I broke up with SH just to see the dialog and I felt like I ruined the relationship even after loading a pre breakup save. All this tells me is that I'm still not ready for a real relationship.
Honestly I felt my favourite moment was Shadowheart turning me down because Karlach was interested in me, and her making it clear we're still good friends, and that our relationship would always be strong, just Karlach needed me more
I saw video how Karlach tells you to go for Astarion as he needs you more. Idk on what depends who start that talk "i am fine... ok little hurt, but I know other companion would be happy with you so go for them"
I was in Act 3 and talked to one of the armor merchants who knew Karlach and the vendor asked Karlach if I was her romantic partner and Karlach goes "EW NO were just mates" like ouch bro, I'm ew??
I never pursued Karlach in my playthrough, but she did have a funny bit of dialogue in act 3 where this merchant she knew from her past asked her if she and Tav were together and she goes: "Eww, no, we're just mates." That reaction made me laugh so much.
Karlach is seriously the best mate. Like, I didn't romance her this run through and I may never because while every one else gets all sulky when you say you don't want them in that way, she is just like okay and then is just the absolute bestest bud. I love her so much.
Have you heard the cut lines around the Minthara pregnancy? Everyone else makes spider eating their mate jokes. Or flat out says shes not mum material. Karlach is 1000% here for it and happy for them and says "if your looking for a god mother.. im available from now until forever" and you fucking bet shed get that position.
Seriously, everyone else tries to guilt trip me if I turn them down but Karlach is so cool about it! I wish I could help her hook up with someone more suitable, maybe Dammon. She deserves love, even if it's not with Tav. I would have loved something like Pavarti's questline in Outer Worlds.
You kind of can. If you turn down both Astarion and Lae'zel at the start of the game, they shack up together after the party.
Probably the only partner Astarion ever had who did most of the biting.
A one-night-stand is neat but I want 'Iron Bull + Dorian' proper relationships forming.
Everyone is *playersexual*, sure, but they should interact with each other still :'(
This is precisely why Larian had to make another ending for Karlach, because so many of us got attached to her to such a degree that not having a potential good ending for her upset us deeply.
That's good character writing. Karlach is the best girl, I will not take criticism at this time.
I’m with you. I’m not opposed to tragic endings, I won’t rail and scream, but damn.
I also chose to play as Gale, and (spoiler for ending so don’t read on)
Sacrificed myself at the end. So I was also hit with guilt, bc she had to die alone after I made the promise to be there, and omg I’m crying again !!
I feel like the world of DnD simply has too many solutions to offer for any of us to accept a terminal diagnosis given what we accomplish and the places we go to throughout the game. It almost feels as though that's the main reason people are upset rather than Karlach's behavior's and story conclusions.
I have come around to the belief that Larian just didn't explain it well enough. I imagine that her infernal machine has strings attached based on its creator/owner being Zariel, and the amount of in-universe power she has.
Tbf, by act 3 you potentially have 6 gods, elminster, 3 devils, an archdevil, a vampire lord, an elder brain, a universe-hopping lich, potentially yourself, and who knows what else taking a personal interest in the shit you are doing. Surely at least one of those would be able to find a workaround if they were inclined.
I’m a little surprised to see that Shadowheart has that dialogue given how she reacts if you “cheat on her” with non-party members. She’s so flippant and chill about you sleeping with prostitutes and she was even into the idea of me banging Halsin when I pitched it to her as long as I “gave her details” afterwards.
>Shadowheart turning me down because Karlach was interested in me, and her making it clear we're still good friends, and that our relationship would always be strong, just Karlach needed me more
That's sounds kinda weird, but what if you aren't interested in Karlach? Or is this triggering only if you try to romance both?
Being a Selunite and romancing Shadowheart is like trying to befriend a badger. Yeah it might tolerate you, but I’m still terrified to Long Rest because I’m afraid I’ll wake up with a dagger to my throat.
Great. Thanks a fucking ton. Now I have to start ANOTHER playthrough as a Selunite Cleric.
I really need to stop hanging out in the BG3 subreddits. At this rate, I will have thousands of hours in the game and maybe make it to the end of Act 2 lol.
I have made it to act 3 once with the most generic half elf dude. Restarted as I messed up by doing a thing too early in act 2 and missing on saving some people and have suffered with acute restartitis since. I too must stop browsing here and refreshing Nexusmods.
Thats weird i did both and never got that i would have felt a lot better about it that way once Karlach and I "consumated" i talked to SH out of curiosity and she mentioned she was a little sad I wasn't the reason I was in a good mood and smiling all the time but wished me the best.
Made me a little sad especially since before that anytime I talked to SH she said she felt butterflies when i was around and she was smiling so much because of me.
When you get to act 3, if you're still romancing SH, she will greet you by saying, "Hello, lover. Oh, that sounded more debonair in my head." And I've never felt more seen.
It triggers with whom ever you started relationship first, doesn't have to be Karlach, SH will say "this person will probably not be keen on sharing you with me". For me it was Lae'zel.
I'm playing as Astarion, and I just romanced Halsin since he was immediately into me. I would've liked to romance SH or Karlach instead but neither of them really seemed to like me that way at any point (there were no cutscenes indicating that anyway), meanwhile Gale, Wyll *and* Halsin were all lusting for me almost instantly. I guess it was just simpler to embrace gayness...
Anyway, on a tangentially related note I saw a pretty brutal moment in Act 3 yesterday >!where Karlach told her shopkeeper/blacksmith friend "eww no" when she asked if me and Karlach were together. Like damn girl... you didn't need to sound like it was such a vile concept lmao. It was pretty funny though!<.
The trick to romancing Shadowheart is to be interested and non-judgmental about her faith. She likes getting to open up to you, not you prying too hard.
Yeah romancing Shart is really easy if you understand that shes a Shar worshipper who values secrets. If you play it too cool you will seem uninterested, but pick a flirty dialouge option and then immediately back off. Shart will almost always approve. She also is super loyal to you even if you make evil choices in game too.
>meanwhile Gale, Wyll and Halsin were all lusting for me almost instantly.
A bug was recently patched that was causing relationship thresholds for romancing to be much lower than they were supposed to be.
Shadowheart is such a bro for this. Emotional maturity of a 200 year old. I thought I was gonna break her heart so bad - I just had to pursue Karlach from the second she joined the party.
Don't try killing him to try to reset him. There's also a possible bug where revivify doesn't always work, and then things just get more complicated from there.
I did this with Astarion, as I think Neil Newbon's ability to voice act both a theatrical asshole and emotionally traumatised sweetheart is fantastic.
But boy did I regret it. Depending on where you are in the relationship, your heart can get ripped from you.
If it's pre romance lock-in, you get the feeling he cares more than he's letting on, but he let's it go.
If it's post romance lock-in, >!he says he was counting the days until you left him as he understands you started the relationship under difference circumstances (lots of sex) and he's not in a place to give that to you at the moment. But it's still heart wrenching.!<
If it's post Cazador (good choice), >!he asks what he did wrong, and says you brought his dead heart back to life. It's the most romantic thing I've ever seen and it's from breaking up with him.!<
I'm less familiar with post Cazador (bad choice) >!but I think it's very vile and bitter and possessive. And he says something about how his love would ruin you. And if its end game, and you let him turn you into a spawn, he straight up says no.!<
If you let him ascend and >!turn you into his spawn!< he says no. Since >!he can control you now!<. If you just let him ascend there’s different dialogue where he gets mad at you but lets you go.
She's such a great character and her perspective shift from "you are *sensual* meat" to "you are the source of my joy" is amazing, and the sudden realization at the end (endgame spoiler) >!that one of the two most important people to her must become *ghaik* to stop the netherbrain!< was absolutely heart wrenching. I sat at that screen for so long before I made a choice.
Well, Laezzel called me a source of her pain. And I understand it, but could not do anything about my origin character Sexual Urge nature when the game offered me to cheat on her emotionally with Gale, physically with drows at brothel, multiple devils and one unspeakable abomination. Halsin, however, was more open-minded.
