Suggested Level: 30

Seeds of Rebellion¶

This quest begins immediately after completing “ Shadya’s Rest “. Bayek completed his ritual for Shadya, but now a new danger looms in the form of the commander at Fort Boubastos. Talk to Hotephres and you’ll get a grasp of the scope of the operation him and Khenut are planning. Having recovered from grief after the death of their daughter, they seem to have set upon a new purpose - the liberation of Faiyum from the corruption of Ptolemy’s regime. Starting what may be little less than a full blown rebellion is going to take more bodies than Bayek, however, so you’ll be told to talk to the farmers… starting with the one they saved from the shakedown previously.

Make your way east and talk to this farmer, who is reluctant after just a few words. Seeing that it’ll take more than this, Bayek will decide to indulge in a little menial labor to win the farmer over. In this case, it means lighting three bundles of straw on fire, which you can do by shooting them with an “On Fire” bow, or by using your torch. After they’re all burning, talk to the farmer again and it’ll occur to Bayek to mention he killed the captain that was pestering him earlier, which will change the farmer’s mind.

Return to Hotephres’s villa and he’ll strengthen his resolve to free the people of Faiyum and, as if on cue, some soldiers arrive to put an end to Hotephres. Your foes include two brutes and an elite soldier, and while Hotephres will rush them head-on, there’s nothing stopping you from staying on the roof and taking pot shots at them, or from sneaking up and eliminating at least one of them. When they’re dead, Hotephres will talk force, but Khenut will suggest a little more finesse, and convince Bayek to accompany her.

Follow Khenut out of the villa and ride southeast to reach the rebel base, at which she’ll have the meeting she arranged only to find that there’s been a bit of a snag in her plan. Apparently the rebel leader got himself into some trouble, and without the brains of the operation, the rebels are useless. As usual, Bayek will be called on to perform a rescue operation.

Cleons Dam¶

The rebel leader can be found to the northeast, near the Cleon’s Dam point of interest. This area is your typical enemy camp, with one captain (level 32) and one treasure to loot to complete the location objectives… which you might as well do while you’re here and all. This fort’s layout isn’t too bad, there’s a road running over the dam along which are several tower - two at either end of the bridge and two in the middle. On the southeastern central tower is an alarm brazier, and standing near the end of each bridge are two heavy brutes. There’s also a lower, lakeward tower to the northwest, on which you’ll find your rebel commander. If you have the Chain Assassination ability, this area will be trivial, not that it’s too hard in any event. Kill the guards, reach the rebel leader, free him, then escort him to safety.

Fort Boubastos¶

The rebel leader is free, and the rebels are on Bayek’s side. Now all you have to do is kill the commander in Fort Boubastos and hopefully end the threat posed to Faiyum. Of course, while you’re here… you know how it works. Fort Boubastos is another massive fort, being home to two captains (level 32) a commander (level 33) and four treasures. It’s comparable to Nikiou Fort in many respects, not the least of which because of the super captain - the massive, scepter-armed brute - which dwells there.

The camp can be divided into two unequal areas, as to the northwest there’s a lower section of camp surrounding some water. Here you’ll likely find the lesser of the two captains and a few guards, who can be dispatched with relative ease considering there’s a bit of separation between the elevated, main part of the fort.

Once the northwestern area is cleared, turn southeast and note a cave in the cliffs. This will lead you into the interior of the fort, although it doesn’t go very far, nor does it take you to a terribly advantageous spot. You’re better off scaling the walls, in all honesty. Resist the urge to attack the main for to the southeast for now, however, as there’s a better strategy for the next phase of the attack.

Leave the fort entirely (exit the restricted area) and circle around to the southeastern edge of the camp, where you should see some rebels attack the fort. There’s only a few of them, and they have no chance of making a significant impact on their own, and worse still, they’ll aggravate all the guards. You could help them, but that would almost certainly involve a direct conflict with a large part of the remaining soldiery, including the commander (who isn’t much of a threat) and the scepter-armed super captain (who is very much a treat!).

Let them spend their lives on a fruitless assault, wait for the gaurds to calm down, then be sure to scout out the remaining enemies with Senu if you haven’t already. The next phase of attack should be a familiar one - scale a wall in an advantageous position and go around the walls kill any enemies you come across. There are ballisate posted about, but few of them are of any real use, and there aren’t too many other tricks you can play. At this point in the game, your bows probably aren’t capable of killing many soldiers in one hit anymore - there are just too many dual-dagger wielders, brutes and elite soldiers about at this level - but your hidden blade should still suffice. You also may have noticed that higher-quality archers now regularly can be found, and they have a nasty habit of shooting fire arrows. This isn’t going away, and you can expect fire bombs to enter the arsenal of enemies soon, joining smoke bombs, which have probably not been uncommon for a while now.

Exterminate as many enemies as you can by circling the walls and pouncing on isolated stragglers below you. If you can kill the commander, great, but your main goal should be to isolate the scepter-wielding super captain so you can take him on one-on-one. Be wary of patrols and convoys that love to prowl along the road to the southeast, as they can spoil your best laid plans, and you really don’t need distractions when fighting the super captain.

Starting out with a sneak attack and an Overpower attack is recommended, but don’t expect this to kill him. When in combat, don’t rely on blocking, especially his charge attack (not to be confused with a charged attack - which he’ll also perform), which will go right through your shield. On top of that, he’s got many attacks that can shave off more than a whole health bar from a well-leveled and upgraded Bayek. You’ll need to use charged attacks of your own to knock him down and score a few hits, and if he’s getting the best of you, don’t be afraid to flee and return after you’ve recovered… starting round two with another sneak attack and Overpower, if possible. He’s also not terribly fast when he’s not charging, and this opens him up to abuse from archery. If you can stay out of this way, you can pin-cushion him with dozens of arrows. It’s cheap, but it works.

When the soldiers are all dead, confirm your kill of the commander and Bayek will muse about leaving the fort and talking to his co-conspirators. Before that, however, there’s four bits of juicy treasure to be plundered in this fort, and there’s no sense in leaving them all alone and afraid.

Head to the fort’s southeastern gate and from this gate turn west to find a building. Actually two buildings, if you want to get technical, as you can’t enter the northern-most part of the building from the southern-most. Head to the southeastern end of the building (facing the fort’s exterior wall) to find a doorway leading into the building, then continue northwest into a smaller, dark room, in which you’ll find a white chest and a red chest. Leave the building and circle around its northeastern side and head northwest to find another opening under a red canopy. In the room beyond you’ll find a satchel on a desk. Finally, leave this building via the way you entered and head up the road to the northeast, towards another gate. The last treasure is in a house adjacent to the gate, just turn left (northwest) and plunder the large red chest within.

When you’re done looting, exit the fort via the southeastern gate and climb a bluff to the southeast, where you’ll find Khenut and Hotephres. They’ll both put too much emphasis on the role other people played, when they were really at best a nuisance, or at worst a liability. Oh well, despite them slighting Bayek by spreading credit to those who weren’t worth consideration, they’ll still speak highly of you and claim you’re eternally welcome in Faiyum.