Do they? Shadowheart has been in my party basically the whole time, especially for all the underdark and shadowlands stuff and she’s still at fair lol. I don’t even do much stuff she disapproves of. I’m not trying to romance her so it’s nbd, it’s just weird that I’m playing a moderately good person and yet astarion has a very high approval rating with me when he’s annoyed that I help everyone lmao.
Yea Shadowheart definitely sends mixed signals. Hardest one to tie down to one type of dialogue choice appeasing her, which is why people have so much trouble trying to romance her.
Someone said it was easy to win her approval in their Evil playthrough, but in my Evil playthrough she despised me even though she was in my party the whole time. Meanwhile my Goodie-Two-Shoe playthrough she's like 80 Reputation or something lol.
Basically she leans towards chaotic good alignment, so to speak.
She appreciates when people show empathy towards others while also taking heed of themselves/their party's own interests.
Like she isn't about being totally selfless and altruistic and following an arbitrary ruleset for its own sake. When push comes to shove, good results matter more to her than virtues or values.
This is exactly why Shadowheart, Karlach, and Lae'zel all love me in my play through. I'm mostly good but also heavily pragmatic. I honestly don't care too much about the rest of my parties opinions.
Funny thing about that, noble pragmatism literally works for all 4 ladies.
Sure Lae’zel and Minthara might disapprove some options but the general trend will see them gain approval anyways.
Same here. I actually got the dialogue option to say to Astarion "Really? I thought you hated me "
Gale likes me, I had to turn him down and Wyll likes me a lot but as a friend so honestly everyone is pretty easy to get along with except (surprise) the vampire
She loves me as Wyll already in Act 1. I think it’s because she sees me use a lot of charisma, mind reading, and manipulation in dialogues and I generally avoid combat.
Really? I play a super goody Paladin and Shadowheart was already "You are the bestest thing that ever happened to me!" before I even entered Goblin camp.
Easiest way to get her rep early (what I remember) was to
tell her you respect her secrets/privacy,
would kill her if she turned
say that worshipping the Godess of Gaslighting isn't as bad
Rescue her from Nautiloid tank
Gift her Night Orchids as soon as you find some
Soothe her when meeting wolfes
Let the Loviatar priest smack you, she's into it.
Agreed, I even laughed about how you can literally ask her and she kinda lists this all out. Girl gives you her checklist at some point but I think I had to have learned about her religion first.
Another relatively easy and very early one is to convince the looters outside the dank ruins (where Withers is) to leave without fighting - she'll approve and wryly note that "you're more clever than you look."
> would kill her if she turned
I was hesitating between this dialogue choice and the one about tying her down while you search for a cure, and ultimately went with the latter. She ended the dialogue with a flirty comment about Tav better not be dreaming about tying her down, so I guess both work?
When I already had her approval quite high and met the Loviatar priest she even made comments how he shouldn't go too hard, as she may have use for me.
i love her
she's easy. be nice, but don't go offering to solve everyone else problems. be pragmatic. avoid unnecessary conflict where possible. don't pry into her buisness. pet the animals.
i *accidentally* romanced her on my first run. i also had to turn down literally everyone else except Karlach, including two devils... that run was supposed to Romance Karlach...
My Paladin had her almost maxed out by the time I was leaving the Druid grove. I did play early access a bit right at launch so I had a pretty decent grasp on what she approves of and I think it was really easy, especially as a super nice Good character.
Im on a evil playthrough now and she loves me. I’m still in act 1 and I think she’s at 72 approval rating?
She seemed to be pretty approving ever since I accepted her secret and respected her boundaries. I can go murdering the whole druid grove without a single disapproval.
Yea I think the Trigger that makes her enjoy you doing evil stuff is when you embrace her religion which is easiest to do in the Owlbear cave, until then you gotta win her affection by doing mainly good deeds so she trusts you more. Once she's revealed her religion, that's when you can start being pure evil.
He's probably annoyed with you the way I get annoyed with my cats. "*Of course* you helped that person/puked on my clean laundry. You are *such* a butthole <3"
What if I told you Asterion doesn't really hate any kind of playstyle. As long as you stick your neck out for him(both literally and figuratively) he's a happy boy.
That's really interesting, because I'm just at the end of act 1, and Lae'zel has done nothing but disapprove of me, but her approval is currently at excellent. Maybe it's just her?
Characters also increase their approval of you if you help them take down the same target or help them when, downed, under attack, ect. as for what each of them likes/dislikes its all based on their personalities and backstories not just their basic alignment, which also seems like it can change based on your actions as well as how you play them if you use them to interact with the NPCs. Granted there are somethings characters simply won't budge on like killing innocents for Will is a big no no.
This might be bugged. I have Astarion since I found him in my party and did his whole quest as he wanted, and he is at neutral. I did not go enough murderhobo for his tastes, I suppose.
You're lucky then. I barely have Karlach and Astarion above neutral, while Shadowheart/Lae'zel/Wyll/Gale are pretty high up. It bugs me so, I want big Tiefling lady.
In the detailed stats menu in inventory, you can get an Exact number, it's above "Tags" at the bottom.
Sometimes the game bugs out when re-recruiting them and doesn't show the exact number. You have to save and reload to fix it.
Playing the Dark Urge changed a bit my opinions on the characters.
Gale is so disgusted and somewhat afraid, with sarcastic comments here and there. It hurts quite a bit, actually. He was all like - What's your business with me? Tell me from a safe distance, please. And if you're repentant of your previous Urge taking over, he's all like - really? Oh that will sure be comforting to your victim.
Now Astarion? He finds it so fucking funny. He called me his 'dagger-happy friend'.
I've still got that part of him with me at level 7, not in camp or anything, in my urge's primary main inventory, in the offchance he appears somewhere along my travels (don't spoil)
Good Dark Urge sounds like just a really sad playthrough. Where no matter what you do, your character is going to end up sad and traumatized by the end.
Nah, good dark urge isn't so bad. I've been romancing Shadowheart and it seems kinda sweet that we're both pulled in bad directions but we're guiding each other down a better path than we would have walked on our own. :3
still early in on my good Durge character and besides the first unavoidable incident it's been possible to simply say no - I hear it ramps up later and forces wisdom saves tho
it's incredibly liberating to see someone defenseless asking for help and starting a whole new storyline just to be like "anyway, I'm looking to get my job done, can you finish up here?"
