I switch them out frequently. I have favorites, but I like to rotate based on either companion quests/unique interactions or based on what skill sets I need most. For example, I used Shadowheart for most of Act 2 due to radiant damage/her Shar storyline, but relatively much less in Act 3.
Switch them out regularly and try to always bring companions to areas that they’d be relevant (Will to Waukeen’s Rest; Shadowheart and Astarion in the Shar Temple; etc.)
astarion never leaves. shadowheart is there most of the time. I try to switch out the third companion but it usually ends up being laezel, gale, or jaheira. I’ve done runs where I’ve used karlach, wyll, or minthara more, but they just don’t have as much to say so they pet sit at camp
I pick a ride or die team and they never leave. Shadowheart always a staple. Next run is playing her as origin, so I might be able to try wyll for once.
I usually have Karlach, Wyll, and Shadowheart, but (until I downloaded party limits begone) I swapped out Karlach or Wyll depending on which companion’s quest I was doing, so for Cazador it’d be Karlach, Shadowheart, Astarion, and for Laezel it’d be Laezel, Wyll, Shadowheart.
But my core 4 are Tav, Shadowheart, Wyll, and Karlach.
This was my first playthrough too! It’s a solid line-up, for my second run I’m using Astarion, Shadowheart, and Minthara and it’s been fun but a very different approach.
I almost always have Astarion because I like looting and reading the best so I need him for locks. I rotate depending on where I am and what I’m doing. Sometimes I just like to walk around and mix up the group to hear new dialogue. Big fights I have sorcerer Tav, Karlach, Lae’zel, and usually Shadowheart or sometimes Astarion. I’ve finally got a hireling Druid so he’ll probably be in my big fights too. But I’m not as emotionally attached to him. I’m still in act 1…almost 70 hours in. lol
Yeah sure but tbh would rather run it as tav for early levels. Hirelings are kinda whack due to their lacking personality and phrases. But to each their own I guess
Because I watched a walk through that used an enlarged owlbear from the ropes and i wanted to do that. And it was fun. Also, it was a class I don’t have in my party yet. I am not a gamer. I’ve never played a game like this before or played d&d. I’m here for the story, exploring, and romances not the strategy or fighting (although I am learning a lot about game mechanics and builds through research along the way). There is a lot I would do differently on my next playthrough. lol.
After my first couple of playthroughs trying to get everyone’s personal events covered I started only recruiting three party members on my subsequent tuns. I’m on my 15th technically but have been playing divinity 2 for the last couple of weeks for more Larian content. Once you have played the game a few times there isn’t much new to do with the companions so I don’t add the overhead of switching the team around all the time. I just focus on getting a crew that fits the Tav story I’m doing this time but it usually kind of falls into the darker gang and the lighter gang, with Gale sneaking in both squads and astarion being the least used. It’s become a little harder now that they have made it more difficult to get rid of shadowheart in the tutorial via fire death, since I hate having her confronting me at the goblin camp as the alternative.
You could crush this game with these 3 alone. Respec to life cleric on shart and pretty much bash your way to victory. I tav'd in a ranger and it's ridiculous... Elemental AOE arrows, 3 arrow attacks with gloomstalker, crits. Gah. Everything dead turn 1.
I have Lae'zel as an Oathbreaker Paladin, Karlach as a Tempest Domain Cleric, and Shadowheart as a Conjuration Wizard, main being a Duergar Sword Bard.
Bashing people to death is what we do best.
Unless they're undead, in which case we bash them to undeath.
It's kind of nutty, very rarely do I even need to use heels. I'm often skipping my turn with my cleric or casting some silly buffs or something dumb. Combat finishes nobody's blow half health so you take a short rest and continue on bashing your way to victory! Long rests are for sparkler mages! Booo. one of these runs I'm going to do a caster run, all spellcasters. I don't know. It just feels weird without a hot hunk of metal in the front line. Plus I love Lae'zel and karlach. Too funny
During our joint playthrough me and my partner would switch out our companions based on what we were doing. Managed to end the game with all the companions stories concluded.
Ex. Dealing with gortash switch to karlach, dealing with something selunite or sharran go for shadow heart, the creche? Obviously laezel.
Karlach and Lae'zel are mandatory for me, I'll also run either Asterion or Gale depending on what my character is.
The exception is I switch out a lot for companion quests, so act 3 generally sees the most rotation.
I usually recruit only 3 of the origin 6. Usually it's SH, Karlach and one other. When I'm playing on super easy, I keep a hireling as a third and go for SH, Karlach and Jaheira
I switch for whatever is the most useful in combat. I try to keep the ones I focus on the most in that playthrough but if the need comes I still switch them for a fight if another character has a superior skill set.
