The Dig – Shadowrun: Hong Kong

This guide will help you complete The Dig mission in Shadowrun: Hong Kong.

The Dig Map

Legend

1. Starting Point
2. Locked Door
3. Authentic Utahraptor Skull
4. Valuable Urn
5. Plesiosaur Jawbone
6. Replica Royal Vase
7. Neanderthal Skeleton
8. King’s Ashes
9. Royal Flowerpot
10. Ancient Vase
11. Dragon Scales
12. Mummified Head
13. Replica Utahraptor Skull
14. Terminal
15. Bookshelf / Secret Door
16. Mystic’s Staff
17. Imbued Pottery
18. Security Terminal
19. Ancient Book
20. Shipping Terminal
21. Secret Room
22. Ancient Book

The Dig Walkthrough

Background

This job is a golden opportunity, in more ways than one. A raid of the in-development museum, the Emperor’s Tomb.

The museum’s claim to fame is its location. It rests on top of ancient catacombs, where an excavation is underway to convert them into the museum proper. Intel has it that the workers are dying. Not from on-site accidents, but from magical disturbances in the area. Despite the hazards, development continues.

Your client, Mr. Drake, contacted you to retrieve two tomes. Probably ancient. Magical. Priceless. But it won’t be a smash in the park. You have to get to the tomes before they’re catalogued, where they’ll afterward be near impossible to access.

As you near the museum, its height and grandeur looms unsettlingly over you. Even unfinished, it’s reached an imposing size. At least that means it has plenty of room for pricey antiques. The best part? Mr. Drake needs this run to look unprofessional. Shattered glass and looting is encouraged.

— Mission Complete (10,000+ Nuyen) —

Your adrenaline wanes as you fly through the subway tunnels on your way back to Heoi. There isn’t much left to do but pick the shards of glass off your clothes and congratulate yourself on one hell of a run. It’s just too bad you couldn’t keep the looted antiques. By the end you’d managed to steal over ten-thousand nuyen worth of items for your client. A number that will hopefully be reflected in your mission pay.

The damage you caused will likely set the museum’s development back even farther. Not enough to cripple the project — just enough to send a message. But at the end of the day, you still managed to break a lot of exhibits, displays, and even the faces of a few tomb crawlers. The presence of which had conveniently slipped Drake’s mind. Surprises aside, you came out on top. And thanks to some quick thinking on Drake’s part, you got the books, and you got out.

Karma Points

• [1]  Collect artifacts worth 5000 nuyen.
• [1]  Collect artifacts worth 10,000 nuyen.
• [1]  Pick up Paydata: Shipping Manifest from the Matrix (#20).
• [8]  Return to Heoi.

Walkthrough

After completing City of Darkness, you’ll receive a message on the mission computer entitled “Artifact Liberation.” In it, you’ll learn that several artifacts — including two ancient books — were recently discovered beneath a manor house in Tai Po, and that your employer, Mr. Drake, would like you to steal them. However, Mr. Drake will warn you that “something strange” has been happening at the site, which is being converted into a museum, and that excavation workers keep dying, which means you should be wary.

This is a combat mission. You won’t be talking to anybody, just fighting. So prepare yourself beforehand, spending karma on combat abilities and money on weapons / armor / healing supplies. You’ll be able to pick up some paydata during the mission (which is worth a karma point as well as money), so taking a decker with you is a good idea. To get started, you’ll need to accept the mission on the mission computer and then take the MTR to Tai Po.

When you arrive at the museum (#1), Mr. Drake will contact you and let you know that he’s taken control of the security systems — at least to some extent — which means he’ll only be able to counteract the alarms nine times. So be careful; if you set off the alarms a tenth time, then you’ll fail the mission and have to load your game.

Your first goal in the mission is to steal artifacts worth over 10,000 nuyen. You’ll have 13 to choose from. Each time you grab an artifact, you’ll set off an alarm, and you might also set off an alarm by going through a secret door (#15), which means you’ll need to beat 10,000 nuyen with eight artifacts. The artifacts and their values are shown in the table below.

If you collect artifacts worth 5000 nuyen, then you’ll gain a point of karma. If you can increase that amount to 10,000 nuyen, then you’ll gain a second point of karma.

When you descend into the Basement (via Exit A), you won’t find much to do. You’re only required to collect the two books down there (#19, #22), but you might also want to jack into the Matrix (#20), where you’ll find a unique spell and some paydata, and also earn a point of karma.

