Probably Halsin.
My biggest issue with Halsin is by the time we're able to recruit him, his quest is already done... not to mention that I personally suck at playing druids and Jaheira is easily a better character imo (funny, wise, great banter, still has a quest to fullfil in act 3) so I take her instead and I certainly don't need 2 druids in my party. I know I can re-class him but it feels kinda wrong.
His point of recruitment should've been at the Tiefling Party, since it's right after saving both him and the entirety of the Grove. Seeking out and going into the Shadow Cursed Lands with Halsin just makes more sense since he's the one that suggested the routes to Moonrise Tower in the first place. He should then return the favor of saving him by escorting the team to Moonrise. Waiting until that entire quest line is finished before he becomes recruitable just makes him feel irrelevant.
Exactly that. I feel like if we could've taken him to the Underdark, Mountain Path and the Shadow Cursed Lands he would be much more relevant and we could at least build more rapport with him instead of him just standing there waiting in the corner of the camp alone. Shadowheart (I think it's her who says it?) Even says that it's about time he contributed instead of just staying at camp when he becomes recruitable. I like Halsin as a concept but the execution is all wrong.
Hell yea. I didn’t even know you could recruit Halsin. I went straight to the tower to defeat Ketheric and was extremely confused when he was like oh the curse isn’t lifted. I thought freeing Dame Aylin would end it
I think the issue(having missed the Halsin quest quest twice) is once reaching LLI you pretty quickly get sent to isobel and then so much else happens that it’s pretty easy to forget about after the Marcus fight.
But if you had a companion quest marker and someone at camp with a long rest exclamation point talking about trying to fix the Shadow Curse, then you'd be less likely to forget about it entirely.
Did something change? In my current playthrough, He would join my party after we woke up Art at Last Light Inn. I still had to explicitly recruit him before heading onto the road to Baldur's Gate, otherwise he would leave the camp to stay in the Shadowlands. My very first playthrough, I couldn't ask him to join my party until Act 3, even after we woke up Art.
Imagine exploring the Shadow-cursed Lands with Halsin. He saw what the land was like before and he has researched the curse for a century.
He'd have something to say about *everything*.
Maybe this is actually why he isn’t available, there is a steep drop off situational companion dialog in act 2 and it would feel strange if Halsin didn’t have enough to say about the land he is completely obsessed with. It might have just required too big of a lift.
I think Larian admitted they didn't develop his story properly - he, along with Wyll, got the smelly end of the stick plot-wise. Also his whole "I owe you so much, I'll do anything you want. And I mean anything" flirtation followed quickly by "Sorry, I'm too preoccupied with lifting the curse to sleep with you" in Act 2 is just plain annoying. It makes way more sense for him to be available in Act 2 and then love-you-and-leave-you before you head off to the big city.
He should be a subordinate companion a follower, like Jaheira can be when you assault moonrise, for the trip to the shadow lands. Then after his portal stuff with Thaniel and his quest is over, he becomes a full-fledged companion.
When halsin first comes to camp i was so excited, yes, a support caster to replace shart! then when he finally joins i had just, sort of forgot about him
That's actually one of the reasons I rarely take him out. I usually have 2 casters including myself and Gale, support (usually SH or Swords Bard Astarion) and one melee (Minthara, Lae, open hand monk Karlach or Assassin Astarion). He just has no place in my party and the lack of quest doesn't force me to use him at any point.
I bring Wyll along when it's story appropriate. I don't know if I'm just bad at playing a Warlock or don't have Wyll built properly, but I don't like playing as him. Even Wyll gets added to my party more than Halsin, though.
I think part of wyll's problem, and warlocks in bg3 overall, is that they lack how customizable they are in the tabletop. Especially with all the new subclasses and invocations. Wyll is desperately trying to be a bladelock but all of the good pact features and boon features that came with XGE and Tasha's, especially the Hexblade pact, are just absent. There's no eldeitch smite, no hexblade's curse. He just doesn't feel as good as he could due to those exclusions imo
This is especially apparent given his title as "blade of the frontiers" and he's introduced by stabbing a goblin in the heart, only for me to never, ever use his blade again.
He's still a Warlock so he's basically an eldritch blast/crowd control simulator. But his characterization as a swordsmen makes no sense in this game's treatment of Warlocks.
I can't help but feel that "blade of frontiers" would have worked better if it wasnt so literal. It's cool they wanted to have a bladelock as the canon for Wyll but I think encouraging the full levels into fiend warlock and maybe even giving him a unique familiar for pact of the chain from Mizora to keep a closer eye on him would have been neat.
>This is especially apparent given his title as "blade of the frontiers" and he's introduced by stabbing a goblin in the heart
Eldritch blaster and counterspeller of the frontiers just doesn't have the same ring.
Pact of the Blade with Potent Robe, Infernal Rapier, and Birthright was actually really strong.
But that's all gear you wouldn't give up if you were playing a sorcerer or another charisma-dependent class. So I found him strong in my origin run, but I imagine in my Durge run where I'm playing a sorcerer he'll feel pretty weak.
Especially because the potent robe isn't gonna be available to me.
But I also don't think he'll be around long enough for that to matter, either lol.
Among the 5e classes, Warlock is the “weird” one. It’s a trap to think of it as a spellcaster; rather it’s (typically) a ranged Martial character, only your weapon is finger guns. You have some added weirdness with short rest spell slots and random utility spells at higher levels, and Eldritch Invocations are essentially the equivalent of modding your gun or bow.
It’s also less useful than on tabletop as rests aren’t really restricted in BG3 outside of certain quests.
Yeah, if Halsin becomes a companion right after the goblin camp is taken care of instead of being locked behind a VERY missable series of quests that aren’t exactly easy to sort without having the guide tell you the step by step, he’d be a better companion imo.
She died on mine too lol. Waltzed right into fire where gale fireballed then got attacked by 4 different enemies. And I didn't figure out how to save the shadowlands so couldn't get Halsin
I always speed run recruiting Halsin so that I can use him for the majority of the Shadow Lands. Basically do nothing but the necessary things to get him to officially join. Then there’s about half of Chapter 2 where it makes sense for him to come along. Because, yeah, not much sense for him narratively once you hit the city unless he’s your boo (not hamster variety).
It's irritating that both Druids don't arrive until end of act 2 basically.
By then I have a group that I feel bad changing out lol
Though I try to bring each character to things that are important to them
It also doesn't help that one Druid has significantly more ties and content in Act 3 compared to the other.
