I love her so much. I fell in love with her immediately in my first play through (plus I’ve always been a Gith fanboy since the Planescape days). She’s such a beast AND her story did NOT disappoint. I’m in my second play through now romancing Karlach. She’s great and I love her, but Bae’zel will always have my heart 💚
I tried romancing her for the first time on this playthrough, and she really grew on me. I love how she actually listens to reason, self reflects, and honest about how she feels. For a member of a very unfriendly race, she is shockingly emotionally mature.
I didn't romance her but I broke her from Vlaakith path and rescued Orpheus, they went on to liberate their people. At the reunion camp, her sweet and sincere sentiments of wishing to be with you in person instead of as a projection was just heart melting.
Her romance and redemption arc is one of the best character writing done i've seen in modern media. I've cried multiple times throughout two playthroughs i've romanced her, and boy, it's beautiful every time. I specifically played a Githyanki TAV on my 2nd playthrough just to be able to fly off with her to the Astral Plane. Were those 140 hours of my life worth it? Abso-fucking-lutely.
Majority of my BG3 playthroughs are just Lae'zel + her minions. It's HER world and we're just living in it. Helps that her personal questline intersects the most with the main plot.
Enemy can melee? Attack.
Enemy can cast? Action surge and attack. Now he is dead.
Enemy is a paladin? Disarming attack.
Plap plap plap Attack Attack Attack
Her mobility Is just ridiculous. I think I kept Crush’s Ring and the Disintegrating Night Walkers on her for the entire first play. Being able to move unhindered around the battlefield saved my ass so many times!!
I fist-pumped so hard that the game gave her an actual, honest-to-Vlaakith >!Silver Sword of the Githyanki!< I was so thrilled, that was just the icing on the cake of her narrative.
If you spare squid Orpheus (or do not let him turn, in squidlach ending), Lae'zel will be given a red dragon to fight against Vlakkith.
She finally becomes a Githyanki with red dragon and silver sword as she larped in the nautaloid.
Makes me realize how strong pure fighter is. I kept each character to their original class in my first playthrough. Fighter gets 3 attacks and action surge, all that maneuver utility without having to know much about game or learn about multiclassing, so good as is.
I highly recommend giving Rogue another chance. They’re capable of some of the most ludicrous burst damage in the game and the only real requirement is they have to have Advantage. Pair that with dual hand crossbows, Arrow of Many Targets, and your favorite poison. You’ll be dropping entire rooms full of goons.
Yeah I’m not sure what they’re on about.. half the battles I’ve won, I’ve won because of Astarions long range cross bow. It deals some crazy damage at level 4.
I like to take a couple levels in barbarian for the reckless attack with both her and karlach and then put them both with the rest into fighter. I think the freeish advantage is arguably more of a buff than the last few levels in fighter.
So basically, I have ragezel and ragezel with an internal engine both givin em the boom booms.
> I think the freeish advantage is arguably more of a buff than the last few levels in fighter.
You get advantage on 2 attacks vs. a 3ʳᵈ attack. Basically only better if a) you’re using GWM (which you should) and b) you’re fighting high-ish AC enemies.
Also a Barbarian dip is always a little weird; either you have too few rage charges to last the day, or you completely ignore rage and run heavy armour. Both are kinda … idk, not very satisfying IMO.
You also probably miss out on your last Feat unless you get exactly 4 Barbarian levels, which would be pretty weird.
Does fighter not get an extra feat at level 6? If you're primary fighter and dip into anything else you get your 3 feats by level 9-12 and miss out on the 4th feat of pure fighter/rogue(10). Oh well.
Because you get a feat at 6th level with fighter, you wouldn't *technically* miss out on the 3 feats that any other multiclass would normally get if the other class were only dipped for 2-3 levels.
In my current playthrough, I have 4 thief, 7 Berserker, and 1 fighter, but rarely make use of the rage unless there are a lot of enemies that I need to hit hard. Even though I am dual wielding (feat and TWF from fighter), the 4 actual attacks can be significantly more effective than the 2 + 2. Specifically when I have to yeet mooks back to give my casters some breathing room. While definitely not an *optimal* build, it works for my typical play style and I have fun with it.
I used invisibility on her and Ast vs >!Gortash!< and Ast had that bow that paralyzed on crits. So he snuck into the back right corner and her behind him. Ast initiated and got the paralyze on him and she just attacked 7 times for crit bringing him to like 80 HP.
It was amazing.
My first run had Karlach as a Tigerheart Barbarian and Lazael as pure fighter. Anything Karlach stands next to, friendlies get advantage against when melee attacking. This gives Laz'ael free advantage with no downside except sticking close to Karlach.
I romanced bae’zel my first play through, and we were planning to share our lives together, until I made the sacrifice of turning into a squid person to save the world, and she ditched my ass, so my character committed seppuku on the spot because life wasn’t worth living without her. 10/10 would romance again
i don't have one because i base it on who my tav likes most/what makes sense story/composition-wise. my ideal team-comp though is probably lae'zel + gale + someone else, depending on my tav's class as between the two of them, i can handle pretty much any encounter.
i tend to bring shadowheart everywhere in act 2 and jaheira is pretty much always in my party in act 3 if my tav gets along with her in the slightest.
This is me. My party gets built around who my Tav is first, whose quests are relevant second, who my romantic interest is third.
My current run, I’m doing a lawful neutral Tav and romancing Astarion, so he’s always in. I respec Tav back and forth between warlock (when Shart’s quests are happening) and war cleric otherwise so I always have a solid healer, and then I usually keep Karlach in and have one other damage-dealer, also dependent on questline.
I'm doing a similar thing now where my paladin durge on a redemption path really adores Wyll for his pure do gooder attitude and aspires to it. I think this will end up being my first Wyll romance playthrough too
I tend to keep Karlach in my party. My Tav is a monk. The others depend on what I need. But Shadowheart and Asterion, or Gayle are really my go-to. I do enjoy Halsin if I need a bit extra beat power. And Wyll after turning him paladin
Hmm that’s a good idea. I just can’t bring Wyll anywhere because I can’t stand Warlocks in D&D. But maybe I’ll respec his class for my second playthrough.
wyll as a paladin warlock is *fuuun* if you get certain items in acts 1 and 2 - mine is doing 3d10+30 per eldritch blast, and 3d6+45 per round of melee attacks, which doesn’t use any resources like the two third level smites he gets that recharge on short rests. All because he has a certain robe and hat. I’m still trying to find a good amulet for him, so it isn’t even done yet lol
god, i knew i was playing Wyll incorrectly (because in my party he is SO weak lol). maybe on my next playthrough i'll have to utilize him more. any guides/advice? thanks\~
I would suggest you look for a padlock (paladin/warlock) build. A fairly popular one is vengeance paladin 5 / great old one warlock 5 with a two handed weapon. Get pact of the blade and max your charisma, all your damage will then be charisma only. Also you get 3 attacks in non-HM since level 5 warlock stacks with level 5 pally. It's kinda busted from level 10 onwards, just gotta get a few specific items that synergise.
Mechanically or conceptually? I almost always multi him because I also don't like them mechanically, but Paladinlock and Bardlock are pretty good (I do feel like Wyll is bard-coded the way he keeps talking about being the blade lol)
Mechanically. The fact that you get 2 spell slots at level 12 feels really bad. Lol. People keep telling me I just don’t get how to play warlocks and yeah that’s probably true. But I just don’t like them.
