A Criminal Past walkthrough

This page contains information regarding the progress sequence of the expansion A Criminal Past for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. It also contains lists of collectibles and achievements.

Objectives & XP Rewards
Note that there are no Ghost and Smooth Operator bonuses in A Criminal Past.
 * Completing this objective cancels the quest chain to bring the biocell to Flossy and Red Shoes.


 * Only if Adam fails to convince Guerrero.


 * Optional objective if The Fixer survives the events on the landing pad.

The Death of Wilburg
To get this POI, go to Cell Block A's yard and talk to the guy near the cool-off cage. To complete the POI, get to Cell Block B, go to the first level and search the broken drone to find a hacking device. The POI can still be completed after the riot.

Secret Stash / Maintenance Mystery
This POI is started by reading a pocket secretary in the left security office on level 3 of Cell Block A. The safest way to get there is through the vents - go to the supply room on the first floor (door code 6014), follow the vent to the ceiling area, then find another vent on the opposite side to reach the security office. The office is unoccupied. Duck down and press the EG switch to the right of the window to black out the window so you cannot be seen.

Read the pocket secretary on the desk to learn the location of the stash (maintenance room between the cell blocks) and its door code (3499). Search the drawers to get a General Access Keycard that lets you reach that area. Here you can also hack the security hub (level 2) to disable some cameras in the A-block.

Go to level 2 of the A-block and use the keycard to open the door to the security area. The area is patrolled by guards and monitored by security cameras. Get to the maintenance room in any way you prefer (e.g. by hiding behind the environment objects).

Once you are in the maintenance room, check the lockers in the back to complete the POI. Here you also find the yellow jumpsuit for the Dressed for the Occasion achievement.

Roll Call
While you are still in the area between Cell Blocks A and B, get to the security office there and take down the guard inside. Read the pocket secretary on the desk that contains the inmate registry for Cell Block B. It says Hector Guerrero is in cell B-116.

To complete the POI, get to cell B-116 and read the note you find there.

The Primrose Path
This POI only becomes available if you refuse to take the Fixer's special pill when you talk to him in the yard. Before heading to Solitary, make your way down to the Infirmary and talk to Fixer. Navigate the dialogue options until he offers you one of his pills again, then refuse. He will instead tell you there is a secret path connecting Medical with Solitary. Once you get the POI, grab the Infirmary keycard on the table next to him, which opens up the morgue door not far from Fixer. Now use that same card on the back door in the morgue, and you will find yourself inside the medical wing's medicine supply closet. There are 10+ painkillers, some biocells, and a curious computer in this room. If you look under the table, you will see a button. Press it, and the generic, unlocked computer switches to a level 5 security computer. Either hack it (not likely) or multi-tool it, then open the false door in the wall. Remember to turn off the camera! Once you step through the new "door," you will complete this POI.

Vanishing Act
To get this POI, you must have been witness to at least one ghost story/rumor before the riots start (B-block yard loves talking about this). Apparently, solitary cell number 6 is impossible to escape from, and guarantees death for all in there - or so they say. Once you make your way to Solitary confinement, the POI will start blinking. To get the 750 XP, step into cell #6, and move the floor grate. If you plan on falling down, you need Icarus Landing System to survive, but doing so is worth another 300 XP on top of the 750, and there is a quest item, two oddly upgraded machine pistols, some typhoon ammo, and a praxis kit waiting for you down there. No reason not to take a leap of faith, really, with that kind of reward sitting unclaimed.

The Head of the Snake
After you disable the transport security system in the Warden's office and watch the cutscene, go to the Infirmary. Search Stenger's body to get his keycard and the POI. Go to Stenger's office on third floor (level 4) of the Administration building and press the button under the desk to open a secret wall compartment. Use Stenger's keycard to open the safe and read the pocket secretary found inside.

Achievements
For a list of A Criminal Past achievements and how to get them, see A Criminal Past Achievements.

