EASTWATER BANK by Yandros

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Walkthrough by Ponterbee



INTRODUCTION

     This is a walkthrough for Eastwater Bank Gold. At the bottom is a FAQ on the original Eastwater Bank and info on where to get it.

      Your mission is to rob the artifacts being held in the vault of the First City Bank of Eastwater. You got some useful information from a disgruntled ex-customer who probably didn't get his free toaster with the minimum $200 deposit (those mechanists will assimilate ANYTHING these days). You know that the bank got a great deal on tile, has central modern lighting, and a well locked front door.
 

     1. Getting In

      You start the mission after hopping over the wall onto bank grounds. Hide here in the dark corner and wait for Francis the Greycoat guard to approach from under the arch. Knock her out by leaning in or follow behind her quietly. Don't let the townsfolk see you or chaos may ensue.

      When you're under the arch, grab the moss arrow on the ground to your left. Stay in the shadows on your right as you circle the bank to the left. There's a nice niche to hide in that will be coming up on your left once you're on the right side of the bank. There's weeds and grass there, so crouch amongst them if you're playing grab-ass with the guard.

      There's an alleyway leading to the back of the bank but before heading down there make sure you get the moss arrow on the other side of the gate. Move to the back door and pick the lock. Another door is close at hand but listen for the guard on basement detail first. Your lockpicking might concern her.

      Once you're inside, head straight ahead into the crate room. Behind some boxes are an empty bottle and a piece of crumpled up paper with some ramblings from our good drunk Benny. Seems he WANTS to get fired if he's writing down his crimes and leaving the notes around for anyone to find. Most likely he's killed too many brain cells and needs a reminder that he has a secret drinking place. We'll keep a lookout for
that.

      Wait around here for the guard. She'll eventually stand in here for a few moments with her back turned so you can pickpocket her Basement Key and a few arrows. When she exits, go to the gate that bars passage to the sewers. To your right is a cheap Hummel figurine on the ground (1X15 : 15 total) and to your left is a small coinpile under the boxes (1X20 : 35 total). Just click around until you pick them up. If you look out the sewer gate, you may spot an unlucky soul named Skelly float on by, heading out to sea. If you miss him, you'll have two more chances to catch a glimpse.

       Follow behind the guard (if she's still conscious) down the hall into the generator room. On the small gaming table collect the 2 stacks of coinage (2X5 : 45), then look underneath the table for another small coin pile (1X20 : 65 total). If you look out the sewer gate you'll have your best chance of waving goodbye to Skelly!.
         
       SECRET #1: Crouch to the right of the wall fan and you can crawl through a false wall. You'll see a wondrous floating gem by the stained
       glass portrait. Be careful
here because one of the decorative squares in the floor is an illusion and you'll fall to the room below. If you prefer
       to not take any damage, run/crawl over the hole
and mantle IMMEDIATELY as you begin to fall. Then let go before you pull yourself up.
       You'll land in the room below and take no damage. This room, as it turns out to be,
is Benny's secret drinking place. And there's quite a few
       goodies in here too!

       Grab the rope arrow, 3-in-1 moss arrow, invisibility potion, and healing potion. The third sewer gate is here too, so this is your last chance to
       bade aloha to good ol' Skelly before he makes his long journey to Bermuda.

       Shoot the rope arrow into the beam and climb up. It's a narrow fit so it may take a couple of tries to shoot it in just the right place (hell- if
       Benny can fit through there, you
can!) Hop off on the side with the floating gem and nab it (1X100 : 165 total). Fall back onto the rope arrow
      and hop off over to the exit side. Take the rope arrow with
you if you're sentimental.

       Go through the right door and use the Basement Key at the door at the end. Climb the ladder and hop off at the top to another door. Open it and you'll be in the bank proper.

       2. Starting Out

       Hit the light switch as soon as you can. On the table are 4 small coins that await your kleptomanic grasp (4X10 : 205). Next to them is a work log detailing what guard is where in the bank. Two notices are pinned to the wall. The first one informs us that Benny, unfortunately, didn't hope hard enough when writing the note you found in the basement - he's been sacked again! The second lets you know that the elevator doors are locked up for the night. You'll see them on the other side of the door but ignore them until you can find a way to unlock them.

       Unlock the chest to get a purse (1X50 : 255 total) and a couple moss arrows and wait for Lucas to pass by before knocking him out. You can frob the door back open as he shuts it behind him if you like, but we're heading for the key that unlocks it right now.

       Shoot a moss arrow at the lower stairs and listen for the guard who's patrolling upstairs. When she's gone, quickly head to the top of the stairs and shut off the lights. Shoot a moss arrow on the ground between you and the vice presidents door to your left. When the guard passes you in the darkness, you can now move up behind her, take her key, and knock her out. Before heading back downstairs, hit the other
light switch between the balcony and control room.

