Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion Who is your favorite companion in BG3?

I like them all but Lae'zel stands out. During my first playthrough, she went from my least favorite to my favorite companion, and now I can hardly play the game without having her in my party. And her story is one of the best companion stories I have seen in a CRPG. I tend to play characters who disagree with her on some important issues but we still manage to get along really well, because my characters tend to respect her in spite of their disagreements. She comes across to me the same way, eventually. And her romance, that's certainly an odd one but in the end you feel you have someone at your side who will never let you down unless you betray her first.

Astarion, no question about it. I like traumatized characters and he was an excellent romance option for the Dark Urge who was trying to redeem himself.

Honourable mentions: Shadowheart and Lae'zel. SH was a very strong romance option. In addition, I let SH choose what to do with a certain aasimar and after her decision, I could no longer consider my Urge to be evil. Lae'zel was the big surprise as I could not stand her in EA but she really liked my character's actions and her loyalty to the group did grow on me. I did not expect that.

It's difficult. Minthara seems to be the only one I can have a meaningful conversation with. On the other hand, Shadowheart indeed has the sweetest voice, and I like the way she can wrinkle her nose. But it is Shadowhearts camp outfit that really seals the deal for me.

The only person I can actually rank as my #1 is Karlach hands down. Everyone else is just like put into categories for me.

I do like Shadowheart more than Lae'zal I have to admit. During the ship prologue I didn't like either, but I thought Shadowheart was decent after the crash. I really loved her after her big quest in Act 2, but obviously not more than Karlach. Lae'zal, I started liking her after the Creche. I'm not the biggest fan but I do generally like her character.

Wyll is nice. I don't have any reason to dislike him. Same with Jaheira and Minsc.

Astarion, he grew on me in the end, I really didn't like him at first. Act 2 I was starting to like him a bit, and once I got to Act 3 I fully appreciated him.

Gale, he reminded me a mix of Anders in DA:O Awakening and Alistair in DA:O. At least that was my first impression, which I happen to love those characters, but then as soon as he kept needing to consume to items, I didn't like him. If I couldn't spare one at the moment he'd be really upset and saying how your character doesn't seem understand the urgency etc. I just got annoyed which I know this isn't a big deal. Also what just rubbed me the wrong way he says that he wasn't satisfied even if he was sleeping with Mystra and it just, felt weird. Until the very end (literally last cutscene with your camp/party members) I thought he's alright. I don't necessarily have a positive opinion of him in general though.

Halsin, I'm bias because I had my eye on him to romance, but there are a lot of problems I stumbled into that I don't need to dive in. If I ignore how he is in Act 3 romanced or not, then yes he's there with Karlach, for me.

So it'd be Karlach/Halsin>Shadowheart>Lae'zal>Astarion>Wyll>Jaheira>Minsc>Gale

Party wise I always had Shadowheart with me, never swapped her for nobody. My main party besides her consisted of Karlach and Lae'zal. Sometimes I'd switch Lae'zal for Astarion or Wyll (but mostly for Astarion).

I played as a sorcerer so not sure if that helps in explaining my main party decisions.

Astarion is easily my favorite. Not even a question. Well written. Well voice acted. Complex and unique. Love love love.

Honorable mentions: Minthara, Lae'zel, and Shadowheart.

Gotta give Gale more of a chance though. I have a feeling I haven't experienced enough of him.

Karlach, then Shadowheart, then Lae’zel

I'm romancing Astarion and he's amazing, but Karlach is best girl and I just can't play without her.

I love most other companions though and really wish I could always bring them along.

From everything Ive seen, Minthara is the most perspicacious companion out of the lot, and it does a bunch to endear me to her. It really does feel like she's trying to earn her place as your most valuable asset when she dissects the world, the things in it, and relates it to you and your quest in a way that feels much more intimate, much more desperate, than other companions. At least for me.

