Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Feedback on Companions

I gave some feedback on companions after my first playthrough shortly after release, and I wanted to add some more here. At the end of my eighth full playthrough (I've also had numerous partial playththroughs) I was greeted by Sven's smiling face telling me that Larian reads all of our feedback, and so I've decided to give more. This feedback is about one of the most important parts of the game, namely, the companions.

In general I would say that there has been significant improvement in the companions as characters over this time. Initially I had a lot of the same feedback that most had which was that they were pretty unlikable and that having different combinations of them in your party was a chore. Now I can honestly say that I like all of them in their own way, and I think that they are all intelligible in their actions and worldviews. There is still conflict, weird quirks, and things we might not careful in their personalities, but that is true of people in the real world, and these characters feel realistic and relatable even in their flaws. I'll give some more specific comments on each in terms of both their personality and their mechanics as a party member.

1) Shadowheart

For me Shadowheart is pretty much a perfect character in terms of both her personality and her utility as a party member. I've always been a fan since first release, but personality wise she is much more relatable and nuanced now than she was then. She is clearly not a goody two shoes as a priestess of Shar who has clearly had a hard life, and yet nonetheless she leans good in her orientation. She is against siding with the goblins, dislikes unnecessary violence, and favors diplomacy. She has a compelling backstory with a lot of unanswered questions that will be interesting to unravel. She also appears to generally warm to the PC and seems to be one of the few if not the only party member that generally cares about the PC, which is satisfying. Larian has mentioned that there is a stark difference if you rescued her from the pod in the intro. My guess is that if you don't save her she is closer to the more cynical character we saw initially, and that releasing her seems to impact the game in that it generally impacts her outlook on the world. The idea that one kind act could begin to unravel a cynical worldview in which everyone is out for themself is pretty cool, and makes the PC's decisions impactful. I think she is just an all-around masterpiece of a character.

It is helpful then that she is also one of the most useful and well-built party members. Characters who are cool but don't function well in combat and the stuff of adventuring are a chore, and Larian does players a service when it builds characters to be good at what they do rather than satisfying some vague idea of roleplaying. Shadowheart has a perfect stat spread for a cleric that also has rogueish skills. She has enough strength to wear medium armor, carry a shield, and make weapon attacks with str based weapons on the occasion that she needs to. She has high wisdom, which makes her a great offensive caster and cleric generally. Her constitution is what it should be, and she has good dexterity which helps with saves, rogue skills, and filling out medium armor. She is the best support caster in the group, is the only healer, can do some decent offense and crowd control, is a great tank, isna good ranged attacker, and is a passable attacker in melee. On top of this she can easily serve as the party's rogue, taking care of locks and traps while cloaking the party for stealth missions. She's the only party member I've never left camp without.

2) Lae'Zel

While she is probably less likable than any of the PCs and definitely earns her Bae'Zel nickname, Lae'Zel is a really well-formed character with lots of complexities that lie beneath the surface. On the surface she is a harsh, commanding Githyanki warrior who expects obedience, believes in the superiority of her own kind, is impatient, and seems confident of her abilities. When you travel with her a lot you learn that there is a lot beneath the surface. To begin with, she has lots of insecurities. She has a clear dream of being a dragon rider, and yet she has a lot of doubt that she'll make it and be respected among her kind. There are several points where you can see the cracks in the facade and the vulnerabilities that lie beneath, and they are well executed. She also is intellectually engaged, and values libraries, knowledge, and curiosity, which aren't necessarily cardinal virtues for Githyanki. The fact that she even travels and converses with the PC and their companions makes her a major outlier. For those not familiar with the Githyanki, they are known to go it alone to a fault, and the fact that she is willing to ally closely with outsiders speaks to her divergence and perhaps to her desperation. One gets the hint that she is afraid her infection will make her a pariah among her people and prevent her dream of becoming a dragon rider. She is just a well done companion that is rewarding to travel with.

