... Brigitte entered the mansion to find the party in full swing. After speaking with some of the guests and finding them boring, her vampiric instincts revealed to her the existence of hidden doors that led to secret passageways within the walls. There were also two way mirrors in main areas so someone could observe what’s going on undetected. While exploring these passages she came across some locked bedroom and bathroom doors. One locked bedroom had a prostitute and a man who was passed out on a bed, and a locked bathroom had two party goers “powdering” their noses. Down one passage a two way mirror looked out into a large library, where Brigitte observed one of the Giovanni’s hired thugs open a secret door behind a book case that led to a tunnel. After draining the goon dry, Brigitte continued down the tunnel and found herself in an embalming room where she found the book Pisha wanted. She also discovered that the embalming slab functioned as an elevator that led to the Giovanni crypt below the mansion. Being necromancers, the Giovanni has some reanimated dead staggering around in the crypts so Brigitte had to fight through the undead until she finally found the room holding the Ankaran Sarcophagus. It was being guarded by two Kuei Jin, names the Chang Brothers, who revealed that LaCroix and Ming Xiao had an alliance and that Brigitte’s presence their violated that alliance. Brigitte defeated the Changs and loaded up the Sarcophagus into the back of a truck for transport to Ventrue tower...

Party Time

All tuckered out

”Powdering” their noses

Secret Library Tunnel

Zombies in the Crypts

Sarcophagus found!

The Chatty Chang Brother

Sarcophagus secured and ready for transport

LaCroix is gonna squeal like a little girl when he sees it!

Lol! He was quite excited and then his excitement turned to... well we’ll see soon!

Tell Beckett to bring his fine-tooth comb

Lol! He is sooo disrespectful to LaCroix. It’s awesome!

He's the kind of guy who can shoot you down while you think he complimented you

The great marble hall looks really cool.

Of course there are zombies in the crypts! Where else would they be after all?

The Changs have some serious tats.


I take it LaCroix is a Ventrue? I understand the character from the game is named after Lucien LaCroix from Forever Knight. I love the TV show. He was one of the coolest parts. He was an awesome villain, especially in the second season, because he didn't want to kill the protagonist. Instead he wanted to bring him back around to his own way of thinking, that humans are nothing but cattle. They had a very interesting Father-Son relationship.

LaCroix is indeed a Ventrue and Khajiit remembers watching Forever Knight a few times on SyFy! Don’t remember much about it beyond the main guy keeping wine bottles full of blood in his fridge instead of hunting humans

It was an excellent show. I bought it on dvd, but I think Netflix has it. LaCroix on that show was definitely a Ventrue, and thusly Nick and Janette too, since he made them. Though Nick might be considered a Thin-Blood, as he is trying to become human again. In a few episodes he showed himself to be less vulnerable to other vampire's weaknesses - like sunlight - because of his quest to become mortal.

Netflix does not have it sadly. Amazon Prime Video does have it, but you have to, ugh, pay extra for it.

They have all 3 seasons on dvd. Don't ever waste your time on Netflix's instant viewing. There is never anything but crap on that.

You mean the streaming part? Khajiit has found plenty to watch on that.

So what's Brigitte up to now?

She has actually delivered the Sarcophagus to LaCroix and the book to Pisha. She is now loading up on ammo for her various “toys”. About to go pay the Society of Leopold a not so friendly visit.

Ooh! A location I actually enjoy in this game! Fancy that

Got Society of Leopold coming up either tomorrow or Wednesday! It’s so much fun sneaking around killing those fools!

Certainly looking forward to the report and pixies!

This Brigitte update is long and Imgur won’t let Khajiit post all of the screenies at once so it will come in two parts...

Part 1
After recovering the Ankaran Sarcophagus, she brought it back to Venture Tower. LaCroix was overjoyed to have it in his possession, but soon his excitement turned to exasperation when he realized Beckett didn’t know how to open it. He then tasked Brigitte with finding out how to open it, and Beckett provided the only lead: an archaeologist who was studying the Ankaran Sarcophagus named Johannsen was abducted by a group of vampire hunters known as the Society of Leopold. Beckett told Brigitte where to find the hunters and off she went like a bat on the night wind.

