BLACKWOOD Walkthrough: Complete Act 1 Story & Boss Guide

Balancing a mundane storefront with high-stakes assassination contracts is no simple task in 2012 New York. This comprehensive BLACKWOOD walkthrough guides you through every step of Anton Blackwood's dangerous double life across Act 1. Between running an authentic DVD rental shop by day and surviving lethal ambushes at night, following a structured BLACKWOOD walkthrough is essential to keep both your business profitable and your character alive.

Developed by AttritoM7 Productions and published alongside IZilla Games, this third-person action thriller divides its narrative across three major acts. If you are diving into the gritty streets on PC, you can verify your system requirements and view developer announcements directly on the BLACKWOOD Steam store page. This guide details everything from sewer puzzle solutions to the final showdown against Silas.

Getting Started: Core Mechanics, Controls, and Dual Economies

Surviving in BLACKWOOD requires understanding the strict division between Anton's public persona and his criminal underworld contracts. The game enforces a split economy where Clean Cash and Dirty Cash never mix. Clean Cash pays your legitimate living costs, including store restocks and a steep monthly rent that ranges between $11,000 and $13,000. Neglecting your day job will directly cause financial failure.

In contrast, Dirty Cash is earned through violent night contracts found on the basement computer. This illicit money funds black-market weapons, firearm attachments, and specialized melee choreography. As you progress through this BLACKWOOD walkthrough, remember to check both balances frequently.

Combat combines acrobatic shooting with brutal hand-to-hand moves. Executing a dive triggers a brief window of slow motion, allowing you to line up critical headshots while maneuvering between cover. Close-quarters takedowns play a vital defensive role: whenever your health falls below 30%, landing a contextual takedown immediately restores your life gauge back to 40%. You can configure custom takedown chains in the basement training room by interacting with the punching bag.

Prologue & Monday: Sewer Escape to Chambers Street Station

The story begins in media res with Anton waking up wounded underground. You must navigate the tunnels to escape the city sewers and reach your vehicle parked on the surface.

Step-by-Step Sewer Tunnel and Water Puzzle Solution

1. Move forward along the linear sewer path, vaulting over the initial steel gate and shoving the blocking shelf aside to crawl through the opening.
2. Enter the elevated control room on the right side of the flooding channel.
3. Inspect the clipboard on the desk to view the Level Sequence guide for Gates 1 through 10.
4. Locate the specific combination assigned to Gate 6.
5. Interact with the console switch bank and enter the five-switch combination from left to right: Down, Up, Up, Down, Down.
6. Return to the drained tunnel path and proceed past the alligator in the murky water (holding your fire here unlocks the "Hold Your Fire" achievement).
7. Ascend the stairs, open the security door, and climb the maintenance ladder to street level.

Once on the surface, enemies immediately open fire across the plaza. Take defensive cover behind the right-hand car rather than sprinting into the open. Pick off approaching gunmen, push north past the archway to trigger the close-quarters melee tutorial, and eliminate the final thugs to reach your vehicle. You will then drop your damaged car off at Eddie's Brooklyn Backlot Garage.

Monday Store Management Routine

After resting in your apartment, Anton begins his morning routine. Change into fresh clothes in your closet, wash your face and comb your hair at the bathroom sink, and prepare breakfast on the stove. Before heading downstairs, talk to the neighbor's child, Ernesto, who requests a rental copy of Fist and Flames. Order the movie via your desktop computer's DVD Planet storefront.

Down in the rental store, talk to your employee Emily and handle the five opening maintenance chores:

• Clean the promotional poster hanging near the entrance.
• Neatly arrange the scattered comic books on the display rack.
• Pick up the floor mop to clean the dirt patches near the counter and in front of the apparel rack.
• Dust the primary shelving display in the center aisle.
• Pour cat food into the dish located next to the checkout counter.

Once you deliver the arrived Fist and Flames DVD to Ernesto upstairs, head down into the basement. Access the terminal to check DarkMail. The first main story contract arrives from Littleboy42 under the subject line Good Work. Next Step. ($2,200).

Travel to Chambers Street station at 20:15. After discovering your transit card has expired, buy a paper ticket from the wall kiosk and head down to the train platforms. Search for your contact wearing a yellow raincoat. Community reports show several decoys populate the station; bypass the shouting bystanders on the upper levels and board the waiting subway car to locate the real Littleboy42. Hand over the stolen USB drive, defeat the ambushers inside the train car using parries, and eliminate the street reinforcements outside before returning home to conclude Monday.

Tuesday & Wednesday: Vehicle Pursuit and Optional Stunt Contracts

In this phase of our BLACKWOOD walkthrough, the stakes escalate as Anton's compromised cover catches up with him. Tuesday begins with a notification from Eddie indicating your car repairs are finished.

Tuesday Story Mission: Cars All Patched Up

Check DarkMail for Eddie's message labeled [MAIN] Cars all patched up. Meet Eddie at the repair shop to pick up the vehicle. What begins as a routine test drive quickly turns into a high-speed vehicle pursuit across highways, narrow alleys, and active construction yards. Keep driving through the designated escape routes until you arrive at the multi-story parking structure.

