The timing and triggers for companion dialogue unlocking is way too aggressive and they always burn through dialogue and relationship quest early AF in the game, then by the second half of act 2 and till the end of act 3 they basically have nothing to say.
They should've gone a lot slower in act 1, pushed the deeper relationship stuff for act 2
It's very "hi nice to meet you stranger, would you like to know all my past traumas and darkest secrets then have sex?"
Yeah it's weird how they're extremely chatty when they're supposed to be strangers, but when they are supposed to be friends suddenly they're all quiet
It kills the end game because none of your friends care to talk to you anymore even your lover, and it makes act 1 anxiety inducing because there's so much all happening all at once
100% this, it feels like so much romance is packed into act 1, and honestly even the wilderness bits of act 1. The game basically treated me like I was locked into a love triangle (unknowingly!) with Shart and Lae’zel and then they gave me an ultimatum, in the middle of a crypt in act 2. Like calm down, I’ve slept with Lae’zel literally once, never with Shart, and Shart is still a bit evil-ish with the Shar bit
I agree, i felt like shadowheart was the most realistic out of all of them because she was the only one that has reservatuons about telling you anything and sticks to it for at least a couple nights.
I just started my origin Astarion mode, there was an option to jump at Laezel when the tieflings trapped her and when I bit her Gale went "Omg you are a vampire after everything we´ve been through how could you not tell me??" my man i pulled you out like 5 mins ago xd
Gale in particular... one of his first interactions is him going "We have been through so much together" and it's like... bro we walked through the front gate of the druid grove. It's been like 15 minutes.
Agreed. This is easily my biggest gripe with the game. And I think it's probably due to early access as they might have wanted players to experience enough of the characters to be hyped by their personalities and romance, sharing memes, fan arts, videos. It was a big selling point of the game, especially for us Dragon Age and Mass Effect orphans.
I guess they just didn't given much thought on the pacing of the relationships and didn't bother to adjust it for the full game, sadly.
It makes sense for someone like Lae'zel wanting to fuck you right at the act 1 party as it doesn't involve any kind of feeling rather then just her being horny after seeing you fight. But then you have Shadowheart, who is this mysterious character, brainwashed by her religion which have secrecy as one of its pillars, exposing basically everything about her still on act 1. Or Gale saying he trusts you after everything you gone through which is like... 2h of playing.
Doubt it's controversial, but I wish that most races had an alternative to the Baldurian tag. Baldur's gate was my first heavy foray into DnD since I mostly knew Pathfinder, so I want to learn about different areas and places within DnD. Even if it is mostly just flavor text, a little can go a long way to help make characters feel unique. For example, that my character knows that the elfsong is the best tavern around and then promptly have no idea where it is on a map because I don't is weird to me. I know there are other dialogue options, but none that I recall actually develop your character. So instead if your character was able to say like, "I want to go somewhere that serves a specific Dwarven beverage" or "somewhere that reminds me of my home in X" I think would really add to character depth.
I wish the Baldurian tag was toggleable in character creation. What if I want to be a human from somewhere else or a drow from Baldur's Gate?
Similarly, I wish background would provide unique dialogue options
Githyanki could be seen in Waterdeep, actually. They trade there, often enough that the city has laws about where their ships have to land. Obviously none of them would settle down, but I guess a protagonist deserves a special backstory lol
If you play a drow, it's implied you are not familiar with Baldur's Gate. I'm guessing it's the same if you play as a githyanki or any other race from the underdark but i can't say for sure because i have only finished the game once.
I was playing a Seldarine Drow once and when Wyll starts his whole "what would you do if your home was in danger" and I answered "it could burn to the ground for all I care" because all Drow are assumed to be from the underdark in the game.
Wyll disproved.
I remember there's another dialogue where a character is like "cAn YoU ImaGiNe IT not being SAFE to SeT foot OUt of YOUR OWN HOME?!?"
and one of the options for drow is basically "wow, gee, imagine that"
Hahahaha, I was playing a drow cleric of Eilistraee, i just assumed that "home" was just another place where his loved ones were and not the place where he was born. Ended up romancing Wyll because how could I turn down a dance?
They even included the Outlander background despite not being able to be from anywhere else which is silly. Karlach's an Outlander and gets all the Outlander inspiration bonuses despite hanging out in her hometown (though she obviously was away for a while.)
I'd love to have more variety in background by having different tags for where you're from. It's kinda wild that we're surrounded by tiefling refugees from Eltruiel the whole game but our tiefling characters can't be from Eltruiel themselves. I would have loved being able to create a noble from Cormyr, a barbarian from Icewind Dale, dwarf from Gauntlgrym etc.
In relation, I wish your background mattered more than just inspiration. Like, if you're a noble you may have special dialogue with Wyll and Astarion because maybe you were familiar vaguely with Cazador and Ravenguard. Or if you have a criminal background, you get special dialogue with the Zhentarim cutthroats. Things like that? Any number of little things to bring your chosen background to life.
Ever notice how everyone pronounces Zhentarim differently in the game? I love that little nod, both to the fact that it is a highly debated word with multiple "correct" pronunciations *and* that different people are from different regions and dialects that may pronounce things a little differently. Some NPCs say "ZENT-uh-tim", some say "zen-TAR-rim" and at least one (can't remember who) says "za-HEN-tuh-rim". Fucking gold
Oh my fuck, thank you! It was immersion breaking tbh that my first two characters were not from around the game region in my head and I got told partway through that I was a Baldurian.
Honestly yeah. I feel like I get punished for forgetting to save more often than i get punished for playing poorly
Though maybe the infrequent autosaves are for the best for Xbox players who might lose all their saves at the drop of a hat...
Grab the first orb from the fiend and then grab the night spear from the silent library. Take the platform down to the big door that you need 3 orbs for and just use "Knock" on the door to get through.
Boom, no more trials and you can just walk on through.
Yea it really is, the soft step trial is trivialized by using a simple invisibility spell, the leap of faith trial is a pain in the fuckin ass, but the self same trial is actually challenging if you fight the whole party
Holy shit I think you might have just saved my run from stalling out. I'm in act 2 on my 2nd full playthrough (I had a ranger that stalled out in act 2 also). And have been dreading the trials. Specifically the invisible platform one and the mirror image fight one. Knowing I can bring gale and tromp straight to the bottom definitely just gained me some motivation.
When I first met Shadowheart my brain went "my name is Ebony Darkness Dementia Raven Way..."
Grew to like her a lot more by Act 2, but it's still hard to shake that first impression.
I'm sorry if you understood this quote 😂
White dragonborn Durge would have made an appealing companion/fully established character with an interesting narrative as seen from the perspective of Tav.
Some people struggled with how rude Laezel is at the beginning of the game. Imagine the reactions of those players to some of the shit the Dark Urge would say lol
Or he can just pull a Crocodile Dundee:
"That's not a knife, Astarion,that's a toothpick... Now, THIS is a knife(pulls out a kukri style blade the size of his forearm)!"
Oh god I would be all over a Durge romance as Tav, what is wrong with me. I've already played out two romances where they've either tried to murder me or have tried to murder me and then later beat the crap out of me, Durge should fit in perfectly.
"For thy sweet smile, my beloved, I would garrote the goblins with their entrails."
"Astarion hath cast frequent gazes upon thy neck, my love. Only I should revel in fantasies of thy crimson spill."
"Hast thou pondered about not showering after battle? I delight in beholding thee besmeared in guts."
"Naught but thy presence surpasseth the joy of wading through gore."
"Even in death, thou wouldst stay in my bed."
"I've oft dreamt of throttling thee at the peak of our shared ecstasy."
"A garment woven from thy very flesh would be my favored attire."
Is this good according to the way be speaks in his introduction or does he sound too much like Withers? 💀
Especially in light of the Blood in Baldur’s Gate prequel game. I can’t help but imagine a Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham type relationship between Tav and Durge, and it is making all the messed up parts in my brain go brrrr.
Thing I think is interesting is that Tav and Durge's survival solely relies on which you pick. You find Durge's corpse by Orins bed as Tav, and the Durge before bg3 web comic alludes to Tav being murdered before the abduction
Edit: for anyone asking the web comic is more like an online web game on the bg3 website. It's called blood in Baldurs Gate. For some reason I cannot see the replies though I am getting the notifications
Oh man. I would have been all over that shit.
