Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General "Canonical" Companion Subclasses

Now that we have to complete list of launch subclasses, I'm wondering what would be the natural/Canon subclass for each companion. I personally try to develop my characters to fit their personality/backstory as best I can on my first playthrough.

Couple of Caveats:

• Shadowheart and Wyll already have theirs at lvl 1, so no need to pick theirs. (However, I will say that Wyll's pact boon would likely be blade, surprising no one)
• I don't know Minsc and Jaheira well enough to guess theirs, but since we'll likely get them past level 3 their subclass should be set.

Gale: Transmutation... This one is difficult as Gale really just comes off as an all around wizard. Going into my first EA playthrough I made him an evoker, which still fits, almost purely based on his character art (not the best reasoning), but some of what he's done with/for Mystra sounds more like Transmutation to me.
Astarion: Thief... Although assassin could also fit, I just picture him prowling the streets at night to bring home food more fitting for a thief. I mean he isn't allowed to kill them himself lol.
Lae'Zel: Battle Master... Another hard one as all three fit relatively well. Eldritch Knight works as she already gets a bit of magic as a Gith, my personal visual of EKs are a bit more nerdy/studious in personality. Champion always works, it just the fightery-est fighter. I simply land at Battle Master to reflect some of the training she has, but all do fit.
Karach: Wild Magic... Based on her brief appearance in EA along with the snippet from the community update, I think the "unholy machine" she got from Hell could trigger wild magic surges.
Halsin: Circle of Moon... Before we even meet him, several other druids are referring to him as "The Bear", I.E. his preferred wildshape. Then when we do meet him he spends he entire encounter in his bear form.
Minthara: Oath of Vengeance... Obviously everything is subject to change in version 1.0, but she literally uses an oath of vengeance ability.

Obviously, the game is open enough to make any of the choices make enough sense to not break immersion so all are valid choices. I also know that nothing says you have to RP to the theme of your subclass, so I'm not saying anyone should take these as the right choices. I'm more just stating my thoughts and hope to get some feedback to confirm/alter my own narrative choices.

Gale - Agree on Transmuter

Astarion - Assassin
The Assassin subclass is, ironically, not really about killing people. It's about subterfuge. Masquerade. Blending in with your victims, sharing space with them, breaking bread with them, raising no suspicion until an opportunity presents itself. Assassin subclass features are centered around disguise and acting. If I'm not mistaken, this is basically what Astarion's been doing for centuries at his master's behest.

Lae'zel - Agree on Battlemaster
It's worth noting that githyanki warriors tend to blend magic with swordplay, and Lae'zel claims to have "dedicated as much time to her studies as to her training". That said... her Intelligence is 11. None of her dialogue implies even a passing interest in magic, but she is a seasoned warrior who's commanded others before.

Halsin - Definitely Moon

Minthara - Oath of Conquest(?)
Wishful thinking aside she's clearly Vengeance. Conquest would be so fitting though, since commanding through fear and spreading terror to the Absolute's enemies is what's she's all about. One can hope.

Wyll - Pact of the Blade
Naturally. Although his whopping 13 Dexterity makes him the saddest bladelock in Faerun. Really wish we could respec him because right now there's no reason not to go for a free imp at 3rd level.

As for the other announced companions, we don't know their classes for sure, but I'll hazard a guess:
Minsc - Some unique Ranger subclass with Rage
Jaheira - Circle of the Land Druid/Battlemaster Fighter

I will say that oath of conquest makes far more sense for Minthara. The last tenet of the oath of Vengeance explicitly tells the paladin to make restitution to those who have been harmed by their sworn enemy.

Solid point on Astarion! My mind generally goes straight to the 3rd lvl Assassinate ability for that subclass, but two of the higher lvl features do seem better for him.

She is in High School and a Minor ... all she could have commanded was some classmates when ordered to murder other schoolchildren for thoughtcrimes.

Personally, I think of Gale as a conjuration wizard, given what he says about his summoning shenanigans as a child and his friendship with the mephit who keeps his resurrection scroll.

Astarion I'd probably go Assassin, though I can see the case for Thief or Arcane Trickster (the latter given his innate magic as a high elf).

Lae'zel I could go any way. I'm leaning towards Champion just because she gives the sense of fighting being a matter of honing her own physical capability and proving her worth to Vlakith, whereas I'd usually see Battlemasters as being more studiers of strategy and fighting as part of a team (I get the sense Lae'zel wasn't much of a team-player even among her own kind!), and while EK as Siege664 says builds on her gith magic her relatively low INT in EA makes this feel a poor fit. Especially if her INT is boosted in the full release (and I think it should be!) though, I think she could work as any.

