Hitman (2016) - How to unlock Silent Assassin in the Paris Showstopper level
How to achieve all the objectives of Silent Assassin for Paris Showstopper, the first piece of episodic content for the new Hitman revival.
Depending on your personal playstyle, there are any number of approaches that can be taken when it comes to eliminating Viktor Novikov and Dahlia Margolis in the Paris Showstopper level. Some are quiet, others are loud and a few are just flat-out outrageous. Hitman's structure is wholly geared towards repeat playthroughs, where varied experimentation will take you to many different areas of the grand palace in which the Sanguine fashion show and clandestine IAGO auction are taking place.
It will take some time to find your own personal favourite approach, but to help you on your way to completing a coveted Silent Assassin playthrough and achieving a perfect rating in the end-of-level debrief, follow the steps outlined here. Enjoy!
Requirements:
- Complete the Paris Showstopper Level
- Kill only your two targets (Novikov and Margolis)
- Hide both of their bodies
- Don't get spotted in any area you shouldn't be in at any time or captured on CCTV cameras
The Approach:
This approach takes advantage of two of the game's Opportunities (more on these can be found elsewhere in this guide), reveals interesting elements of the story, and even sees our ever-stylish Agent 47 strut his stuff on a catwalk before leaving the party in style via a private helicopter!
First, enter the palace via the main entrance and witness Novikov's grand entrance - enjoy it while you can Viktor. Veer to the right of the grand staircase, making your way through the crowd and exit this lobby area via the open door at the back of the room. Turn immediately right and go through the door, where you'll see two women engaged in a fraught conversation.
They're important for one of this level's many Challenges, details of which can be found elsewhere in this guide, but they serve no purpose for our Silent Assassin approach. Exit out on to the patio behind them and move to your right, where you'll see two gents standing in the corner - one's wearing shades, the other's a bodyguard. Hang around here and an Opportunity will start to reveal itself.
Track down Max Decker and get the bodyguard's uniform
This gentleman is Max Decker, a Russian FSB agent whose boss recently "committed suicide”. Decker is here to meet with Novikov, and you're here to facilitate that meeting for reasons of your own. After Decker's phone conversation with Novikov concludes, you'll be able to track this Opportunity, which will point you towards securing a Bodyguard disguise so that Decker will trust you.
Follow the marker to a bodyguard who's going to "donate" his uniform to us. He's in the gardens to the northwest of the grounds, so follow the marker and track him. For best results - and so as not to get spotted - wait until he's walked around the potting shed and away back up the path towards the river.
Follow him and subdue - not kill - him, then dump his body in the nearby container and take his uniform. Now that you're disguised you'll need to be wary of those security forces that have a white dot above their head. This indicates that they'll be able to see through your disguise if you get too close. Head back to Decker on the patio.
Speak with Max Decker and 47 will tell him that he's here to collect him for his meeting with Novikov. Decker will follow you, but whether because he's nervous of this meeting or his pathfinding is a little shonky, he'll often stop along the way - don't run off too far ahead.
Follow the location marker back the way you came and into the gardens toward the pagoda, making sure not to stray too close to those security goons with a white dot over their heads - a reminder that they can see through your disguise. Once you reach the pagoda, Decker will once again call Novikov on the phone and you can now wait here to witness the meeting between the two of them, and learn a little more of the dealings of the shady Sanguine organisation.
Make sure, however, that you move to the spot on the pagoda that allows you to interact with it to “Blend In”, otherwise Novikov and his bodyguard will be suspicious of your unfamiliar face as soon as they arrive.
Get close to Viktor Novikov and execute him
After the meeting concludes, Decker will wander off a, traitor to his country and a great deal wealthier, while Novikov will dismiss his bodyguard to have some alone time to saviour his masterstroke of espionage. Not so smart of him, but great for you.
Follow him to railing overlooking the riverbank and let him savour his success, if you like, before snapping his neck and pushing him over the railing and into the River Seine, thus offing one of your two targets and completing the "InSeine" Challenge in the process.
Get to know Helmut Kruger a little more intimately
So, one down, one to go. Head back the way you came, past the pagoda and out of the gardens. Stroll past the helicopter on your left, and veer in that direction over towards where you took out the bodyguard earlier to obtain the disguise you're currently wearing. Here, another Opportunity marker has now appeared and you'll encounter the great Helmut Kruger, a fashion model who bears an uncanny resemblance to our very own Agent 47.
Wait until he's finished his first phone call to Dahlia Margolis, but don't let him finish his second call to his agent. Walk up behind him and subdue him, being careful not to snap his pretty little neck. When the coast is clear, dump his body in the same container as the bodyguard you secreted away earlier.
Return to where you felled Kruger and pick up his phone to make the call to Margolis to obtain the location of the meeting she's just set up with Kruger. Then, follow the marker back inside the palace and into the make-up area in order to get 47's face done in a manner similar to Kruger's. Being the superstar that you now apparently are, you'll have no trouble from guards or suspicious palace staff.
Find Dahlia Margolis in the Kruger disguise
Once the make-up job is applied by an unwitting stylist, you'll next need to walk the catwalk as Kruger! Head to the backstage area and take your place on the runway so everyone can get a good look at you working your thang. Once your turn is complete, it's off to meet Margolis, so exit the catwalk and loop all the way back around to the main lobby, where you'll be free to climb the stairs, unimpeded. Kruger's face clearly opens doors.
Once up the staircase, do a 180 degree turn and head towards the windows. You're going to be climbing the stairs to the next floor that are found at the far end of the building next, but you want to access them via the set of interconnected rooms over by these windows as taking the more direct route through the middle of the palace takes you past a CCTV camera.
Once upstairs, you'll meet with Dahlia Margolis, who recruits "Helmut Kruger" for some nefarious deeds. She then bids you pick up a vial of poison from the table and, better still, turns her back on you to take a phone call. Madness.
Poison Margolis and escape by helicopter
Take this opportunity to poison the glass of champagne that's sitting on the sideboard and that Margolis will then toast you with after she's finished her phone call. Seconds later, she'll collapse on the floor, in an extremely dead fashion.
One of the criterions for Silent Assassin is to hide the bodies, so make sure you drag her corpse over to the nearby wardrobe and stuff it inside. Then, head out of the room, go back down the stairs and out of the palace via a ground floor, west-facing exit. Here, you'll be able to stroll right up to that magnificent helicopter you ran back and forth past earlier to exit the level.
Paris Showstopper level complete and Silent Assassin rank achieved. Congratulations, Agent 47, you're a ruthless, efficient, cat-walking assassin!
- Keep reading for our guide to completing the Challenges in Hitman.
- Head back to the first page for the rest of our Hitman walkthrough.