Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion A companion named Helia who did not make it into the game

As for Helia, thinking of locations,

beach/whole crashed ship area is no good (Shadowheart, Astarion, Gale and Lae'Zel all get recruited around here),

Not Druid Grove (Wyll recruited),

Not Goblin Camp (Minthara or Halsin gets recruited), another reason why I wouldn't place Helia in the Goblin Camp since Volo is already doing his bard thing despite actually being a wizard that pretends to be a bard.

Not Risen Road (Karlach recruited),

Narratively I also wouldn't place Helia in Blighted Village since it's also swarming with Goblins,

Hag's hut probably is bad too narratively speaking, since it has a disgusting Gur walking around hunting monsters,

After ruling out locations, I'll have to place Helia somewhere in the Underdark since the surface is crowded AF with companions in Act 1, before anyone asks yes... I also know Halsin and Minthara are actually recruited in Act 2 and Narratively speaking aside from the Underdark, Helia could potentially be a survivor of Waukeen Rest or captured by the Zhentarim like the painter,

This if you could recruit Helia as early as Act 1, hypothetically speaking of course.

I frankly would put her in the druid grove. Yes, there is Wyll, but there is only Wyll. Mabye let her interact with Alfira, she could help her write the song and we could get later the performance proficiency from Helia.
Other than that - the hags hut would be a good place, maybe she needs help with her condition.

The Gur btw is actually a nice guy.

WHat subclass do you think, Helia should be?
I personally would go with College of Lore - it's the bardiest of colleges for me personally.

Lore and Blades both sounds good for her.

Not saying I agree with them, just saying that this was a big bru ha ha a few years back. Soon after it was an issue our lil bard seems to have disappeared. Circumstantial evidence at best I know but…

I think that maybe the call for Halsin might have had a bit to do with that - judging from how even his fans don't like him anymore, I wished, they had stayed with Helia. Sometimes it is not always good, to give in to player demands.
Halflings have always been a steady in fantasy and it was never a problem. Tbh outside of threads here, where people asked for a companion from the small races, I never have heard anything about that being problematic.

Even then Halflings are the least interesting of the short races, I might start a small race war over this but...

[quote=Sai the Elf]
Even then Halflings are the least interesting of the short races, I might start a small race war over this but...


I think, that is personal taste and entirely subjective, I prefer halflings, especially as bards - my halfling girl didn't botch a single dice role in my first playthrough. The Lucky feat is great and I like halflings. I prefer halflings and gnomes and hate goblins and kobolds.

Amusingly, my take on preference for races to play as I find interesting and enjoyable is, from those listed five at least: Halfling > Gnome > Kobold > Goblin > Dwarf. That's outside of mechanics, but just purely in the sense of being interesting and enjoyable to play as, for me.

Did someone say...


I used to think Gnomes were the most interesting, but I'm not sure anymore. I was going to play a Gnome in honor of my first character in BG but I ended up getting pretty attached to my EA halfling.

I never spoiled myself on Helia so I can't say missed out on what her story might have been, but I really hope she didn't get axed because of Halsin, who I'm afraid to say did nothing for me as a full companion. (except to cast heroes' feast on the A-squad)

I'd also like to learn what changed in everyone's personal quests, it seems everyone apart from Wyll, got heavily revised before launch.

Wyll got actually the most revised. His backstory was changed.
I don't know, if they axed Helia for Halsin, but if that would be the case, it is a bad change tbh. Halsin is not only boring, he is creepy as hell. And Helia sounded very interesting and we need small race companions.
And yeah, I love halflings. My first playthrough Wasa halfling lore bard.

Yeah, I was making an oblique reference to how they rewrote Wyll from the ground up. I'm actually really curious to know what his original story would have been too. He was going to be the first origin character I played as, but now I'm not that interested.

Wyll got the biggest change of them all, He's suddenly now hostile to Karlach (pretty sure he wasn't in EA), also his dialog with the windmill goblin was removed as well, as his personal vendetta of Spike the Goblin, who originally took one of Wyll's eyes, (Spike is right next door to the Loviatar priest).

I'm disappointed Helia got cut from the game - especially if it was for the sake of Halsin, given how much of a mess he's ended up as.

I really do note the lack of a familiar "short folk" race in the party. I'm used to having at least one dwarf, halfling, gnome, or something of similar flavor available as a companion in basically every fantasy-based cRPG, especially those set in Pathfinder or D&D settings. It's... really odd, and a bit discordant? to not have one in BG3 - even more so that the one planned short folk companion got axed for nebulous reasons.

I've been making characters for other planned playthroughs/romance explorations in my downtime between progressing my first playthrough (the Shadow-cursed lands are very cool, but some of the fights there just take it out of me by the end), and one of these is a halfling sorcerer who I planned to romance Karlach with. I love her!! It's quite fun to play as a short folk race, and brings me a similar joy as when I play my dwarves or gnome in WoW. I'm always an elf fan at heart, but shorter races such as these are bread-and-butter to fantasy as much as elves and humans are.

It feels kind of meh that they've been passed over in the companion department, especially in favor of more "traditionally attractive" tall races. Honestly, Lae'zel is the only unusual-looking companion we have - and even she's noticeably more "attractive" in some ways than NPC githyanki tend to be. It's just very odd, and doesn't help the feeling some people have brought up about "sex selling" with BG3's marketing and focus.

I am gonna agree with you the character of Halsing just feel BLAH to me compared to others in the game. First they made an Elf that is bigger than some half-orcs and then they made him lack anything that resembles a typical elven personality. In fact what little personality he does have feels lacking. Finally he seems to have odd attitudes for a Druid leader.

A well done Halfling or even Dwarven bard would have added a LOT more flavor to the game in my opinion. Potential for a more entertaining storyline.

I think I know what I'm doing for my Wyll romance playthrough!

That is so true. The game desperately needs a companion of the shorter races, they are part of fantasy stories since the beginning.

And I don't even understand the attractiveness factor. I made nice looking halflings, gnomes and dwarves, no problems.
And seeing some NPCs: Korilla and Nettie are really good looking for example, whereas I find Halsin ... strange looking, I never understood people finding him attractive, but then tastes differ, I guess.

I really hope, we get our small companion. If not Helia, because she isn't far enough developed, then maybe Barcus Wroot someone else already in the game

Though tbh, I really want Helia in the game, she just sounds so awesome.

A bard in some form would make a lot of sense as a companion for the game.

That is true. I don't know, why they are doubling down on druids, when there are enough classes not covered and bard being the coolest of them.

I mean even so Halsin isn't going to remain druid after his respec, maybe I'll have him be a Bard/Rogue who cons people into thinking he's a druid, the same way he cons people into thinking that he's a pure blooded elf, you might as well give him facial hair at this point,

I can see through Halsin's lies, I know the truth.