ELUSIVE TARGET #18: THE SERIAL KILLER (Year 3: April 26 - May 6 2024)

[Tetrafish_21]

@sammland

Can someone explain to me how does the Proximity Taser work effectively? I tried to cook up something by poisoning him and put the taser on the toilets while he vomits but nothing happened.

If you set it just on the ground it will activate once an NPC gets close enough to it. It will not do anything to harm them, and they will report it to a guard to come pick up.

If you set or toss it into a puddle, it will activate once an NPC gets close enough to it. It should then electrify the water -shocking anyone standing in it.

If it’s by an NPC that’s KO’d (regardless of being in a puddle or not) it will not activate. It’d be best to distract another NPC to see the body, they’ll then approach and activate the electricity - killing whoever is in the same puddle. You’ll get ‘body found’ though.

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I think in your case with ‘The Censor’ the best way to use the proximity taser would be to have set it by the sink in the floor. After he’s done puking turn on one of the sinks. If another NPC gets distracted by it then you’ll likely get a non-target kill. Get away from the sink asap! Because once the water gets on the floor it’s going to be electrified.

Hopefully the target will care that the sink is running and want to turn it off.

[LandirtHome]

Reviving the topic, as the Year 4 version will arrive soon.

The ET will start 12 hours earlier then usual (in 6 hours as of this post), I don’t know if it means that it will also close 12 hour earlier too. So everyone, potentially be careful.

[Monwil]

This one is gonna be tricky.
So far I’ve been doing Y4 ETs SASO with fall accidents only, and from my memories Whittleton doesn’t have many drop spots. Though I mostly remember the annoyance of windows in Janus’ and Cassidy’s houses not having dump prompts, but maybe something like of of the staircase railings can work, will need to test.
I could always drop him into the sewers, but the amount of KOs needed to set that up sounds very inelegant.

[empressofpersia]

The staircase railings are non-lethal for some reason. Your best bet would be dumping him down one of the manholes.

[Melusca]

Nah there’s an easier way, you can dump him on the small roof above the door of the house from the 2F room, then kick him down into the street. Only one KO needed and that’s just him

[thrison]

Dumping bodies from there also counts as hiding the body for some reason (even though its an accident kill so it doesn’t really matter) - but hey, bonus XP!

[rattleshnake]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X__P76-3sGs

[Dribbleondo]

Now THIS is how you identify The Censor!

(I’ll have my thoughts on the Target later in the week, but they’re not…good.)

[Monwil]

Thanks, that’s what I went with.
Guy got lured upstairs to an empty room by a weird bald fella placing coins on the ground. I wouldn’t grade him higher than a D.
Also TIL this mission has some sort of undercover cop at the party who’s also looking for the Censor. I knew about the agents in Schmidt’s backyard, but not that one.

[Monwil]

Nice to see the ET reviews are making a return.

[Dribbleondo]

I was meant to release it during The Undying Returns’ run this past month, but a lack of motivation, audio re-recording, a Windows install refresh, webcomic drawing, and other modding projects and commissions caused me to shelve it. I do want it out soon though!

[Heisenberg]

And done. Not an accident as I’ve been doing so far with the Year 4 ETs, aside from The Undying; I did my usual routine of stabbing The Censor in the heart with the concealable knife in the bathroom at the party house. Took me a while because I wanted to avoid emetics this time, so had to wait for the time to be just right to lure him into the bathroom with a strategically placed coin while nobody else was around or about to enter the bathroom. Once I got him in, a quick stab and that was all she fucking wrote. Hid the body and walked out of the mission like I owned the whole thing, which I do.

[Tetrafish_21]

I gun lured him to Mrs. West’s basement - again. It took longer this time since I wanted the available clues to… I dunno. I obviously already know who he is… Just figured some story elements would give a hard proof… whatever (for immersion’s sake!). It’s an ET. Of course, the game isn’t going to do the thing it does with other targets regarding evidence-based clues.

So while he was in the basement I figured I’d scare him before garroting. So I pointed a gun at him. He panicked, but I was only able to punch him out because I guess garroting doesn’t work when they’re in that state. I was going to put him in the furnace anyway.

