Baldur's Gate 3

Solstice

After having more time with her on a second go-round, Lae’zel…

(Probably a Cold take:)

…has the most growth of any party member, and it’s depressing that she gets such a bad rap when she’s arguably the least static character, tied closely with Shadowheart. I feel like a lot of folks bench her before they get to see it.

Anyhow. Generally feel like societal norms did her dirty.

Aria

@Solstice Lae’zel has absolutely grown on me as I’ve seen more of her plot and after their big pitch fixing the bug that @Vulgar-Boy mentioned above.

In my first playthrough, it was just her constantly saying really insulting things to me right up until she’s like, “You would slaughter a dragon and then use it to murder another dragon!! LET’S BANG.” And I was just like, “I really do not need negging from some weird Githyanki PUA, so Imma peace out and take Karlach on everything that needs fighty missions as soon as I find her, thnxbye.”

Solstice

@Aria

I really wish that bug hadn’t been in - it kinda skewed the first characters in your party into being weird and pushy. And for me, it trapped me in ‘Gale Romance Land’ because I watched his magic show. Didn’t get my rep up fast enough with the people I wanted to romance in time when I read about that bug. Still grumpy.

At least the second playthrough is going better!

Cobalt

I reached the point of no return with two characters, ended up rolling back with one character b/c getting their messed up a bunch of other plots. And then landed fast first in a romance with Astarion and was like well… I love my angsty vampire boi so ok cool.

Shadowheart still best girl.

Testament

@Solstice said in Baldur’s Gate 3:

After having more time with her on a second go-round, Lae’zel…

(Probably a Cold take:)

…has the most growth of any party member, and it’s depressing that she gets such a bad rap when she’s arguably the least static character, tied closely with Shadowheart. I feel like a lot of folks bench her before they get to see it.

Anyhow. Generally feel like societal norms did her dirty.

Thank you.

Lae’zel gets a huge a bad rap.

Now, canonically in Forgotten Realms canon, Githyanki are huuuuuge xenophobic genocidal assholes, even if that wholly isn’t their fault. Never mind that not every Gith is a Githyanki, since there is also a completely other off-shoot of the race. So you have Githyanki(followers of Gith) and Githerazi(deniers of Gith), the latter being a faction that actually, y’know, wants to cooperatively work with other races with eradicating illithid.

While the Githyanki really do want go through with burning down all the realms and controlling them. Which is largely based on the idea of “We were enslaved once, so we’ll enslave everyone else so it never happens to us again”. They just don’t because they’re too busy killing Mind Flayers. I’m not putting spoiler tags on this, because this has been Forgotten Realms lore for decades.

The fact that Lae’zel probably had arguably the most character growth as Shadowheart, but nobody really talks about it because Lae’zel, until later in the game, is just written off as ‘an angry bitch with a sword’.

I mean, when you’re romancing her in Act 2, she wants to duel you, to prove that you can be “her’s”. Here is some wild shit. It’s far better that she beats you, because she stops the fight because she “Can’t bear to hurt you anymore”. The murderous Githyanki that would do anything for undead Queen is is like “No, I can’t do this to you. I want to protect you, not hurt you.” And to me, I was like ‘damn, this is not the same character I started out with that was going to point blank murder my ass until the tadpole intervened.’

Cobalt

I just find her unpleasant. She’s grown on me more, but I still find her needlessly unpleasant. I find Wyll to just be, well, dull. How someone so charismatic can be so dull is beyond me but he is.

Gale is one fedora away from being a Nice Guy.

I just find Karlach, Shadowheart, and Astarian to be the best party. I’d take Halsin more but I have Shadowheart for heals. And I need Astarian for lockpicking and for pure melee output Karlach is the only party member that can keep up with my murderhobo fighter.

Testament

I’ve been reading up on why exactly is Gale reacting so strangely to people when you get into relationships with other character. And apparently it’s not because it’s the character, but rather that the character’s dialogue and approval reactions are all bugged.

https://www.thegamer.com/baldurs-gate-3-characters-romance-too-easy-cant-avoid-gale-bug/

Now, not saying this to suddenly change people’s minds, but if you’re wondering why he gets mad you’re boning other people when you’ve literally never spoken with him, it’s because the game is using dialogue lines from scenes as if you had been taking/flirting with him. However, this might make it easier to cut his hand off in your next Durge playthrough and not have him in the party at all.

