In The Witcher 3, there are four levels of blacksmiths that can forge and upgrade weapons according to their expertise. With the Master level being the second highest, having a blacksmith of this level unlocked can be highly beneficial. If you want to get access to a master blacksmith in Novigrad in Witcher 3, you’ll first need to complete a side quest for the blacksmith Éibhear Hattori. The side quest is called Of Sword and Dumplings, after which Hattori would be available to forge weapons for you.
In this quest guide, we will discuss how you can complete Of Swords and Dumplings and what are the best choices related to this quest.
Start the quest by meeting Hattori
To start the quest, you can either ask around Novigrad for a master blacksmith. They would refer to Éibhear Hattori, an elven blacksmith who lives in Glory Lane. If not, you can also go up to him by yourself. His location is on the southern side of Novigrad, amid other vendors and shops in Glory Lane.
Once you enter his house, he would be surprised to see a witcher and talk about how he left his forging work due to Ernst van Hoorn’s trickery, which made all other blacksmiths go out of business. Cleaver’s gang also backs Earnest up, which makes the supply of metals harder than before. Hattori will ask for your help, and if you agree, the quest will start. If you don’t want to help him, you get the option of backing out a few times during the conversation.
When agreed, he asks you to meet him at the docks to negotiate with the men of King of Beggars’ after dark. You can either wait for dusk or rest and set the time for midnight. Once the time comes, go to the selected spot near the shore. The location is south of the Hattori’s house. You can wait there outside the door, and the blacksmith will take you to the right location himself.
There is a bug that affects the situation outside the docks. Sometimes, Hattori doesn’t recognize you at all, no matter what time of the day you go and talk to him at the docks. When you get this problem, load from before the quest and start over. If the bug persists, rest for a while and then go back and talk to him at his shop. He will tell you to meet him again, and this time, the bug hopefully won’t be a bother.
Negotiate with King of Beggars, Best Choices
Once the time is right, Éibhear Hattori will take you through the door to talk to the King of Beggars’ men. The negotiation would be with Tinboy, and he would put down his price of getting 50% profits. You have the following options to choose from
- Let’s Negotiate. The offer goes down to 35%
- Are you Crazy? The offer goes down to 35%
- Fine. Let’s Get This Over With. The offer remains at 50%
If you don’t wish to fight, you can end the deal here at 50%. The quest won’t be a failure and won’t affect anything else. If you wish to help Hattori, the first two options are better choices. Choose one of them, and the next dialogue will be triggered.
- Fine, not likely to get a better deal.
- Still too much.
The first option will end the conversation, while the other will assist with 25%. Tinboy would not budge from his 35%. They would tell you their offer and leave. If the second option is chosen, the last timed option will appear.
- Fine, no deal.
- No, wait.
While you are negotiating, choose the first option. This would make them turn around and accept your offer of 25%. If not, you can go with the second option, which would end the deal at 35%.
In conclusion, the best choices that would lead to a confirmed 25% final are:
- Let’s Negotiate. Or Are you Crazy?
- Still too much.
- Fine, no deal.
After this negotiation, there would be an ambush by Cleaver’s men. There are a few of them, so make sure to use the open space to dodge their attacks. Once all are dead, follow the men and Hattori out towards the next area. This will trigger another cutscene where Timboy will ask you to have Hattori get some bodyguards as, from now on, he’ll need them to fight against Cleaver’s men.
Where to find a bodyguard for Hattori?
During this, Hattori runs back to his house to follow him back and talk to him. He would express regret for his decision. Geralt will then tell him about keeping a bodyguard, and he will send you to talk to someone who can be his bodyguard. His chosen person is Sukrus, a Skelliger pirate. Hattori cannot talk to him as he has to pay his debt, which is why he sends Geralt for this purpose.
You’ll find Sukrus nearby in Novigrad, outside of The Golden Sturgeon. Talk to him, and a fight will start. Sukrus will then ask you for a favor first. He wants to take revenge on his brother-in-law. For this, go towards the docks and board the brother-in-law’s boat.
On board, you will need to destroy his mead, which would turn into a fight against three of his men. You can try a simpler Axii option only if you have Delusion level 2. If not, destroy his mead and go back to Sukrus. Both outcomes would make Sukrus happy, and he will gladly agree to help you and the blacksmith.
How to steal the supplies from Ernst van Hoorn?
Now, go back to Hattori, and he will propose a plan to steal some of Ernst van Hoorn’s supplies to use for himself. He knows that he hoards the stuff that Ernst won’t even use. Go outside and talk to Sukrus, who will tell you to meet him after dark. You can set a time for 8 and meet him at the location of the crates. Here, a dwarf will be on guard who will recognize Geralt as a friend of his friend Yarpen.
You can now choose any of the following options, and he will let you through.
- Pay 200 Orens
- Use Axii sign
- Tell him you gotta get in
The first option would work in all cases, while the second requires Delusion level 3 to pass through. You can use the third option only if you have the save file imported from The Witcher 2 and choose the Iorveth path in it. If not, it’s best to go with the first one.
The door would be unlocked, and now you need to mark the three crates that have the required supplies. The location of the three crates is:
- In front of the fireplace, stacked by the wall.
- On the far-left corner of the room.
- On the far-right corner of the room.
Go outside to signal them, where you’ll find Sukrus fighting with his brother-in-law’s men. Here, the dialogue option doesn’t matter, as every choice will end in a fight. During this fight, stay close to other allies; otherwise, the quest will be marked a failure. Once done, all the problems would be settled along with Ernst’s looming problem.
Go back to Hattori and tell him what happened. He will now be able to continue his work as a blacksmith. For your reward, return back to Hattori after a few hours and he will give you a sword named Blade from the Bits. This will mark the quest as complete.
