Baldur's Gate 3 - Origin Characters Ranked

[@TheFallingFlamingo]

Karlach's character is actually more interesting than she appears at first level. Instead of a lot of quests to do, Karlach gets all kinds of inspiration for you bringing her new places and letting her experience new things. Since she was a a prisoner from childhood, it kind of feels like a main point of her character is to bring along on a sightseeing-esque trip. I originally only brought her along because I wanted a tough big hitter in my party that wasn't Lae'zel. Mostly because I didn't want to deal with her trying to kill everyone on my "heroic" playthrough. I ended up really enjoying Karlach's interactions with the world and you just can't help but feel excited with her.

[@orenmamo3200]

And she pairs great with wyll

[@warlockwod]

@@orenmamo3200 Do you know if Wyll de-transforms later when siding with Karlach?

[@warlockwod]

Yeah, each companion have its strenghts not only mechanically but also narrativally. It's a very well written game. I can't get some of the very harsh criticism i see on comments and reddit.

[@nevilleneville6518]

Still in Act 1, but I love Karlach. Her constant mickey taking of Lae-zel's uptightness is hilarious.

[@dogtags2010]

Karlach also destroys enemies. I throw haste on her and gwm and the potion that gives an attack if you kill something. She also never misses ! She's a must have for me. She's in medium armour and is so damn tank it's laughable how much damage she deals out and negates.

[@cbake52]

Astarion is pretty much mandatory for a muderhobo dark urge playthrough. He supports all your murderous and terrible impulses.

[@kylerobinson6102]

I'll have to play as the Dark Urge second time. I'm playing a Bard right now and Astarion loves my bard lol.

[@cbake52]

@@bfrfoxtrot murder hobo, as in murderous homeless person.

[@metzli5797]

I'm playing a murderhobo dark urge, and the only character who has left me was Wyll. Everyone else will more or less accept your actions, even if they don't initially share your lack of morals.

[@cbake52]

@@metzli5797 yeah I am currently debating whether or not to kill Isobel and pursue that story path. I am pretty sure I will, Lae'zel is my strongest character at the moment and she'll stick around. She has a much lower attack rating as a pure battle master but when she crits she's dealing 80 plus damage per attack.

[@metzli5797]

@cbake52 story wise your choice there is mostly how your party reacts to it. As far as I could tell from testing different approaches, the outcome there is always the same, unfortunately.

[@1wayroad935]

I just really love how, by the end of Act 2, everyone just has everyone else's back. Ready to go to each other's defense or ready to jump anyone who wronged them. Really makes them feel like a family.

[@AreYouOKAni]

Yup. Laezel going to bat for Shadowheart was really heartwarming. And even Astarion is always read y and willing to fuck shit up.

[@kruk_7279]

Scripted family.

[@user-vt7cj6qw1h]

Nice spoiler. Thank you man

[@Mourndarkv]

I'm even good with my least favorites. Well written!

[@janstraka8674]

"We are fighting for our lives, with death timer on our heads." is a great bonding tool, who knew 🤣

[@Otinashi]

Playing through as The Dark Urge right now (going the good/resisting the urge path) and I'm blown away with how much it feels like especially the last act is affected by the origin. It has such a cool story

[@jinxtheunluckypony]

It’s really impressive how much the Dark Urge changes the main story. I figured the origin would be limited to a handful of interactions with new npcs and edgy dialogue options but they went out of their way to make Durge feel like a real, crucial part of the world.

[@PaulRGauthier]

Literally nothing is different for the 1st act. Nothing, except a couple cut scenes and some murder hobo dialogue options. Every time I try the Dark Urge I get bored and quit. Hot take, I know, but that's my experience.

[@Jul_ire]

@@PaulRGauthier try to give it a chance, the further you go in the story the more interesting it gets and makes you feel like a huge part of the main story

[@leonidfomin9013]

Started first playthrough as Dark Urge and after 40 hours I can say that it is absolutely amazing. Playing as "good" character, I am trying to resist it and the game is great at supporting this choice by providing harsh trials. At times it takes you some minutes just to completely realize WHAT just happened on your eyes and how to live with it. Absolutely great

[@jforozco12]

Im not doing the dark urge but Im assuming baalspawn?

[@AzureIV]

@@jforozco12 Given that Mortismal Gaming was talking about how it deals with BG1 and 2, I am going to assume Bhaalspawn also.

[@KILLERAOC]

@@jforozco12you assume right

[@jforozco12]

@@KILLERAOC nice! Was planning on doing an evil character my second playthrough anyways! Here goes Sarevok version 2.0 baby!

[@Dan-uh9sg]

I'm also loving playing Dark Urge as a good character. I'm so happy that they let you struggle with it and don't just push you off the cliff into full evil. I may even do my next playthrough as an evil Dark Urge to see how differently it goes.

[@karlklein2263]

I love that larian actually put murder hobo in as an origin character

[@Merdoc46]

I love Shadowheart's personality and story. She remainds me of Morrigan from DA: Origins. And that woman broke my heart when I was a kid, playing DA for the first time

[@The_Yukki]

Man of culture I see, only good Dragon Age to be released.

[@dadqqader]

Morrigan is far more 'sinister' though. Shadowheart revealed her softer side pretty quickly. For me she's more like Cassandra and Leliana in DAI.

[@Wimikk]

@@dadqqaderyou gotta play AS Shadowheart. It hurts, because you’re not looking at someone struggling with themselves - you have to embody that with the rp. So many moments have driven her down a dark path in my run and it’s so good.

[@OnlineKenji]

Props on the DAO reference, Morrigan was gold. The comparison so apt.

