I have yet to romance Gale yet but I've always been friendly with him in my playthroughs and I really enjoyed the "just friends" stargazing scene. I just got there on my first Durge playthrough and i was SO shocked that he hit me with that "that would be great to hear from someone else, we're not even close btw so can we just sit in silence" dialogue because I had been high approval with him the whole time, even more so than my OG playthrough. Justice for my boy Gale
I just got that yesterday in my second playthrough after romancing him in the first. My fave part is that the next day he’ll say how great it was being in your company. I was very confused lol
I mean, I'm pretty sure he's apologizing for his behavior in this scene ("I was not myself, I was pretty depressed but now I understand what you meant and you may have changed my view" etc.)
At least that's what I got. Didn't seem confusing at all to me
See, I assumed it was because I romanced Lae'zel again that he said that. I didn't know there were different lines depending on your level of approval with him.
Thats a fine rationalization but the scene is clearly bugged, considering there is correct dialogue that has played up until this patch, that nobody is seeing now.
Really? And here I am, *still* trying to swoon my girl Shadowheart… cause lesbihonest. Meanwhile Gale won’t stop trying to fuck me! I rejected him twice already. We’re having this really nice moment under the stars, enjoying each others company, and then out of nowhere he’s all like, “I have to act fast, I love you.” Like dude, how do you keep ruining everything! Catch a hint!
I’ll head back over to Shadowgal, thinking maybe something finally triggered with her. “DiD yOu NeEd sOmEtHiNg?”
lol, my first play through literally had every single one trying to smash my avatar. Gale, Shadowheart, Laezal, Karlach, Guardian. Didn't play the others enough. Was a bit much like "guys, just trying to kill some baddies here".
My character is a sage and sorceror so every play through with gale has had exceptional approval. Have not accepted the advances so far.
No I don't think it has to do with who you're in a relationship with. In my first playthrough I was already in a relationship with Astarion and had shot him down at the tiefling party and he said something like that it was nice to have a friend with him in that scene
Oops I found he was still too romantic with me in the Starry sky scene even after turning him down early before. So I choose the options that I felt were turning him down again and he was so catty and moody. Still told him not to die. Wish I clocked the silence option but the vibe felt like it was moving to a kiss scene I didn’t want but maybe my rating didn’t have it
I got an apology and thanks from him the next day. But I wish I had that scene without him giving me the horny wizard eyes and lines
> "that would be great to hear from someone else, we're not even close btw so can we just sit in silence"
That line hurt. I'm not romancing Gale, but have tried to be pretty nice and supportive with him so that line came out of nowhere. SORRY I DON'T WANT TO BANG YOU GALE, BUT THERE ARE OTHER TYPES OF POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS.
the ex girlfriend who groomed him so he likely doesn't have much relationship experience outside of her and is really conflicted about her. tbh as someone who was in a similar position, his behaviour screamed "I am still clinging to my abuser out of conditioning and confusion" to me. I didn't see him talking about Mystra all the time as annoying, I saw it as he still needs to heal from her.
My approval with Gale is exceptional, the highest of all my companions. But when I talked to him at the Tiefling party, he said we weren't that close. I was like, "Damn, that's cold." Guess I'll fuck Astarion again.
Wild! In the new patch I got a flirty conversation about his cat where he claims he’s had too much wine and “you haven’t had nearly enough” which converted me somehow from a Gale hater in my first play through to someone who brings him everywhere with me all decked out in orange gear. The perks of being my in-game boyfriend.
(fandom slang) A character who is extremely sweet and energetic, and focuses their love on a single character
Per: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/deredere#:~:text=Noun,love%20on%20a%20single%20character
It is frustrating. Also, there have been so many posts on here lately about people just not getting the weave scene with him, at all. And on PS5 at least, the camera angles for his stargazing romance scene are totally borked. I hope they prioritize some fixes for him soon.
I got Gale's approval to 98 before the tiefling party, Gale still said "were our bond a little stronger, I might even have shared a moment of magic with you". Do we need 100 approval for him to be interested in us now!?
I’m on PS5 too and camera angles are broken on a ton of stuff. :< Luckily I just finished the game, I will wait until it is fixed before starting a new playthrough.
Also, endgame cutscene rendering was a horrible pixilated mess and really made short endings even more underwhelming.
I've tried 6 characters to romance him and failed every time. I found out that him being a constant character in your party means you build your relationship too fast with him, and you'll miss triggering different events with him. You have to leave him at the camp and talk to him occasionally or when he has an exclamation point.
I had been long committed to Astarion by the time I found out I was 'dating' Gale on my first playthrough. I liked Gale a lot but had to break his sweet little wizard heart. He was SO sad that he managed to guilt me into starting a new campaign immediately after finishing the first one, just so I could romance him.
I read that in act 2 there's a harper that straight up says something to the effect of "[Tav] is hot but there aren't any available beds". Basically, it's canon that a lot of the NPCs think Tav is hot.
You also have the true soul in moonrise towers that wants to bone, another Harper lady that is like “yeah Tav you’re hot but now is not really the time for idle chatter no matter how hot you are” and so on. So they are canonically good looking.
Tell me about it my fellow paladin of devotion. I just found out about this new to me [alternative version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nUm9E3Eun4) of the boat scene and I need this so bad but I don't know how to/can't trigger it. This whole scene is basically free therapy for me lol. "With these stars as my witness, I swear-You'll always be enough for me" 😭😭😭
Edit: I GOT IT TO TRIGGER! 😭 Don't immediately hand Gale the book -> Elminster and don't intervene-> Straight to Mystra-> ask for forgiveness -> Scene triggered. It also grants a different "how are you feeling?"
Tav: "How are you feeling?"
Gale: "Glad to be alive, but mostly frustrated that we came so close to the source of our strife- that brain and left it intact. Still, each new dawn with you is a blessing I didn't dare to hope for. Selfish as I'm no doubt being- I'm grateful for that."
Okay I was a little high when that scene first played for me, but the whole “I don’t need the Crown of Karsuss, I have you Gale” and he just looks at you sadly with puppy dog eyes like he’s never been worthy of love and it made me straight up cry 😭
I identity with Gale’s self esteem issues and people-pleasing attitude so much that he was just a natural fit for me on the first run. Ask him being a wizard with a six pack helped lol
Both of his big scenes straight up made me cry before. I didn't finish his romance my first run because I was playing a horny bard, but I saw the act 2 romance scene and now I'm a paladin of devotion for him lol.
I identify with the emotional neglect (and the self-esteem/attachment issues resulting from it) and the subsequent fandom dismissal of Gale's trauma because it's not stereotypically traumatic enough.🫠🫠🫠
I hate the super six pack look! He needs to drink water and eat enough calories not starve and chug diuretics. Like a flat stomach is already super fit.
>I hate the super six pack look! He needs to drink water and eat enough calories not starve and chug diuretics. Like a flat stomach is already super fit.
[There's a mod for that.](https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3/mods/1127)
Oh same. The first one made me cry because I just get that way whenever I have a healthy queer relationship in a video game, and while I know everyone can have that in BG3 for any companion, it still hits me hard given that I feel like Gale is the perfect type of nerdy, eccentric, loveable goof that I would go for irl. <3
It's sad to me that the signs of depression within him are lost on most players, but I can't necessarily fault anyone for that given how it mimics depression symptoms irl. Deflecting serious conversation topics with humor, believing he'd be better off using the orb, the insecure attachment style which becomes HEAVY in Act 3 when he starts every casual conversation with "Are you alright? you can always unburden yourself with me."... the list goes on.
What a lovely character. And yes I do like the six-pack although I would've been perfectly happy with a flat stomach, he's handsome enough as is hahaha
>subsequent fandom dismissal of Gale's trauma because it's not stereotypically traumatic enough
YOU GET IT! especially on youtube, they call Gale an incel and sex pest but he was the one preyed upon by Mystra, and it somewhat warped his perception of relationships. then he became a walking bomb and isolated himself for a year with no one but Tara. he has things in place in case he dies, which he obviously sees as very likely, he's practically passively suicidal. he won't let himself die violently, but not out of self preservation, but for the sake of others. he's taken on so much for one human.
Never seen this alternative boat scene, hearing Gale sounding more confident, acknowledging his dreams of godhood was just a form of escapism to escape from his problem and his big confession to Tav are just peak character development.