Tips

 * Ammo is not rare, but it is not exactly common, either. The most abundant ammo types are 5.56mm (regular and AP), .357 AP, shotgun shells (regular and EMP), and 7.62mm. Once armored enemies start appearing, the shotgun and standard 5.56mm become less useful, as they are less potent against armor.


 * A Criminal Past, like System Rift, features super sturdy helmets. It is not enough to hit a helmeted enemy in the head once, twice, or even three times with standard bullets. More often than not, 5+ standard bullets are needed to break the helmet, each connecting hit awarding Piece by Piece XP points. If you only have low-damage weapons on hand, like the shotgun, the pistol, and the machine pistol, it is typically more economical to aim for exposed throats, the stomach, or even limbs rather than heads. A burst shot from the shotgun to an enemy's gut will typically take him down even if he is elite, while the same burst to the head might only break the helmet, requiring a subsequent shot to the face to slay him. Should you be low on ammo in general, but still need those experience points, try to land a glancing hit with the combat rifle's AP ammo. If all goes well, you will get 3-5 Piece by Piece, and can subdue opponents with whatever other means are available to you.


 * Other than biocells, there are generally very few resources available in plain sight. If you do not have the Micro-Assembler augmentation, you may find that you only have enough crafting materials to upgrade one or two weapons. Fortunately, the developers put in quite a good haul of semi- to fully upgraded firearms for you to find, including oddities like machine pistols with a higher-than-normal rate of fire, and magnum revolvers that have 8 or 10 round capacity cylinders prior to any upgrades.


 * If you prefer the revolver, A Criminal Past is the DLC adventure you have been waiting for. Not only is AP .357 ammo one of the most common ammunition, but a single damage upgrade pushes you over the instant kill limit on even helmeted elite enemies, making the Classic Diamondback .357 or an upgraded regular revolver a very economical and useful weapon for this mission. A Criminal Past features far less standard .357 rounds than it does the armor piercing variant. About 120~ AP rounds can be found, but only 30 or so standard .357 rounds are available.


 * One can easily maximize XP before the riot by unlocking the Quicksilver implant and getting every guard to swarm the same area. The best spots are A-block's command center, A-block's shower, and assuming you have Klipspringer, the narrow path leading into B-block. Simply do repeated double non-lethal takedowns, and make sure you do the same to the EXO-suit guys. While you cannot perform a double EXO-suit takedown, they are worth quite a lot of XP individually (Elite +30, Expedient +10, Merciful Soul +20). There are also robots and turrets a plenty, so investing in Typhoon to maximize the Piece by Piece bonus can be a good idea. The Typhoon aug is useful in the last third of the DLC, anyway, and your allies (should you side with the inmates) do not really care all that much when you blow up 10 of them in a single go. The game actually awards you experience points for slaying your "allies."


 * A Criminal Past is harder than the main game. People who can effortlessly run through the main game on Give me Deus Ex will find that A Criminal Past actually puts up some resistance. Meanwhile, players who are only barely surviving the main game on such a difficulty would find it extremely punishing to play A Criminal Past on GMDX.


 * A Criminal Past challenges stealth-oriented players by featuring ever-present cameras, reinforced turrets, robots, drone sentries, and tight patrol routes that seem designed to flush the average ninja player out of his hiding spots. Furthermore, A Criminal Past does not award any Ghost or Smooth Operator bonuses at all, and most mechanical enemies can see you when you are cloaked**. If you do not disable the choke with the Fixer's fix, this extends to every enemy. Additionally, if you find yourself using stealth, consider setting up ambushes if you are unable to move through an area without causing a disturbance. Key places reinforce as you progress, so if you were successful in getting past, say, Observation early on, you will find that when you return, there are now EXO-suits and helmeted elite soldiers with AP assault rifles waiting for you, alongside all the enemies you did not kill on your first way through. This gets even worse if you do not venture into Administration early on, and let it sit undisturbed until the game tells you to go there.  (** Mechanical enemies CANNOT see Jensen while he is cloaked, but some of them are extremely sensitive to sound.  EXO -suits, while mechanical in nature, are really just humans, and turrets don't have sound detection.  Drones and robot walkers are the mechanical enemies you have to be on guard for.  If you wish to do a stealth-based play through, then it is HIGHLY recommended that the leg silencer -- the level 2 upgrade on Jensen's leg - be purchased.  While energy-expensive, enabling both leg silencers and the glass cloak simultaneously will allow you to sneak past these enemies.)