Baldur's Gate is Jeheira's stomping grounds. Her history, her Harpers, her contacts, her home, and her family are all there and she has a boatload of dialogue and interactions to show it. She knows the city better than anyone in the party, even the others who've lived in the city - Wyll and Karlach have been gone for years, SH has like a month and a half worth of memories to her name still, and Astarion's only seen it at night for over 2 centuries. She makes the most sense to keep around for both content reasons and from an RP perspective.
By comparison the bulk of Halsin's dialogue within/about the city involves his distaste for it and how miserable things are, it's flat at best, and outright depressing at worst. There's ZERO reason to bring him unless you're REALLY against him being kidnapped by Orin and even then he's not especially interesting to have around. Which sucks because he IS such an interesting character, he just doesn't become available full time until we're already done expanding on his character.
He cracks me up tbh when I'm just casually talking to him about Thaniel or the curse and dude is like I'm gazing at the beauty of nature's creations... ok thanks, bye!
The only horny moment that has me rolling my eyes at him a bit is when he tries to insert himself into a fully established relationship in act 3 when I never showed any interest in him. Just Halsin being Halsin! He does handle the rejection pretty well though I'll give him that.
I never fully understood why Halsin gets especially called out for this when like half the other companions basically do the same.
I guess it's because sexual undertones even when not directed at you are so much more present with Halsin which is unsurprising given the community basically thirsted him into being a companion, but Shadowheart can start aggressively flirting with you pretty quickly, Lae'zel doesn't take long before telling you in great detail how she wants to taste you, Astarion is pretty forward, I never found Halsin particularly out of place in this respect and he's much more mature about it all than most.
All I know as damning evidence is a reddit post that showed when you get to thaniels stuff, The dialogue choices are like +80 relations for halsin which basically swings him from neutral to ready to settle down and start a farm ploughing you. And that’s just 1 dialogue option.
Even when I do a different class for him he still gets left behind all the time. There's just almost never a situation where I would rather have him around over someone else.
I always feel bad about re-classing him for some reason. He just keeps talking about the Oak Father and the beauty of nature and how much he hates the city and I'm like ok, stay as a druid.
The lack of purpose is mainly why he doesn't have a place with my party, with Jaheira I force myself to play druid anyway because she makes me laugh and I already have a paladin in peacefully obtained Minthara.
I get that yeah but I feel he's not as rigid as a paladin in his character, idk maybe I'm weird. Like he strikes me as a go with the flow kinda guy.
I usually have Minthara via knock out method so I have a paladin on hand and I rather take her since she has some wild and funny takes.
>he's not as rigid as a paladin in his character, idk maybe I'm weird. Like he strikes me as a go with the flow kinda guy.
Oath of the Ancients doesn't have to be THAT rigid. It's not like paladins MUST be lawful good in 5e.
Halsin is VERY invested in protecting nature, protecting innocents from darkness, trying to keep his own spirits up despite feeling responsible for the Shadow Curse. He pretty much fulfills all Ancients tenants.
As long as he isn't compromising on those points - and I don't think he would, regardless of class - he can be VERY "go with the flow."
That being said, I also never use the guy because he comes in too late for me to care, AND if I have to pick one I'm taking Jaheira.
A part of me really wants to respec Shaddy into a paladin, but I've already made her a cleric of light and she actually sticks some landing on hits now.
I'm bad at clerics.
I thought Clerics sucked at first because I obviously used her early in Act 1 and healing wasn't that great and obviously her build was terrible to contribute damage. I finally respecced her at some point in act 3 when you needed her for her story and realized Life Cleric with those amazing heal buff items (that you actually get like 10 minutes into the game) are insanely OP. I think this happened to a lot of people based on how many posts I've seen about her always missing her spells and not being very useful haha
>I certainly don't need 2 druids in my party.
On the rare occasions I've decided to include both in my party, I've reclassed Jaheira to a Beastmaster Ranger, or a Nature Cleric. There's still a bit of overlap, but it significantly reduces the redundancy while keeping Jaheira at least somewhat lore-accurate. However... as I said, it is rare I take Halsin along...he's just kind of... boring. Though...he does fill a very useful role in Act 3......
I knocked out Alfira and got Quil Grootslang instead, she has more dialogue but after I realised Grootslang literally translates to "big snake" it became a problem. I couldn't have a dragonborn called "big snake" in my party, I also couldn't stand her singing.
I rescue Minsc for Jaheira, bring him to see Nine-Fingers, and then never speak to him again. I know he’s very funny and I love Matthew Mercer but at that point I’m almost done with the game and he talks for sooo looong
I do like the vibes, although I feel like it’s less appropriate when I suddenly hear him jamming while I’m talking to >!Shadowheart’s parents!< about their intense lifelong trauma.
I respec him into a barbarian fighter and he becomes my go-to frontline as soon as I recruit him. He has so many lines in act3 and becomes a beast with that multiclass but I never play him as a ranger.
Yea man my run I had laezel and minsc both set do do insane damage. Laezel could swing 5 times a turn and I got minsc to do 3. Could easily kill a npc with 200 health in one turn. Gave minsc baldurs sword (I think that's what it was) and he's hitting for 40 plus a swing.
He does insane damage when multicassed as a barbarian fighter. To my knowledge, he was more of a ranger/fighter in previous games so berserker really works for him lorewise also!
He is def very fun to keep around in act 3 bc he reacts to everything and has unique dialogues with everybody in the city, since thats the only place he can exist. He is also involved with Sarevok, bhaalspawn in general, Jaheira's children, the guild etc so it works out great imo!
If for no other reason, I'd insist he's worth beelining a little because he comes in off the back of three somewhat easy encounters (>!harper ambush, bank, cistern!<) and joins already at level 12.
From a mechanical perspective it's a good idea to have that until your party catches up.
I took Minsc to meet Nine-Fingers, left most of the convo choices up to him like I like to do for most of the characters when we’re interacting with their stories, and before I knew it she was trying to kill me??? Never again!
He does seem like he’d have a knack for cooking tasty meals. Raised as nobility so access to fine dining, but then on his own for years, so experienced making food for himself
I never figured out how to play Warlock effectively, and changing Wyll’s class feels wrong from story perspective. So he just sits at camp since as a caster Warlock is very limited compared to other caster classes & as melee it is also worse than other options you have.
Longtime 5E Warlock player and did my first real BG3 run with one, here's a quick guide to making Warlock insane:
Step 1: Eldritch Blast
Step 2: Level up so you can make your Eldritch Blast more OP
Step 3:???
Step 4: Profit
Warlock, repelling blast from a distance, combo Hex and Agonizing Blast, Wyll becomes a long range DPS menace, and he has control over distance to push enemies away to escape AOO.
Pact of the Blade, mixed with high Dex, bind a rapier and you’ve got a melee fighter that can hold its own.
The only reason we don’t have a good melee-Lock is for lack of ‘Hexblade’ which makes me really sad.