[@DrymouthCWW]

Wah 😢

[@williamedwards4151]

Oh, I can't help but be incredibly invested in Shadowheart. I've been making all my decisions based solely on what I would personally choose to do. And that she has always approved and supported those decisions really endeared her to me. Quite quickly, in fact. She feels like my PC's partner in a lot of ways.

[@31codyskater]

She definitely feel like the standard romance option for a good play through. I went for her in my first one as well

[@makeytgreatagain6256]

@@31codyskaterher and Gale seem like the best options for a good guy. The joke is my evil character also gets along well with shadow…. Like to the point where I wasn’t trying to romance her and I ended up getting the date scene before I even completed the goblin camp

[@Gannay]

My list so far (almost end of act 2) looks like this: 1. Bae'Zel 2. Astarion 3. Gale 4. Shart 5. Wyll 6. Karlach I agree 100% on what you said about karlach, she seems lacking story wise but personality is what carries her.

[@FlaggermusMann_]

Shart 😂

[@rednite__8427]

Shadowheart has a pretty great interaction with Lae’zel which makes me like her even more.

[@Wimikk]

Play as Shadowheart and befriend Lae’zel. Incredible story.

[@tiandi5585]

​@@WimikkNoted

[@ERHershman1]

I think you’re probably correct that Karlach was a late addition. I tried playing with her as my main character for a couple hours, and even from that perspective she feels less well integrated into the game overall-there are a number of places where other characters would have their internal thoughts described by the narrator, but Karlach just speaks out loud to herself. It seems like they might not have been able to get Amelia Tyler as the narrator back in the studio so they had to settle for having Karlach speak to herself. They even lampshade it at one point, having Karlach joke “maybe I can find some friends who don’t mind someone who talks to themself all the time!” It’s kind of too bad, since I agree that she is very likable personality-wise.

[@PaulRGauthier]

I stuck with her playthrough as long as I could, but I'm done. Then I found this video :)

[@ryandavid1277]

Lae'Zel is so well voiced!!!!! Love the character just for the voice, and her banter is top tier lol

[@wellackchyually]

shes prob best companion arc

[@Dopameme]

SPEAK.

[@Kewickviper]

I hated her lol. I had the oppourtunity to have her killed off pretty early on and took it without hesitation. She's now just a corpse in my camp.

[@bmwd4000]

My favorite voice clip(s) are with her and Shadowheart, especially the one about looking for metaphors. If you heard it you know, if you haven't - too good.

[@user-rp3tj6nu4h]

Tchk!

[@Level30Commoner]

Ahhh Mortym, always falling for the edgiest of edgelords. Never change, mate. 🥰

[@Quantum_Bluntz]

The edge is nice

[@RubyTraces]

Our character rankings always turn out super different. 😂 Still interesting though to see the different perspectives, makes me look forward to explore the characters and stories, even if they didn't appeal to me as much initially. And I think it's good that all characters find their audience. 😊

[@BirdMoose]

As someone who knew nothing about DnD lore I loved Shadowheart's story. I spent a lot of the game trying to piece together if Shar was existentialist or evil which made the conflict a lot more interesting. Kinda wish it was a little more on the existentialist side tbh as I think the idea of a god of all the things we hate but isn't necessarily evil is such a cool idea, still Shadowheart's conflict might have been predictable if you know the lore, but is one of the best written variants of that predictability so I'm happy. Lae'Zel ended up being my favorite though, her writing is so stupidly good and more impactful because of her starting point.

[@PaulRGauthier]

Here's the thing. If you read all the books about Shar and her church in game, she definitely presents to the world as an "existentialist" goddess who isn't just pure evil. And I knew almost nothing about Forbidden Realms lore, just some basic D&D stuff from when I was a kid and general fantasy fan stuff. I saw Shadowheart's arc coming a mile away. But that's fine. Everyone went to Shakespeare's plays already knowing the story. It's HOW you get there that counts.

[@johnyiannacopoulos639]

absolutely agree when it comes to Lae'zel, definitely number 1 for me! I am playing a Lae'zel playthrough atm and it is my favorite way to play currently. OCs are fun and cool, but BG3 has some great characters, particularly the women. I am also very very fond of Minthara

[@Pulletlamer]

Lae'zel is my favorite so far. I did her quest in the creche and she sticks with me even against her people, so I think that makes her a good, complex character.

[@fickle_sticks3002]

I’m glad I did my first run as the Dark Urge. It’s basically a big love letter to the OG games, and I think the character is more thematically consistent with the other origin characters than average Joe Tav.

[@Synystr7]

I am right there with you with Astarion. Like... the dude needs to chill with the constant sultry cat purr type voice lines.

[@macus23]

Dark urge paladin is def going to be my second playthrough! Ty for the great video with minimal spoilers!

[@SlappizTV]

Astarion is my favorite, the voice acting is top notch. He is such a creep and it's absolutely hilarious.

[@NedFlanders612]

He has the most depth out of all them, I think

[@lagoondiver]

I adore Astarion! He's such a sassy drama queen 😆

[@Lutasiren]

and happy is a fairly good passive

[@zer0homer]

Enjoying my evil Dark Urge play through thoroughly with him, Minthara and Shadowheart.

[@uzul7742]

He makes me feel so uncomfortable with his creepiness, I can’t have him in my party 😅😂

[@star5485]

Lae'Zel was my biggest surprise in the game. I was set on switching her out for Karlach as soon as I recruited her but if you think about Githyanki lore and upbringing, she is excellent characterization of that. And her story is /so good/, voice acting top notch! (I'm obviously not through it all yet but I'm already impressed because the good writing on her made me fall in love with her despite my initial apprehension)

[@Ravasempai]

*Spoiler* will have to try her on the replay, ended up killing her when confronted by the githyanki queen sadly. and I had saved her from the medical device so a little annoying.

