Kingdom Come Deliverance 2’s The King’s Gambit quest takes Henry on an undercover mission as a particularly talented waiter. While The King’s Gambit only has one outcome, it does give you several ways to reach it – including some ill-advised ones that might cost you quite a lot of groschen. This is a rare case where the quest is timed, as you have to be ready to serve the council at sundown. Make sure to adjust the time to early morning before starting the quest if you can.
Our Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 The King’s Gambit walkthrough takes you through each quest step, including what to say to Franta and how to get info from Haman, Botschek, and Anna.
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 The King’s Gambit: Obtain the king waiter’s certificate and king waiter’s clothes
The quest’s first step has you speaking with Vanak, the same Vanak you gathered evidence against during the Via Argentum quest. Vanak wants to know why you’re so keen on getting into the meeting and eavesdropping on Sigismund.
Vanak: Speak then, what do you want? And tell the truth!
- I want to know what Sigismund wants from the council
- I want to present myself to high society
- That’s none of your business!
Telling Vavak it’s none of his business will cost Henry even more reputation loss with the scheming noble, so if you’re keen to avoid that, pick a more polite response. Whether Vavak knows what’s in store or not won’t influence anything that happens next.
Vavak: And that will be the end of our business together
- Deal
- (Intimidation) That’s not for you to decide!
- (Speech) How about a few groschen?
If you pass the speech check, Vavak gives you 60 groschen and you can be on your way. The intimidation check is kind of just for the fun of seeing Vavak squirm, as the only thing it gets you is even lower reputation.
Your next task is collecting the certificate and clothes from Franta, the son of Vavak’s cook. You can head straight to the tailor if you want to, but he’ll likely just tell you Franta already picked up the clothes. The waiter himself is in the nearby German alehouse The Iron Eagle, as Vavak suggested. Franta is, understandably, curious about your motives.
Franta: Why would you want to stick your nose in there?
- (Presence, medium) I have important news for the king!
- (Speech, hard) I want to see the king with my own eyes
- Don’t worry about it. How much do you want?
It’s worth trying the presence check unless you’ve completely ignored that stat, as Franta is certainly not timid when it comes to asking for money. He wants 1,000 groschen for the clothes and certificate. If you do opt for the bribe choice, you can try to pass a charisma check to convince him to “think of it as an investment,” but failing means you have to fork over 1,000 groschen.
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 The King’s Gambit: Report for duty and serve the councillors
Report to the Majordomo at the banquet hall while wearing Franta’s waiter’s outfit. It’s just west of the marketplace where Franta’s tailor is. What you tell the Majordomo about why Franta can’t attend doesn’t matter, nor does it matter if you say “I’ll be happy to learn.” Picking that option presents you with some advice for the evening, including how to serve and who not to serve, but we’re including that information below as well.
Royal Waiter advice
- Do not pour wine for Sir Adam of Zarzits
- Lower your eyes when you pour wine for the king
- The two wines for the evening are on a table near the door, a Monastery red and Tokaji white
- Stay in the background until a councillor requests something
Say you know what you need to move the quest forward.
You’ll regain control of Henry in the banquet hall. Remain by the table where the wine carafes are until someone calls for more wine. You can ask which kind they want if you didn’t notice, and there’s no penalty. As far as we can tell, the people who request wine are chosen at random depending on your game, though it seems guaranteed that Adam of Zarzits will always demand wine and pout when you don’t give it to him.
If Vavak asks for wine, you can provoke or tease him without causing any major disturbance.
You also need to use the “look” option in front of the correct councillor before you can pour their wine.
Once you’ve served a few guests, Bailiff Andreas will call you over, and a cutscene starts. The bailiff wants you to retrieve a silver goblet from his room, an item a thief stole from Vavak that Andreas is keen to return before Vavak notices. Tell him you’ll find it – he won’t give any info if you ask where it is – and be on your way.
Bring the confiscates goblet to Bailiff Plumel
Exit the hall by the door near your wine station, and turn right. Climb the stairs, enter the room, and you’ll find the goblet on the desk inside.
Return the goblet to Andreas, then return yourself to your station by the wine. Serve more guests until Franz Rosenthal calls you over with another favor. He wants you to retrieve his gloves. You can deny the request, without issue, but you’ll get a money reward if you accept it.
Find and bring Franz Rosenthal’s gloves
Enter the chapel and grab Rosenthal’s gloves, steal what’s inside if you want (while no one’s looking, of course), and count the winges figures. There are 24. Return the gloves to Rosenthal, give him the right answer, and you get a whopping 1 groschen for your time. Good service pays.
Continue serving people, and Sigismund comes in soon after. You don’t have to worry about forgetting the Majordomo’s instructions, as a cutscene takes the action out of your hands.
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 The King’s Gambit: Talk to Lichtenstein and get support from Anna, Haman, and Botschek
After Sigismund’s concerning comments, the action shifts to Hans and John Godwin. Your next tasks just involve talking to people, but then Lichtenstein wants you to get support for Jobst’s plan by speaking to three people who might be able to help. You can find them in any order, but we’re starting with Anna.
Get support from Anna of Waldstein and swap the documents
Anna is in the upstairs hall, and she wants a bit of skullduggery from you before she agrees to help. She wants you to replace some documents in Haman’s bags with papers in her possession. Haman’s bags are in the room next to the stable. Sneak in while no one is watching, make the swap, and return to Anna.
Get support from Haman Alder and duel Christopher
Haman is in the room next to where Lichtenstein is, and he’s speaking with Martin Oderin. Martin wants you to duel Christopher first, so you’ll have to deal with that. Christopher is a bit aggressive, but a successful parry and counter will leave him open for enough follow-up attacks for you to end the duel. Haman pledges his support afterward.
Get support from Botschek of Kunstadt
This one is the least involved. Speak with Botschek, tell Hanush about Botschek’s plans for a marriage between Hans and Jitka, and you’re good to go.
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 The King’s Gambit: Serve Sigismund
The quest switches back to Henry’s perspective. Once Sigismund finishes speaking, return to your post by the wine table. Sigismund speaks extensively with Markvart and occasionally asks for wine. He wants red each time, but there’s no dire consequence if you give him white the first time. At the end, agree to drink with him and toast victory.
On the off chance you haven’t done it yet, make sure to revisit Trosky at some point to get the Vidlak Bandit’s treasure and the Map Left by the Deceased for some extra cash and valuables you can sell.