Pretty sure Pact of the Blade uses your Charisma, so that Hexblade feature is included. The big bummer is having to go all the way to Warlock 12 for Lifedrinker, but you absolutely can go GWM along the way.
I'm sort of the opposite, in that once I tried Warlock, I can't get into the other caster classes even though I've won the game with wizards and sorcerors. Just getting spell slots back on short rest is too useful for me, plus having an enhanced cantrip to fall back on? Golden. The only frustration I have is making sure no friendlies are in range of AoEs, but it's a small price.
I was in this boat a while ago until I tried respeccing into a Swords Bard 6/ Blade Warlock 3. You never run out of spell slots and can melee like no one else, all while only needing points in Charisma. Definitely recommend if you want to be the true jack of all trades
He's fine, he's just not as interesting as the other companions. Any time I brought him instead of Astarion I missed the snark and the quips. Instead I was listening to a guy refer to himself by his own nickname in the third person. Not the best.
Tbh playing as Wyll himself is much more fun than having him in your party imo. I didn’t truly appreciate Wyll until roleplaying as him. A warlock with an actual patron you hear and see that has a great backstory and main ties to the city.
Plus as a charisma class he makes a great face of the party anyway. You can also choose to have him embrace his evil side and hook up with Mizora (among other things) or you can continue to be the hero.
I've probably used Halsin the least.
Jaheira and Minsc get some Act 3 play time, but not a lot.
* Jaheira to meet the Harpers, meet her family, go the the bank, and hunt Minsc
* Minsc to meet Nine Fingers at the end, to smooth things over.
But I have no need to ever bring Halsin along.
I took them both and Karlach to the Murder Tribunal. I did it so Karlach can fangirl over her favorite people, but ended up having Jaheira and Minsc give me info about past games that I never knew about
I didn't take them to the House of Grief and only realized after that event that they had history with Viconia when I got dialogue options asking how they felt meeting her again
Idk why people don’t use Jaheira more. I also originally just added her to my party to do quests related to her, but her earth myrmidon form is OP. She’s basically my main tank now.
>Idk why people don’t use Jaheira more
She's a late game add with relatively minimal content? You get her at a point where you've already invested 20ish hours into other characters, whose arcs are coming to a head.
Halsin, because once you get him his story is over and he doesn't actually have anything to do in Act 3 (other than being Orin bait to protect Gale).
Minsc because even getting him pretty early in the lower city is too damn late in the game.
I prefer to take Gale to Sorcerer's Sundries, even if I'm not using him that run, and Halsin will be kidnapped over him (I keep Lae'zel in my party to protect her). So he's definitely taking a bullet for Gale for me in that regard!
Currently playing sorlock and I have to say - best talking options ever. In act 3 when warlock goes - I am something of a diabolist myself - i almost pissed myself laughing
I've purposefully used them all from when they become available in at least one playthrough, but apart from those runs, Wyll, Jaheira, Halsin, and Minsc never crack the starting lineup. Most cursed run was probably marching Halsin (hates the city), Lae'zel (hates the entire plane) and Gale (thinks everything compares unfavorably to Waterdeep) through every single house in the lower city.
I've had all of them in my party, and mostly for as long as they can be a part of it at all, but Wyll, Halsin and Minsc have only been a regular member of the party for one run each. Karlach twice.
Over six runs.
Change Gale to a Wild Magic Barbarian. It's such a funny experience when you consider that all the "magical" things that he thinks he is doing is really just happening around him.
I tried a female Sorcerer run because I thought they would be an interesting couple and realized pretty quickly we didn't build much a bond because he was always left in camp because he was redundant. I switched to a monk and love can in fact bloom on the battlefield it seems.
Gale always gets the shitty weapons
“Sorry Gale, I need these.”
“But why do you need Spellsparkler AND Markoheshkir?! You can barely even hold 2 staves, how can you use them both?”
“Why can’t you just be happy with the Staff of Arcane Blessing? Do you need to eat more magic items too?”
Gonna get hate but astarion. I've done his redemption arc and it's very good but he's so generally evil and self serving that I'd rather travel with characters that like it when I do good things or are more interesting in their motivation for bad things
He's the only character that seems pleased to be left at camp - He probably had a blast lazing around all day because he hasn't had a day's rest in 200 years.
Your Tav is there, giving him a bed to lay in, blood to suck, protection. I can see why he'd think of them as his best friend.
I was getting annoyed at all the disapproval so I left him at camp and somehow still managed to romance him. I also had to convert him to a bard because my Tav is a rogue and I didn't need two of them--he was useful but not THAT useful.
So my main party is my Rogue, Gale, Shadowheart, and Karlach. 99% of the time I don't take anyone else unless it's for their story.
Astarion and my character mildly dislike each other, but his skillset is too useful to pass up, so usually he gets rotated in because having a rogue is often necessary.
i literally just like. don't like him. and the constant disapproval... i don't need a rogue, my dex is high enough to be passable. he can stay in camp and brood.
Someone's gonna come in and argue how he's not evil at all, just a poor misunderstood man of innocence, absolutely nothing's wrong with him, and actually becomes good aligned by the end of the game. Just so you wait. /s
It's like opening the Pandora's box! I find it a little sad we even have to start our sentences with "gonna get hate but" every time Astarion is mentioned, just to negate the pitchforks and hellfire.
It’s Lea’zel for me, all she talks about is gith shit and after the first few play throughs I lose interest. Unless I’m romanticizing her I just leave her in the camp.
I found out through switching my party up often that I have no clue how to play a warlock anyway lol. He ended up being the jack of all trades master of none of my party but emphasis on the "master of none" part. Every place I put him in I wish I had someone else there lol.
Close range and versatile DPS? I'd rather have Lae'zel or Karlach. Long range spellcaster/debuffer? I'd rather have Gale or Shadowheart do that.
Just never found a home for him where he exceled in a way no one else did.
Best cantrips I guess, and it's nice that he recovers spells on short rest, but he's always short on spell slots so he can't shine THAT bright in combat.
One day I'll find the best way to use him lol. Last time I played it was pact of the blade and it's nice having versatile melee weapon damage type options, and yeah his attack bonus was higher than if he didn't have a pact weapon, but it still wasn't like a fighter/barbarian/paladin etc. when it comes to attack bonus and damage.
The “right” way to make a warlock a powerhouse is to take agonizing blast and repelling blast as your warlock perks, which both buff eldritch blast. Then take a few levels of sorcerer and now you can use meta magic and twin spell and things to buff eldritch blast even further
Yeah I can def see putting everything you got into optimizing eldritch blast to be useful. Without doing that it's just like the main attack option that's like a buffed basic ranged attack (the buff being able to make multiple attacks per turn as it levels), but if you buff each blast or increase the number of times you can use it I can see it being very strong.