 * A Criminal Past places a big emphasis on choice and consequences. You are free to do whatever you want, with the exception of pulling out weapons down in the Fixer's hideout, but everything you do early on will have consequences later.
 * Get the altered biocell, then use it on yourself for a full energy bar and 5 praxis? Now your inmate "allies" are reduced by about 4/5ths, and the remaining ones are weak and poorly equipped. Flossy also hates you, and will not help you out unless you play your cards right.
 * Give the cell to Red Shoes, as instructed, and now the guards are the ones that are heavily reduced in population. The inmates, who are fighting on your side, by the way, are better armed, have better augs, and are typically veterans as baseline. Note, however, that while this may seem quite good (it is), it is not enough for them to overwhelm places like the stretch between Automated security and solitary confinement.
 * Do not take the fix? Quite a lot of dialogue changes if you do not, and Flossy provides a key card to the prison's base level security doors for free if you refuse the fix the first time it's offered.
 * Killing certain characters before the riot removes them during the riot part. For instance, the inmate who trades alcohol for a multi-tool. If you keep him alive, you will find him looting a large number of dead COs in the A-block shower during the riot, and if you knock him out, the treasure is yours (two 20 round boxes of 5.56mm standard, a single frag grenade for the grenade launcher, two biocells, two flashbangs, one EMP grenade, 30 crafting material, and one Dai-Taiga beer can). However, If you kill him before the riot starts, then there is no way to get any of this loot.
 * The riot itself can also be quite a bit harder if you mind your own business, and don't take out any of the guards or their assets before it starts.


 * Theoretically useful abilities like robot and turret domination are extremely practical in A Criminal Past, as are the upgraded radar, and even a level of LiDAR might serve you well for the harder battles. Old standbys like the Glass Shield Cloak are less useful. The Typhoon is also useful in many later battles. If you go heavy on the energy tree, getting TITAN is much better for your health and Praxis balance than investing in the HP augs and rhino, because there are so many biocells everywhere, especially if you deliver the altered biocell to Red Shoes. When you are being attacked by 5 machinegun drones, two EXO-suits, a reinforced turret, and a squad of elite classed infantry, while a heavy turret is filling the air around you with lead, you are going to wish you could just click that one button and become invincible for the duration of the battle. Of course, the devs thought of everything, and gave you the option to play lore accurate, that is to say without the experimental augs, or with all augs. Regardless, if you have access to the Micro Assembler, you retain it no matter your selection, but the chaff eye aug seems to disappear if you play lore accurate (hardly a loss). As you will figure out pretty quickly, there are tons of praxis available precisely because you will need it, but the majority of it is hidden in out of the way areas, so explore like your life depended on it.
 * Hacking is not that important. The max level common barrier is a level 3 lock. Even at the very end, lots of terminals and optional hacks remain at level 1, but sometimes 2. There is a grand total of 3 level 5 hacks, and a single level 4 hack in all of A Criminal Past. Administration is the most heavily secured, having almost exclusively level 3 locks, while the actual prison and processing facilities themselves rarely go above 2. If you keep the altered biocell for yourself, you will find plenty of multi-tools on dead inmates scattered throughout the place. If you cooperate with them, you will be forced to invest in minimal hacking, use firepower and grenades to destroy doors, or turn crafting material into multi-tools. Despite the low level of the hacks, not many of them are what could be called "easy." Level 2 hacks in A Criminal Past can be as difficult and nailbiting as level 4 hacks in the base game, and many of them do reward huge XP and software drops, should you have the skills needed to get through them properly. The key hacking attribute here is Fortify, and the backup plan should be stealth software to position yourself. Still, hack 2, even 3, is cheap, and maxing Fortify is not that expensive either. If you want to hack, do it. Throw in a pinch of stealth, and there you go. Certain hacks are worth quite the amount of experience points, as well.
 * A Criminal Past provides a story-driven option of playing without any augmentations at all. If you take this approach, the stun gun provides a good substitute to the normal takedown that you otherwise would have available. In addition to ammo found around the prison, 20 stun gun rounds can be purchased from the Infirmary shop. Additionally, due to the large amounts of cameras and mechanical enemies, silenced pistols equipped with EMP rounds are very useful. A single EMP round from a silenced pistol is enough to disable a camera, allowing you to quickly destroy it afterwards with silenced normal rounds without anyone's notice. This method also allows you to slowly but stealthily take down turrets by using silenced gunfire.


