Open Sesame! - The Witcher 3 Guide - IGN (2025)

Open Sesame! is a main quest in The Witcher 3's first DLC expansion, Hearts of Stone. This mission sees you setting up and executing a heist on the Borsodi Auction House.

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• The Auction
• The Setup
• The Heist
• The Heist: Finale

The Auction

Upon reaching the Borsodi Auction House, you’ll be confronted by two guards who inform you no one is admitting without an invitation. Thankfully, before the situation can get too ugly, Vimme Vivaldi (an old acquaintance of Geralt’s whom you may recognize from the Vivaldi Bank in Novigrad) steps in and adds you as his +1.

Once inside, you’ll converse for a moment about life, the universe, and nothing in particular until Vimme decides to head upstairs. Upon reaching the auction floor, he offers to introduce you to some of his… friends.

The Art Dealer

The Art dealer challenges your knowledge of a renowed painter’s work, assuming that you’re as cultured as your vertically-challenged associate. 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: bid on the painting by the up-and-coming artist called Van Rough, and sell it at a much higher price to a fan and collector in Novigrad.

Be cautious, though - if you share this information with Vimme, he’ll attempt to outbid you for the painting, and you’ll end up paying three times the original asking price for it.

The Countess

This aging widow is a collector of rare and valuable Witcher gear, thanks largely to an infatuation she developed for the profession after a tryst with a Witcher in her youth.

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 conversation.

If you’re interested in learning more about the widow’s torrid affair with one of your own, you can offer to help find her earring on the balcony.

The Card Shark

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 this opponent. He uses a Monster deck, and is effective at utilizing it's muster ability for his Close Combat units.

Decide whether or not to give Vimme 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. Good luck!

On the Auction Block

After meeting with Vimme’s acquaintances, the auction will begin. There are three items up for auction:

• Starry Night Over Novigrad, by the artist Van Rough - $20 ($60 if you have to outbid Vivaldi)
• A rare statuette of an eagle, potentially containing rare Witcher gear.
• A pair of spectacles that once belonged to the hired assassin known as The Professor

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, sadly there’s no version of this conversation that doesn’t end with Geralt being “escorted” out by the guards.

Once outside, defeat the two would-be tough guys to trigger a cutscene introducing The Stranger, whom instructs Geralt to meet him at the Herbalist’s hut outside of town.

The Setup

Upon arriving at the Herbalists hut, Geralt finds several Fallen Knights outside his door. Sadly these poor fools can't be reasoned with, so put your stabbing skills to good use and finish them quickly. After they've been dispatched, approach the door and offer the password ("I'm looking for Yarrow Extract") when prompted.

Head into the basement and talk to The Stranger, who suggests that the two of you work together to break into the Borsodi vault beneath the auction house. Once you agree, you'll be tasked with finding two accomplices and making sure that the guards aren't out in force during the break-in.

Breaking and Entering

In order to gain access to the auction house, Geralt and his crew will need to enter through the tower window of the building. The Stranger recommends one of two burglars: circus acrobat Eveline Gallo or the stealthy doppler Hugo Huff.

Unfortunately, if you decide to go after Huff, you'll find that he's run afoul of some ill-tempered criminals and is no longer in the land of the living - so you're only option is to seek out Eveline.

Once you approach her troupe's camp to the north-east of Oxenfurt, you'll find the nimble she-elf talking to another of her company towards the back of the camp.

Pitch her the job, and she'll agree - but only on the condition that you help her group out of a jam first.

The job is easy, however - use your crossbow to shoot the four apples off of her friends foot, hands and head. The shots are easy to make if you take your time, and even if you shoot the elf in the face you'll still pass the test. Once you're done, tell Eveline to meet you at the herbalist's hut.

The Safecracker: Quinto

Unlike your break-in artist, you actually do have a choice when it comes to the man who will get you inside the Borsodi vault. Quinto is an expert lockpick, and will enable your heist crew to avoid making too much noise when breaking into the vault.

He can be found behind bars in a mercenary camp a short way east from the Herbalist's hut. There are several ways to negotiate his release:

• Pay off his bounty of $200.

(this can be negotiated down to $170)

• Play a round of Gwent with the merc commander. Win, and the lockpick goes free.
• Insult the commander, then best him in a fight to set the thief free.

Once you've seen to Quinto's release, send him on his way to The Stranger to await the start of the heist.

The Safecracker: Casimir

Oh, Casimir. Poor, poor Casimir.

If Geralt opts to say "to Hell with stealth" and really blow the doors of of the auction house (literally), he can find a very distraught Casimir atop his roof in the village of Alnes, to the north of the Herbalist's hut.

In order to prevent the safecracker from blowing himself - and half the village - sky high, Geralt will need to calm him and convince him to come down from the explosive-covered roof he's on. The best (and fastest) way to do this is by using your upgraded Axii ability to will him down - sure, you can try meaningful conversation,' but that's just as likely to make him blow his top than bring him down.

