Logbook entry

A comprehensive Odyssey guide for covert heist and theft missions to unlock Terra Velasquez

• You were caught by security with an illegal item or cloned profile, or tried to evade a security scan.
• A NPC caught you trying to do something illegal (e.g. cloning a profile, killing someone, etc.).
• A NPC found the body of someone you killed previously.
• You failed to comply to requests from a NPC to stow your weapons.
• You failed to comply to requests from a NPC to leave a restricted area.
• You opened a sample containment unit before disabling the settlement alarm.

• The quieter footsteps suit mod is extremely helpful for these missions. It significantly reduces the distance at which NPCs can spot you, which makes it easier to evade security. Consider putting it on one of your suits if you have already unlocked the engineer Yarden Bond (preferably on a Maverick suit as it is rather a wasted mod on a Dominator or Artemis).
• The night vision suit mod can allow you to see in the dark without needing to use the torch that makes you easier to spot by NPCs (although it would mean that you were lucky enough to find a suit with night vision, or payed a visit to engineer Yi Shen in Colonia). It is however less relevant than the first recommendation since settlements tend to be well illuminated during the night.
• A silent weapon could be helpful to defend yourself without alerting the whole settlement security in case something goes wrong. The weapon of choice for this would be a Manticore Tormentor with noise suppressor (and maybe audio masking, although it is less important). This is the least important pre-requisite however because most theft and heist should be able to be completed with a fully stealth gameplay, and civilian NPCs who are usually inside the settlement buildings are very weak at combat anyway.

• All NPCs follow a specific (looping) route that they always stick to, except in case of some specific events happening (e.g. alarms being triggered, gunfire being heard, etc.). It is therefore relatively easy to predict their movement after observing them completing their route once. Note that two NPCs who meet during their patrol will stop for a short amount of time to have a discussion.
• Both civilians and security guards will give you one warning if they spot you in one of the two following situations: you are trespassing in a restricted area, or you drew a weapon or a Profile analyzer in cloning mode. In both cases, they will give you a few seconds to either leave the area or stow your weapon/tool away before becoming hostile. It should be noted that you have only one warning per settlement for each of these actions: if a NPC catches you a second time doing either of these actions, they will immediately turn hostile.
• Civilian NPCs will never attempt to scan you, whatever the situation is. The only way for civilian NPCs to become hostile is if they catch you doing something illegal (e.g. trying to clone a security profile, stealing from a sample containment unit, etc.) or if you ignore their warning to leave a restricted area or stow away your weapon.
• Security NPCs will scan you periodically if they manage to see you. If you are scanned once and considered to be clean, there will be a time window of a few minutes during which no other security guard will attempt to scan you.
• Crouching while moving can help you to avoid detection. Security NPCs will also never scan you if you are on a higher elevation than them (e.g. on the top of a box or a roof, in the middle of a jump). Keep in mind that in these situations, they can however still see you and react to some actions such as drawing weapons or trying to clone a profile.
• NPCs will not react in any negative way to you opening lockers, interacting with panels, or acting like a creep (e.g. always crouching, trying to sneak around, etc.). They will however become immediately hostile if they see you stealing a good, asset, or trying to download illegal data (even if the alarms have been disabled). Note that stolen assets and data will not be detected during a security scan, but goods marked as 'traceable' will.
• If a security guard scans you while you have a stolen security profile, discard it immediately. This will ensure that you are considered clean, and stealing another profile is always possible afterwards. One remark: NPCs do not react in any specific way if you had to discard a cloned security profile and they spot you inside an area requiring a high security level access.