She is also well-built as a fighter. She has high strength, good constitution, and can get to enough dexterity to fill out medium armor and make her decent with ranged combat at level four. She also has some points in wisdom which keeps her will saves passable, and enough in intelligence to get to +1 if a PC chooses it over dexterity. One could quibble with this and argued that she should have dumped wisdom, but I think this is ok. Even this low intelligence is fine if she is an EK, not just because of the warped headband, but because EKs do best with buffing anyway and one doesn't need high intelligence anyway. She doesn't need charisma for anything and it would kind of be inappropriate to her character. Whether she is a Battle Master or an EK she always feels good in your party.

3) Gale

Gale has definitely grown on me. While I always liked him well enough he started to annoy me for awhile to the point where I deliberately avoided taking him on some playthroughs just because I found him tiresome. Those feelings are gone now though, and it is hard to imagine my party without him. He has more banter than just about any other character, and it all gives him a strong flavor. He is also complicated in a good way. He clearly wants to be a good character in the way that chosen of Mystra are good, and strives to live up to that deal. On the other hand, he is not only honest about his mistakes, but seems to take ownership of them and wants to be better. His path ins uncertain, however, and his backstory seems like there is something missing. I personally suspect it was not Mystra that he was involved with beforehand (though I think he believed it was), and I think there is a lot of interesting storyline for us to uncover with him. It will likely give the PC a chance to either help him achieve redemption or to complete his corruption. Gale doesn't seem to achieve the same sort of affection for the PC that Shadowheart does, but he clearly admires the PC and is looking for a leader despite his wizardly bluster. On top of it all, he provides some comic relief, which is often needed.

Mechanically he is good in the sense that Wizards are good and he has enough intelligence to be a great wizard. Beyond that, however, there are some super annoying and stupid choices Larian made with his stat spread that keep him from being great. His dexterity is fine, but they give him odd scores in constitution, wisdom, and charisma which are simply useless. Gale has no need of charisma, and the fact that build points were spent giving her 13 charisma and 11 wisdom while having 15 constitution is just aggravating him. At the very least if they want another character with a bonus to charisma they could leave them at 12 and 10 and make his constitution 16 so that he'd be more survivable. These building mistakes aren't egregious but they are still annoying and they do impact play. If Sven is listening, I would say to fix Gale, but not at the expense of Wyll who has the dumbest stat spread of the whole group.

4) Wyll

Speaking of Wyll, initially I thought of him as a fairly boring goody two shoes who I was fine with but bored by. Between Larian's revisions and my further experience with him I now think he is a pretty well-formed character. He wants to be a hero, to help people, and to make his father proud. Publicly, he carries this honorific title and has confidence. He also, kind of grossly, fashions himself quite the ladies' man. Privately he is filled with doubt, angst, and regret, and we see that develop in a natural way. He hasn't given up on the ideal of being the Blade, but privately he doubts whether he will be free, and there is a fatalism he deals with due to his pact. He also has an anger streak that is quite unbefitting of his heroic bluster. He does have moral lines in the sand, however, and if you side with the goblins he will part ways with you and perhaps find his courage to be a hero and antagonist to you later in the story. There is also a very interesting plot hook to be developed with Mizora, who also has a tadpole and will doubtless be met soon. He's in a good place.

Unfortunately, he has the worst stat spread of all of the party members. Thankfully he has enough charisma to be a decent warlock, and warlock is a decent class. His pet imp is helpful and his eldritch blasts and occasional spells can do damage. Beyond that it feels like someone was confused when they designed him. He once again has a 15 constitution, but only a 13 dexterity, which is just terrible for a character who is supposedly good with a rapier and could use the extra AC. Where did these points go? They went to giving him a 14 intelligence. Not only is intelligence a useless stat for most non-wizard classes, it doesn't even make much sense for Wyll who definitely doesn't seem to be too smart. His 11 wisdom also makes no sense. It would be easy to drop the intelligence to twelve if they insist on him having any and the wisdom to ten and they could round out both stats. This would help his AC and his hit points, and make it so that he can passably melee when it seems appropriate. I always expect Wyll to have more dexterity and better AC, and it is an annoying reminder every time I see that he has only a thirteen so he can pump a useless stat. These are just silly building errors that Larian should fix before release.

