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The Dragon’s Dogma 2 Off The Pilfered Path quest has you helping out a young man you met on your way to Bakbattahl. But between getting him out of the city gaol and a bug that’s seen plenty of players unable to finish the quest, it’s causing some major issues. So if you’re struggling to free Hugo from Bakbattahl gaol, we’ve got the whole quest mapped out, as well as how to get around the bug.
Make sure to check out our Dragon’s Dogma 2 tips and tricks for some handy pointers to help you out on your adventure. And if you’re after some more Dragon’s Dogma 2 quests, we’ve got a guide detailing all of them so you know which ones you’ve missed. With that, let’s get into our guide to the Off The Pilfered Pass side quest.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 Off The Pilfered Path walkthrough
Before you can start this quest, you first need to finish the Mercy Among Thieves quest. You should automatically be assigned this quest when you first travel to Bakbattahl, during which you meet a young man named Hugo. At the end of the quest, Hugo ends up in Bakbattahl gaol.
In the days after you complete this quest, you may be approached by a Bakbattahl guard named Benjamin and told that Hugo isn’t cooperating with the guards. He asks that you step in to help them out. We ran into this guard near the edge of the merchant district.
Visiting Hugo
Head to the northern part of Bakbattahl and take the road that leads east. You’ll find a path that will lead you directly to the back of the gaol. Check out the map above for a precise location. Enter, and immediately ahead of you, you’ll find Hugo. Talk to him and he’ll talk a bit about why he committed the crimes he did but not much else.
Alex’s Advice
Take note of the path that leads south from the gaol, that leads to the Forbidden Magick Research Lab. This location will be important in later quests, so is worth remembering.
You now have two routes you can take, one of which is to free Hugo, and the other is to let Hugo break out himself. We’ll go through both options, but we recommend freeing Hugo yourself.
Option 1: How to free Hugo
Now it’s time to get Hugo out of there. The easiest way to do this is to pay a bribe. Look for Ekratt, the head gaoler who can be found either patrolling the gaol itself or in the nearby office. Talk to him, and pay him a small bribe for him to convince his superiors to let Hugo out.
Wait for a few days and then come back. Ekratt will tell you his higher-ups need some more convincing, so you need to pay him another bribe. Wait another few days, and Hugo should be free. There is a well-known bug with this quest where your bribe will not work. If this impacts you, check our bug fix detailed further below.
Option 2: Huge breaks out on his own
Once you’re in the gaol, talk to Hugo until you exhaust his dialogue. Next, walk over to the cell next to him and talk to a man named Brefft, a member of the Coral Snakes. Brefft will tell you that the gang routinely kidnaps children and murders their parents in order to raise them as loyal members of the group.
You can then tell Hugo about this new information. Once you’ve done this, way for a day or two and come back to the gaol. You‘ll find out that Hugo killed Brefft and escaped. Now, it’s a race against time.
Hugo will head to the Ancient Battleground, and you need to follow. You’ll come face to face with the leader of the Coral Snakes, Lanzo, who you’ll need to fight. If you take too long to get here, Hugo will be killed, so go here as soon as you find out that he’s escaped.
Finding Hugo a job
Next up, you need to get Hugo a job to set him on the straight and narrow. The easiest way (though a little time-consuming) to do this is to help out Isaac at the apothecary. Complete the Short-Sighted Ambition quest chain for him, and he will eventually quit his job and leave the city. Once this happens, Hugo will happily take the job he leaves behind.
Off The Pilfered Path bug fix
Many players have encountered a bug with this quest, where no matter how long you wait, Ekratt will always tell you to give him more time. If this happens, you won’t be able to bribe Hugo out, but thankfully there’s a simple alternative.
Search the room near the gaol to find the Makeshift Gaol Key. Head back to Hugo’s cell and wait for all of the patrolling guards to be far away down the other end of the corridor. When they’re gone, open Hugo’s cell using the key and quickly carry Hugo out the back entrance where you can drop him and talk to him to progress the quest.
That’s it for the Dragon’s Dogma 2 Off The Pilfered Path quest. If you’re looking for some more side quests to do, why not check out Prey for the Pack, Hunt for the Jadeite Orb, or the Claw Them Into Shape quests as well?
