Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Build Discussion Storywise, what party composition should I go with?

FYI: This is my 1st pkaythrough so no spoilers, please

I currently have the following companions:
- Shadowheart,
- Laez'el,
- Astarion,
- Minthara (just about to romance her).

Out of the above four companions, which would provide the best experience for my 1st playthrough.

Also, what classes would pair well with my tav (I am a dual-crossbow-wielding Swords Bard) so I can respec them accordingly. My current idea is a frontliner (most likely open-hand monk), a spellcaster, a life cleric for healing and me.

I think in general you should just go with the companions you enjoy the most, but bring anyone along for their personal quests.

Shadowheart is a good pick especially for act 2 as she's got stuff to do there. I recommend bringing Lae'zel over if you visit the Creche, obviously.
Anyone else I'd say it's going to be more or less up to you. Minthara, for example, is kind of bugged, so some of her stuff may not trigger. Astarion isn't very relevant storywise save for his own quest, however he does have a lot of funny quips so if you enjoy his personality you should bring him along. He also does have more content than the rest in terms of hours (Shadowheart being second).

Specific companions usually won't make a difference in the story and their value is in bringing their point of view to situations. So choosing who to go with is mostly going to rely on whose banter you like.

That being said, this thread probably doesn't belong to this board, as it's meant to be feedback for Larian, so be mindful of that in the future!

Yes this thread belongs in Builds: https://forums.larian.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=102&page=1

By the way, "dual crossbow wielding Bard" is about as non-descriptive as it gets. The Hand Crossbow is even the starting weapon of Bards. Probably about 90% of Bards dualwield Hand Crossbows.

Bards are probably the most flexible of all classes.

They are one of the three skillbased classes, the other two are Rogue and Ranger.

They are one of the pure spellcaster classes, that means their spellcaster level equals their class level and they get better spells at every levelup. The other pure spellcaster classes are Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard and Warlock. Like Sorcerer and Warlock they cannot swap out spells, so they have to think carefully what spells to pick.

They can fully lean into skills, trickery and spells by going College of Lore.

They can become an impressive melee fighter by going College of Swords.

I dont think anyone plays College of Valor because frankly Bards hardly get anything to defend themselves, dont get many hitpoints, and even with shield they wont get much in regards of armor class. There are Wizard classes with better defenses (Abjuration School).

I’ve moved this thread to the Builds sub forum. It could equally have gone in the Story and Character one, as it’s at the intersection of the two.

I know it’s often a bit of a grey area where a thread should go!

- Shadowheart makes a great life cleric in act 2


- Minthara & Laez'el are both front line fighters and story-wise i would swap those two i.e take Laez'el early for her interactions with -mostly- Shadowheart then swap in Minthara early in act 2
note act 2 is really the point of no return for story good ve story evil... upto that point you can have a foot in both if you are careful

Astarion is normally a range character unless you go monk with him but his story is mostly act 3 so you may want to swap in others if you take the 'good' path in act 2

Shadowearth like one of the most heavely pushed character. My brother didn't had her and its like he hasn't been playing the same game as I.

If your a crossbow user I'd say dish Astarion even if he a strong choice role playing wise.

Story wise, I'D say BG3 has been made around Astarion,Lae'Zel and Shadow.

The only reason why people take Lae'zel and Shadowheart so often is because Cleric and also Fighter are such strong pure classes. Which by the way is true for the original rules, too, if not even more so, especially for Fighter beyond level 12.

This doesnt apply to Rogue at all, their implementation is unfortunately lacking compared to the original definion, which is why you probably want to multiclass Astarion if you want to travel with him. A really strong combo is for example Gloomstalker Ranger (9) / Assassin (3); even stronger maybe Gloomstalker Ranger (5)/any Fighter(3)/Assassin(3) and the final level to either Fighter or Rogue for an additional feat (Fighter gives one single additional hitpoint while Assassin(4) is usually available sooner).

ANY other domain is better than Trickery, which was also poorly implemented and falls strongly behind all other domains. Otherwise the domains are very well balanced. Nature for example has some real Druid goodies you get to enjoy without actually having a Druid in group. War of course gets extra attacks, though only a limited amount. Etc.

Storywise Lae'zel doesnt have much going on after you've visited the Creche. She probably has the least story.

Story wise, the best party composition is all of them. I’d swap them around a bit and bring characters along who you think could be relevant to whatever you are doing. Also keeping the default classes or something similar for each will make most sense for their characters. Eg making Lae’zel a monk wouldn’t seem very weird, but turning Astarian into a mage or Shadowheart into a Barbarian probably would.

Can’t help noticing you are lacking a few companions. Are you doing an evil playthrough and/or saving others for future runs?

Sword bards are super versatile and very good for filling any role. Give them expertise in slight of hand and at least proficiency in perception, and they’ll be up there with rouges for lockpicking and traps. They are very good casters, more focused on crowd control (hypnotic pattern can be quite absurd) and can certainly hold their own with ranged or melee combat. You can even give them healing word, which is probably the most useful healing spell at level 1 and probably enough to swap Shadowheart out on occasion.

If you stuck with detail classes, both Lae’zel and Minthara are very good front line, and you have Shadowheart as a cleric. So you’re only slightly lacking a dedicated caster for wrecking the battlefield. It’s probably fine if you make sure your bard has a couple of good AoE damage spells in their list. Or maybe Minthara as a sorcerer or paladin/sorcerer?

I once had Astarion as a Wild Magic Sorcerer (something about the interaction of the tadpole with his undead vampiric status and infernal body art.)

It was hilarious as some of the wild magic side effects led to some funny imagined dialogue