Larian has said that Patch 3 is coming out…next week I think, so hopefully they’ll work on that. Or maybe it’s such a meme at this point they’ll just leave it.

They still nerfed Barrelmancy, and I still haven’t forgiven them for that.

Pavel

@Cobalt said in Baldur’s Gate 3:

How someone so charismatic can be so dull is beyond me but he is.

Hey. You’ve met me.

hellfrog

Wyll is boring because they fell prey to a classic blunder: they had the interesting conflict baked into his concept happen before the game even starts.

The INTEREST in a HEROIC character is putting them in situations that either tempt or require them to compromise their principles and act unheroically, and how they deal with that. That already happened. The Wyll we get is just boring. Maybe he’s more interesting if you – don’t save him from himself, with Karlach. But who could test that?? WHO WOULD LOSE KARLACH for the chance that maybe Wyll is a tiny bit more interesting?

Cobalt

@hellfrog NOT ME FR

Cobalt

I just finished Act 2. I feel mildly grumpy b/c I feel like a major choice was taken out of my hands unless I immediately resort to violence.

But, oh well, at least Astarion still loves me.

Also I hate the black veins from taking the astral tadpole. Which I didn’t want to take! But I failed the wisdom save so the only way to not use it would have been to crush it under my boot. And I didn’t wanna do that either. :(

TNP

@Cobalt said in Baldur’s Gate 3:

But, oh well, at least Astarion still loves me.

The little bitch threatened to leave me for another group of adventurers. I guess I’m not evil and selfish enough for him despite the blood I’ve been giving him. Well, he can sit in camp reading all day now. I replaced him with Gale.

And how the hell did I end up in a relationship with Wyll? I’ve only just talked to him and been properly sympathetic and supportive. Then all of a sudden we’re dancing and boyfriends and Gale was all, ‘sigh, well you made your choice’ and I’m all ‘When did I do that?’

Aria

@TNP said in Baldur’s Gate 3:

And how the hell did I end up in a relationship with Wyll? I’ve only just talked to him and been properly sympathetic and supportive. Then all of a sudden we’re dancing and boyfriends and Gale was all, ‘sigh, well you made your choice’ and I’m all ‘When did I do that?’

Welcome to Baldur’s Gate, where just like in real life, dudes think being vaguely nice to them means you’re gonna bang!

bear_necessities

I started a new run with a Durge monk and Gale was my first victim #noragrats

crawfish

@bear_necessities I’m finding it’s easier to get along with Astarion as this chaotic bundle of darkness. It’s already the most fun I’ve had in the game and I’ve had a lot of fun so far.

Solstice

Choosing to side with the goblins felt so terribly icky. Hoping Patch 3 restores the buggy Minthara content properly. Reluctant to hop into Act 2/3 without that squared away.

Also, be still my heart, a No Romance Limit (Poly) mod.

Pavel

@crawfish said in Baldur’s Gate 3:

I’m finding it’s easier to get along with Astarion as this chaotic bundle of darkness.

There’s actually a reason for this! I can’t find the source right now, but I’ll add it when I find it, BUT the person responsible for much of the Dark Urge content also wrote a fair bit for Astarion (especially during the crunch period), thus there was more opportunity for them to write for the duo - more was planned for the other companions, but time constraints prevented it.

Duke Whisky

Perma-killed two party members. Would do again.

Unless your name is Shadowheart, you’re not safe.

SpaceKhomeini

@Pavel said in Baldur’s Gate 3:

@crawfish said in Baldur’s Gate 3:

I’m finding it’s easier to get along with Astarion as this chaotic bundle of darkness.

There’s actually a reason for this! I can’t find the source right now, but I’ll add it when I find it, BUT the person responsible for much of the Dark Urge content also wrote a fair bit for Astarion (especially during the crunch period), thus there was more opportunity for them to write for the duo - more was planned for the other companions, but time constraints prevented it.

It’s a Larian game so I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if there’s a massive revamp of content (particularly in Act 3) over the next year or so.

Buttercup

Does anyone else have party changing anxiety, lol?

I have a hard time laying down the OGs. I had to make the transition from Lae’zel to Karlach and even that was hard.

I run Dark P, Karlach, Shadowheart, and Gale (even though I would much rather have Astarion I enjoy wizard spells).

I don’t think I’ll change my lineup the rest of the game.