Setting up the right conditions for Hitman 2’s Free Bird challenge doesn’t take a whole lot of time. Executing the kill, however, requires favorable outcomes and some semi-precise timing. Fortunately for you, this guide goes through all the steps needed to complete the Free Bird challenge.
Hitman 2 Free Bird Setup
The Free Bird challenge involves assassinating Vanya Shah by dropping a bird cage on her. Before you attempt the challenge, make sure you’ve got the Train starting location for Mumbai unlocked. Doing so is pretty easy since you unlock the Train starting location at Mumbai Mastery Rank 2. As for your loadout, you’ll want to equip the lockpick and Coin. Having the ICA19 Silverballer silenced pistol also helps, but any silenced pistol will do in a pinch.
Hitman 2 Free Bird Walkthrough
When the mission loads up, run straight ahead and look slightly to the left for a large green container. The container has a locked door which you need to bypass to avoid the two armed guards standing nearby. Pick the lock, head through the container, and take a sharp right to find a window you can crawl through.
The window leads into Vanya Shah’s compound and Shah herself is actually nearby. Before you can approach her, however, there are two NPC’s you need to subdue. The first NPC is standing up on the elevated platform near the window. Hide in the tall bushes and then throw a coin back towards the window. When the NPC heads down to investigate, subdue him from behind with a choke hold.
The next NPC you need to subdue is one of Vanya’s green-clad elite guards. If you look over, there’s a guard standing semi-close to your current position. Throw another coin into the bushes near the small orange electric generator. Again, the guard will walk over to investigate, allowing you to move in from behind and subdue him. Take his outfit and then run over to where Shah is having her meeting (use Instinct mode to find her).
Now, here comes the tricky part. There’s a large square pillar that’s slightly south of Shah and her retinue. Duck behind the pillar so you’re out of their sightlines and take your silenced pistol out. When Shah ends the meeting and stands up, she’ll walk slightly forward, putting her right underneath a hanging bird cage. Shoot the cage’s chain during that brief window of opportunity and it will fall, crushing her and completing the challenge.
Again, the setup for this challenge can be finicky so make liberal use of manual saves if you need to. For more Hitman 2 coverage, be sure to read our Shave Mumbai challenge guide. We also recently looked at the new Hitman 2 content additions coming in December (including the second Elusive Target).