CHAPTER 09 – The Cruelest Intentions
After another strobe effect cut scene amongst some sunflowers, you will abruptly wake up in the hospital hub once more. To leave this time and begin the level proper, head to the reception desk and look above the nearby bulletin board. A new painting will be hanging there for you to examine. After this the hospital hub will change. Look on the nearby reception desk for a Newspaper Article: Estate Fire. Walk down the corridor with the patient rooms and walk to the end to begin the real level.
When you regain control on the forest path, stroll towards the sunflower on the trail ahead. After the colours become normal, look to the small stone object to your right. Sitting on top of it is Map Fragment 15. After picking that up, turn around to spot a couple of barrels and a Goo Jar (500). Traipse along the trail to where you picked up the map fragment before and look right for another couple of barrels to break, a Goo Jar (500) and a Harpoon Bolt (1) sticking out of the wall.
Return to the path and head the only way we haven't gone yet. Smash another crate along the way and shortly you will arrive at the main gate of the mansion (can really feel those early Resident Evil vibes coming through here). Open the gate and head into the large courtyard.
There are a few breakable objects along the outside walls and central part of this area to smash before entering the mansion, so trundle round and break them all. You can also find: Goo Jar (500) to the right of the steps, Handgun Bullets (4) on a seat near the central fountain, another Goo Jar (500) with a Shotgun Shell (1) beside it when you travel along the left wall into a grassy alcove from the courtyard gate, a Goo Jar (500) is next to the central fountain, and a Goo Jar (1000) beside the courtyard gate itself.
Finally, before heading inside, look up into the branches of the tree to the right of the mansion door to spot a Statue cradled amongst them. Shoot it and retrieve the key before entering the mansion. As you step inside, you will see a quick glimpse of Leslie with the doctor before a massive door slams shut behind them.
CHECKPOINT
On the chair to your left when you enter is a Syringe (1). After picking that up, look underneath the left staircase for a Goo Jar (500) and smash the vase in the corner for potential items. Before we begin exploring the mansion, take note of the mirror room underneath the left staircase in the foyer. You should use this multiple times during this section (after each Ruvik encounter especially so you don't need to repeat them).
Open the mirror room door and grab the Journal Entry off the sink. Enter the mirror to return to the hospital hub and nab the Newspaper Article: Bodies Found Near Estate from the newspaper stand. Turn around and pick up the Missing Person Poster: Ruben from the notice board. Do any upgrading you want, save and return to the mansion.
Now that we've just saved, we'll do our first Ruvik encounter (so you know what to expect as you explore the upper floors). Enter the left door on the ground floor to walk into the dining room. Pick up the Goo Jar (300) off the sideboard and the Mansion Dining Room Note from the table.
Shortly after you enter the room, the light will turn blue and Ruvik will enter through the doorway. He will instantly kill you if he touches you, so maintain your distance. He can teleport from time to time so just walk away when possible as sprinting into him by accident is very likely.
You will need to run away for anywhere between fifteen seconds to thirty seconds before the light will go back to normal and he will vanish. This will occur multiple times as you explore the mansion (at set points), so expect it as you go. A good method here is to lure him to the far side of the room and then to run into the foyer and circle up and down the staircases until he disappears.
When Ruvik is gone, save if you don't want to repeat that, then head up the stairs in the foyer and open the large double doors in the center. When you do, look to the left on the small table to find a Lower Safe Dial. Take note of the slashed painting here before breaking the nearby urns and picking up the Goo Jar (300) from the table at the end of the room. Look up at the skylight above to see a cleverly hidden Statue wedged in a corner for you to shoot for a key. After getting everything, return to the landing in the foyer.
Open the door on the left to step into the library. A table near the entry door holds a Goo Jar (300), a Freeze Bolt (1) will be sitting on a ledge near the entry door, and Shotgun Shells (2) can be found on the central desk. Carefully approach and disarm the grenade trap stuck to the far wall before clambering up the ladder. Ready your pistol, as a haunted body up here will revive as you get close. After blowing his head off, circle round the upper level to find sn Upper Save Dial in a small box. Take note of the slashed painting behind the box and descend back to the lower library floor.
