In Baldur’s Gate 3, Sazza – A Goblin Follower of the Absolute
Sazza is a goblin follower of the Absolute that we encounter in the first act. She may seem insignificant, but she’s actually tied to an in-game achievement.
Act 1
You first meet Sazza in the Emerald Grove. She’s sitting in a cage in a temporary jail next to a barn guarded by the paralyzed Pandirna. The goblin is set to be put on trial, but a tiefling named Arka seeks revenge for her brother’s death by shooting Sazza on the spot with a crossbow.
Saving Sazza
When Arka prepares to shoot, choose the option: “Shield the goblin with your body.”
The tiefling will obviously not be pleased, and you’ll have a series of skill checks:
- Intimidation, Persuasion – charisma with a difficulty of 10.
- Detect Thoughts – wisdom with a difficulty of 12.
If you fail any of these checks, Arka will shoot Sazza. When Arka asks why you care about the goblin’s fate, reply with any phrase, and the tieflings will leave.
Talk to Sazza, who will praise the Absolute and inform you that her band will soon attack the Emerald Grove. To gain her trust and have her agree to lead you to the priestess True Soul Gut, choose the following options:
- “I admit, I’m interested. Do you have brochures?”
- “Well, I’d like to meet her.”
- “Deal. I’ll get you out.”
Thus begins the quest “Save the Goblin Sazza,” where you must free her and safely escort her to the goblin camp. Pick the lock on her cage and release her. Then, make sure to talk to the goblin to have her join your party.
1) Save the Goblin Sazza
You can try to escort her directly past the tieflings, but it will be very difficult. Each tiefling you encounter will need to be persuaded, intimidated, or killed. The best way is to take Sazza through a secret passage just behind her cage:
- Jump over the rock, find a stone door, enter it, and you’ll find yourself in an underground tunnel.
Be cautious, as there are traps in the form of statues that shoot fire. You’ll also encounter a small group of goblins who will attack despite Sazza being with you.
After dealing with the goblins, proceed forward to the next stone door. Once you find yourself in the forest outside the Emerald Grove, ask Sazza to fulfill her promise and tell you more about the priestess Gut. Sazza will say she’ll put in a good word for you and then run away.
Several important points:
- If the goblin dies during the fight with the goblins, you won’t be able to resurrect her, and the quest “Save the Goblin Sazza” in Baldur’s Gate 3 will fail. Keep her away from combat until the fight is over.
- If you healed the wounded gnome Findal, he will attack you. You’ll need to pass a persuasion or intimidation check (difficulty 15) to avoid the battle.
- Gale and Shadowheart will approve of saving Sazza from the cage.
2) Saving from Minthara
Next, your path leads to the goblin camp located in the west of the map. When you cross the bridge, Sazza will meet you and lead you to Minthara in the ruined shrine deep in the camp.
Minthara will order Sazza’s execution for failing her mission. The sly goblin will immediately betray you, saying she had no idea who you really were.
To save Sazza from Minthara’s wrath, choose the line: “She’s telling the truth. She didn’t know.”
As a reward for saving her, Sazza will give you the dagger “Touch of Death,” which deals necrotic damage to creatures that are sleeping or unconscious.
Cons
Since freeing Sazza is considered a step towards an evil playthrough, there are some unpleasant consequences:
- If you side with the goblins and Minthara, this cooperation will culminate in an attack on the Emerald Grove.
- The battle with the druids in the grove will be very challenging.
- Karlach and Wyll will permanently leave the party due to the massacre in the grove.
- Your decision will kill all the tieflings, including the useful blacksmith Dammon, who helps cool down Karlach.
Pros
Successfully massacring the grove will allow you to romance Minthara and invite her to your party. You can loot the druid grove after the battle.
- Astarion and Lae’zel will approve of attacking the tieflings.
- You can free Sazza and save her from execution while hiding the location of the grove from Minthara.
Killing Sazza
You can witness the death of the goblin Sazza in Act 1 in several places:
- In the cage in the tiefling camp – for this:
- Choose the option: “Do nothing” in the cutscene with the tieflings. Arka will shoot Sazza.
- If you dissuade Arka from taking revenge but leave Sazza in the cage, she will die inside it.
In a conversation with Minthara in the goblin camp, Sazza will be thrown to the spiders upon choosing:
- Remain silent.
- I explained everything to her. But she’s too stupid to understand.
In this case, Sazza’s story ends here.
Act 2
In the Moon Towers, you will need to pretend to be a faithful follower of the Absolute. When you enter the throne room, a cutscene will start, and at the end, Ketheric Thorm will give you the right to decide the fate of four goblins, including Sazza (if she survived Act 1).
Saving Sazza
If you want Sazza to live, choose the option: “Guards! Release them.”
After this, Sazza will escape from the Moon Towers in an unknown direction.
Killing Sazza
Despite saving her twice in Act 1, you can end Sazza’s life in the Moon Towers in several ways:
- Selecting “Let’s spill your guts. I want to see you bleed out.” or “No more words. To be sure, I’ll silence you forever.” — you will effectively force the goblins to kill themselves.
- Selecting “Let’s be fair. I’ll give you a chance. Fight me, and either you’ll die or kill me – and then you’ll be free.” – this will trigger a brief battle with a predictable outcome.
Executing the goblins will earn the trust of Ketheric Thorm’s underlings.
Epilogue
If Sazza remains alive in the first two acts, you can find a note from her in the endgame in a chest of grateful words. In it, she explains that she has been captured again and put into a cage, asking for help…
Achievement
If you play on platforms with achievements, saving Sazza will earn you the “Born Free” achievement. To get this, you must:
- Save the goblin from the cage in the Emerald Grove.
- Save her from Minthara’s wrath in the ruined shrine.
- Free her in the Moon Towers.
