All Baldur’s Gate 3 Companions: Classes, Locations, full list

The Companions of Baldur’s Gate 3 are specialist characters that can accompany you on your journey as part of your Party. Each has unique abilities and personality traits that can help you decide which is right for you. Before you jump in, here’s a full rundown on every Companion in the game.

There are ten companions currently revealed, some of which appear in Baldur’s Gate 3‘s early access. Others have been confirmed for launch by developers Larian Studios.

Six of these companions have been confirmed as Origin characters who you can choose to play if you don’t want to use the game’s robust character creator to craft your own. Even if you do select one as your Origin character, the others will still be recruitable.

These Companions all have a specific role to fill as well as character-defining preferences and peeves, which sometimes include each other. Here’s everything we know about the potential party members of Baldur’s Gate 3.

Shadowheart

Also available as a playable Origin character, Shadowheart is a High Half-elven Cleric of Shar. Her dedication to the neutral-evil goddess of darkness and the night allows her to use illusion and manipulation magic on top of the standard Cleric arsenal.

She’s best incorporated as a ranged support character slinging surprisingly high-damage spells and healing from afar. Her low AC and Dexterity make her an incredibly squishy party member but access to damage, support, and healing spells make her a very useful allrounder.

Shadowheart is one of the first companions you’ll come across in Baldur’s Gate 3. She can be seen knocking on the door to the Abandoned Ruins at the end of the beach you crash land on in Chapter 1. If you don’t stumble across her here, she will try to kill you later on but you can recruit her here too.

You can gain her approval by disagreeing with Lae’zel at any opportunity and by showing kindness to animals you encounter. High approval will open up the option to romance her.

Astarion

Astarion is a handsome High-elven rogue and another of the game’s playable Origin characters. He’s also… A VAMPIRE! His class and affliction give him a variety of stealth attacks and a few magic options if you’re so inclined.

He’s an okay damage dealer made more effective by stacking successive sneak attacks. Outside of combat, Astarion’s skills in deception, persuasion, and lockpicking make him really useful for opening minds and doors. Moreso doors as they don’t rely on his less-than-stellar starting Charisma stat.

You can find Asterion shortly after your first potential encounter with Shadowheart. He’ll be hiding from a monster to the West of the beach and call out for aid.

Getting him onside with approval is relatively simple, don’t be uptight when his vampirism is revealed and let him drink the blood of your enemies. No seriously, he’s a thirsty fellow. If you indulge him, you’ll have the option to reciprocate his incessant flirting.

Gale

Great hair and powerful spells, what’s not to love about the Human Wizard Gale? Well, for a start, his abysmal attempts at flirting with Shadowheart if you have her in your party when you encounter him. Lack of rizz aside, he’s a competent magic user with some potential build variety.

Gale has access to some of the game’s best damaging and controlling spells. Rather than a jack of both trades, he’s far more effective as a master of either. You can choose his role based on your needs. Almost all of his skills rely on his intelligence stat and he can be handy as a researcher of magical items.

Another companion who’s easy to bump into in the game’s early hours, he can be found on the Roadside Cliffs area of the map near the beach you land on after the prologue. He’ll pop out of a magic portal and after an exchange of pleasantries he’ll happily tag along with you.

Gale’s primary concern is removing the Tadpoles from your brains so any action taken towards that end will gain his approval. Inversely, if you chose to embrace the powers the Tadpole offers, you won’t get to embrace Gale. Not a big loss when you consider his appalling absence of game. He is an optional Origin character, but at what cost?

Wyll

You’d think Wyll’s habit of consorting with demons would make him a rather nasty fellow. Despite that, this Human Warlock is an honorable warrior who’s a capable swordsman with some eldritch magic to back it up. If that sounds like someone you’d like to play, he’s one of the announced Origin characters.

Wyll’s high constitution means he’s capable of taking a hit and early access to the Eldritch Blast cantrip makes him a handy early-game damage dealer. He fits well in most parties and gains useful boosts from his high base Charisma. That also means he’s useful outside of combat when you need to do some sweet talking.

You’ll first meet Wyll in the Druid’s Grove north of the Roadside Cliffs. He’ll be training a Tiefling child in a camp that’s a little worse for wear after a Goblin attack. Agree to help him hunt down those Goblins and he’s your man.

His disposition as a do-gooder means that to raise his approval, you need to avoid acts of cruelty or mischief. Despite his highmindedness, he’s not above a little anti-Goblin racism so don’t make friends with any if you want him to open his heart to you.

Lae’zel

Lae’zel is a powerful Githyanki fighter whose usefulness in combat is balanced by her snarky demeanor and sharp tongue. She has a fairly narrow skillset that involves stabbing things for big damage and… that’s it. Just the stabbing. This makes her the ideal Origin character for newcomers who don’t want to have to grapple with the complexities of other classes.

Lae’zal’s stat spread makes her ideal as an up-front damage dealer whose bulk allows her to protect some of your more fragile allies. She starts off with the Greatweapon Fighting Style which means early access to high damage two-handed weapons. Her only reliable skill outside of combat is acrobatics as it plays off her high base Strength stat.

She is technically the first party member you’ll team up with after a brief encounter in the Prologue. After this, she can be found suspended in a cage by some Tieflings on a beach north of the Roadside Cliffs. Side with her over the Tieflings and she’ll join you, fail to and you’ll lose her for good.

Lae’zel is a sucker for feats of strength and domination. She sees any compromise as weakness and actively encourages cruelty. Raising her approval will very commonly put you out of favor with most other party members which can be a hassle. Still, if you’re willing to snub the rest of your party, the reward is sweet, green lovin’.

Karlach

Not much is known about this Tiefling Barbarian who won’t become available until the full launch of Baldur’s Gate 3 on August 3, 2023.

She’s been described as a vengeance-seeking badass on the hunt for friendship and a chance to help the oppressed. If our DnD knowledge is sound, she will like to Rage.

We do know she can be found in a Chapter 1 quest located on The Risen Road and will become available as an Origin character.

Halsin

A Wood-elf Druid found somewhere in the Shattered Sanctum. His role as an Origin character is speculated but not confirmed.

Jaheira

Jaheira is a Half-elven multi-class Druid/Fighter who returns from previous games in the franchise. Her role in Baldur’s Gate 3 is unclear as yet and it is unknown if she will be an Origin character.

Minthara

Minthara is a Drow Paladin that can be found somewhere in the Shattered Sanctum. It is currently unknown whether she will feature as an Origin character.

Minsc

Minsc is another returning character. Much like Jaheira, this Human warrior’s class, and role in the newest iteration are unknown. The same is true of his status as an Origin character.

We’ll continue to update this list of Companions in Baldur’s Gate 3 and their locations as more information becomes available.

For more while you wait for the release, check out our early access and pre-release guides below:

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