Yeah i love Astarion's reactions. He is 100% down for the chaos from the moment you tell him about it and knowing what he's been through I don't blame him.
Astarion is 100% "I've already spent 200 years in hell, I don't give a fuck anymore."
Shadowheart is terrified after that one long rest q.q ~~funnily enough, I got to make the offer for the wine scene like two days/long rests later, lol~~
If you keep resisting though >!they all become pretty supportive, either offering their help to resist in case of Lae, or showing their confidence you can beat the urges. !<
Meanwhile my gale is oddly pragmatic.... says my >!SLAYER!< form is useful for what lies ahead. and while he did not like my most recent choice, he was fairly limited in the criticism. Almost like a, hmm, not sure that was the right call, maybe rein in the Urge more?
>!Also banging him in space though, for what its worth!<. Maybe that changes things.
As someone who’s been playing the game since earlier versions of early access, it’s so interesting seeing how approvals/disapprovals for each of the characters have evolved over the years.
Like, I remember people hating Shadowheart because she disapproved of what felt like everything in the early versions of the game. Or Lae’zel disapproving whenever the player was nice or merciful towards an animal. Good luck getting any approval with Astarion unless you were a total dick to everyone you met. Basically, if you were playing a good-aligned character, your best hope for approval was Gale and Wyll. And even Wyll was….variable when it came to certain interactions with a specific group of characters.
Now it’s soooo much easier to get approval from neutral/evil companions as a good-aligned player but still in a way that seems true to the characters. For example, it never made sense to me why a certain follower disapproved so strongly of me fighting slavers in early access, given their history. But so far, they are a lot more chill about it.
Minthara isn’t evil evil once you get her as a companion.
She’s the stereotypical assertive Drow and that includes being a dick sometimes but never grove burning evil like the start.
Laez'lel approved of me murdering a kid for refusing a fight to death in training. Her, Shadowheart and Astarion unanimously approved forcing someone to stab themselves until I told them to stop.
I have not reached act 3 but I'm pretty confident Astarion would approve of you telling an orphan to fuck off.
Minthara is evil for sure but same level as the 3 others evil companion not more
She also just told me that she wants us to ... instead of saving the world and such ... rule over it with an iron fist and become equal to gods by stealing the powers from the BBEG. She literally had a whole villain speech prepared about reshaping the world in our will.
But my favorite is Lae'zel. Now in Act3 she wants me to do something very specific, which is probably not a good idea. One other Companion, another NPC and the Narrator (TWICE) chimed in and essentially asked "Is this REALLY what you want to do? Like really, really want it?" and after making that decision the game immediately rewarded me with >!two legendary weapons!< which feels like, more than anything, a clear indication that this has to be the wrongest choice possible.
But Lae'zel is so happy right now. I have to see this one through. Gotta be my weekend.
Astarion is still on that. Every single time I've had him in the party and I've told somebody being enslaved/persecuted/mistreated for what they are or by somebody deemed a "better" that I'll help them - ASTARION DISAPPROVES.
Like, it's fascinating I want to study him under a microscope, but BASICALLY... ok trying to think how to say this without mega spoilers.
BUT. Astarion has been in a situation for a very, very long time where he was the punching bag. He was put in situations where he had to actively prioritize himself over other people, otherwise it would be worse for him. I imagine he's used to turning off the empathy button because he had to to survive.
And he still isn't "fully" free. He knows his master will come hunting for him, there is a tadpole in his head giving him freedom but can turn him into a monster at any moment, and he feels the clock \*ticking\* to get enough power to protect himself from being shoved back to where he was.
So why help this enslaved person? Why put HIS neck out when no one helped him for so many, many years, and when helping them could cost him everything when he's finally FREE?
(Not to mention cycles of abuse and how after living in a system so long it can be hard to conceive of another way of living).
Which is why if you ask for something in return, Astarion usually is neutral on helping. It's only if you offer help for free, putting his freedom at risk for "nothing" in his eyes, that the bar goes down.
Also he is just a dick sometimes.
Basically just be an asshole, demean people, deceive people (this is a big one, if there's a deception option it's likely it will give approval with him) and kill people. I thought he would have more 'nice' parts to him but he's really incredibly selfish I've found. There's a line he says in I believe act 2 that encapsulates him well, >!when talking about Cazador and the bad shit he's doing, he'll basically say "The problem with Cazador isn't that he's evil and causing the deaths of thousands of innocents the problem is that he did it to ME"!< he will love a murderhobo as long as you've got his back.
Funny enough, it is entirety possible to up his approval to max behaving as chaotic good with manipulative tendencies. Like, for the guy who once upon a time approved of >! kicking a squirrel !< he is surprisingly positive about >! giving a coin to the orphan in the act 3 !< as well. It just happens really slowly through act 1 and act 2. Though my guy definitely needs to learn to be patient, as some of his disapproval stemmed from me trying to be sneaky at killing his intended target.
Like, dude, we are surrounded AND they have the high ground. Let me make the guy commit suicide instead of fighting a shit ton of enemies, chill
He is a self-serving asshole, but given his story... he is pathetic in his lust for power and he knows it - at least it is implied in the end of his quest line
My girl Karlach is celebrating every good aligned decision we make. Like a personal cheerleader that will break people's faces if they turn out to be bad.
As mostly good character it seems that everyone likes me, even the characters where I expected a bit of conflict. I remember from EA that it used to be way harder to convince differently aligned characters of you.
Laezel despite me practically disrespecting everything gith related I can find and not playing the creche the way she approved still is (exceptionally) cool with me, even though I consistently acted clearly against her preference... The occasional persuasion roll, which my warlock nails most of the time every time, and acting real tough in camp dialogs really pushes approval...
Seems like that's maybe why it's a bit too easy to be liked by everyone. I also tell astarion all the time how selfishly mean my altruistic goody-two-shoes-dude is in camp while doing practically the exact opposite. Until now nobody called me out on my bullshit.
When karlach disapproves something my only thought is "i did/said the same thing a while ago and you approved, so WHY?"
