Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion Is the Act 3 Romance enough for you?

So in Act 1 - there are multiple scenes, I admit I have no done all the romances but just using Shadowheart and Karlach as an example but first you flirt, get a set-up to romance scene like "hey want to do something?"
For Shadowheart her romance scene is a kiss by the waterfall.
For Karlach a kiss as well but with her heating problem it it becomes an interesting issue to resolve.

Act 2 - the whole situation has changed yes, and for Shadowheart there is not much to explore. Especially as her lover in the Gauntlet. After the Gauntlet we get a "wait for now" message.
For Karlach we go to the next stage. Which is great honestly!

Act 3 - now this is where I think where we should have had the most romance content is feels like its too little and too fast.
For both Shadowheart and Karlach they confront their old abusers and I know depending on previous decisions things could go differently but still there is only one romance scene.
For Karlach the date scene and for Shadowheart the Swim scene (or the statue scene if you are evil!)

And thats it!
In the finale where you are facing squidification there is not much to discuss between the romance partner and yourself.

I know the recent update talked about some updates to that and new cute kiss animation but I feel like there should be a few more character development points between Act 2 and Act 3.
I think to remedy this there should be a "tiefling party" moment at camp for specific milestones between your character, the romance partner and the other characters in general.

For example a Camp scene after the Creche, another one after First Light discover, where maybe you can stay at the inn instead of its vicinity! one last one for after Ketheric's defeat.
In Act 3 there should be a specific romance scene for Elf Song Tavern, This scene should be before the romance finale, there should be a camp scene before you set out for the Elder Brain fight.

These camp moments are to show comedic moments like Gale cooking, or romance partner sneaking a kiss, or some conversations between the different characters so it really shows they are companions in an adventure rather that sentinels standing by their tent 24/7. I kept waiting for these moments to come about but they never did, or just barely. It seems as though as soon as things got good the game ended!
But this is my feelings on it, How about everyone else?

I share those feelings. I would love more camp scenes, not only romantic ones but especially friendly ones that maybe show the characters as a group that grows closer together. The rooms in the Elf Song are such a nice location, it gets so little use. Wouldn't hurt Halsin to do his whittling by the fireplace, I am sure it's nicer there.

I would also like I more casual scenes with my chosen partner, scenes that focus more on being together than purely on the romance, if this makes sense. For example Astarion's Araj scene is great in this regard, as is visiting the grave of Shart's old friend or meeting Tara with Gale - I just wish you could really spend some time with everyone's favourite tressym and get to know her a little. I guess "interpersonal moments" is what I am looking for.

Minthara players; "what romance?"


Personally I don't think the issue is about there not being enough romance in ACT III, the issue is romance not being done right because romances and their pacing in BG3 are just all over the place.

They do not evolve naturally as strangers > friendship > camaraderie > romance. Instead they're shallow "we're strangers, but let's bang as soon as possible m'kay?". Due to this lack of meaningful growth the pacing ends up all over the place and that's why it feels like ACT III needs more romance scenes to one-up the romance scenes from ACT II or ACT I and truly capitalize on them.

Divinity Original Sin II for example beautifully executed romance despite how little it had, because it only starts between the finale of ACT III and beginning of ACT IV. Up until that point the player slowly gets to know their companions and build up friendship with them, explore their backstories and establish a real sense of camaraderie. Which only evolves into actual romance if the player does everything right for their companions by ACT III, at which point it begins the relationship with a lovely romantic night spent together and plans of living together forever by the game's finale.

BG3 on the other hand... doesn't have any properly paced build up, it's just straight from strangers to immediate horny strangers that wanna bang. And if you don't bang them, they'll throw a fit with the most depressing puppy eyes because how dare you not bang someone you just met (looking at you Karlach, Wyll and Lae'zel. As for Astarion, I want to rip his balls off because his approach is just so awful.)

The pinnacle of any romance should've been in ACT III, but instead; Karlach's pinnacle of romance is in ACT II, Lae'zel's pinnacle is ACT II, Shadowheart's is ACT III, Minthara's pinnacle is ACT I (as a brainwashed victim that isn't even the real Minthara). There's just no proper pacing and that's why it feels like there needs to be more.

