Astarion will not be recruited (never say never, we'll see). I initially liked him, but I've gotten so tired/bored of his edgy 13-year-old personality, I've just been giving him a wide berth lately. I was disappointed but not surprised that it turns out he indeed was a piece of trash even before being made a spawn. It did sour my overall appreciation of him, though.
I gave Wyll a fair chance, but I really can't stand him. Don't like his personality or story at all; the only thing he has going for him is his good looks. I've been actively avoiding him since my first full playthrough of EA, but I heard that Larian went and gave him a cutscene intro for the initial goblin fight at the grove entrance? Thanks for making it harder to ignore his existence, Larian; I hate it.
Jaheira is overrated, and hopefully just a temporary companion I can ignore after the relevant quest or whatever.
Can't stand Karlach (early datamined appearance was cool, though), so will likely avoid her, too.
I'm okay with Lae'zel, but I also don't care, so I guess we'll ultimately see if she's a keeper, depending on how long it takes for modders to expand the party size limit.
Shadowheart and Gale have been my pals for a while (but, of course, I have some gripes), and I'm genuinely looking forward to Halsin, even though I used to be resistant for the longest time, lol.
I'm tentative about Minsc, given the vastly different VA, but maybe it won't be too distractingly different (it almost certainly will be). I do like him as a character, especially since we're woefully lacking in decidedly good-guy characters. (Relevant venting: I miss you, Canach's-VA-from-GW2. Dear nonspecific-game-devs: If you must replace someone, at least TRY to find someone who sounds remotely similar to the original VAs, sheesh. For example, the guy who voiced Regill Derenge in WotR would have been a perfect replacement for Canach's VA! How hard would it have actually been to find someone with a similar vocal register to Jim Cummings, in the case of Minsc?)