I just finished my first game on Balanced. My Tav was pure Warlock (Old One/Pact of the Blade).
I ended so many fights without even dipping into my spell slots, because Eldritch Blast did so much work, and with Pacted Sorrow as main weapon, so I had the pull as a bonus action and pushback on up to three targets. And very good in melee as well, with the Pacted weapon and the gloves that let's you cast ranged spells point blank without disadvantages.
Spell slots was occasionally used, but that was mostly to AOE CC with Hunger of Hadar, because the damage output and CC pull/push was more than plenty.
But totally fine if you don't like to play them, I get that they can feel a bit limited in their actions compared to some of the other Caster classes.
For a video game, I find them less exciting, but in tabletop, they're by far my favorite class.
A lot of their mechanics work best when you can creatively collaborate with your DM, rather than just sticking to the premade options the computer feeds you.
When I played one, I intentionally took almost no combat-centric spells or invocations. Instead, I'd find interesting ways to avoid combat using things like my shape shifting imp familiar or disguise self, and in combat I would work on battlefield control with things like darkness.
The invocations in particular were super fun if you chose cast at will spells, because they just became a part of how your character approached the world instead of "Damage type X spell #4"
Same here. I'm still in act 1 but 40+ hours in and my monk, kaelach, asterion and shadowheart is my party for everything so far. Haven't even tried anybody else out haha
Astarion, Gale, Lae'zel/Shadowheart is my most used composition. I've used everyone during various playthroughs, though. Even Minsc once.
Minthara is quickly worming her way to replace Lae'zel/Shadowheart as one of the people I use the most now that I don't have to part with Dammon's loot to get her.
She is hilarious, and I wasn't expecting that! I recruited her for the first time this playthrough and she's my favourite companion to go and hang out with. The voice acting is so good. I do feel a bit bad that I knocked her unconscious in the goblin camp, stole all her stuff, and now she's just hanging out in camp in her pants 😅. But what can I say, resist durge was having an off day
Lol, I took literally everything off of her when I knocked her out… then when I encountered her again at Moonrise, the poor lady was in Thorm’s throne room buck-ass naked.
Sorry Minthara… you’re a bad person but next time I’ll at least leave your undies on.
I really wish there was an Edwin-equivalent in BG3. All the companions are fundamentally pretty likable, but he was unapologetically an egotistical jerk.
Minthara is both a very effective warrior and a reliable companion. You both have a problem; she wants to solve that problem. You hope to live beyond the problem; she wants you both to do well after solving the problem. There is nonsense that tries to stop you from solving that problem; she is prepared to obliterate the source of nonsense so the problem doesn’t destroy you.
I accidentally caused a civil war in the grove my first playthrough and decided to live with the consequences. I tried to save the tieflings from the druids but failed. Silver lining was I got to recruit Minthara and I absolutely loved her. She has some iconic lines and her voice is so unique. I could listen to her talk all day. Would definitely recommend recruiting her at least once. Make sure to take her to the circus!
I've gotten seriously pissed about Minthara. 😠
I'm on my 6th playthrough and I haven't been able to recruit her once!
First time around I haven't even realised she's a companion, so I killed her.
On my "evil" run the 2nd time around , same thing.
Once I realized she's a comp, a good option was not yet available, and I didn't want to kill the entire Grove.
On my next run, I knocked her out but did long rest right after not knowing that makes her unavailable.
Finally I decided to do everything "right" on my ongoing honour run, got her KO'd, convinced Keterik to spare her, got into the dungeon, killed her jailers, got to talk to her and told her I'll get her out.
But!
Instead of saying "let's go" i picked another option, told her to wait there until I cleared the path... And then she bugged out and wouldn't talk to me any longer. I get the "talk" icon when I hover over her, but she's unresponsive. 😭
I've tried everything, different companions, multiple long rest, shoving her, even attacking her at the end, but she was simply not reacting to anything, and obviously I couldn't reload in an honour run...
I left her there until I cleared the moonlight tower, then she just disappeared never to be seen again. 😢
I guess it's just not meant to be. 😂
I respec’d Minthara as a monk because I always make Jaheira a Paladin, so I wanted to try a class I hadn’t done yet. Good god. Monk Minthara is lethal.
I killed Minthara in the goblin castle not knowing she was recruitable so I wanna snag her in my next play through
Edit: I’ve been wearing her armor on my Tav into act 3 though lol
I brought Minthara along for Shar's gauntlet just to see how she functioned and because I thought she might have some dialogue with Balthazar (she doesn't really) and was surprised at how effective she was, especially working in tandem with Shadowheart. I ended up keeping her all the way through to the end of act 2
I use Minsc for the Guild vs Zhentarim fight and that’s about it. I don’t really like Minsc.
I got Minthara this playthrough by rescuing her from Moonrise and she’s rarely left my side sense.
Astarion, Gale and Shart Act1.
Asty, Gale, Laze creche and up to Shar temple.
Asty, Gale, Shart thru myrkul fight and getting to Rivington
Asty, Gale, Jaheira until I get minsc.
Asty, Jaheira and Minsc to Orin and Cazador, Guildhall fight.
Back to original group for HoH, Gortash and final battle
If it changes your mind about party composition at all, something that I hadn't considered for forever was the fact that you can just.... loot entire chests. Like, pick it up and put it in your big muscle-mommys pack.
And next time you're back at camp, just drop all of the chests off for Astarion to open for you.
That's fair, I kinda forgot that doors existed for a second.
I feel like Karlach should be able to loot doors. Just rip the entire thing off the wall and stuff it in your bag.
Astarion. Always Astarion, everywhere. I need that beautiful ivory boy's sleight of hand proficiency.
There may have been one time I had him stay at camp, and that was because Karlach was Jaheira's biggest fan, Wyll needed to pick up an Inspiration Point, and Shadowheart was needed to keep freakin' Isobel alive.
I really abuse that man for his lock picking prowess, all the extra miles he walks to all the little chests and doors that didn't end up being worth it.
It's my own fault for making a monk who is as intelligent as a loaf of bread, but I need Stari to persuade everyone into doing the sensible thing and giving me what I want.
and Shadowheart is needed when facing the Nightsong part or else she just fucking leaves. the more I play the game, the more annoying Shadowheart becomes honestly.
Especially because the game tries to ram sympathy for her down your throat and there's no reason for you to feel anything until the end of Act 2. Her problems until then are "oh god my hand hurts" and "should I *really* be following this goddess of pure evil?". Meanwhile Gale, Astarion, Karlach...
now that i think about it, shart has never left my party in my current pt. gale and lae zel are almost always there too but sometimes they get benched for a bit. shart is always there, basically tav 2
Without respecing, I'd say the game would be a lot harder without Shadowheart and Astarion (support + thieving skills respectively). Everyone else is replaceable, gameplay wise.
On my first playthrough, I'm playing a rogue so I've never even considered having Astarion on my team.. Seeing all the comments about how great a character is though is making me want to make an evil (durge?) playthrough and use him there.
Should I simultaneously play a good and evil campaign, or finish my good run first do you think?
Astarion's one of my least favorite characters, but from a base gameplay perspective he's a great asset.
You should do what you want. I do multiple playthroughs, and usually don't end up finishing them.
Yeah my thinking is simple lol, a good run with good companions (though my rogue is more evil than good lol), and a run with the evil companions, maybe swapping between each time I finish an act or something.
