Shortly after you escape the hangman’s noose in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, you’ll set out to prepare for war with Hans Capon. The two of you leave for a nearby fortress in Back in the Saddle, but there’s more going on when you get there.
Most of the quest is straightforward in Back in the Saddle after you beat For Whom the Bell Tolls. However, when you arrive at the fortress, things become more open for you, and you can poke around around the area. The way you do this is essential because you don’t want to alert the guards you’re onto them, and you need to find out the secret before you leave. Here’s what you need to know about how to complete Back in the Saddle in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.
How to explore the fortress in Kingdom Come 2
In Back in the Saddle, you travel from Trosky Castle to Nebakov Fortress. You’ll do this with Hans Capon, and it’s a straight shot south. You can do it manually, where you share in exchanges with Hans throughout the journey, or you can fast travel to this location. The choice is yours, as it does not impact the outcome of this quest in Kingdom Come 2.
When you arrive at the castle, follow the steps of the quest until you have to wait for Hans. The best thing to do here is engage in the duel with Michael. After you defeat him, you can walk around. The primary goal is to learn the truth about the fortress, and the best way to do this is to head into the kitchen and go underneath the battlements. Make sure you have silent gear, as you need to follow this path and sneak behind a guard to rob him. He’ll have a pair of keys in his pocket. After you get those, wait for the patrolling guard to go past you before knocking out the guard you stole from and placing them underneath the walkway. You can also choose to use a lockpick, but there’s more risk involved.
Return to the front area if no one catches you. When the patrolling guard walks past you again, turn to the left where there’s a locked door; you can use the keys you stole to get inside. You’ll find the rightful ruler of the fortress, Sir Jaromier, in the jail. He wants you to leave as soon as possible and tell those at Trosky Castle what’s happened. The ones posing as him and his guards are bandits, the same ones who attacked you at the beginning of Kingdom Come 2 at the pond.
This is the primary piece of evidence you need to get for the Back in the Saddle quest. However, you can learn more about the bandits at the fortress by uncovering more pieces of evidence about what they have hidden away. For example, speak with the blacksmith to learn he struggled with the fortifications. Although the blacksmith backs away from the conversation, you can look into this area. Across from the blacksmith is an open space you can walk through. Walk along the cliffs and sneak around to the lower part of the fortress.
When you reach the bottom, there are a handful of workers there that you need to avoid. If you’re wearing suitable clothing that doesn’t make too much noise, you can sneak into this area with a mysterious shield inside. Inside the tower, there are multiple weapons and gunpowder weapons stockpiled in there, which you’ll want to remember when you return to the fortress and attempt to retake it.
Another piece of evidence is the amount of horses at the fortress. If you speak with Michael, the person you fought against in the duel before being able to search the fortress, he tells you they were given to Jaromier by dead relatives. However, Peltzel, the groomer, tells you they were acquired by bandits that the guards at the fortress ran off several weeks ago. Their stories don’t line up, chalking up another piece of evidence against them.
For the final piece of evidence, return to the blacksmith and go down to where a pair of men are skinning a deer. At the beginning of the game, one of these men was at Bozhena’s house when the bandits were looking for you. For my playthrough, I had this chance because I could talk my way out of telling them I wasn’t the one they were looking for when they were at the house. If you killed those two men, though, they won’t appear. After you confront them about their identity, they run off, and Henry remarks how they were the ones who attempted to find you at Bozhena’s home.
You can do other side activities after learning about Sir Jaromier, such as spending time with Klara, competing in archery, or playing dice with Zwerk. You want to make sure you find out about Sir Jaromier before you do those and Hans finishes his meeting. After you meet him, you’ll explain the truth about the fortress and return to Trosky castle to report what’s happening to Lord von Bergow in Kingdom Come 2. You’ll go ahead and conclude this quest after you report everything.
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