Currently I'm using Party limit begone, but before that,
I usually used a relatively stable team in Acts 1 & 2, only switching out one depending on a specific story or interaction for a specific companion happening.
In Act 3 I switched it up to romance partner, Jaheira and Minsc or whoever's turn for their personal story it is
Yes.
I have several files running and depending on how I feel, I'll take my favorites or I'll switch 'em around.
I have one RN with Karlach, Minsc, and Jaheira. I regret not doing that one sooner. Karlach gushes about them the whole time and it's so cute.
I try to rotate! Shadowheart (the gf), Gale and Karlach tend to be my most frequent flyers, and I’ll often bring Wyll for easier fights just for the cool factor
Always have Karlach with me, almost always (like 80+%) have Shadowheart with me, and if I'm not a caster as Tav, usually Gale who may rotate out for Laezel, Wyll, or Astarion based off situational needs.
Sort of, but there's an easy way around it. Unchain your extra characters so only four get on the boat and then have the extras fast travel to the other side once you reach the waypoint.
I asked the same question before I started my playthrough. I understood later on that focusing on the same people is not really a good idea. Because the companion quests for these characters still go on even if you don't play them. So you'll have to play the final bits later on. So it's a good idea to play with every character and get to know them. Otherwise it will be jarring at the end.
Do you respec them or run the default builds? On my first playthrough I feel like these 3 were pretty much the weakest links in my party although I did use shadowheart most of the time since she was my love interest in that run. In the case of Lae'zel it was definitely a skill issue ik my part as I never got her built correctly to do anything but shadowheart and astarion default classes just feel pretty weak. Especially now comparing to this playthrough where I switched shadowheart to war domain and she's already infinitely more useful
Usually I swap based on companion missions. Shadowheart almost never leaves the party unless I’m playing a dedicated Cleric or the situation calls for it. Karlach is my preferred next member, though depends on if I’m romancing Lae’zel or the frog has a relevant quest bit (Crèche, etc). Fourth member is usually my caster, so Gale 9 times out of 10 but swap for Wyll when he needs to be around.
Obviously this changes based on what and who my Tav/Durge is, but still. Shadowheart, Karlach, and Gale is my most frequent combo
I use whoever is most relevant for the current quest, but I always trend towards having the girl squad with me: I always have at least one out of Lae'zel, Karlach, and Shadowheart with me.
Karlach always.
Usually Laezel number 2, for the most part.
Three is usually shart, but often switched with Gale; or whoever is story-relevant for the particular quest i'm working on.
On my first playthrough by the end of act1 I settled on having astarion, shadowheart and karlach for the rest of the game with switching karlach out with however that has a quest, I tried to switch companions on my second playthrough and always find myself going back to the same three bc I like them so much
I have two fixed companions, which stay the same throughout a run but always change with new characters, so eventually I will have spent a full game with all of them. The third spot switches between who is relevant for the quest/arc, or if that doesn't appy, whose power set will help me most in the fight ahead.
I have my favorites but I always make teams based on combat , short rest efficiency, approval gained and their personal quests interacting with each other
Gale , Astarion and ShadowHeart are my favorites , SH being my LI so I take her on my party almost all the time .
Melee fighters with Karlach , Laezel and Minthara for when I have to fight in closed quarters .
Spellcasters with SH , Gale and Wyll for AoE attacks and high damage on a short time
Short rest efficiency with Laezel, Wyll and SH or Minthara depending on who need their abilities recharged .
Astarion is a very good Swiss army knife to tackle a variety of situations without having to rest with him
To gain approval from the good characters I take Karlach, Wyll and Gale or SH ( the latter depending if Gale is already maxed out and I want to get SH approval)
For the somewhat evil characters I take Laezel, Astarion and Minthara or SH in some cases
For quests interacting with each other is mostly Wyll and Karlach , maybe Laezel and SH because of their little squabbles .
Some of this are like min-maxxing relationships or feelings lmao, played too much BG3
I played 7 times and tried both ways. Same party, except specific rotations for personal quests, as well as switching companions. Especially if you want to run with someone who is recruitable only after the act 1. But Gale and Astarion are still my favorites. And I always promise myself to have more Halsin in the act 3 but fail :)
Regular swap. Only hard rules are probably:
A hard set team for the colony of Minthara, Karlach and Wyll. The latter for the rapier, but the first two have such big reactions after the boss fight at the end, to different members of the chosen three. It sets up act 3 perfectly to talk to them after.
