Battista district

Go up the stairs from where Sokolov drops you and head into the Dust District. Your first goal is to find Meagan.

From the top of the stairs, Far Reach just to the left of the broken storefront ahead of you. Head all the way to the top of the stairs, but don't go outside yet. Turn to your right and Far Reach through the low window across the stairwell. Watch carefully through the window to make sure you don't surprise the patrolling guard. The boxes on your left will let you climb onto the roof where you can handle the guards as you'd like (we're a big fan of Domino-ing them and we're going to use it extensively in this level).

Once the guards are handled, shut down the windmill powering the wall of light.

There are a total of four guards patrolling down on the ground. Use the lamppost to get a better angle on them, then domino them all together and take them out. If you're not as infatuated with Domino as we are, there's an alley and a partially hidden path that runs parallel to the street on the left side that will let you clean up the guards or avoid them altogether.

Pass through where the wall of light used to be and immediately turn right — there's a closed door in your way. You'll head into a building. Climb up to the second floor and head through the bathroom to find another door.

You'll be able to hear Meagan talking to...Herself? You? Open the door to make everything less awkward. Meagan tells you about your options for dealing with this mission, which we're going to ignore.

Head out out onto the balcony (and then check the collectibles guide because you're standing right over a rune). Ahead of you and to the right is the Jindosh Lock keeping you out of Stilton's mansion. If you can read the clue and logic out the solution on your own, you'll get the Eureka achievement, and can basically skip this entire mission. Luckily for the rest of us, we can find the answer somewhere else.

A quick note before we continue: while the ultimate goal of getting the combination to the Jindosh Lock can be achieved by playing the Overseers and the Howlers against each other, we're going to take a different approach. The process and results will become clear later in the mission, but we're not going to pick sides. We're going to ignore, knock out and punish both sides equally.

The Dust District

Black market

Head through the other doorway — it's to the left of the Jindosh Lock and is decorated with Overseer masks. This is Howler territory and you'll be attacked on sight once you pass the No Trespassing signs (or if they see you do any magic). We're going to head to the black market first. If you're not interested, skip down to the next section. You're going to be coming back through here (a couple times, actually), so you can always save it for later when you have more money (and blueprints).

The black market is down the stairs on the right side of the street. Since you're on the safe side of the No Trespassing signs, you can move freely. Hop over the railing and drop down. There's a soup kitchen down there and a lot of people sitting around, but none of them will harass you. The market is behind the green door on the right just past the soup kitchen, but don't burst in without checking the keyhole first. There are a couple Howlers in there shaking down the shopkeeper. Watch their conversation and wait them out. When they wrap up, duck out of the way and let them pass without seeing you. Then it's safe to go inside. We covered how to rob the black market in the collectibles guide, so we won't go into it here.

The Crone's Hand

After you're done with the black market, turn your attention to the bloodfly-infested building to the left of the entrance you originally came through. Make sure none of the Howlers can see you and Far Reach up to the balcony. Clear out the bloodfly nests (and pick up the rune). Head upstairs, clearing any more bloodfly nests you find. On the back side of the building, you'll find an open window over a dead end alley.

Far Reach up onto the pipe a floor above you. You'll be looking through a window into another bloodfly infested room. There are two nest masters in here. Remember: killing nest masters counts against your kill count, so we suggest Domino-ing and sleep darting them. Clear out the bloodflies and loot the place.

Work your way left until you find a balcony. You'll be looking down into the entrance to Paolo's pub, The Crone's Hand (the name makes a lot more sense later). We're going to suggest something a little extreme here, so first we'll explain why: your encounter(s) with Paolo will bring all of his Howlers running, so we're going to try to take out his reinforcements first. If you're not comfortable with this, you can skip the next paragraph, just be aware that there are going to be a lot more Howlers to avoid later. (This is entirely doable, mind you, it's just a little more nerve-wracking than we generally prefer.)

Using the scaffolding and the stacks of boxes as points to launch your attacks — just try not to stay in one place too long because when the Howlers go on alert, they'll (finally and inconveniently) start looking up and notice you. As always, we recommend Domino-ing as many together as you can and knocking one out (or sleep darting if you don't want to get your hands dirty). There are a total of ten Howlers here, but only a few are stationary. (Don't miss the one that's hiding up the hallway toward the bar itself.) Unless you're lucky, they're going to notice their buddies passing out inexplicably. Use this to your advantage. When they start bunching up to check on their fallen comrades, link them up again and knock out another group. Stick to the scaffolding until you're sure the Howlers outside are no longer a problem.

When you're done, get back up to the balcony you started from. We're going to start at the top of the Crone's Hand and clear the Howlers floor by floor on the way down again. From the balcony, Far Reach or climb onto the awning above and to your left. Climb through the window and slowly approach the corner ahead of you. There's a lone guard catching a smoke break a little further into the room. Peak around the corner to see if he's facing you. Take him out when it's safe and make your way to the back of the room. Turn left to find the stairs down.

The next floor down will bring you to Paolo's room. Loot everything — and find the Outsider Shrine. Keep crouching throughout, though, because there are still more guards around. Check the small room near the stairs — you can climb through a small window high on the wall in Paolo's office — for two more guards. These two are easy to miss. Throw something to draw them out. If they're not here now, remember to check here after your first confrontation with Paolo.

