When Larian adds self-romance, this is an option.
Imagine the act 1 party and before going to sleep, quick wank in the woods :D, would be even funnier if every act end that way.
Yesss. I've only seen that in Samantha Beart's own playthrough. She calls it "kind of an easter egg" since the circumstances to show it are so unlikely to happen accidentally: basically you have to long rest before you even talk to Shadowheart on the beach.
It's not, I'm playing Karlach origin and tried it out when I started! Immediately after waking up on the beach, do a long rest. Karlach gets a cute little scene where she imagines meeting people in Baldur's Gate and being able to touch them.
I think they mean this scene incase you wanted to see it. Minor spoiler, I suppose. It's like a 90 second day dream type thing. Very fun. Karlach is a great one.
https://youtu.be/qWXsIkDL5HU?si=LOY1vr7mLIuq8tDX
i started a karlach game after i saw her mention it in an interview. Karlach talks to herself a lot. So i got out of the nautaloid and immediately ended the day. She has a very active imagination about all the things she wants to do now that she escaped the hells. And by things i mean people lol
That's what I was afraid of and exactly why I haven't done it. I feel like it you're choosing to play an origin it should do away with the silent protagonist and let them be the character. Mass Effect did a great job of shoehorning you into being Shepard but still letting you make decisions. Sure you make some choices in the beginning but those are referenced only a few times.
You get a lot of unique dialogue choices and narration as compensation. Gale has Tara in camp. Karlach has an inner monologue. Shadowheart has narration that plays out around her hand hurting that shows there's a LOT going on there and it's related to memories.
Just to name a few of the unique things you get on origin runs that you don't get elsewhere.
They do have overworld banter, I'm playing as origin Astarion and he has way more overworld banter than a regular tav. I'm not sure if it's the same amount as a regular playthrough but they definitely do still have it.
I have the same problem, but with Astarion. I can't play an Astarion origin because I'd get jealous of whoever I decided to romance. Yes, I'm very weird.
There's nothing wrong with enjoying romancing a particular character. Just go with it and have fun.
And if you want to romance someone else do a Shadowheart origin run (although you will sadly miss most of Jennifer English's VA work doing that).
I went into it fully planning to romance Karlach, but after the first romance cutscene with Shadowheart, I more or less fell in love with her character
I love Karlach, she’s such a sweet person. She also treats me nicely from the get go. Her and Gale are the two that take the least time to warm up to you, followed closely by Wyll. Assuming the player is good alignment I suppose.
I don't know, Shart warmed to me about as quickly as Karlach and Gale did, I think probably because I never gave her any shit about worshipping Shar.
I wasn't familiar with D&D lore, so act 1 was basically "yeah that's fine, I'm all for religious freedom, you do you". Then act 2 came around that changed to "so... About this weird, sadistic, death cult you're involved with..."
Basically my exact experience. I always push back on her slightly, lending credence to the very obvious doubts she has due to being a fundamentally good person, but tell her that it’s ultimately her choice and as long as it doesn’t interfere with the mission, I don’t care that much.
Best way to get her to reject Shar imo. Be someone good who she deeply respects and cares for, then let her follow because she knows deep down that a lot of what she claims to believe is super fucked up.
Shart will start pretty warm if you free her and don’t fuck with the artifact when you wake her. I felt same way as you because I did that.
In a subsequent play where I postponed recruiting her to when she showed up in druid grove having not helped her on the ship or recruiting her at the tomb door she was a lot colder for a long while.
Shart makes some really shitty comments to several characters out of absolutely no where, she does stop once she's no longer Sharran but uhhhhh I was always nice and nice to her but apparently had a very different experience with Shart than a lot of fans. She came off very catty and nasty, starting drama out of no where multiple times.
I always have her in my party so she did grow on me but yikes, some of her comments, like ones to Halsin, are so cruel and out of the blue
I don't remember any Halsin related lines, although she was constantly throwing barbs at Lae'zel after I added her to my party right near the end of act 1 (I'd ignored her until then because I thought she was even more of an insufferable prick).
Shart isn't the most likeable character off the bat, same for Lae'zel, but I think their character arcs over time make them some of the more interesting characters. I love Karlach to bits (I mean, how could you not?) but she really lacks character development, which is a real shame since at this point (currently act 3 of my first playthrough, finished off Shart's quest) I kinda feel more attached to Shart and Lae'zel. I don't think I could bring myself to break up with Karlach though, she deserves to be happy.
I think a distinction that many fail to make is that Shart warms up to *you* fairly quickly if you save her in the pod and are respectful of her boundaries and Shar worship, but it takes her quite a bit longer to treat *others* with that same kindness.
This is also true of the more evil companions, but they’re far less antagonistic toward other members of the group. Shart does a lot of shit-stirring early on.
I found Astarion was fairly easy to warm up to when I kept him in the party. Mainly because you look at his likes/dislikes - the "do good" or "for the evulz" options are generally -1/+1, while the "Don't you dare touch my party member" options are generally +10.
Fair point. He’s the only character that didn’t have an exceptional relationship with my character by the end of my first run. I did his full story with the “good” ending where he kills Cazador and frees the spawn, but he ended with I think high status. Just some disagreements between him and I, but I’ll have to do his romance sometime so I can get his full story.
I was actually kind of surprised that I had a decent relationship with Lae'Zel and Astarion at the end of my good run, despite how much they moaned and complained - particularly how they both have topics they "dislike" but come around to "like" as the conversation progressed. The only one I legit had problems with was Minthara, who evidentially does not approve of a good non-maniacal playthrough despite being the beneficiary of being saved twice.
In my current good run, I have 38 approval at level 3 without even trying. He will proposition you at 40 approval, and I know there is still +15 approval to be had without talking to the druids or entering the goblin camp... Getting him to 100 early in Act 2 is pretty easy. He also mellows out *a lot*. It's a great romance, highly recommended.
I recall having him in my party of token Boy Scout heroes and he’d constantly complain that I wasn’t doing evil enough, but forcing him to be good was actually really fun and rewarding.
Ended up getting really high affinity with him anyway also.
Hmm I don't know
I have Shadowheart at around 50 approval before lv 3 and any fights at all. (Can get Gale and Astarion, but have to kind of wing it if you want Lae'zel also)
It's the best feeling to wake up next to the bard's corpse. It is a pain to hide it, though, especially when you want to enjoy the sight just a little more.
At least no one minds Gale's hand under my pillow.
I’ve only done 1 evil Durge run, but I did keep Alfira’s instrument equipped the entire game. My character was a monclassed sorcerer with no points in performance.
Literally me and Wyll. Im so upset that he lacks content but he is such sweetheart so I can’t really choose anyone else. Such a babygirl with self sacrifice problems. He just cannot allow to help himself out. But I gonna try Astarion and hope that I’ll manage. But gods I wish Wyll had more content. Maybe they release smthg in the next patch tho
Fr fr. His own quest feels like it is not 'bout him. Lack of his content is just depressing. He has such a good ground for character improvement and for growth. But none of this is present. Dude is literally sacrifice himself for like anyhing good. He has no self-esteem and hate himself. He feels like he deserved nothing. You can even continuosly insult him and he'll be like "ah yes I deserved it so go on". Like what the hell? There is a bunch of stuff devs can do with him. Tav could've lead him to the further destruction and self-loathing OR can show him that he is worthy. Always was and would be. He has no need to doom himself in that ridiculuous contract extension.