She arrived at an old mission church along the coast west northwest of LA. The place was heavily guarded, but Brigitte stalked the hunters on the ground level undetected and took them out one by one. Soon the only guards on the exterior of the building were the ones on the roof. They posed no threat as long Brigitte remained stealthy so she didn’t bother killing them. With the exterior cleared, Brigitte walked through the front doors.

The room she entered into was swarming with hunters. Brigitte was still sneaking though so they didn’t detect her in the dim light. All the same, she turned and went back out and around the building looking for a back entrance, which she found and unlocked with her lockpick. That entrance proved to be a better choice as there was only one hunter in the small chapel it opened into. To advance, Brigitte did have to deactivate a laser trip wire rigged to explosives which she did by hacking the nearby computer. After that, she attacked the lone hunter in the chapel, who was praying in front of a large cross on the back wall, by draining him dry. She then made her way down the hall towards the main entrance, taking out more guards and laser trip wires without alerting anyone. Brigitte found a stair case up to the second floor which opened into a large scribe room filled with hunters. They didn’t see her, so Brigitte let them be. In a small room up there, she found a scroll picturing the Sarcophagus and a book on vampires.

Brigitte then went back downstairs and found a room with more stairs that led to the cellar. She stealthily took out the two guards down there and found a hidden passage behind one of the wine barrels. This led to the caverns under the monastery. The door from the monastery building entered high up in a very deep cavern. Brigitte looked down and saw two guards way down at the bottom of the room and a series of cliffs with ladders leading down to the cave floor. Without a thought she stepped off the high cliff, ignoring the series of ladders and plummeted to the bottom of the cavern...

Sealed Fate: Becket tells the Prince he doesn’t know how to open the Sarcophagus.

Beckett

Easily Distracted: LaCroix tasks Brigitte with finding out how to open the Sarcophagus while Brigitte is distracted by the voices in her head.

Hotel California: the monastery headquarters for the Society of Leopold.

Lunch Break

Killing with flair.

Jolly Murderess

Oops, wrong door.

Prey

Lions Den

Long Way Down: Brigitte enters the caverns below the monastery and prepares to fall (literally) upon the hunters at the bottom.

That monestary sure is fun. Especially with a Malk who can let them all turn on each other

Part 2
Once Brigitte hit the cavern floor she went to work on the two guards she saw patrolling around. The fall caused a little damage but not enough to cause a problem. The first guard she forced an image of death into his mind that was so real the guy died from fright. The other guard opened fire on her but Brigitte was soon sinking her fangs into his throat. After those two were dealt with, she skulked down a tunnel that eventually branched. Brigitte decide to go straight instead of right at the branch and soon came upon a cavern with a small pool of water and several cages. Two guards stood at the entrance discussing something but soon moved off, isolating themselves from each other. Brigitte eliminated each one and noticed a captive in one of the cages. It turned out to be the actor, Ash, who she had helped earlier get rid of a hunter in his club. His face had been branded with the cross symbol of the Society of Leopold. Brigitte gave him a blood bag, freed him, and Ash thanked her before running off vowing to go somewhere no one would ever see his face again. With Ash freed, there was nothing left to do in that cavern so Brigitte backtracked to the branch of the tunnel and turned left.

That tunnel opened up into a large grotto complete with a boat dock and access to the sea, and swarming with hunters. Brigitte methodically took out the guards and made her way to the opposite end of the grotto. On the other end was a set of large double doors that opened into a large training and target practice area. Brigitte narrowly dodged a bullet fired from a sniper rifle on a high staircase all the way across the training area. She was then hailed by the same hunter, called Bach, that she saw in the inferno at Dr. Grout’s mansion earlier in her dark adventures. He taunted her and began shooting at her repeatedly. It was a tough fight, but Brigitte was able to get behind a structure and snipe Bach with her scoped assault rifle that she picked up from one of the hunters outside the monastery. After Bach lay dead, she crossed the room and climbed the stairs that led up to a room that apparently served as a safe room of sorts. Inside Brigitte found Johannsen and he told her everything he knew about the sarcophagus and that she’d need a key to open it. She then offered to help him escape and together they went back out into the training area cavern. Bach had one last surprise and set off a explosion that threatened to cause the whole cavern system to collapse before finally dying. Brigitte then ran back to the boat dock at the big grotto where she found a boat and used it to escape out to sea just before the cavern collapsed.

