Many of these have been discovered using the Xbox version (on Xbox 360, no less) so I can't guarantee that they'll all work with other versions.
The Miracle of Chairs[]
A high-backed chair is the nearest thing to a forklift in TDS. Just about anything movable can be pushed around easily by ramming the legs of a wooden chair into it. This is because of the chair's shape: If Garrett runs against the seat while standing on the backrest, his running speed is increased by the chair's movement, giving him more power (the same physics used in the Flintstone car).
The ideal type is a simple wooden one with no armrests. This type of chair is also the exact width that Garrett needs to move freely. In order to effectively block off a long strip of ground (the back exit of Crowley's house, for example) simply round up a few chairs and push them against the wall, then push the nearby crates against the chairs so that they form a short solid wall with the chairs holding up the joints.
Another thing that makes the use of chairs great is their peculiar physics properties. Blackjacking the backrest of a chair from the front or back will cause it to fall over in the direction of the blackjack, but hitting it again from the same side will cause it to stand up again. And like all furniture, chairs are indestructible, so this can be done indefinitely.
Jousting[]
This should work with any melee NPC. I've tested it on bandits, Hammerites, Pagans, Zombies, castle guards, and museum guards, Kurshok, Keepers, Haunts, City Watch, Glyph Statues, and a Tree Beast. That's a lot, so I'm only going to talk about a few of the latter. Jousting is a very effective way of getting rid of unwanted hostiles and, after a bit of practice, can be done without taking any injury. Despite their appearance, the dagger and blackjack have a very long range on either side of Garrett. Instead of actually charging into the opponent, run to the right of him (or her or it) and attack the air behind his left shoulder, still running forward. If the opponent makes a comment like "Aha! Die, miscreant!" or "Feel that?" ahead of time, be prepared to dodge.
Haunt Jousting
How to knife-fight four haunts without getting hammered.
This can be done with anything up to six opponents at a time (mainly because it's too hard to round up a bigger posse). Stragglers recover quickly and should only be attacked in the early stages of exhaustion. A typical City Watch guard takes about seven seconds, but will recover immediately if struck. Statues are more difficult, as they do not tire or run away. Their attack speed is also greater, but they will not be able to follow through if struck first (with the Glyph of Unbinding, of course). Trees are fast opponents with long reach, and may need to be struck more quickly than usual.
Asbestos Fires[]
By dropping three or four oil flasks in one spot and igniting them, you can create a permanent (all day) fire. NPCs have difficulty avoiding these if directly in their path, so you can create a veritable death-trap for any passing pedestrians. They are elongated flames, like those of a fireplace (they are easy to jump over if aligned properly), but are absolutely unquenchable.
These fires, for reasons unclear, will usually only work on level surfaces, although they have been known to occur in some stairwells. If any part of the oil slick is over a ledge, or an inclined road, the fire will often die out when the oil disappears. Effective use of the asbestos fire must also be in the vicinity of a shop that sells oil, as Garrett can carry only 5 oil flasks at a time. The fires themselves do not produce any ambient light, and so will not be a hindrance to stealth, but still have the power to ignite other objects, such as fresh oil puddles, thus saving on Fire Arrows. Also, less oil is required to start an asbestos fire (usually) if it is surrounded with other asbestos fires. An almost sure-fire way to get one started is to drop all five in the desired location, run to the nearest shop to buy five more, return, and ignite the oil already on the ground.
Levitation[]
Not for Garrett, but for junk items. If the game is saved while Garrett is carrying a junk item, that item will be able to levitate the next time it is loaded. When dropped (not thrown), the item will appear slightly below the expected region and will remain there until knocked down. While this may not seem very useful, as the slightest nudge will cause it to come crashing down, it turns out that Garrett is such a featherweight that he can mantle (not jump) onto a levitating object without jarring it. For the best results look for items with broad surfaces, such as small Crates/Barrels, books, cooking pots, skillets, flour sacks, et cetera.