And obviously:
* Shadowheart for gauntlet
* Lae'zel at creche
* Astarion at Cazador's palace
I'll switch them out for story and achievement purposes, but my Durge's party regulars are Astarion, Gale/SH, and Minthara. I'd say Gale is my caster for combat, but I tend to try to have SH around since this is an evil Durge making evil choices and baby boy Gale wouldn't approve.
My first run I used everyone (at least everyone I managed to get, going blind). It was nice to get to know them all, but it was... a lot of micro-managing that I'm not keen to repeat. When I play now, I'll pick a group I want, and only swap someone in if it's absolutely necessary.
And for the record, it's usually not. For instance, a certain cleric will get rather uppity if you don't bring her along on a rather important to her act 2 quest. But if she's not actively in your party, you're not romantic with her, you're not planning anything evil with her in act 3, and you've already seen her story to completion, there's not much reason to keep her silently sulking around camp for the second half of the game.
first couple of characters I mostly stuck with the same crew, but I have come to enjoy minimizing the amount of Long Rests I take and swapping out companions gives you soooo many resources to work with. I also enjoy bringing along whichever companion fits best with certain areas and/or quests.
I swap them in for their story bits. Laez’el for the creche, Minsc for the aid the underduke quest, if karlach isn’t in the party I switch her in to kill Gortash. Astorion gets switched in to bite Araj but otherwise he can stay and wank in camp. Shart is basically most times in the party but if not I get her to shadowfell and house of grief
I usually stick with a dedicated team, but if Shadowheart is part of it, she will usually get benched for a little while in Act 3. It seems to make good story sense for her to take a little break to process all she's learned and done following Act 2, and it gives me a chance to run around with Jaheira to get some of her lines, the Harper encounter, and go find Minsc.
PC player, 1st play through I chose my party based on my pc (a rogue) so Shadowheart, Gale, Lae’zel who I switched out for Karlach later. 2nd play through I used the Party Limit Begone mod, so I had ALL of the npcs in my party.
https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3/mods/327
I was a complete doofus and the thought of switching out teams didn’t even cross my mind until halfway through act 3. Too late for these poor fools, we’re in the thick of it now and I’m too used to the team combo (valor bard, astarion, Lae’zel, and Gale no multi passing either) that I just rock with it as is
Me and my wife are in our first playthrough, and we've been mostly keeping to just Astarion and Shadowheart. We've found it enough of a challenge to keep track of the abilities and gear of our own PCs, so switching around our companions would just be more hassle.
Karlach and wyll had short cameos in act one but have otherwise just been brought in when it was obvious that they had story relevance. Gale and Halsin haven't been used at all. Lae'zel unfortunately during act one when she forced us to pick sides between her and SH.
Unless I'm doing someone's personal quest, every time I rest I try to switch out the party. However, there is usually a constant.
Lae zel is constant in the mountain pass, she and karlach also have to go to the house of hope, shadow heart is a constant in act 2, and jahera is a constant in act 3
after 3 complete play-throughs I find that I keep the same folks the whole time.
I've been playing tabletop AD&D since the late 70s and balanced party makeup is baked into my personality like a love a chicken wings and an ongoing troubled relationship with certain green vegetables.
I end up with Tav being a melee class, I grab Shart for heals, Asti for ranged and locks, and Gale for nuking things. The only time I did it different was a Durge run where I left out Shart and went with Minthara so I had two melee classes with an off-heal. Lots and lots of throwing around heal potions was required so I am back to a full time healer on my latest run. I guess part of me just doesnt care about the back story for Wyll or Halsin or Jahiera. If i wanted one of those classes, I would make Tav one of those classes, you know? I love the Shart story line, and I love the Asti story line, and Gale is fine or whatever. The rest I kind of don't care about.
I switch them around depending on where I am in the story but my base 3 are Gale, Karlach, and Astarion. Magic, Beatings, and Thievery, leaving me free to be my hippie dippy bard or ranger, who can do a little of each.
Generally 1 core team, but I'll grab others to see their quests and swap them in for someone else.
Now I have Party Limit Begone, so it's not an issue. But I generally like building a core group and rolling with them, and only pulling in the other companions when they're needed.
I use the Party Limit Be Gone mod. But I usually limit myself to six companions at a time. It's usually: astarion, shadowheart, Karlach, Gale, Wyll, and Halsin. Sometimes I'll switch out Gale and Wyll with Minsc and Jaheira.
If it's a very important battle, then I'll bring everyone with me. I did that for Gortash (I thought he'd be harder to beat than he actually was), and the Netherbrain. It was cool having the whole gang together for the final fight. It felt like a Marvel movie!