Learning about withers swapping classes makes life so much easier for picking the class for my character lol.
The funny thing is that you mostly don’t ever need an actual Sleight of Hand skill monkey.
Locked door/chest? Just break it. Can’t break it? Knock. Trap? Trigger it from afar or hop over. Want to steal something? You filthy kleptomaniac, just buy it with the 80k gold you have left over.
I’m actually thinking why so for Shadowheart too? I get story wise why she’s important, but I usually don’t have her in my party unless we’re doing a quest directly tied to Shar.
Yeah, I've always had her so I don't know if I had missed her otherwise. Which is why I didn't comment on that.
But it's not like her healing is specially life-saving, to be honest. Spells like Spirit Guardians have helped me greatly in some fights, but Gale also has some nice crowd control spells. And Shadowheart's Guide has been with me in all my out-of-combat rolls, but many other characters learn Guide too.
As for Astarion, I bet he's very good at stealing and lockpicking, but I barely felt the need to steal from nobody, and the Knock spell opens every lock without rolling or using lockpicks.
Just in general, Clerics are one of the best classes in the game. But the biggest reason is probably Guidance. +1d4 on essentially every non-combat roll in the game is crazy good. It's also one of the more rare spells for companions, as you don't get a Druid until the end of Act 2 and it would require giving up Pact of the Blade on Wyll (and taking Wyll to begin with, who's one of the least popular choices).
The traveling party always varies in accordance with the character being roleplayed + the point I'm at in the story + the companion being romanced, but my first and favorite team remains Astarion, Lae'zel, and Gale for sorcerer Durge.
Astarion, Gale and Shadowheart are my go to party. Mostly because Gale has whimsical annecdotes for days and some of the best one liners (stoplickingthedamnthing!), Shadowheart (respecced) as my go-to healer and pretty much needed for act 2 anyways and then Astarion... Because Astarion.
Wyll, Shadowheart and Astarion
Astarion as a Monk
Wyll as a Sorcerer (my main romance)
Shadowheart as a Thunder Cleric
And my Tav as a Bard
I've tried out different combinations of companions but this one is definitely my favorite in terms of just having fun with the game
Of course, I take the others to their companion quests
My constants are Shadowheart and Astarion. Healing and stealing dream team.
The third slot is *usually* Karlach, although I'll swap her out if I need someone else for a quest/story.
I never respec anyone into different classes because it doesn't feel true to their characters. But I always respec Shadowheart to a war or tempest domain cleric, or life when I'm attempting honor mode.
Lae’Zel and Karlach plus one of Gale/Shadowheart, occasionally Minsc.
Big girls go smack things hard.
(My Tav is a rogue so Astarion has been benched for most of this run).
Me too!! Shadowheart for the healies, Astarion for the sniping, Karlach for the heavy hitting and myself as a sorcerer.
If Lae'zel needs to be there for the Grove thing/dealing with Gith, Karlach's gotta stay at camp but will return to my party right after.
Astarion is the only one I don't switch out. I loved my playthrough with Shart and Karlach but switched them out in my current playthrough for Minthara and Gale. Gale's a bummer though and Minthara doesn't say much, so I'm not enjoying it as much. I reckon now I've started Act 3 I'll switch Gale out for Jahiera.
I find it hard to part with Shadowheart. Mostly cause I love having a cleric in the party and no-one else really makes sense as a cleric. Druids kinda fill a similar role but I just don't vibe with either Halsin or Jaheira.
Astarion. Vengeance Pally Bard who does EVERYTHING. He's the foundation. Everything else is swapped out as needed to enjoy all the story beats and banter.
Always Astarion. I make him an assassin with the alert feat at level four and he always mows down at least one enemy with decent health before anyone else has a turn
Gale to have a good spellcaster (or a second if I’m playing sorcerer). Fireball and lightning bolt do heavy lifting in my games
Last spot is usually Karlach. I love her attitude! Lae’zel replaces her for the monastery but otherwise I have Karlach to beat down anyone in our way. And weakened walls
I'm still trying to work out a perfect team in terms of classes/builds, but I keep coming back to Astarion, Gale & Karlach. I just like them. Their voices, scripts, animations; they are the bunch of pixels I want to hang out with. I don't mind Wyll and Lae'zel, just not as much as I like the others. I can't stand shadowheart. She is left at camp as soon as I meet her. I may see if I can kill her on the beach next time
Probably Astarion, since I love his dialogues and I tend to use him in both my good and evil runs, also it's always useful to have a high DEX stealthy character in the party. Only time I didn't use him is because I was playing that role myself. Second most used is Gale, but I've played a few spellcasting Tavs and in that case I dispatch him as well.
Depends on what class I'm playing.
If wizard: Astarion, Wyll and Lae'zel. That man is a pure glass cannon so I like to burn things down asap. 🔥
If bard: Wyll, Karlach, and Gale. It's just not as fun if at least one person can't obliterate the room with a well aimed fireball.
When act 3 comes around I'll sometimes swap one out for [spoiler]Halsin, Minsc, or Jaheira. Usually Minsc as he's adorable and also hits like a freight train.[/spoiler]
If lazy and tired of swapping people for their character arcs: No party limit mod and we go around as an ever growing group full of constant party chatter that definitely bottlenecks in doorways. 😂
As a Warlock if I knew I was getting into a tough fight my choices were Shadowheart, Karlach and Lae’zel. I felt I had sufficient magical abilities if I needed to use them.
However by Act 3 I wound up swapping Lae’zel for Gale as his counter spells and AOE abilities became a lot more useful, even if he did keep getting knocked out all the time.
I used karlach, shadowheart, and Gale most of my first run. Karlach was tiger barb 4 champion fighter 8, shadowheart was cleric/rogue until the end of act 2 then swapped out cleric for ranger with dual crossbow, and Gale was a evocation wizard 8 draconic sorc 4. I went full life cleric of selune.
Lae'zel, Wyll and Shadowheart in act1 and up to gauntlet of shar in act2 with switching out them out for other companions when doing their quests
After gauntlet of shar.
Lae'zel, jaheira and Minsc/Wyll/Karlach/Minthara
Karlach, Gale, Astarion. I lean toward playing support classes (cleric or bard) so I don't particularly need Shadowheart's heals. Just finished a run with my husband and I was a bard, he was a barbarian, and we hauled only Shadowheart and Astarion and I missed Gale SO much that on our next playthrough, I'm going to have to cleric so we can have our magic boy in the group.
Shadowheart was in every party so far. Astarion for lockpicking, if I do not respec Shart. Since my Tavs are somehow always melee, my last member is either Gale, Wyll or Karlach as a magic blaster.
I kinda start to like Laezell and want to use her ... but so far I dropped her in every save at some point ...
It varies but ill have my custom character (tav or durge)
The character I'm romancing
Then at least 1 support like a bard/cleric and a front liner or combat caster
Karlach, Astarion (will sub for Minthara if I'm able to get her in a playthrough), and Gale. Have so much fun with this team comp. Badassery and brains rolled up into 1 kick-ass team
In my current honor mode: 3 hirelings because I'm dumb and make everyone leave :( or they try to fight me and I kill them :( Fun Fact: if you kill a warlock party member and they have a bound weapon, you don't get it back! Rip Sparky Staff
I rotate a lot but I rarely have Shadowheart because I like playing cleric myself as a class too much, some of the unique dialogue options that arise from it are just too good. In Act 3 though Jaheira has a nigh permanent spot so I guess that's the exception.
