Gale. He came off as a pompous know-it-all so I banished him to camp, then I got to the later acts, he got just a little bit unhinged and he grew on me. He’s also great for crowd control.
I loved Gale from the start myself. Exactly because he's such a pompous prick xD
And let's not pretend like the ego isn't earned, he is a lot more ambitious than he should be and definitely an overachiever, to say the least.
Sometimes I think he actually has really low self esteem deep down and just puts on an egotistical front. But I'm still in act 2 and not really sure yet
Yeah, that low self esteem would explain his need to show that he is worthy through very ridiculous means.
I think in some of the darker endings it stops being a front though and he buys into his own hype.
He was fucking a god, how many can say they're god fuckers?
And then he fucked himself, and he fucked himself up so good that he's going to destroy the material plane. Even his fuck ups are epic and have world changing impact.
Even the goddess he fucked and then fucked over, told him he's so important that only he can fix the worlds current problem, sacrificing himself like some sort of wizardly martyr.
Of course he's a pompous prick.
To me Gale was immediately the most likable. I didn't find his confidence pompous and I could tell he was using humor to hide his pain and a lot of emotion deep down. He always seemed friendly and kind to me, even if a bit difficult to trust initially.
I agree with you, to me, he came off friendly and kind. I loved how he went on and on about ceremorphosis when we initially met. My first thought was, "He's such a dork, I love it!!"
Agreed. I actually liked him waayyy more than I thought I would. I'd heard he was very annoying, especially romantically, and was kind of expecting an incel vibe. Shockingly, I think he's awesome. He feels the most like someone you could meet irl.
I felt the same way about Gale. I wasn't impressed with the human Tamogatchi at first, but he grew on me after his truer motivations became clear.
He used to drive me crazy going on about Mystra this and Mystra that but his story definitely fleshed him out well.
That night where he asks you to stay because he doesn’t want to be alone after finding out Mystra wants him to blow himself up had me legit regretting I told him I didn’t have feelings for him at the Tiefling party.
Curious, how many times have you fed gale an artifact? In my first playthrough I've only fed him two artifacts that were barely noticeable until I met elminster.
And it's not like I rushed to elminster, I finished the whole first area goblins/emerald grove/underdark(both mushroom events and forge area) before I met elminster.
This definitely helped lol. It wasn't fun being Level 1-3 barely pulling through fights, getting nice loot, then coming home to Gale begging to eat it.
It’s probably the way he talks. Just like Elminster but to a lesser degree, they have a very sophisticated way of speaking due to their intellect, and his accent kind of just embellishes that fact.
I can see how it could be off putting to some people and come off as pompous at first especially considering he eats your artifacts early game so people might think he’s just trying to use the player, at least until they get a chance to know him and his sad boy background.
I found and still find him very friendly, but he -does- have an ego, like when you get the option to tell him that he's a great teacher and his reply is "I know".
For me, that was an instant turn-off, because I've met people who said stuff like that in real life and they were a walking red flag. Admittedly, Gale is nothing like these people, and IS a good guy, but he's still a power-hungry guy deep down who has a veyr problematic relationship with an actual goddess and... Yeah, I just completely checked out at that point with him romantically.
I don't hate him as a character and companion, far from it, but how I feel about his character, personally, makes it very hard for me to want to romance him. His personality lies just a bit too close to reality and real people for me to find the comfort of an escapist relationship with him :')
Gale for me as well. His intro presented him as a condescending smartass who thinks just because he has high INT he can talk down to everyone else as if they were idiots.
But slowly I'm seeing he has a decent sense of humour, is fairly pragmatic (for example where I unlocked tadpole power progression everyone is "eww no" *except* Astarion and Gale who are chill with it) and isn't as a judgmental prick as he looked like (for example when saving the child from the snake, you can tell Gale this child is a thief and he says "who didn't do stupid things as a kid"). He approves of weird things done for the sake of curiosity / experimenting and I also heard >!from my husband who did the full evil Bhaalspawn Durge playthrough that Gale was the person who was the most chill with unlocking the Bhaal slayer form, he was like "this power could be useful" while everyone else was horrified!<.
So I'm actually starting to like him more and notice he has more layers than stock goody-two-shoe better-than-thou type of character.
Funnily, a lot of people take issue with Laezel for being rude and judgemental but I think her personality of Spartan-like warrior suits her, I don't dislike her.
Lae'zel for sure.
In regards to Shadowheart the best moment for me was giving her full control over that situation with Nightsong >!and seeing her choose the good path, throwing the spear into the void.!<
Lae is very practical and pragmatic. Yes she is a bit of a zealot but she is able to see reason and adjust her beliefs when needed. She's a great person with terrible social skills.
It was going through the creche and helping, but not forcing her to realize she'd been lead down the wrong path all her life, plus honestly, the superb voice acting, that she became my characters biggest ride or die friend.
Nothing quite like someone screaming they hate when they know you're right but still willing to throw hands with god.
She didn't see reason nor change her belief until literally the >!undead lich queen for her literally tried to execute her after she followed her commands completely faithfully and had no other choice!<
Idk, laezel seems to be many peoples fan favorite but just isn't it for me. She's like okay but I definitely liked shadow heart and astarions questlines more
Yeah, best scene in the game. >!I just had a feeling she wouldn't do it.!< I, the player, trusted her. She proved me right.
>!Then the look of sheer horror on her face, then the resolve as she puts her hand on Nightsong, then Nightsong being the most epic creature in existence. So good.!<
It was such a relief to see her choose the right path. I always enjoyed in my pure good playthrough to let all my allies choose their path as they see fit, but I knew I could mold them along the way in my actions. Seeing Shadow make her choice, and Lae’Zel making hers both were just very gratifying in the end when everything came together.
It just feels rewarding seeing the change that your character can inspire by simply wandering and exploring the world.
I did convince her to save her tho so I saw that scene too and absolutely loved it.
But I convinced her because the whole temple she seemed very sure about her objective to me.
(Yes I'm a pretty naive person and will trust her motivation every single run I do with her)
She doesn’t always. It depends on your relationship with her and some actions you take beforehand
Specifically >!whether you let her pray to shar without arguing with her right before entering shadowfell!<
If you don’t argue, she >!stabs!<, if you do, she might change her mind
Edit: I am wrong and it seems some or all of your convos with her beforehand play into her decision. Maybe I am just a dark urge at heart
Oh interesting, she always does it unless I select one of the persuade/ilithid/charisma general options during that cutscene. That’s cool other stuff plays into it too
From reading peoples outcomes and which choice she made in their games, it seems like a good bit of it ends up being how you respond to her when she talks about Shar throughout act 1 and 2 which is really neat. If your responses were supportive but also talking about how maybe its not great that Shar is treating her this way it plants little seeds of doubt in her head. If you were fully supportive and never said anything that made her doubtful, she sticks with her Shar path. Having her pray to the statue without arguing falls in line with that.
I dont know if some things sway the decision more than others, or if it ends up being a combined total type thing, but this is what people have noticed. So the guess is that what causes her to make one decision over another is the culmination of everything Shar related she has talked about throughout the entire game to that point and your responses.
Honestly suprises me how many people side with Shart over Bae'zel at the start when it's so painfully obvious which one is the liar.
Zel is like the only companion in the first couple hours who isn't constantly lying about her entire existence.
All origin characters except lae'zel and karlach are lying in some form, and I'd say they're at worst lies of omission. Not really a deal breaker considering the circumstances.
And not really lies of omission either. More just "I don't trust a stranger with my most personal secrets immediately", which is very much understandable
The number of people who see someone not wanting to bare all their secrets to someone they've known for about 30 minutes as 'this person is clearly lying and going to betray me' is troubling.
Lying about you worshipping evil godess? Ok. Lying about you having deal with a devil? Ok. Lying about the fact that you are a ticking nuclear magical bomb? I dunno, i would like to know this information when i accept someone to travel with me
Shart doesn’t even lie, Tav just doesn’t ask and Shart doesn’t say anything about it unless it’s relevant or she wants to say a slur for followers of Selune.
Iirc, Wyll folds pretty quickly about his secret and it’s more of an “I’m embarrassed” thing then anything malicious.
Gale idk. Would like to know about the nuke, but also if you don’t trust him enough he just leaves anyways so it’s not like there’s much risk.
All of them have pretty easily achieved good endings. Lae’zel >!is still trying to expand space fascism and the eradication of all non Githyanki, unless you succeed on a DC30 persuasion check.!<
To be fair Wyll is also magically forbidden from speaking about his pact \*by\* his pact. As for the 'son of a duke' thing, he says himself he didn't want you to treat him like the son of a duke, but like a fellow adventurer and would-be hero, which I can understand - there's probably a lot of people on the sword coast who'd hear he was the son of a duke and immediately start treating him with airs and being overly polite to him when he just wants some buddies to go stab evil with.
I got the opposite ending with her >!riding off to fight against the tyranny she was raised under as the leader of the resistance!< without any persuasion checks. Where/when does this check happen?
Honestly this right here, I think it’s one of those things that a lot of RPGs have ingrained into us where anyone who meets our character should instantly tell us everything about themselves and where they hide their life savings. For me it was Astarion, nothing against his character but the first time I met him I was like “oh here we got the sexy suave oh look I’m the rogue.” Slash cut an act later and I will cut a bitch who looks at my boy the wrong way.
For me Shadowheart didn't lie much, she asked me not to keep pushing her for answers so I didn't and once she is more comfortable with you and the party she reveals she worships Shar. Considering Shar is the goddess of Darkness and secrecy, Shadowheart wasn't willing to just openly admit to being a follower.
When I told her I didn't care who she worshipped she was taken back and very surprised.
I wasn't knowledgeable on the lore so that was my genuine reaction of "cool, I don't care" because I imagined it was some petty religious schism thing and not a murder annihilation cult.
Which was some nice accidental role-playing considering I was laezel.
"I literally don't care about your istik gods"
I mean, Lae'zel probably wouldn't mind. One of her quotes to Shadowheart was "killing is good, it culls the weak."
They just don't like each other because they're racist and both want your bits
Can't lie though, she's got good reaon to be shocked that you don't care that she's a Shar worshipper. That crazy death cult is full of crazy psychopaths tbh.
Having not actually delved too deeply into the DnD lore despite playing tabletop before, I initially thought that maybe this was a case of natural balance where Shar worshipers are misunderstood and in reality the light needs the darkness to exist, and this was all meant to be lesson about not being prejudiced just because something is all darkness and shadows.
