Throughout the main game of Dishonored for PS4, you will be coming across information on the assassin Daud, the Knife of Dunwall, and it is an intimidating tale indeed. You will learn that he is probably the son of a witch, a worshipper of the Outsider and a master of the arcane. That he was allied with the Brigmore witches before a falling out with them and is now leader of the Whalers, a gang of assassins.

Daud is an older man in his mid-fifties, I’d estimate by the lines on his face. So he is bound to have much more experience as both assassin and as chosen of the Outsider. During my first playthrough of Dishonored I therefore believed him the prime candidate for the game’s ultimate boss. As it is, Daud is my favorite character next to the Outsider. But then, I am a sucker for tragic heroes and Daud’s fate in the DLCs is as tragic as they come.

Expect major spoilers for both the main game and the DLC in this review/walkthrough (PS4).

Prologue: A tense encounter in the Flooded District
With all the NPC chatter about Daud and the letters and reports found in various locations describing the assassin as some supernatural monster, expectations are high when Corvo at last comes face to face with him again in the main game. As it turns out, Daud is somewhat of a a scholar with a passion for the arcane, a man who despises secrets and basically anything he does not understand.

Corvo arrives at his stronghold a prisoner. Yet Daud does nothing to prevent the Royal Protector from escaping his prison by using his powers. He should know better, shouldn’t he? So, is he unaware of Corvo’s supernatural powers? Does he want him to escape, maybe? That’s the question the DLCs will anwer, or rather, the second DLC, The Brigmore Witches. But The Knife of Dunwall lays the groundwork. Also, be very aware of the potential consequences of Low and High Chaos.

Mission 1: An assassin with a conscience and a ship named Delilah
Dishonored: The Knife of Dunwall offers three missions. The first will start with a recap of what happened to Daud when he killed the empress at Dunwall Tower. That something broke inside him, witnessing her desperate cries for her daughter and Corvo’s despair as he is led away, falsely accused of her murder.

Six months later, about the same time Corvo breaks out of Coldridge prison, Daud is following a lead on something or someone connnected to the conspirators. It is a name, Delilah, and his best lead of finding out what is really behind the coup. He owes it to his guilty conscience to at least find out about that. The name leads to a ship, the Delilah, a whaling ship registered to the fleet of one Rothwild. The man is a vile and unscrupulous businessman, a brute in charge of a slaughterhouse that is the first location Daud and his second, Billie Lurk, will visit. Billie serves as scout only, she will not interfere in Daud’s mission.

How to get into the slaughterhouse
So, to get to your target you will have to circumvent a wall of light first, to enter the yard. But to get into the slaughterhouse proper you must acquire a time card or find another way. Since the workers are on strike, butchers and guardsmen have confiscated all the time cards. Which is unfortunate. But, keeping to the rooftops, you will find a window to the left of the wall of light that will allow you access into a strange hiding place and, via a second window, to the roof of the guard house.

From the roof you can hop onto a balcony below or on top of an oil tank, where Daud’s new Blink-ability comes in handy. Equip Blink, jump straight up and hold L2, then choose where to jump to and release L2. This allows you to not only reach higher ground, but you can also stop your Blink midair and choose another direction and location to Blink to. Which is awesome.

So, let’s assume you jumped on top of the oil tank. There is a low building up front, which houses the whale oil tank powering a security device to your left. That device guards the controls to the sewage gate, which is one way into the slaughterhouse. If you turn around, you will become aware of some workers being held in a cell in the yard. Help them escape and you will be awarded a time card to get in by way of the main entrance. Your choice. Also, at about this moment a loudspeaker announcement will warn that Corvo Attano has escaped Coldridge prison and is loose in the city somewhere. Nice.

How to deal with Rothwild
There are a couple of possibilities for dealing with Rothwild in a permanent manner and one non-lethal approach. Snooping around the slaughterhouse you will learn that the cold storage has been fashioned into a sort of torture chamber and come across a crate fitted for live cargo, headed to the other end of the empire. The latter, of course, presents the non-lethal option.

Now, your objective is not only to get rid of Rothwild. You want information on the Delilah, or rather, on her origins and especially the origins of the ship’s name. So you will need to question Rothwild using the cold storage torture device or find an alternative.

You will find Rothwild around his office, arguing with a woman. You can either kill Rothwild on the spot or take him out non-lethally. Either way, the woman will confess to having instigated the strike on behalf of her client, who also wants her to blow up the slaughterhouse. In exchange for doing just that for her, she will tell you all she knows about the Delilah.

Of course, if you killed Rothwild, you will have no other choice but to do as she says. If you have just knocked him out, you can ignore the woman and take Rothwild to cold storage. Since the slaughterhouse is still filled with butchers working on the whale carcasses and one soon-to-be whale carcass (you can end that animal’s suffering, which I always do), that is not so easy.

Once in the chair, Rothwild will soon talk and reveal that he bought the Delilah off a man named Timsh, a barrister over in the Legal District. Delilah, it turns out, is the name of a woman Timsh was besotted with, a painter and disciple of Anton Sokolov. Armed with that new information, you are left to choose whether to kill Rothwild or ship him off.

The end of the mission, then, has Daud and Billie experience a very close encounter with the Overseers of the Order of the Everyman. It already became clear in the main game that the Order is eager to put an end to Daud and they have obviously upped their game.