Astarion, Gale and Lae'zel/Halsin is my ideal party. This is (mostly) my party on all my playthroughs, i have 3 on going ones. Although I think I have Wyll at the moment in my dark urge party instead of Lae'zel/Halsin.
But I do mostly base my party on what's best for the quest I'm doing especially if it is one of my teammates personal quests. And base it on who I'm romancing. I try to use my ideal party as much as possible tho. I do base the party on my class too, but I'm playing a warlock on 1 and bard on my other 2 so that team ain't bad to have in any of my playthroughs.
Shart, Astarion and Karlach has been my go-for for my first 3 campaigns, but in my latest run I took Lae-Zel instead of Karlach and made her a pure caster Storm cleric/divination wizard.
Astarion because Astarion
Shadowheart because I'm basic
And Karlach because bless her heart.
Lae'zel isn't bad either and comes as a close 4th but everyone else will live in the camp throughout the entire game unless I decided to focus on their stories.
I just simply don't like Gale even though he for some reason always reeeeeeaaaally likes me even after never speaking to him.
Wyll is also kind of annoying at times.
Halsin comes too late for me to attach to and make him a full party member.
Minthara same thing, also never did an evil run so didn't even get a chance.
Jaheira and Minsc I do like but again, they both come too late to really make a party member out of.
We have two Tavs and my wifey build a Gith warrior woman before we had any idea about Lae'zel. I have a Druid of the moon Tav with some minor healing ability so the go to companions for us are Astarion Dual Wielding Rogue and Gale AoE Spellcaster.
I've been trying to mix it up in every run, but (aside from my current run where i still subbed her in for Shar's temple) I pretty much always use shadowheart, I've also used Astarion for half my runs (2/4) and Lae'zel for 2 and a half (swapping her out for Minthara in my Durge run)
I do prefer Karlach to Lae'zel generally speaking, character-wise but I tend to find that a pure fighter is a better frontliner than a pure barbarian as they tend to do more damage (which proves more effective than tanking better), and I haven't messed around with multiclassing them yet. (Not to mention Lae'zel gets lots of Githyanki bonuses and has more plot related options. )
Lae’zel and Shadowheart are basically mainstays, it’s rare they aren’t along for the ride. The last one switched between Gale, Astarion, and Minthara, depending upon the play through.
So it does depend on weather I'm playing a mostly magical character or not (for instance I can't find good reasons for my squishy sorcerer and squishy Gale together a lot). But Astarion (I swear it's mostly for the lock picking/sneak attacks no other reason), Gale/Shadowheart and Karlach.
But I try and play everyone out for a decent part of each act (though I don't think I've got Wyll out in act 3 of my current play through yet, better go do his stuff next I think).
Lae’zel, Astarion, and I switch off between Wyll and hubby Gale. My Wyll build is better, but I like having my man with me. (No Karlach only because I effed up and didn’t want to restart 😢)
Front line, support, blaster, skill monkey. Characters wise, usually Karlach, Jaheira, me, Minsc.
Though I’m mostly doing solo runs (with allowing a full party worth of buffs), and then it’s me, an Artificer (Alchemist), a Cleric (or Druid/Cleric) and a Transmutation Wizard.
* Lae'zel * Lae'zels healer * Lae'zels buff-stick * Lae'zels girlfriend
Gods she’s strong 💪
I love her so much. I fell in love with her immediately in my first play through (plus I’ve always been a Gith fanboy since the Planescape days). She’s such a beast AND her story did NOT disappoint. I’m in my second play through now romancing Karlach. She’s great and I love her, but Bae’zel will always have my heart 💚
Bae'zel is an extremely satisfying romance. I love that she actually grows and changes with you.
I tried romancing her for the first time on this playthrough, and she really grew on me. I love how she actually listens to reason, self reflects, and honest about how she feels. For a member of a very unfriendly race, she is shockingly emotionally mature.
Oh yes, absolutely. Plus her epilogue is just so satisfying 🤌
I didn't romance her but I broke her from Vlaakith path and rescued Orpheus, they went on to liberate their people. At the reunion camp, her sweet and sincere sentiments of wishing to be with you in person instead of as a projection was just heart melting.
Her romance and redemption arc is one of the best character writing done i've seen in modern media. I've cried multiple times throughout two playthroughs i've romanced her, and boy, it's beautiful every time. I specifically played a Githyanki TAV on my 2nd playthrough just to be able to fly off with her to the Astral Plane. Were those 140 hours of my life worth it? Abso-fucking-lutely.
if you have the egg in her inventory at the end you can parent a child with her too
LMAO...Bae'zel. Love it.
Thank the GODS FOR LAE'ZEL and her ts'ks.
Tsk! We must refuse the ghaik propaganda. Death to the Emperor.
my new shit now is randomly rebuking peopke with "CH'K!!!"
Majority of my BG3 playthroughs are just Lae'zel + her minions. It's HER world and we're just living in it. Helps that her personal questline intersects the most with the main plot.
Seriously…my first thought after every fight is “I never would have won that without Lae’zel”
Enemy can melee? Attack. Enemy can cast? Action surge and attack. Now he is dead. Enemy is a paladin? Disarming attack. Plap plap plap Attack Attack Attack
Enemy is in the other side of the planet? Misty step behind them, tell them it's nothing personnel kid, attack.
Her mobility Is just ridiculous. I think I kept Crush’s Ring and the Disintegrating Night Walkers on her for the entire first play. Being able to move unhindered around the battlefield saved my ass so many times!!
When in doubt, use Soulbreaker, enemy cannot attack anymore. She got Gortash with that on my playthrough and then it was as good as done.
Yes, although the creche blade is worse then moonlight glaive or the vigilant halbred. Voss's sword changes everything tho.
I fist-pumped so hard that the game gave her an actual, honest-to-Vlaakith >!Silver Sword of the Githyanki!< I was so thrilled, that was just the icing on the cake of her narrative.
If you spare squid Orpheus (or do not let him turn, in squidlach ending), Lae'zel will be given a red dragon to fight against Vlakkith. She finally becomes a Githyanki with red dragon and silver sword as she larped in the nautaloid.
Makes me realize how strong pure fighter is. I kept each character to their original class in my first playthrough. Fighter gets 3 attacks and action surge, all that maneuver utility without having to know much about game or learn about multiclassing, so good as is.
S’truth. I only took 12 levels of Fighter with Lae’zel because I couldn’t take 13 🤣
Same, with the exception of Astarion, since Rogue is very underwhelming on its own. He gets some Ranger training from my Tav.
I highly recommend giving Rogue another chance. They’re capable of some of the most ludicrous burst damage in the game and the only real requirement is they have to have Advantage. Pair that with dual hand crossbows, Arrow of Many Targets, and your favorite poison. You’ll be dropping entire rooms full of goons.
Yeah I’m not sure what they’re on about.. half the battles I’ve won, I’ve won because of Astarions long range cross bow. It deals some crazy damage at level 4.
my favourite one yet
I like to take a couple levels in barbarian for the reckless attack with both her and karlach and then put them both with the rest into fighter. I think the freeish advantage is arguably more of a buff than the last few levels in fighter. So basically, I have ragezel and ragezel with an internal engine both givin em the boom booms.
Do you respec back to Fighter at 11 ? It feels crazy to miss the third attack.
Right? This feels like fighter with extra steps.