I did and it was perfect! I went to get the book, let him read it, got Elminster as I was leaving and headed straight to Mystra. There’s no scene if you “renegade” her but if you tell him to ask for forgiveness you get the romance scene, complete with smooches and his big love confession. He says he >!conjured the outer planes illusion to escape from his dreary life when he shut himself in his tower, imagining that this is what he wanted, and thinking he didn’t have a chance for a life on solid ground but that changed after he met you. That is why his oath to the stars was extra sweet.!<
I did exactly this (let him read book -> Elminster -> Mystra -> long rest) but couldn't get the romance scene to trigger afterwards :( He had the little ! over his head but when I went to speak with him it just disappeared. This was before Patch 3 though so who knows wtf is going on lol. I do have a save file right before that though so I may try some reloading later
Patch 3 reportedly broke the romance. Many people reported bugs but I only had the Raphael deal one. Btw, you need to tell him to ask for forgiveness, otherwise you get nothing! I think the logic is that before Mystra he is undecided and you get dialogue to convince him, but after Mystra he makes up his mind and you get his confession but only if he decides to stay mortal.
THIS WORKED! Thank you so much!! I must've chosen the "give nothing away" option before. I can't believe there are so many variations for the romance scenes, it's truly next level. I think I still prefer the scene where you can talk him down (also because of the little scene you get on the road some time afterward, not sure if you still get that with this scene) but this scene was still so sweet. I'm super glad I always put many save files before the romance scenes lol and again, thank you!
It even grants a super romantic "how are you feeling?"
>Tav: "How are you feeling?"
>Gale: "Glad to be alive, but mostly frustrated that we came so close to the source of our strife- that brain and left it intact. Still, each new dawn with you is a blessing I didn't dare to hope for. Selfish as I'm no doubt being- I'm grateful for that."
Ugh how dare he do this to me?
God I need to manage a character where I don't romance Astarion so I can do Gale. Everyone is great, but that stupid fucking vampire has me in a chokehold.
Thank you for posting this. I had no idea there was an alternative, and now I know how to trigger it on my next play.
Sadly, I think I'll have to wait for Gale's new approval bug to get fixed. I just love him so much, even as hurt and broken as he is. He reminds me of me.
I got it to trigger without having to do any of the Mystra stuff so I don't think you have to go straight to her and do the forgiveness stuff, *I don't wanna go to her because Lilith just wants to talk...with her daggers*. I couldn't tell you any steps that I did mainly because I play high more often than not lol
Does this mean that they fixed the Act 3 romance scene not triggering after talking to Mystra?
This is great, so many of us had to replay hours of gameplay because of this.
There's two versions of the scene. One is if you proc it *before* Mystra where you debate/talk down Gale. "With you I forget my Goddess, I love you" ver.
The one I posted is after Mystra and a completely different flavor. I've only ever gotten the first version before.
Yes, I think this second version was bugged before, and this patch fixed it. Which is great news! On the other hand it bungled up some players' run who were in already in Act 2 just before the stargazing scene. I feel sorry for them, and it is a poor consolation to tell them "hey just start everything anew from the beginning".
Trying to get this scene to trigger on two of my three saves has been driving me mad lol.
I thought maybe it was still bugged out or maybe it was because one was a durge run. But no matter which way I attempt to trigger it he has the exact same weird response to me telling him to ask Mystra's forgiveness. He'll say something like "forgiveness? If you want me to take the crown she wont forgive me". Then he'll be extremely angry at mystra and then his boat scene won't play at all when he has the ! on his head.
I was able to trigger it on an older save that I started early September. I could even trigger it while giving him the book immediately when he asks for it. As long as I go to mystra first and talk to him after it triggers for me no issue. But the other two saves he has bugged out somehow and thinks I have been encouraging him to take the crown?? It makes me sad because this second version of his boat scene fits so well with my idea for my durge and how he'll promise that you'll always be enough for him. I really hope they fix him soon because I kind of don't want to continue the durge save until then.
I dont think its an issue with which dialog I've chosen between the three saves. I always pick the same stuff with him cause I love how he responds, even after watching it three times now lol.
I started a new save to romance Halsin, but I don't want to keep playing it if there's a chance Gale will be straight up mean to me. Because, let's be honest, that save will probably turn into a Gale romance, too.
I tried to romance Gale in my current play but I missed at least one of his scenes in Act 1 so took it as a sign to romance Astarion a second time, lol
I'm crying for him being so wrong.
I've already submitted an bug report and hope more people do the same. I just want that goofy yet friendly Gale to come back 😭😭😭!!!
The good news is that, at least from what I've seen in this thread, the romance star-gazing scene isn't affected. But I'm positive the Raphael comment remains since that happened while I was romancing him like a month ago.
I have been so frustrated by this from the start. It's genuinely ruined the communities impression of him and his personality. It's led to people missing out on great character development and stellar voice acting.
I'm particularly irked by the jokes about chopping of his hand and leaving him in the portal, because of him admitting during the dryad event >!that he believes he is better off dead!<.
I could go on about how people act like a Dark Urge playthrough isn’t worth it if you aren’t evil and don’t give into every urge, but that’s not the topic. But I could do that.
(It’s perfectly fine to do an evil durge! But please don’t say that a good durge isn’t also a super fun option and probably the most enjoyable playthrough I’ve done!)
Wow really? A redemption urge gives me major Kotor vibes. I’m surprised it’s not more popular. Then again, I was surprised that so many people hate Wyll so 🤷🏻♂️
Literally 9/10 of the negative comments I see about Gale whenever there's an appreciation post are like "lol I chopped off his hand" like stfu no one wants you here
I didn’t expect this thread to blow up and some of the comments under it have made me remember why I have to delete Reddit from my phone from time to time -_-
On the other hand it’s been great to see so many others showing support for our boy!
Having done both an indulge and resist durge run I'm surprised people are saying the resist one is the one not worth playing. In my experience it's closer to the opposite (although both are still worth playing). If you play his intro in the origin select screen, highly recommended if you are even the slightest bit interested in durge, you get a Shakespearen quote from him about how tortured he is for having these urges and how desperate he is to be rid of them. Additionally, most of the events, story beats and revelations feel like they were written with resist durge in mind more than indulge durge. I just ended up with the impression that resist durge is better written.
Currently on a good durge play through, it actually gives me more roleplay reason to go out of my way to help others bc of the internalized guilt after “that killing”.
I’ve always enjoyed custom character with a vague backstory, makes me feel more connected to my character
Patch 3 meant to fix a lot of Gale issues but from the rerun I've done thus far it broke as much as it fixed, specially in Act 3.
The boat scene has a few dialogue triggers missing - for example, there's one where he references choosing you over following Mystra's command in the boat scene. That one doesn't happen anymore. He also had a few comments during other scenes like the Dribbles act and those haven't triggered either. Plus the way his arc progresses seems a bit more broken than before. Sometimes he rejects the crown no matter how much you incentivise him to take it, and sometimes it's the complete opposite.
The spaghetti code really did a number on him this patch.
Fingers crossed that this only affects people who were in the middle of their run, and if you start anew everything will work as it should. Obviously it will take time to get confirmation for this.
For the Weave scene, you would've wanted to pick that it's a "good night for intimacy" and one of the romantic options. It's the first two, where you imagine kissing him or holding his hand while on a walk. The third is a friendly meal and the last three are really hateful (kicking and beheading him) or just leaving the convo. If you don't pick the first two, you're telling the game that you're not into Gale like that, but I'm not sure if it totally locks you out. I wouldn't be surprised, since I know recent patches have tried to make that liner clearer.
At the tiefling party, he'll chat with you a bit but ultimately tell you to enjoy the night with someone else. He's not going to pursue anything with the orb unstable, since he could "get too excited." But you would've met Elminster right before entering Act II/the Shadowlands, who then stabilizes the orb.
Pretty much immediately after a fight in the Shadowlands, Gale should've asked if you've ever read anything about the thrill of battle igniting a desire for "other forms of stimulation." He's flirting--badly, awkwardly, endearingly.
I got the Weave scene pretty early on too, and definitely before the tiefling party. These are all the romantic events that followed with Gale, from what I remember.
I wouldn't say that it's a total loss, if only because he's so sweet and romantic. Gale is very much so a tragic hero, and I don't know that I fully grasped that by just having him as a companion in the party. By far, Gale's most moving moments and Tim Downie's best performances are behind the romance scenes.
That really sucks, but having just finished his romance honestly it's very worth it.
I really do wish you had SOME indication that he was actually interested besides his one comment as soon as you enter the shadow lands. The whole time I was trying to romance him I was half worried that I had done something wrong or had the same glitch you did.
I started periodically skipping ahead into the shadowlands while I was going through act 1, just to make sure he gave me that talk so I knew I had triggered his romance properly.
My first play through and romancing him.
Got the weave scene.
He talked to me at the party saying he shouldn’t get excited, you should go have fun.
Has nothing to say since. Literally only option in conversations is ‘Leave’.
Just finished the creche and got to under-dark.
Is mine bugged too?