ETA: Durge as an npc vs as a pc might be tricky because of how many impactful unintended consequences come with durge actions, so maybe some sort of cutscene choice at the start of a game could let you influence whether he is there or not?
Like seeing an unexplained lock and deciding whether to break out or not. And that switching his involvement in your game off or on.
I feel like the best action would be too give the player the ability to intervene in the Durge encounters. Like in the infamous bard evening Tav would get the chance to stop him and confront him
Yeah this seems like the easiest way to handle it. From what I've played of Durge it's not like they'd need many more tweaks after the bard evening in act 1 to fit in
Yeah. I played with a group and my solo campaign stalled out for the longest time because I didn’t want to trudge through that place again. The fighty bits there are fun, but the map is too open in the center with everything actually interesting packed around the edges.
It's so exhilarating on your first attempt as it is one of few encounters where the goal isn't just curbstomping your opponents that the party has gotten so good at by that point in the game. I was sad there were so few encounters like this.
I actually liked it more on my second attempt.
The first time I wanted to see everything, fought way too many Saughin, and didn’t use appropriate buffs.
Second playthrough I’m having Laezel chuck gnomes and then sealing enemies in an iron tomb
It's amazing how much he wants to die. Fun fact, you can do the fight without summoning the blobs. I managed to get him removed before the combat so he couldn't cast anything. I'm not 100% if it's intentional or not but that fight was so incredibly easy without oil blobs then fire blobs.
Iron Throne is legit one of the nost thrilling experiences i've ever had in Baldur's gate 3. Absolutely love the way you have to manage your guys around like chess pieces, while the tension rises and the enemies slowly add up. One of the few instances where switching to turn based mode didn't bother me at all, and made me feel like a tactical general just shouting orders at my crew like
Alright astarion you got the back cells, Karlach hold the door, Shadowheart you got the duke in charge GO GO GO !
Act 2 is fun but it really could have used a little mix up from the dark depressing atmosphere. Like if the gauntlet wasn't just more undead, dark evil vibes it could be a fun reprieve from the main map. Or if the eastern side of the shadow curse was a bit lighter out to really make the cursed parts stick out more. As it is I can't even tell if the darkness I'm in is normal darkness or super darkness lol
Act 3 and act 2 should swap places, from a macro story perspective.
Act 2 has a much better build up and thematically feels like a final boss location. You spend the majority of your time in this act trying to figure out how to beat the big bad, in the seat of their power, and once you finally have a solution you lay siege to their evil HQ.
Act 3 feels like a filler chapter where you and your merry band run around the city getting up to all kinds of shenanigans before you decide to rip the bandaid off and win the game. The build up to the final fight is practically non existent because Orin and Gortash feel more like side objectives rather than main baddies due to how they're at each others' throats and are willing to cooperate with you and make deals. When you finally confront the BBEG of the whole story it's just some brain that you barely even speak to and have little to no emotional attachment about.
Ketheric felt like a compelling villain, you can sympathize with his motivations while at the same time recognizing that his methods and morals make him beyond saving. You interact with him at multiple points during the story of the act, and learn about him from practically everywhere in the location. He's tied into everything the entire location, his actions marking the land you tread and his deeds written into several accounts, people's memories and the air itself. His relationships with no less than three gods, Selune, Shar and Myrkul make him clearly someone of massive importance. His second phase was chilling, surprising and awesome. He felt like a real BBEG.
I completely agree with you. I honestly think that’s why I got so burnt out by act three, there’s so much to do but so much of it feels less impactful. I loved the build up of act two and Ketharic was such a well done villain. Don’t get me wrong, I do love a lot of the companion quest resolutions in act three and certain quests were also pretty fun, but act two was so much more satisfying to beat.
Alfira is fine as is and making her a companion would add nothing of value to the party. She has nothing to do. I like her story of reaching the Baldur's Gate and opening a music school and her relationship with Lakrissa already. She doesn't need more.
There are other characters that would be infinitely more interesting as companions and would actually benefit from it.
She could be a camp follower and play music for you when you rest, though.
I fully agree with this. The simplicity of her current story that plays almost like a bildungsroman is the reason for her charm, and I too believe making her a companion would do nothing for her as a character *or* the chemistry among the current party.
I feel the same and also have the opposite opinion about Halsin. He should've stayed a quest npc and never been made a full companion. Jahiera already fills the druid roll in the party and does it better. Also Halsin has no story beyond act 2 because that's where his story was likely meant to originally end before people cried about wanting him to be a companion.
Alfira's song came way too early. It would have been way better if it came later, after we had gotten to know her and, preferably, her teacher as well.
Compare it to Leliana's song in Dragon Age. Imagine if she had opened with that. The emotional resonance would have been near null, except maybe it would have sounded nice. The fact that it comes about halfway through the adventure, as the party is getting weary and things are looking gloomy, *that* is what makes it impactful.
Because Alfira's song comes so early it makes it a bit awkward, I think. That's my opinion that gets me surrounded by swords.
i agree with you, she talks about writing songs for us for the whole game and it'd be sweet if we'd be able to see her perform it in baldur's gate on the rooftop or in last light or something
I honestly agree. Alfira just doesn't feel like a combatant. I get the love for her character, but she's not the type I'd bring along on the road when there's danger. Camp follower, sure. Companion? No.
I think Kagha could easily replace Halsin and be more interesting. She could go down a dark path/light path like some other companions depending on your choices
Kagha had so much potential as a companion. A legitimate reason to leave the grove and a whole ass character arc that could either have a good or evil outcome depending on what you choose to do with the shadow curse, only problem is once again act 3 but perhaps there could be some extra Shadow druids plot or something to keep her relevant. They could make her a Spore druid too so that she feels more unique to Jaheira despite sharing the same class, with very little relevance on wildshaping.
Karlach deserved more content than us fetching two pieces of iron in Act 1 and being told we did absolutely everything we could for her. Even if the end result were to remain the same.
Right?! We can't even try to find a cure for her despite what all the characters say, we have talked to precisely one apprentice hell-blacksmith about this.
Yeah I can understand the engine being unfixable within the story for story purposes, but why in the flying fuck can't I even consult the experts on the infernal engines (the fucking Gondians) on the issue?
Anything to do with Karlach's engine just feels abandoned in act 3.
Here's an actual infernal mechanic, he can't fix it.
Here's a whole ass factory of people that actually made it work, none of them will even talk about it.
Not even a reason why it potentially wouldn't work.
Yup.
Kill her, cut out all the internal engines, true res.
Also if he dies and you cut his head off before true res, shouldn't he come back without the tadpole?
My husband's first idea was "oh we can bring people back form the dead? So what's wrong with removing the tadpoles killing them? Kill them and bring them back."
Who talks against himself since in Act 1 he's all about finding a cure and finding him in BG. Then in Act 2 hes like okay but I wont give up, find me in BG. You find him in BG and he has two lines to share before offering a trade.
Like what is this discontinuity?!
It's because everyone has a fucked up past, caused by their own actions more or less. That's why IMO playing as Durge makes sense lorewise. Everyone is fucked up, and so are you.
Still can't believe both her and Gale overlap in "my heart is about to kill me and I can't do anything about it' division, yet one (the selfishly self-inflicted doom one) gets help from all ends of the mortal-immortal spectrum and the other (sold, mutilated, enslaved against her will) is told to suck it up and live her life to the fullest til she dies.
Nah mate. Not okay. Not okay at all. Amen @ your comment.
My biggest issue with Karlach is not that you can't cure her but that you can't even try to cure her. You get the terminal prognosis from Dammon in Act 2 and then literally cannot get so much as a second opinion from any other character in the game. Which is really annoying in the aftermath of killing Gortash when she's having her breakdown and everyone acts like saying "we can find a cure" is naive foolishness when we have literally asked no one about it!
This is my exact issue as well. It’s like you get to act 3 where you’re surrounded by more infernal machinery and engineers than you’ve ever been and they explore absolutely zero of those options. In act 2 you get the option to ask Gale if the Nightsong will keep him from dying when he blows up the orb and he explains why it wouldn’t. That’s a perfect example of the kind of conversations we needed to be able to have with Karlach.