[@haha-on5fd]

why not have both?

[@danilakalinin6261]

Makes me exciting for second run as i rejected her intentionally because i don't need another frontliner and want to save her full story for re-run.

[@sieglindeeilserv8799]

That's what I'm doing. My party is mage light, ie mage non-existent haha, but haven't had too many problems so far :D@@haha-on5fd

[@otb_javede]

Laezel went from someone I would regularly kill in Early Access to my favorite companion in my real playthrough. So many encounters won by Laezel popping off and slaughtering fools

[@nikidelvalle]

I just completed Shadowheart's Act 3 quest and wow, my opinion of her character just went up so massively. I don't disagree that her story is easily predicted but I also found the resolution genuinely moving. Granted I definitely wonder how things differ if you don't dissuade her from doing that really bad thing in Act 2, but in my playthrough she went through this just enormous growth as a character and the way she changes adds so many layers to how she acts throughout the game. It's hard to talk about without spoilers, but suffice to say I really enjoy reflecting on how Shadowheart was never a bad person and her values survived even despite all of the things she's been through. She was convinced of a faith she never actually fully committed herself to as a person even if she was a loyal agent of their will. Seeing her endure and remain the same person even stripped of everything which people would generally consider is what gives someone their identity honestly brought me to tears.

[@komerilek]

Regarding that thing she does in Act 2, in my playthgrough I tried to dissuade her and SPOILERS she said she would go over my corpse if she has to, which led to a fight and her death. It is my character's greatest regret since she was also the romance choice. It made for a dramatic story though, Selûne's and Shar's clerics, worlds apart.

[@JoaoVitor-qy3ze]

​@@komerilekI needed a nat 20 to persuade her and I got it in my last inspiration. It was an insane relief because I played along with her Shar worshipping until I understood what kind of god Shar is (I've never played DnD before). I'm doing my 2nd playthrough now and I'm trying to make her snap out of it earlier this time.

[@PaulRGauthier]

I did the bad thing. Very bad things happen in the region but the story continues. Ironically, Haslin barely seems to notice :P PARTIAL SPOILER INCOMING In the House of Grief she gets another chance at redemption, you can probably guess how.

[@DovahVokuna]

The Dark urge is the way to go. Especially a good dark urge. So many awesome encounters. Especially with Durge lover or personal story ending. Although, taking the dark route and good ending took me by surprise as well. What a sick ending

[@Interitus1]

I totally get the Karlach thing. It does feel like she was added later, like she was added to round out the number of companions. Or she was an idea half developed, dropped and then brought back late.

[@GoozE26]

I'm excited to experience Lae'zel and her journey in my next playthrough. In my current one, I didn't find her on the beach before reaching the Emerald Grove - eventually she died! Won't spoil how but, while I was sad to not have her along I loved how the game treated my failure to act as a choice with a consequence of its own.

[@robfly2742]

She died In my first play through that I’m doing too, *spoiler* when you encounter her captured by the tieflings I failed my dialogue check and i wouldnt attack the tieflings morally as a paladin so she attacked all of us and paid the ultimate price

[@grey_wind]

I don't care if she's a fantasy trope. Shadowheart for Life 💜

[@bigdadybojangls9219]

Shadowbae 🥵

[@dadqqader]

Never though i want a medieval cleric goth gf until now

[@Wimikk]

Playing as my main character in first run of the game, with Lae’zel as my romantic interest and best friend. I’m almost at the city and have no regrets so far. Incredible character story and so intense in moments.

[@lep2525]

I think Astarion and Lae’zel are my favorite companions so far. I like Shadowheart as well, but still haven’t fully learned enough about her character to decide if she’s a favorite or not. Also, the voice acting in this game is so incredible. Some of the best I’ve heard in years.

[@cmdr.jabozerstorer3968]

I know from reading Twitter that some players have not recruited Lae'zel after the Nautiloid and that's a huge shame as it's obvious that she'll improve and change. She's the first character you see in the opening cutscene. She's the character that's likely had the most love put in by Larian. She's kind of the poster child of the game.

[@nikidelvalle]

Well it's really easy to kill her by complete accident very early on, specifically because there's no way to talk the Tieflings into not killing Lae'zel (you can only trick them into leaving). There are also several points where it's easy to kill her during Act 2 because she is very strict about what you are and aren't allowed to do without her turning on you. I heavily disagree that Lae'zel is the poster child of this game regardless, Shadowheart far and away seems to have the most developed, fleshed out, and plot critical content. Plus she's the first person who actually joins your party, and even if you try to reject her from joining multiple times she keeps showing up (if you don't free her on the Nautiloid, then she'll be on the beach, then the Druid Grove, then she'll show up in the Mountain Pass).

[@dalentces2492]

What's shameful is that people are into her and the game doesn't provide you with enough snarky or combative remarks to her BS. We should be able to antagonize her more, it would spice the party life a bit. Full disclosure, I'll still take her everywhere because she's a Githyanki, but if I could take any other Githyanki I would.

[@jamesn0va]

The game has every character tell you not to go near them. I took it as come back later but later was too late

[@jamesn0va]

The game has every character tell you not to go near them. I took it as come back later but later was too late

[@fitz394]

I like Astarion, he's the classic edgelord but also a vampire lol

[@stimublu8570]

Lae'zel's story is such an outlandish epic.

[@rubenbylovandersen160]

I know a lot of people are saying lea'zel is great if you get past that innitial hostility. my problem is she is SO grating for me in the beginning that i am nearly unable to get past that, and not really too motivated to do it. she is everything i dislike about a companion character (and DnD character). And depending on how you roleplay your character it, that can also add to the difficulty in having her around long enough. (she dead in my first playthrough).

