Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General The companions are good. Change my mind

I've been hanging around steam and Reddit for the last couple of days, and the one criticism I just can't agree with so far is regarding the companions.

The main things people say about them is that they are too evil. And this claim is super strange to me. There are a total of five party members so far. Let's go over them.

Layzel - Okey layzel is super evil, bitchy and angry. First of all I don't think it's so wrong to have one of those. Aside from that, I don't know what did you expect. I know almost nothing about the forgotten realms and the bit of knowledge I do have comes from bg1 and 2. And based on the githenki in bg2 Layzel is just right, scheming, evil, and follows a rigid code of honour to the letter. So she is not a good character, but she is not badly written.

Shadowheart - the reception for shadowheart is really confusing for me. Now based on her deity I assume she is an evil character, but in the game itself she doesn't really strikes me as particularly evil. She is selfish and secretive, but that's about it. In the part of the game we have she mostly cares about the tadpole, which is fair. Most of all she reminds me of Morrigan from Dragon Age Origins, but she is more subtle, less flirty and less over the top. Most of all, I see a lot of potential for growth with her.

Astorian - aside from the very flashy (and super buggy) introduction, Astorian strikes me as kind of a cool gay guy. The only evil thing he did in my playthrough was to try to feed on me, and afterwards he claimed that he usually only feeds on animals which is Eduard level good. He seems to me like chaotic neutral at the most.

Gail & Wyll - these two are good, not much room for speculation. I'll just say that all the companions are not "Jesus good" or "Lucifer bad", and all of them are more complexed than that, which is a good thing.

So to summarize - we have one evil party member, 2 who are possibly bad but the jury is out right now, and two good party members. and all of the characters are fun and interesting, even though we haven't seen much of them yet.

+1 I think Shadowheart gets flak because of the name.

Well Shadowheart has the tag 'Evil Cleric' so kinda sure she's not Good at least

I am actually very pleased to see that we got some evil companions from the start on.

Astarion- Creepy gay vampire that always tries to hit on you. He's not creepy as a vampire though, so I guess it evens out in the end?
Gale- Honestly I kinda like this companion. He's boring and stodgy, but those types exist and it makes him a believable wizard.
Lae'zel- I'd probably kill her to be honest, if I didn't need a melee character
Shadowheart- She bugged out on me so I'm not playing with her anymore. Terrible name, seems okish as a character. But to me, she has a weak personality and isn't much of a contender for a memorable character.
Wyll- No experience playing with him.

Yeah I feel like the only indication to her evilness is the character description (Shar sounds like an evil gal) but nothing in the game itself

Well Shar is, among other things, the Goddess of Secrets so it's probably a bit too early to judge

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Shar

Gale and Wyll are actually neutral. There is no good character at the moment in EA. It was stated by Swen during the panel from hell event.

I personally like the companions. I ditched Astarion, not because he wasn't well played, but because he was incompatible with my drow priestess. Touching my character was a death sentence for him.

Lae'zel is interesting. She's the bold villain type. I dig it. Gale as well, even if he's pompous, has some interesting lines. Shadowheart is the one my character gets the closest to, cause they are both selfish and consider evil to be a way of getting where they want to go.

I haven't played with Wyll much yet. I will get him into my party on my second playthrough.

Shar is the original Evil of the Forgotten Realms. She was there at the beginning with her sister Selune, and then got jealous after she and her sister created Chauntea... Chauntea wanted a sun to stay warm, so Selune obliged... Shar wasn't happy about that, and since then has plotted to end everything.

There is no real room for debate over Shar's alignment. She's NE.

Shadowheart, on the other hand, I haven't managed to work out. When the party comes across the broken statue of Selune, she has an odd moment - and my redemption arc senses tingled (maybe the PC can have some influence on her?). She does seem to have a softer side at times, but she tries to hide it behind her abrasiveness.

Lae'zel, on the other hand seems a typical Githyanki and so would definitely fall into the category of LE just from her attitude and stark pragmatism.

I AM disappointed that both female companions start out on the evil side of the alignment chart. I don't want to have a companion I need to "fix" in order earn their friendship or love. (I basically play only good characters, and there's been times with both of them I've been tempted to send them back to camp.)

What? the original evil? Wasn't Tharizdun that?

Don't worry, there'll be more NPCs in the future

Layzel has a superiority complex which irks me. I don't mind selfish, or hell, even sadistic characters, but since there's no other choice as a frontline, you kinda have to roll with her unless you're a fighter yourself. Also, for an uber-soldier as she describes herself, it's pretty pathetic to get caught and trapped by two greenhorn tieflings. I would honestly re-write that scenario to something more believable or in-line with her combat experience. Other than that, she's fine as a character - if she has the capacity to evolve and become more humble along the way, it would be perfect.


Shadowheart. The name is obviously imbecilic, not even 12 year old me would consider this "cool". Like said, she is an "evil" cleric but she's just mostly selfish and reserved, which is fine for a neutral character. I am not sure how feasable it is to change her name now (probably a very slim chance, as it would require re-recording a lot of dialogues) but I sense there could be a lot of room for growth once and if she starts opening up.