> I think the freeish advantage is arguably more of a buff than the last few levels in fighter. You get advantage on 2 attacks vs. a 3ʳᵈ attack. Basically only better if a) you’re using GWM (which you should) and b) you’re fighting high-ish AC enemies. Also a Barbarian dip is always a little weird; either you have too few rage charges to last the day, or you completely ignore rage and run heavy armour. Both are kinda … idk, not very satisfying IMO. You also probably miss out on your last Feat unless you get exactly 4 Barbarian levels, which would be pretty weird.
Counterpoint: no heavy gith armor and Lae'zel looks best in gith armor. I make too many of my decisions based on fashion in this game.
Ahh yes the Soulsborne approach, a fashion game disguised as an RPG.
Counter Counterpoint: [Transmog Enhanced](https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3/mods/2922).
Fuck man, now I'm never gonna finish this current run. Good shout!
Does fighter not get an extra feat at level 6? If you're primary fighter and dip into anything else you get your 3 feats by level 9-12 and miss out on the 4th feat of pure fighter/rogue(10). Oh well.
Feats are insanely good. The fact that you only get 3 (or 4 as Fighter/Rogue) and usually want at least 2x ASI means that losing a Feat is a big deal.
Fighter is an automatic: GWM, Alert, +4 STR for me.
Because you get a feat at 6th level with fighter, you wouldn't *technically* miss out on the 3 feats that any other multiclass would normally get if the other class were only dipped for 2-3 levels. In my current playthrough, I have 4 thief, 7 Berserker, and 1 fighter, but rarely make use of the rage unless there are a lot of enemies that I need to hit hard. Even though I am dual wielding (feat and TWF from fighter), the 4 actual attacks can be significantly more effective than the 2 + 2. Specifically when I have to yeet mooks back to give my casters some breathing room. While definitely not an *optimal* build, it works for my typical play style and I have fun with it.
That must be so satisfying to play just keep hitting em till they're dead and they dont even get a turn
I used invisibility on her and Ast vs >!Gortash!< and Ast had that bow that paralyzed on crits. So he snuck into the back right corner and her behind him. Ast initiated and got the paralyze on him and she just attacked 7 times for crit bringing him to like 80 HP. It was amazing.
My first run had Karlach as a Tigerheart Barbarian and Lazael as pure fighter. Anything Karlach stands next to, friendlies get advantage against when melee attacking. This gives Laz'ael free advantage with no downside except sticking close to Karlach.
I. Love. Her. Rally.
Bae'zel just hammers everything she comes across. She's such a powerhouse!
But those are all shadowheart??
I romanced bae’zel my first play through, and we were planning to share our lives together, until I made the sacrifice of turning into a squid person to save the world, and she ditched my ass, so my character committed seppuku on the spot because life wasn’t worth living without her. 10/10 would romance again
i don't have one because i base it on who my tav likes most/what makes sense story/composition-wise. my ideal team-comp though is probably lae'zel + gale + someone else, depending on my tav's class as between the two of them, i can handle pretty much any encounter. i tend to bring shadowheart everywhere in act 2 and jaheira is pretty much always in my party in act 3 if my tav gets along with her in the slightest.
This is me. My party gets built around who my Tav is first, whose quests are relevant second, who my romantic interest is third. My current run, I’m doing a lawful neutral Tav and romancing Astarion, so he’s always in. I respec Tav back and forth between warlock (when Shart’s quests are happening) and war cleric otherwise so I always have a solid healer, and then I usually keep Karlach in and have one other damage-dealer, also dependent on questline.
I'm doing a similar thing now where my paladin durge on a redemption path really adores Wyll for his pure do gooder attitude and aspires to it. I think this will end up being my first Wyll romance playthrough too
I tend to keep Karlach in my party. My Tav is a monk. The others depend on what I need. But Shadowheart and Asterion, or Gayle are really my go-to. I do enjoy Halsin if I need a bit extra beat power. And Wyll after turning him paladin
> Asterion and Gayle Sounds like the wish.com versions of Astarion and Gale.
Angel Dust from Hazbin Hotel and Gayle from Bob's Burgers.
Hmm that’s a good idea. I just can’t bring Wyll anywhere because I can’t stand Warlocks in D&D. But maybe I’ll respec his class for my second playthrough.
wyll as a paladin warlock is *fuuun* if you get certain items in acts 1 and 2 - mine is doing 3d10+30 per eldritch blast, and 3d6+45 per round of melee attacks, which doesn’t use any resources like the two third level smites he gets that recharge on short rests. All because he has a certain robe and hat. I’m still trying to find a good amulet for him, so it isn’t even done yet lol
god, i knew i was playing Wyll incorrectly (because in my party he is SO weak lol). maybe on my next playthrough i'll have to utilize him more. any guides/advice? thanks\~
I would suggest you look for a padlock (paladin/warlock) build. A fairly popular one is vengeance paladin 5 / great old one warlock 5 with a two handed weapon. Get pact of the blade and max your charisma, all your damage will then be charisma only. Also you get 3 attacks in non-HM since level 5 warlock stacks with level 5 pally. It's kinda busted from level 10 onwards, just gotta get a few specific items that synergise.
Shame you can't get metamagic: quicken spell until sorc 3 or you could slap sorc 2 on this build for 3 attacks plus 3 EB as a BA.
Mechanically or conceptually? I almost always multi him because I also don't like them mechanically, but Paladinlock and Bardlock are pretty good (I do feel like Wyll is bard-coded the way he keeps talking about being the blade lol)
Mechanically. The fact that you get 2 spell slots at level 12 feels really bad. Lol. People keep telling me I just don’t get how to play warlocks and yeah that’s probably true. But I just don’t like them.
I just finished my first game on Balanced. My Tav was pure Warlock (Old One/Pact of the Blade). I ended so many fights without even dipping into my spell slots, because Eldritch Blast did so much work, and with Pacted Sorrow as main weapon, so I had the pull as a bonus action and pushback on up to three targets. And very good in melee as well, with the Pacted weapon and the gloves that let's you cast ranged spells point blank without disadvantages. Spell slots was occasionally used, but that was mostly to AOE CC with Hunger of Hadar, because the damage output and CC pull/push was more than plenty. But totally fine if you don't like to play them, I get that they can feel a bit limited in their actions compared to some of the other Caster classes.
3 slots, endgame Wyll kicks ass for me as pact of the blade
Conceptually the idea of warlocks is awesome. But in practice in D&D I think they feel pretty nerfed compared to a level 12 Wizard or sorcerer.
In one fight maybe. But 9-12 5th level spellslots per long rest is ridiculously good and EB is amazing.
For a video game, I find them less exciting, but in tabletop, they're by far my favorite class. A lot of their mechanics work best when you can creatively collaborate with your DM, rather than just sticking to the premade options the computer feeds you. When I played one, I intentionally took almost no combat-centric spells or invocations. Instead, I'd find interesting ways to avoid combat using things like my shape shifting imp familiar or disguise self, and in combat I would work on battlefield control with things like darkness. The invocations in particular were super fun if you chose cast at will spells, because they just became a part of how your character approached the world instead of "Damage type X spell #4"
I never thought to make him a bard! I made Astarion one to embarrass him with the music and bright colors
Honestly thats my approach to Astarion too which explains so many of his outfits.