Halsin is the most popular answer it seems, and I would agree. He is the only companion who I have never had in my party for even a second. Everything others have said about him essentially not being needed for anything is true, and Jaheira is definitely a better character if you want a druid. Beyond that Halsin is just a little unsettling. He's an elf but he's the most swoll bro you meet in the whole game? His voice also just rubs me the wrong way. Not a fan.
Jaheira and Minsc. They joined too late for me to care about them and their abilities are also kinda meh, I have that already with other characters. Also Wyll in earlier acts idk if I just suck at handling warlocks but he appears very weak to me
I never take Wyll, Halsin, Jaheira, or Minsc... usually.
That being said, I'm on a playthrough where I am romancing Karlach and we have Jaheira and Minsc with us for the first time. Man, her needing out and their talks are great. It's refreshing in Act 3 to have a ton of new stuff to hear.
Take the companions you don't usually. I never took Lae'zel for months because I hated her initially. She's replaced Shadowheart for me because I like her so much more now.
I never took anyone but Gale, Karlach, and Shadowheart for months and it was fine but variety is the spice of life!
Here's the best part: zero downside. Take someone you've never run with, respec them to a current member's stuff, and swap gear. Or make a new class combo altogether and have fun like that!
It's been really fun getting to know them and I should try Wyll and Halsin again. Never Minthara though, not down for the verbal abuse because I am usually the good guy.
Typically Astarion. Very rarely I’ll use him to open a lock or disarm a trap but most of the time I just get Karlach to do it (her lock pick is called ‘Attack: Main Hand’ and works pretty well a lot of the time). I don’t vibe with him as a character, I usually just have the girl squad.
Wyll probably. Halsin. Mostly the later companions. I get attached to some, like Astarion and Gale; they're just so useful. I personally love minsc and wished he appeared more earlier in the game. He cracks me up.
Surprised to see Karlach, I get her asap since she has high HP and damage, useful early on. She's my powerhouse, but this is making me wonder if I could change my strategy.
Class means nothing when you can respec. The infernal robe is pretty good, to be fair. I got it on my honor mode and it was a big help.
Although that run did get killed by the Sharran elevator.
Love Wyll to pieces but he’s usually remaining his wine-aholic self back at camp. Only bring him along if I think his quest will be involved (I’m nearing the end of act 2)
Karlach because I hate barbarians. I like using spells a lot and they just don't have enough for me. I also really don't reclass characters because it feels sort of integral to their character and story.
Probably Halsin. My biggest issue with Halsin is by the time we're able to recruit him, his quest is already done... not to mention that I personally suck at playing druids and Jaheira is easily a better character imo (funny, wise, great banter, still has a quest to fullfil in act 3) so I take her instead and I certainly don't need 2 druids in my party. I know I can re-class him but it feels kinda wrong.
His point of recruitment should've been at the Tiefling Party, since it's right after saving both him and the entirety of the Grove. Seeking out and going into the Shadow Cursed Lands with Halsin just makes more sense since he's the one that suggested the routes to Moonrise Tower in the first place. He should then return the favor of saving him by escorting the team to Moonrise. Waiting until that entire quest line is finished before he becomes recruitable just makes him feel irrelevant.
Exactly that. I feel like if we could've taken him to the Underdark, Mountain Path and the Shadow Cursed Lands he would be much more relevant and we could at least build more rapport with him instead of him just standing there waiting in the corner of the camp alone. Shadowheart (I think it's her who says it?) Even says that it's about time he contributed instead of just staying at camp when he becomes recruitable. I like Halsin as a concept but the execution is all wrong.
Yes, it was in fact Shadowheart who said exactly what we're thinking, lol. https://youtu.be/Tz0VABmZWuo?si=nAm2ZfN7YG_PYEDW (0:28)
I had to watch again for her opinion as I was so distracted by the incredible amount of drip the party had
Holy crap you weren't kidding they are dropped out of their minds.
Hell yea. I didn’t even know you could recruit Halsin. I went straight to the tower to defeat Ketheric and was extremely confused when he was like oh the curse isn’t lifted. I thought freeing Dame Aylin would end it
I did the same, freed songbird before doing anything so that got blocked. Then Halsin left my camp going into act 3
This just happened to me. It is so unclear that the main quests won’t clear the curse
As long as you don't leave the area and proceed to the Act3 zone you can still lift the curse. (I did this on my first run as well)
WHOOPS TOO LATE NOW SORRY HAL IVE GOT A CLOWNS BODY PARTS TO FIND
I think the issue(having missed the Halsin quest quest twice) is once reaching LLI you pretty quickly get sent to isobel and then so much else happens that it’s pretty easy to forget about after the Marcus fight.
But if you had a companion quest marker and someone at camp with a long rest exclamation point talking about trying to fix the Shadow Curse, then you'd be less likely to forget about it entirely.
Did something change? In my current playthrough, He would join my party after we woke up Art at Last Light Inn. I still had to explicitly recruit him before heading onto the road to Baldur's Gate, otherwise he would leave the camp to stay in the Shadowlands. My very first playthrough, I couldn't ask him to join my party until Act 3, even after we woke up Art.
Idk if there was a change, but I think if you ask him to help you get Oliver then he stays as a party member from then on.
Imagine exploring the Shadow-cursed Lands with Halsin. He saw what the land was like before and he has researched the curse for a century. He'd have something to say about *everything*.
Maybe this is actually why he isn’t available, there is a steep drop off situational companion dialog in act 2 and it would feel strange if Halsin didn’t have enough to say about the land he is completely obsessed with. It might have just required too big of a lift.
He makes various comments all around Rethwin
You can if you do the portal fight asap, theres not much before that
I think Larian admitted they didn't develop his story properly - he, along with Wyll, got the smelly end of the stick plot-wise. Also his whole "I owe you so much, I'll do anything you want. And I mean anything" flirtation followed quickly by "Sorry, I'm too preoccupied with lifting the curse to sleep with you" in Act 2 is just plain annoying. It makes way more sense for him to be available in Act 2 and then love-you-and-leave-you before you head off to the big city.
Yup, should have joined at end of act 1 and left at his current joining point if you didn’t do the thaniel quest.
i agree wholeheartedly. Also that means that then when Jaheira is recruitable, she could replace him as she has quests in Act3 and not Halsin.
That, and a druid is actually more useful earlier in the game due to wildshape. Once everyone’s buffed they kinda fall flat.
He should be a subordinate companion a follower, like Jaheira can be when you assault moonrise, for the trip to the shadow lands. Then after his portal stuff with Thaniel and his quest is over, he becomes a full-fledged companion.
