Summer break is over! Sorry for not posting these past few months, I have been busy at work and on the weekends, which are usually the only time when I get to write. I didn’t stop playing, though, so here is the last main mission of HITMAN 2.

Read the previous entries here

• Mission One, Night Call
• Mission Two, The Finish Line
• Mission Three, The Three-Headed Serpent
• Mission Four:, Chasing A Ghost
• Mission Five, Another Life

What it’s about
In order to take down the Ark Society and Providence, Agent 47 has to work alongside Diana and their newfound ally, Lucas Grey. Infiltrating the exclusive island retreat on the Isle of Sgail, 47 arrives disguised as one of the guests to the society’s annual meeting.
As far as locations go, the isle is certainly something with its impressive keep, arcane rituals, fine foods and music combined with dreams of advanced technology and immortality.

The Ark Society is a strictly hierarchical organisation and when 47 first arrives he is impersonating a Patron. As such, he will only be allowed into the main courtyard and the lower level bar and sitting rooms plus the exhibition of the latest safe room model, which, coincidentally, offers a very smart way of infiltrating the keep underground. To progress further, you will need a Member’s disguise and, last but not least, that of the highest rank, Architect, which will get you access to the most exclusive areas.

There are a ton of other disguises, as always. You can even put on a knight’s armor and pose as decorative element as you move through the castle, but, beware, you will, of course, be attacked immediately, if you are seen moving about.

The mission objectives
There are two objectives in total:
⦁ Agent 47 has to eliminate Sophia and Zoe Washington, the twin sisters who have taken over as chairwomen of the Ark Society after Janus retired.
⦁ and he has to do so without alarming Providence-operative The Constant, as he will flee, if he suspects 47 is anywhere close.

The map is full of restrictions and opportunities
The castle grounds where Agent 47 first arrives surround a keep that consists of two towers. One houses exhibitions, the other The Constant’s private quarters as well as the Morgue, where Janus’ body is being prepared for his wake (Disguising yourself as Janus and killing Sophia from the coffin will gain you the Blood Money-Achievement, btw).

Both towers are being guarded very closely and there are different kinds of guards. The masked guards wearing a blue beret that you will first set eyes on upon arrival, the maskd and hooded guards patrolling the upper part of the first tower and a group of elite guards, the Washington twins’ Raiders, who wear sunglasses even when it’s dark as well as an orange beret. Using a guard’s disguise to infiltrate is therefore a safe bet. There are other disguises, too, which will allow you easier access to the sisters, to Sophia Washington in particular, since she can only be found roaming the two towers.

Sophia and Zoe are professional treasure hunters, by the way, and Sophia has had a fling with one of the VIP guests, Nathaniel Blake, another adventurer and donor of one of the first exhibition’s most prized pievces, the Cloud Serpent necklace. Use this to garotte either Sophia – as Nathaniel Blake during a private meeting – or Zoe to gain an achievement respectiveley.

How to acquire the Cloud Serpent necklace
First, disguise yourself as a waiter. Then get into the exhibition hall upstairs and take another set of stairs up, where, on the gallery above the exhibition hall, you will find a technician overseeing the security system. Find the circuit breaker behind that spot to distract the guard and prepare yourself to flip a coin towards the window to distract the technician, then quickly disable the security system. Walk downstairs and flip the alarm switches behind each of the two guards watching ovber the necklace. While they are distracted, pocket the necklace and you are done.

Zoe Washington is in charge of keeping the guests entertained. She will greet the Patrons by way of a spectacular ceremony involving a bird effigy. Assuming the role of Master of Ceremony you can sabotage said ritual to off her in the most spectacular way.

Another ritual, one involving the collection of 10 token coins all over the lower courtyard and ramparts, will put Agent 47 in the hot chair, as he is being questioned by Zoe and, if he plays it right, will be able to kill her off unnoticed. This is the way I will be choosing for this playthrough.

The Ark Society- My favorite playthrough (Achievements Little White Lies, Fell for it)
The starting point for this playthrough is the pier, where you will arrive during your very first playthrough of the mission.

First, get comemorative coins and a disguise
Follow the host and enter the courtyard with the bar. Listen in on the conversations and you will find out that Patrons who wish to become Members need to collect 10 comemorative tokens to get to the next stage. So, keep your eyes out for those, usually located next to a burning candle. You will have to sneak about quite a bit throughout the main courtyard and below, to gather all the coins, but I will leave the how to you. I will say this much: You will be needing to trespass a couple of times.