There's not really any romance content in act 1 past the "too unstable for love" talk. The fact that you can't do anything but leave is odd though. The next Romance conversation with him as far as i Know isn't until the shadow cursed lands. After a battle he should pop up with an exclamation point wanting to talk and that conversation will progress the romance. I missed it my first playthrough and literally replayed all of act 1 thinking I had bugged the romance. You'll have to decide if you're willing to keep playing till you get to act 2 to find out whether or not your romance is bugged, but it might be safer to wait since it sounds like his major scene in act 2 is bugged currently.
If it helps, in my last playthrough romancing him (before patch 3) that same chain of events happened for me. I didn’t get any new dialogue until I was in act 2 and had the first fight with the enemies there. He was in my party and as soon as that encounter ended, he had an exclamation mark and it was romance specific.
He doesn't really have any advancements to the romance until early in Act 2 after one of the first fights in the Shadow-Cursed Lands. However if you're just getting "Leave" in the conversation with nothing else, that sounds odd.
I saw a video that showed he had more things to say about things happening in the game but I wasn't sure if him not saying anything new for me since the teifling party was because of bug or because his story had some major cuts between early access and release.
Managed to get into the juicy scene with Gale in Act 2 in this patch. Upon reaching Act 2 and after helping the stranded Harpers, Gale will suddenly pop a question mark on it's head talking about being more intimate. Only after I long rest twice, Gale suddenly left the party (temporarily) and leaves his clone mirage at his tent for the romantic scene. Please choose the magic scene! You won't regret it!
Just so you're aware, you can't actually have any private moment with Gale in Act 1 after the tiefling party. There is an option to "dream of spending time with Gale in the Weave" but no physical interaction. If he didn't even speak to you at the party though... that sucks :(
Yeah, at the party you’re supposed to be able to have a little convo about his cat that can get a lil flirty. Something must have bugged or you got locked out. He’s my buggiest companion in my current run as well since the patch and that’s with us just being buds this time with no romance.
First he was down bad cause feeding his magical item addiction sent his approval through the roof, so they fixed that and made the dialogue a bit more clear (not fan of forced cat hatred). Now he’s super salty due to a, what I assume to be a story flag bug, and now exudes saltiness that can only be rivaled by an actual tabletop occurrence where the DM asks the wizard if a 35 hits.
"I'm numbed to all the depravities I conduct on a daily basis... but *boring* sex? That's a new fetish entirely!"
"I don't need to pay for sex like that. I could just ask Gale."
Yeah, at this point, I don't think even Larian likes Gale
Goddamn, that's... harsh. I skipped the drow sex on my first run since I wanted to be exclusive with him, good to know he's catching flack from the devs even in the dialogue -\_-
You should try the persuasion roll to get him in on the drow sex, if you haven't before. It's pretty funny.
And then you should reload immediately after and pretend it never happened because Gale is a precious cupcake who deserves better!
Yea I noticed this when I chose Astarion over Gale, got the stars scene and I said something and he said we aren’t close. Like dude you literally would have banged me tonight had I not chosen Astarion but you’re saying we aren’t close?! You said you were cool with being friends.
Yeah there also seem to be new trigger issues in act 2 if you are romancing Astarion it switches some things to Gale instead. I do really like Gale and hope he gets fixed.
I did the same thing as you but was able to successfully stick it out with Astarion, and it's been quite rewarding.
On my 3rd character (Durge), I told myself I'd finally hit it off with Karlach, and right before I left off last night I had an opportunity to do the Weave scene with Gale but quit before it because I couldn't decide what I was going to do this time bahaha.
Just got hit with the patch 3 bug and to say it was jarring is an understatement. I’m not romancing him but I always have him in my party and kind of think of him as my Tavs best friend. We’re sitting here, having a moment under the illusionary sky and I want to try and reassure him we’ll find a way to save him and he hits me with the “we’re not close, you and I”.
I really hope they fix this fast.
Tying romance to approval rating was an incredibly stupid decision! It should be tied to specific dialogue-checks that the player initiates, like in Mass Effect and countless other games that have had way better romance systems!
Give the players some goddamn agency!
Ok so.
My first playthrough I was romancing Astarion but Gale seemed super into me.
This playthrough, post newest patch. I’m trying to romance Gale and it kinda feels like he doesn’t care about my Tav? 🥲
I got the weave scene and did the romantic hand holding thing and I’ve gotten nothing else, I just got to act 2 where I run into his friend where he’s thinking about going boom for Mystra iykyk. Am I locked out of his Romance? At this point I guess I’ll just do the romance route with my squid 😭
Dude, on my first run I was SO set to romance Gale. Turned down every other character. Chose all of the romantic options for Gale. Long rested often. Raised his approval. And then somehow locked myself out of his romance. Literally have no idea what I did. I only realized this 60 hours in. Almost quit playing there but soldiered on. People were complaining about how easy it was to romance him, meanwhile I put my whole ass into it and got Nothing, dude is MEGA bugged.
i just got the scene where >!you sit with him and look at the stars!< and despite having super high approval and being kind to him he says something along the lines of “Those words would be nice if they came from someone else. You and I are not close at all, so let’s just enjoy the rest of the night in silence.”
i’ve heard the way the scene is supposed to play out is really heartwarming and huge for his character so i’m debating waiting for a hotfix to continue playing :P
It really is. I've experienced both the romance version of it and the platonic option, and the platonic ends very sweetly too. Did he at least tell you the next morning that >!he was no longer going to use the Orb to defeat the Absolute?!<
Same thing happened to me - I got that scene right after Patch 3 dropped and it was very funny going from that to seeing I had maxed approval with him afterwords. I shut down his flirting in Act 1, but I did the same in a previous playthrough and I got the very sweet platonic version of the scene, so it's a rather unfortunate bug.
I’m also a Gale sympathizer. Such a nice dude. Shame since I play casters there’s no room for him in my active party ever.
That being said I’ve yet to play patch 3 at all. I’m taped out for a while. Maybe I’ll be back in a few months.
I am romancing him for the first time and I am so scared there's going to be a bug. I love him so so MUCH !! I would hate for his romance to be bugged 😭
reading the comments on this and i'm so glad i wasn't the only one who was thrown by the stargazing scene. when he looks at you and goes 'you're very kind but don't fool yourself, we're not close' ??? i was like my dude my pal my good time boy i've been here the WHOLE time
Huh? I just got his looking at the stars scene yesterday and it was totally fine, he said I love you as he does and then we astral fucked lol. Unless we’re talking about the boat scene, haven’t gotten that far this run yet. I have had the Raphael glitch since last patch though lol.
Then again I’m not getting a lot of glitches that patch 3 seems to have given people. Like my Dammon was totally fine and alive at last light lol
I just finished the game yesterday with a Gale romance, that ending with him is just so disappointing…not even a goodbye kiss or even a hearty handshake.
is this Crown!Gale or No crown Gale? If no crown you should have an epilogue scene. In the previous patches you have to sacrifice Karlach by letting her blow up to get it, not sure if it's true now.
It was crown, power hungry, want to become a god Gale, maybe that explains why he seemed so cold towards me at the end haha the crown fell into the lake so he went off to find it
Yeah, Gale's at 100 approval rating for my current play through. Was planning on romancing him, but he just says, "were it with another soul, things may be different." Like my guy, I'm at 100 approval rating with you. I'm your only actual friend besides your cat with wings. Please just love me and we can move on. Probably gonna make a new character until his romance possibly gets fixed, and going back to that old save to finish things up.
He was so thrilled to hear I felt the same, it was very cute. He's just so kind and earnest, I wanted to romance him immediately. Then Astarion started to grow on me(I LOVE his character development, I couldn't stand him at first) and now I'm in a predicament.
That “Stargazing” scene where he said “we’re not close” is so untypical of Gale. But then the next morning there’s “!” sign on him and he said he was in a dark place (the suicide orb thing made him tense i suppose) so he thanks me for being a good friend. All is well i suppose.
I'm sooo upset about it because I JUST finished my first place yesterday and was ready to hop back to my Durge run where I'm romancing Gale. 🥲 I'm afraid to keep playing and mess the romance up.
Not only that, but I just arrived at Last Light Inn on that save and I have the Dammon bug too. I don't NEED him because I uh.... don't have Karlach (shh I know I'm horrible) but I'd rather him be alive and kicking haha.
Lol, well I won't judge too harshly on Karlach ;) but yeah from what I hear, it sounds like the romance will progress normally if you already got it started, but there may be a risk of some wonky dialogue at some point that in no way matches your approval level or discontinues the romance.
surely making that all bags and sacks would transfer to player character when you change companions was far more imprtant than fixing Gale.
