Open Sesame is one of The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone’s main quests and the second of Olgierd von Everec’s wishes. Olgierd requested the house of Maximillian Borsodi but gave no more details. This is a rather confusing request to Geralt since he has no idea how to transfer a house to another place. The only thing he does know is that he has to visit an auction house in Oxenfurt. Here we’re going to offer a full Open Sesame quest walkthrough and breakdown each of the various aspects of the quest.
The Witcher 3 Hearts of Stone Open Sesame Walkthrough
The Auction
The auction house is owned by Horst Borsodi, the son of the late Maximillian. Geralt will need to speak with this man in order to continue the quest, but that isn’t so easy. Getting into the auction house is no easy matter for the common folk, but luckily, Master Vivaldi (owner of Vivaldi Bank) is around and he happens to be one of your pals. He gets you in and informs you that you will have an opportunity to speak with Horst after the first round of auctions. As you wait, Vivaldi will point out three individuals to you that you can either interact with or completely ignore.
Make sure to speak to Countess Mignole since she is your only opportunity to obtain a rare set of armor, and Yaromir for a chance at a nice turn of profits. Again, you can completely ignore these individuals, but you’d be doing yourself a disservice. Once you’re ready, you can sit on the bench to start the auction, or it will automatically begin after you’ve talked to all three of the other important guests. You don’t need to purchase anything during the auction if you don’t want to. Afterward, there will be an intermission where you’ll get a chance to speak to Horst himself.
No matter what dialogue options you choose here, you’ll be thrown out. It turns out that Mr. Borsodi didn’t like your line of questioning, even if you were being polite. Once outside, the guards will try to beat you up, give them a sound thrashing and go about your merry way. It is now that you will meet The Stranger and the Open Sesame becomes a much different quest than you were probably expecting.
The Team
The Stranger has you meet him at a Herbalist’s Hut. Jut give the password (it’s automatically added as a conversation item, so don’t worry about forgetting). Down in the basement, the stranger will present a proposition. Join him and he will share his plan to break into the vault at the auction house where the item you seek lies.
After he reveals his elaborate plan, Geralt points out that it’s far too much for just two individuals. This is where the next part comes in; you’ll have to recruit a team and complete a certain task to keep guards away. You’ll need a burglar and a safecracker, and you’ll also need to make sure that the guards and soldiers in the area will be too preoccupied to worry about what’s going on in the auction house.
Once you’ve completed those three quests, it’s time to break into a certain auction house in Oxenfurt.
The Heist, Part 1
The very first part of the actual heist is simple. It opens with a cutscene of Geralt and company entering the auction house. Afterward, the team shares a few choice words with The Stranger, since things weren’t entirely without issue.
Once you get control again, pick up the love letters on the table. They’ll appear red while using your Witcher Sense (they’re not a part of this quest, but you’ll be happy you got them later on). Now, head down to the auction house and towards the vault.
There will be some workers who will call three guards to stop you. Once you’ve done enough damage to their ranks, another cutscene will play, showing Horst locking himself in his vault and an alarm will sound off. What happens next will play out differently depending on who you chose as your safecracker.
Choosing Quinto
Choosing Quinto allows you to avoid combat by taking hostages. The Stranger will grab a man and put a knife to his throat. The guards will come to the window demanding you release the hostages, you need to choose the following dialogue options to get past this part with no fights:
- Pull back from the auction house.
- Bring us a wagon and horses.
- Doesn’t matter. Long as it rolls.
- I’ll set one free now. The rest later.
As long as you pick these exact choices the guards will leave you alone and you can head straight to the vault.
Choosing Casimir
Since Casimir likes things that go boom, no matter what you did before, you’ll still end up having to fight. When he blows the doors off of the vault everyone will be knocked off of their feet. The guards will rush in and it’s time to fight them off (no worries, there are very few guards).
After you’re done with this pre-vault section, the door will lie open (whether through stealth or by force). As soon as you walk in, you will fall into the ground where there are four huge spiders. Activate your Quen and slay these foul beasts. It’s time to raid the vault.
Open Sesame Finale
You’ve finally gotten to the vault. Inside, you will find Horst and two guards but before you can confront him, The Stranger reveals himself to be Ewald Borsodi, the scorned brother of Horst. He wanted revenge for his brother stealing the entire fortune for himself.
At this point, Horst will offer you to side with him to eliminate Ewald in exchange for protection from the guards and whatever you want. Quinto will side with Horst out of greed, but Casimir will fight alongside you because he definitely has honor.
Siding with Ewald leaves your crew to deal with Horst and his guards. Once Horst is down to about 10 percent of his health, a cutscene will play out. You will then have the option to make a deal with Ewald for the House of Maximillian or fight him for the whole package.
Siding with Horst presents the same option, only you have to kill Ewald first. Whether or not you go for just the box or the whole shebang, you’ll still complete this Hearts of Stone main quest.
Before you go, make sure to loot everything in sight. There are a ton of valuable treasures, as well as a powerful, rare Witcher sword. To exit this vault by the secret entrance, look to the right of where the House of Maximillian stood, towards a hallway lined with statues. That is where the exit lies. The button to open it is on the other side of the vault behind a pillar.
That does it for our The Witcher 3 Open Sesame walkthrough. We hope it’s been of use to you. For more guides, tips, tricks, features, and information for The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone be sure to check out our wiki.
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