[@frking100]

Laezel is a victim of her upbringing. Kinda sad they dint let you do a history check on githyanki as a success would lead more people to accept her as she comes. Big spoilers for bg3 but actually very old dnd lore that is common knowledge. The githyanki were slaves to the illithids and rose in rebellion while being led by Gith, after winning the rebellion Gith is "convinced" by vlaakith to go to the hells, after this vlakith is the only one that comes back from the hells after doing a deal with tiamat and getting help from red dragons and a note from "Gith" saying that vlaakith is now queen and that she (gith) will be back (the vast majority of people think gith got killed or sold into a deal by vlaakith). After this the githyanki become ultra militarized trying to kill illithid on every plane and every leader after vlaakith the 1st gets called vlaakith until vlaakith 175. The last vlaakith (the one laezel currently serves) becomes a lich and goes completely insane and paranoid while trying to achieve godhood. She basically has established centuries of propaganda and brainwashing so that the githyanqui worship her every word while secretly feeding on her peoples souls as thats what liches need for sustenance. Basically think of laezel as a person who just escaped north korea and has no idea how the real world works and is still brainwashed into believing their supreme leader can do anything

[@rubenbylovandersen160]

@@frking100 I get all that. And am well versed in faerûn lore. Doesn't make me want to keep her around any more. And that speak as a cult survivor

[@bakuiel1901]

Guessing the Dark Urge is what I've been hoping they were and it makes me happy

[@cmdr.jabozerstorer3968]

Yeah. Lots of folk have moaned that the game shouldn't have the suffix 3 in it as it's not a part 3... but well, it probably in reality is somewhat. Although you kind of have to play as the Dark Urge to get the full story.

[@ducky36F]

@@cmdr.jabozerstorer3968 don't what to give the moaners credit but it really feels like the additions of the dark urge, Jahera and Minsc were really in there to get that connection to BG1&2. Which I really like.

[@orarinnsnorrason4614]

Laezel and Shadowheart top my list. Both their quests are great but also their banter is incredible, funny and engaging. Edit: after completing the Shar Temple with Shadowheart I made a choice that was incredible. So she now tops my list.

[@BorpoTingis1312]

Completely agree with Karlach. The way her questline just sort of ends felt really lackluster especially after doing other companion questlines.

[@SilortheBlade]

Karlach fangirling over Jehira was such a great moment, and really great highlighting how the fanbase will react to previous characters showing up. She is one of my favorite characters and the one I ended up romancing, but I can agree her story starts strong, but by the time you get to the last light inn it's pretty much done. just starting act 3 so not sure what else she will have. Glad someone else agrees on Astarion. I ditched him once I realized rogues are not as powerful in combat after level 5. I'd put Shadowheart as my top place, With Karlach second, but the rest of my list matches up with yours. But honestly all the characters in this game are great . Compelling stories and top notch voice acting/direction.

[@quantras2673]

I can agree with Karlach, I like her personally but she feels like she has the least going on with the wider plot and she was put in last minute (and given every origin character but her was available throughout early access it also helps with that feeling.) Lae'zel I'm not surprised at how she was at the top, given both their relevance to the story and iirc Swen has said Githyanki are his favourite D&D race.

[@LORDOFDORKNESS42]

I really hope Lorian adds at least a few more origin characters via DLC or expansion. The mass Mind Flayer kidnapping is such a great version of 'you all met doing X' and its a bit of a shame to only have six characters + optional origin for that.

[@chocopuddingcup83]

Larian is highly unlikely to add any substantial DLC. They're not really a DLC-focused company. There's a variety of reasons, most blatantly the power capabilities of level 12-20 in D&D are much, much different than lvl 1-12. You definitely won't see any more origin characters, as they would have to re-hire all the voice actors to give proper story interaction.

[@keisir8984]

@@chocopuddingcup83 Yea probably no major expansions or story type DLCs, but I wouldn't say the chance is 0% given the success of Baldur's gate 3. Honestly I would be completely happy if they just added a few more playable races and/or some new subclasses that didn't make it into the game.

[@chocopuddingcup83]

@@keisir8984 Sublcasses and cosmetics, sure, but races and classes often have dialogue choices in the story which, again, touches on voice actors occasionally. The new races or classes would have to be sterile in terms of story development.

[@alessandrodellanno948]

It's such a shame we won't probably get any more increase level up cap. I would have waited one more year for that. Maybe we can Reddit it out to ask them for it! Maybe not level 20, but more subclasses/classes. I mean I'd love to play an aasimar

[@JonathanSirico]

I agree with an xpac. Call it, 'Tales of the Short Coast' and give us a Gnome, dwarf and halfling. They can toss in a few more subclasses and we are good to go. 😅

[@tinyrogue1320]

Great video, very nice of you to not spoil things! I haven't even reached Baldur's Gate yet (I'm slow, all my friends are laughing at me already lol), but yes, Lae'zel became my number 1 favourite of the companions after a certain, very very VERY memorable encounter during her questline. She's just absolutely incredible, I love how blunt she is and how steadfast in what she believes in (whatever that may be). Also, both her voice-acting and the way she speaks are such a good fit. She's quite polarising, but she really caught me off-guard :)

[@joel5956]

I'm still in the 1st act, so I haven't seen every interaction. But I am enjoying having Astarion in my party. The tadpole problem is so urgent that everybody seems pretty nonchalant about traveling with a person that wants to eat them.