Garrett Studies Witchcraft
Using this technique, Garrett should be able to reach any navigable height, assuming that he has enough junk. The main drawback is the descent. Landing on a levitating item will cause it to fall, so you may need to jump directly to the ground unless extra supplies are levitated up alongside your construction. Although serving no practical purpose, dead or unconscious bodies can also be levitated by throwing them down and saving before they land.
The Streets of Untold Riches[]
This is a glitch that only occurs in Stonemarket Plaza on day 8 (after freeing Lauryl's ghost). There are a few peculiar features to this glitch; the local City Watch do not respawn, the entire district's populace consists of blonde barmaids in red (identical, but with different voices) and portly mutton-chopped men with beige suits (same), dropped loot will not disappear if neglected, and everyone is carrying the same amount.
The women all wear two silver bracelets, a ruby necklace, and a ruby tiara. The men also have two silver bracelets and a ruby necklace, in addition to a coin purse. Oh, and they all have on their heads stray loot glints that hang in the air when "dropped". If you stay in this district, collecting loot, you may soon find the streets sparkling with hundreds of them. You can also leave loot out in the open because nobody will bother to pick it up, but too much jewellery on the ground may stop people from coming.
Reality Transcension[]
Glimpse of a DromEd Building Site
With the Dark Engine, Garrett was capable of some spectacular feats, such as "keyholing" where Garrett applies quantum tunnelling science to bypass solid objects by banging his head against them, the Bertholdian sprint achieved by timing his stride as to jump the instant he touches the ground, resulting in tremendous (potentially fatal) speeds. Although TDS does not permit these practices, it instead allows the player to step outside the universe.
Whereas previous games had their missions carved out of a solid expanse, the TDS world is built from hollow shells and invisible cubicles. Reality Transcension occurs when Garrett passes through a gap in these barriers. Manipulating reality is best accomplished with the following tools.
- Climbing Gloves: used to mantle through walls with the aid of a doorway or similar feature. Climb around on the upper corners of the archway or lintel until Garrett gets into his mantling position. Keeper doors usually work best.
- Barrels: the nonagonal ends of large ones can be mantled in such a way that Garrett climbs sideways through a gate or similar obstruction. push the barrel to the centre so that it is upright against the gate, stand as close as possible without actually getting between them, and try to mantle the far side of the barrel; if unsuccessful, rotate the barrel slightly and repeat. This may be the only way to bypass quarantine gates in some situations.
- Noisemakers: fired at the open sky to test for invisible barriers and surfaces. Use these to scout out new passages from inside the playing area and to locate solid footings from without. These are ideal because the orange light they emit tends to show up better than regular objects and most of the arrows can be collected for reuse.
Auldale is a good place to practise, right around the gate from Old Quarter. After reaching the gas crystal above the gatehouse, climb to the top of the fence in the west wall, go sideways onto one of the stone projections and mantle over the top; this should get you above the enclosed area. Continuing to head west, you may notice things disappearing. This happens every time Garrett crosses the sound barrier and is remedied by saving and reloading. Once done, you should have a view of the entire region, which may decrease the frame-rate when you look at it horizontally. At the western edge of the world (still in Auldale) you will encounter a walled-in section of The River that is normally too foggy to see.
The outside of the universe can be a strange place; an empty sky dotted with blue rooms and (depending on the location) shop and fence buildings. In locations that do not have any visible sky, exploration is more difficult, as the empty space becomes broken up and psychedelic. The most difficult part of manipulating reality is getting back into it, as this typically requires Garrett to climb through a blind arcade, the bottom corner of a room, or a gap in the ceiling.
