Disclaimer: I am not here to pick on anyone's favorites here. What follows is just basic observations based on a good bit if trial and error. I am by no means an expert so if I get anything wrong then please by all means feel free to correct me. With that out of the way here's the companions listed from worst to best based on how useful they are in combat. Note: I will not be taking into account specific unique or rare items that tweak certain characters into borked proportions of silliness such as the warped headband of intellect and such.
Shadowheart : I did say worst to best and well somebodies gotta be here so my apologies to anybody that really likes her...Maybe i'm just not seeing it, maybe with some uber speccific build she's really really great at something but with all that being said.... Using shadowheart on my squad just feels like deliberately adding an unnecessary liability to a team of assets. Everything She does well, other people can do a better and everything she does poorly just makes me feel like an idiot for bringing her along when I could have brought somebody better....
Pros: -Healing and support spells. -Decent durability. -Has mirror image which can make her really hard to hit sometimes. -Can facilitate ambushes (sometimes) -Is pretty which in combat helps with... Uhm... Okay look I'm running out of pros here and the cons list triples the pros here.
Cons: -Generally poor damage. -Limited weapon options. -Usually misses with damaging spells and cantrips unless somebody else sets up the target for her. -Support spells call for concentration... -Heals are completely negligible and replaceable with food, potions and just not taking damage in the first place through proper tactics and clever positioning. -will usually miss most melee attacks and if she doesn't then the dmg will be negligible at best -Burns a LOT of spell slots and needs to rest pretty often just to keep the things up... -Most ambushes can be setup without here by using good ol'fashioned stealth so her stealth spell is of very niche value. -Not particularly mobile -Not particularly great stats. -unreliable in close quarters combat -Pretty sure the goblin clerics are better...
Gale : I used the word "liability" before and I'm probably going to use it again here. Gale Is a liability and even a potential threat to your own squad. That said he rates out higher than shadowheart for his usefulness in combat and the environmental utility that he brings to the table.
Pros: -He has decent ranged damage (when the spells hit) -He has a pretty solid array of environment altering spells and abilities. -Has plenty of spell slots and can restore the things without resting. -Has access to a wide array of damage types. -Nifty utility spells like feather fall and such for interesting maneuverability -Is a legitimately nice guy who does not spend all of his time winging and disapproving when I help people instead of being a self serving opportunistic jerk (Glares at Shadowheart...)
Cons: -Misses, a lot. -most spells don't deal that much damage. -He's really squishy unless you waste a turn with a defensive spell or cantrip followed by the next turn that you will likely waste on not hitting your intended target. -He will literally damage and potentially murder anybody nearby over time if he dies which happens a fair bit as most enemies seem to really hate poor gale here. -poor melee damage, I mean yeah that's not what he's here for but it ought to be mentioned all the same. -really bad weapon selection, hope you like staves... -He eats your uncommon magical items! Seriously I like gale but he really does not pull the sort of weight that justifies the sacrifice of powerful weapons and artifacts which in turn damages the parties overall effectiveness.
Wyll: The legendary blade of frontiers Wyll brings Eldritch blast spam to the table and that pretty much covers it. Alright fine there's a little more to it than that. Bringing Wyll along always feels like a reasonable option, what he lacks in utility and variety he makes up for with reliable damage and stellar positioning.
Pros: -Eldritch blast deals a lot of reliable damage. -Has nifty warlock spells. -fantastic battlefield maneuverability. -Can use Rapiers. -Surprisingly durable for a caster. -rolled high in charisma because this guy is charming as hell. -He does not consume magic items
Cons: -Eldritch blast, you end up using A LOT of it, kinda dull... -He's a caster and therefore squishy. -Doesn't have a lot of spell slots.
Lae'zel: Okay here's the part where I'm gonna look mighty biased. But Lae'zel is an absolute beast and a very easy choice for frontline murder. No matter what squad comp I went with or what class I played Lae'zel was never anything but a solid choice. Yes she's a ruthless monster but oh my gods, if she doesn't reflect that to such an exceptional degree in combat. Having used her as a battle master more than an eldritch knight the following will focus more on battle master.
