Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion Are you dissapointed with companions variety?

When BG3 ea released on Steam my immediate feedback was that all companions save Gale are very unlikable and off-putting. The only thing I heard back was "you have to work for the characters to become likable" which I thought was nonsense, because I'm not paying for a video game for it to become good after X amount of hours and effort, I want it to be good right away. DA:O has many different companions and they're all great right off the bat. BG3 companions? I'd rather play just with Gale and cheats to even out combat odds, than talk to the rest of them. So, that was back in 2020. I abandoned BG3 and forgot about it, and now visited this forums first time in 3 years. What do I immediately see? A long thread about how companions are unlikable, and the white knights are still there telling people "you have to work for it". I'll just leave it at that.

Gale's the most likely to try to kill you/try to rule the world, where'd you get the idea hes good from lol.

While I’m in the camp of “Gale is hiding something and has a megalomaniacal element,” where do you get these ideas?

Take him to the necromancy book.

> Gale's the most likely to try to kill you/try to rule the world, where'd you get the idea hes good from lol.

I don't care what he might do in the future, he's a charming guy when you meet him. That makes you like him. If he later becomes "bad" that's an easier pill to swallow, because you're already hooked. But when characters start off by being unbearable bitches, like Astarion or the Githyanki or Shadowheart there's just no reason to be giving them any chance for changing attitude. I mean, maybe if Shadowheart was actually hot, then it'd be worth tolerating? But she's so meh (I think it's the silly haircut). So... Yeah.

He only nice if you dont realize he's clearly pulling a "nice guy" act and trying to manipulate you

But being unbearable bitches is what I like most about Astarion and Laezel! So much sass and personality. I miss when Shadowheart was more of a bitch. Every time she’s nice to me in the beginning of the adventure, I feel like they neutered her to appease the people who thought she was too mean.

There's no Shorties because our female Werewolf Halfling Bard Helia got replaced by a stupid Bear, who BTW was also supposed to be a playable Origin character.

I don't know what standards people have these days, but from my perspective they're all fine. They're just just their own people with no particular regard for you at the start. With the exception of Lae'zel, they're not mean by my standards, they just don't start as your friends. Which makes them interesting. I read above that Shadowheart was softened which does not surprise me since she comes across a little nondescript.

In any case, my characters are confident enough in themselves that things like Astarion's snootiness don't bother them, and I certainly wouldn't want my possible romance partners to be pushovers. I don't like Wyll because he comes across as being too full of himself. And Gale...well, there's just something that comes across as super-creepy about this guy, as if he was the kind of person who would sell his grandmother into slavery for his next fix. But neither of them are unfriendly. Lae'zel...well, her people see themselves as the master race and she's typical, so yes, not exactly my first choice as a companion, and I'm glad we'll have Karlach as an alternative to occupy the fighter slot in the group, but still Lae'zel is interesting enough to keep around.

So really, I'm very much OK with our possible companions. I experience none of them as "mean" with the exception of Lae'zel, and I take them as they are: people different from my character with their own desires and goals, with their own type of confidence. If someone says something that expresses a certain attitude, they'll get a wry comment and a raised eyebrow in my imagination and that's it. They're at my side when the fighting starts and prove dependable in that every time. That is what counts.

Edit:
I find it odd that there is no dwarf, halfling or gnome among the possible companions. I consider that a flaw. It doesn't bother me personally, but I know a lot of people who like them a great deal, and IMO the companions should be somewhat representative of those races of the world appreciated by players.

Most players don't like the companions, this is an interesting read...

https://www.reddit.com/r/BaldursGate3/comments/153sp0s/is_there_anyone_youre_planning_on_just_not/

Do you distrust anyone being nice to you? Did you expect Aerie or Cernd to strangle you in your sleep as well? I sure as hell feel more threatened by Astarion and Lae'zel, who both put a knife to my throat already.

I mean, sure he probably will have a twist because that is what interesting stories give us, but asuming the worst just because someone is nice to you... eh. What is the world coming to?

After EA I don't feel manipulated, just bent on helping him with his condition, so I guess that all boils down to what we precive. Which is also great.