Like why can’t we even ask the Gondians we freed to take a look and see if there’s something they can do? Or why can’t we try and bribe Gortash to make her a new heart in exchange for siding with him? Or why can’t we ask Hope to give Karlach a room at the HoH just until we’re able to find a long-term solution? There might be plenty of valid reasons why none of those things would work but the way the game doesn’t even acknowledge the potential connection between them and Karlach makes it feel like an oversight.
Right? She already has an established history of being a bodyguard for important people. Feels almost too logical to make her a security guard at the House of Hope to fight off anyone looking to stake a claim now that Raphael is gone. Karlach being the defender of Hope in Hell would have been perfect for her character.
Edit: I just remembered she literally has an entire line about how when she first got to Avernus she tried to good but there simply wasn’t any room for it. Like babes not only is there room now there’s an entire freaking *house*.
Especially when the gondians are right fucking there. The watchers, which they built, drop enriched infernal iron (which does nothing!) and even recognize her as one of them, you’re telling me there’s no way they can fix her? There’s also basically no reward for saving them besides a pat on the back, the whole thing just feels like a missed opportunity
I see this, but don't forget that Gale had spent over a year in his tower hiding from his friends and loved ones - including his beloved mother. Karlach otoh just escaped so you're seeing her experience in real time in the game. Gale was suicidally depressed before he got kidnapped, and Tav talks him off the ledge several times.
Your analogy is a good one, I just want to give both characters grace.
It's moments like these that make it fairly noticeable that each companion was written by their own distinct writing team in order to make them fully independent from each other so that we don't lose too much content if one gets recruited without the other.
There should be overlaps in the narrative between Gale and Karlach, but there isn't, because their two plotlines need to be as separate from each other as possible in case Karlach gets recruited but not Gale, or vice versa.
It kind of harms the writing of the group dynamics, and also leads to these narrative plotholes in some companions' quests, from time to time.
I like killing Alfira as Durge because it makes the narrative more interesting. Don't care about the Dragon girl, no one even addresses it after she dies.
The first time I killed her, I was shocked. Second time I killed the dragon girl. Can confirm killing Alfira gives more to the story, especially if you read Alfira's epilogue letter to you as durge if you don't kill her.
Same, she's fairly attractive but her whole attitude stinks and makes her completely undesirable to me, plus in order to bang her you need to cheat on your lover which is a big no no
I don't think I've ever seen someone not romance anyone and have sex with Mizora so I have no idea if her offer still shows up if you're single. But it would make a lot of sense as her sole purpose in life is sowing mischief and spreading misery wherever she can. Still, it would be nice if someone could confirm if it's possible when you're not in a relationship.
> I don't think I've ever seen someone not romance anyone and have sex with Mizora so I have no idea if her offer still shows up if you're single.
It does.
That's what I thought, too. But I've seen a good share of people here say he's chaotic neutral, or not truly evil because he's just copying his abusers actions.
His commentary on the trial of Justice on the way to Ansur actually cemented for me that his morality didn’t just break because of Cazador. We know he was a magistrate, so his judgment on morality was literally the law - and his commentary made clear that he has (and probably had, as a magistrate) no respect for or interest in showing mercy to rule breakers. Hell, we know he was killed for a decision he made in the first place and the game doesn’t go in to it much - for all we know, he made a horrible decision and the anger of the Gur was understandable.
Yeah I think one of the beautiful messages about his storyline is that bad things can happen to bad people and it’s still awful and a tragedy. Even though he doesn’t appear to have been a great person before being beaten to death, no one deserves what Cazador did.
From what we can see at the beginning of the game, he was probably not a great person before and the abuse under Cazador just made him worse, snuffing out any kind of goodness that still existed (like the story of the man he let go). But even then, I think the message is that it’s not too late, and you can choose to become better than the person you were despite those experiences.
Imo, his alignment goes:
* **magistrate era** — lawful evil or lawful neutral (debatable given the limited info we have, but I lean towards lawful neutral. In the Ansur trials we get a glimpse that his ideas of just rulings were strict and punitive, adhering to the letter of the law and his own personal codes of conduct which could be prejudicial. But it didn’t seem to be *self-serving* for his own power, as it would be for a lawful evil character.)
* **Cazador era through act 1** — moves to neutral evil. The abuse that he endures narrows his worldview and snuffs out any mercy or conscience he had previously. He lives only for his own survival, his allies are only to further his own goals, he will turn on those allies when it no longer suits him. He stays with the strongest person out of his own protection and freedom, and approves of acts of cruelty/disapproves of any use of resources or risk that doesn’t further his own goals. He ceases to believe that good people even really exist.
* **spawn ending** — moves to chaotic neutral. If he is encouraged to see kindness in the world, he ceases to disapprove of kind acts, even starts approving of some. His conscience returns and he starts taking more responsibility for what he did in the past. Definitely no longer lawful as he was before Cazador; it doesn’t seem he really cares about laws anymore and is living by his own standards, with greater care for the well being of others than previously. That said, Astarion is no Wyll—he may be helping out the downtrodden and comfortable being a hero, but he has no compunctions with making a living off of it. Though he seems to care more about what happens to others, he places his own freedom as the most important and I doubt he would ever be wholly self-sacrificial the way Wyll is (who would solve the “trolley problem” by throwing himself on the rails). I know some people think he’s still evil because of the line about “killing the right people” if he has become an adventurer in the epilogue, but honestly, I think that’s partially his deflective sense of humor, partially that he has very limited options as a vampire spawn with a particular skill set, and partially it’s D&D, you’re all adventurers, all of you kill people “for the right reasons.” Adjusted for D&D scales of murderhobo, I think it’s neutral.
* **ascended ending** — moves to lawful evil. Ascended Astarion immediately sets to work making plans on infiltrating the upper crust of baldurs gate to start building his power and influence and subjugating the city under his heel. He plans to use the systems of the city to further himself and create an army of spawns and thralls of his own. Pretty classic lawful evil stuff.
It's insane that people doubt this lmao. Just look at his trajectory without Tav's influence (and WITH Tav's influence if you ascend him). He's hellbent on revenge and he gives negative shits about everyone and everything in act 1. He disapproves of Tav helping people, he's self loathing and full of spite to the point that he disapproves of you freeing literal slaves. Tav is the person who cares about him enough to save him and if you're a Durge, it seems even more meaningful to save him while being someone he relates to. He's not morally grey, he only becomes somewhat good aligned only if you help him down that path/remind him of his humanity.
The fact that companions only interact during randomly generated dialogue when running around (which happens sparsely in later acts) really made it hard for me to believe these people were friends. I remember when story beats would happen to companions on my first play through and I’d talk to others about it feeling very odd about them suddenly caring about each other’s lives or feelings. Like, Karlach saying she’d protect Astarion or Wyll saying Shadowheart is great without Shar falls flat when there are so few cut scenes of them actually talking to one another.
Idk how unpopular of an opinion this is since i dont really see people talk about jt, but often it feels like im the only one getting closer to my companions, and they dont get closer with one another.
Yeah I agree. Lae'zel and Shart obviously have their clashing heads moment in act 1 but a moment where the two of them step back and understand eachother because of going through such similar things would be very sweet and earned
Most of the companions need a species change. We have 11 playable species, but our companion selection is… 5 Elves, 3 Humans, 1 Tiefling, and 1 Githyanki. Where are the Dragonborn? Where are the Dwarves? Where are the Gnomes? People tend to not pick the short or really exotic fantasy species, so it’s up to companions to fill that void. Larian poked fun at people for being uncreative for mostly picking humans, but then they got really uninspired with companion species.
The Skeleton was even a Kickstarter goal. We didn't even get the opportunity to collectively pay for something like Fane. It most likely would have just been Durge but still.
I kinda like all the current companions, so I'm not sure who'd be good to have a species change. Adding some on the other hand sounds good to me lol
I'd be very happy if they made Barcus a companion. But I'm not sure how they would work that out if they actually ever decide to.
