After 510 Hours In Baldur’s Gate 3, I Always Craft This Masterwork Weapon
Baldur’s Gate 3 is a game about choice. Players can choose to be a hero, a villain, or something in between, choose whether companions embrace their dark sides or pursue heroism, and, of course, choose who to romance. True to its Dungeons and Dragons roots, the game is also packed to the brim with smaller choices that help make each play-through of Baldur’s Gate 3 feel unique. One such choice is which Masterwork Weapon to craft during one particular quest — and, after over 500 hours in the game, for me, there is only one answer.
Players Completing 'Finish The Masterwork Weapon' Are Faced With A Choice
“Finish the Masterwork Weapon” is a Quest encountered in Act 1 of Baldur’s Gate 3. While exploring the Blighted Village area, players can discover a journal or set of blueprints belonging to Highcliff, a blacksmith who is, unfortunately, probably not around anymore. In their journal, Highcliff writes of creating a masterwork weapon using a particularly special ingredient.
That ingredient is Sussur Bark, harvested from the Sussur tree in the Underdark. This is a particularly dangerous area, absolutely crawling with hook horrors — not to mention the Sussur tree’s ability to suppress magic while in its range, a major setback for party members such as Gale. However, braving the tree to collect the Bark is absolutely worth it, as players can then return to the Blighted Village and forge a unique Sussur-infused weapon.
Only one piece of Sussur Bark can be collected per play-through, meaning that players must choose between Baldur’s Gate 3‘s three masterwork weapon options: the Sussur Dagger, the Sussur Sickle, and the Sussur Greatsword. All three weapons have the same secondary ability: Silencing an opponent for two turns on hit, thus depriving them of their magic. Over the course of my multiple playthroughs, I’ve experimented with all three Sussur weapons, and determined that, although they seem similar on the surface, the dagger is the best of the three. Nowadays, I don’t even bother with the Sickle or Greatsword, but craft the Sussur Dagger every single time.
The Sussur Dagger Fills A Niche The Other Two Weapons Don't
I choose the Sussur Dagger for one major reason: there aren’t a lot of great daggers this early in Baldur’s Gate 3. All of Baldur’s Gate 3’s best daggers, such as Cazador Szarr’s Rhapsody or Orin the Red’s Bloodthirst, are found in Act 3, many, many hours after you can potentially forge the Sussur Dagger. Making the dagger during “Finish the Masterwork Weapon” gives your dagger-wielders something fun to play with long before they reach the city of Baldur’s Gate itself.
The Sussur Greatsword, on the other hand, has quite a lot of competition — most notably the Everburn Blade, which can be taken from Commander Zhaik on the Nautiloid during one of the game’s very first battles. The Sussur Sickle, on the other hand, doesn’t have much competition due to Sickles being a fairly rare weapon. But, if you are determined to use a Sickle for some reason, the Sickle of BOOOAL, which is also found in the Underdark, does more damage and lets you be worshiped as a god by fish-people.
A big reason I always choose the Sussur Dagger during this quest is because I pretty much always have Astarion in my party, so I’ve always got someone actively in combat to wield the dagger. His fairly mediocre saving-throw-related stats also mean that Silencing an enemy with the dagger can handily save him from a spell that may have otherwise ended his un-life.
If your party composition favors Fighters or other melee specialists, the Sussur Greatsword may suit your needs better. Like most choices in the game, there is no right answer — but the Sussur Dagger is a major personal favorite for me.