As I said in other threads about this; I felt far more invested in DOSII when it comes to romance than I am with any in BG3 because there they were paced properly to allow the sense of actual camaraderie to build up before romance ever came into the picture.

With all that said; Minthara for me is the only one who actually feels properly paced as her actual romance does not start until the very finale of ACT II, allowing the player to build a proper camaraderie with her due to survival circumstances before it actually evolves into something (which unfortunately is not much since she's entirely ignored by Larian). But overall I agree that ACT III romance does not capitalize whatsoever because the pinnacles were already reached in ACT II or ACT I.

Halsin's romance feels totally rushed, you don't get anything until after lifting the shadow curse, then he tells you his rules, you can have sex and afterwards he decides to keep monastic silence (only broken when he sees the refugees/orphans, when he sees the opportunity to have sex with the drow twins) until right before the last battle and then you get the ending.

So, yes, Halsin is not really happening in act 3, his character in act 3 doesn't fit the one in act 1 & 2 and you get the feeling that the most important thing for him has been the sex after the curse is lifted.
Yet, I have to admit that the new kisses and animations are sweet, but I could've done it without them if they would've added more dialogues.

I think that overall Shadowheart has one of the best romances in the game, if you take into account all of the smaller interactions where you can give her gifts and stuff. There are a couple of things I would like added.

First, a little bit more romance-specific dialogue in Act 2. As it is, a lot of the dialogue with her is the same whether you are romancing her or not. I’ve heard that they added romantic banter in Act 2, but had a couple of folks tell me they hadn’t seen anything like that.

It would also be really cool in Act 2 if they could add some kind of interaction with the pair of rings that allow you to cast “gentle warding bond.” Possibly talking about that in relation to the wound on her hand. I don’t think that she needs a whole romance scene in Act 2 personally. It’s a short act and she plays an enormous role in it.

In Act 3, there is one cutscene that I would like to see added more than anything. I would love a camp scene where the romance interest fully reacts to the Dark Urge’s decision-making at

It would be cool if Shadowheart had a date in the city like Karlach, or something. But, like I said, the thing I’d like to see most of all is under the spoiler tags. I think that Act 3 generally speaking suffers severely from a lack of camp scenes.

Also I want her frickin’ kiss at Grymforge fixed, LOL! It’s been broken for four months! It’s driving me crazy. By the way, I always romance Shadowheart as a cleric of Selune, which makes the romance more narratively satisfying. So that may also enable you to enjoy it more.

I do like romances having their special scene that establishes the relationship in Act 2 because it allows you to be a couple for some time in the game. For Gale this works pretty well - at least for me - because his story is so strongly tied to the main plot and figuring out what the Crown is - possibly plotting to take it for yourselves - becomes part of the romance. It gives you a good feeling of being partners with someone and working towards a shared goal. Since the epilogue was added, I am pretty happy with his romance - especially since the latest patch. (Though he still forgets that vampires don't eat when inviting you to dinner with Tara but oh well ... )

Astarion's is a romance that I more and more like better in theory than in execution. In Act 3 he very quickly comes to terms with abandoning the ritual so you can have a clean wrap up of the quest. Having some time and little events between Cazador and the graveyard wouldn't hurt. There is also the misalignment of character and player dialogue for Spawn Astarion. From Astarion's lines, his relationship is also one of partnership, of doing things together, there is nothing in the plot, environment or the player dialogue though, that allows for these feelings of partnership to be felt - apart from the Araj scene maybe.

My real problem is in Act 1 though. His night in the woods is deliberately set up as feeling fake and performative, but your character is written as to fall for it completely and you have no way to properly react to it. You are allowed to mention it the morning after, but - much like during the brothel - you are not given to opportunity to ground the situation. Being able to derail that pastel forest scene into a good, depressing conversation about what it means to feel powerless and at someone's mercy would be cool.

I would prefer a second chance romance for act 3 if you so happen to get friendzoned in act 2 I would like that first date(act 2) option to pop up at act 3 as a just in case you really didn't want to get friendzoned.

I said it already, but I'd definitely want something more for Shadowheart either in act 2 or 3. Her romance in act 2 is completely underwhelming compared to other companions. And her "romance" dialogues are almost the same as non-romanced ones.