[@Melthazar]

Would be glad to hear you opinion on the recruitable party members as well (by that I mean Halsin, Minthara, Minsc, Jaheira, not the mercenaries)

[@IceI3laze]

calling shadow heart story "junk food" is a good allegory, i know what im getting and that isnt bad

[@fringer6]

Not gonna lie, I didn't expect to use all of my origins throughout the game. I was initially locked in with my choice, but I switched them all out, due to all the good interactions I'd get. I love Astarian, mainly due to an interaction in a certain circus. What they did to Wyll was wonderful, and I greatly enjoyed the changes made to his story. I agree thay Karlach is fairly weak, but I do enjoy her camp conversations. Lae'zel was a big win for my playthrough, but that was because I chose to follow her storyline, which was phenominal.

[@Throrface]

The only time I ever used Lae'zel was for the two story beats which are explicitly aimed towards her in Act 2 and Act 3 and I still got to see all of the development she goes through and overall she is easily the best Origin character for me too.

[@kbar4462]

I love how well done every single character is that the best and worst aren't that far off. I loved Lae'zel's character arc since the beginning of EA. Cosmic space pirate raider will never not be interesting lol. Agree Durge is the GOAT tho. But holy moley, it gets VERY dark. Agree to recommend ppl do not go Durge for first playthrough

[@dukimanx6228]

I found wyll to be indecisive and insecure. Annoying but well written. Favorite is shadowheart so far. Opposite of Wyll.

[@blackburned]

I dated Wyll in my first run, was completely good, and never figured out how to sleep w him lol. He didn't approve of anything at Sharess' Caress either. I think he's not very sexual

[@darthjoel6357]

I was pleasantly surprised by Wyll’s story. La’zel and karlach had funny dialogue when talking about sleeping with me. 😂

[@DungeonDiving]

Astarion tried to drink my blood while I was sleeping so I drove a stake through his heart

[@coconutologist]

Thanks for the video. I've always struggled with the idea of killing a character in a universe that has resurrection. Onward to 300k. All glory to the algorithm.

[@happyninja42]

So far my favorite is Karlach. Between her overall design being very pleasing to me, I just love her personality. She's like an adorkable tomboy when you flirt with her. I also like her idle animations on the overmap. How she kind of hops and bounces in place like an excitable puppy.

[@XoRandomGuyoX]

I mentioned it in a previous video, but her awkward enthusiasm for a simple dinner date seemed downright wholesome. If Shadowheart is all dark, brooding secrets then Karlach is a big ball of hellishly bright sunshine.

[@happyninja42]

@@XoRandomGuyoX Haven't gotten that far yet, haven't played as much since full release. But for me, the part that was adorable was after you first talk to her in camp, when that first big party is happening. And she asks "so would you like for me to come by your bedroll tonight?" and you agree. She's all like "ok then! Um...so...yeah! I'll see you after they all sleep!" *walks away and under her breath with a fist pump* "Yes!" 🤣 Just too cute. And then following it up with "God I want to ride you all night long until you see stars!" 🤣 She's a wonderful mix of adorable awkwardness, and straightforward horny, which I appreciate immensely.

[@Xelpherpolis]

I was hoping after playing through EA that Lae'zel's zealotry, hostility and ruthlessness would serve as the starting point for a lot of character-growth once the final game came out and I was NOT disappointed. I also think that, as an Origin character, a young and naive Githyanki warrior is just a really great idea for a fish-out-of-water protagonist for an adventure in Faerun, especially for a story where the impetus that kicks everything off is "need to get Mindflayer tadpole out of my head."

[@molliethomas2585]

Don't mind me. I'm just romancing Astarion on my first playthrough 😂

[@daniel.holbrook]

I thought Lae'zel was going to be my favorite Origin character but all the sexual tension really threw me off super early on. I hadn't even taken my first long rest and she was already giving me her speech about being intoxicated by my "odor" or whatever

[@fitzviandraduivenab2790]

What i find more impressive is that you either made alot of decisions that laezel would approve of before taking a long rest, or you took out the goblin camp/raid the grove before you took a long rest.

[@daniel.holbrook]

@@fitzviandraduivenab2790 the dialogue option appeared immediately after I let her intimidate Zorru

[@DPtdryste]

I think my first play through I’ll play on easy for the story as cool looking fire heart demon lady, and take along your top 3 before making my own Dark Urge character. Still trying to finish up WOTR after all these releases this year derailed me too lol. My first and second CRPGs ever are all thanks to you bud.

[@TheDovahkinia]

Astarion is a product of insane trauma (sa victim), he basically has hunted animal syndrome. That's why I think he should be given a chance, even though he behaves like gremlin. And that's why I think his story is the most engaging and worth exploring.

[@studentt6064]

I think the problem with astarion is that it takes a very long time before any of his backstory starts coming in to play. I am in act 2 right now and while most companions have stuff going on, Astarion has basically nothing to say for like 1.5 acts, and because he tends to dislike unselfish acts somewhat I usually leave him at camp,. Also I find rogues are a bit meh in the midgame too, sneak attack ain't bad but it feels like a lot of setup to get the amount of damage a barbarian or fighter just do automatically.

[@TheDovahkinia]

@@studentt6064 I made him into arkane trickster, he is extremely versatile thanks to it. And he can basically unlock anything with Shadowheart casting enchance ability on him. I treat him as a wildcard of sorts. He has a few sweet moments in act 2, but yeah, he could use more buildup there.

[@mother7219]

@@studentt6064 I'm still in Act 1 and Astarion had some interesting tidbits to reveal about his backstory when we bumped into the Gur, but if a player missed that it would be a long time before they find out anything about Astarion. It's also hard to keep him around, logistically, when he dislikes any unselfish acts. It makes sense thematically but makes him a difficult gel with non-murderhobo parties. If your character is good/neutral but still decent at intimidation/deception/etc. then he can tolerate you, lol.

[@PaulRGauthier]

@@studentt6064You play Astarion as a ranged DPS. He slays with a bow. You take opportunistic sneak attacks but you don't rely on them 24/7. And this is my SRIRACHA HOT TAKE, go Arcane Trickster and benefit from his mad utility for days. Playing him this way, he's been an incredibly effective and valuable member of my team.