       3. The Account Offices

       Be sure to place a moss arrow in the center of the small foyer between the elevators and account offices. Turn off the lights and grab the portrait of a horse-drawn carriage in a Parisian street (1X75 : 330 total). Then head over to the locked account office doors and use your key on them.

       It's safe to turn the lights on in here so do so. The first desk belongs to a dizzy accountant named Frieda. Read the letter she wrote to discover that she had just recently lost her engagement ring. Poor Frieda is so dizzy that not only does she have the penchance to lose jewelry, but she also forgets to mail letters.

       The next office belongs to Brambel Forth. There's an interesting crumpled piece of paper at the bottom of his waste basket. Fish it out and read it to get your first impression of the banks vice-president, William Courtemaine.
          
       SECRET #2 : While you were leaning over Forth's chair to grab the discarded note, you may have noticed a tiny button on the edge of his
       desk. Push it and the
far painting will slide aside. Go get the hidden treasure: 2 stacks of silver (2X5 : 340), 3 stacks of gold (3X10 : 370),
       a purse (1X50 : 420 total), and the veep's
office key. Try not to worry too much about what may happen to good ol' Forth as you take it.

        4. The Vice President's Office

        Head back upstairs and unlock Courtemaine's office. If the guard is still alive up here then make sure you don't turn on the lights- the door automatically swings open whenever she walks by it! Fortunately, you don't really need light in here. Grab the portrait of the beautiful Mrs. Courtemaine from off the wall (1X50 : 470) and then read the diary. You now have a pretty good idea of M. Courtemaine's lack of character.
If you unlock the small box on the desk, you'll retrieve Frieda's lost ring (1X100 :570 total).
         
        SECRET #3 : Frob the portrait of Karras and you'll find a small button behind it. This causes the bookcase to slide away revealing
        Courtemaine's copy of the
control room key. Grab it, leave the office, and make a left.

        5. The Teller's Area

        Unlock the control room and activate the two electrical switches. Ignore the small elevator platform for now and head back down to the second floor. The lifts are now fully operational so open the door for the Employee elevator. If you don't want the lobby guard to hear you, shoot a moss arrow on the car floor before making your descent.

        When you're on the ground floor, crouch around the curved hall slowly. There's a lot of loot under the benches:
           Bench 1 : 4 coin stacks (4X10 : 610), 3 purses (3X25 : 685)
           Bench 2 : 3 coin stacks (3X10 : 715), 1 purse (1X25 : 740)
           Bench 3 : 4 purses (4X25 : 840 total)
           
        Secret #4 : By the left side of the third bench is a small hidden button. Press it and a painting behind you will lower, revealing a locked blue
        chest. You cannot
open this right now so ignore it.
           
         If you want to KO the lobby guard, hit the lever by the third bench to open the teller window. You can lean out from the right side and hit him as he passes by during his rounds.

         Head back to the second bench and inspect Smythe's tiny office. There's a letter on his desk that asks him to take good care of the Outer Vault Key. Smythe, being the responsible man he is, and after giving his task much thought and imagination, came up with a brilliant hiding place...four inches to the right in a small lockbox. Use your lockpicks on it and then let's go...it's a little spooky down here at night.
           

         6. The Lobby

         If you're sparing the lobby guard, then send down the Customer elevator without you in it. When it's on the first floor, lean over the side of the shaft and frob open the lower lift door. Now shoot a moss arrow below you. This way you get some moss on the floor of the lobby as well. Just drop to the ground floor and hug the left corner of the elevator car and you'll be well hidden. Shoot another moss arrow to the right of the room and use the light switch (also on your right) after the guard passes by.

         Get the long painting on the right wall (1X100 : 940). Now you need to get the stuff on the small table next to where the guard stands. There's 2 collectible figurines (2X25 : 990) and a small coin pile (1X10 : 1000 total). Once you're done, head back up to the third floor.

         7. The President's Office

         Before entering Anya Gremble's office, you need to get her key- so head back into the control room. Listen for footsteps above. You want to hear steps coming towards you, followed by a door opening then closing. Ride the lift to the fourth floor and hide in the close dark corner. A guard will emerge from the balcony who holds Anya's key. Sneak up behind him and nab it. You can knock him out if you like but beware the other guard who stands out on the balcony. You can pickpocket some arrows from this guard too, if you feel like it, and if you knock him out you can get a great view of Eastwater from up here.  Ride back down to the third floor and unlock bank president Anya Gremble's office.

          First grab the painting from the wall (1X100 : 1100), then turn your attention to the desk. There's an expensive pair of spectacles (1X50 : 1150) and a journal which contains nothing but business entries regarding the treasures locked up in the vault.
          