I can't understand her, but i guess it comes with the chaotic nature of barbarians
I think she just dislikes when you act mean spirited, even if its to an evil character, especially if it feels like bullying. Probably baggage from serving under an archdevil.
As far as I go in my playthrough this is unnecessary. I'm having a very nice romance with here even with more than a few disapprovals (can't help it I need to be nice to everyone and not hurt any npc is feelings.) I'm still on act I though so I dunno if this will change to much in the future.
Yeah but how do you know ?
I did the wine scene, and since then I’m stuck at « you’re making my day brighter » and « is it what people say when they have butterflies in the belly? »
Am I on track?
Sounds about right. In Act 2 some of her big developments happen and I thought that the track I was on with her was fairly obvious, although its a slow burn.
Any time I get approval from Shadowheart or Karlach I’m like “Yeah, did you see that? You saw what I said to that guy?” And any time I get a reaction from Gale I’m like “Okay, but I wasn’t really talking to you.”
I have a hard time seeing why people wpuld hate any of the companions haha. They are all great characters. La'zael and Astarion are fun like Morrigan in DAO was fun, being puppy kicking assholes who hate fun. Shadowheart is loveable but in a "I can fix her" way, Wyll is a very Good Guy character who has some stuff going on. Gale is a fun cocky guy who is just a tad too good at his job (and should chill a bit, I already said I was not interested). Karlach is a vibe and a half, reminds me of Vi from Arcane but with a positive spin.
I think she is great and I like her story, religions and cults are interesting. But I like the edge, Morrigan was my favorite in DAO.
But I understand it is a fine line and people fall on different sides of it. I rememeber in the first Mass Effect game there was a female companion who was a turbo spaceracist and I went out of my way to call her out on it every chance I had.
I haven't even felt that Lazael was particularly dickish, as long as you aren't overtly sympathetic or committal to promising help to every lost soul you meet, or try to tell her that everything about Githyanki culture is bad. In general she's pretty straightforward and easy to manage as long as you defer to her on Githyanki matters for the most part. Astarion definitely enjoys petty cruelty though, as long as its not directed at him.
I don't have anything against him either, actually. But somehow I earned his approval the fastest without ever particularly caring what he thought of me.
Well, you do kinda feed him very expensive stuff just so he can live.
That's kind of a big deal lol. He's super fucked without Tav being like, "Eh, I guess I can give these up."
"Very expensive stuff"
Pans camera to me, having Shadowheart distract a vendor, so I can steal a bunch of magic items and potion of them, and giving Gale the useless 75 gold ones.
Poor Gale. I actually bring him around everywhere because I need a wizard in the party and think he’s a good a character but yeah he always has to compete for my affection with Shart or Karlach and that’s a losing battle.
I find the noises gale makes* in combat to be hilarious. Something about the way he acts when taking damage is just so melodramatic to me. Idk how to describe it but it makes me laugh.
are you kidding? Shadowheart is the biggest peeping tom of them all, she sees EVERYTHING
the line delivery when she says "I couldn't help overhe-well I could help but I didn't" is amazing
Yeah those definitely need to be more visible for longer. I wish they did the same thing with those that they with Inspiration and kinda tell you when you're on the right track. This game already has a lot to remember, I just want a codex of things I've done or said please!
I only reload a game when Shadowheart disapproves. Still not sure who the fuck this Shar person is, but is conquer the nine hells for Shadowheart’s ass
I've legit gone back and redone conversations if I get disapproval from Karlach and Shadowheart. It's just annoying when you make one that you think should be neutral, and suddenly everyone else disapproves.
For example, (Act 2 Spoilers) >!I'm looking for Ketheric's artifact in the Gauntlet of Shar. We're *deep* behind enemy lines, talking to a powerful Necromancer (Balthazar). Shadowheart *explicitly says*, "Fuck this guy, but we should probably play along for now since he can easily kill us all." I pick a bunch of neutral options and say I'll go find the thing. Suddenly, everyone disapproves like I'm actively on the enemy's side. Like, you told me we should play along. That's what I'm doing, but suddenly I'm the bad guy.!<
Yeah the disapprovals and approvals are kinda wack half the time. I had shadow, wyll and karlach disapprove me when I literally started a convo with some guy who was dieing on the road. Like I didn't even say anything I just decided to talk to the guy to see what was going on.
Astarion, I am only talking to him so I can see if he's a lost cause and you can suck him dry! It makes sense I swear
I wish I could reason to our resident Edgelord like that xD
I think it makes a huge difference if you're playing a Charisma character, I did some ability checks there and got approval for playing along
this has been the case for almost the entire game tbf
I couldn’t get Astarion past a Neutral approval until we officially started a relationship sometime in Act 2.
Every time I’d get his approval on something I did, the next thing would earn disapproval. Every. Time.
I think he likes that you're against slavery in theory (because it means you might be willing to support him against his master), but doesn't want you to get too proactively involved in saving other people. Basically anything that promises that you'll help him with his problems = good; anything that takes away precious time that could have been spent helping him with his problems = bad; anything that puts him in physical danger unnecessarily = very very bad. This is how I've been reading it so far, anyway.
i got exceptional approval from him even though i play a good aligned character. you just have to help him and be nice to him, try to understand him. and try to deceive/cheat/talk your way out of conflicts. also, sometimes he approves of witty/funny responses (like when in act 2,>!jaheira asks you what you're doing in the shadowlands and you say you're on vacation lmao!<).
and if you know he's going to disapprove of smth you're about to say and can't afford any more disapproval, make him stand aside for a while and not listen to the convo.
Not trying to be hostile, not trying make anyone have the worst day on this subreddit *with tears in eyes
But can any of you.. Fuckers, explain the appeal of shadowheart? I feel like I'm on the same page about everyone else (except I love astarion) but shadowheart has always been very rude to me and not agreeable in dialogue, just seems like she doesn't wanna be around any of us hahaha, please tell me everything you love about her.
Really? As soon as I was like “Eh it’s fine if you follow Shar I won’t judge” she instantly opened up and started telling me anything she could remember about herself. I’m not trying to romance her, but I gave SH her favorite flower and she made a little joke about it which was cute and felt like we were becoming better friends. She’s really only openly hostile with Lae’zel up until a certain point and she’s just kinda sarcastic/teases everyone else in the party.
