(3) Peaceful solution: Entering the Hengsha Court Gardens building Deus Ex: HR Guide

Last update: 11 May 2016

There are many different ways to get inside the building without any bloodshed and the top four of them is listed below.

Map legend: 1 - Main passageway guarded by Belltower units; 2 - Stairs leading to the entrance to the building; 3 - Entrance to the first shaft; 4 - Exit from the first shaft; 5 - Entrance to the second shaft; 6 - Scaffolding leading to alternative paths to the building.

The first option is to use camouflage (Cloaking System augmentation) and that would allow you to pass by all the guards without being seen by the them. You would have to proceed west and use the stairs leading to the main entrance to the building (screen above). Sadly this method requires the camouflage to be active for a rather long period of time (10-15 seconds). As a result you would have to purchase other implants to lower the power usage of the cloaking system and/or have a lot of batteries at your disposal in order to prevent the cloak from shutting down prematurely.

The second option is to rely on ventilation shafts. The entrance to the first shaft is located to the north of Hengsha Court Gardens, close to the stairs leading to the subway station #1. Enter the shaft and reach the exit #2. Open the vent cover after you've made sure that no one is looking your way.

Exit the shaft and quickly take cover behind the nearest object #1. Wait for the right time (there's a single guard patrolling this small square) and move to an adjacent cover located to your right, near the stairs. You could use the stairs here to get closer to the building's entrance, but you would have to deal with two other guards #2 by avoiding them or stunning them without causing an alarm.

A much better solution than attacking the guards is to locate an entrance to a second ventilation shaft. Inspect the wall to your right to find it #1 and make sure that you're not seen by the patrolling guard when you're trying to enter the shaft. Go through the second shaft and notice that you've automatically entered an apartment on the ground floor of Hengsha Court Gardens #2. This means all you have to do is to exit this apartment to get to the main corridor.

The third option is to reach the entrance on the roof of the building. Start off by finding a large scaffolding located to the south of Hengsha Court Gardens (screen above). Interact with the first ladder to start climbing.

Continue climbing, using ladders and jumping on top of small crates along the way. You will soon reach the last ladder #1 leading to the roof on level three. Use this ladder and immediately turn right #2. Wait for the guards to finish their conversation.

You can deal with the guard situation in two different ways. Follow the guards if you intend to get rid of them #1. Use the opportunity that they won't turn around and stun both of them using weapons or in melee combat #2.

You can also try avoiding the guards without attacking them. One way to achieve that is to use a lower outer section of the roof #1. Naturally you would have to keep crouching here. Another possibility is to remain where the guards were talking and start making jumps towards small ledges located in front of you #2. Unfortunately this method would require a lot of precision and Jump Enhancement augmentation.

It doesn't matter whether you've neutralize the guards or they're still on the roof, because in both cases you must get to the northern door #1. Enter the Hengsha Court Gardens building #2 and use the stairs to get to the ground floor.

The last fourth option is to use a large and unused elevator shaft. The beginning of this path is identical to the previous one, so you'll have to find a large scaffolding located to the south of Hengsha Court Gardens (screen above). Interact with the first ladder to start climbing.

Continue climbing, using ladders and jumping on top of small crates along the way. You will soon reach the last ladder #1 leading to the roof on level three. This is where this path and the previous one split apart. Remain on the roof and explore the area in front of you to find a door with a level 1 electronic lock #2.

Solve the mini-game to open the door and enter a small room. There's an entrance to a ventilation shaft to your left #1. Use it to get to a very large elevator shaft. I would recommend that you start off by carefully making your way to the bottom of the shaft, because there's a Praxis kit there #2.

Take the Praxis kit and then start climbing towards the top of the elevator shaft. You will be using mostly ladders #1, however at one point you'll also be forced to jump on top of the crates #2 and from them to a new ledge.

As I've said, your objective is to reach the highest balcony inside the elevator shaft. Explore the area around you to locate yet another interactive vent cover #1. Go through the small shaft to gain access to the building #2. You should notice that this path is the only one that ends on the top floor of Hengsha Court Gardens, so you won't have to use the elevator.

Important! The walkthrough is continued in Step 4 (Entering the hacker's apartment).