second to last.[/SPOILER]

If I have any request for the FM author, it would be to fix the way it ends when you've fulfilled the first three objectives, even if you haven't actually sought out the alternate exit. I can only assume that I've entered where I *will* be exiting, and somehow this is triggering as soon as I reach my loot total (5001). I'm also assuming this is the gate out back with the dead bodies? I went back to the basement to shut the gate again with the red lever to see if it made a difference, but it didn't. :(

If anyone knows how I can keep playing AND keep collecting loot without the mission ending prematurely, I'm all ears!

Aside from that, once I got used to the lack of moss arrows, the bright bright lights with no switches, and the huge amount of tech, it got kind of fun to figure out how to solve things.

[SPOILER]I'd say the weighted pillar was the only other really annoying moment, save the starting point with no shadow. I cut up a 'bot that's I'd watered, and took its big body piece to weigh it down. Nothing. I took an unconcious guard to weigh it down. Nothing. If I ran to the opening, I couldn't just leap up on the table and mantling was tricky - the lousy door kept closing before I could get in. I finally set my single rope arrow above the table and used that, running like a chicken, flinging myself on the rope and immediately landing, praying I'd get in before the door slid shut.

Also: bug man - why on earth would he consent to hang out in an unlocked closet? And why couldn't he have the decency to face AWAY from me? He's still there - I couldn't kill him without dying and I didn't want to use my fire arrows because it brings anyone still awake running. He's still in there, singing to himself little praying mantis songs.[/SPOILER]

Now, a question!
[SPOILER]I read here that the key to the gambling room on expert is in the room where all the guards are sparring. Um, am I actually supposed to go IN there while they're hacking away on full alert, or is there another way in?[/SPOILER]

Back to the (now lootless) mission.

Cheers!
-M

john9818a on 21/8/2004 at 06:20

Melissa

[SPOILER]

When I went to the sparring room, the guard chasiing me lost sight of me and started killing the guards in the sparring room. At that point I BJ the chasing guard. I didn't find a key in there. :confused:

The pillar that needs a weight to hold it down... I dropped an unconcious ai on it and the pillar would go up and down repeatedly while causing the secret door to do the same. The secret door was open long enough for me to get in.

I basically played the whole mission before I could turn off the cameras. I had the key the whole time, but just never thought to open the control room doors. Oh well. :)

I don't like it when an objective or secret requires a consumable item, such as a fire arrow. I blew mine as soon as I entered the first floor foyer.

[/SPOILER]

Melissa on 21/8/2004 at 06:29

john9818a:

[SPOILER]Will, I parked myself outside of the insanely hopped up on steroids guards and quicksaved. Then I ran in to see if I could spot the key, and sure enough, it's BEHIND the door. Specifically, when you face the room, and stand before the left-hand set of double doors, it's in the corner behind the left-hand door. Which, of course, opens IN, hiding the key. You can inch over the threshhold, getting darkest shadow, then frob the doors - since you're blocking the right one, only the left swings closed. Alas, however, you can't reach the key from the safety of that shadow, no matter how much you lean. I tried. I'm ready to chalk that one up as a loss - after all, I can't gather the loot from the gambling room ANYway, because of the horrible mission-ends-before-I'm-ready-to-go glitch!

I have a terrible feeling that the two invisibility potions were meant for specific areas - this one (the sparring room/key) and the one with the patrolling guard before the windows. You find him when you are on the uppers level of the slender, marble covered balcony that's over the lobby area. Directly North, there's a set of wooden double doors. Open them, and there he is. I'm dying to know what's down that hallway, but I can't get past them, not even with a desparate flashbomb+blackjack manuever. If I have to get to that window from the outside, well, I think I'll pass - five combat bots are just not to my taste :)[/SPOILER]

Cheers!
-M