Pros: -Excellent armor and weapon selection. -Fantastic close quarters damage. -Reasonable ranged damage. -will generally hit what she's attacking. -Is bloody difficult to bring down with second wind. -Is strong as an ox, capable of lugging several barrels of explosive/flamable stuff as well as being able to frigging donkey kong those suckers to the nearest torch/candle/campfire source of -------ignition which covers a wide area with freaking FIRE! even more so than gale... -Gets some nifty support and control options as a battle master. -Has superb mobility and can jump like a frigging flea. -Is literally the character in front of all others on all of the promotional stuff as well as the first companion you actually see.
Cons: -Is exceptional at all things and willing to constantly remind you of that "fact" -Is completely without any cons. -Okay fine, her ranged capabilities are not stellar compared with rangers or other dedicated raged types. -Not particularly stealthy.
Astarion: Okay since Lae'zel rates so absurdly well, I'm guessing you probably want to know what makes this guy better right? Is he some sort of god? Well, no... He is however and indispensable problem solver. Need something dead? Send the vampire, need a few less things to murder in a big fight? have Astarion quietly remove a few things. Beforehand or just shove somebody off a cliff, they both work really.
Pros: -This guy has the skills to pay the bills, seriously pickpocketing gold off those vendors really helps with buying weapons and supplies off of said vendors. Which translates to better equipped squads that are overall more effective -Damage, he has it. near, far wherever you are he has the damage. -Utility, yep especially as a thief, just start throwing things and poisoning stuff, it's great. -Oh, did I also mention he's a vampire so he's eve got a free heal/buff from draining enemies which leaves them debuffed. -Stealth, this guy has it in spades which makes for fantastic positioning and setups.
Overall the more magic oriented companions just feel weaker and ultimately more inefficient than the physical oriented companions. I can handle a bit of inefficiency if the returns on it are worth it but, presently they just dont seem to be.. The real shame here is that because the gap is seemingly so wide, that as things are, I just have no good justifications for going out of my way to use Gale or Shadowheart let alone using them both for that matter.
Naturally I could be completely wrong but if that is the case by all means let me know.
Your top three are my recurring party. They deal out consistent and reliable damage that you can get very comfortable with. You can pretty much make use of everything Larian wants you to take advantage of with Lae'zel and Astarion in particular. Lae'zel can throw any of the standard enemies, carry a shit ton of barrels, reliably shove any enemy into an abyss, and jump from enemy to enemy. Not to mention the abilities she gains as Battle Master. Astarion benefits the most from present game mechanics, which is why I agree with him being at the top of your list. There are some situations where Lae gets a streak of misses (tho sometimes I just need her to soak damage so even that isn't too big a loss if you keep her in the thick of things), but Astarion can be made to attack with advantage reliably. Jumping to reposition, going into sneak, second offhand attack and backstab are insanely powerful when he's fully spec'd out. I've had situations where he was attacking from certain blindspots - popping out of sneak from the previous turn, attacking, and going back into sneak afterward.
Wyll ends up being the squishiest, but oddly enough his straightforward play of just beefing up Eldritch Blast makes him less complex than Shadowheart or Gale. Concentration constantly being broken is less of a problem with him. Patch 4 remedied the constant hateboner enemies had for Gale, but it's hard to want to try him out again when the top 3 work so well. I do think Shadowheart's trickery domain spells can be pretty powerful and will be trying a playthrough with her, Lae'zel, and Astarion next.
If Larian implements more Cleric spells, I think it would be huge for Shadowheart. From my understanding, a lot of clerics use the combination of spiritual weapon+spirit guardians (which i know she wouldn't get until lvl 5), to really do consistent damage with clerics without going through so many spells slots. If she could make an attack action, use her bonus action for spiritual weapon damage, then deal passive damage with spirit guardians, every turn, all while having high AC and pinch healing/support, her stock would go up a lot.
People who say Shadowheart is the worst companion clearly don't know how to play.
If you think her damage is bad, you are probably not slotting Inflict Wounds, and you are likely wasting slots on the worthless Guiding Bolt or trying to land attacks with the also worthless Sacred Flame. But Sacred Flame and Guiding Bolt's abysmal baseline hit chance are not why you bring Shadowheart.
You bring Shadoheart for Bless, Inflict Wounds, Guidance, and Healing Word giving you the ability to rez from range and when having the gloves that grant blade ward on healing, on top of having cure wounds.
Not only that, she can reach 19 AC and be your tankiest teammate; Lazael's AC only matches Shadowheart's if she takes Shield of Fate from Tyr's Sword of justice.
Once you get Staff of Arcane Concentration from the Underdark Tower and use it on one of your mages, Shadowheart can instead of casting Bless apply Shield of Fate or use her Divine ability decoy to give your group even more hit chance and dodge chance.
