Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Permanent party after Act 1

Personally I think it will just come down to everyone not in the party at some point being outside of the sphere of effect of that artifact, and then being Absoluted up because of it.

...I should probably try a run without Shadowheart in the party just to see what happens in that scene when she isn't in it.

I was kinda dissapointed really ...

I kinda a feel like Larian, or some at Larian, loves Shaowheart SO, SO, SOOO much that they just can't fathom people running the game without her, and are writing their story upon the assumption that she will be there, and going out of their way to force her into your party far more than any other companion.

IF that is the case, and they Want Shadowheart to be an integral central character to the story, then just go ahead and make her an 'essential' npc, make her a necessary part of the party, and be done with it - other games do this with characters that are of necessary importance the story, and it's fine, more or less, as long as you commit to it and write them well enough.

I have this feeling for last year ...
Since i find out that Shadowheart is the only one you can keep discusing your "so far adventures" with ... every other companion can be speaked with only once per topic ... but her? Repeat over, and over, and over, ...

Also kinda anoying to be honest ...
When i check up to other companion i only see "stay in camp" or "nevermind" ... so i clearly see there is no new conversation i wasnt through yet ...
But with her i often need to check up whole dialogue trees.

That's actually sounds likely. It could be interesting... I wonder if one could potentially "win them back" as well.

My theory has been that there's one or more ways for any companion to leave the party, the most-gimme being Lae'zel taking off because I'm not focusing on her creche exclusively.

Getting Absoluted would be a great way of doing it, too. I like envisioning the howls of outrage from Astarion-lovers when he runs off because he's frustrated we won't let him use his powers, gets Absoluted (I love this term), and then you have to fight him!

I would enjoy that a lot!

If this turns out to be true it would represent railroading in the ultimate. As of now, I have no interest in having SH in my party (and she may not even be alive in my game).

there's definitely some creator pet vibes going on with SH, but I'm not convinced it's not just the development process. They've spent more time on her, but will be giving others more attention later on. I certainly hope so, because right now she feels like the main character. Try to ignore her and she actually tracks you down at your camp? that's ..odd to say the least for a possible companion character.

She's got top billing in all the artwork, and her artifact plays a super central role in the story so far. The underdark and justiciers is related. I think it's almost certain she and her mission are a major plot element

Huh, I've never felt that Shadowheart was the creator's pet - if anything, I thought that was Gale's as he has the most extra mechanics and unique story details so far:

- Gale has a unique death cutscene + necro effects + unique ending if you leave him dead - he is the only companion that literally has plot armor

- The artifact eating system is a tracking system unique to Gale, and seems to potentially scale with the rest of the game (i.e. more areas more items). In the EA you can already get a potential story branch/outcome if you ignore him, which hints at a larger quest

- I feel like many of his dialogue scenes involve way more cinematography and special effects (i.e. mirror image, his Mystra story). Very memorable.

Other of that, I think Astarion is the only other companion with tangible unique mechanic (vampire water weakness + bite). In general, I don't think the gaps in the companions have been massive, but some definitely have more going on. I feel the recent patches have brought Shadowheart closer to the top in terms of content, but she was one of the more unfinished companions when we first saw her in the EA (i.e. other than the random hand glowy thing, she really does nothing much later on).

EDIT: I agree while the artifact is super plot important, I don't think that necessarily makes Shadowheart important. I don't know if Patch 6 changed, this, but previously you can easily kill her and take the artefact and just progress the story as planned.

I don't recall where I read it, but I have a recollection of reading something that said Gail wasn't supposed to be in EA at all, but the acting was so good, they made schedule adjustments to get him in

Yeah, that was the Kevin Van Ord stream (which has been taken down) - IIRC he writes for Lae'zel and Wyll.

I don't remember if the context of that statement is whether Gale wasn't supposed to be ready for the EA release, or not supposed to be in Act 1 at all (i.e. he's a companion you meet later). It does somewhat explain his somewhat abrupt introduction. I also remember him talking about how Wyll was initially going to look very different, but they completely overhauled his look to better match the voice actor because they loved him so much.

I'd be surprised if it was "not in act 1 at all," because he's got so much dialog, eg after the saza and the kid on the beach encounters

You know there is (or at least was) the way to kill him for good?

By waiting for x days, you just mean resting x times, right? I'm not trying to be cute with you, I just want to know if it's feasible for me to test it myself or not (since there's also a clock that's not bound to resting ticking in the backroom of the game). I tried to confirm whether the Gale-Storm ending was a thing in patch 4 but eventually stopped because I didn't want to run around with an inexchangeable dead npc taking up a party slot.

I usually settle on a regular party, anyway, so in itself having the game force a fixed party by the end of the first act doesn't trouble me. Like others I hope that the mechanism for this is interesting and not too reminiscent of DOS2. Especially if who is left behind doesn't depend on who is in the active party at a particular time, I also hope that there is some mechanism for filling in lacking roles--preferably with non-origin companions. Or it may be that at release there will be enough less edgy companions that it will be less challenging to build parties that will find a variety of Tavs congenial.

Yup

This topic just came up in reddit today and I thought I'd share: https://www.reddit.com/r/BaldursGate3/comments/qrwksq/source_permanent_party_after_act_one/

#1 upvoted response:
"Thank you for the information, i hate it tho"

Hard agree. And the BG3 reddit is generally very positive on Larian.

Come on Larian - this is a genuine mistake. I think you've done a pretty good job making BG3 its own game and feel different, despite what some people will say. But THIS - this is a legitimately a "DOS3" design choice.

Locking in a party of 4 after Act 1 goes 100% contrary to almost everything I'm fighting for with this game. I'm calling for a party size increase and want the ability to switch in and out MORE party members, not be stuck with the same four for the rest of the game.

So, hopefully they won't do that. That would quickly turn this game from one of my favorites to the worst ever. I am ALL about characters, which is why I want a bigger party, not a limited one and locked out of switching them in and out.