And for the love of god, her romance for Selunite cleric needs some tweaks too. Her responses to Selunite lines are exactly the same for romance path and non-romance. There should be some tweaks, especially in the gauntlet of Shar, where she's ready to fight us if we don't want to help her. She acts exactly the same way to romance and platonic path. At the very least, she should have some doubts as our love interest.

Shadowheart: I'll fight you.
Romanced Shadowheart: I'll fight you.

Tweaked:
Romanced Shadowheart: I don't want to, but I will fight you if you don't stand aside.


That was just an example, but those small details would make a world of difference for her romance.

EDIT: I forgot to add that as ladies go, Shadowheart is the only one who doesn't say "I love you" or anything similar to it. Karlach says it, Laz has her gith words for expressing it, I think even Minthara says something. Shadowheart...? Nope, nothing. Just something about MAYBE being in love with Tav.

Since my reply is just a bigg mess full of spoilers I decided to wrap it all up, so if you have not completed your first game yet, please do not read below it would ruin your first time experience.


When you grow a companionship romantically with an origin character, I have always felt satisfied about it narratively (including Act 3 romances) and that makes me feel like a vocal minority, Ihowever with that being said I can agree there should easily have been more camp party moments in the game but the spots where I find it would make most sense and where I would have placed them are as follow:


My biggest worry is that just because a character cant be an origin should not have meant that they cant get the origin character treatment, Minthara is so delicately woven into the plot of The Dark Urge origin that this is just a huge mistake and an oversight to not have given her such treatment as they both share a lot of details in common, both are pragmatic strong willed characters, both got victimized by Orin and as result both share history with her for that same reason, Minthara should have had more bond-up moments throughout each Act of the game at bare minimum specially given how much you potentially give up on from the choices you can make in Act 1, right now it feels like Minthara is held together by stitches that comes loose on the occasion.

I've probably mentioned this before, but I enjoy Shadowheart's romance a lot. However it does feel as though something is missing in act 2 rather than 3 - directly after the Tiefling party (or her first romance scene) the pacing of the relationship just kind of pauses, and there's a huge gap where very little goes on between then and when it picks up again after the Nightsong encounter - yet it's indicated you're clearly in a relationship. You could explain it away with her internal struggle weighing up her ambitions to be a Dark Justiciar vs. feelings for the player character... but I won't. Compared to other romances it practically sits in limbo until you're all but finished with the Shadow-Cursed Lands.

Her reactions to choosing her -should you have pursued another potential romantic interest up until that point in act 2- and (romanced) Dark Urge waking her in the night to save her and also conflict with the state that the relationship is in.

Of course, more camp scenes that you can enjoy as a group would be more than welcome, this is something I've felt the game was missing since the first time I played.

This. Thank you. I'm glad someone else sees it the same way I do. It's even worse if you don't play as Durge (which I don't, I just prefer Tav), then there's literally nothing for me romance-wise in act 2.

I noticed this too, though I'm more than satisfied with the equivalent phrases she uses. She does refer to the player character as "my love" and her "true love" and the person she wants to be with "now and always" but it's almost a glaring omission that you can't say it to her either, especially since her non-Sharran path is one of the more traditionally romantic relationships in terms of interactions.

Also I always found it a bit funny that you can tell her she's beautiful and she will respond with "I know" on two separate occasions.

Yes, she reffers to the player as "true love". But it would be cool if you had some interactions where you can simply say "I love you"(or she says it).

Agree, I'd love that option even just for Tav.

You know, I agree, I noticed that omission as well. At first it really bothered me, but then I realized that she gives more validation consistently throughout the game than the other two female romance interests. So I’m at peace with the fact that she doesn’t clearly say that she loves the player character, etc.

But I would NEVER say no to the inclusion of something like that. It would be a great addition! Maybe at the end of the game when you think you all might be about to die. Lol. I think it would fit very well there. Or even casually in the epilogue.

What are the two times that she responds with “I know”? I remember that there’s one in the Act 3 romance scene, but I can’t remember the other one.

First romance scene.

Yeah, I think for me it's an instance of it goes without saying. Of course, I'd love for it to be included, it would be a nice fit for the Morphic Pool / High Hall "final kiss" moment, or even the Elfsong epilogue...