[@studentt6064]

@@PaulRGauthier If you're not sneak-attacking on a turn you're basically not really pulling your weight in the battle though, any other class would be better in that scenario. Combat ain't generally hard enough that you need to really worry about it, but it is suboptimal for sure.

[@Hrafnskald]

Good breakdown. I can understand not liking Astarion-I feel the same way about Shadowheart. But I will say that Larian managed to improve Shadowheart greatly since Early Access-in the early builds, she was extremely hostile and kept telling you to go away if you tried to talk to her about anything. New Shadowheart with comments acknowledging what you did to save her in the Prologue is more balanced and less anti-player character. I look forward to seeing how Lae'zel plays out in the later game, glad to know she has more depth than meets the eye.

[@The_Yukki]

Her and Shadowheart are hands down best origin characters. The story is practically tailor made for them with the rest of the party's stories just being haphazardly shoehorned in.

[@xaosbob]

"...because that's how opinions work." If I wasn't already subbed, that would have definitely gotten me to do it.

[@houseflan2505]

Haven’t played BG3 yet but based on BG1 and BG2 I think I know what the Dark Urge story is centered on.

[@kaidorade1317]

I’m not surprised Mort went with the Dark Urge for number one. Videogames are made so that we can give into our dark urges without facing real world consequences!

[@stevenwoodward5923]

Not only video-games, but any site that allows anonymous posting's

[@marleonka.]

One thing I noticed about Astarion is that his story is always out of the way, while the others' are very heavily interconnected with the main story Wyll - All of the Duke Ravenguard scenes and Mizora shows ups pretty often Gale - You will find Elminster sooner or later and Gale's fate is entirely tied to the elder brain Shadowheart - Pretty much entire Act II Lae'zel - The creche and Orpheus (while even when you can ignore the creche it is a central location of the mountain pass and pretty hard to miss) Karlach - Her entire story with Gortash, one of the main antagonists of the game Even Halsin and Minthara (to some extent Jaheira and Minsc too) get a lot of exposure with their respective plot developments, like the shadow curse, Kethric Thorm, Sarevok, or Minthara's entire story is tied to the antagonists of the game. Astarion on the other hand, his character barely comes up in the main story. The only mandatory main story interaction for him is with Raphael outside the Gauntlet of Shar, but other than that, the monster hunters, as well as Cazador are entirely optional and the main story wont even give them a passing mention, unless you persue Astarion's personal quest. I find it extremely weird that one of the companions feels so disconnected from the main story, while all the others do have personal stakes in it. Astarion's story is very interesting and I enjoyed it, but it is entirely skippable and he is the only character who can stay at your camp the entire game and you wouldnt really miss any unique main story interactions and dialogue centered on him.

[@Rem0ve2]

I love all of your content! You are able to go into such detail with games, that I always look to you for information on the games I play or am interested in. Thank you for all of your work.

[@carsonnesbit1178]

Agreed, Astarion was really difficult for me to keep in the party due to his constant uncomfortable flirting and unparalleled edge. One of his dialogue lines is something like: “Let’s go kill something! :D” That line plus the way it’s delivered just makes me cringe so hard every time I hear it. I don’t have anyone else to pick locks for me though so I keep him around. EDIT: I really like gale, he gives off a bit of an allistair from DAO vibe, he keeps thirsting for me though despite the fact that I keep rejecting him, strange.

[@Dryxxxa]

I chuckled quite a bit at "resident goth girlfriend".

[@chiefsoap]

Durge + Githyanki + Redemption is the best story in the entire game. Especially with Blade of Avernus + Karlach and flying off with Laezel to start the rebellion. It’s such a great story and ending, it’s shocking how well it comes together

[@nireas570]

Laezel being the most interesting was obvious. The fact that the devs added Githyanki as a playable race means they would be a focal point of the campaign, since Gith were not an original race in the 5e PHB.

[@jeremyhorner9531]

Lae'Zel and shadowheart are my favorite 2. Shadowhwart is romanced by my character. Laezel started from the worst possible place and you slowly open her eyes and its spectacular

[@PaulRGauthier]

The closest I've come to finishing (I'm a restart-o-holic) has been playing Shadowheart and romancing Lae'zel. I didn't plan on a full blown romance with Lae'zel. We did the nasty when she comes on to you in Act 1 and it just kind of developed into something serious :)

[@jordanarsenault3952]

IT IS SO FUNNY that because im not up on shar - selune lore, i had no idea what could happen w shadowheart and i was like YES THIS IS SO EPIC

[@allmyhomieshatefreud5501]

Totally agree with what you said about Astarion. I never really liked the hedonistic arrogant self-centered hotboi trope, but with good enough writing I can be swayed, case in point Daeran from Pathfinder WOTR. If you compare these two characters it’s clear who’s the better written one

[@CrazedGamer117]

Really? I hated Daeran. What’s the draw of him in your eyes?

[@kalen2465]

All of the male origin characters are arrogant. Gale preens himself constantly like a peacock. Wyll thinks he can outwit Mizora in reality, Mizora owns his ass. Also he kind of wants to bone her. So of course Mizora always has an advantage. The only guy that's humble is Halsin but, he's not an origin character. So he isn't on the list

[@allmyhomieshatefreud5501]

@@CrazedGamer117I think the best way to enjoy Daeran is to think of him as a voice of unbridled impulse. You can indulge in his antics, but you don’t need to take him that seriously, and if fact he doesn’t really expect you to. The game also gives you plenty of options in your dialogue to have very mean banter that he really enjoys (as long as it’s not tied to his companion quest). His voice isn’t the typical smooth and suave one but has an innocent quality which I think provides a refreshing contrast

[@allmyhomieshatefreud5501]

@@kalen2465 Very true. Gale and Wyll's stories are both tales of hubris

[@hiei990]

Oh wow that’s earlier than I expected for rankings. Awesome!