 * Adam does not know what Adam has not read or talked about. Even if you totally think that something fishy is going on, Adam will not be given the choice of even asking unless you explored properly beforehand. There is a lot more showing than telling going on, and much like finding every Praxis, you are going to have to dig deep to find all the clues.


 * Due to the prevalence of fully and/or moderately upgraded weapons, be very careful what you use the handful of weapon mods on. Remember, a fully modded, and essentially fully upgraded combat rifle can be found in A-block shower after the riots, and doing the leap of faith off the top of the elevator when you are in Automated Security rewards you with a fully modded, max ammo capacity, 80 base reload 10mm pistol.


 * Due to the prevalence of shotguns and shotgun shells of both types, it might prove beneficial to put both a laser and a silencer on one, and upgrading it as you go. As said above, eventually, shotguns cease to be all that useful, but until then, it will serve you well.


 * A Criminal Past features a new world item, called "emergency first aid station." These can be found in Processing and beyond, and they universally hold painkillers, hypostims, and biocells. Keep a look-out for these, especially if you took the altered biocell for yourself.


 * It is possible to get the "best ending" (both the Fixer and Guerrero taken back to TF29) without having to use C.A.S.I.E. (This is especially useful if you are playing without having taken the Fixer's pills or the altered biocell.) To do this, you need to track down and piece together all the clues about Wilburg's murder. Recover these pocket secretaries: pocket secretaries for the Objection! achievement (locations can be found in link), "Worthmuller" (found in the admin building's psych office), "RE: This week's list" (found on Stenger's body in the Infirmary), "Audio Transcript" (found in the safe in Stenger's office). Make sure that all the pocket secretaries have been read/opened before the final confrontation with Guerrero. This will unlock a dialogue option labelled "Blackmail." To get to it, first choose "Challenge," then "Confront about Wilburg" or "Hold Accountable," and finally "Blackmail." Jensen will threaten to reveal Guerrero's involvement in Wilburg's murder unless he agrees to hand over the intel Interpol is after. Guerrero complies and backs down without a fight, allowing you to speak to the Fixer and take both of them with you on the VTOL.