          SECRET #5 : Near the floor, behind Ms. Gremble's chair, is a very small button.
          Press it and her desk slides over revealing a hole in the floorboards.

          SECRET #6 : Press the small button inside that hole and the painting behind
          the chair slides aside.

          Inside the niche you've just uncovered, grab the gem (1X100 : 1250) and the hefty purse (1X200 : 1450 total). Next, read Anya's diary. It can be a bit tricky getting that book highlighted, but just keep at it...it's not THAT hard!

          This ledger is decidedly NOT all business. In fact it gave me a nice warm glow to know that all the drama that's unfolded within these rooms will have a happy ending. Well, not for Anya Gremble perhaps, since you've just robbed her blind. If you feel bad, just take a few moments to tidy up in here and try to find something of Courtemaine's to drop on the floor to incriminate him. And no, this does not unlock an Easter Egg or tick off a hidden objective...I just feel guilty sometimes while playing some of these missions.

           Be sure to grab that Small Key, too, or you'll be stuck in this bank till doomsday. Once you've got it, think back to that blue chest down in the teller area that couldn't be opened. Do you REALLY need a walkthrough to tell you what to do next?

           8. The Vault

           In case you do need a walkthrough to tell you what to do next, go back down to the teller area and unlock it. The blue chest- not the teller area. Inside is the object of your desire...the invoice from the safe company that has the combination for entering the inner vault. It's time to get rich, so head all the way back up to the vault.

           Use the Outer Vault key to get at the security panel where you'll need to enter the four-digit code. Don't scream like a Beatles fan when the bars close behind you - you can use your key to get back out again. Once the code has been inputted... (inputted?)...stand back and get your goodie bag ready.
           Unlock the small safe to get the Rumbaugh Diamond.
           Unlock the large safe to get the Ember Medallion.
           Grab "The Fall Of Aquitaine".
           Grab the big bag of loot (1X300 : 1750)
           Grab the bigger bag of loot (1X500 : 2250 total).

           The sign says to ask before taking the Lobby Key, but since there's nobody around to ask just take it anyway. Or drop it in Courtemaine's office when you're done using it. Whatever you decide, when you're finished, just head down to the lobby, exit the bank, and head home basking in the glow of a night's work well done!

           EASTWATER BANK ORIGINAL FAQ

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           Q: Where can I find the original Eastwater Bank?
           A: At thiefmissions.com. At the info page for Eastwater Bank Gold is a line that reads "Related Files". The original mission is here to
               download.


           Q: What are the differences between the two missions?
           A: The floorings are different in some areas. You get fewer moss arrows in the original. New paintings, uniforms, and a basement were
                added for Gold. The
townsfolk react differently when spooked (in the original, they return to the normal routine. In Gold, they all rush to
                the gate at the end of the alleyway.

                It's a good thing the gate is there or you'd be trampled by the mob!) The code to open the safe has been changed. There's a little more
                loot in Gold. A few minor bugs were fixed and some switches made easier to spot for the Gold version (most notably, the button in
                Forth Brambel's office), the sound propagation was likewise improved for the Gold version (this is likely not noticeable for the player
                but makes the mission more realistic), and finally the fourth floor light switch was removed, as suggested by Peter Smith, to make that
                floor a bit harder to sneak by.


            Q: How do you get into the bank in the original?
            A: Look for a small switch near the ground to the left of the last gate. This opens a hidden panel behind you a short ways. Crawl in to a
                 ladder. Follow these
next steps to get inside the bank.
                    1. Climb the ladder to the top.
                    2. Turn and face the niche in the wall right below you.
                    3. Turn 180 degrees.
                    4. Face the corner to your right.
                    5. LOOK up and CLIMB up. You should do a short 'jump'. This means that  you're now on TOP of the ladder and can lean.
                    6. Face the opposite diagonal corner in the ceiling and lean forward to press a button. Now just get into the niche and you can enter
                        the bank.


              Q: Which version is better?
              A: I like Gold better but the original is a bit more challenging. You don't get an invisibility potion and you get 3 less moss arrows.
                   Plus the fourth floor is
covered in tile in the original. The view from the fourth floor balcony is a little better in the original, too,
                   because you can see pedestrians walking
by a lot clearer. It's really a matter of opinion but if you enjoyed the Gold
                  version you should really play the original too. And vice versa.

              Q: Do people REALLY ask these FAQ questions?
              A: No.

              Thanks go out to Yandros for making my all-time favorite 'ghosting' mission (yes it's Eastwater Bank, people) and for the added
               information regarding Skelly and the added changes between versions;  to Epithumia for
               posting my walkthroughs;
and especially to Nightwalker for her inspiration and feedback and for transforming this from a bland
               text file into a pretty Mozilla text file!

              This will be my last walkthrough for a while but I'll probably be writing another one sometime next year. Thanks for taking the time to
               read them!!!