Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion halsin is literally nothing but questionable narrative choices wrapped up into one character

narratively it's already a little hard to take halsin leaving the grove seriously- the ARCH DRUID gets captured by some goblins, even though he can turn into a bear and shit, which is already like... okay I guess. I don't care THAT much but I wasn't expecting a bear and some big giant wood elf to be the helpless captured druid we're after

so I rescue him obviously, understanding immediately that the bear is supposed to be this halsin character, and eventually he decides to roll with the gang. oh, a companion? no, he's just chilling at the camp... alright i guess, volo is here too, weird that volo doesn't get his own tent though. either way i dont have a problem with it

but then not only is he taking a vacation from the grove, by the end of the act he's totally ready to roll out with us. really? mister archdruid is just leaving his whole guild? well, he wasn't ready to be an archdruid, and i guess most companions already have some pretty questionable acts going on, so whatever. cool, a druid companion!

oh, well, he's not actually a companion? he's still just a guy chilling in our camp? i guess his story isn't over yet but it feels weird at this point since the other camp visitors have all moved out. but that's fine, as an avid video-gamer i understand that he probably has some stuff to do in the sections we're going to... well, not the underdark, and not the mountain pass, but he seems to know some stuff about the shadow lands and moonrise towers, so clearly that's his role in the story- to offer us some guidance in act 2. still feels weird that he isn't a companion but i guess he's just a quest giver

and eventually, he is! i do the stuff with the shadow kid, thaniel wakes up, halsin is chilling with his buddy, i do the super cool portal defense quest... oh, NOW he's a companion?

wow, this guy seems to have a lot baked into him. he gets to be an act 1 supporting character, act 2 questgiver, and then join the party? man, i wonder what he's got going on in act 3.

wait, why is this guy even following us? i can understand him not wanting to stay at the grove, but he seems to have a lot of ties to this place. he doesn't wanna stick around to see the shadow lands get cured and stuff? seemed like it really mattered to him. and his buddy that he cared so much about is just cool with staying here too? i mean, even isobel and dame aylin are coming with us for whatever reason, but they aren't companions

him not having a tadpole of his own made me question why he was coming with us at all at that point, him staying behind in act 2 is the narratively satisfying conclusion. and then i was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt, like well if he's joining us NOW he clearly has more stuff to do.... oh my god, jaheria is a companion too? wait, why are we even getting halsin now when he's getting immediately overshadowed by JAHERIA? why would i never pick halsin over j-dog like that?

just for me to get to act 3 and find out... he DOESN'T have anything else going on. we do all his quests BEFORE we recruit him. meanwhile, the rest of my companions are incredibly interactive in act 3 and have so much going on. WHY would i ever pick halsin over aastarion, wyll, shadowheart, laezel, literally any other companion with ties to baldurs gate? halsin by the time he joins me is just HERE. he's a background character that got plussed into being a companion for pretty much nothing.

i wouldnt question it as much if they did some super simple stuff. why didn't get somehow run into getting a tadpole at the goblin camp? give him a REAL reason for staying with us. him being the only non-tadpole'd character traveling with us at that time just feels wonky. at least then i wouldn't question him wanting to leave act 2 after we do all of his shit for him. and there's pretty much no reason to not let him be an actual companion through act 2 and have him stay beside the bed at the inn until we do his quest- there are other times where you pretty much totally lose control of an NPC already, like laezel running down to say hi to the dragon guy

he doesn't have a tadpole, his reasons for leaving the grove are questionable, he doesn't have a reason to leave act 2, he's immediately overshadowed by JAHERIA, and you recruit him after you do all of his quests. which feels totally, completely backwards.

this isn't like minsc, this isn't some bonus character you happen to get along the way, he's an important NPC for 2 acts and an unreactive companion in the 3rd. it feels completely hamfisted, and after learning that the writer for halsin is shadowfart's writer, i could clearly see that this guy liked to play favorites with his characters, considering shadowfart is the real main character of the story in the first place and has an entire act that feels like it's dedicated to her

it smells like he couldn't handle his favorite little blorbo not getting as much attention as everyone else. promoting halsin to the role of a companion was a mistake on multiple fronts and he isn't well adjusted to the rest of the game at all. and that's even looking beyond some of the stuff the other threads are saying about him- my BIGGEST issue with this guy is that, narratively, he's all over the place and doesn't make sense. his traumatic drow-slave backstory is relegated to a one-off line treated like a joke, the game gives you beastiality and says it's okay because he's shapeshifted (as if having sex with an animal with the brain of a human changes the fact that you're still having sex with the body of an actual animal), there's the disapproval from him and shadowheart if you don't want him involved in the relationship, he still flirts with the characters even if you try to be in a monogomous relationship, and the absolute worst thing is that, narratively, he makes no sense at all.