I don't know how anyone can play this game without Bless. It's day and night in terms of landing attacks and saving against them.
Running druid with exposing bite makes Shadowheart's Rank 2 Inflict Wounds hit for as high as 60+ damage in one hit, that's over half the HP of every single boss in Act 1 or straight out one shots one of the Githyanki patrol members.
It also means you have 2 healers in your party with ranged rezzing capacity for the cheesier fights like Bulette or Minotaurs where you can get unlucky in the first turn with initiative and one of your teammates gets one shot by the first turn.
By comparison the mages by far are the worst companions. To use Mage Armor, or Wyll's Armor of Shadow perk, they have to forego any medium armor or shield they might gain at lv4, being stuck at a pitiful 17 AC with mage armor at lv4. Landing spells even from elevation is pitiful, unlike landing an Inflict Wounds from backstab. For some reason mage CC spells in this game have abysmal hit chance unlike Lazael's Frightening Strike. You're basically a Charm bot with imp utility as Wyll with still abysmal hit chances in the Underdark thanks to neither Wyll or Gale having darkvision, but Shadowheart can cast the spell Light to illuminate enemies to make them easier to hit (or your druid with Moonbeam).
I don't know why anyone would ever use Astarion. With Shadowheart's Blessing of the Trickster you can pass any stealth check in the game, and Guidance helps a ton in dialogue checks.
By comparison the mages by far are the worst companions. To use Mage Armor, or Wyll's Armor of Shadow perk, they have to forego any medium armor or shield they might gain at lv4, being stuck at a pitiful 17 AC with mage armor at lv4. Landing spells even from elevation is pitiful, unlike landing an Inflict Wounds from backstab. For some reason mage CC spells in this game have abysmal hit chance unlike Lazael's Frightening Strike. You're basically a Charm bot with imp utility as Wyll with still abysmal hit chances in the Underdark thanks to neither Wyll or Gale having darkvision, but Shadowheart can cast the spell Light to illuminate enemies to make them easier to hit (or your druid with Moonbeam).
I don't know why anyone would ever use Astarion. With Shadowheart's Blessing of the Trickster you can pass any stealth check in the game, and Guidance helps a ton in dialogue checks.
I disagree with that. There is more to spellcasting than just single targets spells. A lot of battles don't require high ground or melee jumping, or any other tricks if you combine aoes. There are spells that turn the ground into difficult terrain & cause damage, and spells that obscure vision. Web alone made for probably the easiest fight I had with redcaps, because they didn't even manage to get close to the party. Another battle was the goblin camp, which the party attacked from the bridge side, so no high ground. But the gates make a great chokepoint if you cover the ground with aoes.
As for Wyll's utility, I made the mistake of not giving him repelling blast on that run. But I've just started a second druid playthrough, to see how well it works as a control option. Haven't decided yet whether it's Gale or Astarion (as arcane trickster) for thunderwave.
By comparison the mages by far are the worst companions. To use Mage Armor, or Wyll's Armor of Shadow perk, they have to forego any medium armor or shield they might gain at lv4, being stuck at a pitiful 17 AC with mage armor at lv4. Landing spells even from elevation is pitiful, unlike landing an Inflict Wounds from backstab. For some reason mage CC spells in this game have abysmal hit chance unlike Lazael's Frightening Strike. You're basically a Charm bot with imp utility as Wyll with still abysmal hit chances in the Underdark thanks to neither Wyll or Gale having darkvision, but Shadowheart can cast the spell Light to illuminate enemies to make them easier to hit (or your druid with Moonbeam).
I don't know why anyone would ever use Astarion. With Shadowheart's Blessing of the Trickster you can pass any stealth check in the game, and Guidance helps a ton in dialogue checks.
I disagree with that. There is more to spellcasting than just single targets spells. A lot of battles don't require high ground or melee jumping, or any other tricks if you combine aoes. There are spells that turn the ground into difficult terrain & cause damage, and spells that obscure vision. Web alone made for probably the easiest fight I had with redcaps, because they didn't even manage to get close to the party. Another battle was the goblin camp, which the party attacked from the bridge side, so no high ground. But the gates make a great chokepoint if you cover the ground with aoes.
As for Wyll's utility, I made the mistake of not giving him repelling blast on that run. But I've just started a second druid playthrough, to see how well it works as a control option. Haven't decided yet whether it's Gale or Astarion (as arcane trickster) for thunderwave.