Astarion enriched the game for me several times.
Not just with his sometimes questionable but wonderfully cynical comments. The hidden little child inside him makes him so lovable again.
He grows over the story, but so many left him behind cause he is so evil in the beginning, but there are reasons for that.

I was particularly touched by his romance from the end of the second act. I cried ... Not many can do that.
I love broken characters and Astarion nails it perfectly.
(And no, i was not a twilight Fan) he is my first Vampire

I voted Astarion ages ago but realised I hadn't actually added a comment.
He's still my favourite even after several playthroughs, deep well written story (well up the the last few minutes anyway), heartbreaking in places and really the only character that I deeply care about and always romance.
That's not to denigrate Shadowhearts story or Lae'zels, both of whom have deep story and quest lines and the trio make up my dream team in every playthrough.
But Astarions character and quest arc and his progression from an 'evil vampire' trope into something much much more, just works for me better than the others.

Many people here have pointed out how fun and bright Karlach is, but that's just one side of her.

Her character explores how a good person deals with a truly bad hand. If you pay attention to her, you'll notice some contradictions.

She'd rather die than go back to hell, but she also desperately wants to live. She always cheers us on, but she's also envious that we'll get to go on without her. She doesn't wish to drag anyone down with her, but she's also glad that she's not alone in Avernus.

Her desires and vulnerabilities are easy to miss behind her hells-yes demeanor.

That Larian and Sam managed to craft such a deep character in the last minute is a testament to their ability.

As for how Karlach talks, she's not any more or less "modern" than the rest of the cast. She's simply more direct, and less prone to flowery language. This stems from her upbringing.

She's a kid from the streets who never really had a chance at a normal life. If you listen to how the tiefling kids talk, it's not very far off. They don't talk like Dickensian street urchins, that's for sure.

Lae'zel's voice is similar to Karlach's, but her speech is laced with githyanki expressions and a foreigner's turn of phrase that makes her sound more exotic.

The rest of the cast also talk "modern" but with an expanded enough vocabulary that it sounds more period than it really is. If Larian actually went medieval, it would've been insufferable, so props to them for not doing that.

Edit: Even Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy doesn't go full medieval, and that one goes way, way harder than BG3. The way Gimli and Aragorn talk is a night and day difference. If Larian gave Karlach a thick Welsh accent, she would've pretty much been Gimli.

Astarion!

Noone is even close.
Laezel would be a distant 2nd, don't care for the others. With Halsin being my most hated companion, by a mile.

Halsin is my favorite by leaps and bounds <333

Gale and the Tressym

They are all really well made but I'd say definitely Minthara followed by Shadowheart.

Let's see:

1. Lae'zel is probably the best, imo.
2. Shadowheart remains high on my list.
3. Probably Astarion next. He's fascinating, and his history is deeply sad.

--after these top three, I start having more problems with the companions--

4. I'm going Gale next, although I really dislike his grandiose history.
5. Minthara, who I can't place higher because there's not enough about her in the game.
6. Karlach, I suppose is next. I can't reconcile her history with her personality. There's not enough scars, emotionally.
7. Wyll. There's something there, but the writing didn't manage to capture it, imo.

Haven't done a Minthara playthrough but I'm not doing that until people claim she's really fixed which might take a while so here goes. Enjoy the ramblings for those bored enough to read it.

1. Shadowheart

2. Gale

3. Lae'zel

4. Astarion

5. Wyll

6. Karlach

Rest's unranked since they're not origin (though to be fair it'd still be more or less accurately ranked).

Halsin

Jaheira

Minsc

I love them all but my least favorite is Wyll and Halsin.
They are just so bland in my opinion, they are not funny or interesting at all. I always know what Wyll is going to do or say and his only interesting bit is Mizora. Without her I would not have even recruited him.

My understanding is that all the issues with her dialogue not triggering have been fixed, the rest is actually lack of content and not bugs.

Fair enough, thanks! Will probably get to it then when patch 4 hits, so I can give my ramblings about her character too.