Sidestories: Further Analysis Walkthrough

A walkthrough for all four of the new Investigation missions included in the Sidestories: Further Analysis mission pack!

Introduction

I've put up this guide to help people through the new investigation missions Funcom has added to The Secret World. This is my first guide, so it's rather bare-bones compared to some, I'm sure.

I would recommend trying to complete these missions on your own before consulting this or any other walkthough. The most fun is had when you solve a puzzle yourself, after all!

If you want to try solving things by yourself, I highly recommend bookmarking Google Translate:
http://translate.google.com/
There is an option available to handwrite characters, which will allow you to duplicate accent marks much easier than hunting through the list of special characters in Word.


This guide is complete for every mission. If you found it useful please give it a high star rating so it shows up for more people!

Immersion

From Lisa Hui in Scorched Desert



Tier 1
There are some mysteries in the text. The text forms a game. Are you game?

-Examine Lisa Hui's tablet.
Right behind her on a box is her tablet.

-Connect to Orochi HQ via a communication node.
Linkup found at 428, 838












-Turn on the tablet.
Self-explanatory

-Retrieve the Game v2.0
Some kind of text adventure appears.

GAME WALKTHROUGH:
Type the following commands into the text field, and you should breeze through.

• Look
  
• Look at dead soldier
  
• Take rifle
  
• Look at hand
  
• Look at piece of paper
  
• Look at keypad.
  
• 7945
  
• Read manual
  
• Use Teleporter
  
• 6 5
  
• Take ammunition.
  
• Load rifle
  
• Go Northeast
  
• Use loadedrifle on bulge
  
• Go North
  
• Read note
  
• Use keypad
  
• 6854

Okay great, but how do we GET the Game v2.0? Well, the game felt very meta, so...

v2.0 Location:
Following the game's narrative you end up in The Way of Offerings and a helicopter will fly by and drop a crate at 514, 1020. Pop in the code you did in the game (6854) and it will unlock, giving you v2.0!



Tier 2
The Game v1.0 led you to v2.0. Do you dare to play further?

First thing is first. Open up your inventory and then use assembly screen to pop the Gamev2.0 into the Orochi tablet.

To proceed in the game, use the progress code FILTHYMAN.


GAME v2.0 WALKTHROUGH:

• Go down
  
• Enter cave
  
• Yes
  
• Yes
  
• Boone (Now you've got bees. BEES! HAHAHAHA!)
  
• Go up
  
• Go west
  
• USE BEES
  
• next
  
• look telescope southeast
  
• Go west
  
• open bin
  
• take line
  
• take sinker
  
• take hook
  
• go northwest
  
• use line sinker
  
• use weightedline hook
  
• use preparedline
  
• use key box
  
• use key door
  
• go northeast
  
• use laptop
  
• enter password
  
• 1798

v3.0 Location:
The SD card for v3.0 is found on the counter in Red's in The Savage Coast at 146, 876.













Tier 3
You found the Game v3.0 at Red's Bait and Tackle on Solomon Island. Do you dare to play further?

Again, disassemble your Orochi Tablet and put it back together with the v3.0 chip inside.

The progress code is BLACKSIGNAL


The game is describing Seoul! In a now-expected meta turn, we are going to be exploring the streets of Seoul in the game, and in real life (er, in the game). Seoul has a lot of corners and sidestreets... let's find our bearings. The Game starts us out in a small alley at 410, 238.














GAME v3.0 WALKTHROUGH:

• go west
  
• go north
  
• go west
  
• take cigarettes
  
• go east
  
• go south
  
• go south
  
• go south
  
• go west
  
• enter station
  
• give cigarettes
  
• room
  
• take card
  
• go north
  
• go up
  
• use access card
  
• take guitar
  
• Follow the on-screen prompts to win the guitar game. For secondary colors simply type the primary colors that make that color, ie “purple” = “blue red”

v4.0 location:

The next part of the Game can be found in Seoul at 319, 382













Tier 4
You found the Gamev4.0 at the Black Hole PC Bang in Seoul. Do you dare to play further?


Disassemble the tablet and reassemble with the proper chip.