even on top of the other issues it's a very questionable way of introducing a polyamory option in your game, even more so considering the entire cast is otherwise playersexual but their own flexibility with their relationships are stagnant, and ONLY change when halsin is involved- shadowheart and halsin, or aastarion and halsin. but no aastarion and shadowheart. what's going on there? so weird

when orin showed up and told me she kidnapped halsin, it meant pretty much nothing to me. i never had any reason to use this guy and i feel like a lot of the awful writing that went into halsin is overlooked because ooooh big daddy elf fuckmeat or something. as if a character being attractive makes us capable of overlooking everything that's actually wrong with them.

i cannot help but question the writing, specifically the person who wrote shadowfart and halsin. just seems like the wrong steps were taken with halsin as a character every single step of the way. guy has the depth of a puddle, and has nothing left by the time you actually recruit him. it's just bad

imagine if all that time they spent hamfisting halsin to a companion role was spent ironing out minthara lol

True. If you want, you can add this to this thread: https://forums.larian.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=910404#Post910404

Then we have this feedback gathered in one place <3

Well, people wanted him as a companion and I doubt the same people also wanted him to be bear sex toy. People wanted wise, adult and kind person in their party, not a poor embodiment of some fetishes. So, I see nothing wrong here. It's not a fault of the audience - it's pretty much a problem of writing.

Fetishes would have worked, but the way this one was implemented, just didn't work at all.

This, so much. He was done after act 2 and should have gone back to the grove.

you're all wrong. halsin's backstory actually has more to do with how the shadorealm formed than with the grove. the grove was what he did after he couldn't figure out how to deal with Ketheric, since he was now immortal. It makes perfect sense being the wandering druid he was before, that he would want to return to that life, and not be stuck at the grove. That's why he immediately jumped at finding a replacement for himself at the first opportunity.

you all are imposing a narrative on halsin that is most certainly not his own.

Im gonna agree with this. I never questioned him leaving the grove outside of the questions Tav has for him, which are natural to ask and wpuld be ones Id ask anyway.

He sees the first oppourtunity to really save his homeland in about 100 years, he jumps on it, not knowing how long he will be gone, if he will even survive to come back, knowing the flaws in the other druids and not wanting the circle to posisbly collapse in his absense, he asks for a replacement.

Gee its almost as if Halsin is responsible, mature, wise, and dedicated to things he cares about. I wonder whats up with that.

One thing I am still wondering about is why the hell did Halsin trust in us, a bunch of tadpoled 'misfits' to be able to heal the land from the shadow curse. From what I understood, even a good amount of druids and harpers didn't stand a chance. But then again, I think it could just Halsin being so desperate that he takes every chance he can get.

This is what I concluded. Hes kidnapped by the goblins, he hears them all talk about The Absolute and Moonrise. He thinks holy crap what are these wierdos doing at Moonrise? He sees them sending people to and from Moonrise as well. He has a personal stake in whats going on. Its an oppourtunity 100+ years in the making. He meets us, hes somewhat familiar with the tadpoles, sees the connection between our tadpoles, the cult, and Moonrise. Its an oppourtunity for him to make progress he wasnt able to make before. The tadpole thing and the cult are relatively new developments and he goes along with it because he wants to lift the shadow curse. He sees we wabt to be RID of the tadpoles and helps us because we can help him. Its a mutual agreement with mutual benefits.

The shadow cursed lands are his childhood home. Hes talked about growing up playing with Thaniel in the woods. Thaniel is the spiritual embodiment of the land. He sees a way to fix what has been destroyed with our help and he can trust us because we all benefit from figuring out whats going on.

Edit: Its also because he is a good person and wants to help people. Hes a druid, hes a healer, thats what he does. I genuinely felt his concern and sympathy when he sensed our tadpole and said "Oak Father preserve you child"

He went with Aradin too. It's quite clear that he's indeed just desperate to find a solution to the problem that's been bothering him for a very, very long time.

Halsin should never had been a companion that was the Problem..
he should only have been a NPC for Quests.. and thats it..
yu dont Need Two Druids in the Game as companions.
Larian Probably Shoehorne him in at the last moment like Karlach..
For me the Worst companions in the Game are Halsin, Gale, Karlach
all for different reasons but i hate the 3 of then a Lot.

Well i Just Find a Way to actually Get Rid of Him from the Start without braking the Grove Quest and Thieflings.
the Secret is to Cronfront and Take Down Kagha.. make her quest and take her down..
then yu go there save him refuse to help him (but Beware there are some companions that will not like yu refuse to help him, best to talk to him alone), and make he tell yu how to progress to the act 2
just like he do when yu save him and he talks to yu in the post Party..
Then yu just Kill him and he even gave yu a 150 xp..the only thing is that despite he already tell yu how to progress the quest marker of his quest bug and still want yu to go see his research at the Grove..
and i Beleave that if yu take cagha down yu can even go to rosymon without the Thieflings get Screw.. i just never tested..
For all of yu that Hate him just like me and want to Only save the Thiflings thats the way..
(Fun Fact did yu know that Evrything that happens Bad to the Thieflings and the grove is his fault ? he put Kagha as the First Druid and he left the Grove in her hands despite he been the Archdruid and leader of the Grove a true leader would send another person in her place instead to find what he wanted.. thats the smart choice for a leader.. yu never left your home... you protect your home thats what a true leader do.)

