Must I Bribe Sokalov?

[internaut]

QUESTION:
Is it possible to get through interrogating Sokalov without paying for and bribing him with King Street Brandy?

WHY:
I've played 1577 hours and need to up the challenge for myself and have set a tough goal.

GOAL:
To play level "Very Hard" and get everything (coin, paintings, Runes/Charms – no dead/unconscious bodies found, never seen, kill nothing/no one, get all the coins, all side missions) and NOT buy anything.

Only Way I Know:
I know I need to buy brandy from Piero and bribe Sokalov with it in order to get him to talk about the coming Party, but is there another way to accomplish interrogating Sokalov, earn that accomplishment and make my way to the Boyle's party without having to buy the brandy? I can't seem to find any other way – is there?

Thanks ya'll.

[Zekiran]

If you *threaten* to kill him with the rats he will cave very quickly. It doesn't kill him.

[୨ಠ ͜つಠ୧]

there is a lever that you can pull to release the rats (maybe you have to speak with a member of the loyalist conspiracy and they pull the lever ,i dont' remember exactly)...anyway he is so scared by the rats that he gives up instantly and tells you everything you want to know

[Cursed Hawkins]

Originally posted by Zekiran:

If you *threaten* to kill him with the rats he will cave very quickly. It doesn't kill him.

Originally posted by ಠ_⊙:

there is a lever that you can pull to release the rats (maybe you have to speak with a member of the loyalist conspiracy and they pull the lever ,i dont' remember exactly)...anyway he is so scared by the rats that he gives up instantly and tells you everything you want to know

But i think it raises chaos for you by a bit since all the levels including the Hound Pits have an high chaos option or low chaos option.

[Zekiran]

I don't know that it has any real bearing, as deaths count toward chaos. It's not the *kinder, gentler* method, but neither of them kills Sokolov.

[Valden21]

Releasing the rats into the cage has always seemed too cruel to me. It reminds me way too much of 1984. For that reason, I've always preferred to bribe him.

[Cursed Hawkins]

Originally posted by Zekiran:

I don't know that it has any real bearing, as deaths count toward chaos. It's not the *kinder, gentler* method, but neither of them kills Sokolov.

It doesn't have to kill him to raise chaos for example people just seeing a body wither its alive or dead also raises chaos.

[internaut]

Thanks Zekiran, Cursed Hawkins, Valden21, and that one with the high-bit ascii characters that causes formatting havoc in this reply :)

Hmmm... you all seem sure the other guy isn't sure :)
I'm just at the stage where I'm about to brand Campbell, and so will be some time yet before I have Sokolov in the 'cage' again.

@ the 1 with the Ascii - I seem to remember trying the lever several times, and opening it but Sokolov didn't budge. When I reach that point again, I will save and test to see what happens.

As I pointed out, I my goal is to get all the coin and spend none of it - with no kills, Ghost and no charms or powers except the blink one is given. I'd be wasting my trip if I end up having to bribe Sokolov. All my chaos is 0 anyway so would one threat with rats show up as chaos if Cursed Hawkins is correct? In short, I'm striving for the perfect score and one purchase or 1 chaos seems to end that plan.

[rod66]

Originally posted by internaut:

Thanks Zekiran, Cursed Hawkins, Valden21, and that one with the high-bit ascii characters that causes formatting havoc in this reply :)

Hmmm... you all seem sure the other guy isn't sure :)
I'm just at the stage where I'm about to brand Campbell, and so will be some time yet before I have Sokolov in the 'cage' again.

@ the 1 with the Ascii - I seem to remember trying the lever several times, and opening it but Sokolov didn't budge. When I reach that point again, I will save and test to see what happens.

As I pointed out, I my goal is to get all the coin and spend none of it - with no kills, Ghost and no charms or powers except the blink one is given. I'd be wasting my trip if I end up having to bribe Sokolov. All my chaos is 0 anyway so would one threat with rats show up as chaos if Cursed Hawkins is correct? In short, I'm striving for the perfect score and one purchase or 1 chaos seems to end that plan.

The way I have seen this play out is that you always get a choice as to what to do (whether you've purchased the king street brandy or not) and one of those choices will be something like "let's see if the rats are hungry" which will cause Havelock to let the rats into the cage, Zekiran is correct Sokolov caves pretty quick so he spills what he knows. As far as I know it does raise chaos a little bit (like infecting the still in M2) but not enough to cause any great changes or to get you anywhere close to high chaos. A no purchases/no chaos run might not be feasible but a no-purchases/low chaos run certainly is.