Shortly after dropping down to the lower floor, Ruvik will appear again and try to glomp you to death. Use the open space in the library or walk back out into the foyer while listening to the mental soundtrack of the Benny Hill show (wacky sax) as you flee. When he leaves, save and return to the library (two Ruviks down, one to go).
Turn to the right as you enter the library to find a corridor branching off. Pick up the Trap Parts (1), Goo Jar (500) and hatchet in the first small room then sneak past the first door on the left. A grenade trap will be attached to the left wall for you to disable. Backtrack to the door you just passed and head through. The desk here holds Ruvik's Room Note and a nearby chair has Handgun Bullets (4) sitting on it to acquire.
Step into the adjacent room and look inside to find a Medikit (1) near the windows. A Goo Jar (500) can be found on the other side of the bed and Matches (2) in a drawer nearby. A haunted will likely have appeared in the previous room at this point, so take care of him with the hatchet you obtained earlier.
Exit the room into the narrow hallway and turn left to continue exploring. Ignore the metal doors to the left and follow the hallway to the right and enter the first room on the right. Sitting on the edge of the bathtub is Map Fragment 16 and in the toilet is a Goo Jar (500) to pick up before leaving the room. Reload your pistol and head to the far end of the hallway.
As you near the end of the hall, Sebastian will be grabbed by a trap device and get dragged down the hallway towards the metal doors and whirling blades. Use your pistol to shoot the red light above the spinning blades and it will release you. Get up and dust yourself off before returning to the room you were just dragged away from (players who hate repetition may want to backtrack to the save room here just in case).
Walk into the room and wait for about twenty seconds for Ruvik to arrive once more. He will come in through the door, so wait until he comes in (as trying to open the door when he does will damage you). When he does, circle round behind him and walk along the corridors and back towards the foyer until his timer expires. This will also allow you to avoid being blindsided by the changes he makes to the mansion.
Save and cautiously make your way back to the hallway outside the room you just fled from. Ruvik has added a wandering haunted partway along, a trip wire trap and another haunted in the small bathroom to the right. Clear the hallway and enter the room you left earlier.
On the table beside the door is a Statue to break for a key and in a nearby dresser is a Syringe (1). Once you have them, walk over to the fireplace (pretty big isn't it?), crouch down and head inside. At the end of the short tunnel, push down the small firebreak to find a hidden workroom. Pick up the Goo Jar (1000) from the small table, the Explosive Bolt (1) leaning against the wall and approach the exposed human skull on the workbench.
While this looks like a puzzle, it really isn't and can be solved by simply listening to the audio tape. All you have to do is listen for the location of the brain you need to probe, examine the diagram on the bench to find it, move the probe into place over that region and activate it. It may sound complicated, but it is quite easy to do. The first location you need to probe is the fear area of the brain. Once you succeed, red liquid from a nearby machine will pump into the shut door of the foyer. Well, looks like we have to do two more of these.
CHECKPOINT
Head back into the tunnel and watch the ghost of Ruvik talking to his parents when you emerge. When you leave the room, you will catch a quick glimpse of a large enemy (a trauma) stalking off on the path back to the library. This is just a trick to make you think there is an enemy down that path (there isn't. I checked), but we will head another way anyway. Turn left and sneak as you near the corner.
A grenade trap will be stuck to the wall here, so disarm it and grab the Goo Jar (500) off the floor before continuing forward. The next corner has a haunted in a porcelain mask waiting in front of a trip wire trap. Shoot him in the leg and burn him up if you can. Once the hall is empty, approach the door at the far end.
Reload your pistol and pick up the Goo Jar (500) off the table to your right. Circle around towards the Audio Log and look to the side to spot a scripted body on the floor. Shoot the leg and burn. Pick up the Goo Jar (500) off the chair nearby. After listening to the log, ready your gun and approach the boarded door on the far side of the room (leave the grenade trap for now). A porcelain mask haunted will burst through. Let him exit the grenade trap radius and then blast him down and burn him. Now you can sneak over and disarm the grenade trap.