The first "I know" is during the first time during the act 1 scene if you pick the option (look into her eyes).

I'm pretty sure we all are aware that you're satisfied with everything regarding Shadowheart romance, but some of us are really not. Compared to other romances, SH doesn't really "validate" Tav as much as Karlach or even Laz. That is pretty lacking.

Care to explain what you mean by that?

That's because the writer unfortunately has different interest. I apologies but at this point I can't help but be a little bit impish in regards to this whole situation.

edit. I cant even make a single post without this forum crashing :I

Probably referring to her post nightsong "I want to be with you now and always" thing or act 3 "I want to share it all with you" thing.

Oh, I am well aware. I've had these discussions before. And at that point, lots of people agree that SH/Halsin's writer won't change a thing, because of his pride, nothing else. The exact same situation was in Original Sin 2 where he was a writer of certain character.

Don't give up, keep feedback going. Up until we lose, we are winning.

Also what is character he wrote? I thought its Beast, but some say its Red Prince.

I mean Karlach pretty well does that too the moment you start the scene in act 2. She constantly validates that she wants to remain with you, even knowing she has little time left.

That doesn't cover the lack of communication and scenes throughout act 2, considering by act 2 Shadowheart is very distant and acts like how she'd act if you weren't romancing her. A little difference here and there when romanced would do wonders, imo.

It was Red Prince if I remember correctly and very weird plot about player watching Red Prince (romanced) fucking someone else. Yikes.

I wasn't saying that Karlach is less commited or anything lul, I think Karlach romance is amazing.

Pretty sure he wrote the Beast. Is there any confirmation on the interenet about it?

I dislike Shadowhearts sudden change in character and nonsensical writing that doesn't fit as much as the next person but I don't like spreading misinformation (even tho I've done this same thing before, so that's on me ) but Red Prince was written by Jan Van Dosselaer. (https://www.gamedeveloper.com/desig...e-making-of-i-divinity-original-sin-2-i-)

@Netav Oh you're in trouble now, buddy boy! Dissing Karlach in front of Orchid, get him Orchid!

Then my bad, that's why I said "if I remember correctly", which I didn't!

Though that bad plot with Red Prince is way similar to the whole Shadowheart and Halsin situation. Gives off really bad vibes.

What I mean by consistently giving you validation throughout the game, is that you meet Shadowheart at the very start and, if you save her life, she immediately starts giving you positive feedback. And there’s a tremendous amount of content through Act 1 that shows her growing trust in you. She gets all kinds of speech bubbles, sharing her thoughts, and then there is the option to ask her how you’re holding up in her estimations. And she consistently validates the player character if they’re in good standing with her, when they ask how they’re holding up. This continues into Act 3 and gets pretty intense in its sentiment.

Of course, there are the main relationship events, like the Act 1 and Act 3 romance scenes, the conversation after Nightsong, and her acknowledgment of the role that you’re playing in her life. Then there’s the Act 3 camp conversation where she says she wants to live in a cottage in the country with you after it’s all over. In addition, you get cute, fun little interactions like giving her a night orchid, which provides further positive contact with the character.

In contrast, Lae’zel is cold and acts pretty heartless toward the character honestly, until you hit Act 2 and then she’s obsessed with you. Her romance blossoms really late and you don’t get consistent validation from her. No slight on Lae’zel, because I adore her as a character, but she’s definitely not my favorite romance interest. With Karlach, I know that she has her own romance scenes, makes confessions of love, and is certainly affectionate toward the player character. The difference between Karlach and Shadowheart is that Shadowheart simply has more content. You can’t regularly ask Karlach how you’re holding up in her estimations. So you don’t have all of the same opportunities for validation. Again, no slight on Karlach because she’s a lovely character.

And I’m not sure why folks are getting hostile saying that I’m satisfied with Shadowheart’s romance. I think that it’s a beautiful romance and very well done. I don’t see why that’s a terrible position to take. There’s nothing wrong with me enjoying the game as it is, period. And besides which, I have said that there are things that I would like to see added, if you look closely at my posts. I can say that Shadowheart has a beautiful romance and also wish that there might be a little bit more, at the same time. Like for example adding a brief confession of love in Act 3, or romance-specific dialogue in Act 2

There’s no need to be adversarial.