5) Astarion

Initially I completely disliked Astarion on release, and thought that his character and motivations made absolutely no sense at all. After more revision and playing I definitely understand his character better, and think that he is a well-designed character whether or not I ultimately take him along. Astarion's difference perspective on his tadpole and unique and singular dedication to mastering its power rather than removing it makes tons of sense once you get to know his character. Having been a vampire slave before who could not even see the sun much less have agency, the tadpole has transformed Astarion's life. He is now a free agent and able to overcome many of the limitations of being a vampire. Even if his fate were to bring a new master it naturally seems preferable to him than his prior one. It also makes sense of seemingly contradictory decisions, such as his approval of the PC siding with the good Karlach over the bad Anders and crew. While Karlach's morality is probably different, he can resonate with her desire to be free of a master. One could similarly see him sympathizing with Wyll's desire to be free of Mizora. He has other eccentricities as well, but we all know pretentious people and it makes for a good quirk.

He is also weel-built, with high dexterity and decent intelligence and wisdom, which buff some of his skill checks including the all-powerful perception skill, which Astarion alone among the companions possesses. He does have some odd scores, but it is easy enough at level four to even dex to 18 and either wisdom or intelligence, though probably the former, to the next level. Rogues are really powerful in 5e, and I've seen Astarion outkill the party in encounters. Sneak attack is real good DPS, and Astarion can do it with dual wield or at range. He's very strong, and his many skills make adventuring a breeze.

6) Karlach

Karlach is, of course, not in the game yet, but I look forward to when she is! The party needs another unambiguously good character, a character who is a bit more fun, and a second martial character, and she'll likely fit the bill. Everyone seems to think that she'll be a barbarian because a magic card says that. I've played MTG for a long time and I hardly consider that confirmation because classes on mtg cards don't correlate to DnD at all. Figher, ranger, and paladin are not classes in mtg, and barbarian is the class in mtg associated with multiple attack steps, which is why she is a barb there. She may indeed be a barbarian, but I wouldn't consider the magic card confirmation. I'd personally like to see her be a ranger, paladin, or even a champion fighter. Ranger would be great because she would get a lot of skills, and there are some skill gaps among the companions that need to be addressed (such as Astarion being the only NPC with perception). I'll probably be taking her regardless, and hope that Larian will release some details before release.

Those are my thoughts for Sven and for the community. What do you think?

Lae'zel is my favorite. Her story feels the most authentic of what I've experienced and it feels like she is adhering to her Githyanki creed.

Wyll seems lame. Gale is okay, but a human Wizard is eh...it would have been better if he were a Deep Gnome. Astarion is okay, but a little too over the top. Feels like bad acting sometime.

Shadowheart seems like she has a lot of content, but Trickery Cleric isn't the best and it suffers more from some things not being able to translate to a video game.

Companions are one of my favorite parts of the game! I love how much content they have given companions: quests, camp scenes, banter, and other dialogue! It is great!

For BG3 I Iike doing good path playthroughs, so likely my favorite companions are either not in the game yet or are in the game but not companions yet since they said we only have the evil and neutral companions so far.

Of course if Halsin is a companion, he would be my favorite companion by far!!!🐻🐻🐻

Of the companions currently in EA Gale is my favorite. I especially love his barks! Sorcerer Tav also has some fun sorcerer-wizard rivalry dialogue with Gale. I also love casters in general. His romance is a bit too Claude Chabrol for me, though.

I wish we had Halsin. But, overall, after Karlach and Stone Statue Guy added, I at least have confidence that the spread of companions won't be a weak point

I'm also annoyed at Wyll's stats. You're more or less forced to even dex and give him medium armour to be the blade of frontiers. You can play him differently, but it feels OOC.

Shadowheart seems whiney at times and because of this and the fact that a cleric isn't even needed in EA I never use her once I have someone else to replace her with.

Lae'Zel is just flat out a b*tch. "It's what Githyanki are dude"? Lol. I don't care if it's "her nature". She's a great warrior and because of this I almost always use her, but she's a serious b*tch.

