Vampyr: The Greatest Doctor Challenge Guide

With immense effort and significant time investment I present this, The Greatest Doctor Guide. A challenge run guide, presented with a visual medium, about doing the most good with self-imposed restrictions. Although presented in a build-your-own style at the beginning, there is certainly a purpose built and significant challenge. As I have completed this challenge presented here not once but twice on normal mode, I assure of its feasibility. I cannot assure the feasibility of the challenge on hard mode, although I do intend to prove it myself, but I implore those brave enough to try it for yourselves.

I discovered a number of challenge possibilities on my own, some of them are quite significant:

• The most significant of which being the passages and method to every district on the first night. Though doing so doesn’t really lead to any narrative sequence breaking, it is still quite useful.
• The second notable discovery being the concept of a level 3 run, although not original I did discover it independently. Your level is tied to your skills and upgrades meaning that doing so sets a limit to what abilities can be obtained, removes the ability to upgrade said abilities, and leaves you with low base stats.
• The third and final notable discovery is that of the sleepless doctor. Due to all districts early, I found out that the player is forced to sleep the exact perfect number of times to still be able to get all hints. You must voluntarily sleep once at the beginning of the game, to pick autophagy as well as a combat ability in the prologue, and sleep a second time to progress to chapter 2. Every other time the player sleeps is automatic.

Some challenges originate from achievements, others will be phrased to add choices, while some are of a more complex nature. We will be starting off with what each challenge is and giving them names, while later on we will be putting such into context in terms of the run. Most will be implemented into the challenge run but some are intended as just additional ideas.

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I included a set of challenges that do not really work together with other challenges. A few of these discouraged challenges could be included, but things such as No Hit Mary seem better fit as single segment challenge ideas. Something like a pacifist run would have to be routed precisely and would include a number of caveats depending on the requirements, therefore it would be out of the scope for this guide. While others are subjective or do not use their main gimmick in any worthwhile way.

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These are the challenges and modifiers according to their difficulty, color coded to make it easier to understand. And following that, more in depth explanations for each of them.

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Assuming I counted correctly, 163 of the 220 hints are available in the first chapter. Not all are unique and sometimes the same hint pertains to multiple people, doubling the hint but they are earned at the same time. The ratios of obtainable hints versus unobtainable hints for each chapter are as follows:

• Chapter 1: 53:8 from The Docks, 33:20 from The Pembroke Hospital, 35:16 from Whitechapel, and 42:13 from The West End.
• Chapter 2: 56:5 from The Docks, 44:9 from The Pembroke Hospital, 48:3 from Whitechapel, and 48:7 from The West End.
• Chapter 3: 58:3 from The Docks, 45:8 from The Pembroke Hospital, 50:1 from Whitechapel, and 48:7 from The West End.
• Chapter 4: 61:0 from The Docks, 52:1 from The Pembroke Hospital, 51:0 from Whitechapel, and 49:6 from The West End.
• Chapter 5: 61:0 from The Docks, 53:0 from The Pembroke Hospital, 51:0 from Whitechapel, and 55:0 from The West End.

When you reach Swansea in chapter 5 you should have 3 hints left, Swansea‘s 3rd hint, Russel‘s 4th hint, and Talltree‘s 3rd hint. If you enter the room you will be forced to decide Swansea‘s fate immediately and the chapter will progress to chapter 6. But if you go to Usher Talltree before deciding Swansea‘s fate you can complete Talltree‘s Pandora’s Box investigation for his final hint, obtain the final collectible The Origin of the Brotherhood, as well as divine Russel‘s 4th hint while in chapter 5 instead of picking up the Old Love Letter in the same room as Swansea after switching to chapter 6.

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Frankly, this collectibles guide[www.neoseeker.com] or Mina‘s How to find all Collectibles Steam guide are more than enough and are an excellent references for finding all of the collectibles.

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While I mentioned there isn’t a mod for changing the level requirements for abilities, I did make an entire section for bypassing that limitation for more unique runs. Check out the Cheat Engine section for more details.

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Here are examples of how to perform Save The Vicar[www.twitch.tv] and Puppet Master.[www.twitch.tv]

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As far as I know the districts are always the same regardless of difficulty, meaning that besides the potential spoilers, inherent assumption of having played Vampyr before, and the occasional biased comments this can be used as an easy to use guide even for normal players. Though these are mainly to assist with the time consuming effort of getting all hints for What Must Be Done or trying to remember what medicines are needed to heal all of the citizens at the start for either A Truly Good Doctor or Beyond Good And Evil.