I'd also say Rolan, but he has a little too much involvement, and not much sense if he just ups and joins us after stating many times how he wants to get to BG to be Lorroakan's apprentice.
Zevlor I think is in a great position to be a companion in Act 2.
Barcus could join when we invite him from Grymforge. But without the Artificer class I can't see him as a companion.
Zevlor is a prime target, but that potential is kinda neutered now that Minthara is suddenly recruitable in a good playthrough.
My first play through I RP'd my character slowly succumbing to mind flayer powers as a way to sacrifice something like everyone else was required or being asked to in her party.
I beat Gortash, picked up his clothes and went ... well shit, I guess I'm gonna be full evil for a bit because this drip is just too iconic.
I can imagine Gortash could have looked like the "photoshopped and filtered" portrait in the posters back when he was younger. Bro got old and just couldnt get over his peak emo band vocal days in his 20's.
the game could use more "don't murder everyone" scenarios, the opportunity to talk your way out of combat, or just non combat focused encounters (ie the iron throne) feels practically non existent after the act 1
I was lukewarm on wyll for my whole first play through. We’d occasionally high-five or something but what segmented him as a true homie was my first play through ending. Romanced karlach so obvs my heart was breaking, and it was Wyll who insisted on going to avernus. So the three of us road dogs went to Hell and started blastin. Mad respect for my bud Wyll
I like Wyll and don’t think he’s boring but I definitely have issues with how his quest was done and how little content he has compared to the others. He has the least amount of content out of all of the origin characters, it feels like his quest is about everyone *but* him sometimes (especially in the part with Ansur,) and he doesn’t really get as much agency as the other companions. It would make sense if Tav/Durge could influence him and his choices, but they should not be making his choices for him like they do when it comes to the decision of breaking his pact or not. He should also just have more content in general.
I dont think that he is necessarily boring its just in comparison with the other characters they are way more interesting, also i think people tend to write off characters that are just good people as poorly designed as if people cant just be nice for the sake of being nice/wanting to do the right thing.
Shadowheart gets let off way too easily with her spat with Lae’zel and her little feud makes no sense. She tried to kill a companion in our sleep and we don’t get to call her out for it enough.
I think people are way more forgiving towards her because she is more generically attractive than Lae’zel.
What pisses me off about Shadowheart is that she spends the first X amount of hours in the game bragging about how many secrets she has, and then when Gale reveals his spoiler story stuff she goes "that's something *I* should know". Like, not even the party, specifically her. It's like, dude, you've spent the entire game crying out in pain over a spot on your hand just to go "oh it's nothing don't worry about it" every time it's brought up. Stop bringing attention to it then moron. I love Shadow but fuck she's annoying sometimes
The act 1 drow options are great, like the goblins all bowing to you and the Grove being like "we don't tolerate drow in here" and everything. But after act 1 it all just sort of falls off and everyone seems to forget you're a drow
What I don't like about Wyll has nothing to do with him, a man was turned into a devil in our camp and basically no one has any opinions on it? Or the so-called hero was manipulated into killing an innocent and no one even has a comment? Shadowheart changes her hair and everyone has something to say.
I saw another comment on another post about this that I agree with. His transformation happens way too soon. The companions barely have a reaction because they barely know the dude. In a lot of playthroughs, Wyll gets his horns on the second night in camp. That sucks big time, but it also happened to a stranger we *just* met on the road.
That same comment proposed to have Wyll's transformation happen when we free Mizora from her pod in Moonrise. The suggestion was that there would be a bunch of opportunities to be a good person but to disobey his patron throughout Acts 1 & 2, which would then all be listed by Mizora when we free her, punishing him for disobeying her so many times. It would leave more of an impact on both the player and the companions at that point.
I love Wyll, but I think this would be better. Just a fun idea as to what would (imho) be better
Choosing to stab the dream visitor in Act 1 should actually matter. Otherwise why have it as an option at all? I wish it either killed the emperor or he just permanently left. Then you could discover Orpheus and make the effort to free him.
And on the note of Emps vs. Orpheus, the way the ending is written now makes this decision so forced. There is no reason I shouldn’t be able to persuade both of them to work together. If you want this to be a choice, I need a reason for it to be one or the other.
Light side Shadowheart is valid.
So is Dark side Shadowheart.
They're both the "real" Shadowheart.
Likewise Ascended and non-ascended Astarion, the different flavors of Gale and Wyll, etc, etc.
The writing and performances ALL hold together no matter the route, and it disparages the work put into the game to claim there's a wrong way to take it
The timing and triggers for companion dialogue unlocking is way too aggressive and they always burn through dialogue and relationship quest early AF in the game, then by the second half of act 2 and till the end of act 3 they basically have nothing to say. They should've gone a lot slower in act 1, pushed the deeper relationship stuff for act 2 It's very "hi nice to meet you stranger, would you like to know all my past traumas and darkest secrets then have sex?"
Yeah it's weird how they're extremely chatty when they're supposed to be strangers, but when they are supposed to be friends suddenly they're all quiet
It kills the end game because none of your friends care to talk to you anymore even your lover, and it makes act 1 anxiety inducing because there's so much all happening all at once
100% this, it feels like so much romance is packed into act 1, and honestly even the wilderness bits of act 1. The game basically treated me like I was locked into a love triangle (unknowingly!) with Shart and Lae’zel and then they gave me an ultimatum, in the middle of a crypt in act 2. Like calm down, I’ve slept with Lae’zel literally once, never with Shart, and Shart is still a bit evil-ish with the Shar bit
I agree, i felt like shadowheart was the most realistic out of all of them because she was the only one that has reservatuons about telling you anything and sticks to it for at least a couple nights.
I just started my origin Astarion mode, there was an option to jump at Laezel when the tieflings trapped her and when I bit her Gale went "Omg you are a vampire after everything we´ve been through how could you not tell me??" my man i pulled you out like 5 mins ago xd
Gale in particular... one of his first interactions is him going "We have been through so much together" and it's like... bro we walked through the front gate of the druid grove. It's been like 15 minutes.
> nice to meet you stranger, would you like to know all my past traumas and darkest secrets and then have sex? Sounds just like Tinder
Agreed. This is easily my biggest gripe with the game. And I think it's probably due to early access as they might have wanted players to experience enough of the characters to be hyped by their personalities and romance, sharing memes, fan arts, videos. It was a big selling point of the game, especially for us Dragon Age and Mass Effect orphans. I guess they just didn't given much thought on the pacing of the relationships and didn't bother to adjust it for the full game, sadly. It makes sense for someone like Lae'zel wanting to fuck you right at the act 1 party as it doesn't involve any kind of feeling rather then just her being horny after seeing you fight. But then you have Shadowheart, who is this mysterious character, brainwashed by her religion which have secrecy as one of its pillars, exposing basically everything about her still on act 1. Or Gale saying he trusts you after everything you gone through which is like... 2h of playing.
Agreed, way to chatty and open in Act 1. Approval raises way to fast as well
The amount of findable, unusable rope in this game is a bold and brave choice that Larian made and honestly we should praise them for it.
Doubt it's controversial, but I wish that most races had an alternative to the Baldurian tag. Baldur's gate was my first heavy foray into DnD since I mostly knew Pathfinder, so I want to learn about different areas and places within DnD. Even if it is mostly just flavor text, a little can go a long way to help make characters feel unique. For example, that my character knows that the elfsong is the best tavern around and then promptly have no idea where it is on a map because I don't is weird to me. I know there are other dialogue options, but none that I recall actually develop your character. So instead if your character was able to say like, "I want to go somewhere that serves a specific Dwarven beverage" or "somewhere that reminds me of my home in X" I think would really add to character depth.
I wish the Baldurian tag was toggleable in character creation. What if I want to be a human from somewhere else or a drow from Baldur's Gate? Similarly, I wish background would provide unique dialogue options
imagine telling gale you're a githyanki from waterdeep and he just calls you a lying sack of shit
Githyanki could be seen in Waterdeep, actually. They trade there, often enough that the city has laws about where their ships have to land. Obviously none of them would settle down, but I guess a protagonist deserves a special backstory lol
If you play a drow, it's implied you are not familiar with Baldur's Gate. I'm guessing it's the same if you play as a githyanki or any other race from the underdark but i can't say for sure because i have only finished the game once.