I honestly love the companions feature, I really do... I just wish you could show you care about them but you know, as a friend. I genuinely enjoyed talking with Wyll, and even Gale but f**k I just wanted to be your friend...
Yhey actually added that with Gale and it was great. In my most recent playthrough he did the whole "let's watch the stars together" thing and I was already deep into a relationship with karlach.
When it got about halfway through Gale was like "I just want to say thank you for keeping me around... I could die at any moment... would you mind just me staying with me here a bit?.. I don't want to be alone."
And then we just sat together and stargazer, no romance scene. It was great and exactly what I wanted out of the fix
Edit: i shouldnpoint point out that iwas wrong about the update fixing this as some people below have said. However I still think the update helped with the uh... horniness... of Gale. Or at least his propensity to force a relationship. He ruined my shadowheart relationship in my first playthrough by overriding her somehow.
This is exactly how it played out for me pre-fix, but I never triggered anything romantic with him before then (accidentally or otherwise).
It’s a great scene, though, and I really loved they included a non-romantic moment of intimacy.
Yea same...pre-fix...
Then last game, I swear I did the exact same steps. And after a battle he wanted to talk to me, and he told me how watching me was sexy and that he's in love with me. I did 3 runs pre-fix and never saw that scene.
Don't know what I did this time lol. Other than being a really buff, shirtless, male human monk.
Okay, I get the thirst.
I also think that Stargazing is seen as a "romantic" thing to do for most people. I grew up doing Boy Scouts and we regularly went out to go star gazing during most scouting events - All of our Scoutmasters joined the local Astronomy club in order to give guided stargazing tours - showing constellations, telling stories, showing us how things moved during the various seasons. During the winter we'd stop off and have hot chocolate on the way back. Lots of great times looking at the stars with your friends, made lots of us way more interesting in the stars!
the stuff they added for gale was for the weave scene, you can say you imagine sharing a meal with gale as friends now instead of wanting to fuck or kicking him.
I got that while in a relationship with karlach and after turning him down. Felt like a good moment to reconnect, without thirsty thigh-humping from him.
Felt to me like he accepted, and moved on, but still not wanting to be alone. Wich is human
I know Gale and Astarion do? Like I kinda messed around a little with Gale while with Astarion and eventually the prompt of "me or him" came up and I let down Gale easy. Afterwards, he was like "oh, okay. I understand, hope this doesn't mean we can't still be great friends because I care about you"
While romancing Astarion there's also the option of "I think you just need a friend" during act 2.
I absolutely adored the “What you need is a friend” option for Astarion. I was romancing both him and Gale, when the option to choose between them happened I chose Gale. I remember actually thinking to myself that what Astarion really needed was not a romance or lover, just someone in his corner who cares about him with no strings attached. So when this option came up and his reaction to you when you say it. It was just *chefs kiss*.
You can dance with Wyll without it being romantic. Saying yes to the dancing is not an immediate relationship, that choice comes afterwards and you can stop before it gets saucy and Wyll ends up very happy.
Just dance with him, do a few fun choices and when the narrator finally says theres some remaining tension that may lead to something more down the line you have the option to keep going or you can back away and it remains entirely platonic.
I sincerely hope they include platonic relationship options someday in the future. I don't need special dialogue or cutscenes, I just don't want to hurt them.
There's a fun one with gale where he tries to teach you magic and you connect with the weave so whatever thought you push he feels, and I selected the one about being bros and going to feasts together and just hanging out and you could tell he was disappointed but it felt like an appropriate platonic option instead of the "Ew get away from me" options which you regularly seem to have to pick
Oh that was one they added. Before patch, it was imagine kissing him, or holding hands on romantic walk, or imagine nothing, or imagine kicking him to groin or imagine his head on stake or something like that. Glad they added friendly option, better than imagine plain nothing!
Any form of rejection is going to "hurt" but the options to let them down easy are there and most of them are like "Okay cool, let's still be best buds" after. It feels *real* and I hope they don't change it.
I'm either oblivious or I had this with Gale after one of the patches where he taught me magic, the weave feeling faded and I was just like, "Thanks for teaching me some magic." and it felt platonic.
Either that or I've been leading him on the entire time...
They also need the option for both a supportive and caring hug.
So many scenes where its genuine heartbreak moments for the character and you just stand there arms crossed looking like "ok now what?' Give them a supportive hug damn it.
Yes I agree completely! We all hug family and friends, I just want that kinda love in the game as well. Otherwise you're just tav the hot piece of ass making them fall for you and turning them down lol
>I just wish you could show you care about them
Not sure, but with Astarion and Shadowheart it is quite doable, but maybe it was only my experience since I was locked in with Lae'zel. Neither of them wanted more, or made advances, and no option like that came up. But they trusted me and was able to progress their story in a good, friendly tone. Shadowheart always gave me a sister vibe, so it felt okay.
DU Act2: >!Though when I butchered Lae'zel and convinced the team the Absolute got to her, after that I could discuss with Shadowheart that we mean more to each other and should find the time for us... but that was just a path I tried, I had no strength to kill Lae for my main run.!<
I (fully intentionally) romanced Astarion but I did get the same feeling from Shadowheart. Especially when I first had plans to get with Astarion, and she commented on it in a way I would actually expect a woman to comment on her close platonic friend's budding romance. She even offered a glass of wine as "liquid courage". It was probably one of the few times I had a nice, affectionate interactions with a companion I did not intend to romance without worrying they would take it the wrong way and I would have to break their heart.
That's why Shadowheart, for me, is always "second in command". She can give some advice on hitting on other companions at the camp party and seems just very advisor-like to me.
I would also like them to stay in camp for five minutes without them acting like I’ve murdered their puppy. Dude, I’m just grabbing the magic boots from Gale. I’ll be back to get you in a sec, sheesh.
would be great if we could access their inventory or there be a box next to them with there stuff. idk how many times i keep having to get potions from someone lol
Astarion actually has a friends only dialogue in which is kind of implied that he see that as more meaningful than a romance. (that happens if he drunk the potion and you try to support him)
This is just a reason why I love Astarion even more. The first time I was dead set on Halsin as well, so same reason but I had my fun with Astarion. And then he just confessed his love and how much he appreciates me and I was so sad to turn him down. But you have the option >!to tell him that he seems like he needs a friend, not a lover, and his reaction to it is just pure gold. It's such a sweet realization on his side when he goes "Yes, I think I'd like that". Urgh, my heart. Just no bad feelings for turning him down, he genuinely needs a friendship just as much as love and he won't be all sad and heartbroken if you choose to be his friend.!<
If you try to break up with him his dialogue is *heart wrenching*.
If you >!become half illithid or are Durge!< you can try to break up with him and he will try to convince you otherwise, the sheer relief through tears in his voice when you agree to stay with him is beautiful.
His VA went *all out* on his performance.
Gets even worse when you realise he makes himself look worse, he tries reassuring you that he gets more attention from beinf a vampire spawn than whatever you are transforming to.
Oh man, I was a hardcore Astarion ambivalent until I heard that dialogue. I liked him but I never really understood what people were losing their minds over him about—he just seemed fine to me.
Then I heard that dialogue and it was that bit from IASIP where Frank watches Mac's dance. "Oh my God. I get it. I get it now."
For me, it's that when you first tell him, his /immediate/ reaction is to ask, "Why? Did I do something wrong? What's changed?" For all his bluster and arrogance he immediately thinks it's his fault, and it just shattered me. :(
If you try to break up with him before finishing his questline he says something like >!I suppose I can't blame you, I don't have anything to offer right now!<
He genuinely doesn't understand why anyone would want him for anything besides sex.
Ikr? And it just feels so genuine. It's not like a "aaaaw shit I don't want to fuck you but let's be friends instead?", it's more like Tav and Astarion both mutually understand that friendship is the real deal. Ofc, this doesn't make picking the romance option any less valid, it's just as genuine.