The next floor down only has two guards and one is sleeping. There's another small window high on the wall you can use to stay out of sight. Domino them and wait for the awake one to walk away. Then you can put the sleeping one more to sleep and move a little more safely. (Don't forget to grab the blueprint in this room.)

There are only a few more Howlers to handle now. There's a balcony outside that overlooks the Crone's Hand's main courtyard. There's a guard enjoying his breakfast and a nice book at a table right outside. Put an end to that nonsense. Look over the balcony to find a few more Howlers to link to him. If Paolo is down in the courtyard — and he should be, but if he's not, he's probably in the basement and will be back shortly — this is as good a time as any to take him out (the first time). Doing so will bring the remaining Howlers, which you can use to your advantage by linking them and taking them out en masse.

To the left of the Howler's table, you'll find a locked room with a note on the door. This is your clue to finding the combination to the Jindosh Lock without siding with either Paolo or Vice Overseer Bryne.

All that's left for you to do in the Crone's Hand is to neutralize Paolo. When you've taken him out once, he'll turn into a swarm of rats (just like he did in the Black Market). He'll reappear in his room surrounded by a few of his Howlers (if you've left any conscious). Link anyone up there and knock them out. Loot hid body to find the reason for the bar's name and a few bonecharms. The last thing left to do is to loot the basement (per the collectibles guide).

Use the window in Paolo's room for quick access to the scaffold outside. Now it's time to head toward the Overseer Outpost. You can stay well above the street for most of the trip. Head over the the next doorway rather than going through it.

Far Reach to the balcony on the right side of the street. There are two more Howlers just before you pass into Overseer territory. Domino them and knock them out. You're back in neutral territory here, so you can walk through the doors to the Overseer territory safely. Keep an eye out while you travel for the open windows and doors of apartments you can loot.

Overseer outpost

Just like with the Howlers, the Overseers won't bother you until you cross their line or they see you use magic. As soon as you're through the door, Far Reach up to pillar in front of you. You'll be able to stick to balconies from here.

Keep using the balconies and the awnings to Far Reach toward the Outpost. There are a lot of guards patrolling the street, but we're not going to be picking any fights this time, so you can ignore them. From the pillar, Far Reach in a straight line to the gate in front of the Outpost, then to the scaffold under the second floor window, then to the chandelier — be quick here because the guard at the top of the stairs to your right might see you — and finally to the ledge outside the barracks.

Peak through the window to Domino the patrolling guard to the two that are sleeping and knock them all out. Make sure to loot the one on the right to pick up the Confiscation Room key.

Keep heading along your straight line to exit the room, then turn right. Stay crouched because there are still Overseers that could hear you. Keep heading right until you come to the top of the stairs. Knock out the guard standing there. Turn around and head to the confiscation room. There's a guard typing at the desk to the left of the Confiscation Room. Knock him out too. (Because we can't get enough Domino, we suggest that, but it's not necessary.) Use the key to find a rune inside the locked Confiscation Room.

Head back to the left to the elevator shaft and stairs. Go up the stairs two floors — you'll hear Overseer's talking at the top of the first set of stairs, but they won't bother you. On the top floor, go straight through the broken window ahead of you. Use the ledge to head to the right. There's another broken window most of the way down the righthand side. Climb through it. (Head to the right to pick up another painting.) Turn left and you'll find yourself on a balcony over Vice Overseer Byrne's office. He's talking to an Overseer and there are two more praying in the left corner of the room. You guessed it, Domino them all together and knock them out (a sleep dart is probably safest here). Loot everything you can in the office, including a bonecharm and the key to Durante's room at the Crone's Hand. Isn't that convenient? Open the window on Byrne's balcony before you leave, but don't go out it. This will come in handy in a minute.

There are two more guards on this floor — one in the hallway outside and one grieving over a fallen friend in the large room on the other side. You can find a room to the left of Vice Overseer Byrne's office door that will lead you right behind the Overseer in the hallway. Head back to the stairs and turn right to sneak up behind the grieving one.

Head back to the stairs and take them all the way down to the ground floor. Sneak to the front desk and knock out the Overseer there for good measure. Now you can Far Reach up to the chandelier and start retracing your steps to the Crone's Hand.

Durante's room

Durante's room is that locked room on the second floor of the Crone's Hand overlooking the main bar area. Use the key to unlock it and loot everything inside. You'll find the code to the Jindosh Lock on his desk. There's a bonecharm on the top right behind a bottle. In a cabinet at the bottom right, you'll find a key and a note.

This part is optional, but it's a solution that permanently (well, for five years) removes Paolo and Vice Overseer Byrne from their respective seats of power. They key opens the silvergraph studio — it's in the neutral area between the Howler's and the Overseer's territories on the left.

All you have to do is re-retrace your steps to Paolo and Vice Overseer Byrne and then carry them to the silvergraph studio. This is why we told you to open the window in Byrne's office — you can Far Reach straight in from the lamppost outside.

In the back room, you'll find two jerk-sized crates. (Don't miss the gold and silver bars to your right.) Drop the bodies in the crates and they'll be out of your hair for the foreseeable future.

The Jindosh Lock

All that's left is for you to work your way back to the Jindosh Lock and punch in the code you found on Durante's desk.