Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion Problems with Halsin's character, advances, LI and general character interactions, etc.

I haven't heard it myself, I just heard it in a playlist on YouTube but have never checked for myself.


For me personally, Halsin (as well as Minthara) need a romance quest line, even if it's a short one. Every origin character has one, so even if Halsin and Minthara are not on the same level as they are, there should be more than what we have now.
As for the kind of romance, you are right, the Tav should be the one to decide if you want to have monoship or polyship and with whom. I don't want to be forced to take Halsin as side kick + SH or Astarion if I want a poly path. They allow you to date any origin character regardless of the Tav's gender, so why did they stop there?
Sure, the amount of lines would've been a lot more, probably, so I think that's why.

Beside that: If you are in a polyship with some characters, it would be nice if they date others, so that not the Tav is polygamous but the LIs also. Like Halsin want's the Tav to have other lovers but he doesn't want to? Why does he even insist on playing by his rules then?
They just added it for the sake of having the option of Halsin being a side chick to the most popular male and female origin character, because they saw all those thirsty pictures (esp. Astarion x Halsin) on X when people still asked for Halsin and decided that's the way to go. Then they added a lot am ambiguous lines so that players could make up their headcanons with Tav and Halsin living together in a wonderful monogamous relationship while raising the orphans and it worked! Larian went for the cheapest way and it paid off.
In the epilogue, from what I remember, they never said Halsin and Tav are in a relationship, it's just that they arrive together and lived together for 6 months, not more, not less.

Again, I don't mind any polyship, as long as the player (who paid for the game) is the one to decide if so and with whom instead of being forced to a specific combination which might make people feel uncomfortable.
Of course this would need additional investment on Larian's side, but let's face it: This game is only about companions and relationship, like 90% are giving a damn about how bad the main story, the fights, act 3 and w/e are. They don't care about the lore or if the story could even work within DnD rules, they just want more kisses, more hugs and more relationship content, so just throw out a $20 romance DLC and it will be selling like sh*t.


I have to admit, I had the same thoughts a while ago. At least I felt like the writer, who has more or less shown how much he likes SH (a character he wrote himself) that he maybe thought if he used Halsin to have sex and flirt with her, then he could write it himself or at least get a bit closer to it.

I would've accepted it only if you could do poly with every companion. But lets face it: it's insane amount of work/reworks. So they should just focus on polishing "problematic" sides(like differnt paths acceptans of poly for SH/Astarion, Halsin himself and an option to have fine mono relationship with him, Halsin's "predatory" advances etc.).

Funny, while I see a lot of Halstarion(Halsin+Astarion ship), I don't see a lot of SH+Halsin(it's like her last ship, SH+Karlach and SH+LAezel are the most popular), so idk why they decided to added this for fans. Propbably just writer wanted this.

That's the only logical explanation. There is no way he, and Larian as a whole, don't know people have issue with their interactions. If they've seen that people were unhappy with Gale's treatment at the brothel and Astarion's reaction to Mizora and were willing to change those then I can only assume the reason he refuses to budge on this is due to self-insert reasons. I mean hell, he even changed things with Halsin's romance based on feedback like allowing you talk about his time as a sex slave and going with him at the end of the game and yet he won't change this. Why is that? Why does he have no respect for people who romance Shadowheart? It's because Halsin has to be a self-insert for him.

I mean, whatever, if they don't change anything about this(anything at all), after all feedback, this would be the biggest "fuck you" move. Escpecially in light of latest changes.

I think it is because a significant number of the people going the poly route are just people going "Teehee look guys I can have 2 boyfriends isnt that CrAzY and so hawt!!"

Which is fine. That is perfectly fine and acceptable. But those are the people Larian was catering 99% of the Halsin romance to.

Which sucks for the rest of us who see Halsin as so much more than a sexual novelty.

The Astarion Halsin thing is one I'll never understand, the whole situation (the brothel, the proposition for the open relationship ...) is so insanely uncomfortable with him ... not that it's great with anyone ... like ceremorphosis, best to be avoided.

