Walkthrough

Upon reaching the Borsodi Brothers' Auction House, you'll be confronted by two guards who inform
you no one is admitted without an invitation. Thankfully, Vimme Vivaldi steps in and adds you as his
+1. Once inside, Vivaldi will converse until you head upstairs where, upon reaching the auction floor,
he offers to introduce you to some of his fellow business associates.
The Art dealer
If you say you know a bit about art, Yaromir will challenge your knowledge as he'll assume you know
as little about art as Vivaldi, who only buys to invest rather than loving the artwork. Prove him wrong
by choosing the correct painting - the Portrait of a Merchant.
For pointing out the correct piece, the dealer will give you a tip: a painting by the unpopular
artist, van Rogh, is going on auction but you could earn a nice profit by selling it to an avid admirer
and collector in Novigrad. Afterwards, Vivaldi will ask what Yaromir told you; if you tell him the truth
you'll have to outbid him for the painting, otherwise you can lie without any consequence. (100Side
Effects)
The Countess
Countess Mignole, an aging widow, is a collector of rare and valuable witcher gear after meeting a

witcher in her youth.(100 )

Exclusive Witcher Gear

Don't miss this opportunity to acquire some rare witcher gear only available during this one
interaction in Hearts of Stone. Purchase the diagrams for the Viper School gear from the Countess
when the "Merchant" icon appears during the conversation.

If you're interested in learning more about the widow's past, offer to help find her earring on the

balcony. (50 )
The Gwent Player
This interaction is fairly straightforward, though you'll want to have a solid gwent deck assembled if
you want to stand a chance at defeating Hilbert. He may use a Monster deck, and is effective at
utilizing its ability for his close combat units, or may select a different deck depending on what you
gave as your preferred faction. For example - If you pick Monster deck as your go-to deck, he will
use Nilfgaardian deck. Decide whether or not to give Vivaldi a fraction of your winnings before you
play (he won't take any offense if you don't), then lay your cards on the table. If you beat him, he will

give you the unique gwent card, Gaunter O'Dimm. (100 )

Auction
The auction will start after meeting Vivaldi's acquaintances or by choosing to go sit and wait. There
are three items up for auction:

 "Starry Night Over the Pontar" by the artist van Rogh - 20 (60 if you have to outbid
Vivaldi)
  A rare statuette of an eagle - It will unlock a treasure hunt if you do a little extra work - 300
 A pair of spectacles that once belonged to the hired assassin known as The Professor -
350
Once bidding on these items has ended, the auctioneer will announce an intermission and Vivaldi
will attempt to introduce you to the establishment's proprietor, Horst Borsodi. Be as charming or as
indignant as you like as there's no version of this conversation that ends well and Geralt is
"escorted" out by the guards.
Once outside, defeat the two would-be tough guys to trigger a cutscene introducing The Stranger,

who instructs Geralt to meet him at the herbalist's hut outside of town. (200 ) Upon arrival, you
will notice three Fallen Knights pounding on the hut's door, who will turn their attention towards you
as you get closer; dispose of them, and the herbalist will let you in. Give him the password, and he
will open a trap door leading to the Stranger.
Planning the Heist
The Stranger will inform you you'll need more people to help and you'll need to also prepare a way to
get rid of as many patrolling guards as possible. This will make the following quests available and all
must be completed before you can continue:
 Open Sesame: Witcher Seasonings
 Open Sesame: The Safecracker
 Open Sesame: Breaking and Entering
The Heist
Once you've completed the 3 sub-quests, you can now proceed with the heist. If you show up a little
earlier than the actual time, the Stranger will make a remark on this, but otherwise carries on as

normal. (100 ) After Eveline successfully scales the tower, you discover the tower is not empty
after all. However, it's too late to back out, so respond however you like and Geralt will then arm
himself with a wooden sword to prevent killing anyone before donning masks. Head downstairs to
stumble across some guards and customers along with Horst Borsodi. After a fight with the guards,
during which a civilian rings the alarm bell and is consequently killed by the Stranger, things end in a
stalemate with guards outside the auction house and Horst Borsodi locked away in his vault.

The Stranger grabs a hostage and leaves the negotiating to Geralt, while the safecracker goes to
work on the vault's doors. Depending on who you recruited for your safecracker, the next part plays
out a bit differently:

If you recruited Quinto: he'll quietly work on breaking through into the vault. To buy him time
you must negotiate with the guards outside and will lead to several timed responses.
Choosing "Pull back..." then "Bring us a wagon..." then "Doesn't matter..." and finally
"Release one..." will make sure you don't have to fight any guards. "Tell me a joke" and
"Actually, kinda funny" works, too. If you choose any other option, like asking for Radovid's
carriage, the guards will burst in and you'll have to fight before continuing. Afterwards, with
everything getting too dicey, Eveline explains this isn't what she signed on for and uses the
chimney to escape. However, Geralt's not quite so small so you must continue on to the
vault.
If you recruited Casimir Bassi: he'll go to work on breaking into the vault and, like with
Quinto, you need to start negotiating and choose from several timed responses. However,
even if you successfully get to asking for any wagon, an explosion will occur and you'll still
have to fight the guards as if you said the wrong thing. During this, Eveline will flee and you
and the Stranger must take out the guards. Afterwards, the Stranger will explain Eveline fled.
(150 )Make your way downstairs towards the vault where, along the way, you can find a few
interesting notes. However, what happens next depends, once more, on your safecracker:
Quinto: while you didn't have to fight the guards if you successfully negotiated, and he broke
into the vault, he apparently didn't find the trapdoor. Prepare yourself because as soon as
you pass the small door the floor will collapse beneath you and you'll land in a pit with
several arachnomorphs. Once you've dealt with them, you'll be helped back up and then you
can approach the vault door safely on the other side.
Casimir: while his explosion caused you to have to fight the guards upstairs, they incidentally
took out the mechanism for the floor trap, thus preventing you from falling into the
arachnomorph pit so you can traverse the floor safely to the main vault door.

Interact with the door for a cutscene where the Stranger reveals himself to be the other Borsodi
brother, Ewald Borsodi. React however you like and eventually Horst tries to bribe Geralt to switch
sides, upon which Geralt may choose from three options: Stick with Ewald, swi