Your aoe spells are grease and shatter mind. Try landing Shatter Mind on Githyanki patrol or Bulette in the underdark on a mage without darkvision. The single useful one is Thunderwave, which comes as no surprise because the main value is the knockback damage to cheese many fights with. Not a mage spell, considering my druid can also have it and still have 19 AC.
Don't need aoe in goblin camp because I poison their cauldron and that's half of their forces dead. You kill Crusher silently by the alcove and don't even involve the rest of the Goblin camp; the sleeping mobs up top you one shot since sleeping status grants 100% crit; one crit from Lazael with dip fire= dead. Or you can just pickpocket to get the 3m ring off Crusher. Goblin camp was by far the easiest content anyways. Web works with Redcaps if the saving throws go your way; I'd rather not leave that to chance. I'll moonbeam the gateway to Ethel's house and mow them down with Lazael with 19 AC; the sage doesn't even walk to Ethel's house so you just deal with the 3 melee ones.
Either way, I take Gale over Wyll anyways by lv3+ because Wizard scrolls are more useful than the crappy warlock class, and by lv4 with the right scrolls you can not only have a 3rd healer, but Gale with Abjuration school is fairly more survivable than Wyll and you slap poisoner's robe+crone's staff+ring of poison resistance and he suddenly does pretty good poison damage on a cantrip once he runs out of scorching ray or force missiles. Once you get Gale to lv4 you take Warlock initiate and it gives you Hex, and combined with Scorch Ray it's the highest caster damage combo in the game, higher than missiles. Still nowhere close to what dual wield melee with flame dip and oil of sharpness and poison coating cheese does, but it is what it is and consumables vastly favor melee.
Slap the force missile neck on Shadowheart and you got a great rounded out party with mixed melee and ranged capacity and the durability to sustain through the harder encounters. Fact is Shadowheart could only cast Bless and cure and I would still take her without Inflict Wounds until I get Staff of Arcane Mastery because this game is such a hideous coinflip is you don't use Bless to mitigate the RNG casino play aspect or don't abuse backstab (which there's no reason you should not, Lazel with +1 athletic's boots can jump half a map away, why would you not abuse jump for backstab frightening attack and make a fight vastly easier).
Your aoe spells are grease and shatter mind. Try landing Shatter Mind on Githyanki patrol or Bulette in the underdark on a mage without darkvision. The single useful one is Thunderwave, which comes as no surprise because the main value is the knockback damage to cheese many fights with. Not a mage spell, considering my druid can also have it and still have 19 AC.
Don't need aoe in goblin camp because I poison their cauldron and that's half of their forces dead. You kill Crusher silently by the alcove and don't even involve the rest of the Goblin camp; the sleeping mobs up top you one shot since sleeping status grants 100% crit; one crit from Lazael with dip fire= dead. Or you can just pickpocket to get the 3m ring off Crusher. Goblin camp was by far the easiest content anyways. Web works with Redcaps if the saving throws go your way; I'd rather not leave that to chance. I'll moonbeam the gateway to Ethel's house and mow them down with Lazael with 19 AC; the sage doesn't even walk to Ethel's house so you just deal with the 3 melee ones.
My aoe spell list is longer than that, because I am talking about the context of the party and how the classes can work together. I have used grease, entagle, web, spike growth and fog. I actually forgot about darkness, so oops. Shatter I have never used, so I cannot comment on that. But what I tend to do is overlaying and combing spells, and this is not as reliant on luck as you assume. Web worked against redcaps, because it was combined with grease & void bulbs. They make some saving throws, but you can pull them back, and this is enough even if your ranged attacks have the dreaded 60ish hit chance. Githyanki patrol was beaten with web & grease & ranged spells too. Bulette was a bit of a special case, so I don't count that one as a 'working strategy' for now. It came up during the hook horror battle, killed two of the party, but angered the hook horrors, who then helped my party.
And I know about the poison in the goblin camp, just as I know about backstabs, dipping, etc. But I wanted to try a good old fashioned frontal attack, only with spells. And that works just fine, contrary to the claim that spells used for cc are useless.
Edit: This is also why I'd like to try Wyll again, but with a different spell list. He can get witchbolt, which electrifies water. Create water can be cast by either a druid or a cleric. Goal is to test an electrified spike growth patch.