Unpopular opinion, but SH+Halsin poly would've been recieved way better for many(and with tons of fanart I'm sure) if Halsin was a girl. Just because SH is the choice of straight male or lesbian.

And there would be more cries and discomfort if Halsin+Astarion poly would be with Halsin as a girl. Just because audience.

I know I would feel the same anyway to this situation though.

Ive been mulling this over, and the more I do the more it kind of bothers me. I'm gonna need someone to answer this.

When you solomance Halsin, does he say ANYTHING about being strictly non monogamous before Tav has sex with him? Or is it only after sex, when asking about the "relationship"?

He does. He tells you monogamy isn't in his nature, and says basically "maybe you're like me, maybe not" and you have the option to tell him you're not into poly and decline.

I wish we had an option to state our views as well if they differ, but still accept the relationship proposal. I'm curious to what he would say to the player.

Look, he acknowledged that people call Halsin his self-insert. That means he's aware of the discussion about this topic on these forums, Discord, Reddit, Twitter, etc. and STILL he refuses to change anything. It's just so frustrating 7 months people have been asking for change and he just won't do it and now we have 100% confirmation that is aware of the situation and refuses and that just makes it feel so much worse.

lol that guy is cool.

Good, he is aware. Now it's time to fix it one way or another. Feedback helps.

By all means keep sending feedback. I'm frustrated with the situation but I'm not saying give up though that does contradict what I've said earlier in the thread lol.

I just don't get it. People aren't even asking him to completely remove it, just tweak some things here and there that give the player more agency in the whole situation. Lock the swimming banter behind romancing both of them, give the player more control of the scene at the brothel and don't let him invite himself. I mean I would like other things about it to be changed/added like the ability to define the relationship as monogamous and for her to happily accept but even the bare minimum, low effort change of the banter/brothel would make me happy. They'll write an entire new scene for Astarion when you cheat on him with Mizora, they'll add dialogue to talk to Halsin about his sex slave thing, they changed Gale's brothel scene to allow you to say you don't want to do it if he's uncomfortable all based on feedback people have left but Shadowheart they seemingly won't budge on. Make it make sense.

The way he reacts to the "accusations" is just showing how "much" he cares about the feedback in this specific case. It reads like he just rubs it off as a trivial matter.
I won't say anymore about his reaction as I know there are people among us who would defend him to the death.

As already has been said, there aren't many things that have to be changed on Halsin's romance to make it somewhat working for most of the players (ADD monogamous path, rework the brothel scene to allow Tav to invite Halsin, lock the swimming banter behind SH/Halsin polyship, less horny, more personality, SA story, maybe more content in act 3 but that would need more effort).

Some notes for that:

- Monogamous path: If the Tav doesn't even date another companion beside Halsin, you are in a somewhat monoship with Halsin, it's just never officially said, so why don't you just add some lines for the Tav to decide? Halsin doesn't even date someone else, so it's not like we're removing content. LIke Halsin could say "I've never wandered in such a garden you keep for yourself, but I'm willing to discover it together" or w/e.

- Brothel: Just have a check if Halsin is in party, add a dialogue option to invite him (better: add a short scene where you ask your LI first if they are fine with it). Remove SH going crazy for having sex with Halsin if she is in a monoship with Tav, only allow it to happen in a polyship (which would still make less sense, as she most likely already had sex with him, but we know how important the scene to someone is, who is possibly reading all of this, who likes ducks and doesn't give f***s on feedback.)

- Swimming banter: Just set flags for SH/Halsin polyship and only allow the banter to happen if flags are set (would need some rephrasing to fit a polyship but can also stay as it is)

- Less horny, more personality: Don't get me wrong, allow the man to be horny, but please add more normal scenes. I know, that's more work to do, but it's not like the game came out yesterday and people just started asking for the return of EA lines (or maybe the addition of them at later points in the story if they fit). Correct me if I'm wrong but I think Dave, the VA said, that they recorded way more lines than the ones present in the game, so there are unused ressources.