I agree on Halsin as Moon and Karlach as Wild Magic.

Minthara I know has Vengeance abilities in EA, but her story in some ways makes more sense as an Oathbreaker to me given she has repudiated Lolth (though I know that typically an Oathbreaker has turned from the "good" , rather than from one evil to another). I reckon both could work though.

Lae'zel is above-averagely dumb by the standards of her people!

Doesn't necessarily follow. You could break an Oath of Vengeance by being merciful for example.

LOL!
Thank you, you made my day

Oh yes, I agree that Oathbreaker could totally apply to other situations, though I'm not sure the necromantic, etc class abilities would be a natural fit for someone who had been too nice to be a vengeance paladin . I was just referring to the official D&D definition as "An oathbreaker is a paladin who breaks their sacred oaths to pursue some dark ambition or serve an evil power. Whatever light burned in the paladin's heart been extinguished. Only darkness remains." For Minthara, it's probably not the case that she had light burning in her heart before she turned to the Absolute, but I reckon the subclass could still work for her and help give grounding to her story as someone who has turned from Lolth to a new god.

EDIT: Btw, and with apologies to those who have already seen me banging on about this in another recent thread, I think there is an important distinction between breaking one's oath (and getting the Oath Broken condition and losing the ability to channel one's oath) and actually embracing the Oathbreaker subclass which requires a further commitment to the Oathbreaker knight in BG3. I reckon the Oathbreaker subclass would suit Minthara given her story. But if I were roleplaying a Vengeance paladin who had let go of their anger and learned forgiveness and mercy, I'd probably just stick with the oath broken condition and then stop levelling as a paladin and instead multiclass into something I felt better represented their new direction such as bard, cleric, fighter, etc.

Why are you an Oathbreaker?


Cuz I chose a third level in Paladin (New BG3 meme).

Gale is a Necromancer ...
One of his barks states: "How foolish theese mortals are." (Or something among those lines.)
Auntie Ethel vicious mockery for him mentions something about dead flesh under wraps.
Also have you seen his artwork? focus on the arm

Astarion is a Thief ...
I allways claimed and i shall never stop (nope, not even if Swen himself would tell me that im wrong :P ) that Astarion got Rogue bcs its simply the the best class for people who are actually nothing ... dont read this as Rogue = nothing, thats not what i said, it only works other way around ... and since he was just pretty face Noble (but not charismatic enough to be a Bard) ... the only thing he can use in combat is his naturaly better agility and cunning ... ergo, Thief.

Lae'zel is either Battle Master, or Champion ...
I dont know any significant roleplay difference between those, so i cant really decide. Most likely champion tho, since that is title she aspire to.

I agree with OP about Halsin ...

But i still think that Minthara should be a Cleric and really hope they revert her class back in 1,0.
So i would give her either War, or Trickery.

Minsc seems like Beast Master ...
Even tho its just single beast, one cant argue he didnt mastered it.

Wow, very cool findings regarding Gale! I've heard this phrase so many times from him, yet never thought it out properly. The meaning behind this 'mortals' remark can be quite sinister!

I think it's probably vice versa .

Boo is master, Minsc is his pet.

Indeed ...

Minsc is Beast Master ...
Boo is Minsc Master ...

That's a great catch. It explains his reactions to how you resolve the situation when you play marriage counselor for Mayrina. That never made sense to me, but this explains it perfectly

I have figured he was a necromancer also. But more likely it wasn’t Mystra that was his mistress, but Shar. I suspect he was actually trying to gift Shar a remnant/sliver of her now unstable/defunct Shadow weave. That could also explain his lost spell casting abilities.

Note how easy he recognized Shadowhearts “shadows for eyes” when first meeting him.

I actually think Lae'zel would be an Eldritch Knight just because of the culture she comes from. The term Gish is literally a Githyanki word that got adopted by the community to refer to martial spellcasters. She aspires to earn a Silver Sword and ride a red dragon one day. To become a knight she needs to have both a high level of martial skill and a high level of psionic prowess to prove that she is worthy of the station.

I suppose technically that'd make her a Psi Warrior, but as that isn't in the game Eldritch Knight is the best representation for the sort of Gish battlemage that Githyanki knights are meant to be.

Ditto to this.

I’d also say that Astarion to me makes the most sense as an arcane trickster, as the cantrip Friends alone would make his job far easier, let alone disguise self, minor illusion and the like.