Originally Posted by Mizukun
As a Halsimp (solo romanced him twice now), I'm going to throw in my two cents:

I can't comment on Shadowheart much as I didn't romance her, but it feels like the writer was just trying to have fun with shipping his two characters together, but didn't account the emotional impact that it might have on some players (I'm not trying to bad mouth the writer, this is just what I legitimately believe). I think the easiest way to remedy this is to lock the interaction behind the poly relationship.

Also all this extreme Halsin hate makes me quite sad, honestly. The guy is super sweet and has layers to his personality other than "horny bear man" if you dig deep enough. Between having to deal with the curse and his guilt for a century, his loneliness (he has no family anymore), being forced into being a leader position he didn't want, his backstory with the drow, etc. It's no wonder he falls head over heels for the player when you literally (figuratively) sweep him off his feet and fix all those problems. UGH I just love this big ol' elf, man.
(And there is a datamined friendship route for him if you felt that he comes on too strongly)


ANYWAYS, I hope Larian tweaks his flags around in the future, including an alternate way to trigger Halsin's backstory reveal without having to do an orgy.

I mean it is ok to like different characters and though a certain character may not be my cup of tea, it's not an issue if other people find them interesting and lovable. The people who solo romance Halsin get a very different experience from those who poly romance and those who don't romance him at all, and it is these vastly differing experiences that causes this great division between love and resentment and hate for the character. If you are not romancing him you are immediately hit with a gaslighting response to your rejection, followed by an assurance that everything is good and he is understanding and won't pursue the matter any further. But then he still persists trying to nestle his way into your love life and sexlife, and in act 3 all he really talks about is sex. This is no longer the sweet and caring guy that the solo romancers are experiencing, but someone who is at best just a joke if you don't take the writing very seriously and really quite icky and gross if you do take it seriously. Take a moment to look at and read about the situation that is going on in that Astarion scenario and you should be able to fully understand why people are really questioning what the fuck this guy is up to being there and getting involved with that.

I think people would be more than ok and pleased if it was as simple as the game respecting your choices when you say you are not interested in him. I mean, his initial response really promises that he won't be pressing the issue, but then he turns around and does it anyway, making him look more like someone who just tries to manipulate people by pretending to be sweet and respectful than a genuinely honest person.