Gale is cool personality wise but I really don't see a great need for a wizard either with the fact that ANYONE can use any scroll. And he absorbs artifacts? Yeah I wanna give up loot. Not! Yes I know, he bothers you in camp about it even if you don't use him so what's the difference right? IDK. I just don't find a real desire for a wizard since patch 9 beat the crap out of them. Lol. Usually if I want to do a play through involving a wizard I will make the main character one.

Wyll is my favorite. I like warlocks and his attitude is mostly cool with me.

Astarion is also cool with me. No it doesn't have anything to do with him being a vampire spawn either. Honestly it seems like about half my play throughs he never even gets revealed and gains his bite attack so it doesn't matter. His overall attitude is mostly cool with me but yes I agree it does seem a bit "over the top acting" sometimes.

I very eagerly await full release when I can finally add Minsc (and hopefully Boo) to the group.

Not really looking forward to Jaheira. Always thought she was annoying in BG 1 & 2

Karlach might be cool. I'll definitely give her a shot if she gets added.

Halsin will get a shot if he gets added.

NPCs are definitely a main like/dislike of a game IMO as well.

Lots of interesting thoughts here! I agree with many of the points made.

Generally, I think Larian have done a good job with all the companions both character-wise and with respect to their stories (okay, they're perhaps overblown but I'd rather than boring) and I am already invested in finding out more about them. They all have character models that I think are pretty cool, and most of them are extremely well-acted. I'm still not 100% convinced about actually playing them as origin characters, but am warming to the idea of getting a different perspective on their stories.

With regard to their stats, I didn't realise until someone mentioned it here that they all use a standard array and I do like that. I think it gives us a set of flexible but not overpowered characters, while still giving plenty of room to enjoy creating a better (or at least more focused) version of their class as a custom character or even them when we can configure ourselves them as origin characters. I do agree that the distribution of the points for some of the characters should be improved though, with Wyll being the worst example (I'd agree with the suggestion at https://forums.larian.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=836623). And I agree Lae'zel's INT and WIS should be swapped (giving her 13 INT with the +1 class bonus and 10 WIS) to give her more spell flexibility if spec-ed as an EK, and it fits her character too. I'm happy with Gale's stats, on the basis of accepting the constraint of using a standard array.

EDIT: I also think Astarion maybe should have his INT and WIS swapped, so with his high elf race he’d have INT 14 and WIS 12 rather than 13 each, which I’d say fits his character and race better, as well as suiting him better for a career as an Arcane Trickster. However, the 13 WIS might be helpful for players who want to use him as a Thief and would prefer to boost his perception, so I remain less fussed about this.

On their characters:

• I kind of miss Shadowheart's earlier snark, but I guess it does make sense that as a member of a religious order that prizes manipulation and deceit that she has learned to hide her contempt better . Her story promises some twists and turns and I like that it gives some additional resonance to what happened to Moonhaven and Grymforge (which I'm assuming we'll find out more about in future). And the start of her romance is convincing and either sweet or shows her as an expert manipulator reeling in my character, depending on how you choose to read it!
• Astarion is wonderfully dramatic, selfish and sulky, and as has already been mentioned the fact he has reason to take a very different attitude to the tadpole than other companions is important and interesting. He is an "evil" character that is complex enough to be interesting and possibly "redeemable". His romance (though not sure you could really call it that yet) also seems to flow reasonably naturally, and I can see the potential for the relationship to develop in an interesting way.
• Gale is another often hilarious character (to his own detriment: he might not die so often if I didn't love his resurrection scene so much), who it seems has been changed by a massive mistake in his past which gives him depth. I do cringe when he rambles on and on, eg about something boring that happened in the Yawning Portal once, or about that Amnian sex manual in his chat-up speech, but I guess that's a valid choice about who he is as a character.
• I seem to have Lae'zel in my party least, and while that's because of her class not her character it means I don't really feel I know her yet. Or maybe that's intentional, and we'll only really start getting to the bottom of who she is once we can get to the Githyanki creche. I do laugh out loud at the speech she gives you at the party if she doesn't like you enough to want to sleep with you, though (in a good way) - ouch!
• Wyll is the party member who isn't really working for me yet, though I think his story has potential. I don't know if it's because they're trying to do too much with his character: he's a hero, at least partly a fraud, a drunk, a swashbuckler, a noble (what is it with all these posh boys?), a thief (did they initially consider a Charlatan background for him?), a soldier and of course a warlock. Or the fact that, while I think it may have improved, his motion capture and animation needs a lot of work - it seems oddly jerky, with unnatural expressions and strange stances and head positions, especially when compared to the smooth and expressive animation of Astarion, say, or even Gale. Or perhaps, and no shade on the actor who presumably agreed the performance with Larian's director, that I just don't feel his voice or the acting style suit the character. And I had to watch his chat-up scene from behind my hands it felt so sleazy, but again perhaps that's just who he is. Or who I am.
• I'm not sure about Karlach. She seems so angry and bloodthirsty. She's obviously had a really bad time, so I'm not going to judge her for it, but her comment about the streets of Baldur's Gate running red when she got back and found the people who had ended her up in hell made me seriously wonder whether I'd done the right thing in helping her. I have difficulty seeing her as a potentially uncomplicatedly good character (not that that is something I particularly want her to be), and her rage does seem to support the hypothesis that she may be a barbarian. But while I have my doubts now, with their handling of the other characters Larian have earned my trust that whatever vision they have for the character will come off.

