Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Gifts and locations for friendship, nor romance?

After playing through a couple times what is really standing out to me is that there is little 'team building' or bonding that you get to do apart from with the character you are romancing. Sure, there are companion quest lines where, basically, you choose to save their life or not. But the vast majority of your friendship/connection with others comes out if you are trying to sleep with them. I really think we should have options to bond with people and explore their character or influence their character just on the basis on friendship choices.

My first criticism is that we don't get to give the character a gift, which would be an easy way to boost approval with someone in Act 3 you may have been neglecting or not often including in your party. There are so many books strewn across the world and funny things like unique bottles of wine. For example, since Karlach always talks about her love of food and drink, gifting her a bottle of some riesling or ale just seems normal.

There are bits of each character's backstory I fully expected to explore either by turning up at a certain location or giving them a gift and this would have been a great opportunity to 'nudge' the character into agreeing with you about later choices or just better understanding each other. For example, if you're going to go to the hells, perhaps Wyll should want to join if Karlach is also going and he (Wyll) should talk TO HER, not your character, about making sure she's feeling alright about the journey. Laying the foundation that all these characters care about each other, you know? Similarly, we don't explore much of Gale apart from his past romance. I would love to gift him a book on spells or education or something and start a brief conversation about what brings him joy in magic. It would add some much needed depth. Right now, he's just a walking tragedy. Giving him such a book and having the other characters say "yes, that was nice" or approving would make more sense.

Astarion is similar - I kept expecting to be able to befriend him and build rapport in a way other than... sleeping with him. I really thought we'd be able to give him a gift of a painting of himself. Or, my main hope throughout the entire game, that we would be able to help reawaken memories of when he was a magistrate. That seems like such a nice piece of backstory left untouched. Cazador targeted him because he handed down decisions he disliked, which sort of implies Astarion was either a wise or merciful young judge. That would have been interesting to explore further. I would thoroughly want to encourage he reconnect with that thread of himself and having some other companion say "oh, you should give Astarion this book on legal history" and then approve when you do so would be the team building and group rapport I'm currently missing.

I realize there is only so much the team can build into this complex world, but right now it does feel like I'm keeping characters alive either to sleep with them or use as canon fodder. I'd much prefer to build them up - together - in a way that I care about they care about each other. Heck, it could be something as simple as characters suggesting a piece of armor or weapon is currently better suited to another character or checking in that the other person is doing okay at camp.

Agreed, I thought the gift system in DA Origins was great in its simplicity. There were "generic" gifts that you could gift to any companion for a small nudge in approval, and unique companion-specific gifts that you would find in the world and, depending on how much you'd paid attention to what they were saying, would instantly know to gift to that companion for a huge leap in approval and progressing their respective quests. What I didn't like in that system was how the generic gifts were available in bulk at vendors, so by dumping gold and spamming them you could reach maximum approval mere minutes after meeting them. That was obviously very broken, but also easily avoidable if one was to implement a gift system. Opportunity missed in BG3 in my opinion. I hand a Githyanki greatsword to Laezel - no reaction. I give book after book about the Shar cult and Dark Justiciars to Shadowheart after she's been fawning over them in dialogues - no reaction. It's a little jarring to be honest.

Yeah, that would be nice. I did feel like my character became friends with some of the companions, maybe just from how the dialogue feels at high approval levels, but I'm sure more could be done. I don't think I'd expect special dialogue for handing Lae'zel a githyanki sword, because they're pretty common in the game, but I think gift giving should be more like giving Shadowheart a night orchid. A semi-unique thing.

Alas, I can't see it happening at this late stage, but no harm in mentioning it

I am always for more friendship content - and in Gale's case I would love to be able to ask Tara to stay with us after meeting her. But otherwise, I think, Gale and Shadowheart are not the greatest examples because you can give Shadowheart gifts as a friend (the night orchid and while she does not react to books, she reacts to gifting her an idol of Shar), and Gale has a fairly fleshed out friendship path. All the things you ask for, with regard to him, are in the game.

Apart from this, I am also sad that you cannot give the Silver Sword to Lae'zel through dialogue (like you can give her the Gith egg) because this sword is what she has been talking about the whole game. It is her greatest wish and - I assume - when she has turned from Vlaakith it might be worth having a conversation about whether the meaning of this sword now has changed for her. Not being able to gift UAstarion the portrait similarly seems like such a let down. It would be a nice way to show that overcoming the difficulties his choice presents is possible. I think that giving him the Necromancy of Thay counts as a present though, because through reading it, he hopes to learn more about how to defeat Cazador - and I suspect also how to become properly alive again because that is what the book is supposed to teach you according to the notes in the lab.

Edit: And to be a broken record, when playing as Avatar-Gale I would love to give Karlach the flying axe he promises her. It's literally the only normal party-banter between the two that stays when you play as Gale.

Yeah there are some elements of it, but they kinda missed an opportunity by not making it more of a thing. It's a little funny how Laezel talks about getting the Silver Sword while it is still in Tav's inventory and I can go sell it to a vendor if I so wish... As for me gifting her a Gith sword - while they do come a dime a dozen once you get to the creche, there are none before the fight at the bridge. My latest playthrough she was rocking some nondescript +1 axe when I gave her a rare (blue) quality greatsword of her people, and not so much as a short comment. I'd expect a few words at least, while a long cutscene would have probably been too much.

It would be cool if the game let you deepen connections just by hanging out or sharing gifts, like giving Karlach a nice bottle of ale after a tough fight to show you care. Kind of like when I gifted a digital picture frame to someone who loved capturing memories—it wasn’t romantic, just a genuine way to show appreciation.

Such an oversight. I was expecting some sort of retort from Laezel too, especially if you give her something like a rare Githian sword. It's a culturally significant item, after all.

I guess a lot of team building was head-canon for me and I didn't expect any kind of in-game reward, but if I remember correctly there are a few items that at least trigger a comment. So, maybe this is something modders can pick up. When anything was central to the character's story, like the Silver Sword of Gith to Lae'zel, I would usually let them take the lead.