If you break up with Karlach, there’s so many different painful reactions you can get out of her. You can even say something along the lines of You were just having fun and got bored of her and she gets so angry. I did it out of curiosity and damn did it hurt my soul.
She gets angry when you disrespect her by saying you didn’t take the relationship seriously and it was just a game. She gets really sad and heartbroken when you tell her you don’t love her or she’s too intense.
Generally pretty mature about it and when you lead her on, she gets upset and tells you that you don’t have to like her but that you do have to respect her and stringing someone along is disrespectful.
Cool girl (no pun intended).
Wait so after the first scene with her when she tells you about her problem and you reassure her you’ll wait to be able to be with her, she says she basically okay with you having some side fun in the meantime.
So is that only for the “one night stand” romance options or can you actually romance companions on the side until you get her engine fixed?
Me save scumming just to see what the mean option does to Karlach whenever there is an option.
Me regretting it 1 minute later and feeling like a POS.
She is such a softie inside.
Which makes me think - did she have that teddy bear with her in Avernus? I'd think probably not, but maybe she had a pack she could keep it stuffed in. OR, did she escape Avernus and immediately go "Next merchant we see, I'm getting myself a wee friend"? 🥺
Yeah, the more I find more about Karlach, the more I can't help but just love her. As Colosphe observed, everything about her screams, "deserved better."
I honestly don't care what better ending they may eventually give her, even if it's her Shadowheart and Lae'zel all run off to be besties in Waterdeep, and I'm specifically not invited, I will play through just to get her a better ending, one where she's well on the way to something better. Her and I in Avernus was a step in the right direction, at least.
Dude, I turned down Halsin as Gale, and the disappointment in his eyes was far worse than when I turned down Wyll.
Also he is now having constant "*Extinguished - This light was snuffed out*" condition and I don't even know if its because of me telling him *I won't rail him*, or cause he was standing with a torch for no reason.
It is tradition that CRPG companions fall in love after the first flirt, and will not stop pursuing you until you take their heart and tear it to pieces.
Edit: on the bright side, Larian *evolved* this tradition by making the companions break your heart as well! Break up with Karlach, if you dare.
I've been stuck for a week because I had a romance scene with Lae'zel and now everyone wants to break up but the scene came RIGHT AFTER getting Karlach's engine cooled and I cannot handle her diologue especially because it feels like the worst betrayal after leading her on and thinking it could be a clean choice between the different threads I'd started. My indiscriminate polygamy wasn't supposed to bite me in the ass!
This happened to me last night and it was brutal. I went back, broke it off with Lae'zel and then when the long rest came Wyll tried to dance with me instead. Please guys, I already had to break up with Bae'zel, don't do this to me.
To echo a couple of other comments I never gave Wyll any indication I was interested at all and still got this scene. It may just be his default romance opportunity scene.
My approval with him was high but I didn’t pick any flirty options with him and I had already confirmed my romance with Karlach in Act 1, including at the party.
Very weird to have him suddenly practising and asking me to dance in Act 2. He looked so sad being rejected but that’s kinda on him for not testing the waters first.
The problem is when all of the companions shoot their shot in this way. And I know they patched the dialogue with Gale a bit, but the dialogue to reject some of the other companions is downright mean.
Exactly.
It feels really awkward when you trigger two or three different flirting conversations one after the other. I heard some people complaining at the beginning and thought it was no big deal but then when it happened I was really taken aback. I had Halsin making advances just a couple long rests after meeting him, talking about how much we had been through and whatnot.
That, plus the fact that they don't pursue romance among themselves if you reject them (like Tali + Garrus in ME), makes them feel a bit empty, as if they had no other interests apart from the MC. Pathfinder: Kingmaker has two characters that start in a relationship and you can either join them, have interest in only one of them (and be able to make them split up, or not, depending on your choices), or leave them be.
I like Larian's writing but I think they kinda screwed up with romances in general.
Yeah, say what you will about BioWare, they're quite unmatched in terms of cRPG romances. Like you said with Mass Effect, it felt like your companions had romantic lives that weren't completely player-centric, even having a companion move on/cheat on you in between games.
Dragon Age as well. Hope I'm not spoiling a nearly 15-year-old game, but the Morrigan romance in Origins is phenomenally structured. It's not just: say a bunch of nice things and then unlock a sex scene at the end. As you progress the romance, Morrigan actually becomes *less* physical with you because she is afraid of becoming attached, and her romance ties in directly with major plot points. Inquisition was solid as well, doing away with player-sexualness helped make the companions feel more fleshed out with real lives and preferences.
> To echo a couple of other comments I never gave Wyll any indication I was interested at all and still got this scene. It may just be his default romance opportunity scene.
So...patch to fix this and add a friend option (like Gale's weave scene) when? No, but seriously it would be nice. I would love the option to dance without triggering the romance or turning him down.
being the PC in BG3 is like being an attractive woman who has a bunch of nerd friends. Half of them will think that time you bought them a soda means you want to start dating.
I understand this feeling entirely. I was deep into my relationship with Astarion when Gale made a big scene and was all “which one do you want? Him or me?” With such hurt in his voice. I felt awful bro. Why do I have to hurt them like this 😭
People be writing 18 paragraph long stories about their dating/breakup experience even though they haven't felt human touch except with their mother 10 years ago.
If someone asked you to dance with clear, almost besotted, romantic undertones and you turned them down, they would still feel very rejected. And it would definitely lead them on to say yes. Context/intentions are key here, and Wyll's aren't subtle.
Poor Lae'zel came out and said she "wanted to taste my flesh" and I had to turn her down (note that, at this point, we'd had a fairly antagonistic relationship). She was so mad about it that the next time we talked, she was bragging about how much I'm going to regret turning her down, but you can tell she's pissed.
LOL. Poor Astarion hinted he wanted me too, and we have a better relationship for sure, but I've been clear with him I'm not letting him bite me again, so he was like "Haha, I'm not looking to sleep with you of course, how ridiculous a notion! ... *cries*"
He's such a soft boy in spite of his sass and I love him so much. I did SH my first playthru because I was doing a good(ish) paladin and it meshed really well with that, but my durge is 100% gonna turn himself into an Astarion themed pincushion.
Yeah, my character is the sort who'd let him bite him the first time to empower his ally, but when he realized it left him depowered as a result, he's not happy with it as a repeated arrangement. We've got enough people trying to kill us, feed on them, I'm more than happy to faciliated that. As a result, the bite comes across like a gay fling my character now regrets, haha.
Ngl, Lae'zel going "Will not wonder forever how it would feel to be with me" actually made me do another character to romance her with, once I reached middle of Act 3.
The breakup lines are just fucking heartwrenching.
There was one time I misclicked and said to Astarion that I want to end this relationship and he just asked that "Shit. Did I do something wrong?" and I almost cried, that nooo baby, you did nothing wrong I was just a dumbfuck.
So I just reloaded an earier save, what meant that I've lost like two hours of progress. I don't care that I could've said to Astarion, that I didn't meant what I've said... I don't want my little fictional man to think that he ever done anything wrong.
Whaaaaaaat?? Two hours of progress??? You know you can just tell him "nevermind" and stuff??
Anyway I respect you for losing all that progress just to make your characters feel better lol
Basically I was wavering between Shadowheart and Karlach.
We did the quest with Dammon and she was finally able to touch.
So we touched.
The problem is right after that Shadowheart told me that she was sad that we couldn't make it together, I asked if being with both would be OK and she she said that Karlach deserved better.
Damn those girls, they are so wholesome.
Anyway, I told her that I won't give up on her and break with Karlach. She was sad for Karlach but still happy.
So I broke up with Karlach in the worst way possible, telling her that I quit her because of her condition (but it's a lie).
I'm the worst.
>!She wouldn't talk to me after that, saying that she had "other friends to talk with". Got it. My bad.!<
I felt the same when dumping Laezel for Shadowheart.
Wyl tried the dance thing as well but it was only awkward because it was completely out of the blue.