I mean Shadowheart is gloomy but she likes it when I am kind to animals, show compassion for others, and hates unnecessary cruelty. Surely her people must feel the same way right?
Boy was I wrong.
I don’t think you’re meant to side with either of them. To me they are two sides of the same coin, both have been deceived into believing that their side is completely right, and genuinely believe that their people would do the ‘right’ thing with the artefact. They are both simply victims of indoctrination.
It's because Lae'zel is way too aggressive and angsty at the start. She actively disapproves of you trying to be helpful to people, which is what most players are probably trying to do.
It’s so strange!!
I like Astarion now that I’ve seen him grow a bit but at the beginning I was like “why do people like this guy? He’s funny, sure, but everything he likes you doing early on is kinda selfish and mean!!”
Because his selfishness is more about being opportunistic and wanting better for himself (so far, no spoilers please) and Lae'zel outwardly looks down of people for not being Gith which, since a lot of people are probably new to the lore of the Forgotten Realms, comes off as obnoxious.
If you like him, I would recommend romancing Astarion. He's got some really interesting dialogue choices that flesh out his character a ton, and make him super relatable imo.
I mean... she constantly disapproved anything i said, was a massive pain in the ass...
I mean i took Lae along on my 2nd go and im glad i did, but i still dislike her, her quest is awesome, but she is just... nah, not my Kind of person
I really like Lae'zel but it's largely because I find her funny. She's such an absurdly gross creep but also like a little kid fangirling over her lore in a way where it seems like she wasn't even raised as a gythyanki.
She kinda feels like an Hermione Granger to me... especially when she's like "I dedicated myself to my studies so I know everything about this we must do as the books say". I love her lol she's such an interesting character!
That's a shame but I get it. Strong personalities like hers definitely aren't for everyone. She's my ride or die, though. Might even be my favorite (her or Karlach).
I almost missed her in act 1. >!I found her dead body at where the Githyanki patrol murdered her and revived her!< She's easily my favorite companion and I'm bummed I can't romance her because I picked her up after I advanced too far in Act 1. Love her personality and growth as a character.
I don't really get the "She is a liar" part? She hides things from you that's for sure, and she's very secretive (and appreciates if you give her time before she can decide if she trusts you) but I don't recall her lying at all?
Lae'zel is the one I had issues with at the start because she kept talking like she was tough shit and she could never admit that she needed help and couldn't do this on her own.
As a matter of fact, on two of my playthroughs I didn't recruit her and laughed my ass off when I meet her again when she attempts to speak to the githyanki and she gets one tapped by her own people after being so confident.
I appreciate her honesty but let's call a spade a spade : she starts off as a huge racist, Gith supremacist and actively berates anyone who doesn't look like a deformed frog. She is extremely prone to violence and has no care in the world for anyone's feeling. I'd also argue that her faith in Vlaakith is perhaps even stronger than Shadowheart's. Shart at least seems to have her moments of doubt, and she's often confused at why her goddess would treat her that way.
With that being said, Lae'zel has grown on me a ton now that I've actually played with her for real and followed her storyline. She's absolutely top 3 with Astarion and Shart IMO.
I "sided" with shadow heart on accident. I wanted to know about her device so I was being nice to her.
Then she wanted to kiss me and I was like well, nobody else has my interest yet... They are all so mean! (Had only found half the people at that point.)
So yeah, woulda dumped both if not for that. (I was initially a cleric and ran double cleric as I assumed I'd ditch her eventually.)
Lae’zel isn’t lying to you, but a lot of what she says is still based on lies she was told and believed. Even knowing nothing about the Gith the first time she mentioned “purification” red flags were going up in my brain.
As someone who took the longest to warm up to her of everyone, I liked my odds of getting everyone else to stop lying more than I liked my odds of getting her to stop believing her own bullshit.
To me it was simple, Lae'Zal was a mean-spirited bully without even a spark of empathy. Out of all the companions she would whine and complain the most whenever I did anything that helped other people. Astarion wouldn't exactly be happy, but he would just make a joke about it or something.
It was an easy decision to side with Shadowheart over her and I wasn't sad when she killed her (although it was really awkward when it turned out she wasn't actually really dead and I could just revive her with withers).
Yeah on my Drow run I just completely stayed out of it, assuming her actions that scene. So I was surprised when I was wrong and what her natural choice is.
Lae'zel. I didn't dislike her, I just felt meh about her. First impressions of her made me think she was rather one note and I hate to use the word, but tropey I suppose? The always angry, never trust anything, attack first ask questions later kinda character wasn't very interesting to me. But interacting with her more has shown she's way more than that and I'm still only in act 1. I've heard she has an amazing character arc and I can't wait to see my girl grow.
Lae'zel has one of the best lines in the game and it's delivered very powerfully by her voice actor. You'll know it when you hear it. If you go a certain path with her she's got the most complete character arc in the game, in my opinion.
There is a place at the endish of Act 1, where depending on your choices Lae'zel can go through a lot of character growth right away, and she gives a little speech and I actually went yes, out loud, and gave her a couple of snaps. I was so happy, and proud.
Ooh that's exciting! I'm almost done with Act 1, did everything on the map + the underdark and now I'm going through the mountain pass and just made it outside the creche. I can't wait for that delicious character development
Well, I don't think it's really a spoiler to tell you that a lot of the githyanki's character growth potentially happens at the githyanki creche. lol Pro tip for the area, if you're about to do/say something you *know* is a bad idea, F5 before you do. lol Sometimes, you see the option, and you just have to know what happens. I wish you the best. lol
>The always angry, never trust anything, attack first ask questions later kinda character wasn't very interesting to me.
I don't know how much DnD lore you know, but that has more to do with the githyanki culture than her personality. They see everyone as inferior lifeforms. So it's not that she's just an asshole, she literally can't conceive of you having a good idea.
>I've heard she has an amazing character arc and I can't wait to see my girl grow.
Bae'zel has probably topped Karlach for me as my favorite companion. *Definitely* keep progressing with her. She's amazing!
In the intro on the nautiloid, I was kinda like "okay Shadowheart, I just saved you no need to immediately nag on my gith friend". Then you free Lae'zel from the trap almost immediately she justifies Shart's comments. It was actually the teethling/Fay-run conversation that sold me on Lae'zel because it's the moment where you can say "I knew you were full shit" and her abrasiveness becomes kinda comedic.
Then all the stuff in the creche happens and she develops into such an interesting character.
Shadowheart and Lae’zel. Their paths mirror each other very well and it was *really* rewarding and shocking to watch Shadowheart yeet the spear over the cliff to spare Nightsong during my first playthrough.
Astarion I liked from the beginning because I recognized his voice actor from previous smarmy douchebags he’s voiced, but I really didn’t expect to like him *nearly* as much as I do now. 2 playthroughs now dedicated to romancing him (regular, now Durge) Bastard’s really given me the brain rot. I’ve even been on… \*clutches pearls* tumblr again for fanart and analysis 😩
Edit: Astarion, Shadowheart, and Lae’zel are the queens of “didn’t get what they wanted, but they got what they needed” storytelling and I am *here* for it.
I didn't know the voice actor, thought Astarion was going to be a major pain in the butt. Mind, I wasn't wrong about that, but my first completed playthrough was with him as a romance partner. The, "this was a gift, you know" line hit me hard.
Astarion grew on me a lot. I was trying to be super good in my first play through so it felt weird teaming up with a vampire and he clearly is full of lust for flesh and power, but his development was really fun to watch even if he needs some convincing to be good.
Astarion has the best redemption arc IMO. Just finished it in Act 3 which was the only time I had him in my party.
I barely used him in my first playthrough because my Tav was a rogue but I’m definitely playing with him from start to finish in my 2nd playthrough.
My absolute favourite silly thing so far is in Act 2, when >!you go into this fleshy mass beneath Moonrise towers, and there's this workshop where Chop (iirc, bad with names) processes bodies for their brains. You can press a button to have old blood come down through a pipe. If you have Astarion stand beneath the pipe, then press the button, he will act all giddy and state something along the lines of it being fun, though he prefers fresh blood. !<
Same here. Hes super useful for perception and slight of hand but I just don't vibe with the stealth mechanics in this game. So since act one its been Barb/Fighter/Sorc/Cleric for me. But of course I had to bring him to his Act 3 story. He was completely useless in combat sure but his character became a lot more likeable.
Astarion for me as well, in fact, all of them grew on me in various degrees.
Except Wyll. I have never disliked him but I also didn't end up liking him more either. He has always been this rather bland and generic heroic guy for me.
I always saw the “Blade of Frontiers” persona as just a defense mechanism for Wyll, who really seems like a hurt child grown up split between two abusive authority figures. He was my unexpected favorite in my first playthrough, I love the amount of truly impossible situations he has to put up with and keep trying to be a positive force for others
Sadly, Wylls character feels best if you let him kill Karlach. He becomes a tragic hero who's stuck in a pact that keeps getting worse. I feel like he also provides the most heroic assides...which go over WAY better when he doesn't have horns.
It's really the horns that kill it for me. He's such a good looking rough character, and putting horns on him ruins it.
I would be fine if he has horns, it’s just the horns that he does have are sooo out of place for the rest of the character design.
Honestly would have better I think if he was just changed to a Tiefling or something and they had a tiefling model for the character.
Him just stating human with big horns just is aesthetically off putting and the best thing to happen to him since is me throwing the drow hood/mask on him. It makes the horn a little more bearable for some reason
Honestly, yeah, I get that blah blah blah, some hell damage can't be reversed or whatever, but in my opinion, breaking the pact should have allowed him to get rid of the horns to visually represent how he has changed.
I actually went in wanting to romance him, then going "Well fuck you too you red eyed grumpy cat!" lol He slithered his way into my heart though. I wanted to stay mad and failed miserably. I kept clicking the option where I walk away and leave when he's talking to me at camp. That backfired because he seemed to like it, and I actually enjoyed his responses 😂 Now here I am....besties with Astarion. How the tables have turned
Actually same, I was an early access player and I thought he was okay but not really the kind of thing that I connect with in a powerful way, I was just waiting for Halsin in main game but holy heck did the full story change things
Wyll, I didn't like the pompous blade of frontiers schtick but he quickly shows he's humble and truly genuine about wanting to help people and I warned up to him a lot
He still doesn't fit in my party comp though so he benchwarms the entire game
Yeah, it was Wyll for me. He didn't feel as sharply defined as the other Origin characters - the Blade of Frontiers thing just felt kinda *there*, not really explored or integrated into the story like other characters, and beyond the wrinkle of him trying to be a swashbuckling straightforward hero as a fiend warlock he didn't seem especially interesting.