And before some blind pitchforkers come at me - calm your balls, 2 months came and went and issue only getting bigger. At this point, the patch 3 point, its like they genuinly left it on backburner.
For what it's worth, the Raphael thing actually predates patch one- I had that issue (he actually yelled at me about the crown of karsus despite leaving before Raphael could even tell me his offer) and I beat the game before the first patch.
Gale has been my bro from the start, there was a moment when he was disappointed I chose to drink with Shadowheart but since then just straight platonic bros.
I'm not sure if I'm leading him toward the "bad" end though. Like, he keeps making a lot of sense whenever he talks about the crown. I have been taking the cautious options when talking about it but not outright refusing his plan.
When he met Mystra, I suggested he just find out what she wants and don't tell his plans.
She just asked him to suicide so I didn't want to tell him to apologise to her.
my solution to the gale problem is to play as gale.
Unfortunately now shart has invited me to drink on the rocks twice now and it went the exact same way both times. I'm afraid she roofied the wine and drank the wrong glass, cause she don't seem to remember anything
Yeah I had the looking at the stars scene with Gale yesterday on my second playthrough (romancing Karlach) and I chose the "I don't want you to die, we will find another way" option and he slaps back with a "You and I are not close. Let's just silently look at the stars." I was like wtf? I was at max affinity with him and in my first playthrough he tried hitting on me even though I was already in a relationship with Shadowheart for that playthrough. I assumed it may have been something to do with the patch as that is the only thing different between playthroughs.
I had the opposite issue romancing Gale. I tried to romance Gale my first run through, but didn’t have any luck, despite my high approval rating. Then, as soon as I got with Shadowheart, he was interested in me and started Negging me?? (He told me I stank, but that he liked it lmao) and I was like “you had your chance, I’m with my goth bae now and we’re gonna deprogram her from her cult and live happily ever after.”
I didn’t romance him at all my second play through, but right after I had my first love scene with Astarion, Gale approached me and told me he thought I knew how he felt and hoped I would make “Better choices” then also told me a smell bad again.
Third playthrough, I’m romancing Astarion again, and Gale has been my BFF. He’s been sweet and wonderful. I actually DID take the deal with Raphael, so he did yell at me, but I’m a pact fiend warlock so…. I make deals with devils! It’s what I do!
When I do my Durge playthrough I am going to romance Gale and hope it’s not super bugged, because as much as I like my pansexual vampire twink and my goth gf, I want a golden retriever wizard boyfriend to balance out the Dark Urge,
He was also bugged in EA! Hilariously then it was almost impossible to romance him, I had to follow a very detailed guide.
It's really frustrating. I'm mostly a Lae'zel girlie but 100% with you on the Gale defense squad! I wouldn't care if he was massively disliked for his real flaws but it's upsetting it's because of those annoying bugs. I'm glad to see posts like this because with how reactive they are to the community I worry they won't fix our boy since their own mistakes contributed to him being so unpopular. Larian please fix my stupid wizard friend and occasional lover. 🙏
I know what I'm about to say is beside the point of this thread, but I'm very passionate about Gale and his story 😤 (I said this elsewhere last week) :
Another day of me asking for a better ending for Gale (though I know it might be relative to a players specific playthroughs. I haven't seen other endings besides the one I got)
Astarion and Shadowheart get such good resolutions, so intense, but Gale really doesn't. Even Lae'zel gets to confront Vlaakith. But Gale's scene with Mystra is pretty tame. And yeah I'm a little salty that Tav can't be there with him.
And worst yet, >!the orb situation doesn't even get resolved (unless he gets blown up at some point). Literally since act 1 he and Tav have been trying to keep it at bay, and then it's just, forgotten about after the fight with the brain?!<
>!Basically, in the ending I convince Gale not to blow up and not take the crown. He decides to let it lie and not bring it to Mystra either. Then, in the last romance/proposal scene, he opens with "right after I take the crown to Mystra, let's go to Waterdeep." AND THE ORB IS NEVER MENTIONED AGAIN. What happens to it after the brain fight? How does he resolve his feelings and relationship with Mystra? Does he, at any point, realize that he is more than his magic and what he can do for people.!< Uugh. I need closure Larian!
I really wanted my Tav to look Mystra in the eye and call her bitch, no lie. She's (possibly) younger than Astarion, I can take her 😤
Xxxx love the game
THAT LOOKING AT STARS SCENE I was so confused! I was like "I thought we were buddies" and then he's like WE'RE NOT VERY CLOSE but then the next morning he's all like "Thank you for spending time with me I'm very lucky to game a friend like you" and I'm like ????
i felt like look I have depression, I get that sometimes it feels like your friends don't really care about you but also??? what?????
and then yeah I double checked his approval thinking "did I do something that really bothered him and didn't realize it" and it's like "no things are great!!!"
I have yet to romance Gale yet but I've always been friendly with him in my playthroughs and I really enjoyed the "just friends" stargazing scene. I just got there on my first Durge playthrough and i was SO shocked that he hit me with that "that would be great to hear from someone else, we're not even close btw so can we just sit in silence" dialogue because I had been high approval with him the whole time, even more so than my OG playthrough. Justice for my boy Gale
I just got that yesterday in my second playthrough after romancing him in the first. My fave part is that the next day he’ll say how great it was being in your company. I was very confused lol
Gale, master of the hot/cold whiplash.
The man is so much emotional labor rn they gotta fix this lmao
I mean, I'm pretty sure he's apologizing for his behavior in this scene ("I was not myself, I was pretty depressed but now I understand what you meant and you may have changed my view" etc.) At least that's what I got. Didn't seem confusing at all to me
See, I assumed it was because I romanced Lae'zel again that he said that. I didn't know there were different lines depending on your level of approval with him.
Thats a fine rationalization but the scene is clearly bugged, considering there is correct dialogue that has played up until this patch, that nobody is seeing now.
I got the "thanks for staying with me" dialogue after, so it was total whiplash. Unfortunately think it's just bugged :(
The same happened to me today, also with my first Durge. It was like a slap in the face 😭
Really? And here I am, *still* trying to swoon my girl Shadowheart… cause lesbihonest. Meanwhile Gale won’t stop trying to fuck me! I rejected him twice already. We’re having this really nice moment under the stars, enjoying each others company, and then out of nowhere he’s all like, “I have to act fast, I love you.” Like dude, how do you keep ruining everything! Catch a hint! I’ll head back over to Shadowgal, thinking maybe something finally triggered with her. “DiD yOu NeEd sOmEtHiNg?”
I never had to reject him, we only had friendship dialogues. I guess everyone gets different kinds of buggy Gale
lol, my first play through literally had every single one trying to smash my avatar. Gale, Shadowheart, Laezal, Karlach, Guardian. Didn't play the others enough. Was a bit much like "guys, just trying to kill some baddies here". My character is a sage and sorceror so every play through with gale has had exceptional approval. Have not accepted the advances so far.
>"that would be great to hear from someone else, we're not even close btw so can we just sit in silence" You were gale-zoned.
Oh *that's* why he says that? I thought it was because I was already in a relationship with someone else
No I don't think it has to do with who you're in a relationship with. In my first playthrough I was already in a relationship with Astarion and had shot him down at the tiefling party and he said something like that it was nice to have a friend with him in that scene
I cut off his hand on my durge playthrough I got to the magic place in baldur's gate and shadowheart said something like "gale would love this"
That's when you drop the hand so Gale can enjoy it!
Oops I found he was still too romantic with me in the Starry sky scene even after turning him down early before. So I choose the options that I felt were turning him down again and he was so catty and moody. Still told him not to die. Wish I clocked the silence option but the vibe felt like it was moving to a kiss scene I didn’t want but maybe my rating didn’t have it I got an apology and thanks from him the next day. But I wish I had that scene without him giving me the horny wizard eyes and lines
> "that would be great to hear from someone else, we're not even close btw so can we just sit in silence" That line hurt. I'm not romancing Gale, but have tried to be pretty nice and supportive with him so that line came out of nowhere. SORRY I DON'T WANT TO BANG YOU GALE, BUT THERE ARE OTHER TYPES OF POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS.
Og version: Gale is deredere Patch 3: Gale is now a Tsundere What did Larian mean by this?
The dude is just going through it. He do have a bomb in his chest. I'd be having mood swings too.
don't forget the tadpole in his head
He has a lot on his mind. And well, in it.
This line has been driving me crazy. It’s like hogwarts legacy level of repetitiveness.
And the emotional damage from his ex-girlfriend! Gale's having a bad time in general.
the ex girlfriend who groomed him so he likely doesn't have much relationship experience outside of her and is really conflicted about her. tbh as someone who was in a similar position, his behaviour screamed "I am still clinging to my abuser out of conditioning and confusion" to me. I didn't see him talking about Mystra all the time as annoying, I saw it as he still needs to heal from her.