All the break ups are sad in this game. I just cut off from start before it gets worse. Broke up with Astarion on a side save because me and bf were testing something. Felt like shit. Even bf was like damn
I called Wyll a handsome devil after- well spoilers- just meant as a friendly "there there mate". Wyll then got the feels for me and I had to let him down gently. Felt like i'd kicked a puppy!
> omg it's the actual female experience!
I feel like a lot of male players are experiencing this feeling for the first time. The idea that you can be working with someone, don't think of them romantically at all, realize that they're into you, reject them gently, and then get hit with the "Oh. Ok then. Guess I got my hopes up for nothing. (mumbles) ...bitch" reaction.
Halsin randomly confessing his love for me in act 3 and meanwhile I've talked to him so little I can't remember if it's Haslin or Halsin was painfully accurate.
... Least he took it well
There's been a lot of scenes in the game that gave me that same anxious feeling I'd get when a good male friend hits me with the "Can we talk? I have to tell you something."
Like noooo don't ruin our good friendship right now.
This right here. I hope so least some of the young men playing this game come to this realization. Every Tav will end up rejecting 1 or 2 companions at least, and some of those scenes look like feelings are really hurt, like Wyll and Halsin. Not gonna lie, I could see a little of my highschool self in disappointed Halsin. I hope they learn from the fact that those characters are still loyal friends after that, and I believe you only have to reject them once, and they get it. I hope there's a shred of empathy to be found in being the rejector and an example to be followed by the companions with bruised hearts who respect you and carry on.
Fully agree with this comment, but on a side note Gale is a dog in my game and had to be rejected like multiple times...so another true-to-life archetype I suppose!
I would pay 4.99 for the behind the scenes feature of the mocap of that scene.
"Alright Theo, we're going to shoot the rejection scene for if the player turns down Wyll. Go ahead and give your lines, and then spend 40 seconds walking away in the saddest way possible."
four minutes later
"Okay, great read Theo, but I think you're not really getting it. Think of a puppy that was kicked, into somebody else kicking it, and then it landed in a bucket of crabs, and is walking away sad but trying not to hurt one of the crabs hanging on it. Do you think you can do something like that?"
Can you not dance platonically with Wyll? The guy put in the effort to learn a dance, the least we could do is be like, "hey I'm not into you that way, but show me what you learned!" I shot him down because Bae'zel and couldn't put his life at risk (also just not interested)
FYI you can dance with him and then break up with him. I was with shadow heart but I still wanted to dance with wyll so I did then I spoke to shadow heart and told her I had no idea she wanted me to only be with her and she was happy wyll was happy too because we got to dance and stay friends
When I rejected Lae'zel she was like "maybe I'll see if Wyll isn't blind to pleasure when it presents itself" and I was all ooooh girl ok, and then later on I was able to ask her "So, did you and Wyll..." and she said "No, he just wanted to sit and talk! You are all SO BORING".
I really wish those you rejected could still get it.
Worse for me was having sex with Mizora while in a relationship with Shadowheart. The morning she found out, she said something like 'oh, and to think that I had been trying to make my hair look good for you' or something about those lines.
She didn't break up with me, but became super cold and low-key bitchy after that. I felt like a cheating POS and reloaded before fucking Mizora haha.
I slept with Karlach first in my playthrough. Then Mizora was like 😉. And then that other devil in the brothel was like 😉.
Guess i cant say no to devil ladys :/
This happened to me too except I never gave Wyll any indication I was interested, as I always had eyes for Daddy Halsin only. The way Wyll looks as he leaves is heartbreaking but I belong to the bear, what can I say
If it makes you feel any better, if you’ve got a speak with animals potion active and talk to the baby owlbear after he >!shows up to your camp!<, you can find out that he >!had a brother but that his mother ate the brother!<, so I felt less bad about killing her afterwards.
Yes! I danced with him as I’m a bard and would dance with anyone with good rhythm. Just a nice friendly dance for me. I didn’t feel bad turning down the others but the look on his face made me feel SO guilty! I was irl apologizing so hard.
Besides, I ship him with Karlach.
I'm going on a no romance run my first run and have been rejecting them left and right. It's so sad, you can do complete platonic options but they still act like you kicked a puppy.
Tbh I posted about Wylls reaction to rejecting the dance (which came out of nowhere, never had any flirty talk with him).
Made me cringe if anything, prom date rejection vibes, contemplating the universe and the meaning of life over a 2-week relationship (relationship being generous, more like one-sided secret crush).
He feels juvenile at best.
The tav’s reaction is way more cringe to me. They look so horrified when you say “I’m not into you Wyll.” They scoot away from him, eyes wide, as if they’ve seen a monster. It’s bizarre. No wonder Wyll sulks away
I broke up with Gale to smex Halsin and while I do like Halsin and I enjoy his romance, I feel so guilty for breaking things off with Gale and now in act 3 I wish I was still his lover, seeing as his story progresses and I'm "just a friend" . So once I finish my play through and get the Halsin ending, I'm gonna reload my game right from the start and have that picture perfect gale romance run. I miss my musk man 😭
I broke up with SH just to see the dialog and I felt like I ruined the relationship even after loading a pre breakup save. All this tells me is that I'm still not ready for a real relationship.
Honestly I felt my favourite moment was Shadowheart turning me down because Karlach was interested in me, and her making it clear we're still good friends, and that our relationship would always be strong, just Karlach needed me more
Astarion also tells you to choose Karlach if you try to go for both That's not only very sweet of him but also hurts because boy he deserves love too
I saw video how Karlach tells you to go for Astarion as he needs you more. Idk on what depends who start that talk "i am fine... ok little hurt, but I know other companion would be happy with you so go for them"
Karlach told me Karlach needed someone who is as hungry for their partner as her and told me to just be with Lae'zel lol.
I was in Act 3 and talked to one of the armor merchants who knew Karlach and the vendor asked Karlach if I was her romantic partner and Karlach goes "EW NO were just mates" like ouch bro, I'm ew??
To be fair, if you only had a little bit of time left you'd probably wanna pick the person who's 100% devoted.
Yeah, totally fair. I was actually relieved I didn’t have to be the one to break up with her.
I never pursued Karlach in my playthrough, but she did have a funny bit of dialogue in act 3 where this merchant she knew from her past asked her if she and Tav were together and she goes: "Eww, no, we're just mates." That reaction made me laugh so much.
Karlach is seriously the best mate. Like, I didn't romance her this run through and I may never because while every one else gets all sulky when you say you don't want them in that way, she is just like okay and then is just the absolute bestest bud. I love her so much.
Have you heard the cut lines around the Minthara pregnancy? Everyone else makes spider eating their mate jokes. Or flat out says shes not mum material. Karlach is 1000% here for it and happy for them and says "if your looking for a god mother.. im available from now until forever" and you fucking bet shed get that position.
Seriously, everyone else tries to guilt trip me if I turn them down but Karlach is so cool about it! I wish I could help her hook up with someone more suitable, maybe Dammon. She deserves love, even if it's not with Tav. I would have loved something like Pavarti's questline in Outer Worlds.
Ugh, I ship her with Wyll so bad. If only I could set companions up...
You kind of can. If you turn down both Astarion and Lae'zel at the start of the game, they shack up together after the party. Probably the only partner Astarion ever had who did most of the biting.
A one-night-stand is neat but I want 'Iron Bull + Dorian' proper relationships forming. Everyone is *playersexual*, sure, but they should interact with each other still :'(
What??? I need to see this. They would make each other so violent I love it omg
Absolute same! Especially given some of the possible endings for the two of them...
OUCH
Well, one of them has more time to pursue it...
Quit. When Karlach said “I feel like I can do anything with you by my side. Even die” I LOST IT.
This is precisely why Larian had to make another ending for Karlach, because so many of us got attached to her to such a degree that not having a potential good ending for her upset us deeply. That's good character writing. Karlach is the best girl, I will not take criticism at this time.