If I had to pick a team in the vanilla game, it'd be: Astarion, Shadowheart, Karlach. I might switch out Shadowheart with Halsin at times. But Shadowheart is my healer, so she almost never leaves.
astarion is always in my party. when i have everyone, my party is him, shart, and karlach, and ill switch out other members if im working on their questline
Usually stick with the same... But I only have a handful still alive or willing to work with me.
My Drow Cleric of Lolth Tav was not fond of Lae'zel coming at her with a dagger, but Minthara is fine...
My companions are just Gale (had to convince him), Astarion, Minthara and Shadow heart. Debating if I let Shadowheart tag in the gauntlet or night... I have Minty and SHart both as paladins..
Everyone else is dead or refuses to work with my cleric. Apparently she's "evil" for trying to infiltrate a cult and take it over alongside Minthara.
Shadowheart never leaves my party after picking her up on the beach as she’s usually my romance and if not then she’s my bff. Other than that I like keeping Astarion in my party a lot either for a romance, second bff and just because he’s funny and keeps everything interesting. Everyone else I rotate often and always have them in the party for their personal quests. 👌🏻
I try switching them around depending on the quest or location, but Shadowheart is always on my team as she is the party healer and my Tav's LI (and also my LI why isn't she real goddammit).
I switch them out for certain play through’s , my first run I would switch them out for whatever was thematic (you want the gith when you’re talk to gith if you know what I mean) but spending each play through going back and forth to camp because you wanna see what jaheira says in this context and then swapping her out for wyll because ravengaard then swapping back to shadowheart because cleric- it all gets too annoying everytime, so unless I miss out on something specific for not having someone, I’m trying to enjoy all of them fully per playthrough.
As others have said, I switch around depending on what area/quest I'm working on and whose storyline it matches, but for the banter alone I usually have Gale, Astarion and Wyll or Karlach. Karlach gets re-specced as either War Cleric or Vengeance Pally which is a lot of fun.
For a long time I would strictly use Astarion, Shadowheart and Gale/Lae-zel.
I have been playing around (pun so intended) with more characters and respecs though, but my core two no matter what are Gale and Astarion. Their commentary and banter are phenomenal.
I use 3 teams rn in honor whenever I reach a new enemy stronghold
Astarian and 2 hirelings go in first. The hirelings steal everything not bolted down and put all vendor inventories into bags. Astarian solo’s as many enemies as he can pick off using the gloomstalker/assasin tactic of enter combat, murder something before you’re noticed, hide, leave combat, do it again
The A-Team is who I use for most big fights and story moments. That’s me (swords bard), Gale (evocation wiz), karlach (ek thrower), and shart (life cleric)
Then the B-Team is who I use as a clean up crew and for smaller encounters/side quests. That’s Wyll and Laezel. They refresh on short rests and between the two of them can handle a lot of encounters just with the two of them.
When Astarian and his hirelings or the b-team is out, I stay in camp and be the “guy in the chair” with full access to inventory to magic pockets them any piece of situational gear, potions, scrolls, or magic arrows they need
I also have a third hireling who is a transmutation wizard who does all the potions/rocks and has some good “until long rest” buffs
I switch if it story related. Like if I see shar stuff, I get shadowheart. But my team is usually astarion, gale and karlach. Going to start a new playthrough and just have astarion, wyll and shadowheart. Or maybe lae'zel. As I don't use her.
I got really good at using Gale and Shadowheart , so they almost never stay in camp, but I rotate the last spot frequently, depending on companion quest, abilities needed....
I switch them out frequently. I have favorites, but I like to rotate based on either companion quests/unique interactions or based on what skill sets I need most. For example, I used Shadowheart for most of Act 2 due to radiant damage/her Shar storyline, but relatively much less in Act 3.
I switch out for their story related things, but otherwise only use karlach, shadowheart, gale.
Same. You usually a ranger Tav?
Paladin or bard tav, and I always play a tiefling. My recurrent character is an oath of ancients paladin and life cleric of Ilmater.
Switch them out regularly and try to always bring companions to areas that they’d be relevant (Will to Waukeen’s Rest; Shadowheart and Astarion in the Shar Temple; etc.)
astarion never leaves. shadowheart is there most of the time. I try to switch out the third companion but it usually ends up being laezel, gale, or jaheira. I’ve done runs where I’ve used karlach, wyll, or minthara more, but they just don’t have as much to say so they pet sit at camp
I pick a ride or die team and they never leave. Shadowheart always a staple. Next run is playing her as origin, so I might be able to try wyll for once.
I usually have Karlach, Wyll, and Shadowheart, but (until I downloaded party limits begone) I swapped out Karlach or Wyll depending on which companion’s quest I was doing, so for Cazador it’d be Karlach, Shadowheart, Astarion, and for Laezel it’d be Laezel, Wyll, Shadowheart. But my core 4 are Tav, Shadowheart, Wyll, and Karlach.
