In Scene 7 of Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong, Emem Louis is once again asked to play diplomat. This time, it’s as part of a mission to the unaffiliated “anarchs” who live in Boston’s slums, in an attempt to beg, borrow, or force them into helping you out. This requires you to play some political hardball. One of the anarchs’ leaders, Rafa, has made himself difficult to find. Tracking him down will require you to solve the hidden tablet puzzle.
Here’s how to do it in a handy step-by-step format, with unavoidable but mild spoilers.
Solving the Hidden Tablet Puzzle in VtM: Swansong
There are only two real clues as to where Rafa is hiding. One can be found if you befriend Kai, a thin-blood vampire who’s wandering around at ground level, by using Presence on her.
The other clue is simply that nobody wants to let you onto Gladys, the barge in the river. Naturally, that’s where you want to go.
There are two ways onto the barge. You can either grab the key to the tunnels from the Baron’s office and go through the old sewer system, or activate the crane access ladder near the barge’s gangplank, which requires at least one dot in Technology. Either way, you’ll need to Blink a couple of times to get aboard Gladys.
If you need to get some blood, there are rats all over the place, or you can sneak into the warehouse on the anarchs’ property and feed on a couple of the junkies there. The latter approach is preferable, as every rat you eat raises your Suspicion, which can eventually cripple your Psychology talent if it gets too high.
Once you’re on the barge, follow the gangplank up and around to the makeshift computer lab on its highest floor. There’s a lot to see and do in the anarchs’ archives, but for the purposes of this guide, the most important part is on the back wall.
Emem’s default level of Auspex is enough to pierce an illusion that’s concealing a tablet here. Like Jason Moore’s phone, the tablet is locked with a series of lines, rather than a PIN code.
If you’ve got Psychometry from Emem’s Auspex tree, you can trigger a flashback which gives you the only hint you’re going to get: Rafa looking towards the corner of the room. This gently suggests that the three art posters hung on the wall (“What if… everything… was connected?”) contain the solution to the lock.
If you’ve inexplicably taken the time to specialize Emem in Technology, or you’ve got a few of the one-time-use magnetic keys on you, you can run a bypass and move on.
This is also technically an optional part of the level, as you can also progress from this scene by dealing with the militia’s leader Cerys; Rafa’s cooperation is a “nice to have,” not an “absolute need.” While we’re here, though, let’s go ahead and solve this.
Much like other puzzles in Swansong, the trick here is simply understanding what you’re meant to do. The arrows on the posters are the solution, but you have to figure out a way in which you can input all six directional commands without hitting the edge of the grid.
From the top middle button, drag the cursor down, left, right, down, up, then right. You’ll go back over your own lines, but you should end up with a cross shape on the grid. When you input the code successfully, the door to your left automatically opens, which sets the stage for a meeting with the elusive Rafa.
Walking away from your conversation with Rafa with his cooperation is necessary to unlock the Black Rattlers trophy/achievement, alongside finding a way to enlist Cerys’s help.
And that’s how you solve the hidden tablet puzzle in VtM: Swansong. For more tips, tricks, and solutions, head over to our Swansong guides hub.