Once cornered, step out and immediately take cover behind the concrete pillars. Waves of hitmen working for Silas will swarm your position. Rely on diving headshots to thin the riflemen, as automatic fire from assault rifles can deplete your entire health bar in seconds. Clear the stragglers with environmental takedowns, inspect the fallen ring on the lead gunman, and escape before local police arrive.

Wednesday Side Contract: Stunt Work I

On Wednesday, your DarkMail inbox presents an optional contract from Stagehand_Union titled [CONTRACT] Stunt Work I ($1,250) alongside the next story thread. While optional for your main BLACKWOOD walkthrough route, completing it provides valuable Dirty Cash for upcoming weapon mods.

The contract consists of four staged combat choreography scenes:

• Scene 1 (The Toilet Fight): Take down two performers by slamming them into the bathroom mirror and porcelain commode.
• Scene 2 (The Museum Shootout): Eliminate aggressive gun-toting performers while executing at least three close-range physical takedowns.
• Scene 3 (The Drainpipe Brawl): Parry incoming strikes and deliver a finishing kick to take down your opponent.
• Scene 4 (The Katana Fight): Maintain spacing against armed martial artists, utilizing perfectly timed blocks to counter and execute three blade takedowns.

If you test your endurance in the basement's IronGate Trials wave-defense arena, player experience suggests clearing at least one full wave, running back to the starting spawn gate, and holding the F key to safely extract your earnings without wiping.

Thursday Finale: Infiltrating The Lantern and Defeating Silas

The final chapter of this BLACKWOOD walkthrough begins on Thursday morning. Access DarkMail and select [MAIN] I got the info on Lantern to launch the Act 1 climax.

Gear Preparation and Infiltration

Before embarking, use your apartment wardrobe to equip a formal suit, as entering the club requires sharp attire. Head down to the basement workbench and customize your Spectre 34 pistol. Equipping a suppressor is strongly advised to prevent early room alarms.

Arrive at the destination and enter via the underground basement bathhouse service entrance to bypass the front-door scanners. Navigate through the steam rooms, locate a VIP ticket lying beside an unconscious patron on the locker benches, and pass through security onto the crowded dance floor. Push upstairs into the executive VIP lounge, taking out patrolling guards with suppressed headshots.

Inside Silas's private office, inspect the marked files scattered across his desk. Anton discovers a psychiatric assessment on himself, hospital patient records, and his late mother's death certificate, revealing that Silas targeted her years prior. Silas then enters, triggering the final boss encounter.

Silas Boss Fight Strategy

Based on player reports, Silas represents the steepest difficulty spike in Act 1 due to his high posture and unblockable swings.

• Phase 1 & 2 (Unarmed Brawling): Silas utilizes standard punch combinations. Keep your guard raised, land parries on his basic swings, and counter with two-hit strike combos. Back away if he attempts a grab.
• Phase 3 (Pipe Melee): Silas arms himself with a heavy steel pipe. His swings become unblockable and can eliminate your health bar in a single string.
• Maintain Distance: Never corner Silas against the office walls, as community testing confirms this triggers relentless aggressive flurries.
• Bait and Dodge: Wait at mid-range until he winds up an overhead pipe strike. Execute a backward dodge just as the swing initiates.
• Punish Windows: Sprint forward immediately following his missed swing, land a running heavy strike into a quick two-hit combo, and immediately dodge backward to safety.
• Repeat this hit-and-run tactic until the final cinematic triggers.

Once Silas falls, a heavily armed SWAT detachment storms the building. Do not engage them in a prolonged firefight. Sprint through the designated corridor exits, vault the fire escape railings, and reach the street to complete Act 1 as the developer credits roll.

Complete BLACKWOOD Act 1 Story Mission Schedule

To help streamline your path, this BLACKWOOD walkthrough details the key story missions and optional assignments across the week.

Frequently Asked Questions About BLACKWOOD

How many story missions are included in this BLACKWOOD walkthrough?

Act 1 includes four core story missions alongside multiple optional contracts and trials. The primary campaign tasks are the sewer prologue escape, Monday's Chambers Street exchange, Tuesday's car chase, and Thursday's Lantern club raid against Silas.

What is the Gate 6 sewer puzzle solution?

To drain the floodwaters blocking the sewer tunnel during the prologue, set the five console levers in the control room to Down, Up, Up, Down, Down.

Does this BLACKWOOD walkthrough require finishing all side contracts?

No, side contracts such as Stunt Work I and the IronGate Trials are entirely optional. However, taking on occasional contracts is recommended to earn Dirty Cash for vital weapon attachments like suppressors and extended magazines.

How do future story acts work if I already own the game?

According to official roadmap announcements, Act 2 (scheduled for March 2027) and Act 3 (scheduled for September 2027) will be distributed as free content updates to all players who purchase the base game.

Related guides

• BLACKWOOD can't feed cat: How to Feed the Store Cat
• BLACKWOOD Day Length Guide: Store Hours and Time Limits
• BLACKWOOD How to Pay Rent: Complete Monthly Bills Guide
• BLACKWOOD Stop Water Flow Guide: Sewer Gate 6 Puzzle