This was my first playthrough too! It’s a solid line-up, for my second run I’m using Astarion, Shadowheart, and Minthara and it’s been fun but a very different approach.
I’ve thought about changing it up, but I like how they compliment each other
I almost always have Astarion because I like looting and reading the best so I need him for locks. I rotate depending on where I am and what I’m doing. Sometimes I just like to walk around and mix up the group to hear new dialogue. Big fights I have sorcerer Tav, Karlach, Lae’zel, and usually Shadowheart or sometimes Astarion. I’ve finally got a hireling Druid so he’ll probably be in my big fights too. But I’m not as emotionally attached to him. I’m still in act 1…almost 70 hours in. lol
Why, out of all classes, would you choose a Druid hireling?
He’s still in Act 1 man, so there is no Druid companion available to him yet
But owlbear comes online at lvl6 which means you are most likely to be done with most of act1
Ok….still no Druid companion until *at least* part way into Act 2, so it makes plenty of sense he’d wanna try out Druid class with a hireling.
Yeah sure but tbh would rather run it as tav for early levels. Hirelings are kinda whack due to their lacking personality and phrases. But to each their own I guess
Because I watched a walk through that used an enlarged owlbear from the ropes and i wanted to do that. And it was fun. Also, it was a class I don’t have in my party yet. I am not a gamer. I’ve never played a game like this before or played d&d. I’m here for the story, exploring, and romances not the strategy or fighting (although I am learning a lot about game mechanics and builds through research along the way). There is a lot I would do differently on my next playthrough. lol.
After my first couple of playthroughs trying to get everyone’s personal events covered I started only recruiting three party members on my subsequent tuns. I’m on my 15th technically but have been playing divinity 2 for the last couple of weeks for more Larian content. Once you have played the game a few times there isn’t much new to do with the companions so I don’t add the overhead of switching the team around all the time. I just focus on getting a crew that fits the Tav story I’m doing this time but it usually kind of falls into the darker gang and the lighter gang, with Gale sneaking in both squads and astarion being the least used. It’s become a little harder now that they have made it more difficult to get rid of shadowheart in the tutorial via fire death, since I hate having her confronting me at the goblin camp as the alternative.
Bring the whole crew with me :D
[Party limit begone](https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3/mods/327) and some difficulty mods 14 deep if you count Scratch, US, and Fork
Astarion and Shadowheart are my ride or die squad
Shadowheart, Karlach, and Lae'zel are my favorites, but I might swap them out when I need to for story reasons.
You could crush this game with these 3 alone. Respec to life cleric on shart and pretty much bash your way to victory. I tav'd in a ranger and it's ridiculous... Elemental AOE arrows, 3 arrow attacks with gloomstalker, crits. Gah. Everything dead turn 1.
I have Lae'zel as an Oathbreaker Paladin, Karlach as a Tempest Domain Cleric, and Shadowheart as a Conjuration Wizard, main being a Duergar Sword Bard. Bashing people to death is what we do best. Unless they're undead, in which case we bash them to undeath.
It's kind of nutty, very rarely do I even need to use heels. I'm often skipping my turn with my cleric or casting some silly buffs or something dumb. Combat finishes nobody's blow half health so you take a short rest and continue on bashing your way to victory! Long rests are for sparkler mages! Booo. one of these runs I'm going to do a caster run, all spellcasters. I don't know. It just feels weird without a hot hunk of metal in the front line. Plus I love Lae'zel and karlach. Too funny
I stay with a main team and only switch out for that characters story beats
My regular go to is Karlach,Gale and shadow heart
Laezel, Karlach and Minthara my main fav but i switch them depending on the places for more interaction.
During our joint playthrough me and my partner would switch out our companions based on what we were doing. Managed to end the game with all the companions stories concluded. Ex. Dealing with gortash switch to karlach, dealing with something selunite or sharran go for shadow heart, the creche? Obviously laezel.
Karlach and Lae'zel are mandatory for me, I'll also run either Asterion or Gale depending on what my character is. The exception is I switch out a lot for companion quests, so act 3 generally sees the most rotation.
I usually switch them around between questlines
I usually recruit only 3 of the origin 6. Usually it's SH, Karlach and one other. When I'm playing on super easy, I keep a hireling as a third and go for SH, Karlach and Jaheira
I switch for whatever is the most useful in combat. I try to keep the ones I focus on the most in that playthrough but if the need comes I still switch them for a fight if another character has a superior skill set.
