A very little Spoiler - Lorewise subclasses for companions

[Kamuizin]

I'm trying to play blind here in my first attempt on BG3, but as i don't know the JNPCs history, could anyone, lorewise, point the most adequate subclasses for each JNPC? No need to be the most effective, just the most adequate with their behavior, history, actions through the game and etc...

Like, i don't know Gale, he sounds like an enchanter, so it may feel weird to put him with necromancy, but hey, i may be wrong and see shaddy things later!

Obs: no need to justify, just throw the subclass bellow, to avoid too much spoilers.

[KingOfFriedChicken]

Let's see if I was gonna say the most lore friendly, idk if it matters to much cuz he does mention "he is a natural with all magic he attempts" pretty early. But I would feel abjuratuon or divination feel appropriate to me.

For wyll I think its obvious to be a pact of the blade lol

Leazel is interesting cuz to me champion and battle Master both seem fitting but cuz gith are naturally magical eldrtich knight seems to be the best pick because of that lore wise.

Astarion is more open, but considering how his master treated him, he probably has anxafinity towards wanting to be assassin if I placed him in a box.

Shadowheart is obviously already picked lol

Karlach to me it's likely that the berserker was the intended class, but honestly being wild magic considering what she has and that it would lash out with magic out of her control in this plane is very fitting.

That said if you dislike a choice you can change it later if you need to, there is no harm in experimenting. I know I almost always change shadowheart cuz I don't like the cleric sub class she has xD

[Orion Invictus]

Their subclasses are automatically selected when you level up.

[KingOfFriedChicken]

Originally posted by Orion Invictus:

Their subclasses are automatically selected when you level up.

Every characters is custom or not, it just picks 1 I don't think that would be considered "the most lore friendly" though.

[Orion Invictus]

Originally posted by KingOfFriedChicken:

Originally posted by Orion Invictus:

Their subclasses are automatically selected when you level up.

Every characters is custom or not, it just picks 1 I don't think that would be considered "the most lore friendly" though.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say, but if you only level up the character's starting class, it picks the subclass that is "the most lore friendly".

[HoneyDrake]

There are infinite possibilities on what could be "correct", lore wise.

Gale is an wizard, it doesn't matter what school he picks as an subclass. He could also be fine with being an Sorcerer and having no issues picking another caster related sub class, if you want it to be "lore accurate".

Halsin being an shapeshifting druid would fit him the most.

Lae'zel is a gith, typical classes for them are:
Psi Warrior Fighter (most traditional one, not in this game)
Eldritch Knight fighter (most likely this would the best fit for her)
And a spellcasting druid perhaps.

And a few other sub-classes which are not really implemented in this game, so I won't mention them.

Shadowheart can be pretty much whatever she wants and even being able to switch around, depending on your decisions in the story and progression. Shar followers can be mystics, crusaders, clerics, priests.
And assuming you progress her story: she can easily become an knight/crusader, cleric, mystic, ranger, paladin, monk, multi classing priest with an physical damage dealer, even become an shapeshifter druid.


Wyll is the only one where it's clear: he is an warlock. End of discussion.

Pretty much everyone else, not mentioned, can be whatever they want. Some are more "bad" and dark in their decision choices, like an outbroken paladin or some assassins, but you will realise it.

edit: well, Wyll could also be multiclassing bard, fighter, etc. too

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by KingOfFriedChicken:

Originally posted by Orion Invictus:

Their subclasses are automatically selected when you level up.

Every characters is custom or not, it just picks 1 I don't think that would be considered "the most lore friendly" though.

I think Orion Invictus is not wrong, though. It happens to fit the lore of the companions quite well. But I can also agree with you easily with things like Gale being an enchanter e.g.

By the end of the day there is simply not many choices to pick from and almost any would fit right with the exception of Eldrith Knight e.g.

I would go with

Gale Evocator = because he goes boom

Astarion Thief = because he is kinda cheeky

Lazael Battlemaster = because she makes a good figure taking lead

Wyll = well, Pact of the Blade - nothing to add to the Blade of the Frontiers

Karlach Berserker = same as Wyll

Halsin Moon, Jaheira Lands

[Iron Reaper]

I’m sure you’ll get some great answers here but I just wanted to mention that even if you radically change their classes and roles around their dialogue will still fit and once I began doing that I enjoyed some of the companions a lot more than before.

Shadowheart is really great thematically as a rogue as is her dialogue, I’ve got her as a sorc this run and it’s fitting just as well, lae’zel is always going to be bloodthirsty but i made her a cleric this run and it’s actually making me like her more (mods to make her pretty definitely helped too), halsin makes a great monk, jaheira could really be anything but her dialogue for rogue stuff is excellent like sharts is, gale is kind of a weiner so magic does suit him best imho, wyll works awesome as a fighter or paladin etc, asterion as a bard is better than asterion as a rogue, karlach as a fighter or warlock works very well, haven’t used minthara yet so can’t say, and the secret companion you get in act 3 makes a great berserker.

[Henry-NYC]

Originally posted by Kamuizin:

I'm trying to play blind here in my first attempt on BG3, but as i don't know the JNPCs history, could anyone, lorewise, point the most adequate subclasses for each JNPC? No need to be the most effective,

Without any possible spoilers: Always go with the default subclass option that the game gives you when you level up your companions. With no exception, this is always the most accurate subclass, lore-wise. In case you really have a different idea, you always have the option to change their class/subclass at a later time.