Once you have all the tokes, you need a novice-disguise. Those look like white nighties combined with a white nightcap. One of the novices can be found in a small, rather secluded area in the back of the courtyard with the bird effigy. Wait for an opportune moment to sneak into that area and into the adjacent lower building, where you will find a wrench. Pick that up then prepare to toss a coin. Wait for the novice to approach then throw the coin and subdue him by way of a thrown wrench. Be careful you are not seen. You can dump his body through a broken window.

Second, survive the interrogation and kill Zoe
Take the novice-disguise and walk back towards the bar. Be careful not to be spotted by those in the know. There is a small door in the left pillar of the archway leading to the bar. Knock, show your tokens and follow the guard to the interrogation room.

Follow the instructions and answer Zoe truthfully. She will then bid you to follow her and let you get dressed in your new Member robe. Follow her up some stairs and pick the exact moment when her bodyguard has passed through the door upstairs to subdue and kill her. Pick up her key card and the kill-switch she carries. Then drag her body carefully down the stairs, drop it over the railing so it cannot be seen then dump it in a conveniently placed container at the bottom of the stairs. First target down, now for Sophia.

Killing Sophia by following the Mission Story “Social Climbing”
This approach is quite an elaborate one, but I think it super-interesting. Now, wearing your Member-robes, finde the courtyard where the wake for Janus is supposed to be held. From here, you will see the second tower.

Walk towards it, make sure the guard is not standing there and creep along the side of the tower (There’s also a door leading into the morgue, if you fancy the Blood Money-Achievement. Beware, though, you will need to liberate a very special knife first.)
You will find some pipes to climb up on.

Keep climbing towards the back of the tower – you will be getting a good look at The Constant’s quarters – and in the back you will be able to climb through the bathroom window. Ready your trusty wrench, turn on the water and head towards the second window that leads onto a sort of platform. Knock out the guard that comes to investigate, turn off the water, disguise yourself as the guard and walk into The Constant’s office.

Read the file on the laptop and you will find out what the previously found kill-switch is for: The Constant has been implanted with a poison chip and now he is trying to find a way to circumvent or deactivate it. Let’s give him a hand.

Sophia has laid out a trap for The Constant – we will spring it on her
Head down through the living quarters. Cross the glass bridge and you will find another exhibition. There are some curtains walling off the technical equipment from the rest of the room. There is a woman in that small area, who you will need to take out and hide. Walk into the room behind her, turn on the vacuum cleaner, wait for her to investigate and hide her in the small room.

Return to the technical area and walk towads the door on the opposite side. It is locked and behind it are two Raiders. As you observe, you will notice that Sophia will walk into that room frequently to converse with the duo. Wait until she leaves then climb through the window to the right of the locked door and into the next window, which leads into that room. Take out both guards silently and hide them inside the cupboard. Read the files on the laptop and return to the small technical area.

(You could also disguise yourself as a Raider to gain access to where a Council member gone rogue is on the phone, take his disguise and lure Sophia into a private meeting during which you can crush her in an Iron Maiden, which will gain you the Case Closed-Achievement).

Diana will be opening an opportunity to disguise yourself as the man who manufactured the poison chip, Sinclair. He is one of the Architects (blue robes instead of read) and lingers in the exhibition hall beyond the curtains. Wait until you have identified him, then sabotage the exhibition and wait for him to enter the area to knock him out and hide his body in the container. Disguise yourself as Sinclair and find The Constant.
Sophia fell for it, now let’s move in for the kill

The Constant will bid Sinclair/47 to his private quarters, then summon Sophia for a little
talk. You will need to climb up to get into the bathroom again, so best distract the butler and the guards to be able to climb through the open window in the book-shelved section of the room unnoticed. Sneak into the bathroom and listen in on the conversation. Once The Constant leaves, there are sevaral ways of killing Sophia, two of which will get you an Achievement.

Fell for it: This one is very easy. Wait until Sophia’s back is turned then push her off the ledge.

Rock Bottom: Wait until Sophia turns her back then sneak onto the platform and up the stairs to your right. There are two gargoyles you can push to drop on her head, the pick is yours, just get the timing right. I’d advise you to save the game at this point.

Evacuate the premises with The Constant
Armed with the kill-switch, sneak your way out of the tower and talk to The Constant about leaving. You can either follow him through the keep or find your own way to the harbor, where he will eventually arrive, too. That’s it, mission accomplished.

Next up is HITMAN 2: The Golden Handshake.

Until then, keep on playing.

Cheers!

Vanessa