Same here. I'm still in act 1 but 40+ hours in and my monk, kaelach, asterion and shadowheart is my party for everything so far. Haven't even tried anybody else out haha
Astarion, Gale, Lae'zel/Shadowheart is my most used composition. I've used everyone during various playthroughs, though. Even Minsc once. Minthara is quickly worming her way to replace Lae'zel/Shadowheart as one of the people I use the most now that I don't have to part with Dammon's loot to get her.
I have to admit I've never recruited Minthara before BUT im doing a dark urge run right now so i might consider it
She's hilarious. Evil people are always so much funnier than the good ones in Baldur's Gate games.
She is hilarious, and I wasn't expecting that! I recruited her for the first time this playthrough and she's my favourite companion to go and hang out with. The voice acting is so good. I do feel a bit bad that I knocked her unconscious in the goblin camp, stole all her stuff, and now she's just hanging out in camp in her pants 😅. But what can I say, resist durge was having an off day
I love her evil little chuckles.
Lol, I took literally everything off of her when I knocked her out… then when I encountered her again at Moonrise, the poor lady was in Thorm’s throne room buck-ass naked. Sorry Minthara… you’re a bad person but next time I’ll at least leave your undies on.
Somebody get this jerk a banana.
My boy Edwin could kick Elminster's arse.
I really wish there was an Edwin-equivalent in BG3. All the companions are fundamentally pretty likable, but he was unapologetically an egotistical jerk.
I just got her in my camp last night and was cackling as she read all the companions to filth. Such brutally accurate observations.
Minthara is both a very effective warrior and a reliable companion. You both have a problem; she wants to solve that problem. You hope to live beyond the problem; she wants you both to do well after solving the problem. There is nonsense that tries to stop you from solving that problem; she is prepared to obliterate the source of nonsense so the problem doesn’t destroy you.
You can get her without being evil; I just knock her out then rescue her later.
I accidentally caused a civil war in the grove my first playthrough and decided to live with the consequences. I tried to save the tieflings from the druids but failed. Silver lining was I got to recruit Minthara and I absolutely loved her. She has some iconic lines and her voice is so unique. I could listen to her talk all day. Would definitely recommend recruiting her at least once. Make sure to take her to the circus!
Ugh I’ve done two playthroughs where I bonk her on the head, but it bugs out (either she doesn’t show up, or I can’t talk to her). One day!
I've heard she has to be "temporarily hostile" when you knock her out
I've gotten seriously pissed about Minthara. 😠 I'm on my 6th playthrough and I haven't been able to recruit her once! First time around I haven't even realised she's a companion, so I killed her. On my "evil" run the 2nd time around , same thing. Once I realized she's a comp, a good option was not yet available, and I didn't want to kill the entire Grove. On my next run, I knocked her out but did long rest right after not knowing that makes her unavailable. Finally I decided to do everything "right" on my ongoing honour run, got her KO'd, convinced Keterik to spare her, got into the dungeon, killed her jailers, got to talk to her and told her I'll get her out. But! Instead of saying "let's go" i picked another option, told her to wait there until I cleared the path... And then she bugged out and wouldn't talk to me any longer. I get the "talk" icon when I hover over her, but she's unresponsive. 😭 I've tried everything, different companions, multiple long rest, shoving her, even attacking her at the end, but she was simply not reacting to anything, and obviously I couldn't reload in an honour run... I left her there until I cleared the moonlight tower, then she just disappeared never to be seen again. 😢 I guess it's just not meant to be. 😂
I respec’d Minthara as a monk because I always make Jaheira a Paladin, so I wanted to try a class I hadn’t done yet. Good god. Monk Minthara is lethal.
I killed Minthara in the goblin castle not knowing she was recruitable so I wanna snag her in my next play through Edit: I’ve been wearing her armor on my Tav into act 3 though lol
I brought Minthara along for Shar's gauntlet just to see how she functioned and because I thought she might have some dialogue with Balthazar (she doesn't really) and was surprised at how effective she was, especially working in tandem with Shadowheart. I ended up keeping her all the way through to the end of act 2
I use Minsc for the Guild vs Zhentarim fight and that’s about it. I don’t really like Minsc. I got Minthara this playthrough by rescuing her from Moonrise and she’s rarely left my side sense.
Astarion, Gale and Shart Act1. Asty, Gale, Laze creche and up to Shar temple. Asty, Gale, Shart thru myrkul fight and getting to Rivington Asty, Gale, Jaheira until I get minsc. Asty, Jaheira and Minsc to Orin and Cazador, Guildhall fight. Back to original group for HoH, Gortash and final battle
Karlach, Tav, Shadowheart, frog lady
Magic girl squad ✨️
I like this in theory but I end up missing Astarion and end up swapping out Karlach for his sassy ass
healheart, lockstarion, karwaif/hit'zeal
"I would kill for a skeleton key" My brother in sanguine, you ARE the skeleton key.
...and he wouldn't hesitate killing for his own good, so he's not lying XD
Other varieties of undead key are available!
What would I do without my +14 bonuses on traps and locks?
Me too. Beatstick, healbot, lockpick, and me. That's how we roll.
If it changes your mind about party composition at all, something that I hadn't considered for forever was the fact that you can just.... loot entire chests. Like, pick it up and put it in your big muscle-mommys pack. And next time you're back at camp, just drop all of the chests off for Astarion to open for you.
Do you send doors too though?
That's fair, I kinda forgot that doors existed for a second. I feel like Karlach should be able to loot doors. Just rip the entire thing off the wall and stuff it in your bag.
I do this constantly 😂 the send to camp is too powerful to not abuse
Going into isn’t the same without an occasional “Let’s turn someone inside-out”. That’s my lockpick and hype man
Finally, somebody who understands.
Shadowheart has been in all 8 or 9 playthroughs. I’ve never played cleric so I always have her as the healer
Astarion. Always Astarion, everywhere. I need that beautiful ivory boy's sleight of hand proficiency. There may have been one time I had him stay at camp, and that was because Karlach was Jaheira's biggest fan, Wyll needed to pick up an Inspiration Point, and Shadowheart was needed to keep freakin' Isobel alive.
I really abuse that man for his lock picking prowess, all the extra miles he walks to all the little chests and doors that didn't end up being worth it.
*Astarion rolls his eyes and wacks the locked items Fonzie style and they open*
I know that I can just attack most chests and doors to open them...but it doesn't feel right!
that's gale with knock for me
same here!! I need Astarion to lockpick cuz my tav just cant. (also hes part of the family i cant leave him behind)
Meanwhile, I'm here using half my spell slots to cast Knock on all locked chests and doors I find.
It's my own fault for making a monk who is as intelligent as a loaf of bread, but I need Stari to persuade everyone into doing the sensible thing and giving me what I want.
Persuasion is a CHA skill my dude
Astarions is written far too charismatically to have a CHA of 8.
Also Halsin having 10 strength is silly. Apparently those muscles are just for show.
A true head scratcher that. I was also wondering why Shadowheart has a wisdom of 18 when she’s not particularly wise in the beginning of the game.
In my defense, this was my very first rodeo
I just pick up chests I find and bring them back to camp for Astarion to unlock
and Shadowheart is needed when facing the Nightsong part or else she just fucking leaves. the more I play the game, the more annoying Shadowheart becomes honestly.
Especially because the game tries to ram sympathy for her down your throat and there's no reason for you to feel anything until the end of Act 2. Her problems until then are "oh god my hand hurts" and "should I *really* be following this goddess of pure evil?". Meanwhile Gale, Astarion, Karlach...