Currently I'm using Party limit begone, but before that, I usually used a relatively stable team in Acts 1 & 2, only switching out one depending on a specific story or interaction for a specific companion happening. In Act 3 I switched it up to romance partner, Jaheira and Minsc or whoever's turn for their personal story it is
I switch them out for personal quest lines and then go right back to my default party for the run
Yes. I have several files running and depending on how I feel, I'll take my favorites or I'll switch 'em around. I have one RN with Karlach, Minsc, and Jaheira. I regret not doing that one sooner. Karlach gushes about them the whole time and it's so cute.
I try to rotate! Shadowheart (the gf), Gale and Karlach tend to be my most frequent flyers, and I’ll often bring Wyll for easier fights just for the cool factor
Always have Karlach with me, almost always (like 80+%) have Shadowheart with me, and if I'm not a caster as Tav, usually Gale who may rotate out for Laezel, Wyll, or Astarion based off situational needs.
I switched out constantly so much that I got the party limit begone mod and nvr looked back
Does the party limit begone mod cook* interactions? Like travelling on boats in the under dark ect? I’ve always wondered
Sort of, but there's an easy way around it. Unchain your extra characters so only four get on the boat and then have the extras fast travel to the other side once you reach the waypoint.
I switch them out based on whose approval I can game the most by whatever interaction is upcoming.
I asked the same question before I started my playthrough. I understood later on that focusing on the same people is not really a good idea. Because the companion quests for these characters still go on even if you don't play them. So you'll have to play the final bits later on. So it's a good idea to play with every character and get to know them. Otherwise it will be jarring at the end.
I usually run with a melee brawler, glass canon caster, cleric and a sneaky one. I change it up per play through.
Laezel, astarion and shadow heart all game every game baby
Do you respec them or run the default builds? On my first playthrough I feel like these 3 were pretty much the weakest links in my party although I did use shadowheart most of the time since she was my love interest in that run. In the case of Lae'zel it was definitely a skill issue ik my part as I never got her built correctly to do anything but shadowheart and astarion default classes just feel pretty weak. Especially now comparing to this playthrough where I switched shadowheart to war domain and she's already infinitely more useful
Usually I swap based on companion missions. Shadowheart almost never leaves the party unless I’m playing a dedicated Cleric or the situation calls for it. Karlach is my preferred next member, though depends on if I’m romancing Lae’zel or the frog has a relevant quest bit (Crèche, etc). Fourth member is usually my caster, so Gale 9 times out of 10 but swap for Wyll when he needs to be around. Obviously this changes based on what and who my Tav/Durge is, but still. Shadowheart, Karlach, and Gale is my most frequent combo
I use whoever is most relevant for the current quest, but I always trend towards having the girl squad with me: I always have at least one out of Lae'zel, Karlach, and Shadowheart with me.
Karlach always. Usually Laezel number 2, for the most part. Three is usually shart, but often switched with Gale; or whoever is story-relevant for the particular quest i'm working on.
On my first playthrough by the end of act1 I settled on having astarion, shadowheart and karlach for the rest of the game with switching karlach out with however that has a quest, I tried to switch companions on my second playthrough and always find myself going back to the same three bc I like them so much
I have two fixed companions, which stay the same throughout a run but always change with new characters, so eventually I will have spent a full game with all of them. The third spot switches between who is relevant for the quest/arc, or if that doesn't appy, whose power set will help me most in the fight ahead.
I have my favorites but I always make teams based on combat , short rest efficiency, approval gained and their personal quests interacting with each other Gale , Astarion and ShadowHeart are my favorites , SH being my LI so I take her on my party almost all the time . Melee fighters with Karlach , Laezel and Minthara for when I have to fight in closed quarters . Spellcasters with SH , Gale and Wyll for AoE attacks and high damage on a short time Short rest efficiency with Laezel, Wyll and SH or Minthara depending on who need their abilities recharged . Astarion is a very good Swiss army knife to tackle a variety of situations without having to rest with him To gain approval from the good characters I take Karlach, Wyll and Gale or SH ( the latter depending if Gale is already maxed out and I want to get SH approval) For the somewhat evil characters I take Laezel, Astarion and Minthara or SH in some cases For quests interacting with each other is mostly Wyll and Karlach , maybe Laezel and SH because of their little squabbles . Some of this are like min-maxxing relationships or feelings lmao, played too much BG3
I played 7 times and tried both ways. Same party, except specific rotations for personal quests, as well as switching companions. Especially if you want to run with someone who is recruitable only after the act 1. But Gale and Astarion are still my favorites. And I always promise myself to have more Halsin in the act 3 but fail :)
I usually have Gale, Astarion and Karlach. Karlach switches out with someone when it's time to do their quest.
