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Weapons

With a drawn weapon, you move slower than without (exeption here is the blackjack.) You are also more visible when you have your Sword or your Bow in your hands, and NPCs who would ignore you otherwise (because they think you was just a normal guy who takes a walk on the streets) will be alerted when they see you with a weapon in your hands. This means, that you should usually put your weapons back into your inventory when moving along (default keybinding is the "^" - important note: put this function to a key that you find very easy to reach. You will need it often.)

The Sword

sword
The Sword

Name: The Sword
Costs: n/a
Available: in all missions
Default Keybinding: 1

Usage:
The Sword is your weapon for melee combat. You can block the hits of your opponents with it (default keybinding for the blocking is the "B" and the "Mouse 3".) You can attack your enemies with it (default keybinding for attack is the "Mouse 1".)

Hold down the attack key a few seconds longer, and you will notice that Garrett holds the Sword over his head. This is used for overhead swings which have more force and deal more damages than normal slashes with the Sword. Use the overhead swings for backstabbing unaware enemies (sneak up to them from behind and deal an overhead swing onto their heads. This kills most enemies with one hit.)


Hints:
Always keep in mind that you are a Thief, not a Warrior. This means, that you have to be very good when you want to survive an open swordfight with one (or more) well-trained Guards. Also keep in mind that you are a Thief, not a Murderer - and so you should use your Sword to kill Human beings only rarely anyway.

But when you think that you can't avoid a violent act, then try to perform a backstab, as described above. This should take out most of your enemies at once, and in most cases they even don't have the time to shout for help.

It is also a good idea to use the Sword against enemies who attack in ranged combat, as i.e. Archers. Archers tend to seek a distance between you and them, so that they can attack in a more efficient way - this means, when you are quick enough and keep close to them hitting them with your sword, they might not have the time to shoot you.

Another good use for your Sword is the habit of slashing tapestries. Behind some tapestries are hidden valuables, (most probably) counting as secrets. Be careful to slash tapestries that are in plain sight and light, though - the Guards might be offended a bit to see their banner cut in pieces. ;)

Don't use your Sword on Zombies, Veteran Guards, Metalbiests, or strangely glowing and transparent ghosts in Libraries. In most of these cases, this would only produce a loud "clong" and alert and annoy your target and other people who are close by.


The Blackjack

blackjack
The Blackjack

Name: The Blackjack
Costs: n/a
Available: in all missions

Default Keybinding: 2

Usage:
The Blackjack is the ultimative weapon for you as a Thief: It does not slow you down or increase your visibility when you have it drawn (but NPCs who see you having it drawn will of course still react in a hostile manner). You can use it to knock out your opponents with one quick whack on the head - but the enemy must be unaware of your presence for this. Theoretically, only a whack on the head should knock out your enemies, but I found also very misplaced whacks (as i.e. a quick whack on the back) being very effient, too.

You attack your enemies with the attack key (default: "Mouse 1"). You can also use the Blackjack for blocking hostile attacks, but it is not as efficient for this as the Sword.


Hints:
There are 3 basical strategies for the usage of the Blackjack:

(1) Sit in a shadow and wait that a NPC passes by on his patrol pattern. Raise the Blackjack over your head (with your attack-key), and follow the NPC on his way. Once you are next to him, hit him the Blackjack on the head. Watch out for the surface you are walking on, if using this strategy.
(2) Wait in a shadow that a NPC passes by, have already raised the Blackjack, and use the lean forward (default keybinding is the "Alt+W" - important note: make sure that you have this function on a key that is easy to access. It is one of the most important movements in the game) to reach him from your shadow. In this case, you don't have to watch out for the surfaces because you don't need moving. This is very useful for areas with noisy surfaces.
(3) If none of the other two strategies helped you, it is time for the third -and trickiest- method. You need to know for this strategy that you can also blackjack alerted enemies (in the searching mode with the right hand raised as if carrying a sword) - when they haven't yet seen you. Now search for a perfect shadow and position yourself into it (the light gem must be absolutely dark when you are standing.) Get the attention of the Guards with jumping up and down 2 times (1 jump gets them in most cases only into the attention level "What was that?", and that's not enough. You want them in the "Where are you, you taffer?"-mode, where they come searching to the location of the noise.) Lean forward. Wait that they have come into your reach and whack them on the nose before they have seen you (you may need some reloads to get a feeling for the right distance that is shortly before they see you in the darkness, and that is just when they have come into your reach.) Use this strategy to get rid of Guards who are facing permanentely your direction in a well-lit area, for many Guards at once, and on noisy surfaces.


