I know i'll get dogpiled but....

[Captain Explodo]

I'm super disappointed. The game plays so well , and the detail is great. the DnD combat tactics are on point. However, the companions are ruining it for me. Anyone else feel this way ? I don't want any of the companions in this game , in my party. None of them appeal to me and what I would like in my party. I know you can run without them but that sorta defeats the point of the tactical party combat.

I can't believe the low number of companion options we have and how none of them are .... eh . cool ? I just want some stereotypical DnD companions . I want a dumb brute or a drunken dwarf , or a street brigand , or a super self righteous paladin or a weird , super serious wizard . I wish I could make an entire custom party , Can I do that ? is there an option I'm missing ? I want the party tactics and none of the characters they made . that's what I want.

I just can't believe how bad these are in an otherwise amazing game.

I was just sitting there looking at my party try'n to think about who I found the least annoying to me so I could make a party I could suffer with long enough to get through the game and it hit .... I hate these characters.. this is ruining the fun for me.

I don't know i'm sure people will attack me just for not liking them but I really wish they would patch in some sort of custom party mode at least or someone could point it out to me if it is there.

[Lathrael]

I also agree that companions is a very weak point in this otherwise amazing game. I wish we either had more or different choices. Most of them feels really insufferable.

And of all the OG characters, who made a comeback? One self righteous harp(y)er. I would take Kurgan, Edwina, Jan Jansen or even Aerie or even that stupid thieving bard over that professional widow.

Edit: Coran also would be great. I can't include some others because they would have kicked the bucket by now.

[Boots]

I would counter that there is more content for any one origin character than all the companions in BG 1 and 2 combined. More voice lines, more quest content, more everything.

[Alyce nChaynes]

Originally posted by Thoramyr:

I am warming up to shadowheart and wyll. But Asterion and the frog person are just annoying.

Shadowheart is a stupid name though and it annoys me whenever I see it.

Frog lady is first to go for me, when she's in the cage at start i kill her, she's insufferable, even if she vital at points, i will not suffer that fool and rather doom the world than saving it with this one still alive.

Go for the eyes boo.. go for the eyes!

[Terran]

The origin characters are pretty terrible. I just don't really understand why there wasn't a custom party designer option. Then there'd be no complaints - Don't like them? Make your own party!
Divinity: Original sin 2's characters were pretty interesting, but all the one's in Baldur's Gate 3 have this nasty "OC donut steel" deviantart character vibe.
Doesn't help that the ugly orc person thing is always on the right side of the discussions forums, just sitting there in the background, being ugly.

[Legendairy2]

Shadowheart and Karlach are fine for me, killed Laezel off rip while in the cage, left Gale in the portal, stabbed Estarion for being an overbearing tool trying to be in my pants 24/7. Haven't spent much time with Wyll but his character does not get me excited, restarted for the 3rd time and going to try Halsin and respec him. If there are more past that, fingers crossed for some better characters.

[Neopolitan]

Originally posted by Knightspace:

Originally posted by Isseus:

Do you mean the mercs you can hire through Withers?

Yes, those very ones. You can't fully customize them.

Originally posted by Isseus:

Making custom characters is really dangerous, becaue at this time, if you add a custom to your party, they are PERMANENTLY in your party, and can't be removed wihtout restarting the whole save file/playthrough.

Oh, i know, but that's the issue, is it? If you want to play a fully custom party, you have to jump through hoops.

No hoops at all for full. You meet Withers almost instantly and can play without the main characters

[IvoryTemplar]

Originally posted by Boots:

I would counter that there is more content for any one origin character than all the companions in BG 1 and 2 combined. More voice lines, more quest content, more everything.

This is what you bumped a month old topic for that's been dead for over a week?

[Dal]

A big problem is that almost the entire cast falls into similar tropes of being too secretive, overly suspicious, etc. Also some characters really just take some time to grow on you to become more satisfying and you just have to put up with their attitude for some time until you see it (particularly Lae'zel and Astarion which are also IMO the best written companions in the game). I also think that the origins system probably limited the kind of writing Larian was able to do because every companion had to have a very complex story that was worthy of being a protagonist in their own right.