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Thanks to Kurotaishou and their Solving the Dragonbane puzzle without hints Steam guide for providing all the combinations. The puzzle is solved in the same manner as their guide, you should facing parallel with the first set of stairs leading to the area with the pressure plates. There will be a wall on your right, one ahead, and another set of stairs on your left leading to Talltree. The wall ahead is where you should be facing, your up arrow, and is where the secret door will open when you find the correct combination.

My search for Vampyr mods to change any abilities ended nearly fruitlessly until I found a forum with a cheat table for Vampyr. As far as I know Vampyr still lacks any real modding scene outside of model replacements, ReShade filters, and out of bound tools so the discovery of that legacy and partially broken cheat table file reminded me that I didn’t need to make a mod to make this possible.

And thus I began, while in the middle of making this guide, creating a supplementary cheat table filled with pointers for all abilities. A powerful utility with the added benefit for those who want to remove all abilities after the start of the game for an additional challenge or something completely different such as changing aggressive abilities for each boss fight.

If you have issues or crashes caused by using the cheat table or just want to prevent any possible issues: I was unable to get anyone to test it before posting but there are a few things you can do. First thing to note is what the parenthesis means for any given ability. For instance, “Coagulation (0-8; 1-2, 3-5, 6-8),” means the name of the ability, followed by the value range that it should always be within (0-8), then the rest indicates which branch starting with the beginning (1-2), then the top (3-5), and then the bottom path (6-8). If the pointers do not match these values after you’ve loaded your save then you should delete those pointers, you should double check anytime you load a save before changing any values. It can cause unpredictable behavior otherwise. To see the pointers just press the right arrow key while selected on an ability.

Using the cheat table I made is entirely optional, if you are afraid it might cause issues then you do not have to use it. Your actions are your responsibility, and by using it you acknowledge that I will not be held liable if something were to happen. I am not tech support, I might answer some but it’s not my job. I have no personal reason to believe that it will cause issues, I just want to cover my bases.

Download the cheat table here[github.com]

I took some time to see what kinds of glitches could cause route changes for this challenge. These will tend to fall into one of two categories: “Clipping Required,” meaning that the area is loaded but a door or wall prevents access, while “Story Progression Locked,” means that something fails to spawn or a door is permanently locked until reaching a certain part in the story.