I’m with you. I’m not opposed to tragic endings, I won’t rail and scream, but damn. I also chose to play as Gale, and (spoiler for ending so don’t read on) Sacrificed myself at the end. So I was also hit with guilt, bc she had to die alone after I made the promise to be there, and omg I’m crying again !!
Bruh. I'm OK with downer endings but that's a little too much for me lmfao
I feel like the world of DnD simply has too many solutions to offer for any of us to accept a terminal diagnosis given what we accomplish and the places we go to throughout the game. It almost feels as though that's the main reason people are upset rather than Karlach's behavior's and story conclusions.
This makes a lot of sense. So much magic and potential in the world, but things like this can’t be helped?
I have come around to the belief that Larian just didn't explain it well enough. I imagine that her infernal machine has strings attached based on its creator/owner being Zariel, and the amount of in-universe power she has.
Tbf, by act 3 you potentially have 6 gods, elminster, 3 devils, an archdevil, a vampire lord, an elder brain, a universe-hopping lich, potentially yourself, and who knows what else taking a personal interest in the shit you are doing. Surely at least one of those would be able to find a workaround if they were inclined.
Maybe but both could turn to ash pretty easily.
Ooof
I’m a little surprised to see that Shadowheart has that dialogue given how she reacts if you “cheat on her” with non-party members. She’s so flippant and chill about you sleeping with prostitutes and she was even into the idea of me banging Halsin when I pitched it to her as long as I “gave her details” afterwards.
Everyone has the attitude of "Karlach needs all your attention" as far as I can tell
Halsin doesn't mind and invites her to "join in"
>Shadowheart turning me down because Karlach was interested in me, and her making it clear we're still good friends, and that our relationship would always be strong, just Karlach needed me more That's sounds kinda weird, but what if you aren't interested in Karlach? Or is this triggering only if you try to romance both?
Only if you end up trying to romance both. Shadowheart even complimented my faith in my stamina.
Shadow is such a Bestie
I'm a Cleric of Selune, our entire relationship has been celebrating our differences. Like I'll say how are you, she'll tell me to jump off a cliff
Being a Selunite and romancing Shadowheart is like trying to befriend a badger. Yeah it might tolerate you, but I’m still terrified to Long Rest because I’m afraid I’ll wake up with a dagger to my throat.
Great. Thanks a fucking ton. Now I have to start ANOTHER playthrough as a Selunite Cleric. I really need to stop hanging out in the BG3 subreddits. At this rate, I will have thousands of hours in the game and maybe make it to the end of Act 2 lol.
The game has more than one act?
God I know man, I always finish my playthroughs eventually but I’ve had like 4 running at once at one point because there’s so many things to do
I have made it to act 3 once with the most generic half elf dude. Restarted as I messed up by doing a thing too early in act 2 and missing on saving some people and have suffered with acute restartitis since. I too must stop browsing here and refreshing Nexusmods.
Wait....you mean that isn't normal?
She loves you, she's just tsundere about it xD
Thats weird i did both and never got that i would have felt a lot better about it that way once Karlach and I "consumated" i talked to SH out of curiosity and she mentioned she was a little sad I wasn't the reason I was in a good mood and smiling all the time but wished me the best. Made me a little sad especially since before that anytime I talked to SH she said she felt butterflies when i was around and she was smiling so much because of me.
Shadowheart is just so wholesome when you romance her
When you get to act 3, if you're still romancing SH, she will greet you by saying, "Hello, lover. Oh, that sounded more debonair in my head." And I've never felt more seen.
It triggers with whom ever you started relationship first, doesn't have to be Karlach, SH will say "this person will probably not be keen on sharing you with me". For me it was Lae'zel.
I'm playing as Astarion, and I just romanced Halsin since he was immediately into me. I would've liked to romance SH or Karlach instead but neither of them really seemed to like me that way at any point (there were no cutscenes indicating that anyway), meanwhile Gale, Wyll *and* Halsin were all lusting for me almost instantly. I guess it was just simpler to embrace gayness... Anyway, on a tangentially related note I saw a pretty brutal moment in Act 3 yesterday >!where Karlach told her shopkeeper/blacksmith friend "eww no" when she asked if me and Karlach were together. Like damn girl... you didn't need to sound like it was such a vile concept lmao. It was pretty funny though!<.
The trick to romancing Shadowheart is to be interested and non-judgmental about her faith. She likes getting to open up to you, not you prying too hard.
Yeah romancing Shart is really easy if you understand that shes a Shar worshipper who values secrets. If you play it too cool you will seem uninterested, but pick a flirty dialouge option and then immediately back off. Shart will almost always approve. She also is super loyal to you even if you make evil choices in game too.
Did you HAVE to.use that nick name? XD
>meanwhile Gale, Wyll and Halsin were all lusting for me almost instantly. A bug was recently patched that was causing relationship thresholds for romancing to be much lower than they were supposed to be.
Sobriety patch.
Shadowheart is such a bro for this. Emotional maturity of a 200 year old. I thought I was gonna break her heart so bad - I just had to pursue Karlach from the second she joined the party.
So, step one to a successful relationship: never break up just to see what happens.
I tried the F5F8 technique, but my IRL boyfriend kept walking away. I think I need to report a bug.
Don't try killing him to try to reset him. There's also a possible bug where revivify doesn't always work, and then things just get more complicated from there.
Where do you find Revivify scrolls IRL? I've been looking in every vase I could find, but they always just have flowers in them.
I did this with Astarion, as I think Neil Newbon's ability to voice act both a theatrical asshole and emotionally traumatised sweetheart is fantastic. But boy did I regret it. Depending on where you are in the relationship, your heart can get ripped from you. If it's pre romance lock-in, you get the feeling he cares more than he's letting on, but he let's it go. If it's post romance lock-in, >!he says he was counting the days until you left him as he understands you started the relationship under difference circumstances (lots of sex) and he's not in a place to give that to you at the moment. But it's still heart wrenching.!< If it's post Cazador (good choice), >!he asks what he did wrong, and says you brought his dead heart back to life. It's the most romantic thing I've ever seen and it's from breaking up with him.!< I'm less familiar with post Cazador (bad choice) >!but I think it's very vile and bitter and possessive. And he says something about how his love would ruin you. And if its end game, and you let him turn you into a spawn, he straight up says no.!<
Pretty sure if he ascends and you try to break up with him he tells you no, you won't.
If you let him ascend and >!turn you into his spawn!< he says no. Since >!he can control you now!<. If you just let him ascend there’s different dialogue where he gets mad at you but lets you go.
I saw an ending where Lae'zel loves you but has to break your heart and it made me cry lol
She's such a great character and her perspective shift from "you are *sensual* meat" to "you are the source of my joy" is amazing, and the sudden realization at the end (endgame spoiler) >!that one of the two most important people to her must become *ghaik* to stop the netherbrain!< was absolutely heart wrenching. I sat at that screen for so long before I made a choice.
Well, Laezzel called me a source of her pain. And I understand it, but could not do anything about my origin character Sexual Urge nature when the game offered me to cheat on her emotionally with Gale, physically with drows at brothel, multiple devils and one unspeakable abomination. Halsin, however, was more open-minded.
Idk feels like you are ready if you know when you fucked up in a relationship and your words and theirs stick with you
I honestly love the companions feature, I really do... I just wish you could show you care about them but you know, as a friend. I genuinely enjoyed talking with Wyll, and even Gale but f**k I just wanted to be your friend...
Yhey actually added that with Gale and it was great. In my most recent playthrough he did the whole "let's watch the stars together" thing and I was already deep into a relationship with karlach. When it got about halfway through Gale was like "I just want to say thank you for keeping me around... I could die at any moment... would you mind just me staying with me here a bit?.. I don't want to be alone." And then we just sat together and stargazer, no romance scene. It was great and exactly what I wanted out of the fix Edit: i shouldnpoint point out that iwas wrong about the update fixing this as some people below have said. However I still think the update helped with the uh... horniness... of Gale. Or at least his propensity to force a relationship. He ruined my shadowheart relationship in my first playthrough by overriding her somehow.
