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Dishonored: The Brigmore Witches Mission 3, "Delilah's Masterwork"


"Who have your victims been Daud? Civil servants? The housekeeping staff? Drunken boys on watch duty and frail old aristocrats? None like me."

The initial impression of the Delilah's Masterwork level is akin to an Elder Scrolls game. Shades of verdant green are a rarity in the gloomy world of Dishonored, and this is quite a striking first blush for the finale of these expansion packs.

The hulking gothic facade of the manor is imposing and acts as a centrepiece to multiple battles with the witches on its lawns. The Riverkrusts are back and seem to act as a sort of alarm system, and there are more tripwires than anywhere else in the game. You can find the front door key or get in through the crypt, and I recommend at least visiting the crypt. Like much of the interior spaces in the level it features drooping vegetation that seems to glisten with an arcane light, like something from a Bloodborne chalice dungeon, and it has a wonderful jump scare that, although predictable, is amazing nonetheless.

The highlight and main meat of the mission is creeping around the building's menacing interior. The macabre trophies, overheard conversations between the witches and winding routes create a surreal vibe even before the trip to the void that we are building up to. Tight corridors, large hallways allowing for more pitched battles or careful assassinations, and some crumbling areas where natural growth is reclaiming the building reminiscent of A Crack in the Slab or a ruin in an Uncharted game all make for a space complex enough to keep things interesting, but not a drag to navigate or re-cross.

You also get all the runes in this level quite quickly if you're using Void Gaze to track them down as a priority, so whether or not you played through The Knife of Dunwall first you should have plenty of ways to deal with the encounters.

The level has one of my favourite gameplay devices in the series actually - when you find Delilah's artist's loft you acquire a weird lantern with which you can illuminate the formerly blank painting in the manor's West Wing. This reveals some splendid colours and transports you to one of the most fabulous renderings of The Void yet for a boss fight with Delilah that foreshadows the eventual confrontation with her in Dishonored 2. With a number of copies of Delilah to deal with you have a fun excuse to empty your arsenal and use up all your Piero's Spiritual Remedies if you haven't already. Or, you can sneak around and replace her painting to trap her. 


Both these expansion packs have been terrific and I'm glad this write-up project gave me the excuse to finally get to them. Levels like this one, the slaughterhouse and the legal district really are everything I want out of Dishonored and it all drives home what a massively ambitious, creative and lovingly crafted title this was, delivering on the promise of both its engine and lore in a really terrific way.


I will start playing through and writing up the levels for Dishonored 2 soon.
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