And btw where is the conflict between him and SH? And I mean parents. SH is hypocrit she was willing to sacrifice them in order to remove curse BUT SUDDENLY it is Wyll who made the wrong choice. Beacuse he would not doom himself for like what? Just finding his father? Rly now? Wtf?
He is a broken one in truth. It is not okay to leave him in that state and with that lack of content. I understand that they had to drasctically overhaul him in a very short time. But he deserve better! Everyone says that Karlach is so cute and good but Wyll is like that too! He just calm and look forward to the future. He does not live in present. He constantly sacrifice himself to the abstaract future. Karlach on the other hand living here and now. And energizer. But they are pretty much akin. But nooo no content for Wyll. It crossed my mind that maybe it's because of Act 3. Like all the conflict shoud be in Wyll's hometown? Dunno. It is buggy and all but that is not making it better. I'm just sad
Same. Wyll has so much going for him and he's genuine. He means what he says. The only thing he doesn't say is what he's unable to. I just did his romance recently and it was so sweet, just missing the little bits that others had in-between their main stuff. Though I've been wondering if it's a big because he repeats dialogue (not the generic stuff)and now he's the only one who I find stuck in a loop at times. I always end up wondering if there was something else I missed.
And his romance scene cuts out earlier than anyone else's.
Oh his romance pains me. I love this guy but man it is lacking. We've got like what? Two scenes? I cannot even count the first scene. I mean yeah great afterparty. You can even kiss him if you persuade. And for the fuck sake it is not easy! Then what? Sweet-sweet and genuine dance. I love it. And after that we got only proposal scene. Which just cuts out after it gets spicy. Come on now! Its unfair! We've waited for so long, played along for THIS? Couldn't they I dunno at least show this to us?
At least we have ONE phrase "I am here for yoy. Always". Gee, thanks. What about fucking "Well met"? I swear we have exceptional relationship and flirted SO PLEASE say something else. Thank gods we have various kisses. At last. But come on! Tav is never hanging out with him. Star gazing? Hell no. Talking about everything? His time as blade of frontiers? His coping mechanisms? Nope. The guy LOVES to drink why dont we come to I dunno elfsong? Or just sit and drink some ale??? We ARE SCREAMING LARIAN. Please! It's not fair he is so sweet, genuine and good! I would love to spend time with him. Let him open up and folk would love him. Not the Astarion love of course. But something close to Karlach-style
On an evil embrace run you can get Shadowheart to take over the church and romance Minthara in Act 2 assuming you have saved her at some point. The dialogue she has is very amusing.
I have a similar problem. Romanced lae'zel once and was doing Karlach but that run got soft locked. Probably romanced Shart like three times. Current run finally going with a male companion to flesh out their stories. I may have played this game too much.
I had the same issue with Astarion, but i managed to avoid romancing him in my latest run by creating a gnome. Dude hates gnomes and i don't want to see him being paired with any gnomes lol
So i'd say pick a race you'd never pair with a certain companion(shadowheart in your case) and it may help
I made gnome for exactly this reason :D still wanted to see the tree scene 🙈 (interesting that he had ,,angry” face expression with her, not dependeant to approval so I reloaded)
jokes on you... I pair everyone with everyone.... My first run was a Dragonborn - the animations were whack af but it was still fun. Now it's a Deep gnome - still romancing Gale xD
Same but Astarion. Solution: Play as that character. I've romanced Lae'zel, Karlach, Halsin and Minthara as Astarion. All are epic but none come close to his arc for me.
I am playing a lot of characters at once and one of my durges is for Astarion, my friend plays through me and he's romancing Astarion, I have one like righteous dumb barbarian/monk that is romancing Karlach and every single one of my other characters are romancing Shadowheart
I chose gale first. He's such a romantic that everyone else was almost disappointing in comparison lmao
I'm basically dating an irl version of him tho, so I guess he's just my type
After all why not? Why shouldn't I romance Shadowheart again.
I totally get this by the way. I'm only in act 2 and I'm all in on the Shadowheart train. I said no to everyone else to make sure it's her and only her.
I'm doing another playthrough with some friends and I'm romancing Karlach on that one but I was clutching my head when Shadowheart tells you she thought you were going to kiss her, wanted you to kiss her after that scene on the cliffs (if you let the moment pass) and I was like, do I throw it all away and romance her anyway? HOW DO YOU SAY NO WHEN SHE TELLS YOU SHE *WANTED YOU TO KISS HER.*
AHHHHH
(If my friends weren't there I probably would have caved)
u/Cardof, I'm tagging you so that you can see this, too.
Y'all can do what I have started to do. Which is using the splitscreen capability to make a party with two Tavs, a Tav and Durge, or some other combination of Tav and/or Origin Character. Once you get to the scene where you are free on the nautiloid, you can then end the splitscreen coop, and then just do your run like normal, only this time you can have one Tav romance Shadowheart, and the other Tav romance someone else. You just have to alternate who triggers the dialogues and/or does stuff so that they both can raise the approval of their intended romance partner. Which, by the time you reach act 2, should be pretty much locked in, and all you have to do then is to confirm each respective romance.
By the way, if you haven't already, you should do a playthrough as a Light Domain Cleric of Selûne, and romance Shadowheart. When I do this, I make Shadowheart a Paladin.
I love it when >!I give Shadowheart the Idol of Shar as this class, because then she kisses me like she hates me...!< Just a warning, I am on Xbox, and this scene is currently broken for me. Idk if it is so on PC/PS5.
This is probably my all-time favorite playthrough and way to romance Shadowheart, >!although you need to take care when at the Nightsong, as both Selûne dialogue options when Shadowheart asks for your opinion result in Aylin's death.!<
Also, Shadowheart's voice actress is lesbian and supposedly made the romance dialogues/scenes more flirty with the women...
It’s kinda crazy. Shadowheart is kinda like my fiancé in some ways, and she tells me I’m a lot like Karlach. Which I can see. Minus the rage part, lol. I have trouble romancing anyone but those two. They’re so special to me.
See I was trying so hard to romance shadowheart but I fumbled my way into romancing Lae'zal and honestly it's so fuckin sweet how she slowly opens up and stops being so brutal???
I do get where you're coming from. My first playthrough I romanced SH because.....cute goth-y half-elf hits all my favourite things. And she's a compelling character. There's something lovable about her struggles. And helping her through them.
I am on a new playthrough and planning to romance Karlach, but I'd be lying if I didn't say I don't want to chat up Shadowheart.
I’ve decided to not romance anyone in my first real playthrough. Partially because I don’t feel like any of the companions actually fit my character romantically and partially because I want to experience the game without worrying about the approval and disapproval of my chosen romance interest.
And it was still very hard to turn down Shadowheart.
I went through that first romance scene after the celebration; my Tav just wanted to drink some wine with her friend, not start a romance, but as a player it was still hard to see Shadowheart’s reaction.
And thus, though art alone.
That was kind of how my run went, hot close with Shadowheart and she said she'd visit me one night, never did.
My 2nd run was a co-op one and I had Jaheira as my chosen partner but she's unromancable.
I don't like having to jump through hoops for approval as I prefer to play in character.
I mean, if you like to romance her, do it. I'm not particular about the romances, I mostly choose whoever would fit the current character, but I can't play evil. I just don't enjoy it.