[@kingbulbasaur9460]

Im torn between The Dark Urge and just a regular custom character for my first playthrough. I don't know anything about the previous BG games, but i keep hearing good things about the dark urge... Ahhhhh i cant decide

[@egbert5871]

i mean BG2 came out in 2000 lol you don't need to have played the last 2 games at all

[@Jadegreif]

Concerning Astarion, I already put a stake through his chest. So glad the game gives you options here. So I guess I have to see about him if I do a Dark Urge playthrough :)

[@Quantum_Bluntz]

I like how all of the characters are introduced. The order I usually go (not saying it’s correct or whatever): Lae’zel: (Aggressive racist forced to ally with and very early need to decide if you’re gonna keep her or not) Shadowheart: (trapped at first, do you free her? Leave her? Spoiler alert doesn’t matter but she’s also kinda racist) Gale: (a fucking hand 🖐️) Astarion: (slick untrustworthy bastard who has a reason to be an untrustworthy bastard tries to kill you by tricking you) Wyll: (Captain Save A Ho with a superhero entrance) Karlach: (kinda bugging out. If she acted like Lae’zel you’d probably leave/kill her, but something’s off, right?)

[@lexmats6709]

After watching this video, I just realized that my 1st playthrough was a disaster and I am forced to restart. As someone who did not play the EA, I went through BG3's 1st act blind. So far so good... until I got to the Gith Patrol. Laezel left my party and I was suddenly attacked by the Gith. I preferred using Karlac as my tank so I thought nothing of it. I was level 4 back then and was wiped out almost instantly. As such, I reloaded the game and proceeded with the story to level up a bit more. Once I was level 5 and had some decent gears in my belt, I went back to the patrol for some much anticipated payback. Then I just realized that ever since Laezel left my party, I never saw her again. When I returned to the spot, Laezel ended up dead and could not be resurrected by the skeleton guy or the scroll of resurrection thing. And since Mortis keeps going on and on about how her story was gonna get better, it dawned on me that Laezel's death was not scripted, nor was it reversible. It was that moment that I realized I fucked up ^.^

[@Ask3lad]

After 100 hours and approaching the end of Act 3. This list pretty much sums my exact thoughts on the characters however I’d put Shadowheart and Wyll at around the same bar.

[@happyninja42]

My least favorite is Astarion. Mostly because I just don't like vampires. But while I DO love the voice actor's commitment to his Dr. Frankenfurter persona for the voice, the part that drives me nuts about him, is how BLATANTLY vampiric he is, but when it's finally revealed, your PC acts like it's the biggest shock in history! And all I can think of is that headslapping meme from the Naked Gun movie.

[@fadingghost9723]

Yeah, I feel like there should have been a skill check for that when you meet him. Just make it where your character goes "wait a minute, this flamboyant fucker is a vampire!"

[@kevinflanagan2543]

It's funny you say that, because I think I was able to tell him I knew he was a vampire before he could tell me.

[@happyninja42]

@@kevinflanagan2543 Really? I never got that option. I had a friend who said he heard Astarion just blurt out that he was a vampire, LONG before the interrupted neck biting bit. he wasn't sure why it happened, but he was pretty surprised. I haven't had Astarion in my running party since the full release version, so maybe you get options? I just parked him in the campsite because I don't like vampires, and also he tends to dislike my good guy choices, so might as well take people who actually appreciate the way I handle challenges.

[@kevinflanagan2543]

@@happyninja42Now you've got me second-guessing myself, but yeah I think I did have that option. I don't remember it having any racial/skill/class conditionals before it, so I'm not sure how or why I might have had that option if others didn't. I didn't get Astarion until a ways into the game since I just didn't explore into that direction, so maybe that was a factor.

[@happyninja42]

@@kevinflanagan2543 Did you maybe regularly use the Detect Thoughts or the Ilithid Wisdom option? 2 things I never do so maybe that's what triggered it? Could be a bug, as the same friend also said that Shadowheart apparently just came out and told him her big secret, about her diety, again, WAY earlier than he remembered. He was pretty sure they hadn't really had any conversations to lead up to it. So there might be a bug with the situational/contextual flags that trigger their personal story progression. 🤷‍♂ I know I ran into one where if you bring Karlach with you to the grove, for the first time you meet Wyll, it crashes your game (or at least it always crashed mine). I assumed it was due to a cinematic conflict between the scripted introduction scene for Wyll, and his "YOU! FOUL DEMON!" reaction to Karlach.

[@bretthughes27]

Don't do evil playthroughs, so wasn't planning on a Dark Urge one, until now. I am tempted, assuming it is possible to resist.

[@saotiago]

Always great to see some love for both Wyll and Lae'zel!

[@chickendrawsdogs3343]

After 2 and a half playthrough, I can confidently say The Dark Urge is THE character to play as - customizable enough to suit your taste, but still has an inherently compelling narrative, fully connected into the world. I'm a sucker for characters defying their cruel deities to blaze their own trails, so there's that. Also I romanced Karlach during that playthrough so it's turned into a tragic story of two people finally breaking free of their abusive higher-ups, only for fate to tear them apart... ...before the Karlach ending update that is. 🤣

[@matthewrossi3923]

I hate to say it but I liked Asterian even less than you did. I actually killed him immediately on meeting him after he tried to shank me on the beach and then had to go back to a save because my friends told me he was the best companion. But no, he was still annoying.