The Broadhead Arrow

broadhead arrow
The Broadhead Arrow

Name: The Broadhead Arrow
Costs: 25 gold
Available: in all missions
Default Keybinding: 3

Usage:
The Broadhead Arrow is equipped when you choose this kind of arrow from your quiver (by pressing the default key for the kind of the arrow you want to use) and place it on your bow. You attack with pressing the usual attack key. When you hold down the attack key for a few seconds, you will notice that your shot gains more power, and that the bow-zooming is activated. When you hold down the attack key for too long, your aiming will be less accurate until Garrett has to put away the bow. He has not enough strength to hold a bow for longer than a few seconds. :)

When the arrow is shot, it does not fly in a straight line. There is this strange thing named physics (in this case: gravity) at work, causing the arrow to fly in a curve. That means typically, that you need to aim with the downer part of the brown box that you see when you aim with the bow.


Hints:
The Broadhead Arrow is your tool when you want to take out human or animal enemies from the distance. It doesn't seem to be important if you hit the target directly into the neck, or "just so, more or less, at the head or in the back" - of more importance is that the human target hasn't seen you before, and that the target has never reached an attention level where he was already searching around. If your target is completely unaware and has never been alerted at all, then you will most probably only need 1 arrow to take him out. If the target was already searching around previously, you will need most probably 3-5 arrows to take him out; if your target is already searching around and quite enrages, the amount of needed arrows may increase even more. When you are standing on a position higher than your target (as i.e. on a ledge in the 2nd floor, while your target patrols on the streets), then your shot will deal even more damages.

All this unneccessary talk about violence and killing is annoying, eh? ;) So, back to the more important functions of the Broadhead Arrow:

(1) You can use it to trigger switches that are out of your reach. When i.e. an elevator has only a switch at the higher floor, then try activating the button with your Broadhead Arrows.
(2) You can use it also to distract Guards by shooting the Arrow at a stone or metal surface. If you are lucky, the Guard will go and inspect the noise there and turn his back to you (for this, the Noisemaker Arrow is the better choice, though.)
(3) You can use the Broadhead Arrow to test if a surface is wooden or if you have estimated the flying curve of the arrow well, before you waste precious Rope Arrows or Vine Arrows.
(4) You can shoot the Broadhead Arrow at the target disks that you find in several missions, and enhance your self-esteem a bit by hitting the absolute center of the target. ;)
(5) If you should encounter Spiders (and are arachnophobiac), you should use the Broadhead Arrows to kill them from the distance. Not only that they are hard to hit with the sword because they are so tiny - they are also almost a real danger when you allow them to jump onto your head.
(6) You can use the Broadhead Arrow to destroy glass windows (the transparent ones). This makes a lot of noise and gets the attention of Guards who pass by - so use this only rarely.

Don't use the Broadhead Arrow on Metalbiests, because this produces only a loud "clong". Don't try to block the attack of an enemy while you have the bow in your hands, because this is unefficient (and is and looks silly). If you decide against attacking anything while you already were aiming, then either wait that your arm grows tired (and Garrett puts the bow away on his own), or use the key for putting the weapon back into the inventory - don't let the arrow fly.

Most of the Archers in Thief II have arrows in their quivers. Steal these arrows to get the maximal amount of pickpockets and to increase your amount of Broadhead Arrows.


The Water Arrow

water arrow
The Water Arrow

Name: The Water Arrow
Costs: 50 gold
Available: in all missions
Default Keybinding: 4

Usage:
The Water Arrow is equipped and used as any other arrow (compare the section about the Broadhead Arrow for further informations.)