Mission 2: A family feud and a corrupt barrister
Listening to Daud’s musings you will learn that he is, actually, a man of the people who hates corruption and injustice and despises nobility. Which is why he has no problem with killing the rich and noble. Barrister Timsh, then, is right down his alley.

Turns out Timsh’s niece is contesting his will, so she may be able to help. Sure thing, she will tell you all she knows about Delilah, if you get rid of her uncle and bring her the will. Now, the Legal District is heavily guarded and you need to get past two gates to get to Timsh himself. The first gate, behind which you will find the niece, is guarded by a wall of light. Sabotage it or jump up atop the gate, whatever your preference.

How to get into the Legal District
You will find Timsh’s niece in a courtyard beyond the first gate, where she has been obviously set upon by the Hatter gang, judging by the fact they killed her bodyguard and are trying to find out where she lives. Save her and talk.

Now, there are a few routes you could take, but know that you will need the gate key to the Legal District. In the courtyard, you will spot an open window. It is booby-trapped, so take care of that first, before you enter.

In the next courtyard you will find two Hatters patrolling around an open door that leads into the gang’s headquarters. There is also a balcony at the far end of the courtyard. That’s where you need to go. Take out the Hatters, jump up to the balcony or fight your way through the buidling, then find the key in one of the rooms on the same level where the balcony is. Make your way to the rooftops and across, towards the gate. I usually just wait until everyone’s back is turned, the Blink directly in front of the gate and open it.

Dealing with Barrister Timsh
Again, there are several ways to kill Timsh, one by spectacularly shooting him from a distance as he steps out on his balcony. You can also use a foul-smelling sack to make it seem like the plague has broken out in the barrister’s house and have him exiled to the Flooded District. If you choose to pursue that non-lethal approach, make sure you get the will before you chuck the sack into the mansion’s ventilation shaft, since the guards will close down the house once Timsh has been arrested.

Apartment Nr. 10 is your way to success
Entering the Legal District you will overhear a conversation mentioning a former associate of Timsh’s who has been arrested. You could go talk to him or you could get to the rooftops left of Timsh’s house and browse through the various apartments. In one of them you will find information that will come in handy in having Timsh arrested. Also, you will find the key to Apartment Nr. 10. Get there, find the foul-smelling sack and an Outsider shrine, then join Billie on her lookout. She will have more information and the key to the mansion’s basement, where the ventilation shaft is located.

Be mindful of what I wrote earlier and try to steal the barrister’s key off of him to be able to open all the trunks in the house, including the one on ground level where the will is hidden. Bend Time and Blink will come in handy here. Once you’ve got the will, throw the sack into the ventilation shaft and get out, back up onto Billie’s perch. From there, you can watch the entire drama unfold. After Timsh is arrested, make your way to the meeting place to chat with his niece and she will fill you in on Delilah, who is, apparently, a witch.

Mission 3: Betrayal and the true enemy revealed
Upon returning to the Whalers’ headquarters in the Flooded District, Daud is greeted by one of his assassins who informs him that the Overseers are attacking the place, have captured a number of assassins and that the one leading the assault is currently ramsacking Daud’s quarters.

Your objective is to free at least three assassins, take out all the Overseers equipped with musical instruments and kill Overseer Hume, the leader of the assault team.

How to rescue the assassins
Each captured assassin will be guarded by one Overseer with a musical instrument and at least one other who questions him about Daud’s whereabouts. Yet there are usually two to three more Overseers close by. They will attack and that could result in your assassin getting killed. So best take out these Overseers first before attempting to free your assassin.

Since the music negates magic, causes damage and also pushes you away from the Overseer using the instrument, I usually bend time just before entering the scene and kill the Overseer with the instrument before killing or incapacitating the others. You can choose lethal or non-lethal methods for taking down the Overseers, depending on whether you want to play it on Low or High Chaos. I usually play on Low Chaos.

Killing Overseer Hume
Assuming you have managed to save your assassins, sneak up on Hume and take him out, unseen if possible, which is where Bend Time again will be of help, else he will mock your skills. I found it helpful to get in from behind the building and Blink up to the broken window that leads to the second floor of Daud’s quarters, where his bed is located. Hume will be right below. Use Bend Time to circumvent the Overseers that might be lurking there and take them out. Hide and wait for Hume to begin searching downstairs, aware of an assassin but not Daud, then Blink right behind him and take him out. Defeat the rest of the Overseers with Billie’s help and search Hume. You will become aware of an even bigger assault group headed your way.

But, first, gather your assassins. You will have to choose whether to have them massacre the captured Overseers or imprison them. Then, Billie will appear and, depending on your choices, either fight you or admit that she betrayed you to Delilah and leave you to decide whether to kill her or spare her life.

Billie does not approve of your shipping Rothwild off instead of killing him, but does approve of banishing Timsh to the Flooded District. Also, she will admire your skills if your are dealing with the Overseers stealthily yet decisively and manage to rescue all three assassins. And approve if you kill Hume without being seen, of course. In case you were wondering what will trigger her.

I love especially that last mission, because the Overseers are tough to beat, if you want to prevent Billie from betraying you.

Next up is Dishonored: The Brigmore Witches.

Until then, keep on playing!

Cheers
Vanessa