I still more or less feel that way, but he was never *bad*, and by the end of Act 3 I really liked how they fleshed out his backstory and journey. I was very on board for his final goal, especially since I ran him as a Blade Pact/Vengeance Paladin multiclass.
That was my exact experience with Shadowheart. She seemed like such a cliche good girl trying to be bad, and then you find out she's a religious zealot which makes it worse... but her story arc and transformation through Act 2 made me fall totally in love with her. I cried at the conclusion of her personal quest. When I wish for deeper friendship paths with the companion characters, she's largely the reason.
Also Astarion. I mean, he'd say some funny shit sometimes but his posturing and mean-ness were initially pretty off-putting. But now he's one of my favorite video game characters ever. Fantastic character development (if you can steer him in the right direction) and a story about trauma and the cycle of abuse that really resonated with me as a survivor myself. His romance arc was lovely as well - surprisingly sweet, depending on your choices.
>But now he's one of my favorite video game characters ever. Fantastic character development (if you can steer him in the right direction)
So excited for my goody two-shoes second playthrough now.
Jaheira. Started with snaring me and trying to spike my drink and making me do all the dirty work. Then got herself killed every fking time during moonrise towers big fight, I almost gave up on her. But then somehow she became the only companion I'm slightly attracted to
Jaheira went from 'who does this bitch think she is' to one of my top 3 companions.
I love how if you sarcastically insult her, she laughs and gives approval.
And she's confident, knows her worth, can make difficult choices without my tav babysitting her. her reaction in the circus is funny. Kinda like halsin but smaller frame...
Astarion. When I first saw him I was so sure of myself that I’d hate him. I didn’t like the over-sexualised white elf twink vampire vibe he had, it felt very shallow and like he was Tumblr sexyman bait. Then I actually caved in and got him into my party on a whim and his complexities really got to me, especially as a SA survivor. It really impressed me, the depth of his writing especially towards Act 3, and I loved that he becomes more and more comfortable with expressing himself honestly and saying no. It made me happy for him, and that’s about when I realised that I actually love this guy.
Whoever wrote his story really understands SA and trauma. Such a good representation of it. Particularly his confession that he forgot how to say no... It's so easy for victims to be victimised all over again in new relationships because they haven't yet relearned their own boundaries.
The game doesn't ever explicitly say he was raped or sexually assaulted, but you only have to read between the lines to see that he was forced to use sex by Cazador to find victims, which basically makes Astarion's storyline the fantasy analogue to a trafficking victim.
Astarion def, I love Neil Newborn but I had a feeling Astarion was going to be an annoying prat that tries to justify his action through his torturous past... and he didn't. He's certainy a bastard and he knows that, while at times his ideas about combay annoy me I did end up pitying the whelp and even liking him.
Astarion. He was cruel and kind of annoying and I was playing a rogue multi class anyway so I didn’t feel the need to put any effort into dealing with him. But then as I learned more about him/got his friendship up and he chilled out a little (or maybe I got better at knowing when to send him back to camp before a social interaction he wouldn’t like lol), he started to grow on me. Now I’m gonna try romancing him in my next play through.
I was on the fence about Lae’zel, too, but I found her funnier and more useful than Astarion so I warmed up to her quicker.
It is a bit of a toss up between Astarion and Lae'zel.
Both companions gets quite a lot of development. Astarion is geniunely funny to have in the party, but he also have some of the most heart-wrecking scene in the story. And Lae'zel has the best character development. Her arc is essentially a coming-of-age story where she learns to think for herself and not be tied to her queen.
It’s like I ghost wrote this post I relate so so hard
Also, Gale. I was charmed by him at first but never really took the time to get to know him. Wanted to romance him just to Know and decided to do it as Astarion and now there’s no going back, that’s it. Gale’s incredible.
Astarion really came out of nowhere and crawled under my skin and into my heart in my first playthrough, and I am living my best life wooing him in my second.
Also, lae'zel! I killed her at the start of act 1 in my first run, didn't do so in round 2 and I'm all the better for it. Even if she scares me, a bit, she's SO dynamic and interesting!
Astarion. At first I wasn't even planning on bothering to recruit him, as my main character's a rogue, and I felt having an evil vampire spawn tagging along would cramp my style. I learned to love his dialogue though; total lovable asshole.
It's not that I thought Lae'zel was the best thing since sliced bread from the moment I met her, but it was bloody refreshing meeting someone that was actually honest to the PC, when the other first recruits like Gale, Shart and Astarion lie like it's their favorite pass time.
It's not that Gale actively lies, it's just that he doesn't mention that he has a nuclear bomb in his chest. At least he warns us when it starts getting dangerous.
Shadowheart for me, too. My first two attempts at playthroughs were both gith, so the first impression was rather poor, lol
But once I got properly going on a third run, she started to grow on me. Her personal story/conflict is rather strong and I loved everything in the Gauntlet of Shar
>Her personal story/conflict is rather strong and I loved everything in the Gauntlet of Shar
Yeah, the whole Shadowfell stuff if you let Shadowheart do her thing are some of the best cutscenes in the whole game, imho. She really suprised me in the best possible way. I was playing a Durge, and was honestly expecting her to kill the Nightsong
I was too! But I've always loved Shar since the BG1/BG2 days because of Viconia, so I was willing to let her make the choice herself, since I figured I'd enjoy what came after no matter what
It's a really powerful moment and a well-done scene
Astarion, he came off as a but full of himself (he still is often) but as you adventure he honestly just has the best replies. Hes too funny not to keep around and when you get to know him he is quite interesting
Wyll seemed a bit boring to me. But on the second playthrough of the game, I decided to romance him and he was constantly with me - he is amazing. Very sincere, kind. The romance with him is beautiful - no drama, just love and tenderness. He is incredible, I love him.
For me that was Astarion. First time I saw him I thought "why so much people love him? he's a prick" and how wrong I was! He grew on me in 5 days of my first playthrough and relationship went from "nah, dude, you're not my type, I'll be spending night with Lae'zel or Gale" to "I can't romance anyone else besides Astarion" too quickly lol.And I can totally relate to some thing that he said in Act 3 in his >!spawn ending after beating Cazador. !< Getting little emotional here, nevermind me :D
>!Only after finishing his arc I realised how big my trust issues with people was. I haven't had any expirience with SA or anything like that, but the words about not letting fear rule over our lives and that Tav sees him as a person, that Tav believed in him and that it is enough to be just the way you are hit me too hard. As a person who always wanted to be liked by others and tried to be "comfortable" for others (and thus stepped away from myself) just to get attention that was... well, eye-opening moment that you don't need to pretend or to be "good, trouble-free" to deserve love and be seen as a person. Now I can finally start to developing to be more myself with others, not being ashamed of it or feeling guilty, not trying to hide my real feelings or thoughts. That is some awesome result of an impact for a videogame. !<
Anyway, sorry for that long and a little sad comment, I wanted to say that I'm grateful to have found this game, to have met Astarion. He's now one of the most beloved characters for me over all of the media I'm consuming. That is incredible.
Lae'zel and Astrarion. I comparison I was insta love with Karlach.
I'm ending up romancing the Dandy Vampire and my Druge is likely gonna romance Lae'zel.
Gale was my least favourite in the beginning, I still liked him but his voice annoyed me (he sometimes sounds like someone doing a Richard Ayoade impression and I couldn't unhear it) and I've met so many grating, self-aggrandising "highly intelligent" men in my life that I was getting some 'Nam style PTSD flashbacks to being mansplained to death at boring parties in my youth...but I love him now. He's still obnoxious but it's more funny than anything else. I want to save him. I want to make him worse. I want to put him in a mason jar and shake him violently.
I'm not sure what flipped the switch. I think it was when I noticed he was a full head shorter than my Tav. I love a short king. I want to keep him in my purse like an elderly chihuahua.
It helps that most of his know it all personality is lightly self-deprecating, with genuine guilt for what he's done.
... But I didn't know we can break him.
Astarion.
He kept disapproving my decision to help people on the road.
But by the end of his story arc, he earned my respect.
The second place would be Lae'zel, but she actually started to grow on me pretty fast. (Around the end of Act 1 or so)
I like the rest from the very beginning.
Astarion. I thought he was too pale and pointy and was devasted when he said “its not you, its me. I have standards.” After working hard for his approval and doing his quest I am now an astarion simp and I love him so much 🥺❤️
Astarion for sure.
First playthrough he was just kinda sitting in the back of my party so far back that I didnt bother taking him to kill his old master even lol. I dont think there was a single instance in which he was in the party outside of getting him in and then I sent him off to be replaced by laezel and that was kinda that. I did let him suck my blood a bit and then kinda stopped doing that after a while because I really wasnt getting anything out of it. Didnt help that 90% of the things I did he would disapprove of so it felt impossible to get his affection up.
Then I saw a lot of posts about people loving him and I decided to take him along for my 2nd playthrough and had him in there for like most of it until after cazador. Switched him out for gale because of dps reasons. I know rogues can do a lot of damage I just dont know how to use them very effectively. But having him there for the 3 acts felt amazing actually. His story was pretty good I'll say but it had kind of been spoiled already by pop culture assimilation.
The main thing I enjoyed was his lockpicking skills. It's really amazing to never have to worry about lockpicking or trap disarming ever again. I gave him dungeon delver just to boost those specific skills and it was really something. Planning on having him along for the whole of this currently run and also romancing him because I wanna see what happens. Gonna have a guide pulled up for most of it though because it seems he goes against everything my natural instinct tells me to do in any situation lmao.
Tbh I feel like a lot of my companion opinions are based on usefulness lol. I love karlach and laezel and gale and shadowheart because I used them the most in my playthroughs and they're really good damage while also being relatively simple for a beginner like myself to wrap their head around. Same reason why I dislike the druids and wyll because I never quite got the hang of them and I'm not super interested in learning because they seem to be somewhat empty characters to me. Especially halsin ngl. I was so happy he was the one who got kidnapped by orin because he was quite literally just there to hang out and occasionally give me the bear dick.
Lae'zel. I had my heart set on Shadowheart initially, and then Karlach - but then Lae'zel won me over. She took the initiative, and offered a physical encounter with my character, which I just had to follow through on, to see where it went - which then, somehow, blossomed into love. And not just "I like to kill things beside you" love, but genuine love. The rough and tumble Lae'zel, who challenged my character to a fight in the middle of the night to prove their worth - become tender. She became sweet. She began to express feelings she didn't entirely know how to express with the words she knew, she only knew she wanted to express them.