Progress code is THECOUNCILLIES


GAME v4.0 SOLUTION:

• talk to stall
  
• yes
  
• go east
  
• go south
  
• watch
  
• talk to man
  
• give grimoire to man
  
• north
  
• north
  
• use medallion
  
• go northeast
  
• look at journeys
  
• look around
  
• go northwest
  
• go northeast
  
• use crate

v5.0 Location:
Head to London. Walk to a place you think it's convenient to die, then /RESET.
Go to 239,218 and there's a crate you can open! If you weren't in Anima Form, there would be a grate in the way.


Tier 5
With no small amount of pain, you found the Gamev5.0 in the sewers of London. Do you dare to play further?

Put the proper chip into the Orochi Tablet and boot it back up.

Progress code is TOKYOAWAITS


GAME v5.0 SOLUTION:

• North
  
• West (or East)
  
• tokyoawaits
  
• follow path
  
• next

The description given in 5.0 is of the Sunken Library, which if you don't know is accessible at the end of the Transylvania portion of Agartha.

Head to the Sunken Library, and without using the console to start up a Scenario, follow the pattern of lights on the floor. Enter the chamber indicated and enjoy.

The Abandoned

From Mosul in the Shadowy Forest.



Tier 1
Once upon a time, stories made for good currency. Sometimes, currency contains stories.

-Fetch the coin that Mosul threw away.
Just downstream at 546, 617.












-Examine the coin

Oh look, a foreign language!

-Find the location referenced by the coin

To Google Translate!

It's an old Roman coin, so that alphabet is all Greek to me. I had trouble making out the exact accent marks on each of the characters, so I don't have a complete translation of the inscription. But a partial translation is enough to suggest something about jewelry in tombs, so I looked in the big graveyard nearby in the Shadowy Forest.



There's indeed a crypt at 760, 566 that lets you insert the coin into a statue, which opens the crypt up.










Tier 2
An ancient coin led you on a merry chase. They say it takes two coins in the eyes to get the dead where they're going. You'll just have to go in one coin short.


-Enter the crypt
Enter the crypt!

Ahead there's an engraving with even older Greek script. Back to Google Translate we go.











Translating this works a bit easier as the alphabet is blockier and easier to render via mouse-drawing.

Tracy ADERFES born,
From the blood of large,
WHERE CONDITION defined,
To protect against fate,
Immortal and WILD,
And from the effects of time,
And from the effects of time,
T 'real names THE MEMBER' amended mYStikA
From the Gordian Knot

Not a perfect translation, but more than enough to get the gist, I think.


And as you travel forward you will find a book bound by some intricately tied rope. Ah, but if you know the tale of the Gordian Knot, you know the way to loose rope is to cut it! Simply attack the rope and it should break, allowing you to pick up the book.

-Examine the book
Inside is a thankfully translated passage of text talking about Alexander the Great (cutter of knots) had concubines who had daughters, etc. etc.

-Locate one of the sisters
Well the text mentions the Iele, so why don't you leave the crypt and visit her? She's in the Shadowy Forest at 882, 693, just a short distance from the Mirewood resurrection point, if you want to save some time and /reset there instead of going through the graveyard again. When you interact with her, you will advance to the next tier.


Tier 3
Children's books are not always child's play. Children remember to fear the dark. Most forget as they grow up. What will you remember in those delightful pages?

-Examine the children's book
Examine the book!


Investigate the story of the book
It's got a series of illustrations and then some text. The pictures obviously correspond to the surrounding area, and the text is more modern - based on where the quest is set, it's Romanian.
...

It turns out the text isn't really relevent , the important thing is to follow the illustrations.

You will find a man at 1014, 751. I thought he was just an AFK player but no, he's part of this quest. Getting up close and clicking on him should lead to the next part of the quest, where you have to follow a mysterious woman...









-Follow the mysterious woman.
Simply follow the woman that appears, and she will lead you on a re-creation of the tale presented in the book. Luckily you aren't the one getting your heart gnawed on.


Tier 4
The Padurii has made her kill, just as in the stories. Perhaps her victim holds some clues.

-Investigate the corpse.
He's got a crumpled note on him, which unfortunately is not added to our inventory or quest journal. We are also given eggshells and instructions to...

-Throw the eggshells in the river at the correct location.

