Finding Isaias Sandoval

M2 - Finding Isaias Sandoval is a mission in Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

Go to the convention center and obtain Sandoval's location from Taggart
Having talked to Sarif and received your mission, it's time to head to the Detroit Convention Center and have a chat with William Taggart.

NOTE: If you chose the blackmail option in your interaction with Wayne Haas, he'll greet you with hostility and a 10mm Pistol when you arrive on the ground floor of your apartment building. It's possible to sedate him with a round from the Tranquilizer rifle before exiting the elevator. Alternatively, you can trigger his aggression and quickly step forward to take him out with a swift punch to the face. Either method alarms the civilians in the lobby and may affect your chance at 'Smooth Operator' [unconfirmed]. But, after all, there is a riot outside. For giggles, you can drag his inert body to your apartment and leave him there, or up to the helipad and throw him off of the roof. [unknown consequence] Also, you can now hack the terminal in the lobby to discover that your mirror is being held in the delivery warehouse. Sherri Ter Horst is stalling the replacement of your bathroom mirror (?).

As you approach the Convention Center door, you may notice a metal security roll-up barrier (to the left of the bathrooms). The door behind the barrier leads to a back stairwell which heads up to the backstage area where Taggart's dressing room is located. The barrier will open once you use the door from the other side, providing an alternate escape route.

Since you received a V.I.P. Pass Card (from Sarif at the beginning of the mission) you can enter the convention center unhindered, so if you're going for the "Ghost" bonus, you only have to sneak past the bodyguards and not the police. Make your way upstairs by either turning left and going up the broken escalator (taking you through the Meeting Hall) or going to the right, through the Main Hall.

Having made it upstairs you have a choice to make. Either turn right and confront Taggart directly by going to the room where he is giving his talk (Room 2005), or sneak backstage, go to his dressing room and just hack his computer for the information.

The quickest way to sneak in is by going to the bathroom with a conveniently placed air vent. Crawl through the vent (keeping to the right) and head directly to his dressing room. Be sure to check your map before dropping down, since there are three vent exists, one of which drop you directly in front of some body guards.

If you sneak in quietly and hack his computer you will have a brief dialogue with Sarif. He will ask you to frame Taggart by uploading the recording of Sandoval onto his computer. If you agree, you will receive up to 1500 XP, plus the possible "Ghost" and "Smooth Operator" bonuses for a max total of 2250 XP. In order to sneak back out through the vent, you will need the Lift Heavy Objects augmentation. Move the tall crate underneath the vent, climb back up and head out the way you came in. Note that there's a breakable wall just to the right of the crate, but the bodyguards will sound the alarm if it is broken (even with a silenced weapon). If you can't move the crate, you will have to sneak out through the adjacent room where three bodyguards are watching TV. Two can be knocked out silently and the third can be sedated or stunned. Moving into the hallway, there will be another three bodyguards, including a rotating security camera (can be disabled via the level 4 security hub in Taggard's room). Two of the guards will be stationary, while the third patrols the area to the right. Unless equipped with the Cloaking System you will have to take care of the stationary guard near the camera. Wait for the patrolling guard to leave the hallway (and the camera not to turn away), knock him out and drag him into the TV room without being noticed. At the end of the hallway there's a vent access in the ceiling leading to the vent (used to sneak in) and sneak back out the way you came in. Otherwise, turning right at the camera leads through a door and into the backstage stairwell. Head down to level 2 (where two guards are talking) and hide against the wall to the left. Wait for the guards to leave and climb into the vent nearby. Make your way through and leave via the alternate escape route (previously covered by a security roll-up barrier) mentioned at the beginning of the mission.

Alternatively, you can go straight to the press conference and confront Taggart directly. If you have the C.A.S.I.E. Social Enhancer augmentation you can use it to skip out of the conversation early (Taggart is an alpha personality), but it is not required. Completing this encounter correctly will grant you a private audience with Taggart in his dressing room where he will reveal the location of Sandoval. You will also be granted complete access to all guarded areas. Going this route will get you 1000 XP to start with an additional 750 XP (excluding a possible "Smooth Operator" bonus of 250 XP) after the encounter in the dressing room. You will not get the "Ghost" bonus (500 XP) however, therefore the sneaking approach is more rewarding XP-wise.