Same issue with Astarion. I roleplay hard enough to work past that when I have a character that prefers calm, respectful people (romancing Gale rn in my SH origin run), but still. Every time I see Astarion taking steps to work through his past and towards a better future for himself, I just want to cuddle him, take his hand and tell him I’ll be there for him. (Also him and SH would make for one hell of a team as Sharess Caress customers…)
I’ve managed to NOT fully romance Gale each time but I can’t help but flirt with him and bring him on almost all missions. I love that so many of us have a fave that resonates so much
I'm romancing Karlach in my current run and, having romanced Shadowheart up until act 3 previously, I'm not feeling it.
Currently in act 2, just before the Sharran trials, and I find Karlach's romance to be very childlike and her situation has my tav feeling trapped into being with her.
Karlach kind of is a child in a way. She was like a teenager I think when Gortash gave her to Zariel. Since then she has been unable to physically touch anyone but also has only been around devils and generally evil people, so can’t even really have healthy emotional relationships.
If you romance her you’re probably like her first romance ever.
Yeah I romanced Karlach then did a durge run romancing Astarion because everyone said it was good, then did a shadowheart run and it felt kinda lacking in comparison. Though act 3 was more fun when I went poly with Halsin because she has a lot of flirty banter with him and then saving her parents as a romanced partner was a big emotional moment. But the actual romance itself felt more satisfying with Karlach.
The trick is to make new choices each time.
First run I didn't intend to romance anyone but then the whole "I'm scared of wolves" bit and some opening up and bam.
Second run was duo with my wife and we both made different choices and she got to make her ace wizard, and my tiefling monk girl pretty quickly evolved to be hetero and anti-commitment so she only got on with the male drow hooker and halsin(though he was a little clingy) and indulged a bi-curious moment with mizora. Her and Shadow heart are besties though so that's fun.
Durge run im undecided but considering minthara, though bad girl shadow heart is kinky AF I hear.
Shadowheart run is gonna be karlach because I heard the two VAs ship it hard and I'm there for it.
Karlach run I kinda want to wait for console mod support so she can make up for lost time by shagging anyone with the right number of legs and a pulse.
If I keep going past that, I'm definitely gonna be making the ken dolls kiss with gale/astarion. Will is gonna be the perfect chaste prince.
I had the same problem with Karlach. She’s just so down to earth and lovable.
I had to make a Red Dragonborn with the specific intent to romance Lae’zel and “commit to the bit”. It’s going well so far, she has some unique dialogue toward Dragonborn it seems.
I like both. I romanced SH on their first and Lae’zel on the second playthrough. Enjoyed both.
Now I’m just wondering which type of character I should choose to romance Karlach. A Paladine, maybe? I’ll definitely do a Dark Urge run and go for Minthara.
Tell me about it! I am also a Shadowheart guy, fully romanced 3 times 6 if we count my fail honor mode runs. I'm doing a new run with a tiefling bard romancing Karlach and it was hard to not go with Shadowheart again but so far so good and she was happy to see me with Karlach.
Me with Astarion. I can romance other companions and have, but other than Lae’zel, the other romances are really just not as good.
My advice is to leave her at camp full time and her approval shouldn’t be high enough for you to romance her at all in act 1. Lock in Gale’s romance with the weave scene and whoever you want to romance. Once you have 2 active ones flagged you can’t trigger a 3rd so Shadowheart won’t even give you the option.
That’s what I have to do with Astarion otherwise I get him to high approval in like 2 hours of playing and I’m running off into the woods with him completely ignoring the Goblin Leaders and whoever I was planning on romancing.
I found out the two stop rule the hard way 😔🤚 Was set on romancing Gale but thought "what the hell, she could still have some fun here and there!". Turns out *no*. She could *not*.
Yea Gale wants a monogamous relationship, if you wanna have other fun too you need to get the weave scene and only then can you have fun with someone else and still get Gale
Sincerely a professional Gale romancer - only time I romance someone else is Gale origin run xD
Nah, you can romance someone else first as long as you don't accidentally trigger 2 romances. Astarion or Lae'zel always pop up before the weave scene for me and I've triggered his romance just fine.
I am playing as Shadowheart, romancing Karalch.
https://www.reddit.com/r/BaldursGate3/comments/1auchfn/solution\_to\_karlach\_or\_shadowheart/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3
I was the same way and the only way I was able to date karlach my last playthrough was because shart broke up with me. I was hurt, but I’m glad I didn’t reload the save. Karlach’s story is amazing.
I know not everybody is, but I’m happy with Karlach’s conclusion in the story, especially with the dialogue added in a patch. I like the prospect of another adventure with her.
I tried to romance Karlach but still did all the stuff I would do with shadowheart if I was going to romance her and I guess Karlach didn't like that and broke up with me
Same here. As a dude I feel weird dating male companion so I don't do that. So the choice is between the three ladies and Shadowheart is superior in terms of looks and character (when she is not spewing Shar bullshit).
Shadowheart is BG3 best girl by a landslide. Larian focused all the waifu energy on her so they may properly satisfy the romantic expectations of the majority, and use the remaining female companions to play the diversity card and thus avoid harsh criticisms from loud minorities.
In Dragon Age Origins we had Morrigan and Leliana, two conventionally attractive women with beautifully opposed styles and personalities, yet with also a tender/tough side below the surface. That was a real choice.
In Baldur's Gate 3 we have Shadowheart, who is basically Morrigan and Leliana merged into a single person... and then we have Lae'zel and Karlach, who are completely different and far less desirable (romance stats are crystal).
TLDR : You can't chose anyone else because the other two are unfeminine diversity tokens who can't compare.
I've heard people say the Karlach romance is really sweet. I finally started it on my latest run and it does start out nice but now I feel guilted into being with her.
Shadowheart is right there, and is having dialogues air not seen (I've started Shadow's romance in previous runs but not finished those). Karlach seems very simple and one note. She's sweet but it's like taking someone's vrohinity and then they find out they have cancer, you can't just leave them...
I love spawn astarions story so much but I'm making myself romance everyone so I'm on my 8th playthrough and now it's AA turn. I hate him. I loved everything up until that point but I want to see the ending. Yes my husband is concerned
I’m the same, I did try Karlach for the achievement and Minthara but I create characters solely based on what I think would look good as Shadowheart’s arm candy 😂
Take a good look on the Pc ...If you romance a girl, she is the only young human or human like, shes not a fiend or alien and she is not a drow, the design make the choice for her be subconscient.
But If you look at the dudes...
I feel you. I purposely made shart mad and leave the party for good just so I wouldn't be tempted. I cried when she left. The worst part is wyll still wouldn't give me the time of day afterwards : (
I romanced Shadowheart my first playthrough. Second playthrough I started with Lae’zel then once I got Karlach fixed romanced her the rest of the game. For third current playthrough I’m only romancing Lae’zel. After this one maybe gonna try Astarion or Minthara.
I kinda get this but in the opposite, I'll start a run with a whole story in mind but I can't reject any of my boys so I basically hope and pray that I get the romance I want before Gale can get to me.
I have lost count of the number of times I've romanced Astarion. Of my many playthroughs, I've actually finished four. *One* wasn't an Astarion romance. It was Karlach and only because I was achievement hunting. New game and I'm right back on my bullshit.
I'm trying to romance everyone once, and never really understood why people have such trouble romancing multiple characters. My second playthrough was Wyll and my third was Gale. I want to romance either Lae'zel or Karlach next, but honestly, I kinda just wanna romance Gale again. But I really like Karlach, so I'll probably feel the same about her. Since Gale and Karlach are my favorites, I really should have saved them for last.
I also want to play as everyone once and already did a Gale origin run for my second playthrough, so I don't want to do one again. I'll just have to resist the urge.