I also love that the companions are sort of thrust together because of their shared dilemma and wouldn’t normally be friends. It makes it really interesting to see the way their personalities and opinions are at odds with each other and I’m looking forward to seeing how their relationships develop. If you were reading this as a novel, you wouldn’t want all the characters to get along all the time, that would be boring.

No not really dissapointed. Would be cool with a Dwarf or Halfling. But with all the dialogue interactions and permutations. I totally understand why they dont do amount of companions like BG2. Overall Im happy looking forward to seeing Minsc and Jaheira again .

Right? Like a found-family held at gunpoint.

Sublime take on a trope

I am a big fan of humans, both in the real and this fictional world, so I am happy with this.
But it is kind of funny, after Larian "complained" (in jest, of course, I know) so much about us playing boring human fighters haha

Maybe this will improve on full release, but so far there isn't really a lot of them being at odds with each other, not beyond superficial stuff anyway. Like aside from Lae'zel and Shadowheart, and Lae'zel and everyone else, the group gets along quite well and are overall quite civil with each other. No one makes any sort of deal about Astarion being a vampire or Shadowheart being a Sharran. They pretty much do all get along aside from a the occasional minor point friction/disagreement. Really, there are no interesting bonds or connections in the group, positive or negative.

And on the subject of "if this were a book" I think a lot of people taking issue with the companions don't view the game as reading a book, a detached activity. They view it as coming to a gaming table with other players, and their frustration comes from being stuck with people who are "disrupting" the good time they come to the game to have.

I like all the companions for the most part. They have depth and personality. Different folks get different impressions from them, of course. Some folks find Gale charming; some find him manipulative. That's life, though, right? "I don't understand what you see in him," kind of thing. In my opinion, this only goes to show how well written these character personalities are.

I do have issues, obviously. Things I don't "like" about the characters.

Gale's story is crazy grandiose. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall listening in to their writers' rationale behind that. Maybe there's a lot more to learn about Gale, though. That's something I keep reminding myself. See, it's easy to think we know so much when we've been with these characters for three years, but we have to remember we've only seen an early access snap shot of them. There could be quite a bit more to their stories buried in the game.

Wyll's story is one that I found compelling, but I had trouble respecting Wyll. What I mean by that is that I felt like he was often the "butt of the joke," if you know what I mean. A rich man doesn't have to go around telling the world he's rich. And there are so many opportunities to undermine Wyll's status as a hero that it made me see him as more of a buffoon than a hero. That said, I hold all judgement aside in regards to Wyll until I see the rewrite (which I tend to agree was necessary).

--i hate to say it, but sometimes i wonder if a part of why Wyll wasn't more popular was because of his ethnicity? probably too touchy a topic to have much constructive conversation about, unfortunately.

Karlach is someone I don't want to judge too early since I only have limited interaction with her. Although I will say I'm confused about the direction they've taken her personality. It's an interesting choice, and I'm willing to give it a chance. But I have questions. Was she always a tiefling, or did she turn into one after being sold to the hells? How could she possibly have such a bright disposition and demeanor after ten years of brutal servitude? I would think that would have left her deeply scarred, emotionally and otherwise. Her ability to rebound from that is nothing short of miraculous, and if I met someone like that in real life, it would be flat out inspiring the more I think about it.

Astarion is someone that I enjoy. I get a kick out of his personality. That said, I would probably roleplay him a little different if I chose him as an Origin. Which, to my understanding, is great news. Because I can.

Shadowheart is someone I can't even fully judge because there's still so much left to learn about her.

Lae'zel is perfect.

*

This might sound strange, but being that I'm a bit older now myself, a part of me wishes we could romance Jaheira. I appreciate the maturity of her character, and I find that more attractive than youth.

That's a very good take on the thing, JandK. Good writing is both when we love and hate (and everything in between!) characters.

When somone is nice to you in order to get you to get the magic crack they arnt nice to you, they are manipulating you.

I dont see any of the current companions being in my top 100 rpg npcs ever. A few look mildly okay but top tier? I have my doubts. I hope to be proven wrong though. Jaheria was, but this new version seems boring. She will probably get little attention from the devs because they likely feel forced to include npcs from the past hence why she isn't an origin character and why I think she comes later. Not a single dwarf npc. Really embarassing, and racist.

At least I have the MP trick to make my own party of all dwarves fighting the forces of evil anti dwarf racism.