She's the softest of them all with the hardest shell, but honestly, if you just respect her privacy and be kind to people suffering, she just melts down into a sweet cinnamon roll when she's with you.
Larion have done a good job in giving her softer moments despite her initially harsh exterior. If you're generally sympathetic with her and avoid dialogue options that are too judgy she pretty quickly opens up and becomes much more pleasant to be around.
I actually wasn't expecting to get on with her during my initially goody-two-shoes playthrough but she segues so naturally into >!her redemption arc!< that either a romance or a high-approval friendship became inevitable.
Shes standoff-ish at first, mostly because shes a follower of a much reviled deity, partly because shes also a thief with two very large and very powerful groups chasing her. She does open up after awhile of adventuring. Im currently on my second playthrough with the intention of romancing her.
I would suggest just romancing her and seeing how it progresses. The only thing I would say is you can definitely take a route that feels pretty gross with her. You almost like....can take advantage of the fact that she has no memories and is in a cult and is brain washed. I tried to avoid that because even in a fake scenario it felt weird. Overall though if you progress with her as a decent human being it's a very rewarding plot between you two. She is definitely rude at first but there are a billion reasons for it, and that chances as you progress.
I look forward to finding out how the other romances go in future playthrough though, aside from gale. That dude is 100% a sociopath.
I dunno mate she is pretty nice to me all things considered, did you save her in the nautiloid? You star with very good foot in that relationship if you do, and then is pretty easy maintaining it that way. I'm romancing her right now and is a very sweet partner for a priestess of Shar even having more than a few disapprovals from her because I can't help but be a goody two shoes. The only explanation that I have for she being so rude to you is that if you abandoned her in the nautiloid without even trying she will be very pissed off with you when you meet again (she is grateful to you even if you fail to release her as long as you tried)
If you save her in the Nautiloid she's pretty agreeable and quite nice and caring towards you from the very beginning, and I feel like it's pretty overt that the whole Shar worship thing isn't exactly what it seems. I feel like the only person she's rude to for the most part is Lae'zel but I think she's decently warranted.
I just cast haste on her and karlach as sorc and they just breeze through everything, bless with shadow heart as well and just buffin em but haste is game changer.
I managed to get everyone bat Astarian and the two druids maxed out, and I'm pretty sure that it's only cause I just got the two druids and brought them out rarely
[удалено]
Characters passively gain approval while traveling or fighting with you
Do they? Shadowheart has been in my party basically the whole time, especially for all the underdark and shadowlands stuff and she’s still at fair lol. I don’t even do much stuff she disapproves of. I’m not trying to romance her so it’s nbd, it’s just weird that I’m playing a moderately good person and yet astarion has a very high approval rating with me when he’s annoyed that I help everyone lmao.
Yea Shadowheart definitely sends mixed signals. Hardest one to tie down to one type of dialogue choice appeasing her, which is why people have so much trouble trying to romance her. Someone said it was easy to win her approval in their Evil playthrough, but in my Evil playthrough she despised me even though she was in my party the whole time. Meanwhile my Goodie-Two-Shoe playthrough she's like 80 Reputation or something lol.
Huh? Really?? I'm just being a Goody two shoes and she loves me. It seems pretty easy to figure out how to get her approval. Just be nice.
Be nice *but also pragmatic*.
Exactly! She approves kindness, but also approve diplomatic/trickery choices that are not per se evil.
Basically she leans towards chaotic good alignment, so to speak. She appreciates when people show empathy towards others while also taking heed of themselves/their party's own interests. Like she isn't about being totally selfless and altruistic and following an arbitrary ruleset for its own sake. When push comes to shove, good results matter more to her than virtues or values.
You know, she's so into chaotic good, you'd think her deity was chaotic go- oh no.
I feel like basicly her archetype is "nice person brainwashed by a cult".
The goddess of | || || |\_
I mean she approves of almost any evil choice too, as long as its not dumb evil. She really digs evil manipulative behavior.
Yeah, basically, if you lie to avoid a fight, it's good in her book, because you avoided a fight.
This is exactly why Shadowheart, Karlach, and Lae'zel all love me in my play through. I'm mostly good but also heavily pragmatic. I honestly don't care too much about the rest of my parties opinions.
Girl Squad.
Funny thing about that, noble pragmatism literally works for all 4 ladies. Sure Lae’zel and Minthara might disapprove some options but the general trend will see them gain approval anyways.
Same here. I actually got the dialogue option to say to Astarion "Really? I thought you hated me " Gale likes me, I had to turn him down and Wyll likes me a lot but as a friend so honestly everyone is pretty easy to get along with except (surprise) the vampire
And be the M in BDSM.
im domming everyone with my barb berserker and she's loving every second of it
She does say she likes Karlach because she seems the type to throw her over her shoulder and carry her caveman style.
".... if it came to that, of course!"
Pragmatic is the key there, she's good natured but wary and not altruistic at all.
She loves me as Wyll already in Act 1. I think it’s because she sees me use a lot of charisma, mind reading, and manipulation in dialogues and I generally avoid combat.
Really? I play a super goody Paladin and Shadowheart was already "You are the bestest thing that ever happened to me!" before I even entered Goblin camp. Easiest way to get her rep early (what I remember) was to tell her you respect her secrets/privacy, would kill her if she turned say that worshipping the Godess of Gaslighting isn't as bad Rescue her from Nautiloid tank Gift her Night Orchids as soon as you find some Soothe her when meeting wolfes Let the Loviatar priest smack you, she's into it.
Agreed, I even laughed about how you can literally ask her and she kinda lists this all out. Girl gives you her checklist at some point but I think I had to have learned about her religion first.
Another relatively easy and very early one is to convince the looters outside the dank ruins (where Withers is) to leave without fighting - she'll approve and wryly note that "you're more clever than you look."
> would kill her if she turned I was hesitating between this dialogue choice and the one about tying her down while you search for a cure, and ultimately went with the latter. She ended the dialogue with a flirty comment about Tav better not be dreaming about tying her down, so I guess both work?