There is a unique eBook in the room leading to Taggard's dressing room (where three bodyguards are watching TV). It's located on a table to the left of the TV.

Get inside Sandoval's apartment
Now that you know where to locate Sandoval, it's time to find him and get the information you need. His apartment building can be found directly across the street from yours. Climb up the fire escape and enter the building. There are two guards walking down the stairs that you can either take out or avoid altogether.

Enter Sandoval's apartment. If Zeke Sanders survived the encounter in Milwaukee Junction, then he will be waiting in the back room and in the main room will be a Praxis kit next to a dead guard. The Praxis kit is booby trapped. Taking it will trigger two EMP mines hidden under the dead guard and cause Sanders to storm into the room. To get the kit, move the guard's body (this will not trigger the mines) and take the mines before taking the kit (you can not disarm them like normally placed mines). Deal with Sanders however you like. The best way would be to deal with him before picking up the Praxis kit. Open the door and either kill him or take him down stealthily.

Alternatively, if Sanders did not survive, the apartment will be empty and there will be no Praxis kit. Behind the picture is a wall safe with a good amount of loot; the code (5463) is in a personal secretary on Sanders' body.

To proceed, move into the bedroom, move the boxes blocking the bathroom door, then enter the bathroom. If you have the Punch Through Wall augmentation you can make a hole in the bathroom wall and open a shaft through which you can drop down to the next room. Otherwise, move the additional boxes stacked inside the bathroom door to reveal a switch. Hitting the switch will cause a hidden door in the bedroom to slide open and reveal a staircase leading down.

Your next objective is the shipping container in this room. You can sneak around the guards or, if you have the Instant Take-Down upgrade, drop from the girders above and take both of them out at once. Search the lockers for some goodies, after which proceed into the shipping container.

Find and confront Sandoval
Once you are in the sewers you will have a total of 5 enemies to contend with. The first one will be patrolling the first hallway you come to. Three more are in the room to the right, with another patrolling the hallway leading out of that room. Getting silent take-downs on all of them is relatively easy, but you can also opt to just bypass them completely by exploring a bit. There is a crawlspace just to the left of the first tunnel you come to which will allow you to bypass the first 4 guards. There are several options to get around the 5th guard:


 * Activate the cloaking system to walk right through the laser grid


 * Take him out silently when he has shut off the laser grid


 * Grab the passcode from him after you take him down


 * Hacking the terminal while he is turned away

In the next room there are no enemies, but there are a lot of mines. Be warned that no matter how slow you move, the drop from a ledge into the water is fast enough to trigger the mines. So if you want to disarm them, get into the water while you are well clear of any of them.

Finally, having made it through the mine area, it's time to confront Sandoval. If you got William Taggart to admit in public Sandoval's possible involvement in the plot involving the kidnapped scientists, or having snuck into Taggart's dressing room, you took Sarif's advice and planted incriminating evidence on Taggart's computer, you will find Sandoval holed up in his room preparing to shoot himself. It's your job to talk him out of it. If you have the Social Enhancer it'll be pretty easy (Sandoval is an omega type personality), but otherwise you'll need to talk him through it. If you fail, he shoots himself and you lose out on the 1000 XP Silver Tongue and The Last Straw achievement. To talk him down, you will need to give him some Tough Love the first time, but the rest of the conversation is randomized.

If you took the sneaky route when finding Sandoval's location and did not plant the evidence on Taggart's computer, or sometimes if you used the CASIE Augment to shorten the public confrontation with Taggart, Sandoval will not be suicidal and he will immediately attack the player instead. Sandoval uses a revolver but is fairly slow so is easy to stop.

Either way, once the encounter is done, make sure to search the room. There is an unique eBook on Sandoval's desk. Proceed out through the unoccupied sewers.
 * If you have the Cloaking system and silent movement augmentations, you can enable them both as soon as you finish talking with Sandoval. This way you can either tranq him or, if you do it quick enough, simply sneak up to him and perform a takedown, meaning you can still receive the Ghost bonus.

Meet Malik on the roof of my apartment building
Having finished the conversation, Pritchard will contact you and tell you to head back to HQ. With the riots, however, you can't get there directly, so it's time to head back to your apartment and meet up with Faridah Malik.