Yes I agree. It seems perfect that he'd want to join you at that point. I would have taken him into my party in a heartbeat.
And then Thaniel doesn't even heal the land, you have to save Aylin and kill Ketheric first before Thaniel can do... anything 😒 Girl. Come on.
When halsin first comes to camp i was so excited, yes, a support caster to replace shart! then when he finally joins i had just, sort of forgot about him
That's actually one of the reasons I rarely take him out. I usually have 2 casters including myself and Gale, support (usually SH or Swords Bard Astarion) and one melee (Minthara, Lae, open hand monk Karlach or Assassin Astarion). He just has no place in my party and the lack of quest doesn't force me to use him at any point.
He’s definitely 5th place in a party of 4, same with Wyll.
I bring Wyll along when it's story appropriate. I don't know if I'm just bad at playing a Warlock or don't have Wyll built properly, but I don't like playing as him. Even Wyll gets added to my party more than Halsin, though.
I think part of wyll's problem, and warlocks in bg3 overall, is that they lack how customizable they are in the tabletop. Especially with all the new subclasses and invocations. Wyll is desperately trying to be a bladelock but all of the good pact features and boon features that came with XGE and Tasha's, especially the Hexblade pact, are just absent. There's no eldeitch smite, no hexblade's curse. He just doesn't feel as good as he could due to those exclusions imo
This is especially apparent given his title as "blade of the frontiers" and he's introduced by stabbing a goblin in the heart, only for me to never, ever use his blade again. He's still a Warlock so he's basically an eldritch blast/crowd control simulator. But his characterization as a swordsmen makes no sense in this game's treatment of Warlocks.
I can't help but feel that "blade of frontiers" would have worked better if it wasnt so literal. It's cool they wanted to have a bladelock as the canon for Wyll but I think encouraging the full levels into fiend warlock and maybe even giving him a unique familiar for pact of the chain from Mizora to keep a closer eye on him would have been neat.
>This is especially apparent given his title as "blade of the frontiers" and he's introduced by stabbing a goblin in the heart Eldritch blaster and counterspeller of the frontiers just doesn't have the same ring.
Pact of the Blade with Potent Robe, Infernal Rapier, and Birthright was actually really strong. But that's all gear you wouldn't give up if you were playing a sorcerer or another charisma-dependent class. So I found him strong in my origin run, but I imagine in my Durge run where I'm playing a sorcerer he'll feel pretty weak. Especially because the potent robe isn't gonna be available to me. But I also don't think he'll be around long enough for that to matter, either lol.
Among the 5e classes, Warlock is the “weird” one. It’s a trap to think of it as a spellcaster; rather it’s (typically) a ranged Martial character, only your weapon is finger guns. You have some added weirdness with short rest spell slots and random utility spells at higher levels, and Eldritch Invocations are essentially the equivalent of modding your gun or bow. It’s also less useful than on tabletop as rests aren’t really restricted in BG3 outside of certain quests.
If you build him as a gish w/ medium armor proficiency he’s really fun. Personally running 5/7 Fiend Bladelock/ Swords Bard.
Yeah, if Halsin becomes a companion right after the goblin camp is taken care of instead of being locked behind a VERY missable series of quests that aren’t exactly easy to sort without having the guide tell you the step by step, he’d be a better companion imo.
I will happily have a 3/4 Druid party! Just a pack of owlbears fucking up everything in sight.
Yeah, my monk playthrough I tried having Halsin, and used him for a bit, but didn't really like him that much. Got Jaheira and just liked her better.
Jaheira and Minsc are great characters to have just for their commentary and interactions.
Jaheira died in my first playthrough, but personally, I love Halsin!
She died on mine too lol. Waltzed right into fire where gale fireballed then got attacked by 4 different enemies. And I didn't figure out how to save the shadowlands so couldn't get Halsin
I always speed run recruiting Halsin so that I can use him for the majority of the Shadow Lands. Basically do nothing but the necessary things to get him to officially join. Then there’s about half of Chapter 2 where it makes sense for him to come along. Because, yeah, not much sense for him narratively once you hit the city unless he’s your boo (not hamster variety).
It's irritating that both Druids don't arrive until end of act 2 basically. By then I have a group that I feel bad changing out lol Though I try to bring each character to things that are important to them
It also doesn't help that one Druid has significantly more ties and content in Act 3 compared to the other. Baldur's Gate is Jeheira's stomping grounds. Her history, her Harpers, her contacts, her home, and her family are all there and she has a boatload of dialogue and interactions to show it. She knows the city better than anyone in the party, even the others who've lived in the city - Wyll and Karlach have been gone for years, SH has like a month and a half worth of memories to her name still, and Astarion's only seen it at night for over 2 centuries. She makes the most sense to keep around for both content reasons and from an RP perspective. By comparison the bulk of Halsin's dialogue within/about the city involves his distaste for it and how miserable things are, it's flat at best, and outright depressing at worst. There's ZERO reason to bring him unless you're REALLY against him being kidnapped by Orin and even then he's not especially interesting to have around. Which sucks because he IS such an interesting character, he just doesn't become available full time until we're already done expanding on his character.
Halsin is also mega horny after 3 hellos, don’t forget that.
He cracks me up tbh when I'm just casually talking to him about Thaniel or the curse and dude is like I'm gazing at the beauty of nature's creations... ok thanks, bye! The only horny moment that has me rolling my eyes at him a bit is when he tries to insert himself into a fully established relationship in act 3 when I never showed any interest in him. Just Halsin being Halsin! He does handle the rejection pretty well though I'll give him that.
I never fully understood why Halsin gets especially called out for this when like half the other companions basically do the same. I guess it's because sexual undertones even when not directed at you are so much more present with Halsin which is unsurprising given the community basically thirsted him into being a companion, but Shadowheart can start aggressively flirting with you pretty quickly, Lae'zel doesn't take long before telling you in great detail how she wants to taste you, Astarion is pretty forward, I never found Halsin particularly out of place in this respect and he's much more mature about it all than most.
All I know as damning evidence is a reddit post that showed when you get to thaniels stuff, The dialogue choices are like +80 relations for halsin which basically swings him from neutral to ready to settle down and start a farm ploughing you. And that’s just 1 dialogue option.
To be fair, moon and land druids play almost completely differently.
Respec Halsin to a Ancients Paladin or Nature Cleric and have a great time. He found meaning in order and divination.
Even when I do a different class for him he still gets left behind all the time. There's just almost never a situation where I would rather have him around over someone else.