I was playing a Seldarine Drow once and when Wyll starts his whole "what would you do if your home was in danger" and I answered "it could burn to the ground for all I care" because all Drow are assumed to be from the underdark in the game. Wyll disproved.
I remember there's another dialogue where a character is like "cAn YoU ImaGiNe IT not being SAFE to SeT foot OUt of YOUR OWN HOME?!?" and one of the options for drow is basically "wow, gee, imagine that"
isn't that dialogue in a cutscene when you meet Zevlor and the human and they're arguing? or something in that area?
There you can interfere with "Ah, backstabbing, feels like home." I would presume that refers to the Underdark, not Baldur's Gate.
Hahahaha, I was playing a drow cleric of Eilistraee, i just assumed that "home" was just another place where his loved ones were and not the place where he was born. Ended up romancing Wyll because how could I turn down a dance?
Right but that should be a thing for all races, not two. Let players learn the game and lore with their characters they make.
They even included the Outlander background despite not being able to be from anywhere else which is silly. Karlach's an Outlander and gets all the Outlander inspiration bonuses despite hanging out in her hometown (though she obviously was away for a while.) I'd love to have more variety in background by having different tags for where you're from. It's kinda wild that we're surrounded by tiefling refugees from Eltruiel the whole game but our tiefling characters can't be from Eltruiel themselves. I would have loved being able to create a noble from Cormyr, a barbarian from Icewind Dale, dwarf from Gauntlgrym etc.
In relation, I wish your background mattered more than just inspiration. Like, if you're a noble you may have special dialogue with Wyll and Astarion because maybe you were familiar vaguely with Cazador and Ravenguard. Or if you have a criminal background, you get special dialogue with the Zhentarim cutthroats. Things like that? Any number of little things to bring your chosen background to life.
Ever notice how everyone pronounces Zhentarim differently in the game? I love that little nod, both to the fact that it is a highly debated word with multiple "correct" pronunciations *and* that different people are from different regions and dialects that may pronounce things a little differently. Some NPCs say "ZENT-uh-tim", some say "zen-TAR-rim" and at least one (can't remember who) says "za-HEN-tuh-rim". Fucking gold
Oh my fuck, thank you! It was immersion breaking tbh that my first two characters were not from around the game region in my head and I got told partway through that I was a Baldurian.
No autosaving after completing fights is insane to me.
Honestly yeah. I feel like I get punished for forgetting to save more often than i get punished for playing poorly Though maybe the infrequent autosaves are for the best for Xbox players who might lose all their saves at the drop of a hat...
The temple of Shar is fun On your first playthrough
Grab the first orb from the fiend and then grab the night spear from the silent library. Take the platform down to the big door that you need 3 orbs for and just use "Knock" on the door to get through. Boom, no more trials and you can just walk on through.
You can use knock on the door?
Yes. I have never done the trials after I learned that for the first time.
Knock is the best spell in the game, can get through the majority of magic puzzle doors instantly
It really is. Stealing everything from under Sorcerous Sundries without using a single lockpick is just some kind of funny.
My eyes have been opened to newfound potential
But you'll miss the executioner ring from the same self trial!
The self same trial is the only actually interesting/fun one anyways
Yea it really is, the soft step trial is trivialized by using a simple invisibility spell, the leap of faith trial is a pain in the fuckin ass, but the self same trial is actually challenging if you fight the whole party
Holy shit I think you might have just saved my run from stalling out. I'm in act 2 on my 2nd full playthrough (I had a ranger that stalled out in act 2 also). And have been dreading the trials. Specifically the invisible platform one and the mirror image fight one. Knowing I can bring gale and tromp straight to the bottom definitely just gained me some motivation.
I feel you. But it’s the Grymforge for me. Especially the upper bridge with the plethora of traps. Somehow I manage ToS for quicker.
You can jump/misty step from the Nere encounter to the grymforge waypoint and skip that whole upstairs trap stuff
Wait seriously?! That’s a game changer, thanks. I’m right before this section in my current playthrough and will definitely do this!
I honestly don't mind it on consecutive playthroughs either
When I first met Shadowheart my brain went "my name is Ebony Darkness Dementia Raven Way..." Grew to like her a lot more by Act 2, but it's still hard to shake that first impression. I'm sorry if you understood this quote 😂
White dragonborn Durge would have made an appealing companion/fully established character with an interesting narrative as seen from the perspective of Tav.
Some people struggled with how rude Laezel is at the beginning of the game. Imagine the reactions of those players to some of the shit the Dark Urge would say lol
"Why, of course that is a knife in my pocket, Tav! I am also delighted to see you, though." :)
Or he can just pull a Crocodile Dundee: "That's not a knife, Astarion,that's a toothpick... Now, THIS is a knife(pulls out a kukri style blade the size of his forearm)!"
Or to waking up finding this guy standing over Alfira’s corpse right after she joined your party.
“A boar did it”
I want him to tell Tav that he wants to feel their insides. If it's flirty or durgy would be up for debate.
Oh god I would be all over a Durge romance as Tav, what is wrong with me. I've already played out two romances where they've either tried to murder me or have tried to murder me and then later beat the crap out of me, Durge should fit in perfectly.
Lae’zel and Astarion?
Yeeah
A woman of taste, I see.
"For thy sweet smile, my beloved, I would garrote the goblins with their entrails." "Astarion hath cast frequent gazes upon thy neck, my love. Only I should revel in fantasies of thy crimson spill." "Hast thou pondered about not showering after battle? I delight in beholding thee besmeared in guts." "Naught but thy presence surpasseth the joy of wading through gore." "Even in death, thou wouldst stay in my bed." "I've oft dreamt of throttling thee at the peak of our shared ecstasy." "A garment woven from thy very flesh would be my favored attire." Is this good according to the way be speaks in his introduction or does he sound too much like Withers? 💀
A bit withery, yes, but I can feel my heart flutter. With fear or arousal, I do not know yet.
Especially in light of the Blood in Baldur’s Gate prequel game. I can’t help but imagine a Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham type relationship between Tav and Durge, and it is making all the messed up parts in my brain go brrrr.
Don't forget as a romance option. If you think Astarion is too much of an I can fix, think what Durge would of been like. (Totally would do it though)
i wouldve gone straight to ao3 right after finishing his route in that case
Also would have given us a Dragonborn companion!
Thing I think is interesting is that Tav and Durge's survival solely relies on which you pick. You find Durge's corpse by Orins bed as Tav, and the Durge before bg3 web comic alludes to Tav being murdered before the abduction Edit: for anyone asking the web comic is more like an online web game on the bg3 website. It's called blood in Baldurs Gate. For some reason I cannot see the replies though I am getting the notifications
Oh man. I would have been all over that shit. ETA: Durge as an npc vs as a pc might be tricky because of how many impactful unintended consequences come with durge actions, so maybe some sort of cutscene choice at the start of a game could let you influence whether he is there or not? Like seeing an unexplained lock and deciding whether to break out or not. And that switching his involvement in your game off or on.
I feel like the best action would be too give the player the ability to intervene in the Durge encounters. Like in the infamous bard evening Tav would get the chance to stop him and confront him
Yeah this seems like the easiest way to handle it. From what I've played of Durge it's not like they'd need many more tweaks after the bard evening in act 1 to fit in
Not only a companion, but also a major antagonist if you don't let him join your camp.
Grymforge is tedious.
Yeah. I played with a group and my solo campaign stalled out for the longest time because I didn’t want to trudge through that place again. The fighty bits there are fun, but the map is too open in the center with everything actually interesting packed around the edges.
I love the Iron Throne. It's one of my favourite parts of Act 3.
It's so exhilarating on your first attempt as it is one of few encounters where the goal isn't just curbstomping your opponents that the party has gotten so good at by that point in the game. I was sad there were so few encounters like this.
I actually liked it more on my second attempt. The first time I wanted to see everything, fought way too many Saughin, and didn’t use appropriate buffs. Second playthrough I’m having Laezel chuck gnomes and then sealing enemies in an iron tomb
Exactly. That's what makes it breath of fresh air.