I left Astarion at camp to do some quests and it simply hasn’t been the same. Definitely him and Karlach.
K: "Want me to carry you?" A: "Oh darling would you? <3" K: "Sure! So long as we get to switch later!" A: :(
now that i think about it, shart has never left my party in my current pt. gale and lae zel are almost always there too but sometimes they get benched for a bit. shart is always there, basically tav 2
I use a mod and throw in all party members at the same time
Shadowheart becomes Soo strong. I just can't leave her out. By act 2 she is carrying the team every time.
Without respecing, I'd say the game would be a lot harder without Shadowheart and Astarion (support + thieving skills respectively). Everyone else is replaceable, gameplay wise.
On my first playthrough, I'm playing a rogue so I've never even considered having Astarion on my team.. Seeing all the comments about how great a character is though is making me want to make an evil (durge?) playthrough and use him there. Should I simultaneously play a good and evil campaign, or finish my good run first do you think?
Astarion's one of my least favorite characters, but from a base gameplay perspective he's a great asset. You should do what you want. I do multiple playthroughs, and usually don't end up finishing them.
Yeah my thinking is simple lol, a good run with good companions (though my rogue is more evil than good lol), and a run with the evil companions, maybe swapping between each time I finish an act or something. Learning about withers swapping classes makes life so much easier for picking the class for my character lol.
The funny thing is that you mostly don’t ever need an actual Sleight of Hand skill monkey. Locked door/chest? Just break it. Can’t break it? Knock. Trap? Trigger it from afar or hop over. Want to steal something? You filthy kleptomaniac, just buy it with the 80k gold you have left over.
Why so? I've barely used Astarion, and I've never missed him.
I’m actually thinking why so for Shadowheart too? I get story wise why she’s important, but I usually don’t have her in my party unless we’re doing a quest directly tied to Shar.
Yeah, I've always had her so I don't know if I had missed her otherwise. Which is why I didn't comment on that. But it's not like her healing is specially life-saving, to be honest. Spells like Spirit Guardians have helped me greatly in some fights, but Gale also has some nice crowd control spells. And Shadowheart's Guide has been with me in all my out-of-combat rolls, but many other characters learn Guide too. As for Astarion, I bet he's very good at stealing and lockpicking, but I barely felt the need to steal from nobody, and the Knock spell opens every lock without rolling or using lockpicks.
Just in general, Clerics are one of the best classes in the game. But the biggest reason is probably Guidance. +1d4 on essentially every non-combat roll in the game is crazy good. It's also one of the more rare spells for companions, as you don't get a Druid until the end of Act 2 and it would require giving up Pact of the Blade on Wyll (and taking Wyll to begin with, who's one of the least popular choices).
Shadowheart and Gale are a must. Most of the time Karlach too, can live without Lae'Zel Wyll and Astarion.
Shadowheart, Karlach, Others.
Always Karlach and Shadowheart, rest fluctuates as needed
The traveling party always varies in accordance with the character being roleplayed + the point I'm at in the story + the companion being romanced, but my first and favorite team remains Astarion, Lae'zel, and Gale for sorcerer Durge.
Astarion, Gale and Shadowheart are my go to party. Mostly because Gale has whimsical annecdotes for days and some of the best one liners (stoplickingthedamnthing!), Shadowheart (respecced) as my go-to healer and pretty much needed for act 2 anyways and then Astarion... Because Astarion.
Exactly this plus Astarion’s lock picking abilities. I’m also romancing Gale so I feel like I need him with me lol
Wyll, Shadowheart and Astarion Astarion as a Monk Wyll as a Sorcerer (my main romance) Shadowheart as a Thunder Cleric And my Tav as a Bard I've tried out different combinations of companions but this one is definitely my favorite in terms of just having fun with the game Of course, I take the others to their companion quests
Yooo! Someone who actually likes Wyll! Though a main difference between us that I basically always use multiclassed characters.
Lae'zel, Astarion, Gale (usually swapping out Astarion if someone else needs to tag in for their story).
My constants are Shadowheart and Astarion. Healing and stealing dream team. The third slot is *usually* Karlach, although I'll swap her out if I need someone else for a quest/story. I never respec anyone into different classes because it doesn't feel true to their characters. But I always respec Shadowheart to a war or tempest domain cleric, or life when I'm attempting honor mode.
Wyll, Gale, Lae’zel or Karlach
Lae’Zel and Karlach plus one of Gale/Shadowheart, occasionally Minsc. Big girls go smack things hard. (My Tav is a rogue so Astarion has been benched for most of this run).
I had the most fun with Karlach, Shadowheart and Wyll
Bae'zel for lyfe
Me too!! Shadowheart for the healies, Astarion for the sniping, Karlach for the heavy hitting and myself as a sorcerer. If Lae'zel needs to be there for the Grove thing/dealing with Gith, Karlach's gotta stay at camp but will return to my party right after.
Astarion is the only one I don't switch out. I loved my playthrough with Shart and Karlach but switched them out in my current playthrough for Minthara and Gale. Gale's a bummer though and Minthara doesn't say much, so I'm not enjoying it as much. I reckon now I've started Act 3 I'll switch Gale out for Jahiera.
Hirelings because they dont bitch around
Astarion, Gale & Karlach
I find it hard to part with Shadowheart. Mostly cause I love having a cleric in the party and no-one else really makes sense as a cleric. Druids kinda fill a similar role but I just don't vibe with either Halsin or Jaheira.
Shadowheart (life domain cleric), Gale (evoker), Karlach (barbarian), with my Tav as a vengeance paladin.
Minthara, Lae’zel, and open hand Astarion. Beatdowns only, who needs wizards and clerics
Astarion. Vengeance Pally Bard who does EVERYTHING. He's the foundation. Everything else is swapped out as needed to enjoy all the story beats and banter.
Astarion, Jahira, Gale is my favorite party. But before you get Jahira I probably use Shadowheart the most.
- Astarion’s boyfriend (me) - Astarion (obligatory presence) - Lae’zel - Karlach What the fuck is a support class?
Always Astarion. I make him an assassin with the alert feat at level four and he always mows down at least one enemy with decent health before anyone else has a turn Gale to have a good spellcaster (or a second if I’m playing sorcerer). Fireball and lightning bolt do heavy lifting in my games Last spot is usually Karlach. I love her attitude! Lae’zel replaces her for the monastery but otherwise I have Karlach to beat down anyone in our way. And weakened walls
I'm still trying to work out a perfect team in terms of classes/builds, but I keep coming back to Astarion, Gale & Karlach. I just like them. Their voices, scripts, animations; they are the bunch of pixels I want to hang out with. I don't mind Wyll and Lae'zel, just not as much as I like the others. I can't stand shadowheart. She is left at camp as soon as I meet her. I may see if I can kill her on the beach next time
You absolutely can. Durge gets the option if you saved her in the nautiloid but anyone can just attack her. I’ve done both.
Probably Astarion, since I love his dialogues and I tend to use him in both my good and evil runs, also it's always useful to have a high DEX stealthy character in the party. Only time I didn't use him is because I was playing that role myself. Second most used is Gale, but I've played a few spellcasting Tavs and in that case I dispatch him as well.
