Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Help Tips & Tricks Gale romance

I have attempted - several times - to get to the Weave scene with Gale (all but cementing the 'romance'). I think the issue is that my character gains approval too quickly, but I can't find a definitive thread on how to get to it. I know it happens - I've seen videos of playthroughs. I know his is supposed to be a tough one to get, but it really is tough when he likes you too well that you don't get this. any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks!

It seems as if you need to get a scene at every approval level, and like you said, you can skip a level or two and incidentally lock yourself out of it. Here's what I found in my run that was romancing Gale:

By the time I reach the Grove I've camped twice, done the Crypt, and get two distinct Gale scenes (Go to Hell & mirror Image scenes) while still being at neutral.
The Grove is where I experienced the worst issues - you can gain a lot of favor too quickly here. Saving Sazza and all it's associated scenes made me skip straight into High Approval, causing me to have to reload a previous save. After reaching Medium approval, I camped a few times and still got nothing! I had to leave the Grove and discover a new area to trigger Gale's third scene. It seems companion scenes are also triggered by regions discovered, but because Gale needs all his scenes at every level to unlock his romance, it's problematic for him.

So basically, I had to do the Grove in increments to be sure I didn't skip levels.
Once reaching the Grove I ask Zevlor about Nettie (but don't meet her yet) and recruit Wyll and camped 3rd time. Companions I think have something to say in regards to finding a healer. Might not be a notable Gale scene here so don't worry.
Did Zorru quest and spoke to Kagha and at that point was at Medium Approval. When I camp here for the 4th time, the scene did not trigger. But when I leave to the bridge unlocking the Forest area and THEN camping, I unlocked Gale's 3rd scene (which I believe is him asking for magical items).
After that, I had gone back to the Grove to do the Sazza scene, learning of Priestess Gut, as well as saving Sazza (but not letting her out the cage), and by that point I got High Approval. Gale approval seems to go nuts for this scene, because you save Sazza and get approval, Gale usually has something to say (the Crossbow in the Tavern conversation) and I believe can gain approval when you talk to Sazza herself when she asks why you saved her.
Again camping immediately after did not unlock another scene, so I left the Grove again and discovered the Blighted Village area which did unlock the Weave scene. I was surprised when I got this, so my specifics may be off, but this was also before Gale died for me and before I had an item to give him.

After this point, having to min-max Gale's approval like this, no one else in the party had much approval, so Gale seemed extremely chatty at this point. I hope they shift Gale's flags to allow for you get to his scenes even if you skyrocket into High Approval as most people are experiencing.

Edit: some things I left out: I was playing a very persuasive good aligned character who tended to succeed a lot of rolls. Never used the tadpole so those scenes never interfered at camp (you can use hte tadpole - it just can throw off camp scene order). Was able to save the kid Kagha tries to imprison. I was using the thread https://steamcommunity.com/app/1086940/discussions/0/3010053344566355487/?ctp=2#c2969523484447460847 on the steam forums as a lose guide and I think you do have to do two "good guy" feats in the Grove to trigger Gale's scene where he tells you about needing magical items. Doing all this really cemented to me that Gale is neutral good, by the way, his hyperfixation on Mystra aside.

Thanks. You have pretty much confirmed what I thought I needed to do, with the exception of not realizing about area changes. I will keep trying; eventually I'll get the scene!

Best of luck to you!

Thank you so much!

There seems to be more to it - I just followed your steps as described, I'm in the blighted village with approval at "high", I learned about his need for magic items but haven't given him one (because I haven't discovered a sufficiently powerful one yet), but no scene triggers when I camp.

It took me two nights of camping to get the previous scene as well (where you learn about his condition), probably because Astarion interfered. Examining the boar triggered his camp scene, so Gale's was apparently postponed. It all seems rather involved, I sincerely hope they clean up those triggers in one of the next patches. I'll experiment some more, maybe I'll get that Weave scene yet...