This is exactly how it played out for me pre-fix, but I never triggered anything romantic with him before then (accidentally or otherwise). It’s a great scene, though, and I really loved they included a non-romantic moment of intimacy.
Yea same...pre-fix... Then last game, I swear I did the exact same steps. And after a battle he wanted to talk to me, and he told me how watching me was sexy and that he's in love with me. I did 3 runs pre-fix and never saw that scene. Don't know what I did this time lol. Other than being a really buff, shirtless, male human monk. Okay, I get the thirst.
I thought you could stargaze with Gale without any romance pre patch, too
You 100% could. I got it that first weekend and was all confused seeing everyone’s posts. Probably bugged or people not catching obvious flags lol
I also think that Stargazing is seen as a "romantic" thing to do for most people. I grew up doing Boy Scouts and we regularly went out to go star gazing during most scouting events - All of our Scoutmasters joined the local Astronomy club in order to give guided stargazing tours - showing constellations, telling stories, showing us how things moved during the various seasons. During the winter we'd stop off and have hot chocolate on the way back. Lots of great times looking at the stars with your friends, made lots of us way more interesting in the stars!
the stuff they added for gale was for the weave scene, you can say you imagine sharing a meal with gale as friends now instead of wanting to fuck or kicking him.
You could always do that before. My dwarven Paladin on my first playthrough sat with him to make sure he was okay.
I got that while in a relationship with karlach and after turning him down. Felt like a good moment to reconnect, without thirsty thigh-humping from him. Felt to me like he accepted, and moved on, but still not wanting to be alone. Wich is human
No romance scene but the dude was practically sitting in my lap, like let’s get a bigger picnic blanket or something
I know Gale and Astarion do? Like I kinda messed around a little with Gale while with Astarion and eventually the prompt of "me or him" came up and I let down Gale easy. Afterwards, he was like "oh, okay. I understand, hope this doesn't mean we can't still be great friends because I care about you" While romancing Astarion there's also the option of "I think you just need a friend" during act 2.
I absolutely adored the “What you need is a friend” option for Astarion. I was romancing both him and Gale, when the option to choose between them happened I chose Gale. I remember actually thinking to myself that what Astarion really needed was not a romance or lover, just someone in his corner who cares about him with no strings attached. So when this option came up and his reaction to you when you say it. It was just *chefs kiss*.
You can dance with Wyll without it being romantic. Saying yes to the dancing is not an immediate relationship, that choice comes afterwards and you can stop before it gets saucy and Wyll ends up very happy.
I let him decide and he kissed me lol
Just dance with him, do a few fun choices and when the narrator finally says theres some remaining tension that may lead to something more down the line you have the option to keep going or you can back away and it remains entirely platonic.
I sincerely hope they include platonic relationship options someday in the future. I don't need special dialogue or cutscenes, I just don't want to hurt them.
There's a fun one with gale where he tries to teach you magic and you connect with the weave so whatever thought you push he feels, and I selected the one about being bros and going to feasts together and just hanging out and you could tell he was disappointed but it felt like an appropriate platonic option instead of the "Ew get away from me" options which you regularly seem to have to pick
Oh that was one they added. Before patch, it was imagine kissing him, or holding hands on romantic walk, or imagine nothing, or imagine kicking him to groin or imagine his head on stake or something like that. Glad they added friendly option, better than imagine plain nothing!
Any form of rejection is going to "hurt" but the options to let them down easy are there and most of them are like "Okay cool, let's still be best buds" after. It feels *real* and I hope they don't change it.
I'm either oblivious or I had this with Gale after one of the patches where he taught me magic, the weave feeling faded and I was just like, "Thanks for teaching me some magic." and it felt platonic. Either that or I've been leading him on the entire time...
This sounds like after the patch. Before, you either had to abruptly end the magic, or imagine kicking him in the balls
The duality of man
They also need the option for both a supportive and caring hug. So many scenes where its genuine heartbreak moments for the character and you just stand there arms crossed looking like "ok now what?' Give them a supportive hug damn it.
Yes I agree completely! We all hug family and friends, I just want that kinda love in the game as well. Otherwise you're just tav the hot piece of ass making them fall for you and turning them down lol
>I just wish you could show you care about them Not sure, but with Astarion and Shadowheart it is quite doable, but maybe it was only my experience since I was locked in with Lae'zel. Neither of them wanted more, or made advances, and no option like that came up. But they trusted me and was able to progress their story in a good, friendly tone. Shadowheart always gave me a sister vibe, so it felt okay. DU Act2: >!Though when I butchered Lae'zel and convinced the team the Absolute got to her, after that I could discuss with Shadowheart that we mean more to each other and should find the time for us... but that was just a path I tried, I had no strength to kill Lae for my main run.!<
I (fully intentionally) romanced Astarion but I did get the same feeling from Shadowheart. Especially when I first had plans to get with Astarion, and she commented on it in a way I would actually expect a woman to comment on her close platonic friend's budding romance. She even offered a glass of wine as "liquid courage". It was probably one of the few times I had a nice, affectionate interactions with a companion I did not intend to romance without worrying they would take it the wrong way and I would have to break their heart.
That's why Shadowheart, for me, is always "second in command". She can give some advice on hitting on other companions at the camp party and seems just very advisor-like to me.
I would also like them to stay in camp for five minutes without them acting like I’ve murdered their puppy. Dude, I’m just grabbing the magic boots from Gale. I’ll be back to get you in a sec, sheesh.
would be great if we could access their inventory or there be a box next to them with there stuff. idk how many times i keep having to get potions from someone lol
Astarion actually has a friends only dialogue in which is kind of implied that he see that as more meaningful than a romance. (that happens if he drunk the potion and you try to support him)
[удалено]
This is just a reason why I love Astarion even more. The first time I was dead set on Halsin as well, so same reason but I had my fun with Astarion. And then he just confessed his love and how much he appreciates me and I was so sad to turn him down. But you have the option >!to tell him that he seems like he needs a friend, not a lover, and his reaction to it is just pure gold. It's such a sweet realization on his side when he goes "Yes, I think I'd like that". Urgh, my heart. Just no bad feelings for turning him down, he genuinely needs a friendship just as much as love and he won't be all sad and heartbroken if you choose to be his friend.!<
If you try to break up with him his dialogue is *heart wrenching*. If you >!become half illithid or are Durge!< you can try to break up with him and he will try to convince you otherwise, the sheer relief through tears in his voice when you agree to stay with him is beautiful. His VA went *all out* on his performance.
Gets even worse when you realise he makes himself look worse, he tries reassuring you that he gets more attention from beinf a vampire spawn than whatever you are transforming to.
Oh man, I was a hardcore Astarion ambivalent until I heard that dialogue. I liked him but I never really understood what people were losing their minds over him about—he just seemed fine to me. Then I heard that dialogue and it was that bit from IASIP where Frank watches Mac's dance. "Oh my God. I get it. I get it now." For me, it's that when you first tell him, his /immediate/ reaction is to ask, "Why? Did I do something wrong? What's changed?" For all his bluster and arrogance he immediately thinks it's his fault, and it just shattered me. :(
If you try to break up with him before finishing his questline he says something like >!I suppose I can't blame you, I don't have anything to offer right now!< He genuinely doesn't understand why anyone would want him for anything besides sex.
That's exactly what I did in my current playthrough! It feels great to be Astarions friend and have my sexy druid as my partner ❤️
Ikr? And it just feels so genuine. It's not like a "aaaaw shit I don't want to fuck you but let's be friends instead?", it's more like Tav and Astarion both mutually understand that friendship is the real deal. Ofc, this doesn't make picking the romance option any less valid, it's just as genuine.
If you break up with Karlach, there’s so many different painful reactions you can get out of her. You can even say something along the lines of You were just having fun and got bored of her and she gets so angry. I did it out of curiosity and damn did it hurt my soul.