Edit: Also with the Shadowheart-Halsin thing, it’s whatever. Ignore it and pretend it doesn’t exist. It doesn’t have to be a part of the story. If it’s spoiling her romance in your view, as it would in mine, just avoid it.

Edit 2: I’m speaking as someone who has romanced Shadowheart to the end of the game, Lae’zel some ways into Act 3, and Karlach some ways into Act 2, so I may be ignorant on some points but I don’t think I’m too far off.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with you loving Shadowheart's romance. I'm glad you do! I do as well, but I can see she's severly lacking true romance content compared to other love interests and I want to express it. I've romanced all three ladies (with Shadowheart being my favorite despite lacking content) and you're wrong about Lae'zel. She opens up way faster in act 2 than Shadowheart and she expresses instantly how she cares for Tav. Karlach's romance is the sweetest (If you're into it) of all three and she has the most romance content of all the ladies.

And in comparison to romance path - platonic path, there are barely any differences for Shadowheart, which is very disappointing. Hence, my hopes for some tweaks, even small ones.

I think that I see Shadowheart as having so much romance content because I include the friendship content along with the specifically romantic content, as part of her romance. I consider all of the events that happen during a friendship with her as part of her romance arc as well. Starting as soon as you save her on the nautiloid. (It helps that she’s pretty flirty from the start.) That may account for my greater satisfaction with the arc. It all contributes to building a bond with her. And I’m ace, so like… I don’t personally need extra sex scenes.

Still, not disagreeing with the proposed tweaks at all. I would love to see a clearer affirmation of love in Act 3, softer dialogue with a romantic tone in Act 2, or another scene with her in Act 2. Certainly not disagreeing with that.

+1
If the player is interested in Shadowheart, you can find out very early on that she's attracted to you though a specific dialogue branch/Insight check - at the first long rest potentially. This and her various responses when asked how you're holding up in her estimation when raising approval goes a long way. It's such a shame it drops off for almost the entirety of the second act.

Personally, I would prefer if something was changed in act 2 for Shadowheart. Because her line at the end of the act with "so do you wanna be together or nah?" or pretty weak compared to Lae'zel's. Lae'zel's scene is honestly so heartwarming when we lose duel with her, it became one of my favorite scenes in the game. (not a fan of variation when we win the duel)

And the one with Shadowheart is... really not much compared to that and that's a very important moment, because we are locking a romance with her. But instead, we just got one sentence and that's it.
Plus, if you don't need extra romance scenes, you can always skip them. I personally would love to get another one.

There's also an issue with some new content she was supposed to get this patch. Some romance banter in act 2? Well, it doesn't work. At all. So that's more of her content being broken.

So what do you all like about Shadowheart's romance - apart from validation?

Well, I don't want to spoil the party. I would love for Shadowheart to have more content, but it's essential to understand that both SH and Astarion are the characters with the MOST content in the game. I understand that they even made statistics where Astarion led the list followed by SH.

The thing is, Astarion and SH have two versions of their respective characters with tons of new dialogues and "romantic" interactions (something no other character has). The issue is that since most of us almost always choose Selunite Shadowheart and spawn Astarion, that's probably why it seems like there's so little.

If you ask me, I would prefer if they better divided the paths for SH so they have different reactions to scenarios with Mizora/Halsin, etc. Even so, I agree that they should add a bit more romantic content for Shadowheart in Act 2. The wait to see any romantic interaction between her and Tav becomes eternal, and what's there is not worth the wait when compared to Astarion's, where you have a long conversation in the camp with a hug included.

Actually, statistics released 3 months ago showed that Astarion wasn't in the lead at all. It was all the ladies.




And if we wanna talk about Selunite/DJ path, then those definitely need some tweaks, because in Shadowheart's case, there are barely any differences AT ALL.

I was referring to the content of the game (number of interactions, dialogues, etc.) those statistics are about which is the romance most chosen by the players, which coincidentally are the 3 women

Fair enough, I thought you were talking about percentage of popularity.

In any case, Shadowheart has important story arc, but I would gladly trade some of it if that would mean more ROMANCE content for her. She lacks in that department.