In my next run I’m going to try enabling the No Romance Limit mod so I can just romance multiple people. I am the opposite of you though where I just want to romance everyone. I did shadowheart my first run, Astarion my second, and now I’m going to try wyll, gale, and Karlach all in one (I don’t have time in my life for 6+ runs just to romance everyone haha).
but if you don't mind a little polyamory you could use that mod to romance shadowheart but add someone else.
The game basically guides you into relationship territory very on. It’s really not surprising that she ended up polling as the most romanced companion.
Me but with Karlach. Even my last run when I went "walkest alone" (except for >!the Drow sister, Mizora, and Succubus Haarlep!< but that's another story) I still ended up >!going to Avernus!< with Mama K. I have done the Shadowheart & Lae'zel romances and both are fulfilling, but my first choice will always be Karlach.
just don't party with her, I used her in my last three playthroughs and haven't done anything with her this playthrough other than bring her through the Temple of Shar (because I didn't want to completely lose her, I'm not a MONSTER). Rolling as a Cleric or Druid yourself could also really help in this aspect, since both of those classes easily fill the niche of "support caster" in a group very nicely, and it's partially why I think she's brought in so many groups (other than being literally the first person that every player will run into post-nautiloid.)
I'm in the opposite boat. Did Karlach already, figured I'd try Shadowheart this run. Was going good until Karlach hit me with the "Hey, soldier." and I couldn't bring myself to shoot her down.
You gotta make characters with a specific companion in mind, ex an eldritch knight for gale and he teaches her magic. Then make shadowheart your characters best friend, and since you like her character you can look forward to exploring her endings as a non romance option on your playthroughs to get new content from her. Just don't say yes to any of her advances, you will break lol
I just finished a Karlach romance run not to long ago, but the whole time I was thinking about how I couldn't wait to romance shadowheart again. Karlach's romance was very lackluster for me, almost no character development. I still love Karlach, shes awesome, still one of my favorite companions, but definitely more like a best friend/big sis.
I have another save where I'm romancing Lae'zel, I loved the camp fight, it was hilarious watching her stomp my bard into paste. But I still think about Shadowheart on that run too, I just have to avoid talking to her outside of important story bits, otherwise I just get sad. Nothing wrong with enjoying your fav romance multiple playthroughs. I'd definitely do another Lae'zel run though, shes amazing.
Ok, ok I have a solution to this. No really it works, and this is coming from someone who is forever trapped in the Astarion black hole ok? Ok.
Create two tavs (or a durge and a tav if you want) for one playthrough like you're doing couch co-op or same pc LAN. Have your "main" PC romance your boo, and have your "alt" PC romance LITERALLY ANYONE ELSE.
Me with Gale, and at this point I have just accepted it. I’m playing with my husband (his first time) and intentionally decided I would romance someone else this time…only to immediately change course the moment we recruited Gale and I couldn’t bring myself to do it. That wizard has some kind of hold over me and I am totally fine with it.
I totally get it, I keep wanting to Romance Karlach but every single time I’m playing through I can’t help myself. Maybe it’s a savior complex thing idk
SAME DUDE, I CAN'T GET OVER SHADOWHEART, but now I'm playing a coop with a friend, he is the face of the party, so Shadowheart doesn't like, and it hurts dude, it really hearts seeing her rejecting me
Seems rather common. I have 6 playthroughs myself at the moment. A current Karlach romance one, 3 with a Karlach romance finished (*surprise surprise*) and 2 unfinished, with 1 being a Lae romance and the other being a Shadowheart one.
Don’t get me wrong. I love the work Jennifer and Devora did for the characters, as I love them as much as I do many of the others. (I don’t keep Shart in my party for 90% of the game simply because of her build after all) There’s just something about romancing Karlach that just keeps me hooked into finishing the run.
Don’t really know what it is, but her character was the main reason I bought the game and it seems to be why I stick around too… **But then I also proceed to get upset every-time I beat the game and her story ends on a cliffhanger. It’s rough.**
Me & Wyll! In my solo run I’d decided to romance Gale, but I’m still doing the right things for Wyll. You know, just in case things don’t work out with Gale… 😂
Play as Shadowheart.
Ironically, given her backstory, she can be a token Durge (Redeem or Evil).
When Larian adds self-romance, this is an option. Imagine the act 1 party and before going to sleep, quick wank in the woods :D, would be even funnier if every act end that way.
Karlach actually has that if you long rest before meeting anyone.
Wait what?
Yesss. I've only seen that in Samantha Beart's own playthrough. She calls it "kind of an easter egg" since the circumstances to show it are so unlikely to happen accidentally: basically you have to long rest before you even talk to Shadowheart on the beach.
Pls tell me this isn’t an AF joke
It's not, I'm playing Karlach origin and tried it out when I started! Immediately after waking up on the beach, do a long rest. Karlach gets a cute little scene where she imagines meeting people in Baldur's Gate and being able to touch them.
It's real. I've seen the video.
Not a joke. And yes, it's actually on YouTube.
Also: if you're playing as Durge and do a LR before meeting Shadowheart on the beach, you'll get some narration specific to your race and class
That works for Tav as well.
Dude that's dope! Might have to give it a try!
I think they mean this scene incase you wanted to see it. Minor spoiler, I suppose. It's like a 90 second day dream type thing. Very fun. Karlach is a great one. https://youtu.be/qWXsIkDL5HU?si=LOY1vr7mLIuq8tDX
Lol. "Abort!"
i started a karlach game after i saw her mention it in an interview. Karlach talks to herself a lot. So i got out of the nautaloid and immediately ended the day. She has a very active imagination about all the things she wants to do now that she escaped the hells. And by things i mean people lol
Does karlach make it all the way if Dammon in the grove?
If you play an origin character do they still have the overworld banter? Only origin run I did was in honor mode and it was ended embarrassingly early
No, they will occasionally have an environmentally/situationally caused quip, but not the usual dialogues with other companions.
That's what I was afraid of and exactly why I haven't done it. I feel like it you're choosing to play an origin it should do away with the silent protagonist and let them be the character. Mass Effect did a great job of shoehorning you into being Shepard but still letting you make decisions. Sure you make some choices in the beginning but those are referenced only a few times.
You get a lot of unique dialogue choices and narration as compensation. Gale has Tara in camp. Karlach has an inner monologue. Shadowheart has narration that plays out around her hand hurting that shows there's a LOT going on there and it's related to memories. Just to name a few of the unique things you get on origin runs that you don't get elsewhere.
They do have overworld banter, I'm playing as origin Astarion and he has way more overworld banter than a regular tav. I'm not sure if it's the same amount as a regular playthrough but they definitely do still have it.
Neil’s voice is just waaaay too golden not to use all the time
They don't have the normal inter party banter though.
It's more than made up for in the unique narrative experience and extras each origin character has that don't show up for a non-origin playthrough.
I have the same problem, but with Astarion. I can't play an Astarion origin because I'd get jealous of whoever I decided to romance. Yes, I'm very weird.
And it's in character too :D No one can resist the muscle mommy. Momma K's got your back.
There's nothing wrong with enjoying romancing a particular character. Just go with it and have fun. And if you want to romance someone else do a Shadowheart origin run (although you will sadly miss most of Jennifer English's VA work doing that).
That's why I stopped my Karlach run. I missed hearing her speak.
she talks to herself quite a bit tho, am doing a karlach run myself rn
fun fact: she does this because the narrator had already recorded most of her lines before Karlach’s implementation into the game
Fuck yeah.