Yeah, after getting the scene where he asks for magical items and the seeming requirement of needing to journey to a new area did throw off my count. When I got the Weave scene, it was the first time I had gotten it any run and was not expecting it so my steps get a little fuzzy.

I did encounter the boar and had Astarion's scene before Gale's like you said. I don't think you can go around that area without triggering that scene or the True Soul scene with the siblings. So now that you mention it, I had also went back at some point to talk to Zorru with Lae'zel, which required me to camp to swap out party members. Had to do the same for Wyll and Shadowheart to get their scenes at the Windmill. All the characters require encountering some environmental actor before some of their more interesting dialogue pops up, and they are all roughly in the same area. (As an aside: I'm pretty sure we are not intended to play this way, as we'll need to pick favorites to really be able to see the most of a characters' story.)
By the time I got the Weave scene, whether it was camp 5 or camp 8 or even more, I was already diluting my priorities with the other party members. That being said, I only really traveled between the Blighted Village and the Grove when doing all this. I'll probably try to reload that save and have look around at how far I had progressed to that point.

Okay, so you did the windmill with Wyll before you camped to get Gale's scene? I haven't done that yet (I was afraid it would push Gale's approval past "high"), so I'll try finishing this and then resting. And no, I'm pretty sure that all this micromanagement is not how this is intended to work Thanks for the clarification, investigation ongoing...

Agreed. It is annoying and you loose a lot of game play doing this.

Alright after a bit of testing, here is how I triggered Gale's Weave scene a couple times in a very streamlined "race to the finish" manner:
- recruit everyone, camp 1 "go to hell", neutral approval, Astarion stalking off
- camp 2 before entering Grove, "mirror image", neutral approval
- [hero moment] grove fight, diffuse zevlor situation, speak to him
- [hero moment] speak to kagha, save child, medium approval
- camp 3 "trust you"

Here's where it got tricky:
- camp 3 "trust you"
- [hero moment] protect sazza (I left her in the cage), high approval,
- camp 4, nothing from Gale, neutral SH convo
- travel westward and encounter boar
- camp 5, nothing from Gale, neutral Lae'zel convo, Astarion reveal
- cross bridge and go into the forest past the bodies to find scratch, talk to him
- camp 6, Gale weave scene

Things noticed:
You do have to do 2 "hero" actions in the Grove to trigger Gale's "trust you scene" at medium approval. And doing a third will get you to high approval. Although after doing the Nettie scene, it will trigger the Raphael scene because you've forwarded the Search for a Healer quest, which adds another cutscene to clear in the queue. I love Gale's reaction in the Nettie scene however.

After getting to high approval, it really is just waiting for the camp cutscene queue to empty out, but also the fact that camping in the same place does not move the queue. It seems like you don't have to find a new area to zone into, but that you can't camp in the same zone without leaving it and coming back. I did not test this idea reliably however.


This seems to be true. When I camped and skipped partymembers with ! exclamation marks, they just showed up again the next time I camped. Also, while what I outlined above in this post was the most reliable to replicate, there was another situation where after camp 4, I zoned out of the Grove and camped again - getting Lae'zel's scene (which seems to strangely duplicate outside of (!) exclamation mark convo). Then I walked on to zone into the 'Forest" region, but stopped before getting too close the dead boar on the road. When I camped then, I got the Weave scene before getting Astarion's reveal, Raphael's scene, reaching Scratch or the Blighted Village, or even getting the camp to upgrade to tents.
Additionally, when I recruited Wyll, he also had a scene that needed to be "cleared from the queue", but I got to skip that since I didn't recruit him for testing.

I know they are still tweaking this, but on the one hand, I don't think we should be able to get this much approach in this one area unless we're supposed to be taking a much slower pace when encountering the Grove. And on the other hand, if you don't do any of the "hero moments" in the Grove, doesn't that mean it would lock you out completely from his romance because you have to unlock his "I trust you" scene?

If patch 4 is still a long while away, an easier way to make sure you get these scenes without min-maxing is to camp after every big moment - in particular if it has something to do with the tadpoles, finding a healer, getting a party member, or if its the first major event in a new area.