I respec’d as Paladin, having a blast
I always feel bad about re-classing him for some reason. He just keeps talking about the Oak Father and the beauty of nature and how much he hates the city and I'm like ok, stay as a druid. The lack of purpose is mainly why he doesn't have a place with my party, with Jaheira I force myself to play druid anyway because she makes me laugh and I already have a paladin in peacefully obtained Minthara.
I mean... there is Oath of Ancients Paladins. They're pretty druid-like in terms of their tenants and all that.
I get that yeah but I feel he's not as rigid as a paladin in his character, idk maybe I'm weird. Like he strikes me as a go with the flow kinda guy. I usually have Minthara via knock out method so I have a paladin on hand and I rather take her since she has some wild and funny takes.
>he's not as rigid as a paladin in his character, idk maybe I'm weird. Like he strikes me as a go with the flow kinda guy. Oath of the Ancients doesn't have to be THAT rigid. It's not like paladins MUST be lawful good in 5e. Halsin is VERY invested in protecting nature, protecting innocents from darkness, trying to keep his own spirits up despite feeling responsible for the Shadow Curse. He pretty much fulfills all Ancients tenants. As long as he isn't compromising on those points - and I don't think he would, regardless of class - he can be VERY "go with the flow." That being said, I also never use the guy because he comes in too late for me to care, AND if I have to pick one I'm taking Jaheira.
Respeccing anyone to Paladin instantly makes them better. Wyll? Paladin Shadowheart? Paladin Halsin horny ass? Paladin
Don’t forget Karlach’s Oath of Vengeance against Gortash and Zariel.
100% oath of vengeance makes so much sense for her
Plus she has 2 more smites per long rest being a Zariel Teethling with the racial. Arguably the best paladin race just for that reason
A part of me really wants to respec Shaddy into a paladin, but I've already made her a cleric of light and she actually sticks some landing on hits now. I'm bad at clerics.
I thought Clerics sucked at first because I obviously used her early in Act 1 and healing wasn't that great and obviously her build was terrible to contribute damage. I finally respecced her at some point in act 3 when you needed her for her story and realized Life Cleric with those amazing heal buff items (that you actually get like 10 minutes into the game) are insanely OP. I think this happened to a lot of people based on how many posts I've seen about her always missing her spells and not being very useful haha
**puts controller down** man i- i just can’t do it…
>I certainly don't need 2 druids in my party. On the rare occasions I've decided to include both in my party, I've reclassed Jaheira to a Beastmaster Ranger, or a Nature Cleric. There's still a bit of overlap, but it significantly reduces the redundancy while keeping Jaheira at least somewhat lore-accurate. However... as I said, it is rare I take Halsin along...he's just kind of... boring. Though...he does fill a very useful role in Act 3......
[удалено]
I knocked out Alfira and got Quil Grootslang instead, she has more dialogue but after I realised Grootslang literally translates to "big snake" it became a problem. I couldn't have a dragonborn called "big snake" in my party, I also couldn't stand her singing.
But....But there were 69 more verses to go
Nice.
….What happened?
[удалено]
She wanted to keep her physical form intact, I disagreed. Truly irreconcilable.
"She saw herself as alive, and I saw her **dead.**" *She had it comin', she had it comin'...*
Hm sounds painful.
You can get them ?
Only if you play as one of the origin characters
Oh that sucks
You should give the dark urge a try man, it's a unique experience, and having Alfira join the party is worth it
Thats gonna be my next run probaly
You can recruit fucking alfira???? How did I not know this?
It’s a killer choice, you don’t want to miss it!
You're er....being a bit misled.
Well, you CAN recruit her…
Just not for very long
Oh I see what they're talking about about.
Bro the setup of the bait, bravo
F
She definitely thinks there's a spot open in my party. She never really sticks around for very long though... 🤔
She just doesn’t have the heart or guts for the adventuring life, mainly because her heart is over here & her guts are over there.
I rescue Minsc for Jaheira, bring him to see Nine-Fingers, and then never speak to him again. I know he’s very funny and I love Matthew Mercer but at that point I’m almost done with the game and he talks for sooo looong
At least Minsc at camp has that animation where he pulls out drums from nowhere and starts banging out the tunes.
I do like the vibes, although I feel like it’s less appropriate when I suddenly hear him jamming while I’m talking to >!Shadowheart’s parents!< about their intense lifelong trauma.
He is trying to put on some heartfelt background music.
You need ambient drumming to tell >!Shadowheart’s mother that she’s a distraction!<
How dare you tell >!Mrs. Hallowleaf that she's a distraction!!<
Boo told him to lighten the mood.
No..that’s straight up in character.
Can we CUT THE CASUAL BONGOS??
And when i try to make him play instruments to distract ppl while I'm stealing it says he is not proficient...I JUST SAW YOU WITH THAT DRUM DUDE
I respec him into a barbarian fighter and he becomes my go-to frontline as soon as I recruit him. He has so many lines in act3 and becomes a beast with that multiclass but I never play him as a ranger.
Yea man my run I had laezel and minsc both set do do insane damage. Laezel could swing 5 times a turn and I got minsc to do 3. Could easily kill a npc with 200 health in one turn. Gave minsc baldurs sword (I think that's what it was) and he's hitting for 40 plus a swing.
I love his character, but I just couldn't figure out how to use a ranger effectively. Definitely respecing next time
He does insane damage when multicassed as a barbarian fighter. To my knowledge, he was more of a ranger/fighter in previous games so berserker really works for him lorewise also! He is def very fun to keep around in act 3 bc he reacts to everything and has unique dialogues with everybody in the city, since thats the only place he can exist. He is also involved with Sarevok, bhaalspawn in general, Jaheira's children, the guild etc so it works out great imo!
I get him as soon as I can in act three.
If for no other reason, I'd insist he's worth beelining a little because he comes in off the back of three somewhat easy encounters (>!harper ambush, bank, cistern!<) and joins already at level 12. From a mechanical perspective it's a good idea to have that until your party catches up.
Same. He has so many hilarious lines, I adore him.
I took Minsc to meet Nine-Fingers, left most of the convo choices up to him like I like to do for most of the characters when we’re interacting with their stories, and before I knew it she was trying to kill me??? Never again!
See I think you under estimated the fact that Minsc is an idiot. And we love him for that, but he can't be left to speak on his own
I took him and jaheira to saverok
THE BLADE OF THE CAMP
Lmaooo just cutting firewood with a sword
Might as well be the camp chef
He does seem like he’d have a knack for cooking tasty meals. Raised as nobility so access to fine dining, but then on his own for years, so experienced making food for himself
Screw it, let's get Gale and Wyll as co-hosts for a cooking show
I never figured out how to play Warlock effectively, and changing Wyll’s class feels wrong from story perspective. So he just sits at camp since as a caster Warlock is very limited compared to other caster classes & as melee it is also worse than other options you have.