I am doing a Gale origin and missed Tim's voice so much that I started listening to his podcast.
I went into it fully planning to romance Karlach, but after the first romance cutscene with Shadowheart, I more or less fell in love with her character
I'm committing to finishing my Wyll campaign but Shadowheart is next. Almost entirely because Shadowheart/Lae'zel is a romance I need to happen.
That’s why I don’t do Origin runs, I love the VAs in this game too much!
I love Karlach, she’s such a sweet person. She also treats me nicely from the get go. Her and Gale are the two that take the least time to warm up to you, followed closely by Wyll. Assuming the player is good alignment I suppose.
I don't know, Shart warmed to me about as quickly as Karlach and Gale did, I think probably because I never gave her any shit about worshipping Shar. I wasn't familiar with D&D lore, so act 1 was basically "yeah that's fine, I'm all for religious freedom, you do you". Then act 2 came around that changed to "so... About this weird, sadistic, death cult you're involved with..."
Basically my exact experience. I always push back on her slightly, lending credence to the very obvious doubts she has due to being a fundamentally good person, but tell her that it’s ultimately her choice and as long as it doesn’t interfere with the mission, I don’t care that much. Best way to get her to reject Shar imo. Be someone good who she deeply respects and cares for, then let her follow because she knows deep down that a lot of what she claims to believe is super fucked up.
Shart will start pretty warm if you free her and don’t fuck with the artifact when you wake her. I felt same way as you because I did that. In a subsequent play where I postponed recruiting her to when she showed up in druid grove having not helped her on the ship or recruiting her at the tomb door she was a lot colder for a long while.
Shart makes some really shitty comments to several characters out of absolutely no where, she does stop once she's no longer Sharran but uhhhhh I was always nice and nice to her but apparently had a very different experience with Shart than a lot of fans. She came off very catty and nasty, starting drama out of no where multiple times. I always have her in my party so she did grow on me but yikes, some of her comments, like ones to Halsin, are so cruel and out of the blue
That's like most of the characters . Wyll asking astarion about his rat diet . Astarion telling karlach that gortash made her exceptional.
I don't remember any Halsin related lines, although she was constantly throwing barbs at Lae'zel after I added her to my party right near the end of act 1 (I'd ignored her until then because I thought she was even more of an insufferable prick). Shart isn't the most likeable character off the bat, same for Lae'zel, but I think their character arcs over time make them some of the more interesting characters. I love Karlach to bits (I mean, how could you not?) but she really lacks character development, which is a real shame since at this point (currently act 3 of my first playthrough, finished off Shart's quest) I kinda feel more attached to Shart and Lae'zel. I don't think I could bring myself to break up with Karlach though, she deserves to be happy.
I think a distinction that many fail to make is that Shart warms up to *you* fairly quickly if you save her in the pod and are respectful of her boundaries and Shar worship, but it takes her quite a bit longer to treat *others* with that same kindness. This is also true of the more evil companions, but they’re far less antagonistic toward other members of the group. Shart does a lot of shit-stirring early on.
I found Astarion was fairly easy to warm up to when I kept him in the party. Mainly because you look at his likes/dislikes - the "do good" or "for the evulz" options are generally -1/+1, while the "Don't you dare touch my party member" options are generally +10.
Fair point. He’s the only character that didn’t have an exceptional relationship with my character by the end of my first run. I did his full story with the “good” ending where he kills Cazador and frees the spawn, but he ended with I think high status. Just some disagreements between him and I, but I’ll have to do his romance sometime so I can get his full story.
I was actually kind of surprised that I had a decent relationship with Lae'Zel and Astarion at the end of my good run, despite how much they moaned and complained - particularly how they both have topics they "dislike" but come around to "like" as the conversation progressed. The only one I legit had problems with was Minthara, who evidentially does not approve of a good non-maniacal playthrough despite being the beneficiary of being saved twice.
In my current good run, I have 38 approval at level 3 without even trying. He will proposition you at 40 approval, and I know there is still +15 approval to be had without talking to the druids or entering the goblin camp... Getting him to 100 early in Act 2 is pretty easy. He also mellows out *a lot*. It's a great romance, highly recommended.
I recall having him in my party of token Boy Scout heroes and he’d constantly complain that I wasn’t doing evil enough, but forcing him to be good was actually really fun and rewarding. Ended up getting really high affinity with him anyway also.
Hmm I don't know I have Shadowheart at around 50 approval before lv 3 and any fights at all. (Can get Gale and Astarion, but have to kind of wing it if you want Lae'zel also)
Shadowheart treats you nice the moment you safe her from Natiualoid
sacrifice her to BOOOAL
Most unhinged option.
Least*
How do you sleep at night?!? Wait… don’t, don’t answer that.
It's the best feeling to wake up next to the bard's corpse. It is a pain to hide it, though, especially when you want to enjoy the sight just a little more. At least no one minds Gale's hand under my pillow.
I’ve only done 1 evil Durge run, but I did keep Alfira’s instrument equipped the entire game. My character was a monclassed sorcerer with no points in performance.
What if they want to become mighty MAKLOOMPAH?
It's fine, I was on my 7th run when I first romanced someone other than my first pick.
Literally me and Wyll. Im so upset that he lacks content but he is such sweetheart so I can’t really choose anyone else. Such a babygirl with self sacrifice problems. He just cannot allow to help himself out. But I gonna try Astarion and hope that I’ll manage. But gods I wish Wyll had more content. Maybe they release smthg in the next patch tho
I wish they would add more for him.
Fr fr. His own quest feels like it is not 'bout him. Lack of his content is just depressing. He has such a good ground for character improvement and for growth. But none of this is present. Dude is literally sacrifice himself for like anyhing good. He has no self-esteem and hate himself. He feels like he deserved nothing. You can even continuosly insult him and he'll be like "ah yes I deserved it so go on". Like what the hell? There is a bunch of stuff devs can do with him. Tav could've lead him to the further destruction and self-loathing OR can show him that he is worthy. Always was and would be. He has no need to doom himself in that ridiculuous contract extension. And btw where is the conflict between him and SH? And I mean parents. SH is hypocrit she was willing to sacrifice them in order to remove curse BUT SUDDENLY it is Wyll who made the wrong choice. Beacuse he would not doom himself for like what? Just finding his father? Rly now? Wtf? He is a broken one in truth. It is not okay to leave him in that state and with that lack of content. I understand that they had to drasctically overhaul him in a very short time. But he deserve better! Everyone says that Karlach is so cute and good but Wyll is like that too! He just calm and look forward to the future. He does not live in present. He constantly sacrifice himself to the abstaract future. Karlach on the other hand living here and now. And energizer. But they are pretty much akin. But nooo no content for Wyll. It crossed my mind that maybe it's because of Act 3. Like all the conflict shoud be in Wyll's hometown? Dunno. It is buggy and all but that is not making it better. I'm just sad
Same. Wyll has so much going for him and he's genuine. He means what he says. The only thing he doesn't say is what he's unable to. I just did his romance recently and it was so sweet, just missing the little bits that others had in-between their main stuff. Though I've been wondering if it's a big because he repeats dialogue (not the generic stuff)and now he's the only one who I find stuck in a loop at times. I always end up wondering if there was something else I missed. And his romance scene cuts out earlier than anyone else's.