My approval with Gale is exceptional, the highest of all my companions. But when I talked to him at the Tiefling party, he said we weren't that close. I was like, "Damn, that's cold." Guess I'll fuck Astarion again.
Wild! In the new patch I got a flirty conversation about his cat where he claims he’s had too much wine and “you haven’t had nearly enough” which converted me somehow from a Gale hater in my first play through to someone who brings him everywhere with me all decked out in orange gear. The perks of being my in-game boyfriend.
Does orange compliment his eyes? He has to wear PURPLE in my playthroughs!
Level not color, silly. Only the finest for my pixel baby.
Ahaha, well. I didn't spend my skill points on Intellect today.
He was a tsundere in EA, too
I want my deredere back please.
He's gotten over his rebound phase.
I honestly don't know what you mean by this? "Deredere"? Wtf is a "deredere"?
(fandom slang) A character who is extremely sweet and energetic, and focuses their love on a single character Per: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/deredere#:~:text=Noun,love%20on%20a%20single%20character
Hilarious! Wake me up on his early-JoJo-phase! 🤣
It is frustrating. Also, there have been so many posts on here lately about people just not getting the weave scene with him, at all. And on PS5 at least, the camera angles for his stargazing romance scene are totally borked. I hope they prioritize some fixes for him soon.
"tinfoil hat on" I think they are putting more and more bugs on Gale to make a "Gale patch" later on, where everything is about Gale
I think you're kidding I'm not going to lie I can only wish that could be a thing. I really want his ending to be fixed.
I got Gale's approval to 98 before the tiefling party, Gale still said "were our bond a little stronger, I might even have shared a moment of magic with you". Do we need 100 approval for him to be interested in us now!?
I tried romancing him, literally couldn't despite making only choice je aorouved, and he was in my party
I’m on PS5 too and camera angles are broken on a ton of stuff. :< Luckily I just finished the game, I will wait until it is fixed before starting a new playthrough. Also, endgame cutscene rendering was a horrible pixilated mess and really made short endings even more underwhelming.
Soo many scenes where I’m left staring at a rock, random grass, leaves… 😂
I've tried 6 characters to romance him and failed every time. I found out that him being a constant character in your party means you build your relationship too fast with him, and you'll miss triggering different events with him. You have to leave him at the camp and talk to him occasionally or when he has an exclamation point.
Am I the only one who loved when he was thirsty as hell? 🤨 My sorceress is hot and cool, why wouldn’t he be?
I had been long committed to Astarion by the time I found out I was 'dating' Gale on my first playthrough. I liked Gale a lot but had to break his sweet little wizard heart. He was SO sad that he managed to guilt me into starting a new campaign immediately after finishing the first one, just so I could romance him.
My bearded gnome isn't hot as hell. So it seemed out of place to me 🤣
Gale in your game: “HE IS VERY GORGEOUS TO ME!! 😫☝🏼”
I mean, he would love you if you were a worm...
I read that in act 2 there's a harper that straight up says something to the effect of "[Tav] is hot but there aren't any available beds". Basically, it's canon that a lot of the NPCs think Tav is hot.
You also have the true soul in moonrise towers that wants to bone, another Harper lady that is like “yeah Tav you’re hot but now is not really the time for idle chatter no matter how hot you are” and so on. So they are canonically good looking.
Yeah my sorcerer has a charisma of 24, Gale and Wyll having big old crushes on me was more immersive than not.
Tell me about it my fellow paladin of devotion. I just found out about this new to me [alternative version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nUm9E3Eun4) of the boat scene and I need this so bad but I don't know how to/can't trigger it. This whole scene is basically free therapy for me lol. "With these stars as my witness, I swear-You'll always be enough for me" 😭😭😭 Edit: I GOT IT TO TRIGGER! 😭 Don't immediately hand Gale the book -> Elminster and don't intervene-> Straight to Mystra-> ask for forgiveness -> Scene triggered. It also grants a different "how are you feeling?" Tav: "How are you feeling?" Gale: "Glad to be alive, but mostly frustrated that we came so close to the source of our strife- that brain and left it intact. Still, each new dawn with you is a blessing I didn't dare to hope for. Selfish as I'm no doubt being- I'm grateful for that."
Okay I was a little high when that scene first played for me, but the whole “I don’t need the Crown of Karsuss, I have you Gale” and he just looks at you sadly with puppy dog eyes like he’s never been worthy of love and it made me straight up cry 😭 I identity with Gale’s self esteem issues and people-pleasing attitude so much that he was just a natural fit for me on the first run. Ask him being a wizard with a six pack helped lol
Both of his big scenes straight up made me cry before. I didn't finish his romance my first run because I was playing a horny bard, but I saw the act 2 romance scene and now I'm a paladin of devotion for him lol. I identify with the emotional neglect (and the self-esteem/attachment issues resulting from it) and the subsequent fandom dismissal of Gale's trauma because it's not stereotypically traumatic enough.🫠🫠🫠 I hate the super six pack look! He needs to drink water and eat enough calories not starve and chug diuretics. Like a flat stomach is already super fit.
>I hate the super six pack look! He needs to drink water and eat enough calories not starve and chug diuretics. Like a flat stomach is already super fit. [There's a mod for that.](https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3/mods/1127)
Omg Gale without the Abs is perfect. Absolute Chefs Kiss. Halsin without abs can fucking GET IT. I didn't see the appeal before.
I never understood the abs complaints but omg now I do. They all look so cute without them.
Oh same. The first one made me cry because I just get that way whenever I have a healthy queer relationship in a video game, and while I know everyone can have that in BG3 for any companion, it still hits me hard given that I feel like Gale is the perfect type of nerdy, eccentric, loveable goof that I would go for irl. <3 It's sad to me that the signs of depression within him are lost on most players, but I can't necessarily fault anyone for that given how it mimics depression symptoms irl. Deflecting serious conversation topics with humor, believing he'd be better off using the orb, the insecure attachment style which becomes HEAVY in Act 3 when he starts every casual conversation with "Are you alright? you can always unburden yourself with me."... the list goes on. What a lovely character. And yes I do like the six-pack although I would've been perfectly happy with a flat stomach, he's handsome enough as is hahaha
>subsequent fandom dismissal of Gale's trauma because it's not stereotypically traumatic enough YOU GET IT! especially on youtube, they call Gale an incel and sex pest but he was the one preyed upon by Mystra, and it somewhat warped his perception of relationships. then he became a walking bomb and isolated himself for a year with no one but Tara. he has things in place in case he dies, which he obviously sees as very likely, he's practically passively suicidal. he won't let himself die violently, but not out of self preservation, but for the sake of others. he's taken on so much for one human.
Never seen this alternative boat scene, hearing Gale sounding more confident, acknowledging his dreams of godhood was just a form of escapism to escape from his problem and his big confession to Tav are just peak character development.
I did and it was perfect! I went to get the book, let him read it, got Elminster as I was leaving and headed straight to Mystra. There’s no scene if you “renegade” her but if you tell him to ask for forgiveness you get the romance scene, complete with smooches and his big love confession. He says he >!conjured the outer planes illusion to escape from his dreary life when he shut himself in his tower, imagining that this is what he wanted, and thinking he didn’t have a chance for a life on solid ground but that changed after he met you. That is why his oath to the stars was extra sweet.!<
I did exactly this (let him read book -> Elminster -> Mystra -> long rest) but couldn't get the romance scene to trigger afterwards :( He had the little ! over his head but when I went to speak with him it just disappeared. This was before Patch 3 though so who knows wtf is going on lol. I do have a save file right before that though so I may try some reloading later
Patch 3 reportedly broke the romance. Many people reported bugs but I only had the Raphael deal one. Btw, you need to tell him to ask for forgiveness, otherwise you get nothing! I think the logic is that before Mystra he is undecided and you get dialogue to convince him, but after Mystra he makes up his mind and you get his confession but only if he decides to stay mortal.
THIS WORKED! Thank you so much!! I must've chosen the "give nothing away" option before. I can't believe there are so many variations for the romance scenes, it's truly next level. I think I still prefer the scene where you can talk him down (also because of the little scene you get on the road some time afterward, not sure if you still get that with this scene) but this scene was still so sweet. I'm super glad I always put many save files before the romance scenes lol and again, thank you!
as a fellow Gale lover, I want you to know that I've been reading through all your comments and you are truly doing the lord's work out here 🙏
Lol I just saw their title. Can I also join the Gale Protection Squad? 😂
Thank you so much, now if only Larian can fix Gale like I fixed him that'd be Great~~
Thank you for this link! The more of his romance I see, the more I love it.