Finally got the Weave scene. Was tough; Gale was at very high approval when got it. Basically, for this, I just bounced to camp with almost every significant approval jump with Gale - so I did not track what and where I did anything as I just wanted to darn scene. BUT, I did get the high approval because I did end up saving Arabell, Mirkon and protected Sazza. So, it is possible to get it at very high (now at exceptional after Weave scene).

Ultimately, I camped after every big moment. As stated above, until this is addressed in the next patch, may be the best way to get it.

I'm just happy I finally got it. I have played dozens of character trying to get this. Thank you!

Thanks for your thorough research, I finally got it! And you're right, after the "trust you" scene is where it gets really obscure. I finally got it after finding Karlach and promising to help her; talking to Scratch only triggered a brief scene where Gale reminded me that he really, really needs to snack on a magic item really, really soon. Definitely something to test when the next patch comes out, to see if they cleaned it up a bit. As an aside, I don't envy the devs who have to do the cleaning - BG3 is built on the Divinity engine, and having modded DOS2 I know what a nightmare fixing conversation triggers is.

Again, thanks, that's one research item taken care of

What are folk's opinions on which of Gale's potential snacks is the quickest/easiest to get, excluding the sword because I actually intend to use it this run... I'm thinking hiking out to the flask might be quickest?

It does sound like a mess to iron out. I do like the complexity that is there and hope they can pull it off. The first camp scene, Astarion and Lae'zel's have less to say depending on what order they are spoken to, as if their egos are hurt for being talked to last. This doesn't seem to be a thing in later camp scenes, but I found the detail pretty interesting. Made me wonder what else the game might keep track of in regards to companion scenes.


For this playthrough in particular, I got the Necromancy of Thay and had a party member sneak past the Spiders in the well to get the jewel. Since those components are in the Blighted Village, it is sort of "quick". Some people were saying that if you get this item before Gale's scene that it can bug out, but I was able to give the item to Gale at camp - doing so only after I had gotten the Weave scene to be on the safe side.

I find auntie Ethels staff the easiest, since I normally do defeat her before going to the goblin village. I think the Necromancy of Thay is pretty quick too, if you use an invisibility spell to go past the spiders for the dark amethyst. But I had the problem last time, that it bugged out as a gift for Gale. It always stayed in my inventory. I didn't try it this playthrough though.

Edit: I just saw, that someone already mentioned the Necromancy and the bug.

Steal silvanus idol in grove.

Why should their ego be hurt? I address the most important person last, and that person gets the most attention. First talk to all the unimportant people to get that out of the way, than finally have the time for the important person.

At least that's how it is where I come from.

So if that is really a feature and not a bug, does that meanI have to learn to think differently in terms of social conventions, or I will just not get some things?

For me, the Shipment/vessel is the easiest to get (other than the Sword of Tyr).

Both of them are ego-centric characters and part of the reason why they are coded as evil in alignment. Both have stories about control or power issues, and so being talked to last is an ego wound - as if they don't matter. It's why they enjoy when you put others in their place or take every opportunity to humiliate someone. They are self-serving salves to their injured egos.

In any case, this order thing only seems to happen the first camp scene. So you don't really need to worry about it afterward. You don't get disapproval, but it affects my roleplay on certain playthroughs that pander to these two.

To get back on topic, Gale's dialogue in Camp 1 doesn't change no matter what order you talk to him in. He's very much in his own head up till you make the move on him. His fixation on Mystra can be read as sexual, but I'm getting the vibe that it is more like "being married to science."

Thanks for the suggestions folks!

I did end up going out to the flask, because it involved interacting with the fewest set pieces along the way. It didn't take very long - just hoped across the river at the crossing near Scratch (pet the good boy), then walked up the high part of the risen road avoiding the other gnolls until I got to the flind, and waypointed back to the grove once I'd done that. Pretty smooth, all told - just one single fight, and no major set pieces to disturb.