Well I hope you're happy - You've just murdered Reality
Places reached by transcension include, by increasing difficulty, over the South Quarter mystery house (climb through the doorway at the top of the stairs, mantle over the ceiling; there is a good view of the sky orb to the east and you can drop down into the the well area and scare passer-by who think you're an intruder), above the Docks (climb through Keeper Door and continue upward until above the invisible ceiling), Pagan Sanctuary (stand on crate, climb ruined wall on second floor of factory, climb over the huge pipe in the wall), Tesero Hall (climb through the doorway leading up to curator's office; several archways make travel difficult), Pavelock (see video), Old Quarter, day one (barrel-bypass the gate in Stonemarket Proper; you may need to prop the barrel up with crates).*
TDS Reality Transcension
How to Escape from Prison
Stunts so outlandish that no one is ever likely to try them include:
Gamall's Lair, day 3: Starting from the roof of the Auldale gatehouse, climb up and across the north facade above the stairwell to a ledge near the top of the wall. Mantle from the ledge onto the roof of the same facade and walk around to the other side of the wall, then mantle onto the top ledge of the same wall. Travel east to the Auldale Public Gardens (there is a ceiling over the entire street, so don't worry about falling back in), jump over the gap around the archway, and proceed to the NE wall. Drop down to the roof of the pump house and rappel partway down the north wall of the room. Garrett should be able to climb through the wall at a certain spot close to the middle, on the right side of the vertical pipes. Once inside, activate the pump and step into the canal.
Clock Tower, Stonemarket Plaza: Standing on a crate, simply climb up the middle of a chimney in Terces Courtyard (either one should do). Mantle or levitate onto the adjacent roof, going north until you reach two huge empty courtyards and cross the invisible ledge between them (make sure to stay on the east side of the division, as Garrett has a tendency to get stuck in the paper-thin crease between the walls below). The ledge ends in a short drop onto another ledge going west. At the eastern extremity of this is a small gap opening onto the east courtyard. At this location, levitate the small barrel that I neglected to mention earlier so that it is near enough to reach from the paper-thin wall. After repeating this at least twice (travel west to the adjoining strip of ground to get back up safely), take each barrel down the wall and across the courtyard, levitating them again so that they form a stairwell around the edge of the east wall. When Garrett is facing south with a big stone porch in view, jump to the overhang and rappel down onto the porch. Climb across the rounded section until wedged between the porch area and the clock tower. All you need to do from here is let go of the first wall and rotate as you plummet into the starry abyss, catching the corner of the adjoining wall. If that doesn't work and you fall to your doom, it's probably because it can only be done in first-person view. Once this is accomplished, you can scale the tower and even make your way around to the face (clockwise, of course). Do this by climbing almost to the top (touching the roof will kill Garrett instantly) and as far left as possible (which is more than it seems), then let go and turn around the corner to catch the other wall in mid air. Excelsior!
View from the Almost Top
* If for some reason you need to visit Old Quarter on day three, it may be easier to abuse the weird physics of the Pagan Sapling. If you push it through a wall (it only sounds labour intensive), the tree might just offer to teleport Garrett across the quarantine gate. Be careful, though; declining the offer will result in instant death, and using too much force could freeze the tree in place, or even snap it into tomorrow.
Pile Driving[]
This technique involves lobbing huge blunt objects around with a two-step. Big crates and barrels, smallish statues, and similar paraphernalia can all be flung sideways with enough force to kill any mortal in their path. Crates are best because they don't roll or totter about, they don't have odd angles, and they usually explode on impact. On one memorable occasion, while trying to shimmy a crate away from the front entrance of Blind Billy's place, I accidentally got one of the patrons stuck halfway through the bar counter, waving her arms in what looked like some sort of epileptic fit. As usual, Billy took no notice notice of the incident.
To push objects around, Garrett needs to run up against them, but because of kinetic friction, heavy objects have some difficulty getting started. To pile drive an object, Garrett needs to side-step against it and then lean into it. If timed correctly, it should catapult off in the direction of the lean.
Pile driving only works with objects large enough to push and heavy enough to resist pushing: Anything too lightweight will just slide gently out of the way. Additionally, Garrett often refuses to lean if his footing isn't reasonably level, which makes upturned barrels somewhat problematic. On the plus side, however, factions and similar restrictions won't be affected, because throwing objects at people is only considered a taunt.