Nest of Vipers

Nest of Vipers is the thirteenth main quest in Kingdom Come: Deliverance. After completing My Friend Timmy, Sir Radzig will order Henry to scout and ideally sabotage the bandit camp at Pribyslavitz. If you successfully infiltrated the bandits in the previous quest or can get hold of a full Cuman outfit, you will be able to walk around the camp unmolested; otherwise, you will be required to sneak.

To sabotage the camp, you will need four doses of Bane potion or poison and a torch.

Synopsis[]

Sir Radzig asked me to scout out the location of the camp where the bandits who attacked Neuhof are holed up. I've got to find out as much as I can about the camp and, if possible, sabotage things a bit.

Objectives[]

Go and scout out the bandits' camp.
The woodcutters' camp by the northern road from Talmberg.
- Go to the fork with the ruined cabin.
  - Go straight ahead to the next fork by a clearing with a big beech tree.
    - Take a left and continue on the path to the next fork.
      - Take a left and carry on to the junction.
        Carry on straight at the crossroads all the way to the camp.
Find the bandits' camp.
- (Optional) Sabotage the bandits before the battle begins.
  - (Optional) Sabotage: you can poison their food.
  - (Optional) Sabotage: you can set fire to the arrows.
- Look around the camp and see what could be useful information for the attack.
  - Go back to Sir Radzig.
    - Ask Sir Divish of Talmberg for reinforcements.
      - When you're ready for battle, talk to Sir Divish.

Walkthrough[]

North of Talmberg and Rovna is the abandoned village of Pribyslavitz, now occupied by the Cumans and Runt's gang of bandits. Either go to Rovna and simply follow the stream northeast, or start in Talmberg, head north until you reach the woodcutters' camp, keep left at each fork until you reach the crossroads, and continue west to the bandit camp.

The bandits and the Cumans are in two separate camps, with the bandits to the west and the Cumans to the north. If you successfully infiltrated the bandits in the previous quest, you can walk right in (though avoid Morcock if he is still alive, as approaching him will make the entire camp hostile). Alternatively, if you can put together a Cuman outfit (by looting one of the patrolling guards or the Easy-locked chest in the stable in the northeast part of the camp or by using gear you've kept from previous encounters), the camp's inhabitants won't pay much attention to you provided you don't act suspiciously. However, don't get too close to any Cumans, as you can only convince them you are trustworthy three times before they turn on you, and getting caught sabotaging the camp or attacking anyone will set the entire camp against you. Regardless, this only appears to work if you eliminate Morcock.

If you are able to wander the village freely, as you enter the bandit camp, you will see a man being dragged to the nearby church, where Runt emerges. The man has been accused of starting a fight that resulted in the death of two Hungarians. Runt is furious, reminding everyone they are supposed to be a united army. Although the Cumans are willing to let the man go as a sign of cooperation, when he accuses Runt of taking orders from heathen dogs, Runt instead runs him through with a sword.

Although you can simply scout the camp and leave, to make the upcoming attack easier, you should also sabotage the camp by poisoning all four cooking pots with Bane potion or poison and setting all four arrow caches on fire with a torch; the bandit and Cuman camps each contain two pots and two arrow caches, and all must be sabotaged to satisfy the optional objectives. Don't let anyone see you meddling. You should be able to poison the pots silently during the night (although doing so may still attract attention), but setting fire to any arrow caches will likely alert nearby enemies. Sabotaging all pots and arrow caches will reduce the number of enemies you will face in the next quest.

You can attempt to kill all the bandits and Cumans in the camp (either by stealth or with a strong melee weapon or bow and arrows), but doing so will have no impact on the next quest. Try attacking individual enemies when they are on patrol, rather than starting a dogpile in the middle of camp. The massive quantity of resulting loot makes it extremely inconvenient to carry and sell it all, but consider making a series of raids. If you do pursue the aggressive option, note that a few enemies in each camp carry an abnormally high number of quality arrows and swords. Also, if you wait or sleep inside the camp after killing any enemies, the bodies will have disappeared after you stop waiting or wake up, but any dropped weapons will still be on the ground.

Once you have scouted the area sufficiently and optionally sabotaged the camp, return to Sir Radzig. You'll need to give him a full report, including regarding the number of enemies, the combination of bandits and Cumans, their equipment, the position of the camp, and the ladders you saw. Note that if you tell Sir Radzig there are "a lot" of enemies (the final dialogue option), resulting in all available troops in the region being sent to the upcoming battle, Kolben farm will be destroyed and its inhabitants killed after the next quest. Otherwise, the number of troops used in the battle does not appear to affect other aspects of the game.

Sir Radzig will then ask whether you managed to sabotage the camp, and you will relay what you have done. Then, he will reward you with 250 and tell you to go to Talmberg to request reinforcements from Sir Divish.

