Larian loves doing this though, seeding really hard optional fights you dont have to do is their bread and butter.
My issue here is that this isn't just an optional fight. It's a major part of a companion quest. If you skip it, you aren't just missing a fight and maybe some loot, you're missing the opportunity to interact with one of your companions, and in a game like this, that's a huge chunk of the reason a lot of people play. Sure you don't technically have to do it in the strictest sense, but if you don't, you're genuinely missing out on a meaningful part of the game and story.
Shadow lies too shure but she's atleast putting you on the track of a finding a healer. A viable path.
The only way trusting Lae'zel seems like a good idea is if the party has no idea how githyanki society works. But heck even then she'll strait up tell you a creche is basically high-school if you ask her
1) All Shadowheart really says is to find a healer. She doesn't actually point us in any direction we didn't already find outselves. Basically all she's doing is telling someone with a broken leg to find a hospital, without knowing where any hospital is. She's doing nothing but stating the obvious, while Lae'Zel is at least presenting us with a clearly defined solution.
2) I had no idea about how githyanki society works. I had no idea about the nature of their queen, beyond her seeming to just be some goddess or otherworldly entity. She may bethe equivalent of a high schooler, but she's from a school that specifically trains her to fight things that everyone else we're likely to meet either doesn't know exist or only has fairly vague knowledge of at best. Also, I always read her as being just a common foot soldier rather than a high schooler. She's had her basic training and everything, but doesn't have a meaningful rank yet.