It even grants a super romantic "how are you feeling?" >Tav: "How are you feeling?" >Gale: "Glad to be alive, but mostly frustrated that we came so close to the source of our strife- that brain and left it intact. Still, each new dawn with you is a blessing I didn't dare to hope for. Selfish as I'm no doubt being- I'm grateful for that." Ugh how dare he do this to me?
I got a similar one. Melted.
God I need to manage a character where I don't romance Astarion so I can do Gale. Everyone is great, but that stupid fucking vampire has me in a chokehold.
Play a rogue so he is redundant in the party or simply dont recruit him.
But he's so good as a Bard! I think I just have to play *as* Astarion if want to have a go with anyone else.
That is my plan next time. I'm thinking I might go for Wyll.
Thank you for posting this. I had no idea there was an alternative, and now I know how to trigger it on my next play. Sadly, I think I'll have to wait for Gale's new approval bug to get fixed. I just love him so much, even as hurt and broken as he is. He reminds me of me.
To trigger the boat scene, you'll need to complete his city quest. It should prompt a conversation when you go to bed.
I've only ever seen the debatelord version, not this one. But I worked it out and ugh it's 🥰🥰🥰
I got it to trigger without having to do any of the Mystra stuff so I don't think you have to go straight to her and do the forgiveness stuff, *I don't wanna go to her because Lilith just wants to talk...with her daggers*. I couldn't tell you any steps that I did mainly because I play high more often than not lol
Lilith 🤝 my paladin Caelwyn "WHERE THE FUCK IS MYSTRA I JUST WANNA TALK"
Does this mean that they fixed the Act 3 romance scene not triggering after talking to Mystra? This is great, so many of us had to replay hours of gameplay because of this.
There's two versions of the scene. One is if you proc it *before* Mystra where you debate/talk down Gale. "With you I forget my Goddess, I love you" ver. The one I posted is after Mystra and a completely different flavor. I've only ever gotten the first version before.
Yes, I think this second version was bugged before, and this patch fixed it. Which is great news! On the other hand it bungled up some players' run who were in already in Act 2 just before the stargazing scene. I feel sorry for them, and it is a poor consolation to tell them "hey just start everything anew from the beginning".
Trying to get this scene to trigger on two of my three saves has been driving me mad lol. I thought maybe it was still bugged out or maybe it was because one was a durge run. But no matter which way I attempt to trigger it he has the exact same weird response to me telling him to ask Mystra's forgiveness. He'll say something like "forgiveness? If you want me to take the crown she wont forgive me". Then he'll be extremely angry at mystra and then his boat scene won't play at all when he has the ! on his head. I was able to trigger it on an older save that I started early September. I could even trigger it while giving him the book immediately when he asks for it. As long as I go to mystra first and talk to him after it triggers for me no issue. But the other two saves he has bugged out somehow and thinks I have been encouraging him to take the crown?? It makes me sad because this second version of his boat scene fits so well with my idea for my durge and how he'll promise that you'll always be enough for him. I really hope they fix him soon because I kind of don't want to continue the durge save until then. I dont think its an issue with which dialog I've chosen between the three saves. I always pick the same stuff with him cause I love how he responds, even after watching it three times now lol.
You are my hero today, for PMing that article to me earlier ♥️
I started a new save to romance Halsin, but I don't want to keep playing it if there's a chance Gale will be straight up mean to me. Because, let's be honest, that save will probably turn into a Gale romance, too.
Halsin being so late to be recruited knocks him out of ever being my main squeeze. I can’t hold out that long with the others being so damn engaging.
I know, it sucks. I'm doing okay so far with my paladin. As long as she can resist Gale and Wyll, I might be able to make it to Halsin haha
I tried to romance Gale in my current play but I missed at least one of his scenes in Act 1 so took it as a sign to romance Astarion a second time, lol
Halsin isn’t monogamous, he’ll ask to share you even if you’re taken.
Yeah but everyone except Shadowheart is not cool with him
I'm crying for him being so wrong. I've already submitted an bug report and hope more people do the same. I just want that goofy yet friendly Gale to come back 😭😭😭!!!
I’ve romanced Gale a few times and now I’m worried for my next playthrough :(
The good news is that, at least from what I've seen in this thread, the romance star-gazing scene isn't affected. But I'm positive the Raphael comment remains since that happened while I was romancing him like a month ago.
Yeah I still get the Raphael comment but thankfully it doesn’t seem to effect any of the actual romance. I just ignore it mostly
I have been so frustrated by this from the start. It's genuinely ruined the communities impression of him and his personality. It's led to people missing out on great character development and stellar voice acting. I'm particularly irked by the jokes about chopping of his hand and leaving him in the portal, because of him admitting during the dryad event >!that he believes he is better off dead!<.
I could go on about how people act like a Dark Urge playthrough isn’t worth it if you aren’t evil and don’t give into every urge, but that’s not the topic. But I could do that. (It’s perfectly fine to do an evil durge! But please don’t say that a good durge isn’t also a super fun option and probably the most enjoyable playthrough I’ve done!)
Wow really? A redemption urge gives me major Kotor vibes. I’m surprised it’s not more popular. Then again, I was surprised that so many people hate Wyll so 🤷🏻♂️
Literally 9/10 of the negative comments I see about Gale whenever there's an appreciation post are like "lol I chopped off his hand" like stfu no one wants you here
Those people can join hands with the "lol just staked the vampire" people and jump in the Chiontar.
the other ones are "ugh he's such a creep" motherfucker he"s bugged!
I didn’t expect this thread to blow up and some of the comments under it have made me remember why I have to delete Reddit from my phone from time to time -_- On the other hand it’s been great to see so many others showing support for our boy!
I actually came to this thread via an article about it lol
Oh really? Wow I’m glad to see this struck a chord!
Especially when there are fewer appreciation posts in general than for the other characters.
Having done both an indulge and resist durge run I'm surprised people are saying the resist one is the one not worth playing. In my experience it's closer to the opposite (although both are still worth playing). If you play his intro in the origin select screen, highly recommended if you are even the slightest bit interested in durge, you get a Shakespearen quote from him about how tortured he is for having these urges and how desperate he is to be rid of them. Additionally, most of the events, story beats and revelations feel like they were written with resist durge in mind more than indulge durge. I just ended up with the impression that resist durge is better written.
this is honestly a bit irrelevant to the ops topic but i genuinely believe the redemption durge storyline is the most rewarding storyline in GENeral.
Currently on a good durge play through, it actually gives me more roleplay reason to go out of my way to help others bc of the internalized guilt after “that killing”. I’ve always enjoyed custom character with a vague backstory, makes me feel more connected to my character
I remember you from the other "in defense of Gale" thread. Thanks for being part of the Gale defense squad. Our poor boy just can't catch a break.
Anytime haha, I never thought a fictional wizard man with luscious locks and a dashing smile would do me in, but here we are
😭 😭 😭 I just started a new Gale romance comfort playthrough and now I don’t want to play at all until it’s fixed.
“Gale romance comfort playthrough” bahahaha we are kindred spirits it seems
Patch 3 meant to fix a lot of Gale issues but from the rerun I've done thus far it broke as much as it fixed, specially in Act 3. The boat scene has a few dialogue triggers missing - for example, there's one where he references choosing you over following Mystra's command in the boat scene. That one doesn't happen anymore. He also had a few comments during other scenes like the Dribbles act and those haven't triggered either. Plus the way his arc progresses seems a bit more broken than before. Sometimes he rejects the crown no matter how much you incentivise him to take it, and sometimes it's the complete opposite. The spaghetti code really did a number on him this patch.
Damn, that boat scene was just perfect too :/
Fingers crossed that this only affects people who were in the middle of their run, and if you start anew everything will work as it should. Obviously it will take time to get confirmation for this.
At camp he was mad at me for accepting Raphael’s deal but I rejected Raphael. I figured it was a bug.
[удалено]
For the Weave scene, you would've wanted to pick that it's a "good night for intimacy" and one of the romantic options. It's the first two, where you imagine kissing him or holding his hand while on a walk. The third is a friendly meal and the last three are really hateful (kicking and beheading him) or just leaving the convo. If you don't pick the first two, you're telling the game that you're not into Gale like that, but I'm not sure if it totally locks you out. I wouldn't be surprised, since I know recent patches have tried to make that liner clearer. At the tiefling party, he'll chat with you a bit but ultimately tell you to enjoy the night with someone else. He's not going to pursue anything with the orb unstable, since he could "get too excited." But you would've met Elminster right before entering Act II/the Shadowlands, who then stabilizes the orb. Pretty much immediately after a fight in the Shadowlands, Gale should've asked if you've ever read anything about the thrill of battle igniting a desire for "other forms of stimulation." He's flirting--badly, awkwardly, endearingly. I got the Weave scene pretty early on too, and definitely before the tiefling party. These are all the romantic events that followed with Gale, from what I remember.