Sir Divish will ask if you are ready or need more time to prepare. Once you have your weapons, armor, and potions ready, eat your fill and make sure you are well rested. Then, speak to Sir Divish again. Captain Robard will accompany you to meet Sir Radzig in Pribyslavitz. There, you and Sir Radzig will discuss the battle plans, and you will ultimately decide to cross the bridge and engage the enemy in the clearing, beginning Baptism of Fire.

Strategy[]

If you decide to take out the whole camp, which come with several benefits: freedom to complete the sabotages, access to a colossal amount of loots (if your horse has good capacity), significant XP gain in various stats like Warfare, Stealth,Strength, Agility and other weapons, the later is greatly beneficial if your stats is still at medium and you can't take your chances at ambushes or riding to other bandit camps to practice, this guide includes a mixture of stealth and combat, with risks greatly minimized, takes about more than an in-game day, or two at most, or sooner depending on how confident you decide.

If you don't want to make several trips back and forth, stock up food and potions (especially Cockerel potion to alleviate the need for sleeping) that can last you a couple of days, Nighthawk potion is very helpful, other potions that boost combat stats are also recommended. The first objective is to thin their numbers. The bandit camp boasts more enemies than the Cuman camp, and they will periodically send scouts toward the wooden bridge on the left side of the camp which serves as the fast travel point. This will be where you start.

When you first arrive at the bridge, there will be a small bonfire on the right, past the bridge, with 2 bandits guarding: one with a polearm and the other mainly uses bow. Dispose them either with bow or direct combat. Then scout the path that leads toward the bandit camp, this is the trail where scouts sent from the camp will patrol, they will make a trip to the bridge then come back, but sometimes a scout will travel even further into the forest. Usually one bandit is sent at a time, sometimes 2 but rarely (and they resemble the couple that you disposed earlier). Once the target is isolated, kill them with stealth or melee combat. It is recommended to do this quickly, and move their body away from the main road, as another scout is sent as soon as the previous one made their way to the bridge before coming back. You can always run if the camp is alerted (usually happens if the next scout see the dead bodies of those you killed), but that will take you more time to thin their numbers. You should be familiar with the rhythm soon enough and keep assassinating the patrols. Even though they seem like auto-spawned enemies, they actually count toward the total numbers in the camp. At some point, the bandit camp will stop sending scouts completely, signalling their numbers have drastically reduced.

Before you raid the bandit camp, move on to the Cuman camp first. The Cuman camp has fewer enemies, but they don't send scouts, so stealth option might get tricky as they always stick inside their camp, rendering brute force difficult as well. Technically, the Cuman camp does send scouts to patrol at the back forest behind the stable with the backdoor, however this happens too inconsistently to consider an ambush option. Instead, take out the guard at the entrance first, either with stealth (you can creep up behind him by hugging the wall on the right while crouching) or with poisoned arrow, killing this guard will alert the camp but you should have plenty of time to make a run for it, you can even lure some Cumans into the woods where you can isolate and take out a few of them, which made easier once the bandit camp no longer sends scouts. The Cumans will only replace this guard once or twice at most, afterwards the entrance is wide open for you to creep in and start taking out sleeping Cumans, you can even force a fight around the bonfire at the northeast part of the camp as it is far enough from the bandit camp to not alert them, although if it takes too long, they will eventually swarm you. There's a lot of Cumans sleeping at night, the ones that don't almost always sit by the fire, so it's only a matter of time once you clear it. The bandits never visit the Cumans camp (and vice versa), so don't worry about taking your time inside to loot and stealth kill, there's a few spots that allow you to sleep and save there as well.

Now that the Cuman camp is cleared, it's time to thoroughly raid the bandits. There are a couple of guards at the entrance, dispose them from the distance with bow is recommended because if you try to force a fight, it will be an uphill battle with the whole camp which can still be quite difficult. If you haven't killed Morcock and his gang in the last quest, they will sit at the table near the entrance, along with the church door guards, they never sleep, so combat is the only way. At this point, there should be around 7-8 bandits left in the camp, including Morcock's gang, which can still prove challenging to fight them head on. You can always resort to the previous hit and run tactic to take them out, especially against Morcock's gang since they won't alert others when running after you. There's a few more bandits who situate deep inside the camp and are almost never alerted until you get close enough, although they should be push-overs once you have taken cared of everyone else.

Notes[]

Five doses of poison are in the camp, which are useful if you were not able to brew at least four Bane potions or poisons for the sabotage objectives. One is on a barrel in the back of the bandit camp, three are in Easy-locked chests in the Cuman camp, and one is on a barrel in the stable northeast of the Cuman camp. The stable also holds the Easy-locked chest containing a free complete Cuman disguise.
The gate to the church where Runt appears in the cutscene will sometimes remain open. If it does, it is possible to scale the church and use it as a chokepoint against the entire camp, though you can still be swarmed. Otherwise, the church features only a basket of food and a chest with minor loot.