But the biggest problem IMO is that companions just don't interject into conversations enough like in other cRPGs unless you're doing their personal quests or something. You kind of feel like an exclusive spokesperson for them, and you just see their "approves/disapproves" messages and have to figure things out on your own. That ends up giving a lot of them passive-aggressive vibes because they just don't speak for themselves and just give nudges about how they feel.

[Ka-mai19]

I actually like the new cast except for Wyll. He comes across the most as a generic good guy, so he's the least interesting to me.

I initially didn't like La'Zael and Astarion since they're basically a*holes at the start, but they grew on me as I developed their stores. I still don't quite like La'zael, but I do like the trajectory that her character can go if you play her story right.

[Chevalier_Montrachet]

Originally posted by Captain Explodo:

I'm super disappointed. The game plays so well , and the detail is great. the DnD combat tactics are on point. However, the companions are ruining it for me. Anyone else feel this way ? I don't want any of the companions in this game , in my party. None of them appeal to me and what I would like in my party. I know you can run without them but that sorta defeats the point of the tactical party combat.

I can't believe the low number of companion options we have and how none of them are .... eh . cool ? I just want some stereotypical DnD companions . I want a dumb brute or a drunken dwarf , or a street brigand , or a super self righteous paladin or a weird , super serious wizard . I wish I could make an entire custom party , Can I do that ? is there an option I'm missing ? I want the party tactics and none of the characters they made . that's what I want.

I just can't believe how bad these are in an otherwise amazing game.

I was just sitting there looking at my party try'n to think about who I found the least annoying to me so I could make a party I could suffer with long enough to get through the game and it hit .... I hate these characters.. this is ruining the fun for me.

I don't know i'm sure people will attack me just for not liking them but I really wish they would patch in some sort of custom party mode at least or someone could point it out to me if it is there.

While it's true that I don't like all characters, I find Karlach and Astarion to be amazing. Especially Astarion.

[Lans]

Originally posted by caev79:

I actually like the new cast except for Wyll. He comes across the most as a generic good guy, so he's the least interesting to me.

I initially didn't like La'Zael and Astarion since they're basically a*holes at the start, but they grew on me as I developed their stores. I still don't quite like La'zael, but I do like the trajectory that her character can go if you play her story right.

Spoilers.


I just cleared out the cresche with La'zael in my party, and aside from whining about me not bending the knee to her queen, she happily slaughtered her kin without hesitation or protest.

Then I grabbed the unique mace from downstairs, and she screamed at me for endangering her cresche and her people.

Bad writing is bad. They want these characters to be "deep and immersive" but don't punish you properly for having them in your party when you make critical decisions. She didn't even care about giving the egg to the old lady after threatening to kill her for even suggesting the idea an hour beforehand

[MajorAssman]

I agree OP, love the game but the companions are the weak spot.

[Ka-mai19]

Originally posted by Lans:

Then I grabbed the unique mace from downstairs, and she screamed at me for endangering her cresche and her people.

Did you deactivate the traps and use the necessary crest to get the hammer? If you do that nothing negative triggers and you can take the hammer without any issues.

I did the same with La'Zael and she didn't do anything in my game.

[Lord_Reavous]

Not only are the characters not all that compelling with Karlach being the only real exception for me. They are basically all Human/Elf/Half Elf. And with the rules-set they use that basically means the same thing. I was kind of hoping they'd add a companion of multiple different races and non-standard classes. I guess that leaves open the PC to be whatever I guess (I'm playing Gnome Thief/Gloom Stalker) which sure isn't the most optimal thing. But why do I have to roll the short races for my character? Why is there no sloven, raunchy dwarf cracking inappropriate jokes or sharing drinking stories? Or awkward but genius gnome who can tinker and dazzle audiences? Seriously.

Lae'zel is the only outlier in the "normal" group as a Gith and she's incredibly unlikeable for a lot of people. Grant it I know her character changes, but I as a person would put her more than arms length due to her natural state. Karlach is more interesting than her and can fulfill the melee tank roll so why run Lae'zel at all?

I don't remember if I had the same issues with companions in BG 1/2. But I did prefer IWD 1/2 because they just didn't bother with the concept. Frankly it is hard to write good characters.

[Fuzzatron]

I like the companions they made, but I don't think a single one of them isn't broken due to some trauma or sadness - is that realistic? Maybe? I don't know. I wouldn't change the characters we have at all, but some more fantasy/DnD stereotypes might have been cool additions - maybe in some expansion