I got the weave scene (for the first time.... possibly thinking of doing a breakdown for halflings, but there's not as much to it as I thought, and the bugs can just be submitted into Larian's form, so no point making more issue of it), so, here are a few more data points to help unpack it:

In my game, I was planning on recruiting the boys, so Lae'zel got it into her head that she was going to complete her trial and kill that darned mindflayer if it was the last thing she did. As it turned out, it WAS the last thing she did. She killed the mindflayer after we defeated the commander (so, congrats to her, she's can go home to the astral plane now?), and then the cambions promptly killed her while I took care of the transponder.

I recruited Gale first, then spoke to him - no probing, just asking his questions, then immediately rested. This was the first camp, and nothing happened. Because of that, I wandered up the road a bit, checked on the area where Lae'zel would have been, and was disappointed to find that the two tieflings weren't even there, and then rested again: this triggered the "Go to Hell" scene.

After this, I went and picked up Astarion, and rested again; this triggered the "Mirror Image" scene, and Astarion wandering away.

I rested a couple more times while moving about the areas, but didn't approach the grove yet. I went to the ruins, and convinced Gimblebock to leave (+ Gale Approval), rested (nothing), and then cleared out the ruins - Gale got most of the lore dialogues as we went through. I also allowed Gale to get himself killed during this part, so that I could do his protocol. I spoke to him about it, but didn't press the issue, and said he'd tell me when he was ready (+ Gale approval). Rested again, spoke to him in camp about his protocol, but didn't push it (he's jovial about it, and admits that at very least, it piqued my curiosity) but no further events yet.

I went to the grove and did the fight at the gate, then settled things between Aradin and Zevlor peacefully (Halfling dialogue, then easy persuade) (+Gale Approval). Because I didn't want to miss it and hadn't seen it before now (ever... I only know about it from one of my partners...), I ran down to the inner grove and gave Volo an interview (Silly man ^.^), as well as paying my respects to Kanon - his sister ran off to threaten Sazza, but I didn't follow. Continued to ignore conspicuous Shadowheart placement and immediate availability of magic items all being very clearly designed for Shadowheart...

Rested in the grove, and this now triggered the "I Trust You" scene with Gale - every time previously, I've only had this scene trigger when I got an artifact he could eat, so it was in fact a novelty to me to get this scene before I had anything to feed him! I agreed to help him, and was a good sport about it - my new character for this run is not really a material kind of person anyway, and she's not the very bright either - just good-natured, helpful and optimistic. Gale was Neutral before the trust scene, but was at Medium after it.

I recruited Wyll now, but didn't exhaust his dialogues - most of them get a response "maybe when I trust you more" or "only my good friends get to know that", but then they don't reappear later.. so I'm leaving them until he's in high rep, to see if he says something different. Rested, but no new scenes.

I then hiked out towards the flask. Stopped at the boar, then rested, got Astarion's scene, and in the morning opted for the "We need him" line; saying that you trust him gets a negative from Gale, so I avoided that.

Continued hike towards flask, but was stopped again by True Soul and co. I sent the kids away to the owlbear, then crushed the tadpole (+ Gale Approval), then because I felt guilty, I rested (nothing new), then went to the owlbear cave and followed the siblings inside. I crept past them, engaged with the owlbear, noticed the cub, then peacefully backed off (+ Gale Approval), and then told the siblings to leave - which gave me a hint about the goblin camp.

Continued hike towards flask - but stopped to pet Scratch and take good care of him. Good Scratch. Pat-pat.

Hiked out the rest of the way to the Flind, dealt with that encounter, then spoke to the Zents as a well-meaning and helpful person with no guile at all. Astarion, being much more profit-minded, crept behind them, picked the chest, looted the flask and then crept out again while they weren't looking. We said goodbye and went on our way.

I chatted to Gale here and now and fed him the flask, then rested. This triggered the "Weave" scene. Before the scene, Gale was on Medium approval, but was on High approval after it. I suggested romance in the scene, and he was receptive, and I think that's all the boxes marked for romance at the camp once the grove is saved.