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Thief Guide. Chapter 3: Dirty Secrets Walkthrough - How to Remove the Ritual Book

Getting your hands on the ritual book is no mean feat. But this guide will show you how.

This article first appeared on USgamer, a partner publication of VG247. Some content, such as this article, has been migrated to VG247 for posterity after USgamer's closure - but it has not been edited or further vetted by the VG247 team.

How to Remove the Ritual Book

Thieving Challenges

Remain Undetected - 300 G

No Kills or Knockouts - 250 G

5 Aerial Takedowns - 200 G

Life All Loot Items - 250 G

Make sure you buy the wire cutter from the Shady Merchant outside The Crippled Burrick. It's not mandatory, but if you don't, you won't be able to collect all the loot available in this chapter.

If you haven't already done so, visit Erin's Mill Hideout. After you meet Basso in the Black Alley, follow the objective markers and go from district to district until you reach your destination. Touch the painting of Garret after he has his vision to get the medallion.

Objective 1: How to Find the Entrance to the Brothel

Hug the shadows and sneak forward until you can't progress any further. On the right are a pair of guards. Shoot a blunt arrow at the valve next to the guard facing you. When he falls, sneak up behind the second guard and knock him out.

If you have the wire cutter tool, you can climb up to the pipes above you and use it to hack a control box. This will open up a room with some nice collectible loot. Once you've done that, enter the room and grab the loot, plus the The Pinned Castinets (2/6) - Jewelwing. If you missed it, The Pinned Castinets (1/6) - Oil-box can be acquired at Fish-Hawker's Market in The City.

Leave the room and go downstairs, heading toward your objective. Use the wrench tool to unscrew the vent on the left and then head inside. Walk across the beam and go east until you drop into a side room. Slide down and move forward to complete your objective.

Objective 2: How to Get into the House of Blossoms

When you reach the bottom of the slope, head towards the wall to the northeast and drop down. Use the boxes in the northeast corner to climb up to the beam. Move west and go through the cave. Negotiate the rubble and then climb up and over the wall. Slip through the curtain and swoop behind the woman and take her out. No need to hide her body. Nobody will notice.

Objective 3: Explore the Brothel for Clues

Collect all the loot you can, and then sneak into the kitchen. Watch for the guard and take him out, making sure you don't attract the attention of the woman in the middle of the room. Once he's taken care of, take out the woman out too.

Go east across the south balcony and pick the locked door. Enter, loot the place and then jump down to the passageway. Go through it, and you'll find the control box. If you can't find it, use Focus and you should have no trouble at all. Hack the control box and go back the way you came. Leave the room and drop down to the main kitchen area (where you knocked out the woman a moment ago). Pull the lever that's close to the opium cooker. You'll notice a lot of steam and a bit of screaming. That's the big short cut; you just gassed everyone. You are now free to move around the brothel without a care in the world.

Head over to the northeast corner of the kitchen and slip through the curtains. Loot everywhere on this floor other than the kitchen and lobby, and then check out the main floor and second level. Use Focus in every room because there are plenty of hidden things to discover - especially the upper level bedrooms.

When you're done, go to the west stairwell and walk up to the second landing. Climb up to the pipes, enter the passageway and grab the Serendi Stone Circles (3/7) - Emerald Circle.

Finally, enter Madame Xiao-Xiao's office, turn the place over and then pick the lock on the door to the east to enter her private chamber.

Objective 4: Enter Xiao-Xiao's Secret Passage

There's tons of loot in her private chamber, so grab everything. Just be mindful of the safe on the east wall - it's trapped. To deal with it, whip out your wire cutters and hack the control box beside it. The safe's combination is in documents that you previously picked up - 5, 7, 3.

Once the room is picked clean, approach the painting on the north wall, pressing the two triggers. This will bring you into the secret passage.

Objective 5: How to Find the Mysterious Podium

Walk down the stairs and you will notice some peepholes in the walls. Peer through the first two and then descend further down. When you come to a podium in the middle of the walkway, try to place the medallion on it.

Objective 6: Discover the Remaining Symbols

To align the medallion and place it on the podium you need to find four symbols. One is on the wall in front of you. If you can't see it, use your Focus. Now go back upstairs and look through the two peepholes again using Focus. You'll see the symbols on the far walls. Go back downstairs, past the podium and down some more stairs. Peak through two more similar peepholes (using Focus) to discover the remaining symbols.