This is absolutely valid and folks who like Shadowheart have been spoiled in many ways. There are companions who are in much more dire need of work, including their romance. I’m thinking especially Minthara, or Wyll. I hope that eventually Larian will be able to bring those characters closer to the high standards they set with some of the others. I recognize the need for that. And I hope that they have something in the works. At the same time, it’s fun chatting about possibilities for Shadowheart, and darn it I want her special Grymforge kiss fixed!


Well, first, I like one of her potential endings. Epilogue spoilers:
Second, it’s interesting to explore personally-encountered themes or issues, such as trust or trauma or self-discovery, through her and her romance. Much the same way as folks who love Astarion explore certain life experiences of their own through his character.

Third, they’ve given her a sharp-witted, funny yet sweet personality. Wits and blades always sharp, right? Shadowheart was given a wonderful sense of humor by the devs, and that makes it very enjoyable to romance her, as well as simply bring her along as a companion. Games are for entertainment, right? And it always helps when you have a romance interest whose in-game lines make you laugh. Case in point, the interaction where you give her a night orchid. Plus the devs gave her a little extra love when it comes to smaller interactions, like giving her the Noblestalk or the idol of Shar, throughout the game. So it’s fun to have consistent, positive, small interactions that have some substance to them. And, if you’re taking her on the good path, those reflect positively on her personality as well.

I will also say, fourth, that her Act 2 romance does have some very powerful moments that are memorable, in my opinion. Act 2 spoilers:
Fifth, (Act 3 spoilers)
And then sixth and last (although I’m sure I could say more if I thought longer), (Act 3 and Durge spoilers)
I liked the Lohse and Sebille romance (playing as Lohse) in Divinity Original Sin 2, for a similar reason. Lohse faced down her literal demon, and smote him down where he stood, and Sebille took a knife to her master and, in my game, consumed his soul as well. They were both traumatized by a powerful authority figure, used and exploited, their free will taken away, and they both faced that person down and rebuked them, and came out the better for it.

For me, there’s something powerful about stories like that, something that sticks with you. And I think that is: you’re saying a better world is possible? A better future is possible? If that’s a dream, then it’s a beautiful dream.

So yes, those are some of the reasons that I enjoy Shadowheart’s romance aside from the very sweet, consistent affirmations that she offers to the player character. Hope this helps answer your question! And to connect this to the original topic, what I’ve listed are also some of the reasons that Shadowheart’s romance ultimately feels satisfying to me, despite its imperfections. Again, not saying I wouldn’t welcome more content, but I love what content there is.


I think it’s a mistake to hold her romance arc as distinct from her character arc, like they have nothing to do with each other. The romance enriches her character arc, and the character arc enriches the romance, in fact is an integral part of it.

Right now her story in act 2 is exactly the same without any differences for romance and platonic paths. It needs to be changed.

I agree that it would be nice to have softened dialogue for her or any additions in Act 2. Not disagreeing that it would be even better if it was tweaked.

Yes! Thank you so much for the detailed answer. It's interesting to me why other people like the romances they like. For Shart I have often read, that people assume her popularity is due to her being the most appealing to the straight male audience - and while that might be true to some extend, it seems much too simple an answer - and frankly a very unsatisfying one when taken as the only easy solution.

Epilogue spoilers anon:

I mean I'm a straight male and I very much enjoy the cottagecore fantasy of my character and Shadowheart enjoying a simple life in the countryside together. It appeals to everybody.

Oh, it’s definitely NOT all a bunch of straight guys driving those numbers. No way. I’m sure there’s a healthy coalition of straight/bi/pan men, gay/bi/pan women, and non-binary folk driving the numbers. You can take that to the BANK. It’s such a deeply queer game (where queerness is normalized, expected, and simply a matter of course) that I’m confident that it attracts queer people of all sorts. How could it not? So I think the supposition that it’s all straight guys going for Shadowheart because she’s the only “normal looking” girl or whatever, is just wrong.

Plus I’m pretty sure her voice actor would be sad if that was actually the case, because she intentionally tried to infuse some queerness into Shadowheart’s character. She wanted those flirtatious lines with Karlach, and she has said that Shadowheart is supposed to be portrayed as having a little bit of a crush on Karlach. And she’s made other queer-affirming comments in regard to Shadowheart, and has her own Twitch channel actually where she runs cute streams with her girlfriend who she met during the making of BG3.

