Thief
37 Achievements
1,000
40-50h
One Step Ahead
Disarmed ten trap mechanisms
20
4.14%
How to unlock the One Step Ahead achievement in Thief - Definitive Guide
In order to disable an enemy trap, you will need to have first purchased the Wirecutter tool from the Seller. He can be found just outside Basso's shop. The Wirecutter will first be available for purchase after Chapter 2.
Now, trap mechanisms appear often throughout The City, both while roaming around in between Chapters and during the actual Chapters themselves. An example of a trap is a pressure plate in front of a loot crate.
When you step on the pressure plate, you will be shot with an arrow. If you are using the Focus ability, you will notice that traps will glow red, rather than blue. You can usually follow the wiring of a trap to it's source, or you may need to find a secret switch around the trap that reveals it's source (power box). Once you have found the power box, pry it open and use the Wirecutter to clip the wiring from the trap. Do this ten times throughout the entire game and the achievement is yours.
Occassionally while you're progressing through the chapters or doing one of the many fetch quests in The City, you'll run into traps (which really just fires miniature arrows and darts at you but for some reason kills you). A trap will be indicated in red glow when upon activating focus mode. To disarm a trap, you will need to find the control box that links with the trap. The wires leading to the trap will be highlighted in blue thanks to focus vision, so simply follow the wires to the control box and disable it. You will obviously need to purchase a pair of wirecutters from a tavern merchant before you have the ability to disarm traps.
You will without a doubt unlock this trophy naturally through the course of gameplay. Even more so if you're going for all the collectibles in this game and are taking time to explore the different ways you can complete each room in a level.