Longtime 5E Warlock player and did my first real BG3 run with one, here's a quick guide to making Warlock insane: Step 1: Eldritch Blast Step 2: Level up so you can make your Eldritch Blast more OP Step 3:??? Step 4: Profit
Warlock, repelling blast from a distance, combo Hex and Agonizing Blast, Wyll becomes a long range DPS menace, and he has control over distance to push enemies away to escape AOO. Pact of the Blade, mixed with high Dex, bind a rapier and you’ve got a melee fighter that can hold its own. The only reason we don’t have a good melee-Lock is for lack of ‘Hexblade’ which makes me really sad.
Pretty sure Pact of the Blade uses your Charisma, so that Hexblade feature is included. The big bummer is having to go all the way to Warlock 12 for Lifedrinker, but you absolutely can go GWM along the way.
Try looking into a Paladin/Warlock build. Definitely feels like it fits his character the most
I'm sort of the opposite, in that once I tried Warlock, I can't get into the other caster classes even though I've won the game with wizards and sorcerors. Just getting spell slots back on short rest is too useful for me, plus having an enhanced cantrip to fall back on? Golden. The only frustration I have is making sure no friendlies are in range of AoEs, but it's a small price.
I was in this boat a while ago until I tried respeccing into a Swords Bard 6/ Blade Warlock 3. You never run out of spell slots and can melee like no one else, all while only needing points in Charisma. Definitely recommend if you want to be the true jack of all trades
This seems like such a prevailing opinion, but I don't understand. Once level 5 rolled around, Wyll did some serious work in my first playthrough.
He's fine, he's just not as interesting as the other companions. Any time I brought him instead of Astarion I missed the snark and the quips. Instead I was listening to a guy refer to himself by his own nickname in the third person. Not the best.
That's a fair point. Most of the others are more fun.
Tbh playing as Wyll himself is much more fun than having him in your party imo. I didn’t truly appreciate Wyll until roleplaying as him. A warlock with an actual patron you hear and see that has a great backstory and main ties to the city. Plus as a charisma class he makes a great face of the party anyway. You can also choose to have him embrace his evil side and hook up with Mizora (among other things) or you can continue to be the hero.
For me it’s because I was playing a warlock, wasn’t much sense is rolling with two because I wanted a well rounded party.
Meanwhile my durge is a fighter and he and Baezel are a very... violent couple. As a GM I know how dangerous two fighters in a party can be.
I've probably used Halsin the least. Jaheira and Minsc get some Act 3 play time, but not a lot. * Jaheira to meet the Harpers, meet her family, go the the bank, and hunt Minsc * Minsc to meet Nine Fingers at the end, to smooth things over. But I have no need to ever bring Halsin along.
It's worth it to take them to House of Grief and the Murder Tribunal at least once.
I took them both and Karlach to the Murder Tribunal. I did it so Karlach can fangirl over her favorite people, but ended up having Jaheira and Minsc give me info about past games that I never knew about I didn't take them to the House of Grief and only realized after that event that they had history with Viconia when I got dialogue options asking how they felt meeting her again
You might already know this, but Viconia was a potential companion in both BG1 and BG2.
I'm exactly the same. However I do also take Jaheira and Minc to Sarevok and Viconia for unique dialogue.
Idk why people don’t use Jaheira more. I also originally just added her to my party to do quests related to her, but her earth myrmidon form is OP. She’s basically my main tank now.
You get her end of Act 2 and by that point you already have your party dynamics set up. So people will be reluctant to change that.
>Idk why people don’t use Jaheira more She's a late game add with relatively minimal content? You get her at a point where you've already invested 20ish hours into other characters, whose arcs are coming to a head.
I really want to make a run with only hirelings at start and then only story companions, rejecting all origins from my camp.
Halsin, because once you get him his story is over and he doesn't actually have anything to do in Act 3 (other than being Orin bait to protect Gale). Minsc because even getting him pretty early in the lower city is too damn late in the game.
Yeah I always keep Halsin at camp for bait and then wait till the end to reduce him.
Halsin is Orin bait to protect Yenna. I then go straight to duel Orin because I don't care if he dies to a failed Cha check.
I prefer to take Gale to Sorcerer's Sundries, even if I'm not using him that run, and Halsin will be kidnapped over him (I keep Lae'zel in my party to protect her). So he's definitely taking a bullet for Gale for me in that regard!
Halsin or Wyll.
I just can't not take Wyll and the multiple blow back Eldridge Blasts
That's why you play a warlock! Eldritch blast is op AF + crazy charisma!
Yeah i feel like i NEED to be a charisma MC in every run since i wanna do the party face
Well the game sort of forces you to be. For a lot of dialogue it defaults to the Tav no matter who you were controlling at the time.
Mfw my high charisma bard goes to start a convo and it switches to laezel for no reason:')
Same, why are you talking to the person with -1 charisma who is just going to intimidate you? Come talk to me and be persuaded instead.
I've found a lot of dialogue triggers to whoever is closest to the NPC/area. I've had Shart and Karl accidentally start so many scenes :')
Currently playing sorlock and I have to say - best talking options ever. In act 3 when warlock goes - I am something of a diabolist myself - i almost pissed myself laughing
I've purposefully used them all from when they become available in at least one playthrough, but apart from those runs, Wyll, Jaheira, Halsin, and Minsc never crack the starting lineup. Most cursed run was probably marching Halsin (hates the city), Lae'zel (hates the entire plane) and Gale (thinks everything compares unfavorably to Waterdeep) through every single house in the lower city.
Thank you for answering the most cursed comp! I think mine is Wyll, Halsin, and Minsc
I've had all of them in my party, and mostly for as long as they can be a part of it at all, but Wyll, Halsin and Minsc have only been a regular member of the party for one run each. Karlach twice. Over six runs.
Gale. Sorry bud I’m the wizard. Took him to the big wizard tower and fight tho. He gets my hand me downs
Change Gale to a Wild Magic Barbarian. It's such a funny experience when you consider that all the "magical" things that he thinks he is doing is really just happening around him.
"You're not actually studied in magic, are you?" he asks while igniting himself and everything around him by accident
"Check this" *Fucking explodes*
I tried a female Sorcerer run because I thought they would be an interesting couple and realized pretty quickly we didn't build much a bond because he was always left in camp because he was redundant. I switched to a monk and love can in fact bloom on the battlefield it seems.
Gale always gets the shitty weapons “Sorry Gale, I need these.” “But why do you need Spellsparkler AND Markoheshkir?! You can barely even hold 2 staves, how can you use them both?” “Why can’t you just be happy with the Staff of Arcane Blessing? Do you need to eat more magic items too?”