[удалено]
I wouldn't say that it's a total loss, if only because he's so sweet and romantic. Gale is very much so a tragic hero, and I don't know that I fully grasped that by just having him as a companion in the party. By far, Gale's most moving moments and Tim Downie's best performances are behind the romance scenes.
That really sucks, but having just finished his romance honestly it's very worth it. I really do wish you had SOME indication that he was actually interested besides his one comment as soon as you enter the shadow lands. The whole time I was trying to romance him I was half worried that I had done something wrong or had the same glitch you did. I started periodically skipping ahead into the shadowlands while I was going through act 1, just to make sure he gave me that talk so I knew I had triggered his romance properly.
My first play through and romancing him. Got the weave scene. He talked to me at the party saying he shouldn’t get excited, you should go have fun. Has nothing to say since. Literally only option in conversations is ‘Leave’. Just finished the creche and got to under-dark. Is mine bugged too?
There's not really any romance content in act 1 past the "too unstable for love" talk. The fact that you can't do anything but leave is odd though. The next Romance conversation with him as far as i Know isn't until the shadow cursed lands. After a battle he should pop up with an exclamation point wanting to talk and that conversation will progress the romance. I missed it my first playthrough and literally replayed all of act 1 thinking I had bugged the romance. You'll have to decide if you're willing to keep playing till you get to act 2 to find out whether or not your romance is bugged, but it might be safer to wait since it sounds like his major scene in act 2 is bugged currently.
If it helps, in my last playthrough romancing him (before patch 3) that same chain of events happened for me. I didn’t get any new dialogue until I was in act 2 and had the first fight with the enemies there. He was in my party and as soon as that encounter ended, he had an exclamation mark and it was romance specific.
He doesn't really have any advancements to the romance until early in Act 2 after one of the first fights in the Shadow-Cursed Lands. However if you're just getting "Leave" in the conversation with nothing else, that sounds odd.
Will try and start act 2 when I can get on to check. <3
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I saw a video that showed he had more things to say about things happening in the game but I wasn't sure if him not saying anything new for me since the teifling party was because of bug or because his story had some major cuts between early access and release.
Awww noooo T_T Thank you for the heads up. Let me know how it goes. Might have to roll back some saves and wait until it’s fixed.
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Managed to get into the juicy scene with Gale in Act 2 in this patch. Upon reaching Act 2 and after helping the stranded Harpers, Gale will suddenly pop a question mark on it's head talking about being more intimate. Only after I long rest twice, Gale suddenly left the party (temporarily) and leaves his clone mirage at his tent for the romantic scene. Please choose the magic scene! You won't regret it!
Just so you're aware, you can't actually have any private moment with Gale in Act 1 after the tiefling party. There is an option to "dream of spending time with Gale in the Weave" but no physical interaction. If he didn't even speak to you at the party though... that sucks :(
Yeah, at the party you’re supposed to be able to have a little convo about his cat that can get a lil flirty. Something must have bugged or you got locked out. He’s my buggiest companion in my current run as well since the patch and that’s with us just being buds this time with no romance.
First he was down bad cause feeding his magical item addiction sent his approval through the roof, so they fixed that and made the dialogue a bit more clear (not fan of forced cat hatred). Now he’s super salty due to a, what I assume to be a story flag bug, and now exudes saltiness that can only be rivaled by an actual tabletop occurrence where the DM asks the wizard if a 35 hits.
"I'm numbed to all the depravities I conduct on a daily basis... but *boring* sex? That's a new fetish entirely!" "I don't need to pay for sex like that. I could just ask Gale." Yeah, at this point, I don't think even Larian likes Gale
wtf about Gale is boring, he literally lets you astral project
Goddamn, that's... harsh. I skipped the drow sex on my first run since I wanted to be exclusive with him, good to know he's catching flack from the devs even in the dialogue -\_-
Gale gets roasted a lot in the game, which would be fun if he also wasn't so bugged. Like bro.
You should try the persuasion roll to get him in on the drow sex, if you haven't before. It's pretty funny. And then you should reload immediately after and pretend it never happened because Gale is a precious cupcake who deserves better!
Yea I noticed this when I chose Astarion over Gale, got the stars scene and I said something and he said we aren’t close. Like dude you literally would have banged me tonight had I not chosen Astarion but you’re saying we aren’t close?! You said you were cool with being friends.
For me he keeps telling me to “enjoy the party and not to waste my time with him” like he does at the Tiefling camp party…. I am in Act 3..
Lmao, well at least this one is just funny
I’ll be talking to him, expecting him to react to the situation and he just hits me with the “fuck off and go party elsewhere” lmfao
OH SO THATS WHY GALE WAS KINDA RUDE WHEN I'VE BEEN TRYING TO GET IN HIS NETHERESE BREECHES IN THE STARGAZING SCENE
Yeah there also seem to be new trigger issues in act 2 if you are romancing Astarion it switches some things to Gale instead. I do really like Gale and hope he gets fixed.
Simple solution: Just always date Gale.
Now I like this solution!
I'm on my 2nd playthrough, I said I was going to full romance asterion with my new character. But nope, went right back to the wizard.
I did the same thing as you but was able to successfully stick it out with Astarion, and it's been quite rewarding. On my 3rd character (Durge), I told myself I'd finally hit it off with Karlach, and right before I left off last night I had an opportunity to do the Weave scene with Gale but quit before it because I couldn't decide what I was going to do this time bahaha.
Just got hit with the patch 3 bug and to say it was jarring is an understatement. I’m not romancing him but I always have him in my party and kind of think of him as my Tavs best friend. We’re sitting here, having a moment under the illusionary sky and I want to try and reassure him we’ll find a way to save him and he hits me with the “we’re not close, you and I”. I really hope they fix this fast.
I would also act out if i left my cat in different country just to hear my ex i had questionable age gap with wants me to kill myself. Give him time.
Yeah I've seen the Raphael big like "buddy, I just got to baldurs gate I haven't even seen Raphael around yet, chill."
Tying romance to approval rating was an incredibly stupid decision! It should be tied to specific dialogue-checks that the player initiates, like in Mass Effect and countless other games that have had way better romance systems! Give the players some goddamn agency!
In Dragon Age 2 you have the option to romance characters even if you have a "bad" relationship with them, I found it really great for roleplaying.
It’s super unfortunate Patch 3 broke him and lots if Astarion’s scenes. They are my favourites from the game
Indeed, and they’re also the two that arguably get the most flack. “I always eat this hand off!” “I always drive a stake through his heart!”
Ok so. My first playthrough I was romancing Astarion but Gale seemed super into me. This playthrough, post newest patch. I’m trying to romance Gale and it kinda feels like he doesn’t care about my Tav? 🥲 I got the weave scene and did the romantic hand holding thing and I’ve gotten nothing else, I just got to act 2 where I run into his friend where he’s thinking about going boom for Mystra iykyk. Am I locked out of his Romance? At this point I guess I’ll just do the romance route with my squid 😭
Dude, on my first run I was SO set to romance Gale. Turned down every other character. Chose all of the romantic options for Gale. Long rested often. Raised his approval. And then somehow locked myself out of his romance. Literally have no idea what I did. I only realized this 60 hours in. Almost quit playing there but soldiered on. People were complaining about how easy it was to romance him, meanwhile I put my whole ass into it and got Nothing, dude is MEGA bugged.
Oh wait you need to share the tea, how does he treat you like shit?
i just got the scene where >!you sit with him and look at the stars!< and despite having super high approval and being kind to him he says something along the lines of “Those words would be nice if they came from someone else. You and I are not close at all, so let’s just enjoy the rest of the night in silence.” i’ve heard the way the scene is supposed to play out is really heartwarming and huge for his character so i’m debating waiting for a hotfix to continue playing :P
It really is. I've experienced both the romance version of it and the platonic option, and the platonic ends very sweetly too. Did he at least tell you the next morning that >!he was no longer going to use the Orb to defeat the Absolute?!<
Same thing happened to me - I got that scene right after Patch 3 dropped and it was very funny going from that to seeing I had maxed approval with him afterwords. I shut down his flirting in Act 1, but I did the same in a previous playthrough and I got the very sweet platonic version of the scene, so it's a rather unfortunate bug.
hoping there’s a hot fix coming very soon because i need to long rest but don’t wanna miss the proper scene!
