Because of a Baldur's Gate 3 weapon's deceptive description, it took me nearly two years to realize

While perusing the sickos-only BG3Builds subreddit, I learned something that shocked me thanks to the helpful comment of user , a bit of knowledge that's been out there in the ether, but was never apparent to this obsessive BG3 power gamer.

The scimitar, obtainable in Act Three, isn't just a fun callback to Baldur's Gate 2, it's extremely powerful in the exact same way as the original, despite what its description indicates.

The is a power gamer legend in Baldur's Gate 2, a staple in many builds. The +2 scimitar grants an extra attack per round. What's unstated is that, if you equip Belm in your offhand while dual wielding, the extra attack [[link]] applies to your main-hand weapon.

The killer move is to pair offhand Belm with one of BG2's super strong endgame weapons like the katana [[link]] or , which also reappears in Baldur's Gate 3.

You can find the BG3 version of Belm in under her house in the Lower City, with it implied to be a memento of her past adventures in the original games.

Neo-Belm has the Bonus Action special ability, "Perfectly Balanced Strike," whose description reads: "Send Belm snaking out with an adder's speed, the very exemplar of swiftness embodied in steel."

So you can make another attack as a bonus action, but the phrasing "send Belm" made me assume it only worked with the scimitar itself⁠—it sounds even more exclusive than the original weapon's description, which already obfuscated its most powerful feature.

There was also precedent for assuming it was just a watered-down suggestion of the original sword: is more a riff on the theme of Flail of Ages, rather than a reprise of that monster weapon.

It never [[link]] occurred to me to just try offhanding Belm anyway, and I take some comfort that the update log for its page on the authoritative, well-maintained BG3 Wiki shows the information wasn't added until March of last year, seven months after BG3's release.

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Offhand Belm lets you attack with your main hand weapon as a bonus action, which is extremely powerful for characters who can't access the style, and/or are using a powerful main hand weapon that could outclass any potential offhand.

A prime suspect there is , a weapon summoned through one of Patch 8's most powerful new spells, and the centerpiece of one of my favorite new . Another strong candidate would be Orin's shortsword, .

I'm also just excited that I can still be surprised by this game after nearly two years, and I love that Belm really was here in all its glory the whole time. Once I make it to the city in , I'm making a beeline to Jaheira's house, brushing past her squad of quirky orphans, and stealing her dang sword.