Locate

Quest implemented: 24 March 2003

Locate, as the name suggests, allows you to locate another vampire. So why the different levels, you ask? It's not quite that simple. Basically, the precision with which you locate a vampire is very fuzzy at the first two levels. At the first level, you are told distance, at level two, you are told both distance and direction, and at level three you are told the exact location of the vampire, labelled with the name of the intersection (that describes four squares, in one of which the vampire you are seeking is in).

If you have Second-Sight, Locate will combine with Second-Sight and merge to a single power, displaying the respective information on the Second-Sight page of the vampire you are looking for. This is a great way to save AP, though of course usually Second-Sight information is useless.

Prices

Locate(1): 1 500 coins
Locate(2): 4 000 coins
Locate(3): 15 000 coins

You pay the Empaths Guild the money to get information on where you are to go. Each Locate quest requires you to reach four intersections and identify yourself as a locate questing vampire there. These are the same for all vampires:

Intersections

Locate(1): Aardvark and 1st, Aardvark and 100th, Zestless and 100th, Zestless and 1st [Corners of City]
Locate(2): Aardvark and 50th, Zelkova and 100th, Zelkova and 1st, Zestless and 50th [Sides of City]
Locate(3): Sycamore 38th, Sycamore 63rd, Gypsum and 63rd, Gypsum and 38th [Spanning Center of City]

Once you have identified yourself with a codeword on these intersections (you get five days to reach them, which is enough leeway by far, if not as much as for Stamina; I'd say it's an irrelevant factor, at any rate), you will shed blood, though nowhere near the amount Stamina requires off you. It should, however, under no circumstances be underestimated: Paticularily Locate(3) can fail if you believe it to be a trivial amount.

Two-vampire 'Locate(4)'

If a clan/group has a vampire with Locate(2) and a vampire with Locate(3), exact pin-pointing becomes possible even for vampires that are Lost in Shadows. The vampire with Locate(3) should locate the target first, giving you the intersection with its associated other three squares. The vampire with Locate(2) should then head into one of those four squares (which is unimportant), then locate the target. Depending on the direction (or the location text 'here'), the exact square can be determined.

This method is useful for 'blind' scrolling shadowed vampires, especially, since the Locate(3) vampire can from the first pin-point onward scroll the victim, letting the Locate(2) vampire trace the path until both their AP is depleted. (Further location checks by the Locate(3) vampire aren't necessary.)

One-vampire 'Locate(4)'

When 'blind' scrolling a shadowed vampire, this method is not feasible, as you'll have to check a non-trivial amount of squares by hand after each scrolling, but if you have Locate(3) and you locate a vampire and move to the intersection, then walk through the squares, continually locating the vampire until 'here' is reported, you can also get an exact location.

Blood

Locate(1): 4 * -10 BP: -40 BP
Locate(2): 4 * -15 BP: -60 BP
Locate(3): 4 * -25 BP: -100 BP

Summary

Price: 1 500 coins + 40 BP, 4 000 coins + 60 BP and 15 000 coins + 100 BP: 20 500 coins + 200 BP
Benefits:
- you can locate vampires
- this power works together with Second-Sight
Contras:
- the quest always takes you across the entire city so it will take time
- Locate(3) is the third most expensive power in the game