Astorian gave me a creepy vibe from the start, not because he's a vampire, but like, his whole demeanour is just out of place (given the circumstances) and wierd, plus my char is a rogue so no need for two. No experience, instantly delegated to the camp.


Gale - kinda boring to be honest. His comments are cringy but seems like a good guy.


Wyll - the cool Gale. He has one eye, a pact with a demon and is altruistic/repentent in a believable way. His interaction with the goblins is interesting, although kind of an unbelievable coincidence.

Shadowheart is a typical member of Shar clergy:
likes deception to deals with things,
doesn't like fighting heads on or starting fights,
hide her identity,
is secretive.

Shar clerics aren't "Mouahaha, lets kill everyone in gruesome murder" evil. They are subversive evil, they manipulate and corrupt to achieve their goals. Sometimes do assassination, but that's mostly reserved for people who went directly against Shar.

They have to hide and be secretive because the Church is outlawed in most of Faerun.

Tharizdun is more Greyhawk/Nentir Vale/Exandia, in FR his presence tends to be more indirect, he doesn't seem to have worshippers in realmspace.

I enjoy the companions quite a lot, I think one of the reasons why is the way they've handled the aligments.
I've got to commend Larian for avoiding the usual alignment pitfall, namely turning chaotic evil into chaotic stupid, or lawful good into lawful stupid.
With the above, and Oath system of 5e in mind, I am very much hyped for a Paladin companion. Hopefully we will get LN, or maybe a little bit more chaotic one.

Lae'zel can be bossy to the point of being annoying, but that's frankly her lawful part of the aligment. She sticks to the protocol, and what she was taught in martial obsessed society. Having done a bit of her quest, I hope she will evolve along the way.


Shadowheart I've disliked at first, but when she started warming up a little, I'm actually interested about the most.
Her aligment is probably NE ?


Gale is somewhat boring, his affliction aside. But it's good to have him around, to counteract the overall brooding mood of the party. Although I am unsure about his aligment. Strikes me as either CG or CN ?


Astarion I have not traveled with yet, but I've definitely enjoyed his conversations in the camp. Definitely Chaotic Evil aligment wise, which honestly is the high point of the BG3 alignment "system".


Wyll, he much like Astarion awaits for the second playthrough.

I'll admit this is genuinely the first RPG where I liked all the companions and didn't find one annoying and I'm including every RPG I've played over 20+ years from DOS1+2, the Fallouts, the Mass Effects and KoToRs. As far as it goes they all seem well written and the characters actually stick to their personalities and don't warp their opinions because the player choices/story needs them to.

I love these companions, and that is rare for me. Shale was the only companion I cared for in the entire Dragon Age series. I couldn’t care less for any Pillars of Eternity companions. DOS2’s companions never particularly gripped me. But I’m genuinely interested in all of these companions.

I’m still trying to figure out what Wyll’s actual alignment is. He feels utterly consistent as a character, but he doesn’t fit all that neatly into a box. His persona is a bit of a sham; he clearly wants to be seen as a hero, but that desire does motivate him to play the part. I’m still not all that far in, yet, so nobody spoil it.

I’m really digging this. Kudos to Larian’s writing staff. Ya’ll making BioWare (and I mean classic, KotoR / Mass Effect / DAO BioWare) look like a bunch of chumps.

I've enjoyed the companions and can't wait to see more of them. I like Gale's sense of humor. Lae'zel seems perfect to me, she's Githyanki through and through. I really thought I'd hate Astarion and would never have him in a party after his reveal but I immediately fell in love with his snarkiness and want to find out his whole story. He had me when he said "well we obviously dont travel in the same circles." LOL Even Shadowheart is ok, and Wyll, while I havent travelled with him much yet is Cute and seems to be a good guy. I can't wait for more companions to choose from if they are all as good as these 5.

So far my rating & ranking of companions:
- - - party
1. my character (sadly conversation checks are based only on main character stats)
2. Gale, Wizard, Pros: well made, good looking male, quite friendly and even funny, he can say no in a nice way -- Cons: he is a bit weird with his wizard stuff but that's his job I guess
3. Shadowheart, Cleric, Pros: she can be convinced with good arguments and turns friendly if given time -- Cons: she likely hides dark secrets, better watch your back
4. Laza'zel, Fighter, Pros: she is quite useful in a fight -- Cons: keep talks short and on subject with her, she is a very simple character, just a kill machine with rigid concepts about everything else, will take time to make her mind more open
- - -
5. Wyll, Warlock: Pros: he is helping those in need (at least at start, idk later yet) -- Cons: he isn't modest at all, could be a vampire based on some pics (I don't know yet if it is, but I don't like bad vampires, except the hot girl from Underworld movie because she wasn't evil), and mostly it is a Warlock which isn't the most needed class in my party comp limited to 4
6. Astarion, Rogue: Pros: if I ever need to sacrifice a companion, this is the perfect candidate, will gladly do it -- Cons: everything

Nope, not that one is a vampire. Unless there are two of them. And Shadowheart is cute, dark secrets or not.