Brigitte made her way to Venture Tower where something bad had happened while she was away. There was scorched debris laying all over the area in front of the entrance to the Tower, and cop cars sat idling with their lights flashing. Inside the lobby floor in front of the security desk was covered in blood and the bodies of security guards and cops littered the stairs and the ground floor elevator landing. Brigitte took the elevator up to LaCroix’s penthouse, and found the Prince quite angry. He explained that while she was gone the Sabbat sent some goons to try and blow up the Sarcophagus and Venture Tower with it. He and his Sheriff eliminated them but the attack endangered the Masquerade which could not be tolerated. LaCroix then tasked Brigitte with eliminating the Sabbat leader at the Hallowbrook Hotel there in Downtown LA and asked what she learned about how to open the Sarcophagus. Brigitte then told him he needed to find the key which should’ve been in the crate the Sarcophagus was shipped in on the Elizabeth Dane. Beckett stated he would study the Sarcophagus until the key turned up, and with nothing left to say, Brigitte stalked off to go deal with the Sabbat...

Dungeon

Ash

Big Grotto

View to a Kill

Boss Door

The Fearless Vampire Hunter

Johannsen

Last Gasp

Escape Boat

Bombing Debris

Bloody Lobby

Slaughter

Swatted SWAT

LaCroix Enraged

The Sheriff

This is a good part of the game. First the monestary and then the Hollowbrook Hotel. Fun all around!

Then you’ve got Griffith Park

And thus another reason I won't play this game again despite the fun areas

Lol, Khajiit remembers playing through Griffith Park for the first time, shaking, because it’s so nerve wracking!

That friggin werewolf...

I never tried to kill him but I always somehow managed to wait by the tram where he glitched out and kept "jumping" in and out of the building.

Khajiit usually goes for the observatory doors kill.

Of course a Khajiit would


After that is kinda fun when Santa Monica is emptied and just has vampires hunting you. Too easy if using Obfuscate but I don't care. It's a legit game mechanic!

Hmmm, Khajiit doesn’t remember that!

It's right before you go for the last ride with Cabbie.

This one supposes he’ll see soon enough!

I started a game as a Tremere. Is there any way to change your appearance, or your clothing?

No way to change your appearance short of maybe a mod. You can get different clothes as you progress through the game. They have some clothing options for mods too. Brigitte’s wardrobe looks different than her typical vanilla set.

What clan is Brigitte? I don't recall you ever saying.

She’s a mad Malkavian! If you can, you may want to play through the game at least once as a member of one of the other clans before playing as a Malkavian. Their dialogue will make much more sense...

In V:TM-Bloodlines 2 news, Clan Toreador is confirmed as a starting clan. Might make an excellent choice for a first play through character.

I've played Gangrel, Malk, Toreador and Tremere, in that order. Played as Malk at least twice btw, best clan ever if you can stand the dialogue font which I barely could.


-Don't skimp on Tharmaturgy, SubRosa. It's crazy powerful!

Thinking Gangrel might be Khajiit’s next character. This one has never played them but finds their animal powers interesting

Yeah, Animalism is the Gangrel equivalent of Tharmaturgy in my opinion in the sense it's almost OP in the higher stages.

Loved making people’s blood boil with my Tremere character all those years ago!

Although Thaumaturgy is fun, I just didn't like the Tremere character model. Looked too stiff. Malk was better. Funnily enough, both character models remind me of people I know!

Lol, I always thought it was funny that the female Malk model got boob physics

Giggity.


Anyway, so Khajiit's gonna do another playthrough after this one?

I like the Tremere model. The big bouncy jugs of the Malkavian looks rather silly to me. It says something about the people who made the game.

Khajiit certainly will start one!