Head through the now board free doorway to find yourself back in the entry foyer. Take the time to save before heading into the dining room once more. Open the door here to see haunted shadows on the wall ahead. People with spare grenades can lob one through the gap here to take care of the haunted. Other players will need to lure them out to take care of them. There are three haunted wandering around, but the room to your right has a grenade trap and leaving it for now is a good idea.
Lure the haunted into the hall and blow their heads off before entering the side room and disarming the grenade trap. Leave the trap room and walk into the room where the haunted were feeding. The scripted body here will begin to move when you get close, so deal with it quickly. Some Handgun Bullets (4) will be sitting on the stove next to you. Look to the wall near the other door to spot another grenade trap to disarm. Once done, break the barrels here and leave through the nearby door.
The kitchen storage room shelves hold a Goo Jar (1000) and Flash Bolt (1) and a Statue (on the top shelf to the left of the door) to gather before approaching the workbench at the back. Another brain to work on here using the same process of before. Listen to the tape (consent), look at the diagram and insert the probe. Watch the red liquid exit the bench and straighten up.
CHECKPOINT
Another ghostly vision will play out before you start making your way back. Prep your weapons before heading back to the entry foyer. When you arrive, save and pass through the only door we haven't used yet (the right door on the ground floor). This door leads to a fancy room with vases to break, some Matches (3) on a table and a Syringe (1) on a coffee table in the center of the room.
Use the door in this room (not the one in the corridor) first to walk into a small room with a haunted partially obscured by a sheet. Take careful aim and try to get a head-shot through the sheet. Smash the barrels, pick up the Goo Jar (500) and Sniper Bullets (2) from the room. Exit into the prior room and take the first door on the left in the nearby corridor.
A Goo Jar (300) is sitting on a clock to the left so grab that first. The crates here are hiding a grenade trap, so carefully approach them and disarm the trap before breaking them. Pick up the Shotgun Shells (2) off the chair nearby. Return to the corridor and turn left to reach the music room.
Harpoon Bolts (2) are sticking out of the furniture to the left and there is a Grenade (1) sitting next to a double bass. In the far corner of the room is a puzzle to solve involving the safe dials you picked up earlier. Snatch up the Mansion Music Room Note from the floor beneath the safe for your clue on the solution. Pop the dials in the safe before trying to solve it. As usual, avoid looking down to the paragraph below if you want to solve the puzzle yourself.
The answer involves the slashed portrait (remember the portraits I asked you to note earlier?) in the music room. The slashed halves have been combined in the frame to show the whole picture. From the note (and the two dials) we can tell there are two numbers required. The "faceless spectators" watching the execution in the painting are the first number. The "victims" in the painting are the second. This means the numbers you need are 11 (top) and 2 (bottom).
Once the hidden door opens, follow the newly revealed corridor and open the door at the other end. You will emerge into the last workshop with the final brain probe. Repeat the usual process on the hope part of the brain to complete the last brain probe.
CHECKPOINT
Another ghost conversation will occur when you reenter the music room. Head back to the entry foyer and save before walking into the central doorway on the lower floor. Once done, enter the double doors and start walking down the corridor beyond. Keep walking until Ruvik appears and catches you. Approach the ghostly form of Ruvik when you regain control. When he moves, look to the rack nearby for a Shock Bolt (1). Follow the flow of red droplets from the room.
CHECKPOINT
At the end of the long corridor, open the elaborate door to walk into a cut scene. After the scene, Ruvik will transform into a large being composed of the red matter. He cannot be damaged in this form and will deal damage to you if he touches you. Look to your right for a doorway and head through it with haste. Open the door at the end to find Ruvik once more.