And till this day i wish they gave me a Option to Simply Refuse him coming with me to act 2 and same when yu do his quest in act 2 i wish i could refuse him coming with me to act 3 just to make his quest and save the Shadowcurse..
i always felt this so weird the dude kind went to all the trouble to save the Boy to Just F leave him behind alone with a dude that is supposed to die pretty fast becouse he already leaved longer then he should.. Jesus..
he basicly sacrifice a lot of people to go to Act 2 to save the boy to let him behind.. just like it was nothing..
Kinda Really hard to like him for real..

Have him rescue Thaniel, then murder him, dump him with the Myconids before you enter the Shadowfell and once you're done in the Shadowfell, act 1 is cut off and you're completely rid of him (at least, his tent disappeared while Thaniel still stood there, not giving a damn Halsin was suddenly gone).

He'll give you experience which is more useful than his entire presence in act 3. The Myconids will use him in a way that he seems to enjoy, in the Underdark which he seems to love. That's a win/win to me. Or you murder him and just let Withers do whatever Withers does with dead allies. Maybe he'll be a mindless hireling for someone else somewhere in the world - it'd be an improvement. Either way, nobody else in the party gives a damn if you do this, because it's Halsin and nobody cares about Halsin.

You can also let him get kidnapped but that requires Lae'zel as active party member and it takes a while so he gets to go full creep mode, and if he gets kidnapped then I'm pretty sure Yenna will never cook delicious soup for you which means his kidnapping actively stops character development of a character more relevant than he himself is in his current state. After all, we know it's canon that Yenna gets adopted by Tav and <romance partner except poor Karlach who goes to Avernus and should probably not bring the kid along>.

Jokes aside, at least there are plenty of ways to get rid of him without angering anyone and still finishing his quest. And until he gets real content in act 3 I don't see a reason not to, since right now at best he adds nothing and at worst he adds.. well, we know what kind of inconsistencies he can add.

There's a discord post kind of relating to this. There's a lot of ppl who would rather see Kagha or some other npcs become companions, and have Halsin stay a camp follower. Shoot them an upvote if you agree.

https://discord.com/channels/98922182746329088/1163422838682824724

One of the Issues is that we don't need 2 Druids, Kagha is still another druid, only way she works is if you can recruit her after you attack the grove since all the other Druids are good aligned.

I definitely agree. The post mentions Alfira, Lakrissa, Barcus and a couple others though, so I thought some of you might be interested.

it's not that i agree with this post, but i definitely appreciate a bold opinion

Just to add to your thoughts:

- He says that this is an exchange of favors for helping save the grove.
- Halsin states that the tadpoles are an abomination and nature can't heal it by itself so he needs to protect it
- He's spent almost a third of his life in one place leading a grove instead of being "restless and roaming." And frankly, he's not good at it, although he is more harsh on his own performance than perhaps is deserved.
- He feels responsible for the shadow curse -- again, he is feels more responsible than he deserves. He feels he has delayed long enough addressing it.
- If you are playing Dark Urge, he is very protective of you when you confess your urges

Halsin's character has a number of issues, but I don't think this is one of them.

I am always confused when people say Jaheira overshadows him. If you want to play with a druid, you already have one set up? Jaheira is mostly a vehicle to find Minsc, who has even less content. By default she is spec'd terribly for 5e rules. Fan service, I guess, but so are Halsin and Minsc.

Exactly, he pretty much says he was not really into the archdruid thing and he's happy to have his freedom again.

Other than that I totally agree with the criticism of his character. In my playthrough I actually felt like skipping the grove and focusing on the worm problem but then he started giving Tav all the handy information about the tadpole and the shadowlands and seemed genuinely concerned, useful and invested in what was going on. I found him intriguing initially, I also knew he was hyped during early access so I was curious to see what he was about. After a lengthy inner debate and reading that skipping the grove would make me underleveled and that I would miss out on content, I decided to help him out instead. His story in act 2 was nice, but then everything changed in act 3 when I reached exceptional approval with him. He dropped the knowledgeable, responsible and helpful act and suddenly became a one-track-minded, kinky meme character with zero story, progression and depth. He just wouldn't stop mentioning nature in almost every sentence. Bless Astarion for that savage mockery of him, I was so done with Halsin's nature talk by that point! When he got obducted I was very tempted to just let him be sacrificed. I only didn't because Astarion admitted earlier he was annoying but had his uses so I figured that I could just keep him for the final battle as one of the allies. Next time when I replay the game with mods I'm skipping the grove like I initially wanted to. I'd rather have Minthara in my party than him.
I think Halsin could use a rewrite, just like Wyll did.