• Skal Hideout Early (Clipping Required)
  In chapter 1 you can get into the sewers and to the Fergal Bansha boss-room through the West End Sewers behind the Ascalon Club. If you enter from below Fergal will not spawn even when on the correct story progression but the gate leading to the Skal Hideout will be unintractable until Fergal is defeated. Bypassing this gate will allow us to save Rodney Grader early, get the hideout, get the Mace, get a collectible, along with other supplies. Though there is a potential second entry point, The Night Asylum‘s sewers can be entered in reverse even without draining that part of the sewers. The Sewer Skals and Rodney are unloaded until you approach. The water level puzzle is tied to story progression it seems so the only way out is through the sewer gate near the embankment in The Docks by unlocking the shortcut near Rodney. Reloading your save should allow you to leave from where you entered the sewers though. Usher Talltree will only divine Rodney‘s hint that he didn’t intend to kill a member of the Wet Boot Boys in chapter 1, which you get from talking him into returning to The Docks anyways.
• Swansea’s Office Early (Clipping Required)
  Having access to his office would allow us to obtain hints for Strickland, Ackroyd, and Rakesh. Which would mean all of their hints can be obtained on the first night. The door to his office is locked on both sides, he is unintractable, and picking up the documents in his room trigger game saves but do not change your respawn position. Usher Talltree will not divine any of their unobtainable hints in chapter 1.
• Crane’s Dispensary Early (Clipping Required)
  This one is a bit complex. So getting past either of the gates allows us to unlock them and enter The Dispensary where supplies and apparently a letter with all hints for nurse Crane. Normally you are supposed to talk to Barrett and Tobias about nurse Crane during Blackmail In Whitechapel to get her first two hints, but the letter seems to just give you all of them. Though getting passed the gate would be nice, getting into Darius Petrescu‘s house would be far better since it’s locked from the outside but the doors act as one way exits. Meaning we’d have access to The Dispensary, the collectible in his house, and also his supplies.
• Mason Early (Clipping Required)
  Getting access to Mason Swanborough‘s house would allow us to do a lot in chapter 1. For instance it would make the choice in the Promising Recruit investigation inconsequential and remove the need for obtaining a Swanborough Cordial entirely. It also allows us to read Loretta’s Letter and get her final hint, give him medicine, and complete his Occult Oculus investigation since all four of the Text In Braille are obtainable in chapter 1. Gaining access to the Laboratory of the Brother of St. Paul’s Stole before talking to Mason would be of no benefit, getting the potion recipe before progressing Occult Oculus leads to the investigation soft-locking since you cannot ever pick up another potion recipe.
• Crossley Household Early (Clipping Required)
  About as useful if not more useful than the previous, mostly since it allows for the completion of the Emily Is Missing investigation. There is nothing around to stand on to attempt to enter Emily‘s house from below, even if there is getting across the gap isn’t possible, and even if it was Venus still blocks you from entry on the second floor. The investigation reward is Charlotte’s Stake, the best stake in the game and well worth it. Being able to get almost all of the hints for the Crossley‘s is a bonus.
• Dawson Mansion Early (Clipping Required)
  Just a lot of Shillings and one of Charles Albright‘s hints, but actually possible. While his gate is locked on both sides, his mansion is left unlocked even in chapter 1.
• Theatre Early (Story Progression Locked and Clipping Required)
  Either for the early entry in the Theatre or at least the locked door on the stage. Gaining access below the stage could mean obtaining Calhoun Russel‘s final hint but not completing the Pandora’s Box investigation in chapter 4 since the key doesn’t spawn yet. While mere access to the Theatre isn’t too useful in and of itself, since most of the items within are lore documents, there is a slight chance that the key for the door might be there prior to chapter 4 or might facilitate access to said door sometime before chapter 4. Leaving through either other door during Grand Guignol after stopping Doris allows you to leave without finishing the chapter, you can re-enter and leave through the proper door and progress the chapter at any time.
• Roof Elevator Early (Clipping Required and Not Useful Yet)
  While seemingly of no benefit, if one could clip through the doors leading to the roof one could use the elevator and enter the Geoffrey McCullum boss-fight arena early. A consequence of doing this so early is that the elevator door isn’t open meaning that you are trapped in the elevator. Even if you managed to clip through the elevator door, the only plausible loot is a locked chest.
• Queen Early (Clipping Required and Not Useful Yet)
  If the boss fight can be activated earlier than normal at any point in the story then getting beyond that gate opens up the opportunity for speedruns. You can get to the locked gate through the West End Sewers behind the Ascalon Club. The path from the direction of the Skal Hideout is difficult to get to in the first place, is blocked by rocks till chapter 7, and the teleport prompt to the main ledge doesn’t exist; while the shortcut is accessible at all times and is locked only on one side. The boss can be entered but the boss doesn’t seem to spawn in chapter 1.
• Morgue Early (Story Progression Locked)
  Entering the Old Morgue early would allow us to get additional supplies before chapter 2. Most importantly it would allow us to find Corcoran Tippets‘ worst mistake, the death of Samuel Connor, and the hint obtained for doing so. Thereby making all of Tippets‘ hints obtainable on the first night. The doors are locked from both sides. Usher Talltree will only divine Tippets‘ resignation but not the reason as to why in chapter 1.
• Poplar Sewers Early (Story Progression Locked)
  In chapter 1 the sewer gates near Pembroke Hospital where the Sewer Beast and Oswald Thatcher can be found are locked tight. Early entry would mean obtaining another collectible and possibly saving Oswald in chapter 1. Both sides of each gate are locked and have very little collision behind them.

These are just a few last moment things that didn’t really fit anywhere else. I know that there are very few people who would play Vampyr now-a-days, less that would play it twice, and far less that would be looking for something like this so when started making this I decided that I would turn this into the largest contribution I could make and tackle as much as I can. There is only one person that I know whom has played Vampyr and they are always busy so I never really had the chance to bounce ideas off of anyone, such as the names of the challenges might not be that well inspired.

As a bit of back-story, after my initial casual run I decided to do a plain old level 3 run years ago and I discovered a method for gaining access to all districts early. Which changed everything, but that run was experimental, unrefined, and sloppy. So I decided that I was going to do it again, but properly this time with the very same challenges provided. When I did so I streamed it in its entirety live on Twitch to exactly no audience. Which isn’t surprising since I had only recently started streaming again, it was riddled with technical issues, and I refused to speak on stream.

Before posting this I decided to see if there were any speedruns and watch one of them to see if there were discoveries that could be added to this guide. It seems that there was another way to get to the other side of The Docks early that does not require the player to die, I checked and that method has been patched. Which isn’t surprising since the run released the same year as the game itself and they were using the experience cheat. It seems they open a path to the other side of The Docks to skip an easy fight. They fail to Save The Vicar, but prevent Mary from healing. It seems that they have no clue about the possibility for quick kill for Doris, they dish out so much damage on easy mode that if they juggle the first phase transition till just before phase 3, using techniques from Puppet Master, then they might have been able to use their ultimate to dish out the last third of her health before the last phase even starts unless it hard locks her health.

And that’s it, there will likely be a few mistakes or things missing and if you believe that there should be more clarification on something, find a typo, or more just let me know. I do not accept random Steam friend requests, so for anything pertaining to this guide please leave it in the comments.