Praxis Kits
Cell Block Areas Solitary Confinement Administration Central Tower
 * The altered biocell found in the laundry of Cell Block A, if you choose to use it yourself, will give you 5 Praxis points and the A Just Cause achievement. Remember that this counts as satisfying a critical mission, so it is very likely that you will end up with 6 Praxis. Just keep in mind that using the altered biocell instead of delivering it to Red Shoes has story consequences that make the remaining game harder.
 * Inside the fox toy in the narrow tunnel under the walkway between Cell Block A yard and Cell Block B yard.
 * Block B: secret path to storage room (silencer and some minor loot) behind a false wall in 204. Straight to the left as you enter the passage is a grating with a Praxis kit behind it, revolver with 6 standard rounds, 2 AP rounds, and a cylinder of 10 AP .357 rounds behind a false wall in 319, Praxis hidden in ceiling storage in 108, secret path to the maintenance corridor under the fence behind fake wall in 116, laundry room has a vent that leads into the shower maintenance corridor, which contains crafting components, and conveniently can be opened from inside, thus making a zero pill, zero boosted powercell playthrough possible.
 * Block A: Praxis in the ceiling storage of cell 307, empty stun gun in 301 behind a false panel in the wall (needs some fiddling unless you have super strength, but is very doable. Patience is key), gyroscopic stabilizer and a STOP! hack software (behind the towels above the mirror, top shelf) in 315, 5 stun gun darts in 203 in a door frame stash, Praxis in 204, as well as a not so secret passage to the turret guarding A-block entrance, and a split in the road to the veteran level sniper providing cover fire for said turret, behind a low res wall painting, Neuropozyne in 320, in one of the "secret" stashes close to the door frames. Various other bits of alcohol and crafting components can be found in A-block as well, plus painkillers in some rooms. Look behind the handful of hygiene products the inmates are allowed to possess.
 * After you meet Guerrero in the showers, wait for the cutscenes to end and you will find a Praxis kit on the table on front of you.
 * Another Praxis kit is in the adjacent security office, on the floor near the lockers.
 * Return to the Shower Room in Cell Block B after the riots start, and circle around the showers. You will find a Praxis kit on the body of a dead inmate, with a biocell lying nearby.
 * In Solitary Confinement cell S-01, on the floor.
 * In cell S-06, jump through the hatch in the floor (you will need the Icarus Landing System to survive) and walk through the corridor to find a fenced area. The kit is inside the fox toy. Here you also find the story item "Augmented Heart".
 * Exit the building past the fenced area. Keep following the path outside and head right around the building to the southern corner of the map. The Praxis kit is behind a rock on the valley floor next to a fragmentation mine.
 * Another Praxis kit can be found to the far west. It is hidden under some grass, in a rocky, mine free area, almost at the very western corner of the map.
 * 4 kits are in green containers labelled A38, C??, F21 and F24 in the Storage area on level 2 of the Administration building. (Confirmation needed, as I can only find 3 praxis in the Admin storage)
 * In the elevator shaft on level 1 of the Administration building, in a toy fox hidden in a box. Crawl space entry at the front of elevator in the cafeteria.
 * Starting from the administrator level, head down the horribly messed up stairs right next to the south-western most meeting room, towards the cafeteria. At the bottom of the stairs is quite a lot of debris, most of it heavy classed. If you have superstrength, you can move the soda machines out of the way (one green, one yellow), and you will find a Praxis kit hidden underneath them, somewhat vedged close to yet more debris. For even easier identification, this is also the stairs that has a leather sofa and a bunch of new age masterpiece potted plants. Depending on how you approached the first part of the DLC, resistance down here might be anything from fortified veteran guards with shotguns and armor piercing combat rifles, to various mines.
 * In Stenger's office, in a secret wall compartment accessed via a button under his desk.
 * On the balcony area outside the corridor where Stenger's office is, behind the red fence.
 * In Warden's office, use the security hub to open the vault door and check the safe inside. (This is the same place where you disable the transport tracking system.)
 * On Flossy's body if you take him out in the Warden's office.
 * In the security office near the Processing Area, on a shelf to the left of the weapons cabinet.
 * In an unlocked safe in the Automated Security section on level 5 of the Tower.
 * On D-Town's body when he blocks access to the West Wing elevator.
 * On the roof where you disable one of the anti-aircraft turrets, on a shelf below the security hub located on the north-side raised platform.
 * Ride the Automated Security elevator all the way up, then look towards the ceiling. Open the hatch, and jump up. Now crawl to the edge of the elevator, and you will see boxes along with a teddy containing a Praxis kit.

eBooks
Note: DLC eBooks give XP but do not count towards Tablet Collector.