Khajiit thinks that was the point. Malkavians have a super silly vibe to them. Everything about them is “over the top”.

When I first started playing the game I was taking it quite seriously. But I soon found that having a more relaxed approach and being goofy was much more interesting

My Tremere (named Hecate of course) is mostly done with Santa Monica now. She has picked up several weapons, a .38 revolver, a knife, and a baseball bat. The .38 is really underwhelming. I have read in places that firearms are good in the early game, but weak in the later game. They don't seem that great even in the early game. It looks like melee or unarmed is the way to go. I did just get a shotgun however, so maybe that is better. I have not had the chance to use it yet.

So far I liked the knife most. At least until I got the disembodied arm. That is now my favorite weapon. It is so over the top and insane it must have been put in for Malkavians. But it is undeniable fun to beat someone to death with an arm.

TBH, the thaumaturgy has not been great so far. There is a blood strike which does only a little bit of damage, and returns the blood it spends back to you. But it takes dozens of hits to put someone down, in which time I get really beat up. Hence my using the arm mostly instead. I never got the second level thaumaturgy power to work. I have not gotten the 3rd level one yet, that makes a shield out of blood.

I am wondering if the Dominate power that makes people commit suicide might be better?

I am also having trouble when I try to feed in combat. Does this ever work? It only did once for me. Most of the time she just grabs at my enemies with no effect.

Trust me, Thaumaturgy is Da Skit later on with Blood Boil. But hey, whatever works for ya!


Feeding while in combat is indeed a difficult task as the enemies are aware of you and thus can resist your attempts. If you want to increase your chances, put some points in Brawl I think. Anything that makes your character physically stronger. Blood Buff can also help with that.


And yeah, guns suck in this game. I used them anyway though since I like to shoot and some weapons like the Steyr Aug and the automatic shotgun are not halfbad.

Yeah firearms are really somewhat situational. Khajiit’s Brigitte is pretty good at using firearms. During the late early/mid game, she used the combo of the Glock-ish pistol and the JaegerSpas assault shot gun and a combat knife when she really needed to hurt something supernatural. Guns are great against zombies, but so is melee. Brigitte also killed the Vampire Hunter, Bach, with the assault rifle you can get in that mission. So really it’s up to you.

If you are having trouble feeding, it’s because your brawl skill isn’t very high. In combat, enemies will actively fight you to keep you from feeding on them, so a higher brawl score will make this easier. Otherwise, pop the Blood Buff power before trying to feed on a combatant. This will increase your strength and make it a bit easier to feed on the unwilling. Blood Buff is really useful when in melee combat with other vampires as well.

*Edit* Derp, ‘d by ‘Rocu!

So can you block while in melee combat? I thought I saw something say you can use the Tab key to block or dodge, but it has never done anything for me.

I got Thaumaturgy up to level 3, and it seems to be working a lot better now. The Blood Shield was really cool. It seemed to stop everything in the big fight in the parking garage Downtown. The Blood Strike is doing much better damage now too. Something like 28 points an attack, where it was only 6 or 7 when I first started.

I also found that the Trance power works great in combat. It not only instantly takes one guy out of a mob, but it also makes it really easy to feed off them in the fight. Which has the added bonus of getting you back the blood point you spent on using the power!

Hecate is running around with an axe now. With Blood Shield to defend her, and Trance and Blood Strike, she is racking ass against mortals. I have not tried it against vampires though.

I was disappointed to find that even though I have Dominate, it does not work in dialogue however. It seems only the Ventrue can use it to get special options when talking to people.

See? I told you Thaumaturgy was Da Skit. Wait till you get Blood Boil!


Not sure about blocking though. As I'm an all gun kinda vampire I never really delved into it. But I do know that putting points into Dodge helps with that, although there's no animation for it. You just avoid taking damage when the dice are rolled.

Khajiit was sure Dominate can be used in certain instances in conversation. It’s been a while since this one played as a Tremere though. Blocking is done by pressing the secondary attack button while in melee, if memory serves correctly. Khajiit has that mapped to one of the “thumb buttons” on the left side of his mouse.