I'd like Halsin to be a companion (plus it's just not on for him to hang around my camp, eating my food, and not help out when he’s a freaking archdruid), and I'm sure Minsc will be as great as always. I was surprised to hear Jaheira would be a potential companion rather than a sort of advisor, quest-giver and Harper contact, and remain slightly dubious this is going to work but again, Larian haven't yet given me reason to doubt them. I'm not for a second expecting it, but it would be so cool if Barcus turned out to be an Artificer class companion.

And I do hope we'll get more non-origin companions and other camp-follower type characters, or at least NPCs that we have reason to return to and build relationships with. Particularly from the shorter races: even if we allow Barcus, where are the dwarves and halflings?!

I hear what you're saying, I initially thought the same thing about Wyll but changed my view when I played with him more. I actually think trickery cleric is great because the buffs help her be a better rogue and give you incredible flexibility. Pass without trace is broken, and let's your whole party have fun, sneaky, stealth options, and blessing of the trickster is situationally good. I definitely like Lae'Zel, though it is worth mentioning that between her and the wizards some many party members don't have darkvision, which I find to be super annoying. I think this is good because it shows that they've made dark vision relevant. At least Wyll can get it with Devil Sight, something that I usually do.

I think that probably the devs original plan for Halsin was for him to be a camp follower that dies at Moonrise Towers and is replaced as a questgive/leader by Jaheira. Because of all the fan love and art though, I think that they'll change that plan and allow for there to be a way to save him so that he can join as a party member after Moonrise Towers.

One thing I don’t see ppl do a lot is get the brand of the Absolute. I always let Astarion get it. It’s not meta gaming him. I can see him taking it out of a desire to contain and control the tadpole. He would gladly serve a new god if it ment he would never have to return to his previous master. And he is a beast with the gloves of the Absolute (so maybe a little meta gaming 😝)

Stone statue guy is Misc from the original games, who is an obnoxious character but great in melee combat. Hopefully they will make him a barbarian as that was the intention in the original, but he was technically a ranger because 2e didn't have barbarian as a class. That being said he was a Berserker from a Berserker lodge in the north whose signature ability was rage, so I hope that he is a Berserker. I expect that he won't join till Act 3 in Baldur's Gate given the way he is introduced.

Minsc being a Berserker is also a reason that I think Karlach may be a ranger. Ranger was the only class available in the first patch that wasn't assigned to an origin companion, and I think they originally intended Karlach to be available right away during early access but pulled her out and subbed Mizora into the art around the release instead.

I agree with what you say of the history of his class, but I don’t think I’d approve of not making Minsc a (strength based) ranger now, given all the precedent … and Boo. Though hopefully Larian will find a way to give a beserker flavour to him, nevertheless.

I say best of both worlds… multiclassing