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

Biased, of course. Love her character - secretive Shar version all the way to depressed Selune version - and the story choices she gets are incredible when it comes to accepting change and loss. Her romance is very wholesome (I'm sure they all are, but she's the only one I've personally fully experienced!) and ties in very well with her story and makes the choices significantly more impactful, as she's then abandoning Shar to be with you. She just needs better story closure in act 3 in the form of a mid-cutscene hug and some post-cutscene dialogue (redemption arc, not the Dark Justiciar arc. I think that one has pretty good closure, even if the 'just make me forget' is a cheapish gimmick, it's her story's gimmick so it works). Also wish there were a few more options where you can make her doubt Shar more actively, rather than her just telling you about her doubts thanks to your influence (makes it feel it happens off screen).

I love him trying to justify his actions in act 1 by sympathizing with NPCs in unfortunate situations, before actually telling you what's wrong with him. It's great foreshadowing and fits his character well, the naïve wizard trying to convince himself he did nothing wrong. He gets some of the best story choices out of all of the companions and very diverse ones at that (who else can blow themselves up to save the world?!). Wish there were fewer bugs with him.

Probably the best written character throughout act 1, she just starts falling a little short after. I love her no nonsense approach to everything. Everything and everyone is collateral so long as it progresses her goals. I just wish she didn't immediately jump on the Orpheus train and rather also had an option where she follows her own path (before a Persuasion roll in the epilogue). Regardless, it does fit her character as someone who serves without question, until she's persuaded enough to simply serve someone else without question instead. Very soldier-esque trait, which is what she is.

Beautifully written story arc, it just isn't really for me. I don't like being manipulated to that extent, but I think it's very well done. He remains a very complex character throughout with some proper struggles regarding power and abuse that allows for a great impactful decision down the line. The idea that he's been going through what he had been going through for 200 years is a bit much. It feels like numbers are being thrown around arbitrarily. If it was less time, like the other companions (except Halsin where it makes a bit more sense), then it'd have been just as impactful but more believable.

He's a lot more normal than the rest of the companions. He made a deal with a devil to stop an (to me) unbelievable event which can be argued away by Mizora just setting him up and making it seem more threatening than it really was. He just lacks content. And his impactful choices aren't really that impactful. He gets the choice to become Blade of Avernus rather than Grand Duke. Which is essentially claiming he'll just keep doing what he had already been doing, or going for his dad's office job. And his other impactful choice is remaining in service of Mizora or breaking free at the (for now at least) fake cost of his dad, which again is either no change, or him breaking free at essentially no cost. And he doesn't even get to choose himself, you choose that for him. He's probably more complex if you have him kill Karlach but I haven't done that.

People love her character and I can understand why but she's just far too cheerful for me except during her beautiful speeches. Just doesn't click with me. Her quest is also the most boring out of all of them even if it covers a very heavy topic of accepting the (currently) inevitable. But it could've been done in a way where it's more clear that it's inevitable (or as people ask for, not inevitable in the first place as the game hints it shouldn't be), and been more nuanced in general - her entire act 1 story is killing some 'paladins' and farming Infernal Iron and act 2 is.. farming more Infernal Iron. The other companions don't have very complex quests early on either but in their cases it's more about you finding out who they are and Karlach just lacks that for me. Where's the character development and choice?

He's great in act 1 and act 2 even if he (logically) has less content. I like his dedication to getting things done. Love the notion that he's technically correct about the Underdark being the better route but at the same time wrong because the Grymforge hasn't been connected to the Temple of Shar for who knows how long. Fits the idea that he's been at it for 100 years trying to sort the Shadow Curse and things have changed drastically over time that he doesn't even know about which is why he got captured in the first place. His character just takes a massive nose dive in act 3 for me that makes him unsalvageable from that point onward. It lacks content and what's there is.. not well implemented.

The sarcastic old lady. She joins late and a lot of her story is about how famous she is and her having knowledge about everything going on because of the past, and she shrugs it all off. I also really don't like doppelgangers (boring concept imo) which her ingame story revolves around. I guess some might enjoy it, but she's not interesting to me, her character just screams nostalgia and I never played BG1/BG2 so I have no nostalgia. I might be partially biased because I blame her and Minsc having so much content in act 3 for the lack of content other companions have in act 3, but it doesn't help that I don't particularly like either of them.

Pure comic relief in a game where I feel it's not welcomed, at least not at the stage where he enters the show and especially not the way he enters the show. His story arc felt incredibly anti climactic to me, I would've much rather had the Stonelord be the ruthless tyrant he was portrayed as who saw an opportunity in the chaos to overthrow the underground world. We then could've had the option to choose to go against Nine Fingers with him and the Zhentarim. Instead we get a nostalgic joke character and it's all played off as a meme while the rest of the game covers way heavier topics making his character just not fit. Astarion fits the joke making characteristics way better.