Typical targets for Water Arrows in Thief II are torches, gas lights, fires, patrolling Metalbiests. A Guard will only be slightly irritated when you shoot him a water arrow at the trousers, and not go to the barracks to dry his clothes. ;)

As the other elemental arrows, comes the water arrow mainly in crystal-shape. So, if you see a small frobable blue crystal lying in some water, then grab it.


Hints:
After you have douzed a torch or a fire, you can only set it back on fire by either using a flare or a Fire Arrow. Gas Lights, on the other hand, can be re-lighted by frobbing the lantern. And I think I have seen Mechanists turning lights back on that I had douzed before.

If you have the desire to wash away some blood stains in carpets after a combat (before a Guard who passes by gets alerted at the sight of the blood), then do this with water arrows.

If you use the Water Arrows to disable some Metalbiests, then aim well; remember that you can't move their corpses away (so don't shoot them in plain light or in crowded areas); and for the "Tanks", you need two water arrows (for the smaller "Servicebots", you need only one water arrow.)

Don't forget that the water arow flies in a curve when you are aiming. Don't douze torches when a Guard is just passing by very closely - this might alert him a bit. Don't shoot the Metalbiest a water arrow into the face - it is protected against water in all but one location of its shell. Don't waste your water arrows - they are IMHO the most important weapon in the entire game, and I hold them very valuable. :)


The Fire Arrow

fire arrow
The Fire Arrow

Name: The Fire Arrow
Costs: 300 gold
Available: nya.
Default Keybinding: 5

Usage:
The Fire Arrow is used as all arrows (compare the Broadhead Arrow.) But other than normal arrows, the Fire Arrow flies straight, not in a curve. So, aim with the top of the brown box that appears when you are aiming with the bow.

The explosion of the Fire Arrow makes a lot of noise, but it is perfect for destroying fragile items, it deals a lot of damages, and it sets items such as torches back on fire.

As the other elemental arrows, the fire arrow comes in crystals. So, if you ever see a small, strange yellow-orange crystal stuck in a fire, then grab it.


Hints:
The Fire Arrow is -so far- the only way that I found to get rid of the Security Cameras (when I hadn't found their power control switch, that is.) I also experienced it is very enjoyable and satisfying to blow the Security Cameras into small pieces after they had truely annoyed me by appearing in so many missions.

The Fire Arrow is also useful to destroy Zombies (nah... more like: without any holy water, they are the only way to destroy the Zombies), should you ever encounter any. ;) Aim at their belt, so that they recieve the full amount of damage.

The Fire Arrow is also useful to trigger huge mines -formerly known as "RTC Detonation Devices"- ... should you ever encounter any of those.

Anyway, the Fire Arrow makes a lot of noise, so that its usefulness in many missions can be doubted. When you are i.e. not allowed to knock out anyone, or even to get seen by anyone, then you maybe do not want to the immediate attention of everyone after you shot around with your Fire Arrows like a berserk.


The Moss Arrow

moss arrow
The Moss Arrow

Name: The Moss Arrow
Costs: 125 gold
Available: nya
Default Keybinding: 6

Usage:
The Moss Arrow is used as all arrows (compare the Broadhead Arrow.) This arrow flys in a curve, meaning: this arrow is affected by the gravity. Remember this when aiming with it.

When the Moss Arrow hits a surface, a carpet of "moss drops" will appear. Moving on the Moss carpet is as good as completely noiseless - perfect on otherwise noisy surfaces such as marble or metal.

The Moss Arrow comes -as the other elemental arrows- in crystal shape. So, if you ever see some small greenish crystals lying somewhere in the garden, then grab them.


Hints:
The Moss Arrow is perfect if you need to hurry over noisy surfaces. On the other hand, if you are not in a hurry or if there is no Guard close by who could hear you, then it is not necessary to use a moss arrow. In these other cases, all you need to do is use the "walk" + the "sneak" + the "crouch" keys at the same time (default keybindings: walk=W, sneak=keypad_enter, crouch=keypad_del - you only need to press the crouch key once). This makes you move very very slowly, and this means that you make as good as no noise. If you want to move in absolute silence and are in no hurry at all, then try moving only in short intervals by pressing the "walk" key only for a short time.