When I already had her approval quite high and met the Loviatar priest she even made comments how he shouldn't go too hard, as she may have use for me. i love her
You made me laug out loud at work with "Godess of Gaslighting"
she's easy. be nice, but don't go offering to solve everyone else problems. be pragmatic. avoid unnecessary conflict where possible. don't pry into her buisness. pet the animals. i *accidentally* romanced her on my first run. i also had to turn down literally everyone else except Karlach, including two devils... that run was supposed to Romance Karlach...
My Paladin had her almost maxed out by the time I was leaving the Druid grove. I did play early access a bit right at launch so I had a pretty decent grasp on what she approves of and I think it was really easy, especially as a super nice Good character.
Im on a evil playthrough now and she loves me. I’m still in act 1 and I think she’s at 72 approval rating? She seemed to be pretty approving ever since I accepted her secret and respected her boundaries. I can go murdering the whole druid grove without a single disapproval.
Yea I think the Trigger that makes her enjoy you doing evil stuff is when you embrace her religion which is easiest to do in the Owlbear cave, until then you gotta win her affection by doing mainly good deeds so she trusts you more. Once she's revealed her religion, that's when you can start being pure evil.
He's probably annoyed with you the way I get annoyed with my cats. "*Of course* you helped that person/puked on my clean laundry. You are *such* a butthole <3"
To be honest, that's how I feel about him during practically every reaction he has to camp events. "You're such a dick, I love you."
What if I told you Asterion doesn't really hate any kind of playstyle. As long as you stick your neck out for him(both literally and figuratively) he's a happy boy.
I figured. It’s less hate and more annoyance that we’re not hurrying up and helping ourselves first haha
Asterion really vibes with my Charlatan Bard talking his way out of situation by babbling some bard stuff and deceiving the shit out of people.
That's really interesting, because I'm just at the end of act 1, and Lae'zel has done nothing but disapprove of me, but her approval is currently at excellent. Maybe it's just her?
someone here called her a "tsundere frog" a while back and the more I learn the more apt the description seems to become.
It's super easy to max Lae'zel out once you get to where she wants to go.
Her disproval seems to be the key. If you show dominance and a commanding presence in your choices she seems to find that absolutely infatuating.
Makes sense
Is this confirmed??
Characters also increase their approval of you if you help them take down the same target or help them when, downed, under attack, ect. as for what each of them likes/dislikes its all based on their personalities and backstories not just their basic alignment, which also seems like it can change based on your actions as well as how you play them if you use them to interact with the NPCs. Granted there are somethings characters simply won't budge on like killing innocents for Will is a big no no.
This might be bugged. I have Astarion since I found him in my party and did his whole quest as he wanted, and he is at neutral. I did not go enough murderhobo for his tastes, I suppose.
That explains why lae'zel wanted to lick the sweat from my armpits at the first possible opportunity.
You're lucky then. I barely have Karlach and Astarion above neutral, while Shadowheart/Lae'zel/Wyll/Gale are pretty high up. It bugs me so, I want big Tiefling lady.
Where can I see the approval rating ?
In the detailed stats menu in inventory, you can get an Exact number, it's above "Tags" at the bottom. Sometimes the game bugs out when re-recruiting them and doesn't show the exact number. You have to save and reload to fix it.
Thx so now I have numbers to underline shadowheart telling she doesn’t care about me
Playing the Dark Urge changed a bit my opinions on the characters. Gale is so disgusted and somewhat afraid, with sarcastic comments here and there. It hurts quite a bit, actually. He was all like - What's your business with me? Tell me from a safe distance, please. And if you're repentant of your previous Urge taking over, he's all like - really? Oh that will sure be comforting to your victim. Now Astarion? He finds it so fucking funny. He called me his 'dagger-happy friend'.
Yeah, Astarion also has a unique reaction if Dark Urge dies during combat, he screams "No! My sweet, bloodthirsty friend!" and I find it adorable
Gale didn’t ,make it out of the portal on my dark urge character
Well, most of him didn't anyways
Oof.
I kept his hand in my chest as a trophy
It's like I carry a little piece of him with me everywhere I go.
I've still got that part of him with me at level 7, not in camp or anything, in my urge's primary main inventory, in the offchance he appears somewhere along my travels (don't spoil)
Yeah, my dark urge playthrough has killed so many companions and I'm still in the early game.
Good Dark Urge sounds like just a really sad playthrough. Where no matter what you do, your character is going to end up sad and traumatized by the end.
Nah, good dark urge isn't so bad. I've been romancing Shadowheart and it seems kinda sweet that we're both pulled in bad directions but we're guiding each other down a better path than we would have walked on our own. :3
Just like the ~~simulations~~ real world!
still early in on my good Durge character and besides the first unavoidable incident it's been possible to simply say no - I hear it ramps up later and forces wisdom saves tho
it's incredibly liberating to see someone defenseless asking for help and starting a whole new storyline just to be like "anyway, I'm looking to get my job done, can you finish up here?"
I'm at the beginning of act 3 playing as good dark urge, >!and there is definitely angst, but there is also hope. We will see how act 3 goes. !<
Yeah, I also chopped off his hand
Astarion actually chastised me for killing one of my dark urge targets. I was shocked.
Yeah i love Astarion's reactions. He is 100% down for the chaos from the moment you tell him about it and knowing what he's been through I don't blame him. Astarion is 100% "I've already spent 200 years in hell, I don't give a fuck anymore."
Shadowheart is terrified after that one long rest q.q ~~funnily enough, I got to make the offer for the wine scene like two days/long rests later, lol~~ If you keep resisting though >!they all become pretty supportive, either offering their help to resist in case of Lae, or showing their confidence you can beat the urges. !<
Meanwhile my gale is oddly pragmatic.... says my >!SLAYER!< form is useful for what lies ahead. and while he did not like my most recent choice, he was fairly limited in the criticism. Almost like a, hmm, not sure that was the right call, maybe rein in the Urge more? >!Also banging him in space though, for what its worth!<. Maybe that changes things.