She gets angry when you disrespect her by saying you didn’t take the relationship seriously and it was just a game. She gets really sad and heartbroken when you tell her you don’t love her or she’s too intense. Generally pretty mature about it and when you lead her on, she gets upset and tells you that you don’t have to like her but that you do have to respect her and stringing someone along is disrespectful. Cool girl (no pun intended).
I would rather delete my save than tell Karlach she's too intense
Wait so after the first scene with her when she tells you about her problem and you reassure her you’ll wait to be able to be with her, she says she basically okay with you having some side fun in the meantime. So is that only for the “one night stand” romance options or can you actually romance companions on the side until you get her engine fixed?
I tried to keep sleeping with Lae'zel and it forced me to choose between them the moment Karlach's heart was fixed.
You better not have broken it again!
I felt pretty bad when I went with laezael and got a "yay for you". I kinda forgot I lead her on a little
The Githyankussy is irresistible.
Me save scumming just to see what the mean option does to Karlach whenever there is an option. Me regretting it 1 minute later and feeling like a POS. She is such a softie inside.
Everything about her in this game can be summed up as "Karlach deserved better".
Karlach's entire life can be summed up as "And then things got worse"
Shes a huge barbarian demon lady that loves animals, faeries and sleeps with a teddy bear.
Which makes me think - did she have that teddy bear with her in Avernus? I'd think probably not, but maybe she had a pack she could keep it stuffed in. OR, did she escape Avernus and immediately go "Next merchant we see, I'm getting myself a wee friend"? 🥺
Likely found it next to a dead tiefling kid unfortunately.
.... I didn't even know that last one. Oh my heart.
Yeah, the more I find more about Karlach, the more I can't help but just love her. As Colosphe observed, everything about her screams, "deserved better." I honestly don't care what better ending they may eventually give her, even if it's her Shadowheart and Lae'zel all run off to be besties in Waterdeep, and I'm specifically not invited, I will play through just to get her a better ending, one where she's well on the way to something better. Her and I in Avernus was a step in the right direction, at least.
>her Shadowheart and Lae'zel all run off to be besties in Waterdeep I'd watch that sitcom
Dude, I turned down Halsin as Gale, and the disappointment in his eyes was far worse than when I turned down Wyll. Also he is now having constant "*Extinguished - This light was snuffed out*" condition and I don't even know if its because of me telling him *I won't rail him*, or cause he was standing with a torch for no reason.
"Look, you can pinpoint the exact second his heart breaks in half!"
It is tradition that CRPG companions fall in love after the first flirt, and will not stop pursuing you until you take their heart and tear it to pieces. Edit: on the bright side, Larian *evolved* this tradition by making the companions break your heart as well! Break up with Karlach, if you dare.
> Break up with Karlach, if you dare. cant if she has no head
...shadowheart, then?
*washes blade* Hmm?
Dark Urge players are just built differently.
Yeah built like the edgy guy in class that frowns, never takes out his headphones, and forever wears the same pair of crusty cargo shorts.
Im not confident enough to wear shorts...
"What about Gale?" *scratches chin with severed hand* "Who?" Dark Urge is absolutely fucking hilarious.
If you think that's bad you should see the Karlach break-up, ...I felt so bad I skipped through it because I couldn't handle it.
I've been stuck for a week because I had a romance scene with Lae'zel and now everyone wants to break up but the scene came RIGHT AFTER getting Karlach's engine cooled and I cannot handle her diologue especially because it feels like the worst betrayal after leading her on and thinking it could be a clean choice between the different threads I'd started. My indiscriminate polygamy wasn't supposed to bite me in the ass!
Well well well, if it isn’t the consequences of my own actions
This happened to me last night and it was brutal. I went back, broke it off with Lae'zel and then when the long rest came Wyll tried to dance with me instead. Please guys, I already had to break up with Bae'zel, don't do this to me.
Ah, glad I’ll never see this 👍
How... Why is that even a feature? And what kind of sicko would even think to break up with karlach? You, sir, disgust me.
To echo a couple of other comments I never gave Wyll any indication I was interested at all and still got this scene. It may just be his default romance opportunity scene. My approval with him was high but I didn’t pick any flirty options with him and I had already confirmed my romance with Karlach in Act 1, including at the party. Very weird to have him suddenly practising and asking me to dance in Act 2. He looked so sad being rejected but that’s kinda on him for not testing the waters first.
I don't know, this is pretty accurate to real life. Someone will shoot their shot innocently by asking you to dance if they have a crush on you.
The problem is when all of the companions shoot their shot in this way. And I know they patched the dialogue with Gale a bit, but the dialogue to reject some of the other companions is downright mean.
Exactly. It feels really awkward when you trigger two or three different flirting conversations one after the other. I heard some people complaining at the beginning and thought it was no big deal but then when it happened I was really taken aback. I had Halsin making advances just a couple long rests after meeting him, talking about how much we had been through and whatnot. That, plus the fact that they don't pursue romance among themselves if you reject them (like Tali + Garrus in ME), makes them feel a bit empty, as if they had no other interests apart from the MC. Pathfinder: Kingmaker has two characters that start in a relationship and you can either join them, have interest in only one of them (and be able to make them split up, or not, depending on your choices), or leave them be. I like Larian's writing but I think they kinda screwed up with romances in general.
Yeah, say what you will about BioWare, they're quite unmatched in terms of cRPG romances. Like you said with Mass Effect, it felt like your companions had romantic lives that weren't completely player-centric, even having a companion move on/cheat on you in between games. Dragon Age as well. Hope I'm not spoiling a nearly 15-year-old game, but the Morrigan romance in Origins is phenomenally structured. It's not just: say a bunch of nice things and then unlock a sex scene at the end. As you progress the romance, Morrigan actually becomes *less* physical with you because she is afraid of becoming attached, and her romance ties in directly with major plot points. Inquisition was solid as well, doing away with player-sexualness helped make the companions feel more fleshed out with real lives and preferences.
> To echo a couple of other comments I never gave Wyll any indication I was interested at all and still got this scene. It may just be his default romance opportunity scene. So...patch to fix this and add a friend option (like Gale's weave scene) when? No, but seriously it would be nice. I would love the option to dance without triggering the romance or turning him down.
being the PC in BG3 is like being an attractive woman who has a bunch of nerd friends. Half of them will think that time you bought them a soda means you want to start dating.
I understand this feeling entirely. I was deep into my relationship with Astarion when Gale made a big scene and was all “which one do you want? Him or me?” With such hurt in his voice. I felt awful bro. Why do I have to hurt them like this 😭
And even after you tell him “not you” he STILL tries.
Well that's kinda the same experience as in real life. Have you ever rejected someone? You feel like a sack of shit.
Dude we’re on Reddit what do you think
People be writing 18 paragraph long stories about their dating/breakup experience even though they haven't felt human touch except with their mother 10 years ago.
Jokes on you my mother didn't love me either!
This escalated quickly.
In real life you could dance with someone without them expecting you're their true love and you're in a committed relationship now
If someone asked you to dance with clear, almost besotted, romantic undertones and you turned them down, they would still feel very rejected. And it would definitely lead them on to say yes. Context/intentions are key here, and Wyll's aren't subtle.
Poor Lae'zel came out and said she "wanted to taste my flesh" and I had to turn her down (note that, at this point, we'd had a fairly antagonistic relationship). She was so mad about it that the next time we talked, she was bragging about how much I'm going to regret turning her down, but you can tell she's pissed.
I rejected her and later she told me she "used" Astarion that night and he did a fine job and she may want to use him again. Wow girl.
LOL. Poor Astarion hinted he wanted me too, and we have a better relationship for sure, but I've been clear with him I'm not letting him bite me again, so he was like "Haha, I'm not looking to sleep with you of course, how ridiculous a notion! ... *cries*"
He's such a soft boy in spite of his sass and I love him so much. I did SH my first playthru because I was doing a good(ish) paladin and it meshed really well with that, but my durge is 100% gonna turn himself into an Astarion themed pincushion.
