During Open Sesame: The Safecracker in the Hearts of Stone expansion, you have to bring one accomplice to the Borsodi vault. Your two options are the dwarf demolitions expert Casimir Bassi and the master lockpick Quinto, and the one you pick decides which enemies you face during the break-in and who turns on you at the end.
Quick answer: Pick Quinto for a quieter heist where you can stall the negotiator, but expect to fight four Arachnomorphs. The vault opens and the quest resolves either way.
What Casimir and Quinto change in the heist
The two safecrackers open the vault by opposite methods, and that method sets the combat you deal with inside. Quinto picks the lock silently, while Casimir blows the door apart. Each one also disables a different threat.
| Accomplice | Negotiator | Trap door | Sides with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quinto | Can be stalled with the right lines | Not disabled – fight 4 Arachnomorphs | Horst |
| Casimir | Cannot be stalled – fight the guards | Disabled – no Arachnomorphs | Ewald (the Stranger) |
Choosing Quinto keeps things calm early because you can talk the negotiator down and put off combat, but the pit trap stays armed, so the four Arachnomorphs come later. Casimir does the reverse. You cannot stall the negotiator and end up trading blows with the guards, yet he clears the floor trap so the Arachnomorphs never appear.
How to recruit Quinto
Quinto sits in a cage at a mercenaries’ camp southeast of the Herbalist’s Hut, held by Hans of Cidaris. You may pass a few bandits on the way, but they are not part of the quest.
- Pay the fine of 200 Crowns (400 Crowns if you demanded extra money at the end of Contract: The Creature from Oxenfurt Forest).
- Haggle Hans down to a minimum of 170 Crowns.
- Beat him in a game of Gwent to release Quinto for free.
- Insult him to trigger a fistfight, then win it.
If you play Gwent or fight and lose, the fine doubles, which can climb as high as 800 Crowns when the contract price was already inflated.
Once Quinto is free you can hire him on the spot and finish the quest for 150 XP, or tell him you are not ready. If you delay, he waits for you at the Oxenfurt Academy gate at midnight.
How to recruit Casimir
Casimir is in Alness, north of the Wheat Fields, standing on the roof of his house and threatening to blow himself up after his wife’s affair. The dialogue you pick decides whether he lives long enough to join you.
Hire Casimir immediately. If you tell him to wait or refuse to explain the heist, he blows himself up and Quinto becomes your only option.
How your safecracker changes the final fight
Casimir and Quinto always take opposite sides between the two Borsodi brothers. At the end of Open Sesame you decide which brother to back, and whoever your safecracker sided with becomes an enemy. That produces four possible combat setups.
| You side with | Safecracker | You fight |
|---|---|---|
| Ewald | Quinto | The guards, Horst, and Quinto |
| Ewald | Casimir | The guards and Horst |
| Horst | Quinto | Ewald alone |
| Horst | Casimir | Ewald and Casimir |
The lightest ending is siding with Horst while Quinto is your accomplice, since you only face Ewald. If you already know which brother you plan to turn against, pick the safecracker who sides with the other one so you have fewer enemies to deal with.
Can you recruit both?
You can visit both safecrackers for a little extra XP before committing to one, along with the minor rewards from payments or Axii. For a clean run with no failed objectives, start with Quinto, tell him you’ll be back, and then head to Casimir. In the end you still take only one of them into the vault.