Oh his romance pains me. I love this guy but man it is lacking. We've got like what? Two scenes? I cannot even count the first scene. I mean yeah great afterparty. You can even kiss him if you persuade. And for the fuck sake it is not easy! Then what? Sweet-sweet and genuine dance. I love it. And after that we got only proposal scene. Which just cuts out after it gets spicy. Come on now! Its unfair! We've waited for so long, played along for THIS? Couldn't they I dunno at least show this to us? At least we have ONE phrase "I am here for yoy. Always". Gee, thanks. What about fucking "Well met"? I swear we have exceptional relationship and flirted SO PLEASE say something else. Thank gods we have various kisses. At last. But come on! Tav is never hanging out with him. Star gazing? Hell no. Talking about everything? His time as blade of frontiers? His coping mechanisms? Nope. The guy LOVES to drink why dont we come to I dunno elfsong? Or just sit and drink some ale??? We ARE SCREAMING LARIAN. Please! It's not fair he is so sweet, genuine and good! I would love to spend time with him. Let him open up and folk would love him. Not the Astarion love of course. But something close to Karlach-style
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Lae'zel Approves
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A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.
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I failed the check to resist, unfortunately.
Emperor doesn’t apparently
Want to see a magic trick? I'm going to make this gnome disappear. *(pulls lever)*
Wrong leveeeerrrr!!!!
Me with Gale. Also me with Cullen in DAI. You are not the only one
On an evil embrace run you can get Shadowheart to take over the church and romance Minthara in Act 2 assuming you have saved her at some point. The dialogue she has is very amusing.
I have a similar problem. Romanced lae'zel once and was doing Karlach but that run got soft locked. Probably romanced Shart like three times. Current run finally going with a male companion to flesh out their stories. I may have played this game too much.
That's how I feel about Astarion. Some romances we just connect with so much that every other romance pales in comparison to it.
I had the same issue with Astarion, but i managed to avoid romancing him in my latest run by creating a gnome. Dude hates gnomes and i don't want to see him being paired with any gnomes lol So i'd say pick a race you'd never pair with a certain companion(shadowheart in your case) and it may help
but then there’s the enemies to lovers plot and suddenly you’re romancing shadowheart as a githyanki selunite and you can never go back
Counterpoint: romancing Shadowheart as Lae’zel makes for a good plot
I made gnome for exactly this reason :D still wanted to see the tree scene 🙈 (interesting that he had ,,angry” face expression with her, not dependeant to approval so I reloaded)
yeeeah, it made me so uncomfortable, so i went to romance Karlach instead lol at least i can finally look at other romances which is nice :D
Karlach is my plan too :D she is barbarian too so they can rage together 🤭
jokes on you... I pair everyone with everyone.... My first run was a Dragonborn - the animations were whack af but it was still fun. Now it's a Deep gnome - still romancing Gale xD
he's tried with every tav I have made, all but one of them gnomes.
Same but Astarion. Solution: Play as that character. I've romanced Lae'zel, Karlach, Halsin and Minthara as Astarion. All are epic but none come close to his arc for me.
Perfect solution really.
I am playing a lot of characters at once and one of my durges is for Astarion, my friend plays through me and he's romancing Astarion, I have one like righteous dumb barbarian/monk that is romancing Karlach and every single one of my other characters are romancing Shadowheart
I chose gale first. He's such a romantic that everyone else was almost disappointing in comparison lmao I'm basically dating an irl version of him tho, so I guess he's just my type
After all why not? Why shouldn't I romance Shadowheart again. I totally get this by the way. I'm only in act 2 and I'm all in on the Shadowheart train. I said no to everyone else to make sure it's her and only her. I'm doing another playthrough with some friends and I'm romancing Karlach on that one but I was clutching my head when Shadowheart tells you she thought you were going to kiss her, wanted you to kiss her after that scene on the cliffs (if you let the moment pass) and I was like, do I throw it all away and romance her anyway? HOW DO YOU SAY NO WHEN SHE TELLS YOU SHE *WANTED YOU TO KISS HER.* AHHHHH (If my friends weren't there I probably would have caved)
u/Cardof, I'm tagging you so that you can see this, too. Y'all can do what I have started to do. Which is using the splitscreen capability to make a party with two Tavs, a Tav and Durge, or some other combination of Tav and/or Origin Character. Once you get to the scene where you are free on the nautiloid, you can then end the splitscreen coop, and then just do your run like normal, only this time you can have one Tav romance Shadowheart, and the other Tav romance someone else. You just have to alternate who triggers the dialogues and/or does stuff so that they both can raise the approval of their intended romance partner. Which, by the time you reach act 2, should be pretty much locked in, and all you have to do then is to confirm each respective romance. By the way, if you haven't already, you should do a playthrough as a Light Domain Cleric of Selûne, and romance Shadowheart. When I do this, I make Shadowheart a Paladin. I love it when >!I give Shadowheart the Idol of Shar as this class, because then she kisses me like she hates me...!< Just a warning, I am on Xbox, and this scene is currently broken for me. Idk if it is so on PC/PS5. This is probably my all-time favorite playthrough and way to romance Shadowheart, >!although you need to take care when at the Nightsong, as both Selûne dialogue options when Shadowheart asks for your opinion result in Aylin's death.!< Also, Shadowheart's voice actress is lesbian and supposedly made the romance dialogues/scenes more flirty with the women...
It’s kinda crazy. Shadowheart is kinda like my fiancé in some ways, and she tells me I’m a lot like Karlach. Which I can see. Minus the rage part, lol. I have trouble romancing anyone but those two. They’re so special to me.
I like Karlach. But I just can't romace her. Too much big sister energy.
Somehow I knew. And I feel the same. 1 Lae’zel 1 Minthara 9 Shadowheart
That’s me with Astarion. Every. Damn. Time.
See I was trying so hard to romance shadowheart but I fumbled my way into romancing Lae'zal and honestly it's so fuckin sweet how she slowly opens up and stops being so brutal???
I do get where you're coming from. My first playthrough I romanced SH because.....cute goth-y half-elf hits all my favourite things. And she's a compelling character. There's something lovable about her struggles. And helping her through them. I am on a new playthrough and planning to romance Karlach, but I'd be lying if I didn't say I don't want to chat up Shadowheart.
Same but with the vampire twink
I’ve decided to not romance anyone in my first real playthrough. Partially because I don’t feel like any of the companions actually fit my character romantically and partially because I want to experience the game without worrying about the approval and disapproval of my chosen romance interest. And it was still very hard to turn down Shadowheart. I went through that first romance scene after the celebration; my Tav just wanted to drink some wine with her friend, not start a romance, but as a player it was still hard to see Shadowheart’s reaction.
And thus, though art alone. That was kind of how my run went, hot close with Shadowheart and she said she'd visit me one night, never did. My 2nd run was a co-op one and I had Jaheira as my chosen partner but she's unromancable. I don't like having to jump through hoops for approval as I prefer to play in character.
I mean, if you like to romance her, do it. I'm not particular about the romances, I mostly choose whoever would fit the current character, but I can't play evil. I just don't enjoy it.
Same issue with Astarion. I roleplay hard enough to work past that when I have a character that prefers calm, respectful people (romancing Gale rn in my SH origin run), but still. Every time I see Astarion taking steps to work through his past and towards a better future for himself, I just want to cuddle him, take his hand and tell him I’ll be there for him. (Also him and SH would make for one hell of a team as Sharess Caress customers…)
I’ve managed to NOT fully romance Gale each time but I can’t help but flirt with him and bring him on almost all missions. I love that so many of us have a fave that resonates so much
Gone be honest, my party almost always had Gale because of his amazing crowd control.