And I think that the fact that Larian chose to showcase Shadowheart and Lae’zel, when giving a teaser of Shadowheart’s new Dark Justiciar kiss, shows just how much Shadowheart is regarded as a queer character and is appealing to queer people.


Yes, I’m not excluding you by saying that Shadowheart and her endings could be appealing to queer people. I’m simply not speaking from the same perspective as you are, and I’m centering my perspective in my post.

XD I am still the tiniest bit grumpy because of those trailers, but just the tiniest bit as I mostly feel trolled. *gives poor Gale a hug*

Personally I don't care about representation, but I really do enjoy how Jennifer English's personal preferences have been incorporated into the character. Love the subtle flirtations Shadowheart has with Karlach as they're so lovely, and her wanting to be thrown over her shoulder and carried off is both sweet and funny to me

Plus Shadowheart is kinky as hell, so it fits the character beautifully. Can't say the same about all the aspects related to her character though, as representation actually did hurt a part of her personal story in ACT III massively for me (which I won't speak on because God forbid anyone says something constructively negative in today's day and age when it comes to these topics).

the modders already fixed shadowheart's kiss "kiss me like you hate me" it's in nexus mods, apparently fans care more about this kind of thing xD the mod is called "Shadowheart Selunite Kiss Bug Fix"

I'd pay for a mod that fixes her well-known act3 things. Those that are around Halsin.

Lol.

I'm pretty sure it'll be fixed once proper modding tools will be delivered. Can't wait.

So... I just read that Larian now completely butchered the lore and they changed Lae'zel. Apparently she's okay now with staying with... Illithid. Which is beyond laughable.

But okay, let me get this straight, as of now:
- Minthara is broken to hell beyond acceptable levels.
- Karlach is also now broken and some people can't even start her romance. Her banter is broken too for some people.
- Shadowheart is broken, her "new banter" doesn't trigger at all and her hair color changes randomly during romance scene. Shar idol kiss has been broken for months.
- Larian also refuses to change anything regarding Shadowheart for her Selunite and DJ path, but they are totally okay with changing lore for Lae'zel for some reason.


Well, it looks like to me that Larian doesn't really pay much attention to female love interests.

The Lae'zel part is a huge wtf to me. It makes zero sense. Literally unnecessary as some people do have their own limits and this is Lae'zel's, I don't know what was the reasoning for that.

And yeah, no banter is triggering for me either at all, they start becoming silent throughout act 2 to 3 and I prefer to have an all lady party. They don't even talk much about the city while walking, Minthara still doesn't interact with any of them when you get her with you on road. I only managed to get ONE dialogue triggered about refugees between Minthara and Shadowheart.

Pretty disheartening, I sure hope it's just a bug and not a fact that your companions don't talk much after act 1, banter - wise.

Shadowheart for me was mute through the whole act 2. Minthara has been a mute so far since act 2 and I'm currently in act 3. She hasn't said a word to anyone. I'm honestly tired of ladies being broken all the time while male love interesting are getting fixes right and left with some additional content on top of that.

The exact same issue I've had with Karlach. Not a word from her ever since I recruited her in act 1. Not even one banter.

But Wyll? Gale? Astarion? All working fine.

I wonder, do they have text with each other?

I had an Act 1 issue in which Shart's audio was broken but other than that, it seems situational. I currently play Astarion's origin, I had Tav-banter (when the PC says something and one of the companions replies) with Lae'zel in Githyanki content and some Shar/artefact related stuff with Shadowheart but apart from this it's mostly been Astarion and Gale happily chatting about Myconide necromancy, dusty halls and whatever comes up. With my Gale Origin it was the same but just the other way around.

I am enjoying it because I like the two chatting but I was wondering if it was an approval thing or just generally only the two of them latching on to weird topics.

I'm playing as Tav and situation for me looks like this in act 1:
Shadowheart had banter with Lae'zel, Wyll, Gale and Astarion - zero banter with Karlach and Minthara.
Lae'zel had two banters with Wyll, one with Gale, several with Shadowheart - zero with the rest.
Karlach - no banter whatsoever with anyone.
Gale, Wyll and Astarion - all working fine between each other.

