In Chain & Gain, your goal is to find every piece of loot hidden in one of three levels: Northcrest Manor, the House of Blossoms, or Moira Asylum (a downloadable map). You’ll find loot scattered all over the place, and each time you collect a piece, a 60-second “combo timer” starts ticking down. Hurry and find another piece of loot to reset the timer and keep your combo going!
Score Multipliers
The faster you find loot, the greater the multiplier becomes for each piece of loot you collect. Similarly, your multiplier will decrease during long pauses between scores. Therefore, grabbing loot as quickly as possible is the key strategy to achieving top scores in Chain & Gain.
Quick Chain Combos
Special bonuses are also awarded for “quick chain” combos. Achieve these combos by collecting multiple loot items in quick succession, without letting more than 10 seconds elapse between scores. The more familiar you are with the maps and guard patrols, the faster you’ll be at pocketing the loot and the higher your quick chain bonuses will rise!
Guards
Finding all that precious loot won’t be easy, as numerous guards are on the prowl. These guards are best avoided; being detected or suffering damage causes you to forfeit certain Thieving Challenges. In addition, knocking out guards penalizes your score, whether you knock them out in direct combat or get the drop on them with a stealth or aerial takedown. The first guard you KO penalizes you by 5,000 points, the second guard costs you 10,000 points, the third guard 15,000 points, and so on. The patrol routes shown on this chapter’s maps will help you avoid the guards.
Picking Pockets
Though guards are best avoided, picking their pockets is important, for each guard’s coin purse counts as a loot item. You can’t lift all the level’s loot items if you don’t pickpocket every guard. In addition, you’ll also rack up a few “risk taken” points as you pursue guards, which help pad your score a bit.
Focus
You have the advantage of Focus abilities during Chain & Gain events, which can help you identify guards and loot. However, the less Focus you use, the more bonus points you’ll receive at the challenge’s end. Rely on this chapter’s maps instead of Focus to help you avoid threats and track down valuables. You begin each event with two poppies to spare, and a few more can be found in the levels.