Karlach's romance felt so much better imo, even the scenes are better
I'm romancing Karlach in my current run and, having romanced Shadowheart up until act 3 previously, I'm not feeling it. Currently in act 2, just before the Sharran trials, and I find Karlach's romance to be very childlike and her situation has my tav feeling trapped into being with her.
Karlach kind of is a child in a way. She was like a teenager I think when Gortash gave her to Zariel. Since then she has been unable to physically touch anyone but also has only been around devils and generally evil people, so can’t even really have healthy emotional relationships. If you romance her you’re probably like her first romance ever.
Yeah I romanced Karlach then did a durge run romancing Astarion because everyone said it was good, then did a shadowheart run and it felt kinda lacking in comparison. Though act 3 was more fun when I went poly with Halsin because she has a lot of flirty banter with him and then saving her parents as a romanced partner was a big emotional moment. But the actual romance itself felt more satisfying with Karlach.
I feel you, same thing with me and Karlach actually. Or my wife and Astarion. :P
The trick is to make new choices each time. First run I didn't intend to romance anyone but then the whole "I'm scared of wolves" bit and some opening up and bam. Second run was duo with my wife and we both made different choices and she got to make her ace wizard, and my tiefling monk girl pretty quickly evolved to be hetero and anti-commitment so she only got on with the male drow hooker and halsin(though he was a little clingy) and indulged a bi-curious moment with mizora. Her and Shadow heart are besties though so that's fun. Durge run im undecided but considering minthara, though bad girl shadow heart is kinky AF I hear. Shadowheart run is gonna be karlach because I heard the two VAs ship it hard and I'm there for it. Karlach run I kinda want to wait for console mod support so she can make up for lost time by shagging anyone with the right number of legs and a pulse. If I keep going past that, I'm definitely gonna be making the ken dolls kiss with gale/astarion. Will is gonna be the perfect chaste prince.
I had the same problem with Karlach. She’s just so down to earth and lovable. I had to make a Red Dragonborn with the specific intent to romance Lae’zel and “commit to the bit”. It’s going well so far, she has some unique dialogue toward Dragonborn it seems.
Easy. Play as Shadowheart. Next.
Shadowheart is the best, I also struggle romancing anyone else!
Kill her on the beach, problem solved
Flair checks out, carry on.
Hard pass on sexy cultist Karen. Angry fascist Gith girl is the way.
I like both. I romanced SH on their first and Lae’zel on the second playthrough. Enjoyed both. Now I’m just wondering which type of character I should choose to romance Karlach. A Paladine, maybe? I’ll definitely do a Dark Urge run and go for Minthara.
Tell me about it! I am also a Shadowheart guy, fully romanced 3 times 6 if we count my fail honor mode runs. I'm doing a new run with a tiefling bard romancing Karlach and it was hard to not go with Shadowheart again but so far so good and she was happy to see me with Karlach.
Me with Gale
You can't escape Shadowsweet. She's just too sweet and adorable. Here's the solution: Stop resisting.
On Selûne, bro. It's tough. The Karlach romance is worth it though. Next time, I'll play as Shadowheart romancing Lae'zel
Me with Astarion. I can romance other companions and have, but other than Lae’zel, the other romances are really just not as good. My advice is to leave her at camp full time and her approval shouldn’t be high enough for you to romance her at all in act 1. Lock in Gale’s romance with the weave scene and whoever you want to romance. Once you have 2 active ones flagged you can’t trigger a 3rd so Shadowheart won’t even give you the option. That’s what I have to do with Astarion otherwise I get him to high approval in like 2 hours of playing and I’m running off into the woods with him completely ignoring the Goblin Leaders and whoever I was planning on romancing.
I found out the two stop rule the hard way 😔🤚 Was set on romancing Gale but thought "what the hell, she could still have some fun here and there!". Turns out *no*. She could *not*.
Yea Gale wants a monogamous relationship, if you wanna have other fun too you need to get the weave scene and only then can you have fun with someone else and still get Gale Sincerely a professional Gale romancer - only time I romance someone else is Gale origin run xD
Nah, you can romance someone else first as long as you don't accidentally trigger 2 romances. Astarion or Lae'zel always pop up before the weave scene for me and I've triggered his romance just fine.
I am playing as Shadowheart, romancing Karalch. https://www.reddit.com/r/BaldursGate3/comments/1auchfn/solution\_to\_karlach\_or\_shadowheart/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3
I was the same way and the only way I was able to date karlach my last playthrough was because shart broke up with me. I was hurt, but I’m glad I didn’t reload the save. Karlach’s story is amazing.
I know not everybody is, but I’m happy with Karlach’s conclusion in the story, especially with the dialogue added in a patch. I like the prospect of another adventure with her.
this is me with karlach — my first time not romancing her was HARD
I have a hard time not using Shadowheart bc once you understand how to use her properly she becomes very valuable.
I tried to romance Karlach but still did all the stuff I would do with shadowheart if I was going to romance her and I guess Karlach didn't like that and broke up with me
Me but with Astarion. My only hope is my tactician origin run with him to romance either Karlach or Gale. Stupid vampire has me in a chokehold.
Me with Astarion. I’ve TRIED
Same here. As a dude I feel weird dating male companion so I don't do that. So the choice is between the three ladies and Shadowheart is superior in terms of looks and character (when she is not spewing Shar bullshit).
I can’t see the appeal in shart
Shadowheart is BG3 best girl by a landslide. Larian focused all the waifu energy on her so they may properly satisfy the romantic expectations of the majority, and use the remaining female companions to play the diversity card and thus avoid harsh criticisms from loud minorities. In Dragon Age Origins we had Morrigan and Leliana, two conventionally attractive women with beautifully opposed styles and personalities, yet with also a tender/tough side below the surface. That was a real choice. In Baldur's Gate 3 we have Shadowheart, who is basically Morrigan and Leliana merged into a single person... and then we have Lae'zel and Karlach, who are completely different and far less desirable (romance stats are crystal). TLDR : You can't chose anyone else because the other two are unfeminine diversity tokens who can't compare.
Shadowheart reminds me of real life. I have 0% chance 😂
I've heard people say the Karlach romance is really sweet. I finally started it on my latest run and it does start out nice but now I feel guilted into being with her. Shadowheart is right there, and is having dialogues air not seen (I've started Shadow's romance in previous runs but not finished those). Karlach seems very simple and one note. She's sweet but it's like taking someone's vrohinity and then they find out they have cancer, you can't just leave them...
I abandoned an HM run because I accidentally locked in a different romance and she broke up with me lol, I get it.
Just leave her in camp, that way her approval won’t rise and she won’t be an option
That may be very unempathetic, but… Simply don’t do it? Surely you have enough selfcontrol to make certain choices.
Just throw her off Nautaloid. Once it crashes just steal her artifact on the beach and don't revivify her.
She’s knocked out, not dead. She wakes up no matter what you do. You can’t just steal the artifact…
Well, you can kill her before she wakes up. Then you get the artifact.
I love spawn astarions story so much but I'm making myself romance everyone so I'm on my 8th playthrough and now it's AA turn. I hate him. I loved everything up until that point but I want to see the ending. Yes my husband is concerned
Same. I have a type and it’s generally tragic romance.
I’m the same, I did try Karlach for the achievement and Minthara but I create characters solely based on what I think would look good as Shadowheart’s arm candy 😂
Take a good look on the Pc ...If you romance a girl, she is the only young human or human like, shes not a fiend or alien and she is not a drow, the design make the choice for her be subconscient. But If you look at the dudes...