It's back to the ol' GeeTee and see what he wrote.

“Take egg shells from the river source in the hills of the sunset. It's time for Easter Memorial, but the little ones did not appear pre long. Throw shells in water - if our fate is propitious, Blajinii will find and will give us their luck. “


But what does that actually mean?
Okay, river source in the hills of the sunset... the sun sets in the west, so let's follow the river that way... Well, the river seems to be flowing to the west, which means the source of the river isn't this way... except that at the edge of the map it meets up with a smaller river flowing INTO it. Follow this to the edge of the map on the west to the source at 325, 546 and throw the eggshells in!

-Follow the eggshells
These are hard to track in the water but certainly doable. The egg flows slowly enough that if you run ahead of it a bit to fight an enemy you know you will aggro, you can usually kill it before the egg is too far past. Once you get to the end of the journey, you will find a portal opens.

-Follow the Blajini
Well. The portal looks all black and white, like... ah yes, time to /reset to continue. I love/hate these kinds of quests.
Once you're back near the portal the Blajini putters along at his own pace. This is even slower than the eggshells. FINALLY, you will get to the end of the journey and be prompted to:

-Approach the Blajini
He gives you... an egg?

-Examine the egg
Resurrect at the nearby anima well and examine the egg


Tier 5
You followed the eggshell from life to death and gave the Blajini chase. Bring these tales back to Mosul, and you will live on in story.

-Return to Mosul

It IS a very pretty egg. Well, let's go back and turn this sucker in.


-Share a story with another Secret Worlder.
Oh? We're not done yet? Hmm, what does that mean?

Simply click on another player and then right-click on the egg or one of the story books in your inventory to interact with them, ending the mission.

It has been brought to my attention that each of the three mission items you have at the end of this quest unlocks one of the three new lore for The Abandoned. Keep track of which item you use so you don't have to repeat this quest more times than you wish to.

The Animate Clay

From Dr. Alidini in New York City.


Tier 1
Where is the creature now? Where didi t come from? Find the clues and follow the trail.

-Search Dr. Aldini's lab for clues
Looking around nearby, there's a letter from the creature on another table.














And look, it declares that it is hiding in the sewers and tunnels!



-Follow the trail of the creature.

In the tunnels that you use in the beginning of the Illuminati story and in that one quest looking for Wicker. At 330,336 you will find another clue and note from the creature.


Tier 2


The cool thing is that this phone number is a real phone number you can call! The not-so-cool thing is that it is probably going to cost most people money to call it.
TSW poster “flyingcucco” was kind enough to upload the recording you get when calling the number to YouTube:

-Make contact with P. Schulyer and Sons

The Shades are in London so go there.

Looking in an alley, you will find a body and a number of clues you can investigate. Each of them plays a note. The goal is to match the jingle in the phone call.

SOLUTION
Shopping cart, Trash Can, Brick Wall, Plastic Bottle, Running Water


-Obtain information regarding Dr. Aldini's account.
After you've, er, “called” P. Schulyer and Sons' “receptionist”, you need to enter Dr. Aldini's account number. So it's back to New York. Now, there's a computer in Dr. Aldini's place, but it's password protected, of course.

The hint says it is the “monster's favorite book”.

You should be able to find a hint of what its favorite book is if you look back at the note it left Dr. Aldini (scroll up to see a screenshot of it from Tier 1).

Solution:

This hints, rather obliquely, that the monster in Frankenstein and the monster Dr. Aldini made have read the same poetry. In the novel Frankenstein, the monster, Adam, recounts that it has read Paradise Lost. So that is the password.


In the notes on the computer, Dr. Aldini mentions that in order to never forget his client number for P. Schulyer and Sons, he's carved it into his arm bone! Well, how can you get a look at his arm bone?

There's some x-rays on display... and yes, on the image of the arm, we can make out “112016”



After you go back to London and enter the client number, the receptionist will, er, “retrieve” an invoice. The invoice says the latest job went sour at Innsmouth Academy, so it's off to the Savage Coast.


Tier 3
The trail of the creature now leads you to Innsmouth Academy. But searching for a dark secret on Solomon Island is like finding a needle in a stack of sentient, murderous needles.


-Travel to the Innsmouth Academy
Once you get there...