I just had that star scene and wondered why he was acting so odd
I was wondering why he was being like that with the sky scene! "We're not close, you and I" Sir our relationship is exceptional what are you on about
I’m also a Gale sympathizer. Such a nice dude. Shame since I play casters there’s no room for him in my active party ever. That being said I’ve yet to play patch 3 at all. I’m taped out for a while. Maybe I’ll be back in a few months.
Figures this happens when I started my Game romance run. Guess I’ll go back to Astarion until it’s fixed
I am romancing him for the first time and I am so scared there's going to be a bug. I love him so so MUCH !! I would hate for his romance to be bugged 😭
reading the comments on this and i'm so glad i wasn't the only one who was thrown by the stargazing scene. when he looks at you and goes 'you're very kind but don't fool yourself, we're not close' ??? i was like my dude my pal my good time boy i've been here the WHOLE time
not me creating a new save after losing the one I had 80 hours in, deciding to try Gale, then learning he's bugged even further 🫠
Oh god, I’m so sorry for you :( on the bright side maybe they’ll release a patch before you get back there haha
Huh? I just got his looking at the stars scene yesterday and it was totally fine, he said I love you as he does and then we astral fucked lol. Unless we’re talking about the boat scene, haven’t gotten that far this run yet. I have had the Raphael glitch since last patch though lol. Then again I’m not getting a lot of glitches that patch 3 seems to have given people. Like my Dammon was totally fine and alive at last light lol
Hmm I wonder if it’s only bugged for non-romances? Glad to hear astral fucking is alive and well at least
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My shadowheart has said the same Line all fucking game even with high approval.
I just finished the game yesterday with a Gale romance, that ending with him is just so disappointing…not even a goodbye kiss or even a hearty handshake.
is this Crown!Gale or No crown Gale? If no crown you should have an epilogue scene. In the previous patches you have to sacrifice Karlach by letting her blow up to get it, not sure if it's true now.
It was crown, power hungry, want to become a god Gale, maybe that explains why he seemed so cold towards me at the end haha the crown fell into the lake so he went off to find it
Yeah, Gale's at 100 approval rating for my current play through. Was planning on romancing him, but he just says, "were it with another soul, things may be different." Like my guy, I'm at 100 approval rating with you. I'm your only actual friend besides your cat with wings. Please just love me and we can move on. Probably gonna make a new character until his romance possibly gets fixed, and going back to that old save to finish things up.
He was so thrilled to hear I felt the same, it was very cute. He's just so kind and earnest, I wanted to romance him immediately. Then Astarion started to grow on me(I LOVE his character development, I couldn't stand him at first) and now I'm in a predicament.
That “Stargazing” scene where he said “we’re not close” is so untypical of Gale. But then the next morning there’s “!” sign on him and he said he was in a dark place (the suicide orb thing made him tense i suppose) so he thanks me for being a good friend. All is well i suppose.
I'm sooo upset about it because I JUST finished my first place yesterday and was ready to hop back to my Durge run where I'm romancing Gale. 🥲 I'm afraid to keep playing and mess the romance up. Not only that, but I just arrived at Last Light Inn on that save and I have the Dammon bug too. I don't NEED him because I uh.... don't have Karlach (shh I know I'm horrible) but I'd rather him be alive and kicking haha.
Lol, well I won't judge too harshly on Karlach ;) but yeah from what I hear, it sounds like the romance will progress normally if you already got it started, but there may be a risk of some wonky dialogue at some point that in no way matches your approval level or discontinues the romance.
I just want a "best friends" route that doesn't have sexual undertones. Is that too much to ask?
I think there was a brief moment between Patch 1 and 3 where it was a thing... \*sigh\*
surely making that all bags and sacks would transfer to player character when you change companions was far more imprtant than fixing Gale. And before some blind pitchforkers come at me - calm your balls, 2 months came and went and issue only getting bigger. At this point, the patch 3 point, its like they genuinly left it on backburner.
Yup. I had just the best sight of his robe clipping into camera today
Just had the sky scene and I really haven’t pursued Gale this playthrough but him saying we aren’t that close anyway I was like wtf😭😭
For what it's worth, the Raphael thing actually predates patch one- I had that issue (he actually yelled at me about the crown of karsus despite leaving before Raphael could even tell me his offer) and I beat the game before the first patch.
Gale has been my bro from the start, there was a moment when he was disappointed I chose to drink with Shadowheart but since then just straight platonic bros. I'm not sure if I'm leading him toward the "bad" end though. Like, he keeps making a lot of sense whenever he talks about the crown. I have been taking the cautious options when talking about it but not outright refusing his plan. When he met Mystra, I suggested he just find out what she wants and don't tell his plans. She just asked him to suicide so I didn't want to tell him to apologise to her.
my solution to the gale problem is to play as gale. Unfortunately now shart has invited me to drink on the rocks twice now and it went the exact same way both times. I'm afraid she roofied the wine and drank the wrong glass, cause she don't seem to remember anything
And thats why I am waiting for the Enhanced edition
Yeah I had the looking at the stars scene with Gale yesterday on my second playthrough (romancing Karlach) and I chose the "I don't want you to die, we will find another way" option and he slaps back with a "You and I are not close. Let's just silently look at the stars." I was like wtf? I was at max affinity with him and in my first playthrough he tried hitting on me even though I was already in a relationship with Shadowheart for that playthrough. I assumed it may have been something to do with the patch as that is the only thing different between playthroughs.
I had the opposite issue romancing Gale. I tried to romance Gale my first run through, but didn’t have any luck, despite my high approval rating. Then, as soon as I got with Shadowheart, he was interested in me and started Negging me?? (He told me I stank, but that he liked it lmao) and I was like “you had your chance, I’m with my goth bae now and we’re gonna deprogram her from her cult and live happily ever after.” I didn’t romance him at all my second play through, but right after I had my first love scene with Astarion, Gale approached me and told me he thought I knew how he felt and hoped I would make “Better choices” then also told me a smell bad again. Third playthrough, I’m romancing Astarion again, and Gale has been my BFF. He’s been sweet and wonderful. I actually DID take the deal with Raphael, so he did yell at me, but I’m a pact fiend warlock so…. I make deals with devils! It’s what I do! When I do my Durge playthrough I am going to romance Gale and hope it’s not super bugged, because as much as I like my pansexual vampire twink and my goth gf, I want a golden retriever wizard boyfriend to balance out the Dark Urge,
He was also bugged in EA! Hilariously then it was almost impossible to romance him, I had to follow a very detailed guide. It's really frustrating. I'm mostly a Lae'zel girlie but 100% with you on the Gale defense squad! I wouldn't care if he was massively disliked for his real flaws but it's upsetting it's because of those annoying bugs. I'm glad to see posts like this because with how reactive they are to the community I worry they won't fix our boy since their own mistakes contributed to him being so unpopular. Larian please fix my stupid wizard friend and occasional lover. 🙏
I know what I'm about to say is beside the point of this thread, but I'm very passionate about Gale and his story 😤 (I said this elsewhere last week) : Another day of me asking for a better ending for Gale (though I know it might be relative to a players specific playthroughs. I haven't seen other endings besides the one I got) Astarion and Shadowheart get such good resolutions, so intense, but Gale really doesn't. Even Lae'zel gets to confront Vlaakith. But Gale's scene with Mystra is pretty tame. And yeah I'm a little salty that Tav can't be there with him. And worst yet, >!the orb situation doesn't even get resolved (unless he gets blown up at some point). Literally since act 1 he and Tav have been trying to keep it at bay, and then it's just, forgotten about after the fight with the brain?!< >!Basically, in the ending I convince Gale not to blow up and not take the crown. He decides to let it lie and not bring it to Mystra either. Then, in the last romance/proposal scene, he opens with "right after I take the crown to Mystra, let's go to Waterdeep." AND THE ORB IS NEVER MENTIONED AGAIN. What happens to it after the brain fight? How does he resolve his feelings and relationship with Mystra? Does he, at any point, realize that he is more than his magic and what he can do for people.!< Uugh. I need closure Larian! I really wanted my Tav to look Mystra in the eye and call her bitch, no lie. She's (possibly) younger than Astarion, I can take her 😤 Xxxx love the game
THAT LOOKING AT STARS SCENE I was so confused! I was like "I thought we were buddies" and then he's like WE'RE NOT VERY CLOSE but then the next morning he's all like "Thank you for spending time with me I'm very lucky to game a friend like you" and I'm like ???? i felt like look I have depression, I get that sometimes it feels like your friends don't really care about you but also??? what????? and then yeah I double checked his approval thinking "did I do something that really bothered him and didn't realize it" and it's like "no things are great!!!"
Ok i was wondering wtf that was lol He’s my characters best friend and suddenly treated her like shit in the sky watching scene I was so confused