- SA story: There are still people who feel uncomfortable with this being in the game, so there are just 3 options: remove it, keep it or expand it. Personally I don't mind the way it is in the game now, but it would be nice to go a bit deeper into the matter at a later stage. And please remove the Tav's cruel jokes (like bringing him back to the Underdark), that's just plain bad, inhuman and a lack of empathy).

- As for the act 3 content, that is not gonna happen, because Halsin is supposed to be the "just present, he observes" as stated in the IGN interview. Sounds like a cheap excuse? Yep.

All of this changes (beside act 3 content and maybe some additional lines) could be done cheaper and with less effort than adding a whole Astarion scene I'd wager and yet they decided to not do so.

Just as a side note: Halsin hates Shar followers, so on the Shar SH path, he should hate her and not get her laid. Like I can't see him throwing away his values just for some p**ssy (well, he kinda does so with Drows, but let's not talk about that). If she follows the Selûne path, she should be more into monoships, saving her parents, having her own family and so on (so not simping for Halsin). Either way, their shipping makes no sense and as already being said, it's not even popular among fans.
There could've been a better female option for a polyship like Lae'zel (at least as she is a Githyanki, not talking about her actual character) or they should change the whole story of SH. As for Astarion, it has already been said how uncomfortable he feels.
Don't want to sound rude, but you can feel that the poly ideas came up pretty late into development and that's why it is executed so bad.

Speaking to Larian directly for future games: If you want to add polyships, at least add a male and a female companion to have as a side chick (if you care about straight males and lesbians, that is).

Well said, want to point out that
She doesn't have anything with Halsin in poly romance, so it would make sense actually that she wants to add him there. It wouldn't be bad. It was 1 of the earliest suggestions, that dialogue that is currently playing would play only on poly romance(and Halsin self invitation).

At this point I believe that it's about his pride, nothing else. He won't change anything, because he believes that what he writes is 100% fantastic and fans are wrong.

This is spot on, and all of these points have been mentioned several times in both threads. What we all want from Halsin seems to consistent.

About a mono path. I do want to know what he would say if Tav says they dont want anyone else. I dont necesarily want to demand he be mono, but since he chooses to not see anyone else in game it just works that way. I agree that if they only want eachother, then it really doesnt need to go further than that.

So we could have a situation that goes like this:

H: I only want you, but I want others to find happiness with you.
T: Halsin, I understand that that is what you want. But I have only found my happiness with you. I am not certain I could find happiness with others.
H: I...I'm touched. You care for me so deeply?
T: I do.
H: I, I have not had this experience before. But I only want you, and if you only want me in return, this may be what nature intends for us. I wish not for you to be with anyone whom you do not want. I suppose, the lives of the wolf or the swan, may not be as restrictive as I had once thought.

Or something like that. Im not so good at the flowery words the characters use. But this way it leaves everyones options open in the future, while honoring the way both characters feel in the moment. This will also make it so the people that break up with their current partners to be with Halsin, which has happened, dont get a huge slap in the face.

I would like to see another line added, that if he is only seeing the Tav and that is commits himself to a monoship.

Just in addition to what you said, it feels like a monoship, both date exclusively each other so why not make it official? Make him willing to explore this path with Tav and that's it.

3 options:

1) Tav: I want to live and love as open as you do, Halsin (but then he should actively date others)
2) Tav: I love only you and want us to be exclusively to each other
3) Tav: I wish to only love you but you are free to roam, Halsin (this is should also include him actively date others)

and then Halsin's reactions:

1) Perfect. (couldn't come up with something better lol)
2) I never explored this wonderful tamed garden of your's but my heart is more than willing to do so.
3) If that is what your heart desires, you may have it.

All of those option include Halsin calling it a relationship (it's not a casual fling or just friends with benefits). He says a lot of sweet things but afaik he never told you he loves you (correct me if I'm wrong).

This allows each player to get what they desire and it shouldn't take too much effort. It's all about Halsin's commitment, stuff needs to be canon and not headcanon based on ambiguous lines.

I would support 2 being added if we similarly got an option to get the exclusively-monogamous characters to agree to a polyamorous relationship. It's only fair. If you truly feel that every single character should be open to a monogamous relationship, every single character should be open to a polyamorous one too.