Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Non-origin companions confirmed - and now?

Hi everyone!

with patch 9 released and Minsc and Jaheira being confirmed as recruitable non-origin companions, I think it is now much more reasonable to ask for more such companions than before, when we didn't even know if non-origin companions were an option at all. Personally, I would love to see Minthara, Sazza, Halsin and Barcus Wroot as non-origin companions. It would do wonders for replayability and player agency - something this game advertises and is heavily based upon.

What's your opinion on non-origin companions? And what other characters that are already present in the game could be potential non-origin companions?

Love it! I was very happy to hear there would be nonorigin companions!

Halsin is the character I most want as a nonorigin companion. I hope they make him one! 🐻🐻🐻

Companions are one of my favorite parts of the game, so I would be happy to have any other new nonorigin companions as well!

I completely agree. What's the most important thing in a party-based RPG? I would argue it's the party.

I don't want Halsin as a companion because by all logic he'd be way too powerful for our party, but I actually really like Nettie and think she'd make a cool companion. She's his apprentice, so it'd be reasonable to have her on the team. Plus there aren't enough female dwarf characters around.

Good idea! I haven't thought of her, but she would actually fit really well as a companion, given the severe lack of dwarves thus far. Also its true that Halsin should be much more powerful than the party... No idea how this would be solved if he turns out to be a companion.

If Minsc and Jaheira aren’t too powerful to be nonorigin companions, neither is Halsin!🐻🐻🐻

Given that we are still missing Karlach and Helia, two presumably good-aligned companions, it would seem odd to me to include two non-origin companions who lean heavily toward good in the form of Jaheira and Minsc, but not add others who might be more neutral or even evil aligned.

Now that we have confirmed non-origin companions:

* I am going to guess there will be eight origin companions. Obviously Karlach is all but confirmed, but I think Larian surprises us with two more.
* I think we will get multiple non-origin companions that are both part of good and evil factions.
* I am hoping that they spread the non-origin companions through all of the acts so you can keep meeting people and potentially changing your party throughout the game.

I am curious to hear how many origin and nonorigin companions there are!

I mean, there would also be Alfira and Abdirak for example. Or Barcus - I really would like to have him as a companion.

I'd like to have Rolan as a companion, his VA is killing it

Well ... this argument is usualy called by people who refuses to accept that Halsin is Level 5.

Oh yeah! I completely forgot about them. If Larian decide to add any more non-origin companions, there surely are plenty of options.

Established high level leader type characters de-leveled to become low level companions. It's level scaling at it's worst and undermines any structure of power the world might otherwise have.

The world needs powerful NPC's. Much more powerful than your party, especially when you are starting out. They are great at showing you what you have a chance at becoming if you succeed. It's motivational.

High level NPC's can be very powerful plot devices. Imagine a high level NPC sacrificing themselves to save your low level party because you are "special" somehow. Stuff like that is almost required to really hit a home run with a narrative that involves you being special. Instead of someone just saying so. That's how Gorion was cleverly used in BG1, even though he was "just" a 9th level Wizard. A high level NPC riding in to save the day when things look hopeless can also be powerful.

High level NPC'S are very much needed to establish a credible power structure in the world. I.e. what do the levels even mean? Who is weak, who is powerful and who is somewhere in between. If Halsin, Minsc and Jaheira won't be allowed to be powerful, who then? If Larian are going to de-level Jaheira anywhere below level 15 in 5e, I'm not going to believe she's the epic Druid who fought Firkraag, Jon Irenicus and Demogorgon. Why undermine her legacy like that? I like Jaheira and always had her in my parties in BG1 and BG2. But in BG3 I want to play with a NEW party consisting of NEW characters. Jaheira deserves her status as a legendary NPC and a hero who can drop in to help you out but not fight the battle for you, because she has bigger fish to fry herself. Invoke the nostalgia in the RIGHT way. But please don't make me watch her getting downed by some level 5 enemies and helped 5 times whac-a-mole style in BG3. That would be utterly stupid and pointless.

I get the feeling that Larian don't understand the value of a power scale in the world. In their game level 1's are already portrayed as badass even though it's very clear they are not when they get one shot by the first Bugbear. There is a glaring dissonance between storytelling and game mechanics. It's like they're trying to make that connection go away. But it's not going to go away. And it serves no narrative purpose to pretend the PC and companions are the top dogs wherever you go. Save for boss monsters who get a few extra levels for a tough fight. Right now Halsin is the only friendly NPC we have met who can be expected to be at least level 9+, leading a big circle and being portrayed as a master healer and First Druid. But the storytelling has completely failed to present him and the circle as any kind of even semi-powerful entity. Hell, if a low level party of 4 can wipe out an entire circle of druids and it's leader, what kind of a "faction" is that anyway?

I'm pretty sick of this "amazing from level 1" nonsense and low level parties clubbing Adamantine Golems to death. I want my low level party to feel like a low level party. So that when I reach higher levels I will feel like I've made it. I would also like the world to show me NPC's much more powerful than me to create a dynamic and tangible power scale. I want to see characters like Minsc, Jaheira and Halsin take down some foe far beyond a low level me while I deal with minions. So that when I am finally able to take down that same foe, it will feel like a true accomplishment. Basic tools of good storytelling, really.

+100 Amen to that.

Yes that's right. The will for a reasonable difficulty curve and related to that, the foresight for a possible continuation after BG 3 doesn't seem to be there. I also look at BG 3 like BG 1 (after all, we start at level 1), but while we had to deal with e.g. Reever's rat plague in BG 1 and the fighting power of the enemies then gradually increased, in BG 3 we lay at least one high-level Cambion in the prologue, after which it levels out again somewhat.

I'll just add that with the way the storytelling is set up, being so epic and all from the get-go, the game is SCREAMING for high level NPC intervention.

You have devils, mind flayers, githyanki with dragons.. everyone is after your low level party. After escaping Hell, your rookie team dives headlong into the Underdark. There are SO MANY ways everything could go south very quickly even for a more experienced party. It seems only inevitable you get into a mess deep enough only a legendary hero like Minsc or Jaheira, or an Archdruid, could pull you out of.

I hope Larian are not going to completely miss this opportunity they themselves created since somebody thinks it's a better idea to de-level and reset these characters for whatever reason.

You make some really good points. Considering this, maybe Halsin should be left out of becoming a companion (of course Jaheira and Minsc are already confirmed). But that still leaves us with Abdirak, Barcus, Minthara, Sazza and Alfira as great options for non-origin companions.

Yeah sure ignore Rolan thats fine...

I'm not sure if Barcus would make a particularly good companion. He doesn't have an obvious class, for one thing. Maybe a rogue, but that's a stretch. He seems like just a regular guy who's out of his depth. Not companion material. I could see Alfira joining up with us, but I think it shouldn't be until act 2. I like her in act one being just this person who's in mourning and trying to rekindle her passion for music again. But she also doesn't seem like someone who's got the chops to be an actual adventurer. I like her a lot and would romance her in a shot if the opportunity presented itself, but I think there's a lot of value in having just civillian characters who are weaker than us. It helps to actually mark the difference between a regular person and a level one adventurer.

Rolan is another character who I think could make a fun companion to recruit in act 2, when his apprenticeship inevitably goes sideways.

oh oops, not intended, sorry xD