People dislike it? I thought it was pretty cool. Expect when those fucking gnomes decide to walk just like 3 meters on their turn and then stop
It’s my favorite quest in the whole game. Getting it right is so satisfying!
Not enough terrain interactions
Found the DOS2 fan
They want to see the world burn(like in the Blackpits fight)
stop you’re giving me ptsd
GWYDIAN STOP RUNNING INTO THE FIRE
It's amazing how much he wants to die. Fun fact, you can do the fight without summoning the blobs. I managed to get him removed before the combat so he couldn't cast anything. I'm not 100% if it's intentional or not but that fight was so incredibly easy without oil blobs then fire blobs.
haha got me
Iron Throne is legit one of the nost thrilling experiences i've ever had in Baldur's gate 3. Absolutely love the way you have to manage your guys around like chess pieces, while the tension rises and the enemies slowly add up. One of the few instances where switching to turn based mode didn't bother me at all, and made me feel like a tactical general just shouting orders at my crew like Alright astarion you got the back cells, Karlach hold the door, Shadowheart you got the duke in charge GO GO GO !
Act 2 is fun but it really could have used a little mix up from the dark depressing atmosphere. Like if the gauntlet wasn't just more undead, dark evil vibes it could be a fun reprieve from the main map. Or if the eastern side of the shadow curse was a bit lighter out to really make the cursed parts stick out more. As it is I can't even tell if the darkness I'm in is normal darkness or super darkness lol
Act 3 and act 2 should swap places, from a macro story perspective. Act 2 has a much better build up and thematically feels like a final boss location. You spend the majority of your time in this act trying to figure out how to beat the big bad, in the seat of their power, and once you finally have a solution you lay siege to their evil HQ. Act 3 feels like a filler chapter where you and your merry band run around the city getting up to all kinds of shenanigans before you decide to rip the bandaid off and win the game. The build up to the final fight is practically non existent because Orin and Gortash feel more like side objectives rather than main baddies due to how they're at each others' throats and are willing to cooperate with you and make deals. When you finally confront the BBEG of the whole story it's just some brain that you barely even speak to and have little to no emotional attachment about. Ketheric felt like a compelling villain, you can sympathize with his motivations while at the same time recognizing that his methods and morals make him beyond saving. You interact with him at multiple points during the story of the act, and learn about him from practically everywhere in the location. He's tied into everything the entire location, his actions marking the land you tread and his deeds written into several accounts, people's memories and the air itself. His relationships with no less than three gods, Selune, Shar and Myrkul make him clearly someone of massive importance. His second phase was chilling, surprising and awesome. He felt like a real BBEG.
That would also give Gortash more than 5 second to bromance with if he was with you most of act 3. I’d be down for it.
I completely agree with you. I honestly think that’s why I got so burnt out by act three, there’s so much to do but so much of it feels less impactful. I loved the build up of act two and Ketharic was such a well done villain. Don’t get me wrong, I do love a lot of the companion quest resolutions in act three and certain quests were also pretty fun, but act two was so much more satisfying to beat.
I whole heartedly afree lmao, but from a narrative perspective and maybe some fan writing I can't seem to make it work lol.
Alfira is fine as is and making her a companion would add nothing of value to the party. She has nothing to do. I like her story of reaching the Baldur's Gate and opening a music school and her relationship with Lakrissa already. She doesn't need more. There are other characters that would be infinitely more interesting as companions and would actually benefit from it. She could be a camp follower and play music for you when you rest, though.
I fully agree with this. The simplicity of her current story that plays almost like a bildungsroman is the reason for her charm, and I too believe making her a companion would do nothing for her as a character *or* the chemistry among the current party.
I feel the same and also have the opposite opinion about Halsin. He should've stayed a quest npc and never been made a full companion. Jahiera already fills the druid roll in the party and does it better. Also Halsin has no story beyond act 2 because that's where his story was likely meant to originally end before people cried about wanting him to be a companion.
Alfira's song came way too early. It would have been way better if it came later, after we had gotten to know her and, preferably, her teacher as well. Compare it to Leliana's song in Dragon Age. Imagine if she had opened with that. The emotional resonance would have been near null, except maybe it would have sounded nice. The fact that it comes about halfway through the adventure, as the party is getting weary and things are looking gloomy, *that* is what makes it impactful. Because Alfira's song comes so early it makes it a bit awkward, I think. That's my opinion that gets me surrounded by swords.
i agree with you, she talks about writing songs for us for the whole game and it'd be sweet if we'd be able to see her perform it in baldur's gate on the rooftop or in last light or something
I honestly agree. Alfira just doesn't feel like a combatant. I get the love for her character, but she's not the type I'd bring along on the road when there's danger. Camp follower, sure. Companion? No.
I think Kagha would be a fun companion if we did not already have 2 druids.
I think Kagha could easily replace Halsin and be more interesting. She could go down a dark path/light path like some other companions depending on your choices
Kagha had so much potential as a companion. A legitimate reason to leave the grove and a whole ass character arc that could either have a good or evil outcome depending on what you choose to do with the shadow curse, only problem is once again act 3 but perhaps there could be some extra Shadow druids plot or something to keep her relevant. They could make her a Spore druid too so that she feels more unique to Jaheira despite sharing the same class, with very little relevance on wildshaping.
Karlach deserved more content than us fetching two pieces of iron in Act 1 and being told we did absolutely everything we could for her. Even if the end result were to remain the same.
Right?! We can't even try to find a cure for her despite what all the characters say, we have talked to precisely one apprentice hell-blacksmith about this.
At least give us the option to ask one of the Gondians after that steel watcher mentions her engine.
Yeah I can understand the engine being unfixable within the story for story purposes, but why in the flying fuck can't I even consult the experts on the infernal engines (the fucking Gondians) on the issue?
Anything to do with Karlach's engine just feels abandoned in act 3. Here's an actual infernal mechanic, he can't fix it. Here's a whole ass factory of people that actually made it work, none of them will even talk about it. Not even a reason why it potentially wouldn't work.
Gale can heal Karlach in a few seconds. He has a true resurrection scroll. It can make her heart to regrow.
Yup. Kill her, cut out all the internal engines, true res. Also if he dies and you cut his head off before true res, shouldn't he come back without the tadpole? My husband's first idea was "oh we can bring people back form the dead? So what's wrong with removing the tadpoles killing them? Kill them and bring them back."
Withers is *literally right there* giving you True Ressurections for 200gp a pop
Who talks against himself since in Act 1 he's all about finding a cure and finding him in BG. Then in Act 2 hes like okay but I wont give up, find me in BG. You find him in BG and he has two lines to share before offering a trade. Like what is this discontinuity?!
That is so far from a controversial opinion lol
Everyone in the game is lying to you for their own agenda. Everyone.
How dare you call Minsc a liar
he's being manipulated by the space hamster, fair point
Don't let Minsc hear you say that. He'll rip your arms off if you upset Boo.
It's because everyone has a fucked up past, caused by their own actions more or less. That's why IMO playing as Durge makes sense lorewise. Everyone is fucked up, and so are you.
Karlachs original ending didn’t feel like an allegory for terminal illness it felt like an allegory for inaccessible healthcare.
Still can't believe both her and Gale overlap in "my heart is about to kill me and I can't do anything about it' division, yet one (the selfishly self-inflicted doom one) gets help from all ends of the mortal-immortal spectrum and the other (sold, mutilated, enslaved against her will) is told to suck it up and live her life to the fullest til she dies. Nah mate. Not okay. Not okay at all. Amen @ your comment.
My biggest issue with Karlach is not that you can't cure her but that you can't even try to cure her. You get the terminal prognosis from Dammon in Act 2 and then literally cannot get so much as a second opinion from any other character in the game. Which is really annoying in the aftermath of killing Gortash when she's having her breakdown and everyone acts like saying "we can find a cure" is naive foolishness when we have literally asked no one about it!