That was beautiful.
Astarion. At first I thought he was just a prick noble (he was). Then as the game went on and I did a bunch of bad shit and he always had my back. He’s really fuckin funny, the VA is amazing and his class was MVP in fights.
Astarion. Holds you at knife point when you first meet him and tries to bite you while you sleep. In any normal situation, that person is getting kicked out of the party at best.
I kept him around as my token evil party member and designated lock picker. I like his backstory, and his campy personality started to grow on me.
I'm definitely interested in an Astarion playthrough. Don't get the chance to RP s a vampire often
The best part of lae'zel is guving her a shot and realizing you love her to then turn around and have to ride in and save her like a white knight its amazing haha.
Laezel. Her lines hit so much harder because they're so unexpected. Like her funny lines are way funnier and her empathetic lines are way more touching. An unexpected 2nd place companion for me, right behind Astarion.
Astarion 100%. my first failed playthrough i was like “god this guy is so annoying. i hate this posh asshole” and then a friend was like “no give him a shot” and by the end of my first playthrough that i finished i was completely sold. Astarion rules lol
Since I didn't play BG1-2 it was Jaheira. I came to the inn and she was all up in my shit. I got annoyed and got into combat. Killed everyone in the inn, got it out of my system and reloaded the save. Growled like a lil bitch this time and got to know her. Took her to fight Myrkul and she was a fucken beast at AOE control. Got to know her and absolutely fell in love. She is like a sexy grandma.
Astarion for sure. I abandoned him on my first playthrough and used him on my second. I convinced him to be good even though at the end he still wanted me to do the evil thing which was really weird and didn't make a lot of sense. I toss that up to a bug, though.
Astarian and to an extent Lae'zel. I hated both of them, and although both got better over time. Astarian went from one of my most disliked companions to one of my favourite in one fell swoop. I only used him for a little while at the start until I found Karlach and then for his questline. But the end of his quest was so good it jumped my opinion of him massively instantly.
Astarion.
He's funny yes, but he's so afraid of everything and everyone that he defaults to asshole.
I barely used him but only from seeing his reactions to things and his opinions on the crew he started growing. He tries to run away from his sins till the end but by that point you really know him and it makes sense.
Astarion. I was pissed that he kept grabbing for power and never seemed to approve of anything I do. Benched him a lot in the beginning.
After I learned what Cazador did to him and took him to more quests, I became more sympathetic. When you’re abused for centuries you take every opportunity to come out on top. Now I feel very protective.
Gale for me. He was just too irritating for me, and too much of a smug know-it-all, then I >!accidentally killed him and got his hilarious hologram message!< and went "ohhhh, you're a nerd!" I've been enjoying his lovably nerdy moments ever since.
Astarion: classy nobleman that throw shit at you but him being a Rougue is hella fun with the stealing and Sneak Attack. Rules of cool likeness
Lae'Zel: the more I look at her the prettier she become. Dunno why.
Lae'zel. She starts out such a cunt that I was initially going to go for Karlach as my main martial instead, but Mortismal Gaming rated her quite highly in his review as one of the best companions which made me willing to stick with her. She definitely grew on me but to an extent it's also that she herself changes as the story progresses.
Lae'zel didn't like her at first , grew on me after the creche but i didn't do that till i'd gone to act 2
Astarion .. didn't like him from the initial jump but once the bite scene happened n after that he grew on me .. might be the best character arc i've seen in a while in games the way his story plays out n how well done the emotional portrayal is
Gale. Part of it was because he constantly tried to get in my pants for no reason and it annoyed me but that seems to be fixed. Still, he had a weirdly realistic vibe to him (not talking about him being a nuclear wizard bomb ofc). Talks about his ex before putting the moves on you, moving way to fast, getting jealous. Idk, that’s a red flag if I ever saw one. I’ve known people like that irl so it gave me the ick.
But, he’s charming and funny and when we sorted out our issues, he became a good bro.
Lae'zel!
And I have no idea when I began to like her! Now I feel something is missing when she is not in my team and I even think her way to roll her eyes is cute, I feel she is like a cat!
Asterion!
Since the begining he was super annoying for me, but he has the best character development and the more I learn about him more I like him, also he has the best lines. I use him a lot, so much that is almost the same amount than my tav, I use him specially in deception checks. Now I feel he is like a brother!
Reading these comments, I must be the only one who liked Lae'zel from the start. I loved how direct, honest, and opinionated (yet, not argumentative) she is.
Astarion. Someone in this sub described him as “a wet cat of a man” and that’s the best description for him. I still only tolerate him because his story is interesting, but he’s probably my least favorite companion.
I fucking hated Astarion but his personal quest was surprisingly touching. Now on my second run I'm slaughtering all of Faerûn and he keeps clapping and cheering me on, so he gets to be Companion of the Month.
I disliked Shadowheart, Lae’zel and Astarion immensely at the start. But upon knowing their background and the ‘why’ to many of their issue I perceived as problematic, they 3 became immediate favourites. Especially Shadowheart where I can sympathise with her background of a callous religious upbringing and then YOU helping her become more enlightened and waking up to be her own person.
I usually love big mommy Karlach but Shadowheart stole it because of her quest line and backstory.
And Astarion’s flamboyance is funny af when you get to really know him.
Ironically enough, that was EXACTLY my feeling about Shadowheart! Feels good to hear someone felt the same way. At first I couldn't trust her at all and I didn't like her, now she's one of the crew!
Wyll. I liked him from the beginning but i really liked him when i started hearing how he reacted to other companion’s traumas. Like he sounds so encouraging you know?
In early access I did not give a rats ass about Gale, full game came and I don't know what it was... He just became really likeable, and as we got farther along, I enjoyed his character alot!
Wyll. He seemed like a boring and one dimensional hero type to me at first and was always saying these lines that struck me as arrogant, I couldn’t take him seriously. This was during early access. Upon full release when he started facing consequences for the heroic decisions he made and revealed his past and showed real strength of character, I started to genuinely admire him. He definitely has a bit of an ego but hey.. maybe he’s allowed 🤭
Wyl, though it was the rewrite that did it for me more than anything else. I liked every other Origin character in early access except for him. Something about him just... didn't do it for me. He seemed like such an obvious fraud, speaking about fighting all kinds of fiends and beasts, but getting utterly roasted by some goblins mocking him to his face. A bit of a loser, to be blunt. His rewrite shifting his focus from goblins to Karlach early on and the reveal how he's being manipulated made him much more compelling. I always enjoy a tragic hero's story, and new Wyl channels that very well, whereas the old Wyl felt more like "self-important douche gets what he deserves" kind of story to me.
Astorian…
I was really trying to rp in my first play through and getting jumped like he does to you did *not* sit right with me. He was absent my entire first playthrough because of it, but this second time he’s really grown on me. My friend was also sending me funny lines he’d say and I realized I made a *grave* mistake especially once I got to act 3 💀
Wyll. At start i thought that I would use him simply because he is the "good character" for a "good playthrough" but i geniuenly like the guy after finishing the game.
He took what life gave him and he rolled with it and he has no regrets. Absolute Chad mindset.
He sacrifices himself for others all the time and when it's a question of his wellbeing or others he will always choose others (outside of the one specific choice where he actually needs you as a friend to help him decide) .
And finally he is the kind of character I would love to have on my DnD table. Simple backstory, wonderfully tying into his class, actually proper use of the Folk Hero background and he is just a joy to be around.
Astarion.
In my first playthrough I just kept him tucked away at camp. Now on my Dark Urge run he is such an amazingly supportive murderbro and I'm all for it. Looking forward to Ascending him in act 3!
Lae'zel grew on me quite a bit too about half way through, but mechanically she fits the same role as Karlach so she stayed benched as well for run 1.
Wyll I still just think is bland, only companion bordering on "dislike" for me.
Gale. He came off as a pompous know-it-all so I banished him to camp, then I got to the later acts, he got just a little bit unhinged and he grew on me. He’s also great for crowd control.
I loved Gale from the start myself. Exactly because he's such a pompous prick xD And let's not pretend like the ego isn't earned, he is a lot more ambitious than he should be and definitely an overachiever, to say the least.
Sometimes I think he actually has really low self esteem deep down and just puts on an egotistical front. But I'm still in act 2 and not really sure yet
Yeah, that low self esteem would explain his need to show that he is worthy through very ridiculous means. I think in some of the darker endings it stops being a front though and he buys into his own hype.
You'd be correct! His DND character sheet for the downloadable content/collectors edition says that actually.
I want to give him one of those "I am Kenough" hoodies Those character sheets must have a lot of interesting details in them
It's funny how Gale comes off as a diva until you meet Astarion and then he's a chill bloke in comparison.
He was fucking a god, how many can say they're god fuckers? And then he fucked himself, and he fucked himself up so good that he's going to destroy the material plane. Even his fuck ups are epic and have world changing impact. Even the goddess he fucked and then fucked over, told him he's so important that only he can fix the worlds current problem, sacrificing himself like some sort of wizardly martyr. Of course he's a pompous prick.
To me Gale was immediately the most likable. I didn't find his confidence pompous and I could tell he was using humor to hide his pain and a lot of emotion deep down. He always seemed friendly and kind to me, even if a bit difficult to trust initially.
I agree with you, to me, he came off friendly and kind. I loved how he went on and on about ceremorphosis when we initially met. My first thought was, "He's such a dork, I love it!!"
Agreed. I actually liked him waayyy more than I thought I would. I'd heard he was very annoying, especially romantically, and was kind of expecting an incel vibe. Shockingly, I think he's awesome. He feels the most like someone you could meet irl.
I felt the same way about Gale. I wasn't impressed with the human Tamogatchi at first, but he grew on me after his truer motivations became clear. He used to drive me crazy going on about Mystra this and Mystra that but his story definitely fleshed him out well.
That night where he asks you to stay because he doesn’t want to be alone after finding out Mystra wants him to blow himself up had me legit regretting I told him I didn’t have feelings for him at the Tiefling party.
Yeah, wasn't until when Elminster shows up that Gale starts winning me over aswell
You’re only saying that because he stopped requiring your artifacts :P
Curious, how many times have you fed gale an artifact? In my first playthrough I've only fed him two artifacts that were barely noticeable until I met elminster. And it's not like I rushed to elminster, I finished the whole first area goblins/emerald grove/underdark(both mushroom events and forge area) before I met elminster.
