So this is the Lost City.... It's not 'lost' no more!
Garrett upon discovering the Lost City
The Lost City is the eighth mission in Thief: The Dark Project and the tenth in Thief Gold. In this mission, Garrett uses a special key he found in the Keeper's Grotto in the Sealed Section to enter The Lost City and obtain the Talisman of Fire (and the Talisman of Water in Thief: The Dark Project only).
Mission Background[]
The wards on the cathedral are opened with talismans corresponding to one of the classical elements. The Keeper information Garrett found says the Fire and Water talismans are hidden in a place called "The Lost City" (also known as Karath-Din). Using a stone key breaks the Keepers' seal on the underwater entrance. After a long swim, players find themselves in treacherous underground caverns among the half buried ruins of an ancient civilization. Navigating the now convoluted layout of the place and identifying some of the old landmarks is a large part of the challenge. The ruins are now occupied by burricks, Crayman and fire elementals, but documents give hints to the former civilization that lived here. Some 'precursor' technology still functions, notably the automatic lighting in the rooms of most buildings.
Objectives[]
- The sealed entrance to The Lost City is supposed to be at the bottom of the river around here somewhere. Getting past that is the first step.
- The Talisman of Fire was hidden in The Lost City long ago. Time for it to go.
- Finding the Talisman is well and good, but you'll have to get back out for it to be worth it.
- The Keepers also stashed the Talisman of Water in The Lost City. You'll have to find out where. (Thief: The Dark Project only)
- The Lost City must have a lot of lost treasure in it. Pick up some. (Hard/Expert)
- Get 1500 in loot. (Hard)
- Get 2000 in loot including 500 in gems (Expert)
- An expedition the Keepers sent once to map The Lost City never returned. They'll owe you a favor if you can recover the medallions from the remains. (Hard/Expert)
Gear[]
Starting Gear[]
Normal[]
- 40 Broadhead Arrows
- 10 Water Arrows
- 2 Gas Arrows
- 3 Rope Arrows
- 2 Mines
- 2 Healing Potions
- Lock Picks
- Keeper key to The Lost City
Hard[]
- 30 Broadhead Arrows
- 8 Water Arrows
- 1 Gas Arrow
- 2 Rope Arrows
- 1 Mine
- 1 Healing Potion
- Lockpicks
- Keeper key to the Lost City
Expert[]
- 20 Broadhead Arrows
- 5 Water Arrows
- 1 Rope Arrows
- Lockpicks
- Keeper key to the Lost City
Shop[]
- 20 Broadhead Arrows
- 20 Water Arrows
- 5 Gas Arrows
- 5 Rope Arrows
- 2 Flash Bombs
- 2 Healing Potions
- 2 Speed Potions (1 on Hard and 0 on Expert)
- 2 Breath Potions
- Papyrus
Characters present in the Mission[]
| Type | Count | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Normal | Hard | Expert | ||
| Burrick | 10 | 10 | 10 | |
| Crayman | 10 | 10 | 10 | After obtaining the Water Talisman (Thief:TDP only). |
| Green Spiders | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Yellow Spiders | 3 | 8 | 9 | |
| Fire Elemental | 10 | 10 | 10 | Plus 10 after obtaining the Fire Talisman. |
| Air Mage | 2 | 4 | 4 | (Thief Gold only) |
| Earth Mage | 1 | 2 | 2 | (Thief Gold only) |
| Fire Mage | 5 | 6 | 6 | (Thief Gold only) |
| Water Mage | 1 | 1 | 1 | (Thief Gold only) |
Difficulty Alterations[]
There are fewer spiders on the lower difficulty settings. Smaller changes include: a stack of 2 Broadhead Arrows, in the Market area, missing on Hard and Expert; one Fire Arrow missing on Hard and two Fire Arrows missing on Expert, in the Market area; and a Healing Potion, in a chest in the Fire Talisman's tower, missing on Expert.
The Dark Project vs Thief Gold[]
The Lost City is one of the old missions that went through a serious remake in the Gold edition. In The Dark Project both Fire and Water Talisman are located here. In Thief Gold, the Water Talisman has been moved to its own separate mission. Also in Thief Gold, the 10 Crayman are replaced with an expedition of 13 Hand Brotherhood mages on Hard and Expert, or 9 mages on Normal. The lever for the arena bridge isn't necessary in Thief Gold, as a route has been added allowing players who manage to make the arena bridge jump to get back.
Walkthrough[]
Loot List[]
There is a total of 3205 loot in this mission where 725 is in gold, 865 in gems and 1615 in goods (240 of which are only available after buying the papyrus at the shop prior the mission).
Secrets[]
Some Tips[]
- Even though there are some underwater areas which require quite a long swim to get through, Breath Potions are not actually necessary.
- Karath-Din is full of Fire Elementals. Fortunately, they are very weak against Water Arrows. Sadly, there are a limited number of Water Arrows scattered throughout the mission, so it is wise to buy some before entering the mission.
- This mission varies a lot between Thief the Dark Project and Thief Gold in terms of enemies and the presence of the Water Talisman. But the route one must take to complete the mission is quite the same.
- Burricks and Fire Elementals have a good chance of engaging one another in the Resident District and the Market Area. Since Burricks have a gas based attack they can harm Fire Elementals effectively.
- In the original version, it is possible to get the Water Talisman by jumping over a river of lava instead of extending the bridge. This makes the level unwinnable, since you cannot jump in the reverse direction.
Easter Eggs[]
The creepy statue.
- Garrett comments, "Creepy", reacting to one solitary statue on a pedestal on the way to the Fire Talisman Tower. The idol is quite clearly a depiction of H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu.
- There is a reference to the Temple of N'lahotep, which similarly must be assumed to be a reference to Lovecraft's Nyarlathotep.
- One of Garrett's remarks in the mission is "Time to... raid some tombs." Eidos Interactive also published and owned the rights to the Tomb Raider series, already successful at the time the first Thief game was released.
Trivia[]
- An optical illusion can be found on the second sarcophagus in the tomb of Va-Taraq. Looking headlong, the cover depicts a warrior with helmet and sword in the style of a medieval altar-tomb. From the opposite side the image resembles a large face with a tall hairpiece of sorts. It is not clear whether this was intentional.
- Though the Crayman were replaced with Mages in Thief Gold, the extra rule to not kill humans on Expert difficulty was not added, making this the one mission in the game where killing humans on Expert is permitted.