[Heisenberg]

@Tetrafish_21

It took longer this time since I wanted the available clues to… I dunno. I obviously already know who he is… Just figured some story elements would give a hard proof… whatever (for immersion’s sake!).

Same.

[Axwage]

This ET kind of sucks right?

Good “lore” with fun unique dialogue, but a boring loop and surprisingly few real un-cheesy opportunities for assassination.

Want to poison the whiskey glass in the kitchen? Witnesses from every angle, including a generic NPC and the server in the kitchen who are enforcers to the server disguise.

Want to emetic the target? Goes to the bathroom that other NPCs walk into, and also there’s a window through which random NPCs wandering outside can see you doing crimes.

Get server disguise and serve french fries to people? Hostess is still an enforcer to server disguise, so lots of crouch walking around the party. Silly. I gave emetic poison to a random NPC so they would use the ground floor bathroom, then another round of emetic poison to the target so he’d go upstairs, but no, he went to the bird bath two houses over.

Inside the house, hide behind a door frame and use the Sieker on one NPC so they use downstairs bathroom, then Sieker on target so he goes upstairs where you have some privacy. Not exactly fun or creative.

This ET is just really restrictive and not fun, especially if you’re trying to use in-level items and opportunities. The only real viable method is to get poison from Helen’s basement and serve him up some deadly French fries.

Grade: 2/10.

[Dribbleondo]

The Censor Is…a wasted opportunity. The second-worst ET in H2, and one of the worst across WoA.

That’s probably not too much of a controversial opinion, given his gameplay has always been seen as middling at best, but has steadily gotten worse with time, and I think there’s four reasons for it:

Diana's Unnecessary Tutorialisation

The level features some of the worst tutorialisation in the game, as it comes off as completely redundant. Hack the agent's laptop? Diana chimes in to mention what he looks like. Go into the Wilsons' party? Diana will congratulate you on going to the most obvious place to look for him after suggesting you look for crowded areas. I don't mind Diana's dialogue, let me be clear here. If even one of these lines were used, i'd be fine with it. But the way it's currently set up, it's as if the game is insistent on patting the player on the back, and that gets really grating, especially if you need to restart.

Lack of a Loop, and therefore, Very Few Kill Opportunities

Gorski’s route leaves a lot to be desired, and because his loop is confined to the Wilsons’ bottom floor of the residence, it makes him both easy to find and very predictable. However, because the place is crowded and there’s so little space to move about, there’s not a lot you can do to kill the guy. Poison him? You have to mess with several NPC’s to poison his cup. Drown him? Be sure you know when people enter and leave the bathroom! It leaves a lot to be desired.

There's No Variety!

His personality is also just…not interesting. A smug serial killer looking for victims and who is obviously the first person you meet comes off as if the game is telling you all the hints in unsubtle ways. Gorski really should rotate around WC, or hide from agents patrolling, or really anything that isn’t his current routine!

There’s also a guard patrolling the party too, but you wouldn’t know that because they are very much in the background, and are shadowing Gorski, so the opportunity to meet them is very slim.

Conclusion

This level needs a serious revamp, and I would not be against changing it up in ETA, or even in future repeats, because like with Vincente Murillo’s randomisation, he’s not fun to kill, investigate, or play against.

E-tier

[Axwage]

@Dribbleondo

The second-worst ET in H2

So who’s the worst H2 ET, Murillo?
Personally I think this one is worse.

[Heisenberg]

I’d personally rank the Appraiser as the worst, as it has similar issues, but not even an interesting story for the lore, unlike the Censor and Murillo. The H2 ETs all have some kind of gimmick, but the Appraiser doesn’t and it’s almost too easy.

[Melusca]

@Axwage

This ET is just really restrictive and not fun, especially if you’re trying to use in-level items and opportunities. The only real viable method is to get poison from Helen’s basement and serve him up some deadly French fries.

Propane + battery throw should probably work if you’re careful about the range of the explosion? I haven’t tried it against him because I refuse to use anything but the safest methods against “live” ETs but I might try it in the arcade.

[rattleshnake]

@Axwage

Want to emetic the target? Goes to the bathroom that other NPCs walk into, and also there’s a window through which random NPCs wandering outside can see you doing crimes.

If you emetic someone else first, he’ll go upstairs. In my recent run, I used emetic poison on enough people that he crossed the street.