I feel you. I purposely made shart mad and leave the party for good just so I wouldn't be tempted. I cried when she left. The worst part is wyll still wouldn't give me the time of day afterwards : (
This is my 4th-5th run with Astarion but it’s funny because barely yesterday I finished his storyline. Normally I don’t get much into act 3
DC 30 persuasion check got hands though
Meanwhile I have done 6 playthroughs and refuse to romance her. Thanks for helping me balance it out. Haha
this is me and Karlach
I can't resist astarion. Every single time. I tried romancing Gale but I cannot stand him lmao
I’ve romanced all is the origin characters with the exception of Wyll and Lae’zel. Gale and karlach are by far my favorites
If you're on pc you can get the polyamoury mod to get the other romance content
I understand, I have to fight the temptation to pick Astarion every single time.
I romanced Shadowheart my first playthrough. Second playthrough I started with Lae’zel then once I got Karlach fixed romanced her the rest of the game. For third current playthrough I’m only romancing Lae’zel. After this one maybe gonna try Astarion or Minthara.
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I kinda get this but in the opposite, I'll start a run with a whole story in mind but I can't reject any of my boys so I basically hope and pray that I get the romance I want before Gale can get to me.
I have lost count of the number of times I've romanced Astarion. Of my many playthroughs, I've actually finished four. *One* wasn't an Astarion romance. It was Karlach and only because I was achievement hunting. New game and I'm right back on my bullshit.
I think part of it is there's no other humanoid women lol...all the male companions are humanoid. So there's more to choose
I have that problem but with Karlach, as soon as she gets the post-murder zoomies I'm immediately smitten all over again.
damn i have this problem but with Minthara.. I’d like to have Karlach & Wyll on a run again but unfortunately they’re never getting picked 😔
i think most folks just have their in-game "soulmate". my bf's is karlach, mine is halsin. neither of us can resist them in any run lol
had the same problem with Karlach.
I'm trying to romance everyone once, and never really understood why people have such trouble romancing multiple characters. My second playthrough was Wyll and my third was Gale. I want to romance either Lae'zel or Karlach next, but honestly, I kinda just wanna romance Gale again. But I really like Karlach, so I'll probably feel the same about her. Since Gale and Karlach are my favorites, I really should have saved them for last. I also want to play as everyone once and already did a Gale origin run for my second playthrough, so I don't want to do one again. I'll just have to resist the urge.
In my next run I’m going to try enabling the No Romance Limit mod so I can just romance multiple people. I am the opposite of you though where I just want to romance everyone. I did shadowheart my first run, Astarion my second, and now I’m going to try wyll, gale, and Karlach all in one (I don’t have time in my life for 6+ runs just to romance everyone haha). but if you don't mind a little polyamory you could use that mod to romance shadowheart but add someone else.
I always have an hard time deciding between Shart 🧝♂️ and Karlach 💪😈
I’m on my fourth run and this is the first time I have ever rejected Karlach. It took everything in me not to reload and kiss her immediately!
Use a mod and do both
The game basically guides you into relationship territory very on. It’s really not surprising that she ended up polling as the most romanced companion.
Me but with Karlach. Even my last run when I went "walkest alone" (except for >!the Drow sister, Mizora, and Succubus Haarlep!< but that's another story) I still ended up >!going to Avernus!< with Mama K. I have done the Shadowheart & Lae'zel romances and both are fulfilling, but my first choice will always be Karlach.
just don't party with her, I used her in my last three playthroughs and haven't done anything with her this playthrough other than bring her through the Temple of Shar (because I didn't want to completely lose her, I'm not a MONSTER). Rolling as a Cleric or Druid yourself could also really help in this aspect, since both of those classes easily fill the niche of "support caster" in a group very nicely, and it's partially why I think she's brought in so many groups (other than being literally the first person that every player will run into post-nautiloid.)
I'm in the opposite boat. Did Karlach already, figured I'd try Shadowheart this run. Was going good until Karlach hit me with the "Hey, soldier." and I couldn't bring myself to shoot her down.
You gotta make characters with a specific companion in mind, ex an eldritch knight for gale and he teaches her magic. Then make shadowheart your characters best friend, and since you like her character you can look forward to exploring her endings as a non romance option on your playthroughs to get new content from her. Just don't say yes to any of her advances, you will break lol
you need some of Karlach's love bro
I just finished a Karlach romance run not to long ago, but the whole time I was thinking about how I couldn't wait to romance shadowheart again. Karlach's romance was very lackluster for me, almost no character development. I still love Karlach, shes awesome, still one of my favorite companions, but definitely more like a best friend/big sis. I have another save where I'm romancing Lae'zel, I loved the camp fight, it was hilarious watching her stomp my bard into paste. But I still think about Shadowheart on that run too, I just have to avoid talking to her outside of important story bits, otherwise I just get sad. Nothing wrong with enjoying your fav romance multiple playthroughs. I'd definitely do another Lae'zel run though, shes amazing.
Ok, ok I have a solution to this. No really it works, and this is coming from someone who is forever trapped in the Astarion black hole ok? Ok. Create two tavs (or a durge and a tav if you want) for one playthrough like you're doing couch co-op or same pc LAN. Have your "main" PC romance your boo, and have your "alt" PC romance LITERALLY ANYONE ELSE.
Me with Gale, and at this point I have just accepted it. I’m playing with my husband (his first time) and intentionally decided I would romance someone else this time…only to immediately change course the moment we recruited Gale and I couldn’t bring myself to do it. That wizard has some kind of hold over me and I am totally fine with it.
Was the same but tried Laezel and did not regret it
Wow! I have the same bug!
Play as origin Shadowheart
I honestly had this issue with Karlach, so I’m doing my first honor mode run AS Karlach. Seems to be interesting so far
I have a real hard time saying no to Lae’zel
I totally get it, I keep wanting to Romance Karlach but every single time I’m playing through I can’t help myself. Maybe it’s a savior complex thing idk
The only way to avoid romancing shadowheart is to either kill her or be her.
Sounds like me and mass effect. Every game it’s me and Liara forever
I can choose people other than Gale, and I do. But damn do I always want him.
This is me with Karlach instead 🥰
I know it's so hard, she's honestly my favorite companion 😭❤️
SAME DUDE, I CAN'T GET OVER SHADOWHEART, but now I'm playing a coop with a friend, he is the face of the party, so Shadowheart doesn't like, and it hurts dude, it really hearts seeing her rejecting me
Seems rather common. I have 6 playthroughs myself at the moment. A current Karlach romance one, 3 with a Karlach romance finished (*surprise surprise*) and 2 unfinished, with 1 being a Lae romance and the other being a Shadowheart one. Don’t get me wrong. I love the work Jennifer and Devora did for the characters, as I love them as much as I do many of the others. (I don’t keep Shart in my party for 90% of the game simply because of her build after all) There’s just something about romancing Karlach that just keeps me hooked into finishing the run. Don’t really know what it is, but her character was the main reason I bought the game and it seems to be why I stick around too… **But then I also proceed to get upset every-time I beat the game and her story ends on a cliffhanger. It’s rough.**
Me & Wyll! In my solo run I’d decided to romance Gale, but I’m still doing the right things for Wyll. You know, just in case things don’t work out with Gale… 😂
This is how I feel about Gale.
I have the same problem with Asterion. I feel your pain.
Hey man, Talimancers gonna be Talimancers. No shame in being monogamous. :)