When you approach the northernmost of the two books (#22), you’ll discover that it’s being guarded by a gargoyle, two mummified corpses, and a preternatural corpse. Worse, when they attack you, a duplicate set of the enemies will rush out from a secret room (#21) and ambush you from behind. This can be a tough battle. Gargoyles will hit you with area-effect toxins that can drain AP, and they’ll release poison fumes when they die. Mummified corpses will sap your willpower and deal damage over time. And preternatural corpses will teleport you (and them) to an isolated sepulcher when they hit you, and only the character who survives the encounter will return to the battle.

The easiest way to deal with the guardians is to approach them and manually start the battle yourself (by clicking on the holstered gun in the upper right-hand corner of the screen). If you let the guardians go first, then they’ll probably mess you up pretty well. But when you go first, you’ll be able to separate your party (negating the gargoyles to some extent) and shoot the enemies as they come at you. We’d suggest taking out the corpses first and saving the gargoyles for last (since the gargoyles have the most HP). Using Koschei as bait is also useful since it’s immune to most of the special damage effects.

After defeating the guardians and collecting the books, Mr. Drake will contact you again and tell you to wipe the security logs, which you can do upstairs. However, on your way there, you’ll get stopped by a preternatural corpse — only this one will talk to you rather than attacking. The corpse will tell you that he was the assistant to an emperor, only the emperor is no longer here, and so he’d like to exit the museum and find him. But the corpse will reveal that his soul is tied to the museum, and he can only leave if you carry out a special ring along with the other artifacts.

If you agree to help the corpse, then he’ll give you a Mummy Spirit Talisman. If you refuse, then you’ll have to fight him, but you’ll find the Emperor’s Sword on his corpse. This decision won’t have any ramifications later in the game, so you can do whatever feels right to you. If you don’t care either way, then you should help the corpse and take the talisman, which can be sold for 400 nuyen (the sword has a value of 0).

Back on the Main Level, after wiping the data on the security terminal (#18), you’ll just need to leave the museum. However, when you approach the main entrance (#1), the HKPF will burst in, and they’ll lock down many of the exits, preventing you from escaping. Luckily, the first three officers you encounter will drop a Security Key Fob, which will open up a side room (#2). You’ll encounter three more HKPF officers inside the side room, but after defeating them, you’ll be able to exit the museum (via Exit B).

When you return to Heoi, you’ll earn 8 karma for completing the mission, and you’ll receive up to 1900 nuyen when you access your payment from the mission computer (the exact amount will depend on how well you did in stealing artifacts). You can also earn 200 extra nuyen (or a level 1 program worth at most that amount) from selling the mission’s “metadata” to Maximum Law.

Mission Overview

1 – Starting Point

2 – Locked Door

You won’t be able to open this door until the end of the mission.

3 – Authentic Utahraptor Skull

4 – Valuable Urn

5 – Plesiosaur Jawbone

6 – Replica Royal Vase

7 – Neanderthal Skeleton

8 – King’s Ashes

9 – Royal Flowerpot

10 – Ancient Vase

11 – Dragon Scales

12 – Mummified Head

13 – Replica Utahraptor Skull

14 – Terminal

To use this terminal, you’ll need Decking 3, or you’ll need Is0bel in your party, or you’ll need to figure out that the password is “Tennyson.” If you examine the painting on the wall, then you’ll see that it’s “The Lady of Shalott / 1888.” This is one of the works by the painter John William Waterhouse, but it was inspired by Tennyson’s poem of the same name.

On the computer, you’ll find some emails about how the museum construction is going, and you’ll also find another password prompt (under “access office room controls” and “restricted access”). Decking won’t help you here; you’ll need to know the “Tennyson” password from earlier. Entering the correct password will open up the nearby secret door (#15).

15 – Bookshelf / Secret Door

With Strength 5, or with Gaichu in your party, you’ll figure out that the bookshelf here is really a secret door, and you’ll smash through it. This will set off an alarm. You can also open the bookshelf by using the nearby terminal (#14). The terminal method won’t set off an alarm.

16 – Mystic’s Staff

17 – Imbued Pottery

18 – Security Terminal

You won’t be able to use this terminal until the end of the mission.

19 – Ancient Book

20 – Shipping Terminal

You can log into the Matrix from here. Inside, you’ll have to move through two “rooms,” but in the back of the second one, you’ll find the spell Wild Aim II and Paydata: Shipping Manifest. The paydata will earn you 432 nuyen after selling it on the Shadowland BBS. You’ll also earn a point of karma for picking it up.

21 – Secret Room

22 – Ancient Book

Exits

1. Stairs between the Main Level and the Basement.
2. Museum exit.