I can understand a degree of frustration with hearing or seeing an idea or statement that you dissagree with but, your opening statement is factually incorrect. If everyone who said Shadowheart is the worst did not know how to play then very few people would make it to the "end" and fewer still would be able to make suggestions or offer opinions. I would go so far as to argue that the feedback section would be of absolute null value if that were in fact the case. Now while it is very true that I do not use Inflict wounds, I can easily defend that decision as at a glance and without prior understanding it poorly synergizes with her lacking mobility, poor attack rating (upon which the attack/save ratings are based) and limited spell slots particularly at the very beginning. In short it is not of immediately sound tactical value and therefore reasonable to disregard and easy to forget.
Now with regards to your other points regarding items, In the disclaimer I did mention that I would not be taking into account rare magical items such as the warped tiara of intellect and this extends to other items that are similarly easy to miss as building characters around said items typically requires prior knowledge of said things in advance. Further on it should be noted that if a character requires specific items to be particularly good then it's the items that are good, not the character. Lae'zel can use prety much whatever you have on hand and will be able to handle pretty much whatever situation you encounter much the same with Astarion and Wyll. Gale and Shadowheart both call for specialized setups.
I did also mention her having useful buffs and support skills and I stand by the notion that they are useful however, they are also hampered by concentration having a random arrow takedown that guidance you just applied make s a poor case for any of those abilities and her healing is completely negligible between resting and the slew of incredibly common healing items and foods there is very little need for a dedicated healer.
Now the reason I still rate gale higher than Shadowheart is quite simple, he has a slew of good, useful abilities that are not dependent on other characters setting him up. Grease creates difficult terrain and acts as a wide area firebomb near sources of ignition, Ice freezes blood and makes walking potentially complicated, he can put troublesome foes to freaking sleep and the list just goes on. As well as being able to learn every spell from whatever common random scrolls you happen to encounter. Beyond that, In case I have not driven this point home far enough misty step makes him VERY MOBILE which for positioning reasons is extremely valuable. If not for his poorly optimized stats and the fact that dying makes him a legitimate problem I'd rate him higher than Wyll for the sheer diversety of strategies that Gale can potentially bring to the squad vs Eldritch spam...
By all reasonable appearances Shadowheart is a unnecessary sub-par support character, OUTSIDE OF COMBAT I will note that she has other uses and values that are well worthy of consideration but that has little and less to do with what I am talking about here so the point about avoiding fights with her stealth skill is correct but irrelevant. Now she can be used to setup ambushes and whatnot but usually the parties basic stealth skills are more than sufficient to deal devastating opening maneuvers as noted by the chappel entrance where you can disable and kill over half of the enemy combatants before they can so much as take a move or in the case of dror razglin where you can easily remove a fair few targets from the fight before it even happens thus easing said fight. And this does not even call for Astarion.
Now as for my case for Astarion, I will say that his combat stealth skills, backstab damage, extra bonus actions, incredible mobility and minimal worry of any sort of repercussions make him a combat asset and general problem solver. And the value of all these things is immediately apparent.
Now as a final note: I'm not telling you or anyone else not to like the character and the fact that you have found a means of making them not only good but effective is pretty great and commendable even however, that does not change my opinion that compared to the others she could be better.
I can understand a degree of frustration with hearing or seeing an idea or statement that you dissagree with but, your opening statement is factually incorrect. If everyone who said Shadowheart is the worst did not know how to play then very few people would make it to the "end" and fewer still would be able to make suggestions or offer opinions. I would go so far as to argue that the feedback section would be of absolute null value if that were in fact the case. Now while it is very true that I do not use Inflict wounds, I can easily defend that decision as at a glance and without prior understanding it poorly synergizes with her lacking mobility, poor attack rating (upon which the attack/save ratings are based) and limited spell slots particularly at the very beginning. In short it is not of immediately sound tactical value and therefore reasonable to disregard and easy to forget.
Now with regards to your other points regarding items, In the disclaimer I did mention that I would not be taking into account rare magical items such as the warped tiara of intellect and this extends to other items that are similarly easy to miss as building characters around said items typically requires prior knowledge of said things in advance. Further on it should be noted that if a character requires specific items to be particularly good then it's the items that are good, not the character. Lae'zel can use prety much whatever you have on hand and will be able to handle pretty much whatever situation you encounter much the same with Astarion and Wyll. Gale and Shadowheart both call for specialized setups.