1. Analyse the settlement layout: it is first advised to take some time to visit the settlement to check its layout (for instance to spot the position of unguarded entrances, power sockets and terminals) and scan as many NPCs as possible (both inside and outside buildings) so that their position appears on your radar. You do not have to worry about being scanned by security during that phase since your status should be clean at this point.
2. Steal a security profile: use your Profile analyzer in profile cloning mode to steal the profile of a NPC with a high authorisation access level. Keep in mind that cloning a security profile is an illegal action that will trigger security response if they spot you. You should therefore make sure than no NPC - including the one whose profile is cloned - are seeing you during this operation. The safest way to clone a profile in my experience is to scan a NPC inside a building through a window while they are showing their back to you. Staying on roofs during the whole operation can make it significantly safer. For most covert missions, stealing an access level of 2 should be enough to complete them. If you cannot find any NPC with authorisation level of 2 or higher who can be scanned through a window, you might have to resort to scanning an outside NPC (usually riskier because they are mostly security guards with overlapping patrol routes). In that case, the best way to clone the profile is to follow the NPC from behind while crouching. Another alternative consists in stealing an authorisation access level of 1 to get inside a building and scan a civilian with a higher authorisation profile.

The safest way to steal a NPC profile is through a window while on the top of a roof. Make sure the NPC is not looking at you while doing this!


3. [Optional for covert theft missions] Locate the settlement alarm control system and deactivate it: with your new authorisation access level, find the settlement alarm control system using a terminal and select it to have it marked on your map. Go inside the building where it is located while making sure that you are not scanned by security along the way (being spotted by civilians is completely fine). Alarm control systems are usually located in CMD or PWR buildings inside a restricted area in medium and large settlements, but should be significantly less protected and easier to access in smaller ones. If the alarm is inside a restricted area, analyse the patrol of the NPC guarding it from a safe distance to make sure they will not spot you once you enter it. You should note that NPCs will not react in any special way if they see you deactivating the alarm (security guards may attempt to scan you however).

Locate the settlement alarms control panel and disable them. If possible, you can also disable autorisation scans to make it easier to get back inside buildings if you had to discard your security profile.


4. Locate the item to steal: using a terminal, locate the item to be stolen and mark it on your map. For cover thefts, the pass-code to open the locker will be provided to you when you accept the mission. Go to the location while avoiding being scanned by security (crouching or staying on rooftops can help with that). As always if someone scans you, just discard your stolen security profile to appear as clean, and then work on stealing a profile again.
5. Steal the item: for covert thefts, simply go to the item location while avoiding security, open the locker with the code provided to you, and pick the item. Make sure that no NPC sees you taking the item to avoid trouble, and be careful not to be scanned by security when in possession of the item. For covert heists, go to the sample containment unit and open it to start the 3-minute countdown. From my experience, it is possible to do this operation in view of a civilian NPC without triggering any response (but doing it while they are not looking might be safer). Then go wait for the 3 minutes to pass in a place where NPCs cannot see you, and preferably where you are relatively far from the sample containment unit while still being able to see it. Once the 3 minutes have passed, go fetch the item if no NPC is around at that time. If one NPC is close to the unit, you can either rush to get the item (this will trigger a hostile response most of the time, although you will still be able to complete the mission since the alarms are disabled at that point), or let them close the containment unit and try to reopen it again with another timing. One remark: you can also try to distract a civilian NPC patrolling near the sample containment unit by approaching them when they are the furthest away from it in their patrol route (like if you wanted to have a talk). This should delay their return to the unit by 15 to 20 seconds, which can be enough to let you steal the item without being seen.

For covert heists, wait the 3 minutes at a safe distance from the sample containment unit, preferably at a place where you still have visual contact on it and where NPCs cannot see you. Note that in this example, one NPC has direct line of sight to you, so finding another hiding spot might be safer.


6. Leave the settlement: just go back to your ship while avoiding being scanned by security in possession of the stolen item. In chaotic situations where NPCs would have become hostile after spotting you stealing (relatively common in covert heists), activate your shields, rush out of the building and try to stay on rooftops as much as possible since security guards will have more difficulties to see or reach you there. If you landed your ship outside of the settlement and not on the landing pad, getting back to it while avoiding security should then be easy.