Act 2:
Shadowheart is mute. (her new content doesn't work)
Minthara is mute.
Lae'zel is mute.
Karlach is mute.
At this point I stopped using male companions.

Act 3:
Ladies are still mute.


In conclusion - women are broken to hell and beyond. And before you say "maybe you just finished all the banter", no, I didn't. Karlach was mute from the beginning, same with Minthara.

I have had all the normal group banter between them trigger for me, in Act 2 there just seems to have much less banter in general and it depends strongly on the group. Shart and Lae'zel should have a bit when entering Moonrise tower for example.

My Minthara hasn't said a word yet though either.

I've been changing my party to see if anything triggers. Nothing, act 2 is all mute, even with Minthara, same with act 3 and I thought something new would appear there.

Can confirm, Karlach especially has a lot of banter with Shadowheart and I wasn't having any, maybe max 1-2 dialogues and that was all in act 1 alone. Rest is muted to a deafening margin from act 2 onwards. To be honest, banter should not have limits, at least not before middle of act 2 to act 3.. It'd feel a bit weird if you exhaust all banter in act 1, and the rest of acts not have any.


Lots of stuff happening in the city of Baldur's Gate and my companions don't even talk? Not even talking about stuff that happened before entering the city or random interesting stuff you get to know about your companions? Datamines have showed that Minthara has a lot of banter for each companion and she's been so far mute with the ladies. Even with the dudes.

And weirdly, when I add Gale to the party or Wyll or Astarion, banter immediately starts and its all directed at Shadowheart most of times.

Banter should still be happening in act 3, even if scripted.

bantering doesn't seem to off on my games Karlach is probably a little quieter in act 2
guantlet of shar is Karlach, Shadowheart and Astarion .

Shadowheart and Astarion are always bantering about something Karlach seemed to speak up at the tiefling corpses
and shes chatting about Dammon everytime we go to the inn.

Shadowheart talks a fair bit in Rivington not noticed so much in the city but that place has dialogue everywhere so I may just be missing it .

Karlach bearly shuts up in act 1 Shadowheart/Astarion are her reply buddies.

Minthara is completely busted at the moment as I haven't got the update as I'm on Xbox I have to play her she sometimes sends out the odd sentence but I've not been in that game for about a week to fully listen to her.
12 characters on the go I'm an Altoholic

I'll add that I started having Jaheira in my party in act 3 and she's mute as well. Another busted female companion in my game. So far I had 0 banter between anyone in act 3 and I'm in the lower city already.

I have wanted more companion content in general in act 3 for a long time. The content we do get is great, there's just not enough of it! I love Astarion's graveyard scene... but I wish there were more ways to enjoy this progressed romance than just repeatable kisses, and for spawn Astarion it's just 2 kisses. I don't know how... perhaps it's just more companion cutscenes and conversations in general that would make act 3 not feel so quiet. Selune Shadowheart is a very sweet character, so more validating from her to her partner makes sense. I've never romanced Shadowheart but even as a friend in the epilogue she is the sweetest person at the party. It makes sense for her validate her romance just as much as Karlach does. I understand why someone would want more.

I played as a female Tav, and I'd intended to get her together with Wyll because they seemed pretty compatible. But because my backstory was that she started quite socially awkward, I turned down his offer of a kiss in the Temple of Shar, hoping that I'd be able to change my mind later (like at the party in act 1 where it looks like you can choose who to romance). But it never happened. When I completed his quest line and he announced his new name he said he wanted to prepare dinner for us and I thought he was going to ask my character out again, but no. I even took the love test and passed every question, he sounded romantic during the test but then nothing happened afterwards. I think if you pass the love test with a character who's got a high enough approval, they should ask if it meant something. Especially if they had already tried to romance you. I'm actually thinking of going back to my last save before the dance to replay the second half of the game soon to see what happens.

For me, ending the affair with Halsin is not enough. Not because of the lack of content, but because we get a future in an orphanage by default, with no choice whatsoever for Tav. For players who would prefer to travel the world with Halsin, or simply with a grey morality that doesn't fit the vision of a babysitter, this one option is definitely not enough.