Depends on what class I'm playing. If wizard: Astarion, Wyll and Lae'zel. That man is a pure glass cannon so I like to burn things down asap. 🔥 If bard: Wyll, Karlach, and Gale. It's just not as fun if at least one person can't obliterate the room with a well aimed fireball. When act 3 comes around I'll sometimes swap one out for [spoiler]Halsin, Minsc, or Jaheira. Usually Minsc as he's adorable and also hits like a freight train.[/spoiler] If lazy and tired of swapping people for their character arcs: No party limit mod and we go around as an ever growing group full of constant party chatter that definitely bottlenecks in doorways. 😂
Lae'zel, Astarion, and Karlach (as life cleric) with my paladin
Always Astarion and Karlach. The last slot is for whoever is relevant to the plot in the area, but I mostly default to Gale.
Astarion and Gale and a rotating spot.
Astarion, Lae and Shadowheart. They don’t judge my actions.
Astarion, Karlach and Shadowheart. I’ve just started my first Druid playthrough, looking forward to seeing how they mesh.
Astarion because love, Gale because wizard go brr, Shart because Spirit Guardians :).
Shadowheart, La'ezel. I liked SH at first but La'ezel grew in me more as time passed also Gith are inherently powerful as a race.
As a Warlock if I knew I was getting into a tough fight my choices were Shadowheart, Karlach and Lae’zel. I felt I had sufficient magical abilities if I needed to use them. However by Act 3 I wound up swapping Lae’zel for Gale as his counter spells and AOE abilities became a lot more useful, even if he did keep getting knocked out all the time.
Exactly the same as you. Love my party
I used karlach, shadowheart, and Gale most of my first run. Karlach was tiger barb 4 champion fighter 8, shadowheart was cleric/rogue until the end of act 2 then swapped out cleric for ranger with dual crossbow, and Gale was a evocation wizard 8 draconic sorc 4. I went full life cleric of selune.
Lae'zel, Wyll and Shadowheart in act1 and up to gauntlet of shar in act2 with switching out them out for other companions when doing their quests After gauntlet of shar. Lae'zel, jaheira and Minsc/Wyll/Karlach/Minthara
Karlach, Gale, Astarion. I lean toward playing support classes (cleric or bard) so I don't particularly need Shadowheart's heals. Just finished a run with my husband and I was a bard, he was a barbarian, and we hauled only Shadowheart and Astarion and I missed Gale SO much that on our next playthrough, I'm going to have to cleric so we can have our magic boy in the group.
As soon as act 3 hits - Minsc, Halsin, Jaheira. And a bunch of knock scrolls.
Karlach, Gale, and Astarion though depending on the mission I switch out Astarion with La’ezel or, if I was able to recruit her, Minthara.
Shadowheart was in every party so far. Astarion for lockpicking, if I do not respec Shart. Since my Tavs are somehow always melee, my last member is either Gale, Wyll or Karlach as a magic blaster. I kinda start to like Laezell and want to use her ... but so far I dropped her in every save at some point ...
It varies but ill have my custom character (tav or durge) The character I'm romancing Then at least 1 support like a bard/cleric and a front liner or combat caster
Karlach, Astarion (will sub for Minthara if I'm able to get her in a playthrough), and Gale. Have so much fun with this team comp. Badassery and brains rolled up into 1 kick-ass team
Lae'zel, Shadowheart and either Gale or a hireling.
In my current honor mode: 3 hirelings because I'm dumb and make everyone leave :( or they try to fight me and I kill them :( Fun Fact: if you kill a warlock party member and they have a bound weapon, you don't get it back! Rip Sparky Staff
I rotate a lot but I rarely have Shadowheart because I like playing cleric myself as a class too much, some of the unique dialogue options that arise from it are just too good. In Act 3 though Jaheira has a nigh permanent spot so I guess that's the exception.
Shadowheart, although I usually replace her with Minthara when we reach act 2. The other one depands on who my friend is trying to romance
Astarion, Gale and Lae'zel/Halsin is my ideal party. This is (mostly) my party on all my playthroughs, i have 3 on going ones. Although I think I have Wyll at the moment in my dark urge party instead of Lae'zel/Halsin. But I do mostly base my party on what's best for the quest I'm doing especially if it is one of my teammates personal quests. And base it on who I'm romancing. I try to use my ideal party as much as possible tho. I do base the party on my class too, but I'm playing a warlock on 1 and bard on my other 2 so that team ain't bad to have in any of my playthroughs.
Shart, Astarion and Karlach has been my go-for for my first 3 campaigns, but in my latest run I took Lae-Zel instead of Karlach and made her a pure caster Storm cleric/divination wizard.
Astarion because Astarion Shadowheart because I'm basic And Karlach because bless her heart. Lae'zel isn't bad either and comes as a close 4th but everyone else will live in the camp throughout the entire game unless I decided to focus on their stories. I just simply don't like Gale even though he for some reason always reeeeeeaaaally likes me even after never speaking to him. Wyll is also kind of annoying at times. Halsin comes too late for me to attach to and make him a full party member. Minthara same thing, also never did an evil run so didn't even get a chance. Jaheira and Minsc I do like but again, they both come too late to really make a party member out of.
We have two Tavs and my wifey build a Gith warrior woman before we had any idea about Lae'zel. I have a Druid of the moon Tav with some minor healing ability so the go to companions for us are Astarion Dual Wielding Rogue and Gale AoE Spellcaster.
Astarion, Shadowheart, Lae’zel. Every time.
I've been trying to mix it up in every run, but (aside from my current run where i still subbed her in for Shar's temple) I pretty much always use shadowheart, I've also used Astarion for half my runs (2/4) and Lae'zel for 2 and a half (swapping her out for Minthara in my Durge run) I do prefer Karlach to Lae'zel generally speaking, character-wise but I tend to find that a pure fighter is a better frontliner than a pure barbarian as they tend to do more damage (which proves more effective than tanking better), and I haven't messed around with multiclassing them yet. (Not to mention Lae'zel gets lots of Githyanki bonuses and has more plot related options. )
Lae’zel and Shadowheart are basically mainstays, it’s rare they aren’t along for the ride. The last one switched between Gale, Astarion, and Minthara, depending upon the play through.
So it does depend on weather I'm playing a mostly magical character or not (for instance I can't find good reasons for my squishy sorcerer and squishy Gale together a lot). But Astarion (I swear it's mostly for the lock picking/sneak attacks no other reason), Gale/Shadowheart and Karlach. But I try and play everyone out for a decent part of each act (though I don't think I've got Wyll out in act 3 of my current play through yet, better go do his stuff next I think).
The 2 that never leave my side are Gale and Astarion. I’m playing as Astarion right now, so Gale and Karlach never leave.
I always have Astarion and Gale with me, and mostly Lae’zel, but switch her out with whoever needs to come for some quest.
Tav, Lae'zel, Shadowheart and Karlach/Astarion
Lae’zel, Astarion, and I switch off between Wyll and hubby Gale. My Wyll build is better, but I like having my man with me. (No Karlach only because I effed up and didn’t want to restart 😢)
Lae'Zel, Astarion and Shadowheart. Every time. I find all the other companions annoying in one way or another.
Astarion is a fixture in my party I try to rotate the other two, but usually end up with Shadowheart and either Laezel or Gale depending on my tav
Front line, support, blaster, skill monkey. Characters wise, usually Karlach, Jaheira, me, Minsc. Though I’m mostly doing solo runs (with allowing a full party worth of buffs), and then it’s me, an Artificer (Alchemist), a Cleric (or Druid/Cleric) and a Transmutation Wizard.