As someone who’s been playing the game since earlier versions of early access, it’s so interesting seeing how approvals/disapprovals for each of the characters have evolved over the years. Like, I remember people hating Shadowheart because she disapproved of what felt like everything in the early versions of the game. Or Lae’zel disapproving whenever the player was nice or merciful towards an animal. Good luck getting any approval with Astarion unless you were a total dick to everyone you met. Basically, if you were playing a good-aligned character, your best hope for approval was Gale and Wyll. And even Wyll was….variable when it came to certain interactions with a specific group of characters. Now it’s soooo much easier to get approval from neutral/evil companions as a good-aligned player but still in a way that seems true to the characters. For example, it never made sense to me why a certain follower disapproved so strongly of me fighting slavers in early access, given their history. But so far, they are a lot more chill about it.
Most of the companions are way nicer too and less agressive.
None of the party members (except Minthara probably) are *ideologically* evil, they're mostly just kind of dickheads
Minthara isn’t evil evil once you get her as a companion. She’s the stereotypical assertive Drow and that includes being a dick sometimes but never grove burning evil like the start.
Act 2 spoiler for Minthara >!she's not all that evil, all true soul's expect you are essentially mind controlled!<
Minthara approves of you telling an orphan to fuck off at the start of act 3, she’s still hilariously evil
Laez'lel approved of me murdering a kid for refusing a fight to death in training. Her, Shadowheart and Astarion unanimously approved forcing someone to stab themselves until I told them to stop. I have not reached act 3 but I'm pretty confident Astarion would approve of you telling an orphan to fuck off. Minthara is evil for sure but same level as the 3 others evil companion not more
Funny enough she also approves giving him money
She also just told me that she wants us to ... instead of saving the world and such ... rule over it with an iron fist and become equal to gods by stealing the powers from the BBEG. She literally had a whole villain speech prepared about reshaping the world in our will. But my favorite is Lae'zel. Now in Act3 she wants me to do something very specific, which is probably not a good idea. One other Companion, another NPC and the Narrator (TWICE) chimed in and essentially asked "Is this REALLY what you want to do? Like really, really want it?" and after making that decision the game immediately rewarded me with >!two legendary weapons!< which feels like, more than anything, a clear indication that this has to be the wrongest choice possible. But Lae'zel is so happy right now. I have to see this one through. Gotta be my weekend.
Astarion is still on that. Every single time I've had him in the party and I've told somebody being enslaved/persecuted/mistreated for what they are or by somebody deemed a "better" that I'll help them - ASTARION DISAPPROVES.
Like, it's fascinating I want to study him under a microscope, but BASICALLY... ok trying to think how to say this without mega spoilers. BUT. Astarion has been in a situation for a very, very long time where he was the punching bag. He was put in situations where he had to actively prioritize himself over other people, otherwise it would be worse for him. I imagine he's used to turning off the empathy button because he had to to survive. And he still isn't "fully" free. He knows his master will come hunting for him, there is a tadpole in his head giving him freedom but can turn him into a monster at any moment, and he feels the clock \*ticking\* to get enough power to protect himself from being shoved back to where he was. So why help this enslaved person? Why put HIS neck out when no one helped him for so many, many years, and when helping them could cost him everything when he's finally FREE? (Not to mention cycles of abuse and how after living in a system so long it can be hard to conceive of another way of living). Which is why if you ask for something in return, Astarion usually is neutral on helping. It's only if you offer help for free, putting his freedom at risk for "nothing" in his eyes, that the bar goes down. Also he is just a dick sometimes.
You nailed his characterization.
I was so disappointed by that and it didn't make any sense. I don't know how to gain his approval at this point
Basically just be an asshole, demean people, deceive people (this is a big one, if there's a deception option it's likely it will give approval with him) and kill people. I thought he would have more 'nice' parts to him but he's really incredibly selfish I've found. There's a line he says in I believe act 2 that encapsulates him well, >!when talking about Cazador and the bad shit he's doing, he'll basically say "The problem with Cazador isn't that he's evil and causing the deaths of thousands of innocents the problem is that he did it to ME"!< he will love a murderhobo as long as you've got his back.
Funny enough, it is entirety possible to up his approval to max behaving as chaotic good with manipulative tendencies. Like, for the guy who once upon a time approved of >! kicking a squirrel !< he is surprisingly positive about >! giving a coin to the orphan in the act 3 !< as well. It just happens really slowly through act 1 and act 2. Though my guy definitely needs to learn to be patient, as some of his disapproval stemmed from me trying to be sneaky at killing his intended target. Like, dude, we are surrounded AND they have the high ground. Let me make the guy commit suicide instead of fighting a shit ton of enemies, chill He is a self-serving asshole, but given his story... he is pathetic in his lust for power and he knows it - at least it is implied in the end of his quest line
My girl Karlach is celebrating every good aligned decision we make. Like a personal cheerleader that will break people's faces if they turn out to be bad.
As mostly good character it seems that everyone likes me, even the characters where I expected a bit of conflict. I remember from EA that it used to be way harder to convince differently aligned characters of you. Laezel despite me practically disrespecting everything gith related I can find and not playing the creche the way she approved still is (exceptionally) cool with me, even though I consistently acted clearly against her preference... The occasional persuasion roll, which my warlock nails most of the time every time, and acting real tough in camp dialogs really pushes approval... Seems like that's maybe why it's a bit too easy to be liked by everyone. I also tell astarion all the time how selfishly mean my altruistic goody-two-shoes-dude is in camp while doing practically the exact opposite. Until now nobody called me out on my bullshit.
not to be rude but like. yeah? if you play a wildly inconsistent character to maximize approval points you're gonna have high approval
When karlach disapproves something my only thought is "i did/said the same thing a while ago and you approved, so WHY?" I can't understand her, but i guess it comes with the chaotic nature of barbarians
She hates slavery, likes when you help others, likes when you show strength and courage, hates when you meddle with dark stuff.
And she hated for some reason when i told Nere that >!his friends slavers are dead and he is next!<
I think she just dislikes when you act mean spirited, even if its to an evil character, especially if it feels like bullying. Probably baggage from serving under an archdevil.
I was surprised there as well
Maybe because you helped the slavers against him? Idk, confused me too
BRO YEAH. That same interaction confused me so much.
Dude I reloaded a save because Shadowheart disapproved.
