Graybox

This guide will walk you through the Alpha Protocol Mission “Graybox”, which serves as the game’s tutorial. On top of getting through the mission, we will help you find any items hidden throughout.

Graybox Map

1 – Medical Bay

2 – Tranquilizer Pistol

3 – Briefcase

Inside the briefcase you’ll find $2500 and dossier information on Alpha Protocol.

4 – Interrogation Room

5 – Common Room

In this room you’ll be able to change your appearance, read some emails, and watch TV. If you watch the entire TV program, then you’ll gain the News Conscious perk.

6 – Sean Darcy / Gadget Orientation

Our best score for this course is 125. If you beat Darcy’s challenge at the end (by using the pillars to avoid guard attacks), then you’ll earn $20,000 and the Betting Man perk.

Note: During the course, when you’re asked to use an EMP Charge to open a locked door, you’ll find the door behind you, and you’ll need to call up the gadget interface (by pressing C on the PC) to switch to the charge.

7 – Mina Tang / Weapons Orientation

Our best score for this course is 183. If you beat Mina’s challenge at the end, then you’ll gain a point of reputation with her, and you’ll also earn the Cage Match perk.

Note: If you remember Mina’s name, then you’ll earn a point of reputation with her.

8 – Alan Parker / Covert Ops Orientation

Our best score for this course is 130. If you do well enough on the course, then afterwards, Parker will give you an extra assignment to sneak into the medical bay (near #1) and retrieve a folder. You can be as noisy as you want in the job, but if you manage to bring back the folder without setting off any alarms, then you’ll gain a reputation point with Parker; otherwise, you’ll lose reputation. But regardless, for completing the task you’ll gain the Custodial Work perk. If you’re thorough during your trip to the medical bay, then you’ll also find dossier information on Yancy Westridge, Nasri, and Alpha Protocol.

H – Healing Supplies

You’ll wake up in a locked medical bay (#1). You’ll find a PDA nearby, and when you pick it up, you’ll meet Mina Tang, one of your handlers at Alpha Protocol. She’ll let you know that she’s not a fan of this “indoctrination procedure,” and she’ll help you escape. If you read your intel report on Mina, then you’ll learn that she prefers people to act professionally.

Note: Your first response to Mina will give you a perk — Professional (+5 endurance), Suave (reduced cooldowns for all skills), or Aggressive (+5 strike damage) — depending on the stance you take. For some reason, you sometimes won’t receive this perk until your second conversation (with Westridge at #4).

This first mission is basically a tutorial. It will introduce you to all of the key concepts in the game, and it will give you instructions for all of the mini-games. You’ll just need to follow Mina’s instructions to get through it.

Early on in the mission you’ll find a Tranquilizer Pistol (#2). This will give you some options for how to deal with the guards. If you shoot a guard in the head with the Tranquilizer Pistol, then you’ll knock him out in one shot. If you have a rank or two in Stealth, then you can also sneak behind the guards, and use a melee attack to knock them out. You can also just avoid the guards. The game will reward you regardless of the method you use.

Note: While in this mission a shot to the head will always knock a guard out, that won’t necessarily be the case in later missions. But using a melee attack on an unaware enemy will always knock them out, guaranteed.

Eventually, you’ll make your way to the interrogation room (#4), where you’ll meet Yancy Westridge, the man in charge of Alpha Protocol. He’ll talk to you for a bit, but then he’ll insist that you continue your tutorial. To that end, you should next meet up with Sean Darcy (#6), Mina Tang (#7), and Alan Parker (#8) to learn about gadgets, weapons, and covert ops respectively. Each handler will have a course for you to run, and you’ll be able to repeat it as many times as you’d like. If you score well enough on the course, then the handler will give you a bonus objective, which will net you some extra rewards.

Note: You can also skip the orientation programs, but we wouldn’t recommend it. Skipping the programs will cost you experience points, reputation points, and intel.

After completing your orientation, when you return to Westridge (back at #4), you’ll receive The Basics perk, and Westridge will give you an introduction to reputation and dossier information. During this long conversation, you might want to use all three stances so you can pick up the Testing the Waters perk. Or, if you just want to gain reputation with Westridge, then you should stick with Eager and Aggressive. Regardless, at the end of the conversation, Westridge will send you to Saudi Arabia for your first set of missions.