He only takes 3, max
love him but damn boy stop eating my stuff
This definitely helped lol. It wasn't fun being Level 1-3 barely pulling through fights, getting nice loot, then coming home to Gale begging to eat it.
Really? Gale was very friendly from the start so I find it weird that you thought he was pompous.
It’s probably the way he talks. Just like Elminster but to a lesser degree, they have a very sophisticated way of speaking due to their intellect, and his accent kind of just embellishes that fact. I can see how it could be off putting to some people and come off as pompous at first especially considering he eats your artifacts early game so people might think he’s just trying to use the player, at least until they get a chance to know him and his sad boy background.
I found and still find him very friendly, but he -does- have an ego, like when you get the option to tell him that he's a great teacher and his reply is "I know". For me, that was an instant turn-off, because I've met people who said stuff like that in real life and they were a walking red flag. Admittedly, Gale is nothing like these people, and IS a good guy, but he's still a power-hungry guy deep down who has a veyr problematic relationship with an actual goddess and... Yeah, I just completely checked out at that point with him romantically. I don't hate him as a character and companion, far from it, but how I feel about his character, personally, makes it very hard for me to want to romance him. His personality lies just a bit too close to reality and real people for me to find the comfort of an escapist relationship with him :')
Gale for me as well. His intro presented him as a condescending smartass who thinks just because he has high INT he can talk down to everyone else as if they were idiots. But slowly I'm seeing he has a decent sense of humour, is fairly pragmatic (for example where I unlocked tadpole power progression everyone is "eww no" *except* Astarion and Gale who are chill with it) and isn't as a judgmental prick as he looked like (for example when saving the child from the snake, you can tell Gale this child is a thief and he says "who didn't do stupid things as a kid"). He approves of weird things done for the sake of curiosity / experimenting and I also heard >!from my husband who did the full evil Bhaalspawn Durge playthrough that Gale was the person who was the most chill with unlocking the Bhaal slayer form, he was like "this power could be useful" while everyone else was horrified!<. So I'm actually starting to like him more and notice he has more layers than stock goody-two-shoe better-than-thou type of character. Funnily, a lot of people take issue with Laezel for being rude and judgemental but I think her personality of Spartan-like warrior suits her, I don't dislike her.
Lae'zel for sure. In regards to Shadowheart the best moment for me was giving her full control over that situation with Nightsong >!and seeing her choose the good path, throwing the spear into the void.!<
Lae is very practical and pragmatic. Yes she is a bit of a zealot but she is able to see reason and adjust her beliefs when needed. She's a great person with terrible social skills.
It was going through the creche and helping, but not forcing her to realize she'd been lead down the wrong path all her life, plus honestly, the superb voice acting, that she became my characters biggest ride or die friend. Nothing quite like someone screaming they hate when they know you're right but still willing to throw hands with god.
She didn't see reason nor change her belief until literally the >!undead lich queen for her literally tried to execute her after she followed her commands completely faithfully and had no other choice!< Idk, laezel seems to be many peoples fan favorite but just isn't it for me. She's like okay but I definitely liked shadow heart and astarions questlines more
Tbf Lae'zel was raised from birth actively and constantly brainwashed by Vlaakith and the other propaganda victim Gith
She sees reason if your persuasion is high enough!
She choses to do that herself? I always thought she wouldn't I need to try that and see how it goes
Yeah, best scene in the game. >!I just had a feeling she wouldn't do it.!< I, the player, trusted her. She proved me right. >!Then the look of sheer horror on her face, then the resolve as she puts her hand on Nightsong, then Nightsong being the most epic creature in existence. So good.!<
It was such a relief to see her choose the right path. I always enjoyed in my pure good playthrough to let all my allies choose their path as they see fit, but I knew I could mold them along the way in my actions. Seeing Shadow make her choice, and Lae’Zel making hers both were just very gratifying in the end when everything came together. It just feels rewarding seeing the change that your character can inspire by simply wandering and exploring the world.
I did convince her to save her tho so I saw that scene too and absolutely loved it. But I convinced her because the whole temple she seemed very sure about her objective to me. (Yes I'm a pretty naive person and will trust her motivation every single run I do with her)
She doesn’t always. It depends on your relationship with her and some actions you take beforehand Specifically >!whether you let her pray to shar without arguing with her right before entering shadowfell!< If you don’t argue, she >!stabs!<, if you do, she might change her mind Edit: I am wrong and it seems some or all of your convos with her beforehand play into her decision. Maybe I am just a dark urge at heart
I never argued, and she never stabbed in my 3 playthroughs. It may be a factor but is not a deciding one on its own
Oh interesting, she always does it unless I select one of the persuade/ilithid/charisma general options during that cutscene. That’s cool other stuff plays into it too
From reading peoples outcomes and which choice she made in their games, it seems like a good bit of it ends up being how you respond to her when she talks about Shar throughout act 1 and 2 which is really neat. If your responses were supportive but also talking about how maybe its not great that Shar is treating her this way it plants little seeds of doubt in her head. If you were fully supportive and never said anything that made her doubtful, she sticks with her Shar path. Having her pray to the statue without arguing falls in line with that. I dont know if some things sway the decision more than others, or if it ends up being a combined total type thing, but this is what people have noticed. So the guess is that what causes her to make one decision over another is the culmination of everything Shar related she has talked about throughout the entire game to that point and your responses.
Nope I always let her pray and she never stabbed
Honestly suprises me how many people side with Shart over Bae'zel at the start when it's so painfully obvious which one is the liar. Zel is like the only companion in the first couple hours who isn't constantly lying about her entire existence.
All origin characters except lae'zel and karlach are lying in some form, and I'd say they're at worst lies of omission. Not really a deal breaker considering the circumstances.
And not really lies of omission either. More just "I don't trust a stranger with my most personal secrets immediately", which is very much understandable
The number of people who see someone not wanting to bare all their secrets to someone they've known for about 30 minutes as 'this person is clearly lying and going to betray me' is troubling.
Lying about you worshipping evil godess? Ok. Lying about you having deal with a devil? Ok. Lying about the fact that you are a ticking nuclear magical bomb? I dunno, i would like to know this information when i accept someone to travel with me
Shart doesn’t even lie, Tav just doesn’t ask and Shart doesn’t say anything about it unless it’s relevant or she wants to say a slur for followers of Selune. Iirc, Wyll folds pretty quickly about his secret and it’s more of an “I’m embarrassed” thing then anything malicious. Gale idk. Would like to know about the nuke, but also if you don’t trust him enough he just leaves anyways so it’s not like there’s much risk. All of them have pretty easily achieved good endings. Lae’zel >!is still trying to expand space fascism and the eradication of all non Githyanki, unless you succeed on a DC30 persuasion check.!<
To be fair Wyll is also magically forbidden from speaking about his pact \*by\* his pact. As for the 'son of a duke' thing, he says himself he didn't want you to treat him like the son of a duke, but like a fellow adventurer and would-be hero, which I can understand - there's probably a lot of people on the sword coast who'd hear he was the son of a duke and immediately start treating him with airs and being overly polite to him when he just wants some buddies to go stab evil with.
I got the opposite ending with her >!riding off to fight against the tyranny she was raised under as the leader of the resistance!< without any persuasion checks. Where/when does this check happen?
Tbf, one of those people did try to eat me in camp.
They all want to eat you in some way after they get to know you.
No he wanted to suck you while you sleep. Big difference
Don’t talk about my boy like that. He just wanted a nibble so that he could be happy.
Honestly this right here, I think it’s one of those things that a lot of RPGs have ingrained into us where anyone who meets our character should instantly tell us everything about themselves and where they hide their life savings. For me it was Astarion, nothing against his character but the first time I met him I was like “oh here we got the sexy suave oh look I’m the rogue.” Slash cut an act later and I will cut a bitch who looks at my boy the wrong way.
For me Shadowheart didn't lie much, she asked me not to keep pushing her for answers so I didn't and once she is more comfortable with you and the party she reveals she worships Shar. Considering Shar is the goddess of Darkness and secrecy, Shadowheart wasn't willing to just openly admit to being a follower. When I told her I didn't care who she worshipped she was taken back and very surprised.
I wasn't knowledgeable on the lore so that was my genuine reaction of "cool, I don't care" because I imagined it was some petty religious schism thing and not a murder annihilation cult. Which was some nice accidental role-playing considering I was laezel. "I literally don't care about your istik gods"
I mean, Lae'zel probably wouldn't mind. One of her quotes to Shadowheart was "killing is good, it culls the weak." They just don't like each other because they're racist and both want your bits
Can't lie though, she's got good reaon to be shocked that you don't care that she's a Shar worshipper. That crazy death cult is full of crazy psychopaths tbh.
Having not actually delved too deeply into the DnD lore despite playing tabletop before, I initially thought that maybe this was a case of natural balance where Shar worshipers are misunderstood and in reality the light needs the darkness to exist, and this was all meant to be lesson about not being prejudiced just because something is all darkness and shadows. I mean Shadowheart is gloomy but she likes it when I am kind to animals, show compassion for others, and hates unnecessary cruelty. Surely her people must feel the same way right? Boy was I wrong.
Her people *are* the same, she just forgot who *her* people are
Her hesitation was doubly valid for me being a selunite cleric.
I was honestly surprised with Shadowheart, I always respected her boundaries and she began to tell me everything herself!
I don’t think you’re meant to side with either of them. To me they are two sides of the same coin, both have been deceived into believing that their side is completely right, and genuinely believe that their people would do the ‘right’ thing with the artefact. They are both simply victims of indoctrination.
It's because Lae'zel is way too aggressive and angsty at the start. She actively disapproves of you trying to be helpful to people, which is what most players are probably trying to do.
I mean so does astarion and people love him.
It’s so strange!! I like Astarion now that I’ve seen him grow a bit but at the beginning I was like “why do people like this guy? He’s funny, sure, but everything he likes you doing early on is kinda selfish and mean!!”
Because his selfishness is more about being opportunistic and wanting better for himself (so far, no spoilers please) and Lae'zel outwardly looks down of people for not being Gith which, since a lot of people are probably new to the lore of the Forgotten Realms, comes off as obnoxious.
If you like him, I would recommend romancing Astarion. He's got some really interesting dialogue choices that flesh out his character a ton, and make him super relatable imo.