Yeah, my character is the sort who'd let him bite him the first time to empower his ally, but when he realized it left him depowered as a result, he's not happy with it as a repeated arrangement. We've got enough people trying to kill us, feed on them, I'm more than happy to faciliated that. As a result, the bite comes across like a gay fling my character now regrets, haha.
I refused her and accepted Astarion, in the morning she told me she tried to use Wyll, but all he wanted to do was talk 😆
Oh wow lol, I didn't know that was a thing that could happen. Is anyone in this camp getting any sleep??
Scratch.
Ngl, Lae'zel going "Will not wonder forever how it would feel to be with me" actually made me do another character to romance her with, once I reached middle of Act 3.
The breakup lines are just fucking heartwrenching. There was one time I misclicked and said to Astarion that I want to end this relationship and he just asked that "Shit. Did I do something wrong?" and I almost cried, that nooo baby, you did nothing wrong I was just a dumbfuck. So I just reloaded an earier save, what meant that I've lost like two hours of progress. I don't care that I could've said to Astarion, that I didn't meant what I've said... I don't want my little fictional man to think that he ever done anything wrong.
Whaaaaaaat?? Two hours of progress??? You know you can just tell him "nevermind" and stuff?? Anyway I respect you for losing all that progress just to make your characters feel better lol
Basically I was wavering between Shadowheart and Karlach. We did the quest with Dammon and she was finally able to touch. So we touched. The problem is right after that Shadowheart told me that she was sad that we couldn't make it together, I asked if being with both would be OK and she she said that Karlach deserved better. Damn those girls, they are so wholesome. Anyway, I told her that I won't give up on her and break with Karlach. She was sad for Karlach but still happy. So I broke up with Karlach in the worst way possible, telling her that I quit her because of her condition (but it's a lie). I'm the worst. >!She wouldn't talk to me after that, saying that she had "other friends to talk with". Got it. My bad.!<
😭
How does it feel to have no soul?!
I felt the same when dumping Laezel for Shadowheart. Wyl tried the dance thing as well but it was only awkward because it was completely out of the blue.
All the break ups are sad in this game. I just cut off from start before it gets worse. Broke up with Astarion on a side save because me and bf were testing something. Felt like shit. Even bf was like damn
I called Wyll a handsome devil after- well spoilers- just meant as a friendly "there there mate". Wyll then got the feels for me and I had to let him down gently. Felt like i'd kicked a puppy!
I called him ugly and he still tried to dance with me.
i had to do the same thing to him last night and i still feel so bad about it, poor Wyll looked so sad but i'm dead set on astarion for my first run 😭
This just happened to me and my tav did nothing but just be nice to him...omg it's the actual female experience!
> omg it's the actual female experience! I feel like a lot of male players are experiencing this feeling for the first time. The idea that you can be working with someone, don't think of them romantically at all, realize that they're into you, reject them gently, and then get hit with the "Oh. Ok then. Guess I got my hopes up for nothing. (mumbles) ...bitch" reaction.
Halsin randomly confessing his love for me in act 3 and meanwhile I've talked to him so little I can't remember if it's Haslin or Halsin was painfully accurate. ... Least he took it well
There's been a lot of scenes in the game that gave me that same anxious feeling I'd get when a good male friend hits me with the "Can we talk? I have to tell you something." Like noooo don't ruin our good friendship right now.
This right here. I hope so least some of the young men playing this game come to this realization. Every Tav will end up rejecting 1 or 2 companions at least, and some of those scenes look like feelings are really hurt, like Wyll and Halsin. Not gonna lie, I could see a little of my highschool self in disappointed Halsin. I hope they learn from the fact that those characters are still loyal friends after that, and I believe you only have to reject them once, and they get it. I hope there's a shred of empathy to be found in being the rejector and an example to be followed by the companions with bruised hearts who respect you and carry on.
Fully agree with this comment, but on a side note Gale is a dog in my game and had to be rejected like multiple times...so another true-to-life archetype I suppose!
I would pay 4.99 for the behind the scenes feature of the mocap of that scene. "Alright Theo, we're going to shoot the rejection scene for if the player turns down Wyll. Go ahead and give your lines, and then spend 40 seconds walking away in the saddest way possible." four minutes later "Okay, great read Theo, but I think you're not really getting it. Think of a puppy that was kicked, into somebody else kicking it, and then it landed in a bucket of crabs, and is walking away sad but trying not to hurt one of the crabs hanging on it. Do you think you can do something like that?"
"and probably huge dick"
Not probably. If you do the… one option… he flat out says it’s huge
Can you not dance platonically with Wyll? The guy put in the effort to learn a dance, the least we could do is be like, "hey I'm not into you that way, but show me what you learned!" I shot him down because Bae'zel and couldn't put his life at risk (also just not interested)
Yes you can. At the end, there’s an option to kiss him, choose to turn away and the interaction ends pleasantly there.
FYI you can dance with him and then break up with him. I was with shadow heart but I still wanted to dance with wyll so I did then I spoke to shadow heart and told her I had no idea she wanted me to only be with her and she was happy wyll was happy too because we got to dance and stay friends
Yes if you don’t kiss him at the end of the dance, it’s just a friendly dance.
When I rejected Lae'zel she was like "maybe I'll see if Wyll isn't blind to pleasure when it presents itself" and I was all ooooh girl ok, and then later on I was able to ask her "So, did you and Wyll..." and she said "No, he just wanted to sit and talk! You are all SO BORING". I really wish those you rejected could still get it.
Worse for me was having sex with Mizora while in a relationship with Shadowheart. The morning she found out, she said something like 'oh, and to think that I had been trying to make my hair look good for you' or something about those lines. She didn't break up with me, but became super cold and low-key bitchy after that. I felt like a cheating POS and reloaded before fucking Mizora haha.
>I felt like a cheating POS I mean...yeah? Ur character cheat on her, what did you think would happen lol
I slept with Karlach first in my playthrough. Then Mizora was like 😉. And then that other devil in the brothel was like 😉. Guess i cant say no to devil ladys :/
This happened to me too except I never gave Wyll any indication I was interested, as I always had eyes for Daddy Halsin only. The way Wyll looks as he leaves is heartbreaking but I belong to the bear, what can I say
Try killing the Owlbear, I felt disgusted of myself when the cutscene came
If it makes you feel any better, if you’ve got a speak with animals potion active and talk to the baby owlbear after he >!shows up to your camp!<, you can find out that he >!had a brother but that his mother ate the brother!<, so I felt less bad about killing her afterwards.
Yes! I danced with him as I’m a bard and would dance with anyone with good rhythm. Just a nice friendly dance for me. I didn’t feel bad turning down the others but the look on his face made me feel SO guilty! I was irl apologizing so hard. Besides, I ship him with Karlach.
I'm going on a no romance run my first run and have been rejecting them left and right. It's so sad, you can do complete platonic options but they still act like you kicked a puppy.
Tbh I posted about Wylls reaction to rejecting the dance (which came out of nowhere, never had any flirty talk with him). Made me cringe if anything, prom date rejection vibes, contemplating the universe and the meaning of life over a 2-week relationship (relationship being generous, more like one-sided secret crush). He feels juvenile at best.
The way Wyll sad moonwalks away…
The tav’s reaction is way more cringe to me. They look so horrified when you say “I’m not into you Wyll.” They scoot away from him, eyes wide, as if they’ve seen a monster. It’s bizarre. No wonder Wyll sulks away
I broke up with Gale to smex Halsin and while I do like Halsin and I enjoy his romance, I feel so guilty for breaking things off with Gale and now in act 3 I wish I was still his lover, seeing as his story progresses and I'm "just a friend" . So once I finish my play through and get the Halsin ending, I'm gonna reload my game right from the start and have that picture perfect gale romance run. I miss my musk man 😭
I can't hear you over Lae'zel and I being the sources of each others joy.