-Search the grounds for the missing P. Schuyler and Sons employees
Even with the entry in the notes saying that the body is “near the entrance”, it took me a while to find it.
Ta-dah!












Use the cell phone next to the body to find some cryptic clues.



-Find the location referenced in the message
What you need to do here is go to the entrance of the Academy, then follow the directions carefully, remembering that widdershins means counter-clockwise, or to the left...

You will end up at 396, 337, with a corpse under a bush yet again. And a note!











-Determine the identity of the corpse
Ah, so the head of the monster came from this body. And somewhere within the Academy the monster resides. There's also an ID badge next to the body, but of course it's very bloody and the name part is torn off...

Heading into the warded part of the Academy's offices, there's a computer terminal we can access. We need an employee ID number. But there isn't any way to identify the employee number from that badge... is there? There is, actually.

The number is so “helpfully” provided on the damaged ID card in barcode form. The ID number is “01221121”.


Tier 4
A ghastly discovery – Dr. Aldini killed his own father and turned him into an animated abomination. Follow the clues back to the poor creature's lair.

-Find the creature's lair

So it's back to New York for a final confrontation. The journal hints that the creature is hiding at an intersection where words from Shelly cross...

Hint:
It's first names we are seeking.
Solution:
At the corner of Johns (Melbourne) and Adams (the Monster), just to the right of when you exit the building where the Agartha entrance is at, you will find a sewer grate you can use to enter the creature's abode.



-Confront the creature
Inside a large warehouse you will find your way blocked by some water with inconveniently placed electrical lines.

Look above and you will see the line running over to a fuse box on the wall. Head over and use the fuse box to disable the lines so you can continue.




Finding the creature at a dead end, it will attack you, but you can dispatch it with little difficulty...

but it won't stay down for long!

In order to kill it permanetly, lead it back to the puddle of water, defeat it, then sprint quickly over to the fuse box and turn the power back on.


When you go back to investigate, you will find a final note from the creature. Examine it, and the mission is complete.

Trials of the Dragon

From Tibor in the Shadowy Forest


Tier 1
Much of the Draculesti is passed down by word of mouth, but some is scribed upon ancient pages.

-Find information about the trials
On the table next to Milsoh is a Romanian Tome. Pick it up.

Tier 2
The Trial of Might proves one's strength, self-control, and readiness. Death never comes at the opportune time.


-Challenge a Romany warrior in the forest.
In the area outside the Romany Camp there are a number of Romany warriors. Select any one of them to challenge them to a one-on-one unarmed brawl. The idea is to defeat them, but without any of your special abilities it's all about timing and positioning. Use a few quick hits on them but the key is that when they use Bunkered Down not to hit them, or they will knock you on your ass with a counter that takes a ton of your health. When Bunkered Down is almost gone, start winding up a heavy hit, and you should finish the attack just after Bunkered Down finishes, which means YOU will knock THEM down for massive damage. Rinse and repeat.


Tier 3
The Trial of Flames proves one's fortitude. To become the light that devours the dark, one most [sic] survive the worst of any world.

-Find the Trial of Flames.
Firstly, make sure to re-equip your weapons.

Now, where can we find flames?
Maybe at the site of the Hell invasion? Yes! Inside the Abandoned Tavern at 449,438 you will find the Brazier of Eternal Flame. Interact with it. You will get a prompt to enter the Hell Eternal dungeon, but don't worry! We aren't going through the normal part of the Dungeon...

-Bave the flames/Walk across the burning land

Well our healing abilities are disabled and you can't use potions or barriers, so get as much tanking gear on you as possible to boost your HP.

Now, the trick to this is that stepping on a plate will activate/deactivate other plates, and certain plate are connected via visible pipelines that control the walls of flame shooting up and blocking progress forward. You will have to maneuver onto those plates to turn the walls of flame off and then maneuver back through. There's a bit of back-and-forth on the plates to get through it, and then a bit of a walk over the coals to get to the final goal. I had 8600 health equipped and made it to the end with about 2000 left.



Tier 4
The Trial of Shadow demonstrates one's cunning. The warrior must know when to go unseen.