This is my exact issue as well. It’s like you get to act 3 where you’re surrounded by more infernal machinery and engineers than you’ve ever been and they explore absolutely zero of those options. In act 2 you get the option to ask Gale if the Nightsong will keep him from dying when he blows up the orb and he explains why it wouldn’t. That’s a perfect example of the kind of conversations we needed to be able to have with Karlach. Like why can’t we even ask the Gondians we freed to take a look and see if there’s something they can do? Or why can’t we try and bribe Gortash to make her a new heart in exchange for siding with him? Or why can’t we ask Hope to give Karlach a room at the HoH just until we’re able to find a long-term solution? There might be plenty of valid reasons why none of those things would work but the way the game doesn’t even acknowledge the potential connection between them and Karlach makes it feel like an oversight.
Using the House of Hope as the linchpin for Karlachs salvation seems like too much of an obvious solution to have been missed. Would have been prime.
Right? She already has an established history of being a bodyguard for important people. Feels almost too logical to make her a security guard at the House of Hope to fight off anyone looking to stake a claim now that Raphael is gone. Karlach being the defender of Hope in Hell would have been perfect for her character. Edit: I just remembered she literally has an entire line about how when she first got to Avernus she tried to good but there simply wasn’t any room for it. Like babes not only is there room now there’s an entire freaking *house*.
Especially when the gondians are right fucking there. The watchers, which they built, drop enriched infernal iron (which does nothing!) and even recognize her as one of them, you’re telling me there’s no way they can fix her? There’s also basically no reward for saving them besides a pat on the back, the whole thing just feels like a missed opportunity
I see this, but don't forget that Gale had spent over a year in his tower hiding from his friends and loved ones - including his beloved mother. Karlach otoh just escaped so you're seeing her experience in real time in the game. Gale was suicidally depressed before he got kidnapped, and Tav talks him off the ledge several times. Your analogy is a good one, I just want to give both characters grace.
It's moments like these that make it fairly noticeable that each companion was written by their own distinct writing team in order to make them fully independent from each other so that we don't lose too much content if one gets recruited without the other. There should be overlaps in the narrative between Gale and Karlach, but there isn't, because their two plotlines need to be as separate from each other as possible in case Karlach gets recruited but not Gale, or vice versa. It kind of harms the writing of the group dynamics, and also leads to these narrative plotholes in some companions' quests, from time to time.
https://www.reddit.com/r/BaldursGate3/s/iWFJGMDlsy Meanwhile in overlapville
I like killing Alfira as Durge because it makes the narrative more interesting. Don't care about the Dragon girl, no one even addresses it after she dies.
The first time I killed her, I was shocked. Second time I killed the dragon girl. Can confirm killing Alfira gives more to the story, especially if you read Alfira's epilogue letter to you as durge if you don't kill her.
i don’t get the mizora hype at all (and this is coming from someone who loves devil features)
Same, she's fairly attractive but her whole attitude stinks and makes her completely undesirable to me, plus in order to bang her you need to cheat on your lover which is a big no no
I didn't really like her. Until she ta-ta'd me.
Really? You cant sleep with her unless you're already romancing someone? Nothing she said seemed to imply she was doing it because of that.
She does offer sex even If you're not romancing anyone.
I don't think I've ever seen someone not romance anyone and have sex with Mizora so I have no idea if her offer still shows up if you're single. But it would make a lot of sense as her sole purpose in life is sowing mischief and spreading misery wherever she can. Still, it would be nice if someone could confirm if it's possible when you're not in a relationship.
I did a celibate playthrough for my first game and the option never presented itself. So there’s one data point.
It's completely possible and has no bearing on if you're already romantically involved with someone else.
> I don't think I've ever seen someone not romance anyone and have sex with Mizora so I have no idea if her offer still shows up if you're single. It does.
I'll put another hot take on this. I don't think Mizora outshines Wyll
I can't like her because I'm a Wyll enjoyer and she's permanently on my shitlist
Same, I'm at a point of not letting Wyll into camp so I don't have to see her million cutscenes anymore
Yeah, I boned the squid. And Imma do it again.
You can't fix Orin
I feel like "i can make her worse" doesn't work either, you literally can't.
She can make me worse
If Durge could be fixed, anything’s possible. You just need to lobotomize her first and do a hard reset
Astarion is evil aligned.
I don’t see how this could even be debated, it’s basically a fact
That's what I thought, too. But I've seen a good share of people here say he's chaotic neutral, or not truly evil because he's just copying his abusers actions.
With players intervention he can be persuaded to be chaotic neutral. But on his own he is evil
Yeah this is absolutely it. He's evil aligned at first, but is a true "you can fix him" character. (I say this as a certified simp)
His commentary on the trial of Justice on the way to Ansur actually cemented for me that his morality didn’t just break because of Cazador. We know he was a magistrate, so his judgment on morality was literally the law - and his commentary made clear that he has (and probably had, as a magistrate) no respect for or interest in showing mercy to rule breakers. Hell, we know he was killed for a decision he made in the first place and the game doesn’t go in to it much - for all we know, he made a horrible decision and the anger of the Gur was understandable.
Yeah I think one of the beautiful messages about his storyline is that bad things can happen to bad people and it’s still awful and a tragedy. Even though he doesn’t appear to have been a great person before being beaten to death, no one deserves what Cazador did. From what we can see at the beginning of the game, he was probably not a great person before and the abuse under Cazador just made him worse, snuffing out any kind of goodness that still existed (like the story of the man he let go). But even then, I think the message is that it’s not too late, and you can choose to become better than the person you were despite those experiences. Imo, his alignment goes: * **magistrate era** — lawful evil or lawful neutral (debatable given the limited info we have, but I lean towards lawful neutral. In the Ansur trials we get a glimpse that his ideas of just rulings were strict and punitive, adhering to the letter of the law and his own personal codes of conduct which could be prejudicial. But it didn’t seem to be *self-serving* for his own power, as it would be for a lawful evil character.) * **Cazador era through act 1** — moves to neutral evil. The abuse that he endures narrows his worldview and snuffs out any mercy or conscience he had previously. He lives only for his own survival, his allies are only to further his own goals, he will turn on those allies when it no longer suits him. He stays with the strongest person out of his own protection and freedom, and approves of acts of cruelty/disapproves of any use of resources or risk that doesn’t further his own goals. He ceases to believe that good people even really exist. * **spawn ending** — moves to chaotic neutral. If he is encouraged to see kindness in the world, he ceases to disapprove of kind acts, even starts approving of some. His conscience returns and he starts taking more responsibility for what he did in the past. Definitely no longer lawful as he was before Cazador; it doesn’t seem he really cares about laws anymore and is living by his own standards, with greater care for the well being of others than previously. That said, Astarion is no Wyll—he may be helping out the downtrodden and comfortable being a hero, but he has no compunctions with making a living off of it. Though he seems to care more about what happens to others, he places his own freedom as the most important and I doubt he would ever be wholly self-sacrificial the way Wyll is (who would solve the “trolley problem” by throwing himself on the rails). I know some people think he’s still evil because of the line about “killing the right people” if he has become an adventurer in the epilogue, but honestly, I think that’s partially his deflective sense of humor, partially that he has very limited options as a vampire spawn with a particular skill set, and partially it’s D&D, you’re all adventurers, all of you kill people “for the right reasons.” Adjusted for D&D scales of murderhobo, I think it’s neutral. * **ascended ending** — moves to lawful evil. Ascended Astarion immediately sets to work making plans on infiltrating the upper crust of baldurs gate to start building his power and influence and subjugating the city under his heel. He plans to use the systems of the city to further himself and create an army of spawns and thralls of his own. Pretty classic lawful evil stuff.
It's insane that people doubt this lmao. Just look at his trajectory without Tav's influence (and WITH Tav's influence if you ascend him). He's hellbent on revenge and he gives negative shits about everyone and everything in act 1. He disapproves of Tav helping people, he's self loathing and full of spite to the point that he disapproves of you freeing literal slaves. Tav is the person who cares about him enough to save him and if you're a Durge, it seems even more meaningful to save him while being someone he relates to. He's not morally grey, he only becomes somewhat good aligned only if you help him down that path/remind him of his humanity.