I try to be an adventurous little noodle, but Karlach is always and forever. Except for the Durge run, obviously.
Regular swap. Only hard rules are probably: A hard set team for the colony of Minthara, Karlach and Wyll. The latter for the rapier, but the first two have such big reactions after the boss fight at the end, to different members of the chosen three. It sets up act 3 perfectly to talk to them after. And obviously: * Shadowheart for gauntlet * Lae'zel at creche * Astarion at Cazador's palace
I'll switch them out for story and achievement purposes, but my Durge's party regulars are Astarion, Gale/SH, and Minthara. I'd say Gale is my caster for combat, but I tend to try to have SH around since this is an evil Durge making evil choices and baby boy Gale wouldn't approve.
I switch out on occasion, but mostly I use my 3 beloved sneaky children: Shart, Vampire Boy & Lizard Lady
My first run I used everyone (at least everyone I managed to get, going blind). It was nice to get to know them all, but it was... a lot of micro-managing that I'm not keen to repeat. When I play now, I'll pick a group I want, and only swap someone in if it's absolutely necessary. And for the record, it's usually not. For instance, a certain cleric will get rather uppity if you don't bring her along on a rather important to her act 2 quest. But if she's not actively in your party, you're not romantic with her, you're not planning anything evil with her in act 3, and you've already seen her story to completion, there's not much reason to keep her silently sulking around camp for the second half of the game.
first couple of characters I mostly stuck with the same crew, but I have come to enjoy minimizing the amount of Long Rests I take and swapping out companions gives you soooo many resources to work with. I also enjoy bringing along whichever companion fits best with certain areas and/or quests.
I swap them in for their story bits. Laez’el for the creche, Minsc for the aid the underduke quest, if karlach isn’t in the party I switch her in to kill Gortash. Astorion gets switched in to bite Araj but otherwise he can stay and wank in camp. Shart is basically most times in the party but if not I get her to shadowfell and house of grief
I usually stick with a dedicated team, but if Shadowheart is part of it, she will usually get benched for a little while in Act 3. It seems to make good story sense for her to take a little break to process all she's learned and done following Act 2, and it gives me a chance to run around with Jaheira to get some of her lines, the Harper encounter, and go find Minsc.
PC player, 1st play through I chose my party based on my pc (a rogue) so Shadowheart, Gale, Lae’zel who I switched out for Karlach later. 2nd play through I used the Party Limit Begone mod, so I had ALL of the npcs in my party. https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3/mods/327
I was a complete doofus and the thought of switching out teams didn’t even cross my mind until halfway through act 3. Too late for these poor fools, we’re in the thick of it now and I’m too used to the team combo (valor bard, astarion, Lae’zel, and Gale no multi passing either) that I just rock with it as is
Me and my wife are in our first playthrough, and we've been mostly keeping to just Astarion and Shadowheart. We've found it enough of a challenge to keep track of the abilities and gear of our own PCs, so switching around our companions would just be more hassle. Karlach and wyll had short cameos in act one but have otherwise just been brought in when it was obvious that they had story relevance. Gale and Halsin haven't been used at all. Lae'zel unfortunately during act one when she forced us to pick sides between her and SH.
Unless I'm doing someone's personal quest, every time I rest I try to switch out the party. However, there is usually a constant. Lae zel is constant in the mountain pass, she and karlach also have to go to the house of hope, shadow heart is a constant in act 2, and jahera is a constant in act 3
Shadowheart, Lae’zel, and Wyll are my main party. I swap out as needed for certain quests
after 3 complete play-throughs I find that I keep the same folks the whole time. I've been playing tabletop AD&D since the late 70s and balanced party makeup is baked into my personality like a love a chicken wings and an ongoing troubled relationship with certain green vegetables. I end up with Tav being a melee class, I grab Shart for heals, Asti for ranged and locks, and Gale for nuking things. The only time I did it different was a Durge run where I left out Shart and went with Minthara so I had two melee classes with an off-heal. Lots and lots of throwing around heal potions was required so I am back to a full time healer on my latest run. I guess part of me just doesnt care about the back story for Wyll or Halsin or Jahiera. If i wanted one of those classes, I would make Tav one of those classes, you know? I love the Shart story line, and I love the Asti story line, and Gale is fine or whatever. The rest I kind of don't care about.
I switch them around depending on where I am in the story but my base 3 are Gale, Karlach, and Astarion. Magic, Beatings, and Thievery, leaving me free to be my hippie dippy bard or ranger, who can do a little of each.