I did also mention her having useful buffs and support skills and I stand by the notion that they are useful however, they are also hampered by concentration having a random arrow takedown that guidance you just applied make s a poor case for any of those abilities and her healing is completely negligible between resting and the slew of incredibly common healing items and foods there is very little need for a dedicated healer.
Now the reason I still rate gale higher than Shadowheart is quite simple, he has a slew of good, useful abilities that are not dependent on other characters setting him up. Grease creates difficult terrain and acts as a wide area firebomb near sources of ignition, Ice freezes blood and makes walking potentially complicated, he can put troublesome foes to freaking sleep and the list just goes on. As well as being able to learn every spell from whatever common random scrolls you happen to encounter. Beyond that, In case I have not driven this point home far enough misty step makes him VERY MOBILE which for positioning reasons is extremely valuable. If not for his poorly optimized stats and the fact that dying makes him a legitimate problem I'd rate him higher than Wyll for the sheer diversety of strategies that Gale can potentially bring to the squad vs Eldritch spam...
By all reasonable appearances Shadowheart is a unnecessary sub-par support character, OUTSIDE OF COMBAT I will note that she has other uses and values that are well worthy of consideration but that has little and less to do with what I am talking about here so the point about avoiding fights with her stealth skill is correct but irrelevant. Now she can be used to setup ambushes and whatnot but usually the parties basic stealth skills are more than sufficient to deal devastating opening maneuvers as noted by the chappel entrance where you can disable and kill over half of the enemy combatants before they can so much as take a move or in the case of dror razglin where you can easily remove a fair few targets from the fight before it even happens thus easing said fight. And this does not even call for Astarion.
Now as for my case for Astarion, I will say that his combat stealth skills, backstab damage, extra bonus actions, incredible mobility and minimal worry of any sort of repercussions make him a combat asset and general problem solver. And the value of all these things is immediately apparent.
Now as a final note: I'm not telling you or anyone else not to like the character and the fact that you have found a means of making them not only good but effective is pretty great and commendable even however, that does not change my opinion that compared to the others she could be better.
As a side note, having Shadowheart in your party, is a generally unpleasant experience outside of combat to boot. She's as abrasive as Lae'zel, with no redeeming combat prowess. She's the only companion that I've thought about pushing off of a cliff and leaving dead, just so I wouldn't see "Shadowheart disapproves" one more time.
Regarding their personality I like Shadowheart most. Astarion is a psycho, Leazel is "I am better than everybody else." even though she does not have a clue, Gale is "I know everything better." and Wyll really wants to be a hero.
I respect Shadowheart for being pragmatic. We need to solve the problem in our head, we are not here to help everyone or to kill everyone. Try to get maximum profit with minimum risk. I think this is the most realistic point of view in our situation.
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I respect Shadowheart for being pragmatic. We need to solve the problem in our head, we are not here to help everyone or to kill everyone. Try to get maximum profit with minimum risk. I think this is the most realistic point of view in our situation.
Shadowheart comes off as a religious zealot to me. She acts quite irrational when it comes to a) Selune, or b) githyanki. Ironically, this can lead to her death unless the main character passes those persuasion rolls.
Regarding their personality I like Shadowheart most. Astarion is a psycho, Leazel is "I am better than everybody else." even though she does not have a clue, Gale is "I know everything better." and Wyll really wants to be a hero.
I respect Shadowheart for being pragmatic. We need to solve the problem in our head, we are not here to help everyone or to kill everyone. Try to get maximum profit with minimum risk. I think this is the most realistic point of view in our situation.
Her "pragmatism" is very short-sighted in that she doesn't seem to comprehend that in order to get access to those who might help us, we'll have to help them too. At least with Lea'zel, she's convinced that the only place we can get help is the creche, and I don't think Astarion really cares about getting rid of the tadpole as long as it doesn't turn him into a mindflayer, but then again he's a sociopath at the least.
As a cleric of Shar it is normal that she does not like Selune and nobody likes githyanki. No idea how this can kill her.
Well, unless Shadowheart joins your party,
she'll eventually be driven crazy by her box and try to attack your party.
But if your main character is githyanki, she flat out refuses to join and you'll have to persuade her. By comparison, Lae'zel might dislike anyone who isn't a githyanki, but she will join forces even a tiefling, because she acknowledges that alone the chances of survival are less. That is pragmatism.