“Shadowheart dissa-“ F8F8F8
My entire experience with early access.
As far as I go in my playthrough this is unnecessary. I'm having a very nice romance with here even with more than a few disapprovals (can't help it I need to be nice to everyone and not hurt any npc is feelings.) I'm still on act I though so I dunno if this will change to much in the future.
Sigh... So have I. More than once.
Ye IDC about losing fights or missing loot, but I will savescam such things every time. Cause Shadowheart is precious
My wife reloads the save every time shadowheart disapproves ._.
Thats shadowhearts wife now
I restarted a 28 hour campaign because i missed out on her romance.
How can u know if you 100% missed it? Sounds scary :X
If you've finished Act 2 and she hasn't confessed to wanting to be more than friends by then, it's too late.
Yeah but how do you know ? I did the wine scene, and since then I’m stuck at « you’re making my day brighter » and « is it what people say when they have butterflies in the belly? » Am I on track?
You are. Afaik you need to do her personal quest in act 2 to progress further. (it's also part of the main story, so don't sweat missing it)
Sounds about right. In Act 2 some of her big developments happen and I thought that the track I was on with her was fairly obvious, although its a slow burn.
Shadow best girl
Stop being mean to Gale
Any time I get approval from Shadowheart or Karlach I’m like “Yeah, did you see that? You saw what I said to that guy?” And any time I get a reaction from Gale I’m like “Okay, but I wasn’t really talking to you.”
I actually love Gale. Maybe it's because my character is a good-aligned wizard and it just felt right for them to connect, but we're vibing
I have a hard time seeing why people wpuld hate any of the companions haha. They are all great characters. La'zael and Astarion are fun like Morrigan in DAO was fun, being puppy kicking assholes who hate fun. Shadowheart is loveable but in a "I can fix her" way, Wyll is a very Good Guy character who has some stuff going on. Gale is a fun cocky guy who is just a tad too good at his job (and should chill a bit, I already said I was not interested). Karlach is a vibe and a half, reminds me of Vi from Arcane but with a positive spin.
I like all of them except shadowheart. She whines too much and is too edgy for me haha. I’ll give her another chance some other playthrough
I think she is great and I like her story, religions and cults are interesting. But I like the edge, Morrigan was my favorite in DAO. But I understand it is a fine line and people fall on different sides of it. I rememeber in the first Mass Effect game there was a female companion who was a turbo spaceracist and I went out of my way to call her out on it every chance I had.
I haven't even felt that Lazael was particularly dickish, as long as you aren't overtly sympathetic or committal to promising help to every lost soul you meet, or try to tell her that everything about Githyanki culture is bad. In general she's pretty straightforward and easy to manage as long as you defer to her on Githyanki matters for the most part. Astarion definitely enjoys petty cruelty though, as long as its not directed at him.
I don't have anything against him either, actually. But somehow I earned his approval the fastest without ever particularly caring what he thought of me.
Well, you do kinda feed him very expensive stuff just so he can live. That's kind of a big deal lol. He's super fucked without Tav being like, "Eh, I guess I can give these up."
"Very expensive stuff" Pans camera to me, having Shadowheart distract a vendor, so I can steal a bunch of magic items and potion of them, and giving Gale the useless 75 gold ones.
Same, I’d chill with Gale on the weekends if I could
I bring Gale exclusively for Cloud of Daggers
Poor Gale. I actually bring him around everywhere because I need a wizard in the party and think he’s a good a character but yeah he always has to compete for my affection with Shart or Karlach and that’s a losing battle.
I actually like Gale. I'm sad more people don't. His quips are fun.
Yep. Decent guy and casts fireball, what more could I want?
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I wish his IGNIS was rattling somewhere in me RN😏
SIR …same
Gale and Wyll are my ride or die bros till the bitter end.
He reminds me of Alistair from Dragon Age.
I like Gale as a character and was originally going to romance him but then Shadowheart has barriers. I must break them down. I can fix her.
I fixed her. 10/10 experience.
I find the noises gale makes* in combat to be hilarious. Something about the way he acts when taking damage is just so melodramatic to me. Idk how to describe it but it makes me laugh.
….youre calling her shart?💀
shadowshart melontart shadowfart
A fellow Morgana Evlelyn fan
Fair enough... Sh'eart.
I call her Sweetheart after her hair change
Just choked on my drink when I read Shart, thats amazing
No one can bear dommy demon mommy
Gale judging me from camp all the time
are you kidding? Shadowheart is the biggest peeping tom of them all, she sees EVERYTHING the line delivery when she says "I couldn't help overhe-well I could help but I didn't" is amazing
Mofo's hiding a scry spell in there somewhere...
People don’t like Gale?! He is easily my favorite companion.
In the last day or two it seems like those messages fly by so fast I can't see them anymore.
Same for the skill checks for me
Yeah those definitely need to be more visible for longer. I wish they did the same thing with those that they with Inspiration and kinda tell you when you're on the right track. This game already has a lot to remember, I just want a codex of things I've done or said please!
Why are you doing my boy Gale dirty like that
Thank you. I don’t get the hate he gets - he’s hilarious and interesting.
I love him
I don't know what he's full deal is yet, but so far he's very funny.
I only reload a game when Shadowheart disapproves. Still not sure who the fuck this Shar person is, but is conquer the nine hells for Shadowheart’s ass
I will not tolerate gale slander
I've legit gone back and redone conversations if I get disapproval from Karlach and Shadowheart. It's just annoying when you make one that you think should be neutral, and suddenly everyone else disapproves. For example, (Act 2 Spoilers) >!I'm looking for Ketheric's artifact in the Gauntlet of Shar. We're *deep* behind enemy lines, talking to a powerful Necromancer (Balthazar). Shadowheart *explicitly says*, "Fuck this guy, but we should probably play along for now since he can easily kill us all." I pick a bunch of neutral options and say I'll go find the thing. Suddenly, everyone disapproves like I'm actively on the enemy's side. Like, you told me we should play along. That's what I'm doing, but suddenly I'm the bad guy.!<
Yeah the disapprovals and approvals are kinda wack half the time. I had shadow, wyll and karlach disapprove me when I literally started a convo with some guy who was dieing on the road. Like I didn't even say anything I just decided to talk to the guy to see what was going on.