As you enter, the room will stretch and trip wires will spread across the room ahead. You will probably notice the spikes covering the roof. They descend on a timer, which is increased dramatically if you snap a trip wire. So avoiding the wires is critical to your health. Use the RS to adjust your view as you move to get a better idea of the position of the wires. There is a Goo Jar (300) to pick up to the right if you are quick enough. Sneak through the gaps quickly enough and you should make it through safely.
Enter the narrow corridor at the end of the room for a short scene and to be teleported to the entrance to a maze of steel walls. As you enter the maze, walls will rise up as you approach them. There are a few items to pick up in the maze: Handgun Bullets (2x 2), Goo Jars (500) and Goo Jar (300). The maze is pretty linear but there are a couple of things that can cause you problems. Three times during the chase you will have to shoot padlocks off walls to open them up. Look for the telltale shine when it seems like you've hit a dead end.
Partway through the maze is a set of three bear traps to dodge past, so keep an eye open for them. Once you clear the maze, don't relax as you will need to sprint toward the camera to avoid being crushed by massive mannequin heads. At the end, you'll jump to a new location once more.
You'll arrive in Ruvik's study once more. Snatch the Goo Jar (500) off a nearby trolley and Map Fragment 17 off the desk. Take the narrow corridor out of the study again and open the door to be blinded by a scene.
Walk through the field of sunflowers towards the barn and begin to circle it for items to loot. You should be able to find: Handgun Bullets (3), Goo Jar (300), Sniper Bullets (2), and Handgun Bullets (2). After you are done looting, push open the large doors and walk into the barn.
Watch the series of scenes until things go horribly wrong. Look amongst the flames for two wheels to turn. You need to turn the one that looks like a sailing ship wheel first (all the way to the end) and then turn the other (all the way to the end). This lowers down a stock lift which you can stand in. Do so and fire at the second wheel you used to be raised up to the level above. Up here you can find a Goo Jar (500) to pick up and a set of three bales of hay (on the right) to burn to reveal a hidden Statue underneath. After that, approach the window and try to escape.
CHECKPOINT
Pick yourself up to confront Ruvik in a fiery battle. Except… you aren't. You will be attacked by multiple haunted as Ruvik slowly walks towards you. Ruvik is still invulnerable, so wasting bullets on him is pointless. You need to kill off all the haunted who try to attack you while dodging Ruvik to succeed here. Keep your distance as best you can, drop the haunted and heal if you need to. There are some items to pick up if you need ammo here as well: Shotgun Shells (2x 2) and a Harpoon Bolt stuck to the barn post next to one of the shotgun ammo pickups. You will need to kill off at least six for a scene to take over.
Jonathan Wright has contributed a few more details about the fight and some extra strategy for those on their first playthrough – Ruvik will raise Haunted, 3 at a time initially. But will raise them one at a time as you kill them. However if you kill all 3 at once he will raise 3 replacements at once. Killing a total of six haunted will cut to the scene. A great way to conserve a good deal of ammo during this battle is to let Ruvik raise the first set of haunted as you collect the 3 different ammo items throughout the room.
After this the haunted and Ruvik should be actively seeking you. One technique that I've noticed is very effective is: if you run from one corner of the barn to another corner and then to a third corner of the barn you can get the 3 haunted bunched up together and either shoot out their legs with the Shotgun then burn all 3 at once, or if you're low on Shotgun ammo and need to save some of those Shotgun Rounds you can use a grenade or explosive bolt (craft 2 at least if you need to) to down all the Haunted at once and burn them. That way any items dropped from the dead will be easily accessible right there in a cluster instead of scattered around.
Dying by Ruvik Consuming you because a 200 goo jar is in the middle of the room is frustrating way to die, especially when the battle is close to being over, at the very least. Pick off any stragglers with either your pistol or even better the Harpoon Bolt if it's fully stocked that way you can pick it up and have a freebie restocking it. Repeat this until the cut scene arrives.
After arriving in yet another hallway, before running to the end of the hallway, even though the camera won't spin around you can turn around and walk backwards to find a Goo Jar (500). Item location contributed by Jonathan Wright. Afterwards head to the end and walk through the gap between the bookshelves to end the chapter.
