I changed 3 tables with a vendor disguise and tried to serve him poisoned tea, but he always said that “not today, not with this mood” or something. Is there any condition that I need to reach to complete this feat?
If I remember correctly he chooses tea randomly so make a save before offering to serve him a tea.
2 Likes
I won’t assert this, but seems you need to use a particular table for it to work.
At least it worked for me from the first try in HITMAN 3.
Try to use this pink table
There is a neon sign somewhere in the town square showing which tea is his favorite. This is random and will change on every playthrough. It looks like this:
17 Likes
To clarify this post a bit, since I completely forgot about this detail and had to look it up to refresh myself.
It isn’t a neon sign you’re looking for, but a TV in the Slum Square that cycles between news and an advertisement for the tea. The color of the ad represents the color of the table The Maelstrom will drink tea at. Green was the most common color that showed up for me, but it is random each retry.
22 Likes
Thanks, guys! This trick is interesting.
2 Likes
I believe there is also a dialogue among some NPCs that mention what tea he likes. Maybe that is random too where you have to hear them say, then pick the right tea-cart to use. `Never really looked that deep into it.
Probably like how the 1st target (Alma in Nightcall) will choose honey or sugar with her drink.
Edit: But apparently some of the above posts say what tea he likes too. Never knew about those’ns. 
2 Likes
Wow, nearly 2½ years since Mumbai was released as part of HITMAN 2, and I’ve only found out about this now… Today I Learned, indeed! Thanks very much for the great tip, DDG7! 
8 Likes
Unless something has changed in the year since, I don’t think either of these theories are correct. I tried the color of the Tea on the TV, and even thought maybe the color of shirt, because I think that also changes on each playthrough, and neither of those worked.
It wasn’t until I noticed after he talks to his informant at the Tea Shops, he will pause in front of the stand of his choice before leaving to continue his rounds.
Just tested the TV colors in Hitman 3 and using them as a tell still works. It only hints which of the 4 carts he will accept a drink from while you’re disguised as a Food Vendor. He will not drink any tea unprompted on his own.
His outfit is randomly chosen from a group of NPC ‘fake Maelstroms’ that also change each new mission start. So the color of his shirt doesn’t have any bearing on what tea he’ll accept.
He does pause in front of the cart he will drink from, like you said. But trying to poison and serve the tea to him before he walks away will take too long without knowing before hand. Unless you want to wait a full walk cycle for him to return.
On a side note, I noticed the tea commercials are used as footage on a TV in the new Ambrose Island location. So I worried this hint was broken because of that, but that isn’t the case for me.
2 Likes
Three attempts to give him the wrong tea should make him a permanent enforcer for the vender disguise and capable of seeing through blending. And this should carry over into all saved games connected to that particular playthrough much like certain XP score types do. Incentive to look for clues rather then try the trial and error approach.
1 Like