Shadowheart's personality is fine, the realistic and "pragmatic" point of view in a fantasy situation complete with tentacle faced brain gobbling psychics is mildly refreshing even. That being said her nigh on constant disapproval of the overwhelming majority of my actions and choices is bloody irksome. For instance there I am taking on a quest to help a bunch of refugees, feels good like doing the right thin- Shadowheart disapproves... Oh hey there's that fighter who helped me out on that ship Sure i'll help get her out of that cage-Shadowheart disapproves ... Even Lae'zel who is vicious, ruthless, malicious and borderline sadistic at times is easier to get along with... Astarion the murderous psychopath vampire just as easy to get along with strangely while even staying in the good graces of Gale and Wyll.
These things do not really factor into combat though I will say they do factor slightly into how I feel about bringing any of them along as at the very least Lae'zel and Astarion can back up those negative tendencies with the ability to really make good on them. Where as Shadowheart just kinda sits there judging me for not being an opportunistic self serving jerk, only to prove themselves of overall "okay" combat value later on. which doesn't exactly buy a lot of care or respect from me.
Romance is the primary thing for approval but if your approval gets low enough, I *think* they will bail on you. Never put it to the test myself. Dunno if Larian will come up with any other mechanics for it. Probably/may also influence their willingness to unfold their personal stories as well.
All of this is meaningless against the almighty damage:
And about Shadowheart, i can't kick her off a cliff like LaeZel because she's the only NPC that tries "simulating" the Neutral Alignment in the game. She doesn't trust anyone as she was tortured and raised to be like that. But Laezel is trying too hard every single time lol.
Shadowheart's personality is fine, the realistic and "pragmatic" point of view in a fantasy situation complete with tentacle faced brain gobbling psychics is mildly refreshing even. That being said her nigh on constant disapproval of the overwhelming majority of my actions and choices is bloody irksome. For instance there I am taking on a quest to help a bunch of refugees, feels good like doing the right thin- Shadowheart disapproves... Oh hey there's that fighter who helped me out on that ship Sure i'll help get her out of that cage-Shadowheart disapproves ... Even Lae'zel who is vicious, ruthless, malicious and borderline sadistic at times is easier to get along with... Astarion the murderous psychopath vampire just as easy to get along with strangely while even staying in the good graces of Gale and Wyll.
These things do not really factor into combat though I will say they do factor slightly into how I feel about bringing any of them along as at the very least Lae'zel and Astarion can back up those negative tendencies with the ability to really make good on them. Where as Shadowheart just kinda sits there judging me for not being an opportunistic self serving jerk, only to prove themselves of overall "okay" combat value later on. which doesn't exactly buy a lot of care or respect from me.
Her personality is a bit erratic since there are times where she joins the Lazael and Astarion club of selfish assholes where they disapprove when you help someone, but at other times she approves.
Lazael and Astarion are pretty consistent in always disapproving when you help people.
The only time I saw Lazael stop for call of help was during the burning building where you get the diplomat and the other guy out of the building to send you to search for the duke. Lazael will remark people need help and the building is on fire.
All in all, the two spiteful thots and the petty ponce really do compete with each other to be sociopaths, but the petty ponce hands down beats the thots in consisdent disregard and disdain for others despite his sob story about being a victim.
Can't wait for Daddy Halsin to join the party and for fighters to not be essential for the party to function and spell casters being less trash, so I can run the Wholesome Bros troupe without the annoying selfish twats and not handicap myself by doing so.
Because right now if you're not using Lazael, you're seriously gimping your party because of how broken fighters are for both damage and threat control. At least Shadowheart you can replace when you get Staff of Arcane Mastery to give yourself the essential Bless to not miss half your spells.
Originally Posted by fizzwick
Romance is the primary thing for approval but if your approval gets low enough, I *think* they will bail on you. Never put it to the test myself. Dunno if Larian will come up with any other mechanics for it. Probably/may also influence their willingness to unfold their personal stories as well.
I don't know if that's the case, because I certainly forced Lazael to back off in any aggressive dialogue and didn't give a damn about her disapproval, and she was still around and apparently happy with me during the Tiefling party. And since I only play good aligned PC's, naturally Astarion disapproved every single decision I took. I've been seriously tempted to sell him out to the hunter in the swamp on this playthrough, but I can't bring myself to do it just like I can't push Lazael off the Nautiloid after looting her armor (plus that would heavily gimp my party, because again fighters are super OP alongside rogues).
Prof. Dr. Dr. Mad S. Tist 