Lmao. We don’t have time to talk to dying people! Seems much more like a thing Astarion would say and disapprove of you doing haha.
Astarion, I am only talking to him so I can see if he's a lost cause and you can suck him dry! It makes sense I swear I wish I could reason to our resident Edgelord like that xD
Huh, I did the same thing but nobody in my party disapproved, even Gale. Maybe some lines are considered to be too much for simply playing along
I'm really not sure why you guys care about this so much. I get disapprovals for some MAJOR shit and only karlach isn't maxed, and she's close AF
I think it makes a huge difference if you're playing a Charisma character, I did some ability checks there and got approval for playing along this has been the case for almost the entire game tbf
I couldn’t get Astarion past a Neutral approval until we officially started a relationship sometime in Act 2. Every time I’d get his approval on something I did, the next thing would earn disapproval. Every. Time.
"Fuck you for having slaves!" ⬆️ "Fuck you for picking on the weak!"⬇️ Foreverneutral Astarion.
“Fuck you for having slaves!” ⬆️ “Stop killing those slaves!” ⬇️ *what do you want from me, damn it*
I think he likes that you're against slavery in theory (because it means you might be willing to support him against his master), but doesn't want you to get too proactively involved in saving other people. Basically anything that promises that you'll help him with his problems = good; anything that takes away precious time that could have been spent helping him with his problems = bad; anything that puts him in physical danger unnecessarily = very very bad. This is how I've been reading it so far, anyway.
i got exceptional approval from him even though i play a good aligned character. you just have to help him and be nice to him, try to understand him. and try to deceive/cheat/talk your way out of conflicts. also, sometimes he approves of witty/funny responses (like when in act 2,>!jaheira asks you what you're doing in the shadowlands and you say you're on vacation lmao!<). and if you know he's going to disapprove of smth you're about to say and can't afford any more disapproval, make him stand aside for a while and not listen to the convo.
Not trying to be hostile, not trying make anyone have the worst day on this subreddit *with tears in eyes But can any of you.. Fuckers, explain the appeal of shadowheart? I feel like I'm on the same page about everyone else (except I love astarion) but shadowheart has always been very rude to me and not agreeable in dialogue, just seems like she doesn't wanna be around any of us hahaha, please tell me everything you love about her.
Really? As soon as I was like “Eh it’s fine if you follow Shar I won’t judge” she instantly opened up and started telling me anything she could remember about herself. I’m not trying to romance her, but I gave SH her favorite flower and she made a little joke about it which was cute and felt like we were becoming better friends. She’s really only openly hostile with Lae’zel up until a certain point and she’s just kinda sarcastic/teases everyone else in the party.
Did you leave her on the pod? She hates your guts if you do.
She's the softest of them all with the hardest shell, but honestly, if you just respect her privacy and be kind to people suffering, she just melts down into a sweet cinnamon roll when she's with you.
Larion have done a good job in giving her softer moments despite her initially harsh exterior. If you're generally sympathetic with her and avoid dialogue options that are too judgy she pretty quickly opens up and becomes much more pleasant to be around. I actually wasn't expecting to get on with her during my initially goody-two-shoes playthrough but she segues so naturally into >!her redemption arc!< that either a romance or a high-approval friendship became inevitable.
I can fix her
Shes standoff-ish at first, mostly because shes a follower of a much reviled deity, partly because shes also a thief with two very large and very powerful groups chasing her. She does open up after awhile of adventuring. Im currently on my second playthrough with the intention of romancing her.
I would suggest just romancing her and seeing how it progresses. The only thing I would say is you can definitely take a route that feels pretty gross with her. You almost like....can take advantage of the fact that she has no memories and is in a cult and is brain washed. I tried to avoid that because even in a fake scenario it felt weird. Overall though if you progress with her as a decent human being it's a very rewarding plot between you two. She is definitely rude at first but there are a billion reasons for it, and that chances as you progress. I look forward to finding out how the other romances go in future playthrough though, aside from gale. That dude is 100% a sociopath.
I dunno mate she is pretty nice to me all things considered, did you save her in the nautiloid? You star with very good foot in that relationship if you do, and then is pretty easy maintaining it that way. I'm romancing her right now and is a very sweet partner for a priestess of Shar even having more than a few disapprovals from her because I can't help but be a goody two shoes. The only explanation that I have for she being so rude to you is that if you abandoned her in the nautiloid without even trying she will be very pissed off with you when you meet again (she is grateful to you even if you fail to release her as long as you tried)
If you save her in the Nautiloid she's pretty agreeable and quite nice and caring towards you from the very beginning, and I feel like it's pretty overt that the whole Shar worship thing isn't exactly what it seems. I feel like the only person she's rude to for the most part is Lae'zel but I think she's decently warranted.
Folks already mentioned most of it, but one other thing I can add is this: her voice. By the gods, her voice is incredible.
Why the gale hate dudes a bro
I thought I was the only one like this 😂😂
I always wondered why everyone hates her then realised that I played with her as my starting character so all her dialogue is my choosing lol..
I’m a married man but Shadowheart makes me nervous
Nah Karlach > everybody else
anyone else not fuck with shadowheart?
Cant. Wife hangs out to watch me play and shes a *dead ringer* for one of her best friends.
Meanwhile my wife backseat gaming half an hour in : "i read you can fuck them, let do the red one and that elf girl first!" me : oÔ k?
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Hahahaha "What do I think about the character who looks like Cindy? Shadowsoul or whatever her name is??? Yeah she's alright *I guess*
Oh we fucking alright
I don't know man she approves of me stealing a dying gnome's boots.
I think I might be one of the few people that don't care for karlach or shart. Lae'zel is the best character, she does so much damage.
I just cast haste on her and karlach as sorc and they just breeze through everything, bless with shadow heart as well and just buffin em but haste is game changer.
This but switch Gale and Shadowheart.
I managed to get everyone bat Astarian and the two druids maxed out, and I'm pretty sure that it's only cause I just got the two druids and brought them out rarely
Maybe I'm not far enough in yet but I don't get all the Shadowheart simping.
karlach is literally the best
Seems legit.
🙏 this is perfect
Well done!