[@ianchapman6254]

The problem with Astarian is that he very seldom survives contact with my main character. Youi pull a knife on me, you need to have your life insurance policy paid up.

[@XoRandomGuyoX]

My path of contact with him was rather tame: walk forward to kill the supposed brain beast, spot him approaching with the knife, turn and tell him that if he's planning a robbery it is off to a poor start, and he'll openly admit that he wants information.

[@ianchapman6254]

@@XoRandomGuyoX I am sure he can ask Kelemvor.

[@tiandi5585]

It's fun having Astarion and Wyll as allies due to them usually being opposites on most of the situations ive seen so far.

[@Synystr7]

Lae'zel reminds me of a french canadian woman I dated. Like the hostility, ambivalence and good in a fight.

[@gamerid6507]

i wished we could have 6 man party instead of 4...the more the merrier

[@WooBunny]

Great rankings, thanks. Had a terrible time of alt-itis and this makes me narrow down the list for sure.

[@Michael_1138]

I liked Wyll so much that I started the game over just to make him the PC.

[@Tommy_The_Gun]

I would like to know what is the best race/class combo to pick when you want to play as "The Dark Urge" specifically to fight it & resist it. What stats would be recommended to be as optimal as possible ? For instance, in the last BG3 showcaes there was a Strength Saving Throw during conversation, so obviously Barbarian would be good for that. But how often & what stat is tested ? What stat is being used most often etc.

[@Nexielas]

I know it is unethical but you can ignore it if you are willing to savescum.

[@antarath517]

Intelligence seems to be the most tested stat for Dark Urge in Act 1, trying to recall things

[@fitzviandraduivenab2790]

​@@NexielasOr be even more unethical and use cheat engine to force success on dice rolls

[@dianwei32]

Yeah, yeah, "it's all my opinion," How crazy can it be? "At the bottom, Karlach." So you have chosen... Death.

[@cjohmama]

legit after the major story beat in the creche in Act 1 with Lae'zel and her romance scene. I did not even remotely regret getting together with her. I love Lae'zel so much

[@KeeperOfTheSevenKeys.]

Yup, quickly figured out what was going on with the Dark Urge and I'm like "Larian managed to put a secret protagonist in the game again." Except they seem pushed more towards being a villain than you were in the original BG games this time.

[@DWQMusic]

Man I am almost through my first playthrough, and I instantly want to jump into another one, after 400 hours of EA, and a 80 hour playthrough. It is insane how well made this game is. Comparably, after 15 hours of Diablo 4, I wanted to uninstall the game and play D2R instead.

[@katerinavierrae8040]

I love how they rewrote Wyll's character. He used to be so petty, vain and uninteresting

[@Raist474]

Lae'zel also has the most wholesome romance of all the origin characters.

[@lhays117]

Funny how grating Mort found Astarion, whereas I loved his sassy devious persona. He’s a scumbag sure, but a classy and charming scumbag.

[@lagoondiver]

I only just started and so far, I've taken a huge liking to Astarion, Karlach and Gale. I'm working towards recruiting and romancing Halsin for my first playthrough (if possible) and I already created a second character to play as The Dark Urge (Dragonborn sorcerer) and go full-on evil with him 😈

[@johnnybravous]

I BEG everyone to give Lae'zel a chance; the deconstruction of her meeting from zelot to what she is endgame is crazy she grew so hard

[@tjhicks3600]

she smiles now!

[@Darkholow]

Since you played Dark Urge and I started playing one as well to see what the deal with it since I won't be replaying the game immediately after finishing it I somewhat understand why many would say that it's best left over for a second run. I am playing a Seldarine drow good path trying to resist the urge and after the first "forced" casualty I hope there aren't many that come along thats gonna sour me (although I semi expected me to not like it at all). The first one nearly made me restart my 11h run and go normal TAV instead, but I'm gonna stick with it and come what may I'll try to handle it. I'm also trying not to use any illithid powers at all and haven't spent any extra points to increase that skill tree.

[@nbf-fb1xs]

Astarion is a funny jerk with great lines. But I’m playing a rogue and he’s always beefing with my choices so often he gets left back at camp.

[@TheRagingStorm98]

I'm currently playing as Laezel and will be romancing Shadowheart. Shadowheart but Laezel not recruiting her. Until she forces herself in the party. Played her pretty close to how I feel she would go as a companion so far. None committal to side missions at least until she has had the first interaction with the Gith Party and it's a betrayal to her. So far I've done good and bad choices mostly at random as laezel hasn't reached the Gith Party therefore theirs no reason for her to start to change her view points yet. I will lean her good aligned as the story progresses but so far it's been awesome playing as Laezel so far.

[@The_Yukki]

Shadowheart and Laezel seem like the plot was made for them. Between first 2 acts being based aroud selune vs shar and obv mindflayers. The rest of them feels so inconsequential to the whole plot that they might as well be replaced with the hirelings.

[@vivil2533]

Wyll and Karlach had potential to be pretty relevant in act three because of Wyll's dad, and both had links to one of the villains, but they didn't really do a ton with it. I don't want to say specifics because spoilers, but I really thought they were gonna have a bigger part in act three. Poor Asterion and Gale feel completely irrelevant though. Their stories don't have a real link to the main plot.

[@DrZaius3141]

Karlach definitely suffers from being the last of the bunch you'd discover. When I systematically cleared the first map I was already ready to move on when I recruited her. At that point, my party was already kinda set, though I immediately locked her in as my romance option for the second playthrough as the Dark Urge, trying to be good (those two are a match made in hell). Lae'Zel I find more annoying than Astarion, because Astarion is at least playful. And useful. I also disagree with calling Shadowheart basic, because she seems to have the strongest intrinsic morals despite those kind of conflicting with her outwards persona. That's a great inner conflict.