Thief 3 Ghosting Report: City Freeplay Day 1
Ghost: SUCCESS (but you might not want to do it that way)
Perfect Thief: FAIL (can't steal bracelets or eyeglasses without mugging, blackjacking, or killing)
Time: ?? minutes
Loot: ??/?? (??%)
Locks picked: 19
Pockets picked: ??
Damage dealt: 0
Damage taken: 0
Home sweet home. Not much to steal from ourselves.
Don't worry about the guard in your hall...he ignores you unless he catches you picking a lock or entering/leaving a room. As a general rule, keep your entries/exits secret and you can ignore anyone except the City Watch guards and a few other special people.
This guy makes things easy by being asleep...
...unless you want his purse. Seems you can't pickpocket him no matter how close you get unless you want to wake him. While you could do that with only a first alert, it goes against the whole idea of Ghosting to deliberately be seen or heard. This busts Perfect Thief, but it's not the only thing that does.
This lady has a simple patrol route so there's no problem here.
One of the two men talking outside is about to head home and stand in an annoying spot upstairs, so grab his key and head to his house.
When you get to his house, loot the upstairs right away. You can slip out the side window on the first floor if he comes home before you finish.
Of course you don't need his key to open the door, so you can always get it after you've broken in.
From then on you can take your time looting until you talk to Perry, just avoid the guards and don't get caught in the act. Looting this guy isn't hard, but dousing the light makes it harder for that guard to see you.
You can loot the arrows from the guard station...
...by climbing in/out via a rear window, but it takes a little wiggling (lean while standing, and use a slight running jump to mantle).
Once you talk to Perry you'll need to be a little more careful as you make your way back to the area with your house. Crawl under the porch on your left and use Lady Elizabeth's conversation to slip in and steal her thugs' pay (they won't be earning it anyways).
Retrace your steps and slip past the guards by hugging the righthand wall and sneak past him. Head to the next area and this counts as "dealing with Lady Elizabeth". Note that you can go while they are still talking, after the second guard returns, or even head back the other direction as you are in darkness the whole way.
The tavern is a bit of pain, especially on the first floor. The front door is simpler, though the rear window also works. You'll want to hide near the front door and wait for the guard to head to the stairs, then mantle over the bar on this side. You may have to try it a few times if the guard upstairs see you, and make sure the lower guard isn't near when you grab the bottles as one of the non-loot ones will fall. Retrace your steps to get back out, and come back in the other way or slip around the guard by hiding behind the table on the left (grab the loot while you are there).
Upstairs is much simpler...the guard sitting alone won't notice if you hug the right wall, and the upper are with two guards is just a matter of proper timing.
On your way out you can exit to the balcony with the other Garrett's conversation, or use the front door there. If you use the balcony entrance, you can sneak in and hide in the corner by the door while they are talking. Either way, just wait for the other Garrett to leave and either time the man's patrol or close the balcony door so he can't see what you are doing (he'll first alert when you do).
There's some more loot and equipment to grab but no real problem areas...note that a running jump is enough to grab the gas arrow if you want it. When you are done here, head to the next area. This, unfortunately, is a very odd place and the cause of a few problems. First grab the map off the guy near the Hammer church.
Next head right to the guard station. You can douse the torch and/or put out the candles without much problem, but the guard goes searching when the money disappears. Oddly enough he says "it can't have gone out by itself" even if you didn't touch the candles...either way it's not a big deal and he is not aware of you, just the missing loot. Dousing the lights helps ensure he doesn't see you when he goes searching, but be sure to move ultra slowly or he'll hear.
The bigger problem is our not-so-stealthy beastman friend who tends to get himself very dead after you release him.
Try it a few times and with luck he won't get cornered and will disappear when out of sight. One strategy is to get ahead of him and block the road with your before he gets far. The guard will search so stay quiet and out of sight (looting his money behind his back would be a bit of a cheat though).
Don't forget to wash up any blood with a water arrow if the beastman gets hit by the guard...you don't want a civilian that spots it to panic.
Head up the street behind the guard and enter the jeweller's shop on the left. The door may first alert that guard.
This is problem number two, and it's pretty bad. Seems the jeweller is about to get himself killed over a few gems, and since we plan to take those gems later it seems only fair to try and keep him alive. First douse the two lower lights (leave the one on the stairs).
Loot the lower floor before they come in, walk upstairs to trigger their entry, and wait in the corner near the other door. With luck the jeweller will notice the missing loot and come to investigate, interrupting the conversation. This may be enough to save him (the conversation stops), but to be safe you can blackjack him without getting a search from the two thugs. If you're worried about the Ghosting, remember that he was going to die...the same water arrow we used on the torch could have tidied the blood and we'd have the same situation. The only difference is he's unconscious instead of dead.
He looks quite comfortable, and I'm sure he'd thank you for it if he could.
Head out to the armory for problem number three. Don't worry about the two thugs...they know how to keep their mouths shut.
Loot the lower level while the other Garrett is upstairs. You need to hurry if you want to save lives without cheating the Ghosting.
The other Garrett is a rather bloodthirsty fellow, because he'll kill any civilian he encounters. I've had much fun watching him run around slaughtering people, triggering guards to attack him and double-spawns of random civilians leading to a very crowded and very active street brawl. However, to ensure the safety of the people (and to get rid of the Garrett competition) I blackjacked my alter ego. It's not hard to finish what you need to finish before you come here and get out without the ruckus affecting you, but I hate the idea that Ghosting causes MORE alerts and fights than not Ghosting. You can save and do it both ways if you want to be technical about your Ghost, but it doesn't change much.
Now to frame the fake Garrett. Is this too obvious?
The guy upstairs is pretty much oblivious.
In fact, you can exit via his window if you like. This puts you near the rear window of the little building near the end of the street. Time the pedestrians and slip inside to loot it.
Shove those crates out a bit to get within jumping range of the arrow above.
Finish looting this area, drop the dagger in the box (leave the area and come back for the money), and sell the opal to Bertha.
Meet with the Keepers in the previous area (get the gems while you're there) and come back to enter St. Edgar's. Don't forget to grab that Garrett-type payment.
Perfect Thief is out because of the non-pickpocketable items on people, and since there is no loot objective you can easily Ghost if you ignore the carnage around you. However, it would be a shame not to at least blackjack the fake Garrett so he can get caught and this should be all you need to do in order to keep everyone alive and get all but the non-pickpocketable loot while Ghosting. It's not technically a Ghost but you can always do it both ways before continuing.
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