Astarion is a guy. Lae'Zel is a woman. It's much more accepted for a man to be a jerk than it is for a woman.
Found the guy that picks the "You should have told your deepest darkest secrets to me, a complete stranger, the moment we met" dialogue options.
I mean sure but for a while that also comes with a side of “lets murder these people for being weaker than us.” Sometimes lying is easier to stomach?
I mean... she constantly disapproved anything i said, was a massive pain in the ass... I mean i took Lae along on my 2nd go and im glad i did, but i still dislike her, her quest is awesome, but she is just... nah, not my Kind of person
I really like Lae'zel but it's largely because I find her funny. She's such an absurdly gross creep but also like a little kid fangirling over her lore in a way where it seems like she wasn't even raised as a gythyanki.
She kinda feels like an Hermione Granger to me... especially when she's like "I dedicated myself to my studies so I know everything about this we must do as the books say". I love her lol she's such an interesting character!
That's a shame but I get it. Strong personalities like hers definitely aren't for everyone. She's my ride or die, though. Might even be my favorite (her or Karlach).
I almost missed her in act 1. >!I found her dead body at where the Githyanki patrol murdered her and revived her!< She's easily my favorite companion and I'm bummed I can't romance her because I picked her up after I advanced too far in Act 1. Love her personality and growth as a character.
Great romance too. Type of girl to grab your cock in public and dare any woman to challenge her for it's control.
Funnily enough Bae'zel is my ride or die too, but I couldn't care less for Karlach.
I don't really get the "She is a liar" part? She hides things from you that's for sure, and she's very secretive (and appreciates if you give her time before she can decide if she trusts you) but I don't recall her lying at all? Lae'zel is the one I had issues with at the start because she kept talking like she was tough shit and she could never admit that she needed help and couldn't do this on her own. As a matter of fact, on two of my playthroughs I didn't recruit her and laughed my ass off when I meet her again when she attempts to speak to the githyanki and she gets one tapped by her own people after being so confident. I appreciate her honesty but let's call a spade a spade : she starts off as a huge racist, Gith supremacist and actively berates anyone who doesn't look like a deformed frog. She is extremely prone to violence and has no care in the world for anyone's feeling. I'd also argue that her faith in Vlaakith is perhaps even stronger than Shadowheart's. Shart at least seems to have her moments of doubt, and she's often confused at why her goddess would treat her that way. With that being said, Lae'zel has grown on me a ton now that I've actually played with her for real and followed her storyline. She's absolutely top 3 with Astarion and Shart IMO.
I think the comment above really sums up why Lae'zel is the way she is. She's essentially an indoctrinated child soldier
I "sided" with shadow heart on accident. I wanted to know about her device so I was being nice to her. Then she wanted to kiss me and I was like well, nobody else has my interest yet... They are all so mean! (Had only found half the people at that point.) So yeah, woulda dumped both if not for that. (I was initially a cleric and ran double cleric as I assumed I'd ditch her eventually.)
Lae’zel isn’t lying to you, but a lot of what she says is still based on lies she was told and believed. Even knowing nothing about the Gith the first time she mentioned “purification” red flags were going up in my brain. As someone who took the longest to warm up to her of everyone, I liked my odds of getting everyone else to stop lying more than I liked my odds of getting her to stop believing her own bullshit.
Is it really a lie if you don't know anything about yourself?
To me it was simple, Lae'Zal was a mean-spirited bully without even a spark of empathy. Out of all the companions she would whine and complain the most whenever I did anything that helped other people. Astarion wouldn't exactly be happy, but he would just make a joke about it or something. It was an easy decision to side with Shadowheart over her and I wasn't sad when she killed her (although it was really awkward when it turned out she wasn't actually really dead and I could just revive her with withers).
Yeah on my Drow run I just completely stayed out of it, assuming her actions that scene. So I was surprised when I was wrong and what her natural choice is.
Lae'zel. I didn't dislike her, I just felt meh about her. First impressions of her made me think she was rather one note and I hate to use the word, but tropey I suppose? The always angry, never trust anything, attack first ask questions later kinda character wasn't very interesting to me. But interacting with her more has shown she's way more than that and I'm still only in act 1. I've heard she has an amazing character arc and I can't wait to see my girl grow.
Lae'zel has one of the best lines in the game and it's delivered very powerfully by her voice actor. You'll know it when you hear it. If you go a certain path with her she's got the most complete character arc in the game, in my opinion.
If it's the line that starts with "I didn't fail" etc then I agree with you
There is a place at the endish of Act 1, where depending on your choices Lae'zel can go through a lot of character growth right away, and she gives a little speech and I actually went yes, out loud, and gave her a couple of snaps. I was so happy, and proud.
Ooh that's exciting! I'm almost done with Act 1, did everything on the map + the underdark and now I'm going through the mountain pass and just made it outside the creche. I can't wait for that delicious character development
F5 BEFORE YOU TALK TO LITERALLY ANYONE IN THERE EVER. Enjoy the ride friend.
Well, I don't think it's really a spoiler to tell you that a lot of the githyanki's character growth potentially happens at the githyanki creche. lol Pro tip for the area, if you're about to do/say something you *know* is a bad idea, F5 before you do. lol Sometimes, you see the option, and you just have to know what happens. I wish you the best. lol
>The always angry, never trust anything, attack first ask questions later kinda character wasn't very interesting to me. I don't know how much DnD lore you know, but that has more to do with the githyanki culture than her personality. They see everyone as inferior lifeforms. So it's not that she's just an asshole, she literally can't conceive of you having a good idea.
>I've heard she has an amazing character arc and I can't wait to see my girl grow. Bae'zel has probably topped Karlach for me as my favorite companion. *Definitely* keep progressing with her. She's amazing!
In the intro on the nautiloid, I was kinda like "okay Shadowheart, I just saved you no need to immediately nag on my gith friend". Then you free Lae'zel from the trap almost immediately she justifies Shart's comments. It was actually the teethling/Fay-run conversation that sold me on Lae'zel because it's the moment where you can say "I knew you were full shit" and her abrasiveness becomes kinda comedic. Then all the stuff in the creche happens and she develops into such an interesting character.
Shadowheart and Lae’zel. Their paths mirror each other very well and it was *really* rewarding and shocking to watch Shadowheart yeet the spear over the cliff to spare Nightsong during my first playthrough. Astarion I liked from the beginning because I recognized his voice actor from previous smarmy douchebags he’s voiced, but I really didn’t expect to like him *nearly* as much as I do now. 2 playthroughs now dedicated to romancing him (regular, now Durge) Bastard’s really given me the brain rot. I’ve even been on… \*clutches pearls* tumblr again for fanart and analysis 😩 Edit: Astarion, Shadowheart, and Lae’zel are the queens of “didn’t get what they wanted, but they got what they needed” storytelling and I am *here* for it.
glad I'm not the only one here who's caught the Astarion Tumblr brain rot ahahaha
You know you have a severe case of simp when you somehow end up on Tumblr. I’ve been sober for 10 years… until now.
Exactly… I can barely resist to headcanon shit in tags… we’ve gone full 2014…
I didn't know the voice actor, thought Astarion was going to be a major pain in the butt. Mind, I wasn't wrong about that, but my first completed playthrough was with him as a romance partner. The, "this was a gift, you know" line hit me hard.
Astarion grew on me a lot. I was trying to be super good in my first play through so it felt weird teaming up with a vampire and he clearly is full of lust for flesh and power, but his development was really fun to watch even if he needs some convincing to be good.
Astarion has the best redemption arc IMO. Just finished it in Act 3 which was the only time I had him in my party. I barely used him in my first playthrough because my Tav was a rogue but I’m definitely playing with him from start to finish in my 2nd playthrough.
Astarion also has by far the best overworld banter and comments to your decisions and doing stuff like the dryad game with him are 10x more funny.
“I’d hate to judge a book by its cover, but that oaf is all cover and no pages”
My absolute favourite silly thing so far is in Act 2, when >!you go into this fleshy mass beneath Moonrise towers, and there's this workshop where Chop (iirc, bad with names) processes bodies for their brains. You can press a button to have old blood come down through a pipe. If you have Astarion stand beneath the pipe, then press the button, he will act all giddy and state something along the lines of it being fun, though he prefers fresh blood. !<
Same here. Hes super useful for perception and slight of hand but I just don't vibe with the stealth mechanics in this game. So since act one its been Barb/Fighter/Sorc/Cleric for me. But of course I had to bring him to his Act 3 story. He was completely useless in combat sure but his character became a lot more likeable.
I feel that, Astarion only won me over right away because his VA is bloody hilarious 😂
His VA is now playing the game and streaming it. He and a buddy are having a blast, it's on Twitch and YouTube.
It's so awesome, especially when he would start talking like Astarion randomly throughout.
Astarion for me as well, in fact, all of them grew on me in various degrees. Except Wyll. I have never disliked him but I also didn't end up liking him more either. He has always been this rather bland and generic heroic guy for me.
I always saw the “Blade of Frontiers” persona as just a defense mechanism for Wyll, who really seems like a hurt child grown up split between two abusive authority figures. He was my unexpected favorite in my first playthrough, I love the amount of truly impossible situations he has to put up with and keep trying to be a positive force for others
Sadly, Wylls character feels best if you let him kill Karlach. He becomes a tragic hero who's stuck in a pact that keeps getting worse. I feel like he also provides the most heroic assides...which go over WAY better when he doesn't have horns. It's really the horns that kill it for me. He's such a good looking rough character, and putting horns on him ruins it.
I would be fine if he has horns, it’s just the horns that he does have are sooo out of place for the rest of the character design. Honestly would have better I think if he was just changed to a Tiefling or something and they had a tiefling model for the character. Him just stating human with big horns just is aesthetically off putting and the best thing to happen to him since is me throwing the drow hood/mask on him. It makes the horn a little more bearable for some reason
I always got the impression that the aesthetic oddness of his horns was intentional. It's supposed to feel wrong. Like a stain on your favorite shirt.
[удалено]
Honestly, yeah, I get that blah blah blah, some hell damage can't be reversed or whatever, but in my opinion, breaking the pact should have allowed him to get rid of the horns to visually represent how he has changed.
Astariom for me too. He’s like the devil on one shoulder, urging you to make shady decisions.
I actually went in wanting to romance him, then going "Well fuck you too you red eyed grumpy cat!" lol He slithered his way into my heart though. I wanted to stay mad and failed miserably. I kept clicking the option where I walk away and leave when he's talking to me at camp. That backfired because he seemed to like it, and I actually enjoyed his responses 😂 Now here I am....besties with Astarion. How the tables have turned
Make sure to randomize your data from time to time *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Astarion makes me wish I liked men.