It is also a good idea to shoot a Moss Arrow on surfaces where you want to jump to. Jumping makes more noise than walking, and if you don't want anyone to hear you jump, a moss carpet is a wonderful idea even on stone or wooden surfaces.

Shooting a moss arrow on grass, carpets, or other very silent surfaces makes no sense at all.


The Gas Arrow

gas arrow
The Gas Arrow

Name: The Gas Arrow
Costs: 500 gold
Available: nya. Rarely.
Default Keybinding: 7

Usage:
The Gas Arrow is equipped and used as all arrows (compare the Broadhead Arrow.) But same as the Fire Arrow, and contrary to all other arrows, the Gas Arrow is not affected by gravity. Meaning, it flies straight - so aim with the upper part of the brown box that appears when you are aiming with your bow.

The Gas Arrow releases a cloud of a KO-gas when it hits a surface, or any obstacle in its line of flying. Humanoid (and animal) enemies will become unconcious when they are in the range of this cloud of gas. You can get rid of many enemies with only one arrow, if you are good enough.

And as all the other elemental arrows, the Gas Arrows are found in crystal shape (in most cases, that is). So, if you ever see a bright-greenish crystal with a white cloud of gas surrounding it, floating in the air, or being locked away in very safe places in armories, then grab it.


Hints:
The Gas Arrow can also be used for douzing torches and fires. But don't say that I made you do it, when you waste your Gas Arrows now on torches. Gas Arrows are made for Guards (and animals) that you couldn't get rid of in any other way... or more like, to make your life as a Thief easier.

In Thief I, the Gas Arrows didn't even deal any damages to the targets. Not yet tested, if this is still true for Thief II. Gas Arrows don't affect people who are wearing breathing masks, and they don't have any effects on Metalbiests.


The Rope Arrow

rope arrow
The Rope Arrow

Name: The Rope Arrow
Costs: 200 gold
Available: nya
Default Keybinding: 8

Usage:
When the Rope Arrow hits a wooden or organic surface, it gets stuck there. Then it will unroll a magical rope, that you can climb. So, the Rope Arrow is the way to reach otherwise not accessible areas.


Hints:
The Rope Arrow can (and should) be recollected after you climbed up. Just center your view on the arrow, and grab it. In most missions you need to climb more otherwise not accessible areas then you have Rope Arrows in your backpack.

If you shoot the Rope Arrow into the side of a beam, you can mantle onto the beam from the rope. This makes typically less noise than if you had shot the Rope Arrow into the ceiling and jumped from there onto the beam... if the ceiling should be wooden anyway.

If you should ever encounter an item with trapped floor tiles surrounding it, but with wood in the ceiling, then use the Rope Arrows to get past the trapped floor. You can also shoot several Rope Arrows into a line, and jump from rope to rope.


The Vine Arrow

vine arrow
The Vine Arrow

Name: The Vine Arrow
Costs: 200 gold
Available: In most of the missions after "Blood"
Default Keybinding: 8

Usage:
The Vine Arrow is basically just like the Rope Arrow, only that the vine is typically shorter than the rope. But the ultimative advantage of the Vine Arrow is that it can also be shot into metal grates. You will appreciate them for this feature.


Hints:
Basically, compare the Rope Arrows for the hints. Because you will either have Rope Arrows or Vine Arrows in the missions, you don't have to worry about the fact that the two arrows share one key.


The Noisemaker Arrow

noisemaker arrow
The Noisemaker Arrow

Name: The Noisemaker Arrow
Costs: 200 gold
Available: nya. Relatively rarely.
Default Keybinding: 9

Usage:
When the Noisemaker Arrow is shot, it will produce a sound similar to loud footsteps. Guards (and other hostile creatures) will most probably go and inspect the source of the noise. When they have their backs turned, it is time for you to move.


Hints:
The Noisemaker Arrow in Thief I was pretty much useless, and I am still prejudiced by this fact. Meaning, I haven't yet tried how efficient they are now. This will change soon, however. :)