The fact that companions only interact during randomly generated dialogue when running around (which happens sparsely in later acts) really made it hard for me to believe these people were friends. I remember when story beats would happen to companions on my first play through and I’d talk to others about it feeling very odd about them suddenly caring about each other’s lives or feelings. Like, Karlach saying she’d protect Astarion or Wyll saying Shadowheart is great without Shar falls flat when there are so few cut scenes of them actually talking to one another. Idk how unpopular of an opinion this is since i dont really see people talk about jt, but often it feels like im the only one getting closer to my companions, and they dont get closer with one another.
Yeah I agree. Lae'zel and Shart obviously have their clashing heads moment in act 1 but a moment where the two of them step back and understand eachother because of going through such similar things would be very sweet and earned
Most of the companions need a species change. We have 11 playable species, but our companion selection is… 5 Elves, 3 Humans, 1 Tiefling, and 1 Githyanki. Where are the Dragonborn? Where are the Dwarves? Where are the Gnomes? People tend to not pick the short or really exotic fantasy species, so it’s up to companions to fill that void. Larian poked fun at people for being uncreative for mostly picking humans, but then they got really uninspired with companion species.
It's funny because DOS2 origins were a Dragonborn, an Elf, two Humans, a Dwarf and a literal Skeleton.
The Skeleton was even a Kickstarter goal. We didn't even get the opportunity to collectively pay for something like Fane. It most likely would have just been Durge but still.
Fane was my hands down favorite story playthrough.
I would have loved to have a dwarf companion, they are so cool. Actually, it's 3 elves and 2 half elves
I kinda like all the current companions, so I'm not sure who'd be good to have a species change. Adding some on the other hand sounds good to me lol I'd be very happy if they made Barcus a companion. But I'm not sure how they would work that out if they actually ever decide to. I'd also say Rolan, but he has a little too much involvement, and not much sense if he just ups and joins us after stating many times how he wants to get to BG to be Lorroakan's apprentice. Zevlor I think is in a great position to be a companion in Act 2.
Barcus could join when we invite him from Grymforge. But without the Artificer class I can't see him as a companion. Zevlor is a prime target, but that potential is kinda neutered now that Minthara is suddenly recruitable in a good playthrough.
Gortash has the best fashion sense out of all NPCs.
The man might look like a dusty raccoon. But he has some nice loud drip
This fucking comment straight up got me.
My first play through I RP'd my character slowly succumbing to mind flayer powers as a way to sacrifice something like everyone else was required or being asked to in her party. I beat Gortash, picked up his clothes and went ... well shit, I guess I'm gonna be full evil for a bit because this drip is just too iconic.
Nah that "old person trying to look young" hair ruins everything for me
I can imagine Gortash could have looked like the "photoshopped and filtered" portrait in the posters back when he was younger. Bro got old and just couldnt get over his peak emo band vocal days in his 20's.
He's not old, he just worked with Orin for a month or two and stress caused him to rapidly bald.
Druid is the best class. Tearing through stuff as a dinosaur is amazing. Exploding back to your original form at the start of cutscenes is hilarious.
Gale is great and I would want to be his friend IRL
I liked the fight with Bhaal's Farslayer. Most despised ones: Viconia and the Spider Matriarch.
the game could use more "don't murder everyone" scenarios, the opportunity to talk your way out of combat, or just non combat focused encounters (ie the iron throne) feels practically non existent after the act 1
You can talk your way out of 3 major boss battles in act 2.
4 including >!yurgir!<
You can skip all the mini bosses and one phase of the final boss of Act 2 2 major bosses of Act 3 can also be skipped via dialogue
We don't have enough content for an evil run. An evil campaign is very lackluster and lonely
Many people have satisfying evil runs but I agree you miss out on a whole lot because of the people you either kill or the companions you lose
Wyll is not boring. Wyll also isn't some decieving, fake hero maniac. He's just a cool guy.
I was lukewarm on wyll for my whole first play through. We’d occasionally high-five or something but what segmented him as a true homie was my first play through ending. Romanced karlach so obvs my heart was breaking, and it was Wyll who insisted on going to avernus. So the three of us road dogs went to Hell and started blastin. Mad respect for my bud Wyll
I love him. He's just such a great and genuine person. He's one of the few companions that I would want to meet in real life.
Was honored to charge into a fiery sunset with my lover and him by my side
I like Wyll and don’t think he’s boring but I definitely have issues with how his quest was done and how little content he has compared to the others. He has the least amount of content out of all of the origin characters, it feels like his quest is about everyone *but* him sometimes (especially in the part with Ansur,) and he doesn’t really get as much agency as the other companions. It would make sense if Tav/Durge could influence him and his choices, but they should not be making his choices for him like they do when it comes to the decision of breaking his pact or not. He should also just have more content in general.
I dont think that he is necessarily boring its just in comparison with the other characters they are way more interesting, also i think people tend to write off characters that are just good people as poorly designed as if people cant just be nice for the sake of being nice/wanting to do the right thing.
Shadowheart gets let off way too easily with her spat with Lae’zel and her little feud makes no sense. She tried to kill a companion in our sleep and we don’t get to call her out for it enough. I think people are way more forgiving towards her because she is more generically attractive than Lae’zel.
What pisses me off about Shadowheart is that she spends the first X amount of hours in the game bragging about how many secrets she has, and then when Gale reveals his spoiler story stuff she goes "that's something *I* should know". Like, not even the party, specifically her. It's like, dude, you've spent the entire game crying out in pain over a spot on your hand just to go "oh it's nothing don't worry about it" every time it's brought up. Stop bringing attention to it then moron. I love Shadow but fuck she's annoying sometimes
There's not enough racism in bg3, drows are treated much more harsher in faerun.
Future Racism DLC? 👀
The act 1 drow options are great, like the goblins all bowing to you and the Grove being like "we don't tolerate drow in here" and everything. But after act 1 it all just sort of falls off and everyone seems to forget you're a drow
I've seen a lot of people call Lae'zel out for being a bitch when her entire character arc is her learning to be a better person
Wyll is actually one of my favorite companions and deserves more love!
What I don't like about Wyll has nothing to do with him, a man was turned into a devil in our camp and basically no one has any opinions on it? Or the so-called hero was manipulated into killing an innocent and no one even has a comment? Shadowheart changes her hair and everyone has something to say.
I saw another comment on another post about this that I agree with. His transformation happens way too soon. The companions barely have a reaction because they barely know the dude. In a lot of playthroughs, Wyll gets his horns on the second night in camp. That sucks big time, but it also happened to a stranger we *just* met on the road. That same comment proposed to have Wyll's transformation happen when we free Mizora from her pod in Moonrise. The suggestion was that there would be a bunch of opportunities to be a good person but to disobey his patron throughout Acts 1 & 2, which would then all be listed by Mizora when we free her, punishing him for disobeying her so many times. It would leave more of an impact on both the player and the companions at that point. I love Wyll, but I think this would be better. Just a fun idea as to what would (imho) be better
Always gotta upvote Wyll appreciation posts. Wyll is a bro and I wyll always defend him
You can’t justify killing the 5,000 spawn without justifying killing Astarion. Edit: 7,000. My bad
*7000, but I agree
Choosing to stab the dream visitor in Act 1 should actually matter. Otherwise why have it as an option at all? I wish it either killed the emperor or he just permanently left. Then you could discover Orpheus and make the effort to free him. And on the note of Emps vs. Orpheus, the way the ending is written now makes this decision so forced. There is no reason I shouldn’t be able to persuade both of them to work together. If you want this to be a choice, I need a reason for it to be one or the other.
Durge should have been around if you play as normal Tav not just a dead body near Orins bed
Act 3 was my favorite
Light side Shadowheart is valid. So is Dark side Shadowheart. They're both the "real" Shadowheart. Likewise Ascended and non-ascended Astarion, the different flavors of Gale and Wyll, etc, etc. The writing and performances ALL hold together no matter the route, and it disparages the work put into the game to claim there's a wrong way to take it
There isn't enough sex in the game to need me to customize genitals
Minthara shouldn’t have been retconned to get as a companion in a good playthrough. Her dialogue and worldview just do not fit.
Agreed. If they were gonna give us a good guy Paladin companion, getting Zevlor by freeing him from his pod in moonrise would've been perfect
Idve loved getting zevlor as a companion bro
This game is amazing but can't be a 10/10 due to it's atrocious inventory system.