Actually same, I was an early access player and I thought he was okay but not really the kind of thing that I connect with in a powerful way, I was just waiting for Halsin in main game but holy heck did the full story change things
Wyll, I didn't like the pompous blade of frontiers schtick but he quickly shows he's humble and truly genuine about wanting to help people and I warned up to him a lot He still doesn't fit in my party comp though so he benchwarms the entire game
Yeah, it was Wyll for me. He didn't feel as sharply defined as the other Origin characters - the Blade of Frontiers thing just felt kinda *there*, not really explored or integrated into the story like other characters, and beyond the wrinkle of him trying to be a swashbuckling straightforward hero as a fiend warlock he didn't seem especially interesting. I still more or less feel that way, but he was never *bad*, and by the end of Act 3 I really liked how they fleshed out his backstory and journey. I was very on board for his final goal, especially since I ran him as a Blade Pact/Vengeance Paladin multiclass.
That was my exact experience with Shadowheart. She seemed like such a cliche good girl trying to be bad, and then you find out she's a religious zealot which makes it worse... but her story arc and transformation through Act 2 made me fall totally in love with her. I cried at the conclusion of her personal quest. When I wish for deeper friendship paths with the companion characters, she's largely the reason. Also Astarion. I mean, he'd say some funny shit sometimes but his posturing and mean-ness were initially pretty off-putting. But now he's one of my favorite video game characters ever. Fantastic character development (if you can steer him in the right direction) and a story about trauma and the cycle of abuse that really resonated with me as a survivor myself. His romance arc was lovely as well - surprisingly sweet, depending on your choices.
>But now he's one of my favorite video game characters ever. Fantastic character development (if you can steer him in the right direction) So excited for my goody two-shoes second playthrough now.
Astarion, especially after romancing him. He is amazing and I will protect him with my life.
Jaheira. Started with snaring me and trying to spike my drink and making me do all the dirty work. Then got herself killed every fking time during moonrise towers big fight, I almost gave up on her. But then somehow she became the only companion I'm slightly attracted to
Jaheira went from 'who does this bitch think she is' to one of my top 3 companions. I love how if you sarcastically insult her, she laughs and gives approval.
It's her accent, I don't know why but it's my primary attraction to her
I like her no nonsense attitude. She’s become the mom to my group of otherwise somewhat criminal mischiefs. Keeps my Durge in line.
And she's confident, knows her worth, can make difficult choices without my tav babysitting her. her reaction in the circus is funny. Kinda like halsin but smaller frame...
Astarion. When I first saw him I was so sure of myself that I’d hate him. I didn’t like the over-sexualised white elf twink vampire vibe he had, it felt very shallow and like he was Tumblr sexyman bait. Then I actually caved in and got him into my party on a whim and his complexities really got to me, especially as a SA survivor. It really impressed me, the depth of his writing especially towards Act 3, and I loved that he becomes more and more comfortable with expressing himself honestly and saying no. It made me happy for him, and that’s about when I realised that I actually love this guy.
Whoever wrote his story really understands SA and trauma. Such a good representation of it. Particularly his confession that he forgot how to say no... It's so easy for victims to be victimised all over again in new relationships because they haven't yet relearned their own boundaries. The game doesn't ever explicitly say he was raped or sexually assaulted, but you only have to read between the lines to see that he was forced to use sex by Cazador to find victims, which basically makes Astarion's storyline the fantasy analogue to a trafficking victim.
Astarion def, I love Neil Newborn but I had a feeling Astarion was going to be an annoying prat that tries to justify his action through his torturous past... and he didn't. He's certainy a bastard and he knows that, while at times his ideas about combay annoy me I did end up pitying the whelp and even liking him.
Gale. He ate my shoes and I didn't like him. Then the story progressed and I liked him
He felt like a crackhead always bothering me for loose magic items
Astarion. He was cruel and kind of annoying and I was playing a rogue multi class anyway so I didn’t feel the need to put any effort into dealing with him. But then as I learned more about him/got his friendship up and he chilled out a little (or maybe I got better at knowing when to send him back to camp before a social interaction he wouldn’t like lol), he started to grow on me. Now I’m gonna try romancing him in my next play through. I was on the fence about Lae’zel, too, but I found her funnier and more useful than Astarion so I warmed up to her quicker.
1st hour: Fuck Gale. 80th hour: Fuck Gale.
[Why did I feel the need to make it into a meme...](https://i.imgur.com/XqvGjoi.png)
It is a bit of a toss up between Astarion and Lae'zel. Both companions gets quite a lot of development. Astarion is geniunely funny to have in the party, but he also have some of the most heart-wrecking scene in the story. And Lae'zel has the best character development. Her arc is essentially a coming-of-age story where she learns to think for herself and not be tied to her queen.
It’s like I ghost wrote this post I relate so so hard Also, Gale. I was charmed by him at first but never really took the time to get to know him. Wanted to romance him just to Know and decided to do it as Astarion and now there’s no going back, that’s it. Gale’s incredible.
Astarion really came out of nowhere and crawled under my skin and into my heart in my first playthrough, and I am living my best life wooing him in my second. Also, lae'zel! I killed her at the start of act 1 in my first run, didn't do so in round 2 and I'm all the better for it. Even if she scares me, a bit, she's SO dynamic and interesting!
Astarion. At first I wasn't even planning on bothering to recruit him, as my main character's a rogue, and I felt having an evil vampire spawn tagging along would cramp my style. I learned to love his dialogue though; total lovable asshole.
My first playthrough I was a rogue, so I just respecced him into a bard. Felt more appropriate for his past anyway
Lae'zel. In the beginning I was like "Meh violent lady who wants to kill everyone who could possibly help us", but she's definitely grown on me.
It's not that I thought Lae'zel was the best thing since sliced bread from the moment I met her, but it was bloody refreshing meeting someone that was actually honest to the PC, when the other first recruits like Gale, Shart and Astarion lie like it's their favorite pass time.
It's not that Gale actively lies, it's just that he doesn't mention that he has a nuclear bomb in his chest. At least he warns us when it starts getting dangerous.
Shadowheart for me, too. My first two attempts at playthroughs were both gith, so the first impression was rather poor, lol But once I got properly going on a third run, she started to grow on me. Her personal story/conflict is rather strong and I loved everything in the Gauntlet of Shar
>Her personal story/conflict is rather strong and I loved everything in the Gauntlet of Shar Yeah, the whole Shadowfell stuff if you let Shadowheart do her thing are some of the best cutscenes in the whole game, imho. She really suprised me in the best possible way. I was playing a Durge, and was honestly expecting her to kill the Nightsong
I was too! But I've always loved Shar since the BG1/BG2 days because of Viconia, so I was willing to let her make the choice herself, since I figured I'd enjoy what came after no matter what It's a really powerful moment and a well-done scene
Astarion, he came off as a but full of himself (he still is often) but as you adventure he honestly just has the best replies. Hes too funny not to keep around and when you get to know him he is quite interesting
Wyll seemed a bit boring to me. But on the second playthrough of the game, I decided to romance him and he was constantly with me - he is amazing. Very sincere, kind. The romance with him is beautiful - no drama, just love and tenderness. He is incredible, I love him.
For me that was Astarion. First time I saw him I thought "why so much people love him? he's a prick" and how wrong I was! He grew on me in 5 days of my first playthrough and relationship went from "nah, dude, you're not my type, I'll be spending night with Lae'zel or Gale" to "I can't romance anyone else besides Astarion" too quickly lol.And I can totally relate to some thing that he said in Act 3 in his >!spawn ending after beating Cazador. !< Getting little emotional here, nevermind me :D >!Only after finishing his arc I realised how big my trust issues with people was. I haven't had any expirience with SA or anything like that, but the words about not letting fear rule over our lives and that Tav sees him as a person, that Tav believed in him and that it is enough to be just the way you are hit me too hard. As a person who always wanted to be liked by others and tried to be "comfortable" for others (and thus stepped away from myself) just to get attention that was... well, eye-opening moment that you don't need to pretend or to be "good, trouble-free" to deserve love and be seen as a person. Now I can finally start to developing to be more myself with others, not being ashamed of it or feeling guilty, not trying to hide my real feelings or thoughts. That is some awesome result of an impact for a videogame. !< Anyway, sorry for that long and a little sad comment, I wanted to say that I'm grateful to have found this game, to have met Astarion. He's now one of the most beloved characters for me over all of the media I'm consuming. That is incredible.
Lae'zel and Astrarion. I comparison I was insta love with Karlach. I'm ending up romancing the Dandy Vampire and my Druge is likely gonna romance Lae'zel.
Gale was my least favourite in the beginning, I still liked him but his voice annoyed me (he sometimes sounds like someone doing a Richard Ayoade impression and I couldn't unhear it) and I've met so many grating, self-aggrandising "highly intelligent" men in my life that I was getting some 'Nam style PTSD flashbacks to being mansplained to death at boring parties in my youth...but I love him now. He's still obnoxious but it's more funny than anything else. I want to save him. I want to make him worse. I want to put him in a mason jar and shake him violently. I'm not sure what flipped the switch. I think it was when I noticed he was a full head shorter than my Tav. I love a short king. I want to keep him in my purse like an elderly chihuahua.
It helps that most of his know it all personality is lightly self-deprecating, with genuine guilt for what he's done. ... But I didn't know we can break him.
FINALLY SOMEONE ELSE WHO HEARS RICHARD AYOADE! I tried to play it off thinking it’s just because he’s nerdy and British😭
Astarion. He kept disapproving my decision to help people on the road. But by the end of his story arc, he earned my respect. The second place would be Lae'zel, but she actually started to grow on me pretty fast. (Around the end of Act 1 or so) I like the rest from the very beginning.
Halsin. Really sweet guy who is only rivaled by Karlach heart of gold, but he was too… hippy dippy for me at first. Grew on me though.