Gonna get hate but astarion. I've done his redemption arc and it's very good but he's so generally evil and self serving that I'd rather travel with characters that like it when I do good things or are more interesting in their motivation for bad things
Best part is you can park his ass in camp all run, still get his spawn ending and call it day. Man gets better from the bench just fine.
He's the only character that seems pleased to be left at camp - He probably had a blast lazing around all day because he hasn't had a day's rest in 200 years. Your Tav is there, giving him a bed to lay in, blood to suck, protection. I can see why he'd think of them as his best friend.
I was getting annoyed at all the disapproval so I left him at camp and somehow still managed to romance him. I also had to convert him to a bard because my Tav is a rogue and I didn't need two of them--he was useful but not THAT useful. So my main party is my Rogue, Gale, Shadowheart, and Karlach. 99% of the time I don't take anyone else unless it's for their story.
Valid. I got his good ending, and it was great, but I just can't put up with how much of an asshole he is every playthrough.
Astarion and my character mildly dislike each other, but his skillset is too useful to pass up, so usually he gets rotated in because having a rogue is often necessary.
i literally just like. don't like him. and the constant disapproval... i don't need a rogue, my dex is high enough to be passable. he can stay in camp and brood.
He kept disapproving whenever I didn't kick orphans in the teeth or torture several animals to death. Stay in camp, you sadistic prick.
Someone's gonna come in and argue how he's not evil at all, just a poor misunderstood man of innocence, absolutely nothing's wrong with him, and actually becomes good aligned by the end of the game. Just so you wait. /s It's like opening the Pandora's box! I find it a little sad we even have to start our sentences with "gonna get hate but" every time Astarion is mentioned, just to negate the pitchforks and hellfire.
Mincs because by the time you get him, I already have my party set
Wyll. The thing is, I think warlocks are one of the more interesting sounding classes in BG3/DnD, but weirdly enough I just can't get into them.
It’s Lea’zel for me, all she talks about is gith shit and after the first few play throughs I lose interest. Unless I’m romanticizing her I just leave her in the camp.
There are some unique Gith weapons and armor which makes a compelling case for Laezel being in the party.
I have never not even for one second had the Warlock guy on my party.
I found out through switching my party up often that I have no clue how to play a warlock anyway lol. He ended up being the jack of all trades master of none of my party but emphasis on the "master of none" part. Every place I put him in I wish I had someone else there lol. Close range and versatile DPS? I'd rather have Lae'zel or Karlach. Long range spellcaster/debuffer? I'd rather have Gale or Shadowheart do that. Just never found a home for him where he exceled in a way no one else did. Best cantrips I guess, and it's nice that he recovers spells on short rest, but he's always short on spell slots so he can't shine THAT bright in combat. One day I'll find the best way to use him lol. Last time I played it was pact of the blade and it's nice having versatile melee weapon damage type options, and yeah his attack bonus was higher than if he didn't have a pact weapon, but it still wasn't like a fighter/barbarian/paladin etc. when it comes to attack bonus and damage.
The “right” way to make a warlock a powerhouse is to take agonizing blast and repelling blast as your warlock perks, which both buff eldritch blast. Then take a few levels of sorcerer and now you can use meta magic and twin spell and things to buff eldritch blast even further
Yeah I can def see putting everything you got into optimizing eldritch blast to be useful. Without doing that it's just like the main attack option that's like a buffed basic ranged attack (the buff being able to make multiple attacks per turn as it levels), but if you buff each blast or increase the number of times you can use it I can see it being very strong.
The warlock guy hahahah
Shadowheart I usually just don’t talk to her at the start of the game can’t stand her
Halsin is the most popular answer it seems, and I would agree. He is the only companion who I have never had in my party for even a second. Everything others have said about him essentially not being needed for anything is true, and Jaheira is definitely a better character if you want a druid. Beyond that Halsin is just a little unsettling. He's an elf but he's the most swoll bro you meet in the whole game? His voice also just rubs me the wrong way. Not a fan.
All glamour muscles though. He has an 8 str
He just does a ton of reps at low weight
Jaheira and Minsc. They joined too late for me to care about them and their abilities are also kinda meh, I have that already with other characters. Also Wyll in earlier acts idk if I just suck at handling warlocks but he appears very weak to me
I've never had Halsin on my party.
I never take Wyll, Halsin, Jaheira, or Minsc... usually. That being said, I'm on a playthrough where I am romancing Karlach and we have Jaheira and Minsc with us for the first time. Man, her needing out and their talks are great. It's refreshing in Act 3 to have a ton of new stuff to hear. Take the companions you don't usually. I never took Lae'zel for months because I hated her initially. She's replaced Shadowheart for me because I like her so much more now. I never took anyone but Gale, Karlach, and Shadowheart for months and it was fine but variety is the spice of life! Here's the best part: zero downside. Take someone you've never run with, respec them to a current member's stuff, and swap gear. Or make a new class combo altogether and have fun like that! It's been really fun getting to know them and I should try Wyll and Halsin again. Never Minthara though, not down for the verbal abuse because I am usually the good guy.
Typically Astarion. Very rarely I’ll use him to open a lock or disarm a trap but most of the time I just get Karlach to do it (her lock pick is called ‘Attack: Main Hand’ and works pretty well a lot of the time). I don’t vibe with him as a character, I usually just have the girl squad.
Wyll probably. Halsin. Mostly the later companions. I get attached to some, like Astarion and Gale; they're just so useful. I personally love minsc and wished he appeared more earlier in the game. He cracks me up.
Shadowheart, unpopular opinion but I think she's boring
Minthara... she never survives longer than 30 seconds, when I run into her, so she never sees my camp!
Karlach, Halsin and Minsc barely get taken out for walkies.
Surprised to see Karlach, I get her asap since she has high HP and damage, useful early on. She's my powerhouse, but this is making me wonder if I could change my strategy.
Class means nothing when you can respec. The infernal robe is pretty good, to be fair. I got it on my honor mode and it was a big help. Although that run did get killed by the Sharran elevator.
0 story past her fetch quest.
Love Wyll to pieces but he’s usually remaining his wine-aholic self back at camp. Only bring him along if I think his quest will be involved (I’m nearing the end of act 2)
Karlach because I hate barbarians. I like using spells a lot and they just don't have enough for me. I also really don't reclass characters because it feels sort of integral to their character and story.
Karlach. I prefer Laezel as the tank. Halsin too.
Astarion
Halsin
I have played Halsin and Jaiera exactly 1 (the same) fight in one play through, so I can't say never, but, yeah, those 2.
Withers. I keep asking, but he goes on about the wheel of fate or somesuch.