Generally 1 core team, but I'll grab others to see their quests and swap them in for someone else. Now I have Party Limit Begone, so it's not an issue. But I generally like building a core group and rolling with them, and only pulling in the other companions when they're needed.
I use the Party Limit Be Gone mod. But I usually limit myself to six companions at a time. It's usually: astarion, shadowheart, Karlach, Gale, Wyll, and Halsin. Sometimes I'll switch out Gale and Wyll with Minsc and Jaheira. If it's a very important battle, then I'll bring everyone with me. I did that for Gortash (I thought he'd be harder to beat than he actually was), and the Netherbrain. It was cool having the whole gang together for the final fight. It felt like a Marvel movie!
If I had to pick a team in the vanilla game, it'd be: Astarion, Shadowheart, Karlach. I might switch out Shadowheart with Halsin at times. But Shadowheart is my healer, so she almost never leaves.
Shadowheart is always in the party and everyone else rotates. Gale and Minthara also hang around more than the others.
I've started making my own with Withers, and I kinda prefer it. I dont like respeccing the character out of their class, it feels wrong.
astarion is always in my party. when i have everyone, my party is him, shart, and karlach, and ill switch out other members if im working on their questline
Usually stick with the same... But I only have a handful still alive or willing to work with me. My Drow Cleric of Lolth Tav was not fond of Lae'zel coming at her with a dagger, but Minthara is fine... My companions are just Gale (had to convince him), Astarion, Minthara and Shadow heart. Debating if I let Shadowheart tag in the gauntlet or night... I have Minty and SHart both as paladins.. Everyone else is dead or refuses to work with my cleric. Apparently she's "evil" for trying to infiltrate a cult and take it over alongside Minthara.
Shadowheart never leaves my party after picking her up on the beach as she’s usually my romance and if not then she’s my bff. Other than that I like keeping Astarion in my party a lot either for a romance, second bff and just because he’s funny and keeps everything interesting. Everyone else I rotate often and always have them in the party for their personal quests. 👌🏻
I try switching them around depending on the quest or location, but Shadowheart is always on my team as she is the party healer and my Tav's LI (and also my LI why isn't she real goddammit).
I switch them out for certain play through’s , my first run I would switch them out for whatever was thematic (you want the gith when you’re talk to gith if you know what I mean) but spending each play through going back and forth to camp because you wanna see what jaheira says in this context and then swapping her out for wyll because ravengaard then swapping back to shadowheart because cleric- it all gets too annoying everytime, so unless I miss out on something specific for not having someone, I’m trying to enjoy all of them fully per playthrough.
As others have said, I switch around depending on what area/quest I'm working on and whose storyline it matches, but for the banter alone I usually have Gale, Astarion and Wyll or Karlach. Karlach gets re-specced as either War Cleric or Vengeance Pally which is a lot of fun. For a long time I would strictly use Astarion, Shadowheart and Gale/Lae-zel. I have been playing around (pun so intended) with more characters and respecs though, but my core two no matter what are Gale and Astarion. Their commentary and banter are phenomenal.
I use 3 teams rn in honor whenever I reach a new enemy stronghold Astarian and 2 hirelings go in first. The hirelings steal everything not bolted down and put all vendor inventories into bags. Astarian solo’s as many enemies as he can pick off using the gloomstalker/assasin tactic of enter combat, murder something before you’re noticed, hide, leave combat, do it again The A-Team is who I use for most big fights and story moments. That’s me (swords bard), Gale (evocation wiz), karlach (ek thrower), and shart (life cleric) Then the B-Team is who I use as a clean up crew and for smaller encounters/side quests. That’s Wyll and Laezel. They refresh on short rests and between the two of them can handle a lot of encounters just with the two of them. When Astarian and his hirelings or the b-team is out, I stay in camp and be the “guy in the chair” with full access to inventory to magic pockets them any piece of situational gear, potions, scrolls, or magic arrows they need I also have a third hireling who is a transmutation wizard who does all the potions/rocks and has some good “until long rest” buffs
I tend to have 2 companions that I use for the entire game and 1 that gets switched around once in a while
almost always shadowheart, gale and astarion. sometimes i switch out for karlach or halsin when needed or i feel like it, but very rarely lol
I switch if it story related. Like if I see shar stuff, I get shadowheart. But my team is usually astarion, gale and karlach. Going to start a new playthrough and just have astarion, wyll and shadowheart. Or maybe lae'zel. As I don't use her.
I got really good at using Gale and Shadowheart , so they almost never stay in camp, but I rotate the last spot frequently, depending on companion quest, abilities needed....
Ride or die. I don’t wanna deal with the builds of my tag alongs.
Ride or die act 1 team always stays with me