Again, go with the default subclass.

[KingOfFriedChicken]

Originally posted by Orion Invictus:

Originally posted by KingOfFriedChicken:

Every characters is custom or not, it just picks 1 I don't think that would be considered "the most lore friendly" though.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say, but if you only level up the character's starting class, it picks the subclass that is "the most lore friendly".

Custom characters have a subclass picked for them to where it applies, I don't think it's automatically "lore friendly" and I'm pretty sure it's the same default selection across all characters if you class swap them and get to the subclass screen, is it not?

However Wyll upon leveling him up has no "pact" auto chosen for him, so? I would say pact of the blade is the most obvious choice lore wise.

Gale gets put under evocation, which isn't bad. But if we argue about what he has. Done... he has summoned a lot of creatures in his past so you could argue conjuration is even fitting lol
I don't think it really matters though.

[Sentient_Toaster]

Some of them strike me as more rigid than others, lorewise.

Ex: if you want to maximize roleplaying consistency, don't change Shadowheart's cleric domain away from Trickery, at least... well, for a while. Her story arc is strongly tied to her faith, and 5E domains are strongly tied to deities. Her deity is associated with two domains only, and one of those two isn't an option in BG3 (well, unmodded, anyway).

Likewise, Wyll's story is strongly tied to his patron, so you shouldn't change him away from being a Fiend-pact warlock, and his background as monster hunter points to keeping Pact of the Blade.

For Karlach, Berserker probably makes the most sense given her history.


For Astarion, thief or assassin rather than arcane trickster, I think. I don't recall much reason to think that he'd fiddled with magic or been interested in learning it.

With respect to Gale, I see fewer constraints other than keeping him as a wizard. Necromancy can be seen as tending towards the sketchy side and an unlikely choice for a former Chosen of Mystra, though.

For Lae'zel, any of the fighter subclasses. If her starting charisma weren't 8 and if Oath of Conquest were an option, I could also see a case for Oath of Conquet paladin; but her charisma *is* 8 and Oath of Conquest isn't in the unmodded game. I think most of the Gith NPC fighters that you end up meeting are battlemasters.

[seeker1]

Spoiler warning?

Lorewise, it makes sense to change Shadowheart from Trickery to Light or Life once (if) she abandons Shar to go back to Selune. (Maybe especially Moon or Twilight domain outside your vanilla choices.) But in practice, I don't wait. Usually as soon as I get her I respec her to Tempest or Light. The radiance power of Light domain fries shadows and undead (and also gives her a bunch of fire spells), but as Tempest she gets the ability to use heavy armor and martial weapons and gets a pretty hefty Divine Strike with thunderous knockback. Also lots of lightning/thunder spells.

I leave Gale as Evocation. There is no other vanilla spell school for him that I like as much as his existing Sculpt Spells ability. I hate friendly fire. However, I now am starting to replace that (with mods) by giving him Graviturgy magic. It's wild, he can summon black holes, without being even a partial illithid. And even other spells can push or pull enemies.

Wyll "should" be a Fiend warlock since of course Mizora is his patron; but then, as the Blade of Frontiers, he's practically a Hexblade by description, so I follow through (again requires mods). As a Fiend warlock, I always take Pact of the Chain so he can summon imps and quasits; as Hexblade, then, of course, I always have him take Pact of the Blade.

Laezel - I NEVER take anything but Battle Master. Champion is meh and Eldritch Knight underwhelming. So, from mod-land, have I found Samurai, or Arcane Archer. Meh. (Of course, it makes zero sense to make her a Samurai. Tested that one on a hireling.)

If Wildheart didn't suck, for Karlach, (the animal aspects would be a bit better if you could at least have 2 or more instead of just one -- all you can do at level up is keep switching aspects not gaining additional ones) I'd pick it, but I always go Berserker. I hate Wild Magic, randomness is not my thing. Until I discovered Storm Herald ... that's what her fiery rage should be like ... a firestorm, not the weak sauce from soul coins.

Astarion is an assassin. Until I make him a pirate. Yarrrr ....

Minthara comes as an Oath of Vengeance paladin, but something about her also screams Oathbreaker. Summoning armies of vengeful undead and inflicting Spiteful Suffering and an Aura of Hate. Fortunately, there is a way to choose Oathbreaker as an option without going through the actual steps of forcibly breaking your oath, again with mods.

Halsin - leave him as Moon Druid, BUT with level 20 curve, often make him a 12 moon druid/8 wildheart barbarian, where, of course, he takes aspect of the Bear, natch.

I used to leave Jaheira as Circle of the Land until I discovered (mod) Circle of Stormchasters. There's also Circle of Stars, but it was not as good.

Minsc I always kept as Beastmaster ranger (though his default is Hunter). Boo needs other animal friends to keep him company. Until I came across Drakewarden (mod). The dragon you can summon as a level 20 drakewarden is not as physically big as the others you run into in the game (like Ansur) but definitely still has mobility issues in indoors and small spaces. Fortunately you can when not in combat turn it into a more transportable ball of light. Also, given what I know of what he was like in BG2, I often feel obligated for Minsc to at least dip a bit into berserker (which I do with ULC when he goes to 12 as ranger).