Baptism of Fire

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Baptism of Fire is the fourteenth main quest in Kingdom Come: Deliverance. It starts when Henry talks with Sir Divish about the attack and confirms he is ready for battle.

You should already be well armed and armoured in preparation for the attack. Be sure to bring potions and enter well rested and fed.

Background

A raiding party led by Captain Robard of Talmberg is preparing to attack the bandit camp and I'm to go with them. It will be my baptism of fire.

Simple walkthrough

• Fight your way into the camp.
  • (Optional) Deal with the archers
  • Kill the Cuman commander
    • Fight through to the church
      • Defend the position.
        • Kill the bandit commander in the steeple

Detailed walkthrough

Henry listens to the battle plan

The battle plan has been decided - along with Sir Radzig and Sir Robard, Henry will attempt to cross the bridge into Pribyslavitz to engage the bandits and Cumans in the clearing. Upon nearing the bridge, the Skalitz men will cross with Henry and Radzig while the Talmberg men flank the archers behind the fence.

If the player runs ahead, they may trigger the three nearest archers to flee. Otherwise, they will do so once the Skalitz men approach as the first wave of bandits cover them. Defeat these enemies and you will be greeted by a larger, second wave, while in the background Sir Robard and some more Talmberg men engage a group of Cumans. Defeat the bandits and Cumans in the second wave and the allied army will rally to storm the Cuman camp.

Radzig's men remove the blockade to the Cuman camp

Archers and the Cuman camp

A cutscene will play where some allied soldiers will move aside the cart barricading the Cuman camp. There are six archers to the left side of the gate on the stairs armed with powerful arrows and bows - Radzig will yell to deal with them, and the task falls on Henry. Kill them or flush them out with the haystack in front of the Cuman camp. Whether or not Henry succeeds in dealing with the archers, eventually the allied army will overpower the Cumans and kill the commander, at which point they will rally and fight to the church near the bandit camp.

The bandit camp near the church

Head to the other camp where the bandits take their last stand. Three archers are on the palisade behind a locked gate, and will rain arrows on the allied army until they run out. Once the melee bandits are defeated, two of the allied soldiers will take a log and batter the church gates as one final group of bandits races up the hill. Finish them off like the rest before them.

Duel with Runt

At this point, the church gate comes crashing down as allied troops pour into the churchyard. Runt orders his remaining force to drive them back as he retreats up the church, with Henry in hot pursuit. At first, Runt doesn't recognize Henry, only piecing it together when Henry angrily asks where is his sword. Runt then taunts the increasingly furious Henry, reminding him how easily the bandit won their last duel.

Runt taunts Henry for the final time

After all this time, it is finally Henry's chance to get revenge on Runt. The hulking bandit proves a formidable opponent, though certainly weaker than his first impression made it seem. Before long, Henry gains the upper hand thanks to his training under Bernard, even disarming Runt and pinning him to the ground. As Henry presses Runt's own dagger against his throat, Runt continues to laugh and taunt him while refusing to share any information on Henry's sword. Henry furiously beats his head into a pulp before being interrupted by Sir Radzig and Sir Robard.

Runt is defeated

The two veterans calmly congratulate Henry on killing the bandit commander. They then share that they found a large chest of gold hidden in the church, indicating someone very wealthy and powerful was funding the bandits.

The three men look out of the crumbling steeple, as the last of the bandits are killed below them. Henry vomits at the sight, made worse with the realization that after all this, he is no closer to finding his sword. Robard tells Henry not to dwell on the carnage, but Henry disagrees - it is important to remember what happened this day.

The Chief looks over Pribyslavitz

Radzig tells Henry to rest and meet up later, praising him for what he has accomplished. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Henry, a suspicious yet familiar figure is also surveying the scene. He ominously states he will make Henry pay for what he has done, and orders his attendant to put the next phase of their plan into action.

Strategies

• The sabotage objectives previously available in Nest of Vipers will have the following effects:
  • Poisoning food pots will reduce the enemies that spawn. Each food pot is tied to a specific group of enemies of the faction which owned that camp.
  • Burning arrows will reduce the ammunition the archers have. Each arrow cache affects the archers of the faction which owned their camp. When out of ammo, the archers are forced to engage in melee.
  • The player does receive partial credit if not all sabotage objectives were completed, but it is still recommended to complete them all.
• There is a hidden option to burn the haystack in front of the Cuman camp to deal with the archers. This will prevent them from shooting and immediately force them to engage in melee.
  • While they may actually cause more damage this way, all the archer enemies are poorly armored and will likely die quickly. It also is safer than attempting to fight them all singlehandedly.
• While enemies in each wave will prioritize friendly NPCs rather than the player, it is still highly advised to load up on potions due to the length of combat. Additionally, it is recommended to bring more than one dose, as the length of combat means it is highly likely an initial dose will wear off before the mission is over.
  • For suggested potions, Aqua Vitalis is especially useful for reducing all incoming damage by 50%, while Buck's Blood potion improves both maximum stamina and stamina regeneration by 50%.
• Runt has decent armor and stats, as well as some built in combo protection. As such, it is highly recommended to first learn masterstrikes from Captain Bernard and build up decent strength to defeat him in clinches.
  • While a decently leveled player should have little difficulty against Runt, potions and poisoning one's weapon can help if he proves too difficult.
  • Some especially useful perks to have before this fight include Clinch Master to improve Henry's clinch window, Tin Opener to easily destroy Runt's armor, and Bloodletter and/or Serrated Edge to easily wound him and proc bleeding.

Notes

• If playing the game in Hardcore, Runt will wear an Italian bascinet in the final duel instead of being bareheaded.
• If you skip the cutscene after fighting Runt, you may encounter a bug where you stay at the top of the church with Runt still alive. However, he will immediately die after one strike. It is solved by reloading a save and letting the cutscene play out.
• Like any other enemy, Runt can be instantly knocked out with Headcracker with good luck, but the cutscene still won't trigger unless you actually kill him.
  • Because he is scripted to never surrender or flee, Runt will immediately resume fighting after waking up even if the player strips him of his weapon and armor.
• While playing the game on console, the game may crash during the loading screen before the first battle sequence at the bridge. This is more likely to occur if the game has been running for several hours. Though simply reloading will suffice, to prevent this from happening in the first place and ensure interrupted play, the player should hard reset their console before speaking to Sir Divish to trigger this quest.
• There are several bandits in this quest that are scripted to only be killable by allied soldiers. Although attacks from the player can deplete their health, they cannot deal a killing blow, knock these enemies unconscious, or cause them to bleed to death.
  • Several other enemies are scripted to fight against the Talmberg soldiers in the background and cannot be interacted with. They also will not attempt to fight Henry.
• During the final cut-scene with Henry overlooking the battlefield, allied soldiers will be finishing off the survivors. However there is a glitch where a Bandit may be casually standing among them sharpening a sword, or aiding in the culling.