Maverick did end up picking the correct Holy Lance on his first try but wasn’t confident at all. The game doesn’t give much feedback and it takes a long time before you can be sure your choice is correct.
The Location of the Correct Lance
You can see the location of the correct Holy Lance in the above screenshot. This is the only Lance that matches the 3 necessary elements:
- Copper-rimmed
- Spear-shaped
- Symbol of a Fish
The fact that the location seems overly obvious throws a lot of people off. The game doesn’t tend to serve things on a silver platter, after all. But there is not that much more that can be said in this situation. This really is the location of the only correct Lance of Longinus.
How You Can Find the Holy Lance Through the Hints
Technically, you can go straight to the correct Holy Lance location right at the start of the episode. If you do this, however, you will lose out on a lot of content and experience. It may also not be very satisfying to go straight through the solution of the puzzle without actually solving it.
To get to the correct solution, you need to gather all available hints, then determine which ones are true. False hints have suspicious elements to them, while true hints are either from neutral sources or confirmed through multiple sources.
False Hints
There are 2 false hints:
- Cardinal Piaggi gives you incorrect information about the shape of the Lance. Louis notices several signs that he is possessed, so this hint is pretty easy to dismiss.
- The very obvious statue in Lord Mortimer’s Study also shows a wrong shape of the Lance. This one is a bit trickier to dismiss. Louis does note that Mortimer is a deceiver, but does that mean we should dismiss both the shape (Leaf) and the symbol (Fish)? The correct option is to ignore this statue completely. We can’t trust it, but we also shouldn’t assume both elements are false. Instead, we should look for more neutral/reliable sources for the shape and the symbol.
True Hints
There are 4 true hints:
- Reading the exegis before you even leave the underground area will allow Louis to conclude the Lance is NOT made of gold
- Winning the confrontation with Von Wöllner in his room after going through his books will further collaborate the material as being copper
- The bibliography of Longinus you can take from Von Wöllner’s room hints at a fish symbol on the tip of the spear
- A painting of Longinus near Mortimer’s desk will show a spear-shape. This is the most dubious true tip but can be confirmed through skill checks and reading Mortimer’s documents
Finding All Copies That Mortimer Owns
A separate objective of this episode is to find all copies of the Holy Lance that Mortimer owns. These are all spread out in the underground area. Although they are not hidden away in obscure places throughout the mansion, it’s still a bit tricky to find all of them. Some are on the ground, in nooks and crannies or off the main path. There are 12 copies in total.
Completing this sub-objective will give you extra experience but doesn’t have any big consequences. If you are getting frustrated by the process, feel free to proceed without having found all copies.