-Go to the Mirewood.
Oh boy, the local lair area? This is going to involve stealth, isn't it? Joy...
Outside the lair there are some glowing portals. Enter one to start the trial.
Entering the lair, you should be able to see another spot of light off in the distance... You are going to have to maneuver very carefully around all the mobs to get there. In addition to the regular mobs, keep a close eye out for shadowy/filthy looking blobs on the ground. These must also be avoided. Make it to the glowing area and you'll find a “Familiar looking wooden sword”. Pick it up, and that's that for the tier.


Tier 5
The Trial of Intelligence proves one's primacy of mind. In exploration, one learns that history teaches lessons not only of the past, but also of the future.

-Go to the old Draculesti town
Head to Iazmaciune. (I recommend just /reset to Hatchet Falls instead of trying to sneak back out of the lair.)

-Find a clue to star the Trial of Intelligence

There are a number of steps to this part of the quest, and trying to put them all in spoiler tags would just leave a huge blob of black bars and spoilered pictures. I have put generous spacing between each step so if you are stuck on one of them you should be able to scroll down and look at it without getting the next step ruined.





Again, there are no more spoiler tags for this part of the mission. Scroll down at your discretion.











Blink and you'll miss it but on the left of the wall almost immediately after you enter Izamaciune, there is some graffiti you can interact with. It translates to “canopy over Butcher”, so let's find the butcher shop.

















Misha the butcher, and his shop, is at 320, 836, right to the left of the “I” in “Iazmaciune” on the map.










After dispatching the butcher, jump up on top of the nearby boxes and onto the roof of the butchershop, and then continue to jump/climb the right side of the crumbling walls. At the top will be some more graffiti.














Translated, this reads “light of the righteous”.











[picture to come]
Go to the chapel at 202, 784, defeat the Chaplain, then walk up and look at the left door to find more graffiti.











“To stand in this door, half past eight it will be guided “ I don't know if I translated that properly or not, but I went to the tallest tower I could find, and on the side of the wall on a bridge structure I found some more graffiti.




















“Look in the mouth of the dragon” Is there a statue of Dracula around, perhaps? 271, 770, there is indeed a statue, and inside the head of a dragon on the statue is a note.












“only if you leave the way you came, you saw a vision of angels” Near the entrance to the city, an angel statue? Indeed! On the circular part of the bridge leading into the town, there is some graffiti near the angel statue.



















“bridge to where the moon sleeps, then look where empty” This was a doozy. I spent a lot of time looking around for a moon carved, when I had the notion that maybe it was referring to the actual moon. The moon sets in the west, so starting on the bridge into the city I just ran straight forward (west) until I got into an empty-looking building.

















Once inside the building I ran around for way too long looking for something until I found a very small, very well-hidden brick that was interactable.










Press it and go outside, and on your left a hidden wall should open up, revealing an odd symbol. Pick it up, and pat yourself on the back, this quest is done!

Postscript and Acknowledgements

After you're done with all the missions, you will get the Inspector's Gadget and a Deep Mystery Box.

I think the Deep Mystery Box would have been a nicer reward if it didn't feel like the price of the missions was making you pay for the Box ahead of time, but I still really enjoyed these missions, and I hope you did as well.



This is my first-ever guide for Steam, so please, leave me feedback about what you liked and what you think should be improved. I will try to improve this guide and any others that follow with your suggestions in mind!



THANKS

A big thank you to TSW poster “flyingcucco” for uploading the audio of the phone call for The Animate Clay.

Thank you to several of my friends from the Penny Arcade forums for giving me helpful hints on some of the more obtuse parsing phrases for the text adventures in Immersion.

And thank you to "Nesti" for informing me that each of the items in The Abandoned unlocks a different piece of Lore.

[DarkPrimus]

Three of the four quests still exist in Secret World Legends. The Animate Clay has yet to be added. Trials of the Dragon was also modified from the version in The Secret World.

[cipco2]

I was confused until I realized that this didn't exist in the game anymore.

[Dead Future]

Thank you for such an awesome guide so fast.

[diabLo-Designz]

Much thanks for that guide! The text adventure guide didnt helped me(german version, complete other commands which have no sense in our language at that times :D).

Just one thing. You get the "Trials of the Dragon" mission from that kid named "Tibor", not from Milosh.