Given that all the companions are evil....

[PJ]

Does this technically make this game at base an evil playthrough? Like you're literally walking with a group of devil worshippers, murderers, and megalomaniacs, many of them so irresponsible that they might accidentally kill millions of people. The main quest isn't really about saving the world or anything heroic, the entire thing is personal and about you and what's been done to you. Hell, Dark Urge exists but there's no sort of paragon of goodness special character, it's all villains.

[Aeriar]

I didn't have Minthara in party yet, so I don't know about her.

But in my oppinion Astarion is about as evil as Shadowheart and Lae'zel, so actually not really evil. All were abused by their masters and/or indoctrinated, just in different ways. Astarion is mostly acting from self-preservation point of view, where the girls are more of religious/racial fanatics. Both Astarion and Shadowheart have a chance to escape their past and become their own person, where Lae'zel only changes one master for another.

[Wokelander]

Originally posted by ahsanford:

So I see the party as a very smartly assembled gang of misfits rather than good vs. evil. BG2 literally had incompatible party members who would eventually throw down against each other, leave the party, etc. So you had to stitch together a generally good, generally 'cool with everyone' or generally evil vibe.

- A

Honestly I think it worked better than the BG3 model and I loved the unusual banter you'd get from mixing it up, like Korgan and Mazzy

[Trolleur_Durden]

The best way to gauge a companion's alignement is to see how they react to some of the most obviously evil choices you can do in the game.

For example, Astarion is clearly evil, since he will approve almost all evil choices you can do, like for example breaking the paralyzed Tiefling's legs in the pantry and go full Dark Urge on her, siding with the goblins and commit mass murder, and so on.

Shadowheart on the other hand is more neutral than anything else, since she will disapprove both selfless acts, when you agree to help other people instead of focusing on your own situation, and acts of cruelty towards children and animals. She only becomes evil if she commits to be a true Shar devotee by agreeing to kill the Nightsong.

[Pan Darius Cassandra]

I think they're all written to be 'neutral' on at least one axis so that the player can more easily sway them one way or another through their choices.

Most of them, anyway.

[FunkyMonkey]

Originally posted by PJ:

Does this technically make this game at base an evil playthrough? Like you're literally walking with a group of devil worshippers, murderers, and megalomaniacs, many of them so irresponsible that they might accidentally kill millions of people. The main quest isn't really about saving the world or anything heroic, the entire thing is personal and about you and what's been done to you. Hell, Dark Urge exists but there's no sort of paragon of goodness special character, it's all villains.

You're wrong.

Good talk.

[Mojo]

Just my opinion, I think the only companion that is truly evil is Astarion. Anything good or positive you do he will always disapprove.
Even when comes to freeing Zevlor and the rest from the pods, he would rather you purge them than release them. Even if you have a high rating with him at that point.
And everyone else in your group will disapprove of the purge.

[Wokelander]

I mean Lae'zel is basically a space Nazi, the only reason she doesn't necessarily come off completely horrible is that she pretty quickly warms to the idea that Tav would maybe also make a good space nazi, mostly by virtue of them being the main character 😅

[psychotron666]

Astarion, laezel and shadowheart start off as evil alignment. Astarion is straight up chaotic evil and wants you to do evil ♥♥♥♥. Laezel is lawful evil, believes in gith supremacy and screw weak people, and shadowheart straight up desires to be a shar justicar, basically a hit man for an evil god, she'd be neutral evil.

You can turn both laezel and shadowheart alignment, laezel to lawful neutral and shadowheart to neutral good or possibly true neutral.

I haven't done astarion quests yet so I don't know if he changes, I've killed him in my 2 starts so far because that's what my character would do.

[Wokelander]

Originally posted by psychotron666:

Astarion, laezel and shadowheart start off as evil alignment. Astarion is straight up chaotic evil and wants you to do evil ♥♥♥♥. Laezel is lawful evil, believes in gith supremacy and screw weak people, and shadowheart straight up desires to be a shar justicar, basically a hit man for an evil god, she'd be neutral evil.

You can turn both laezel and shadowheart alignment, laezel to lawful neutral and shadowheart to neutral good or possibly true neutral.

I haven't done astarion quests yet so I don't know if he changes, I've killed him in my 2 starts so far because that's what my character would do.

I'd accept SH as purely neutral due to her complicated backstory but yeah I'd say wanting to be a divine inquisitor of the goddess of loss, darkness, secrets and ultimately the oblivion of everything seems pretty evil-adjacent to me

[FunkyMonkey]

Originally posted by Wokelander:

Originally posted by psychotron666:

Astarion, laezel and shadowheart start off as evil alignment. Astarion is straight up chaotic evil and wants you to do evil ♥♥♥♥. Laezel is lawful evil, believes in gith supremacy and screw weak people, and shadowheart straight up desires to be a shar justicar, basically a hit man for an evil god, she'd be neutral evil.

You can turn both laezel and shadowheart alignment, laezel to lawful neutral and shadowheart to neutral good or possibly true neutral.

I haven't done astarion quests yet so I don't know if he changes, I've killed him in my 2 starts so far because that's what my character would do.

I'd accept SH as purely neutral due to her complicated backstory but yeah I'd say wanting to be a divine inquisitor of the goddess of loss, darkness, secrets and ultimately the oblivion of everything seems pretty evil-adjacent to me

I would still argue that Shadowheart isn't evil. It's more a result of a lifetime of manipulation but it's most certainly a grey area.

[Wokelander]

Originally posted by FunkyMonkey:

Originally posted by Wokelander:

I'd accept SH as purely neutral due to her complicated backstory but yeah I'd say wanting to be a divine inquisitor of the goddess of loss, darkness, secrets and ultimately the oblivion of everything seems pretty evil-adjacent to me

I would still argue that Shadowheart isn't evil. It's more a result of a lifetime of manipulation but it's most certainly a grey area.

Well she's probably going to have an "are we the baddies?" moment if she continues down that road 😄

[psychotron666]

Originally posted by FunkyMonkey:

Originally posted by Wokelander:

I'd accept SH as purely neutral due to her complicated backstory but yeah I'd say wanting to be a divine inquisitor of the goddess of loss, darkness, secrets and ultimately the oblivion of everything seems pretty evil-adjacent to me

I would still argue that Shadowheart isn't evil. It's more a result of a lifetime of manipulation but it's most certainly a grey area.

I mean it's basically the story of Dr evil. His parents were killed, and he was adopted by evil Belgium couple that turned him into Dr evil, and he desired to be evil.

Regardless of shadow hearts past, she grew up with the ultimate dream of being a really evil god's hitman. That's evil IMO. It doesn't mean she can't change back to good.

[psychotron666]

A more recent example is Kylo Ren from star wars. He grows up and wants to be Darth Vader. He has the capacity for good in him, but he's definitely an evil character throughout until he's changed back to good.
If you grow up striving to be an evil figure (like Vader or a Shar justicar), then you're evil at that time.

[Ettanin]

It's to the benefit of the alignment fluidity that Larian chose not to include the nine alignments as a character statistic.

The alignment of most companions do indeed depend on the player's actions.

[GriffinPilgrim]

Originally posted by PJ:

The main quest isn't really about saving the world or anything heroic, the entire thing is personal and about you and what's been done to you.

Most fantasy stories start out that way, including the earlier Baldur's Gate games. Frankly I prefer it that way; far more relatable to start small and get swept into bigger things than wake up one day and go "Time to save the world!"