Objective 7: Place the Medallion on the Podium

Return to the podium, inspect it, and you'll be able to align the symbols so they form a line at the top of the medallion. Place it on the podium to complete the objective.

Objective 8: Explore the Ancient Ruins

Enter the passage that opens up, and jump down. Pick up the loot and crawl through the rubble. Keep heading forward until you reach a loose brick on the right side of the wall. Press it, and you'll deactivate a trap. Go through the door and down the stairs into the open room. Pick the lock in the large room and enter. Move towards the stairs and down the narrow hallway.

Here you'll find another podium. The four symbols are in the four alcoves to the side of the narrow passage you just walked through. Use Focus to get them, and then return to the podium. Align the symbols and place the medallion in the podium.

Pick up Unique Loot (4/9) - Ancient Figurine from the statue, and then inspect it. When you see another symbol, return to the podium and interact with it. Align a fifth symbol and re-insert the medallion. Grab the rest of the loot in the room and leave. Use your Focus to look at the wall on the right. There's a loose brick that you can press to disable another trap. Now walk down the west hallway toward your objective. Go through the broken window and walk down the stairs. When you reach the bottom, go inside the tower and look for loot. Head through the tower's broken window and walk to the side passage beside the stairs. Walk a little further and then climb up the south wall to complete your objective.

Objective 9: Where to Search the Abandoned Library for the Book

Go to the bottom floor, and then head south toward your objective. Check the spyhole if you feel that way inclined. Otherwise keep heading towards your objective until you reach a large room. Loot the place, and then look for the two books that open up secret passages. Trigger the book in the northwest corner of the room by staring at the glowing symbol on the wall. This will earn a new Focus point which you can spend on Focus Upgrades in your journal Grab the Memories of the Dead (2/6) - Stonemason's Memory from the little fountain and head back out of the room. Go to the southeast corner of the room and trigger the next book to complete your objective.

Objective 10: Enter the Central Tower

Go down the stairs to the left and enter the round room. Exit the broken window on the left and inch along the walkway until you reach a wheel. When you get to it, turn it to access the stairs.

Go down, turn left and head southeast across the wooden walkway. At the end of that turn east to go up another set of stairs. Go into the tower, drop down to the ground level and grab the poppy. Exit the tower through a west door and turn the wheel just outside. Go back in the tower, climb up and go down the stairs you entered on. Hear to the central tower and take your first right, moving east to a the third wheel. Turn the wheel to adjust another set of stairs. Walk up the stairs directly in front of you and walk clockwise around the tower. Jump off the south side to a walkway below and head up yet another set of stairs. Follow the stairs as far as you can go, pass through the room and up more stairs. Jump across the gap, falling to the floor and directly in front of an-other podium.

Objective 11: Remove the Ritual Book

Find three trigger books using your Focus, and pull each book to turn the statues. Grab the loot from two inside the room and don't miss the third statue outside on the walkway outside. Go back in and over to the podium. Use Focus to identify four symbols that you need. Align the symbols and place the medallion in its center to collect Client Loot (5/8) - Ritual Book.

Objective 12: How to Escape the Ancient Ruins

Jump onto the table where you found the book and climb the rope all the way up. Swing into the wooden walkway, and then move northwest to the next tower. Jump to a rope and slide down to ground level. Follow your objective markers to a peephole and use it. Head south and climb the wall in the southwest corner of the map. Now you're above the guards you just saw. Take them out with headshots from Broadhead Arrows.

Head towards your objective, passing through the broken out window. This is essentially going back the way you came, only there are now guards to deal with. They can all be bypassed with headshots, but you can also knock them out too by looking at the way they move. Keep following your objective and eventually you'll reach some crates that you can use to climb up to some ropes to reach some pipes that lead to a wall that's your escape.

The rest of our Thief guide continues here, and features walkthroughs of every chapter of the game.

This article was compiled with help from Prima Games

You can find many more hints and tips, plus strategy guides and over 65,000 cheat codes, unlocks, achievements, trophies, Easter eggs and secrets at Prima Games.

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