Once the situation has be successfully defused, tell him to return to the Herbalist's hut to await your return.

Witcher Seasonings

The last item on Geralt's "To-Do" list of setup missions is to ensure that the local constabulary will be decidedly indisposed when it's time to set things in motion. To that end, The Stranger proposes getting the garrison's cook to add a little something extra to his company's stew that night.

The first order of business is to brew a mixture that won't kill anybody, but will make certain no one wants to venture more that ten feet from the nearest outhouse. To concot the Cleansing Mixture, he'll need:

• Rotfiend Blood
• (Other Ingredients)

After some basic alchemy, it's time to find the cook. Make your way to the Borsodi auction house and use your Witcher Senses to listen to the conversation of the guards out front.

When they don't say anything of interest, head around to the back of the building (where you first met The Stranger) and listen to the guards through the window. When, once again, this fails to turn up anything fruitful, hop the fence onto the walkway behind the auction house and use your Senses to locate another pair of guards. Follow them (without getting too close) to learn the location of the Cook.

Make your way to the dock underneath the Western Gate to find the cook. Speak to him, and either offer to pay him $500 crowns to spike his stew, or simply use Axii to get him to do it for free.

The Heist

Ultimately the heist on the Borsodi Auction house plays out very similarly regardless of which choices you made during the setup.

The first leg sees you scaling the tower in a cutscene - be sure to collect the Love Letters from up here before moving down the stairs into the Auction House. Once you reach the ground floor, you’ll be forced to fight a group of five guards.

Once three of them have been dealt with, a short cutscene triggers wherein Horst Borsodi appears, calls for the city watch and seals himself inside the vault in the basement. When the city watch arrives, The Stranger decides to use the hostages as leverage.

NOTE: You can opt not to use hostages if you so choose, but know that if you ‘’do’’, no harm will come to them.

What happens next depends on who your safecracker is.

The Heist: Quinto

If you decided to take the silent approach, you can completely avoid fighting with the guardsmen outside. Choose the following dialogue options after the stranger takes the merchants hostage:

• We’ve Got Hostages
• Pull back
• Bring us a carriage
• Any horse and wagon (not the Coronation carriage)
• Let one hostage go

If you choose any other options in this dialogue, the guards will end up storming the building. There are only three of them, but it’s helpful to avoid conflict whenever possible.

After dealing with the city watch outside, follow the Stranger down into the vault and speak to Quinto. He’ll crack the lock, and you’ll be ready to head inside.

Before crossing the threshold, however, go ahead and cast Quen on yourself and set Aard or Igni as your active sign - the floor just past the door is booby-trapped, and you’ll have to fend off four Arachnomorphs before you can continue.

The Heist: Casimir

Regardless of whether or not you attempt to diffuse the conflict with the city watch by taking hostages, Casimir’s vault-smashing explosion will knock everybody of their feet. Once that happens, Eveline will flee and the three guardsmen outside will bash their way inside. Take them out, then head down the stairs to what used to be the vault door.

Fortunately, since Casimir’s explosion didn’t trigger the booby-trapped locking mechanism, you can pass directly into the vault without having to fight any giant spiders.

The Heist: Finale

Once you make your way inside the vault, you’ll have to confront Horst Borsodi. Before you can question him about Maximillian’s House, however, the Stranger who planned the heist with you reveals himself to be none other than Horst’s estranged brother Ewald.

After airing some very dirty family laundry, Horst offers Geralt and the safecracker (either Casimir or Quinto) the chance to betray Ewald and escape without being arrested.

‘’’NOTE:’’’ Depending on who your safecracker is and who you decide to stand with during this segment, you may have an additional ally or opponent in the fight ahead. Casimir will choose to remain loyal to Ewald, while Quito accepts Horst’s offer and betrays him.

Side with Horst

If you side with Horst, he and his guards will stand back while you dispatch of his brother. If Casimir is your selected safecracker, you'll need to defeat him too.

Once Ewald is dead, speak with Horst about the house and decide whether or not you want to take both the House and the documents contained within, or just the box itself. Either choice will allow you to complete this quest.

Side with Ewald

If you side with Ewald, you'll need to eliminate Horst and his guards. Keep your focus on Horst, as once his life bar reaches ~5%, you'll automatically proceed. If Quinot is your selected safecracker, you'll need to defeat him too.

Once Horst is dead, speak with Ewald about the house and decide whether or not you want to take both the House and the documents contained within, or just the box itself. Either choice will allow you to complete this quest.

Note that the decision to take the box and the documents is also a decision to fight and kill Ewald (along with Casimir if you used him). This allows you to loot both of their bodies along with the entire treasure room, which contains a good amount of sellable trinkets and a few pieces of gear. Despite the warning about the guards you have all the time you need to loot the room and find the secret passage (it's a red-highlited brick on one of the support beams).

Return to Olgeird and his men at the Alchemy Inn near the Oxenfurt Harbor sign post.

To continue to the Hearts of Stone questline, jump to the next mission, Dead Man's Party.