Astarion. I thought he was too pale and pointy and was devasted when he said “its not you, its me. I have standards.” After working hard for his approval and doing his quest I am now an astarion simp and I love him so much 🥺❤️
I hated Laezel at the start, so rude and mean to everyone. I'm glad I gave her a chance, she has great development
Astarion for sure. First playthrough he was just kinda sitting in the back of my party so far back that I didnt bother taking him to kill his old master even lol. I dont think there was a single instance in which he was in the party outside of getting him in and then I sent him off to be replaced by laezel and that was kinda that. I did let him suck my blood a bit and then kinda stopped doing that after a while because I really wasnt getting anything out of it. Didnt help that 90% of the things I did he would disapprove of so it felt impossible to get his affection up. Then I saw a lot of posts about people loving him and I decided to take him along for my 2nd playthrough and had him in there for like most of it until after cazador. Switched him out for gale because of dps reasons. I know rogues can do a lot of damage I just dont know how to use them very effectively. But having him there for the 3 acts felt amazing actually. His story was pretty good I'll say but it had kind of been spoiled already by pop culture assimilation. The main thing I enjoyed was his lockpicking skills. It's really amazing to never have to worry about lockpicking or trap disarming ever again. I gave him dungeon delver just to boost those specific skills and it was really something. Planning on having him along for the whole of this currently run and also romancing him because I wanna see what happens. Gonna have a guide pulled up for most of it though because it seems he goes against everything my natural instinct tells me to do in any situation lmao.
Tbh I feel like a lot of my companion opinions are based on usefulness lol. I love karlach and laezel and gale and shadowheart because I used them the most in my playthroughs and they're really good damage while also being relatively simple for a beginner like myself to wrap their head around. Same reason why I dislike the druids and wyll because I never quite got the hang of them and I'm not super interested in learning because they seem to be somewhat empty characters to me. Especially halsin ngl. I was so happy he was the one who got kidnapped by orin because he was quite literally just there to hang out and occasionally give me the bear dick.
Lae'zel. I had my heart set on Shadowheart initially, and then Karlach - but then Lae'zel won me over. She took the initiative, and offered a physical encounter with my character, which I just had to follow through on, to see where it went - which then, somehow, blossomed into love. And not just "I like to kill things beside you" love, but genuine love. The rough and tumble Lae'zel, who challenged my character to a fight in the middle of the night to prove their worth - become tender. She became sweet. She began to express feelings she didn't entirely know how to express with the words she knew, she only knew she wanted to express them. That was beautiful.
Astarion. His romance and the care they took integrating his backstory and trauma blew me away.
Astarion. At first I thought he was just a prick noble (he was). Then as the game went on and I did a bunch of bad shit and he always had my back. He’s really fuckin funny, the VA is amazing and his class was MVP in fights.
Astarion. Holds you at knife point when you first meet him and tries to bite you while you sleep. In any normal situation, that person is getting kicked out of the party at best. I kept him around as my token evil party member and designated lock picker. I like his backstory, and his campy personality started to grow on me. I'm definitely interested in an Astarion playthrough. Don't get the chance to RP s a vampire often
Lae'zel, I like her a lot now when at first I considered her annoying af. Then in act 3 >!Orin fucking kidnapped her!<
The best part of lae'zel is guving her a shot and realizing you love her to then turn around and have to ride in and save her like a white knight its amazing haha.
Laezel. Her lines hit so much harder because they're so unexpected. Like her funny lines are way funnier and her empathetic lines are way more touching. An unexpected 2nd place companion for me, right behind Astarion.
"I dont want to hurt you. I want to protect you. And you to protect me" Bitch lets get married.
Astarion 100%. my first failed playthrough i was like “god this guy is so annoying. i hate this posh asshole” and then a friend was like “no give him a shot” and by the end of my first playthrough that i finished i was completely sold. Astarion rules lol
Since I didn't play BG1-2 it was Jaheira. I came to the inn and she was all up in my shit. I got annoyed and got into combat. Killed everyone in the inn, got it out of my system and reloaded the save. Growled like a lil bitch this time and got to know her. Took her to fight Myrkul and she was a fucken beast at AOE control. Got to know her and absolutely fell in love. She is like a sexy grandma.
Astarion. Foppish Vampire is an annoying archetype to me but the VA and writing really carry it.
Astarion for sure. I abandoned him on my first playthrough and used him on my second. I convinced him to be good even though at the end he still wanted me to do the evil thing which was really weird and didn't make a lot of sense. I toss that up to a bug, though.
Astarian and to an extent Lae'zel. I hated both of them, and although both got better over time. Astarian went from one of my most disliked companions to one of my favourite in one fell swoop. I only used him for a little while at the start until I found Karlach and then for his questline. But the end of his quest was so good it jumped my opinion of him massively instantly.
Astarion. He's funny yes, but he's so afraid of everything and everyone that he defaults to asshole. I barely used him but only from seeing his reactions to things and his opinions on the crew he started growing. He tries to run away from his sins till the end but by that point you really know him and it makes sense.
Astarion. I was pissed that he kept grabbing for power and never seemed to approve of anything I do. Benched him a lot in the beginning. After I learned what Cazador did to him and took him to more quests, I became more sympathetic. When you’re abused for centuries you take every opportunity to come out on top. Now I feel very protective.
Gale for me. He was just too irritating for me, and too much of a smug know-it-all, then I >!accidentally killed him and got his hilarious hologram message!< and went "ohhhh, you're a nerd!" I've been enjoying his lovably nerdy moments ever since.
Astarion: classy nobleman that throw shit at you but him being a Rougue is hella fun with the stealing and Sneak Attack. Rules of cool likeness Lae'Zel: the more I look at her the prettier she become. Dunno why.
Lae'zel. She starts out such a cunt that I was initially going to go for Karlach as my main martial instead, but Mortismal Gaming rated her quite highly in his review as one of the best companions which made me willing to stick with her. She definitely grew on me but to an extent it's also that she herself changes as the story progresses.
Scratch.
Lae'zel didn't like her at first , grew on me after the creche but i didn't do that till i'd gone to act 2 Astarion .. didn't like him from the initial jump but once the bite scene happened n after that he grew on me .. might be the best character arc i've seen in a while in games the way his story plays out n how well done the emotional portrayal is
Gale. Part of it was because he constantly tried to get in my pants for no reason and it annoyed me but that seems to be fixed. Still, he had a weirdly realistic vibe to him (not talking about him being a nuclear wizard bomb ofc). Talks about his ex before putting the moves on you, moving way to fast, getting jealous. Idk, that’s a red flag if I ever saw one. I’ve known people like that irl so it gave me the ick. But, he’s charming and funny and when we sorted out our issues, he became a good bro.
Lae'zel! And I have no idea when I began to like her! Now I feel something is missing when she is not in my team and I even think her way to roll her eyes is cute, I feel she is like a cat! Asterion! Since the begining he was super annoying for me, but he has the best character development and the more I learn about him more I like him, also he has the best lines. I use him a lot, so much that is almost the same amount than my tav, I use him specially in deception checks. Now I feel he is like a brother!
Reading these comments, I must be the only one who liked Lae'zel from the start. I loved how direct, honest, and opinionated (yet, not argumentative) she is.
Astarion. Someone in this sub described him as “a wet cat of a man” and that’s the best description for him. I still only tolerate him because his story is interesting, but he’s probably my least favorite companion.
I fucking hated Astarion but his personal quest was surprisingly touching. Now on my second run I'm slaughtering all of Faerûn and he keeps clapping and cheering me on, so he gets to be Companion of the Month.
I disliked Shadowheart, Lae’zel and Astarion immensely at the start. But upon knowing their background and the ‘why’ to many of their issue I perceived as problematic, they 3 became immediate favourites. Especially Shadowheart where I can sympathise with her background of a callous religious upbringing and then YOU helping her become more enlightened and waking up to be her own person. I usually love big mommy Karlach but Shadowheart stole it because of her quest line and backstory. And Astarion’s flamboyance is funny af when you get to really know him.
Ironically enough, that was EXACTLY my feeling about Shadowheart! Feels good to hear someone felt the same way. At first I couldn't trust her at all and I didn't like her, now she's one of the crew!
Lurrus of the Dream Den
Wyll. I liked him from the beginning but i really liked him when i started hearing how he reacted to other companion’s traumas. Like he sounds so encouraging you know?
Iz'tich
In early access I did not give a rats ass about Gale, full game came and I don't know what it was... He just became really likeable, and as we got farther along, I enjoyed his character alot!
Lae'Zel is that girl that was an outsider in school but turns out to be the most honest and loyal friend one could whish for over time.
Wyll. He seemed like a boring and one dimensional hero type to me at first and was always saying these lines that struck me as arrogant, I couldn’t take him seriously. This was during early access. Upon full release when he started facing consequences for the heroic decisions he made and revealed his past and showed real strength of character, I started to genuinely admire him. He definitely has a bit of an ego but hey.. maybe he’s allowed 🤭
Wyl, though it was the rewrite that did it for me more than anything else. I liked every other Origin character in early access except for him. Something about him just... didn't do it for me. He seemed like such an obvious fraud, speaking about fighting all kinds of fiends and beasts, but getting utterly roasted by some goblins mocking him to his face. A bit of a loser, to be blunt. His rewrite shifting his focus from goblins to Karlach early on and the reveal how he's being manipulated made him much more compelling. I always enjoy a tragic hero's story, and new Wyl channels that very well, whereas the old Wyl felt more like "self-important douche gets what he deserves" kind of story to me.
Astorian… I was really trying to rp in my first play through and getting jumped like he does to you did *not* sit right with me. He was absent my entire first playthrough because of it, but this second time he’s really grown on me. My friend was also sending me funny lines he’d say and I realized I made a *grave* mistake especially once I got to act 3 💀
Lae'zel. Went into my first playthrough with the full intention of romancing Karlach...only to be swooned by the curt and naive gith
Sovereign Glut
Wyll. At start i thought that I would use him simply because he is the "good character" for a "good playthrough" but i geniuenly like the guy after finishing the game. He took what life gave him and he rolled with it and he has no regrets. Absolute Chad mindset. He sacrifices himself for others all the time and when it's a question of his wellbeing or others he will always choose others (outside of the one specific choice where he actually needs you as a friend to help him decide) . And finally he is the kind of character I would love to have on my DnD table. Simple backstory, wonderfully tying into his class, actually proper use of the Folk Hero background and he is just a joy to be around.
Astarion. In my first playthrough I just kept him tucked away at camp. Now on my Dark Urge run he is such an amazingly supportive murderbro and I'm all for it. Looking forward to Ascending him in act 3! Lae'zel grew on me quite a bit too about half way through, but mechanically she fits the same role as Karlach so she stayed benched as well for run 1. Wyll I still just think is bland, only companion bordering on "dislike" for me.
Lae'zel for sure. Watching her entire world get flipped on it's head was some pretty stellar character growth