#this is from durge dialogue in the grove

[linka-from-captain-planet]

ANTI Ethel???

Auntie Ethel: Oh, petal, that's how it starts you know - thinking is only a step away from doing.

[taliaglitch]

patch 2 is apparently supposed to have big performance improvements and i'm really really hoping they're big enough for me to play the game on medium graphics again. all my impulse 1.0 screenshots from act 1 to early act 2 were on medium settings and they all looked so much better than any i have taken since

[utterdrip]

#starry comp

(act i, do not know astarion is a vampire, meet [and let him kill] gandrel) >you killed that monster hunter rather quickly >it was unnecessary cruelty

(act i, underdark, sorcerer) [by sussur tree] >mind your own business

(act ii, durge, romanced) do not have speak with animals activated >special durge dialogue option

(act i) [first long rest] >i’m not about to turn my back on a stranger

(act iii, sewers) >your date was a vampire

(anytime) spam click his character while sneaking

(act i) prevent sazza’s death

(act ii, do not speak with raphael at last light with astarion) [approach the mausoleum with astarion] >we’re not doing your dirty work, raphael

(act i, lae’zel must be in party) let lae’zel speak with zorru

(act i, after learning about his scars) i hope you’re not here to talk about cazador >i was actually hoping to ask about something else

(act iii, sewers) speak with astarion upon entering

(act i) speak with arabella’s parent before entering the grove

(act iii, post cazador, spawn) speak with minsc with astarion in the party after the cazador fight

(anytime) fail nature check

(act iii, romanced, post cazador, ascendant, gave araj your blood in act ii) >it sounds dangerous

(act i, ranger or monk) [first long rest] >i can brew you a nice cup of herbal tea

(act i, grymforge, worship shar, shadowheart must be in party) interact with fallen dark justiciar’s

(act ii, save minthara from moonrise + let her join party) >better a dagger than fangs to my throat, astarion

[alicelufenia]

Testing new ways to recruit Minthara in Patch 6 - Part 1 (KO at the grove battle)

First of what may become a series of attempts to find new ways to recruit Minthara on the good playthrough.

Now according to the patch notes:

It's unclear what they mean by "number of valid methods". So far the ONLY valid methods to recruit Minthara are siding with the Goblins (ie the best method) or to knock her out while temporarily hostile. I go on all about it in this post.

So to start I wanted to see if the number of cases where she becomes temporarily hostile have been expanded. And the first method I wanted to test is possibly the coolest way to knock her out; by fighting her and the goblin horde at the grove! I don't need to show any screenshots of that, suffice to say, she was marked fully hostile by the game, and her knocked out status was NOT temporary (ie., said this entity would disappear permanently after a long rest)

So I played the rest out as you normally would; long resting to go to the tiefling party, then heading to the mountain pass, past the undead patrol, into the shadow-cursed lands, summoned Kar'niss, turned on him at the Harpers, yada yada Last Light Inn yada yada Isobel and Marcus.

So I arrive at Moonrise, and while expecting nothing, who do I see?

THERE SHE IS! And wearing her camp clothing cause I stole her armor again lmao (and she didn't wear the blazer of benevolence I reverse-looted into her inventory, cause she'd rather be in her PJs in front of her boss than anything from Volo. Honestly understandable.)

The cutscene plays out normally, but after going down into the prison, freeing her mind and fighting her interrogators

She just... breaks. No dialogue, not interactable, doesn't follow me, nothing. Killing the other guards outside doesn't do anything.

At first I was ready to call this whole attempt bugged (which don't get me wrong, this IS a bug)

But I thought, what if I have her play along (I never did that in my own playthrough) So I reload, and trick the guards instead.

SUCCESS! She's a follower npc now!

We deceive our way out of Moonrise, send her back to camp

Also, incredibly funny that both Astarion and Karlach approve, when Astarion is the only one who voices major objections, and earlier Karlach had this to say at camp before we headed into the prison

I guess seeing her tortured and grateful for being freed warmed Karlach's heart to her. Awww :3

Ladies and gentlemen, we got her

It's not completely without bugs. Karlach and Wyll both didn't have anything to say about Minthara's recruitment, but that might have been because I hadn't exhausted their reactive dialogue beforehand, as they both had things to say about prior events. Lae'zel, Shadowheart, Astarion and Gale (y'know the regular durge squad) all had their normal reactions.

Also Halsin isn't there cause he's currently at Last Light hanging out with Art. I hadn't even found Thaniel yet. Although I don't anticipate any interactions with those two, as the ultimatum dialogue is still inaccessible, and even if it was, involves an absolutely convoluted way to get both Halsin and Minthara that will almost never happen anyway.

Final Verdict: Recruiting Minthara by KOing her while defending the grove - WORKS!

[weavebitch]

it just occured to me that this bit of narration dialogue was a bit random, no? (you get in in the grove after talking to bex and her partner about the plans they have for baldur's gate):

and then i thought... what if durge was (subconciously) thinking about gortash? maybe they have the plan to die by his side. gortash dies first, the last possible murder for durge because everyone else has been slain already, and then durge takes their own life. it's perfect, is it not? nothing will save them from their father, not even love. they can't escape their birthright. but what they can do is keep gortash by their side until the very last moment.

and in some nook or cranny of their hollowed out mind, durge held onto that plan, that tiny act of rebellion. a testimony of affection for a man they shouldn't care about. the memory of his face, his voice, his name might be beyond their reach, but the thought of wanting to die by his side was kept so close and securely next to their heart (to keep it a secret from outsiders, orin, even bhaal, and perhaps also gortash) that all of orin's dissecting couldn't get to it. and when durge meets two people who are in love and who are bound for death no matter which way forward they take, it does feel awfully familiar. they know a shared death is perfect, even though they don't remember why they would know, and they can't seem to place the source of the sudden wave of loneliness crashing over them.

[lusciouswhiteflame]

This is not for you darling!

I started honour mode with Nyv and friends.

Their "How I met him" story starting over for the 3rd time. Astarion seduced Nyv (Durge) in middle of the Goblin camp. Always picking the most romantic spots to chat. The tiefling party is over and now they're heading to the next location.

** potencial durge Spoilers everywhere from here **

Let's see how long this journey lasts. I really want to see them getting the trophy, but I also regret this mode. I want to try so many things. So many dialogue options. This time I got the performance feat from Alfira (oh Alfira...) . I'm actually enjoying to see Nyv play different instruments, also seeing him whistle lmao (I didn't know he could make money out of it as Assassin too). I'll probably give Astarion the performance feat only to see them duet. But I must be careful. It's honour mode after all. I'm already afraid of House of Grief.

Also it gave me an idea for the next durgestarion run. Duo Rogue Assassins luring their victims with their performance. Walking around looting corpses is tedious, so let's just gather them in one place and boom, said Astarion. And Durge smiled. They'll sneak for more formidable opponents.

I also want to mention I digged a grave in the emerald grove and found out more about Durge's...uh... preferences... and it only made Durgestarion make more sense I'm smirking. A match made in heaven hell or wherever indeed.

Also this time I picked a different dialogue option and found interesting how Astarion encourage Durge to embrace his nature and let his kller instinct unleash. But I know, when the urge actually takes over Nyv, he wants him to resist. To be himself. He approves and loves Nyv's violent nature but only if Nyv is Nyv. And that's interesting and lovely. He wants the safety Nyv provides but... not at any cost. Also he doesn't want to get klled by the urge. Obviously. But still.

It's baffling (in a good way) how much commitment he shows with Durge. He stays to make sure Nyv is ok through the urge. He KNOWS Nyv would do it for him, and he wants to do the same. That's beautiful. To think he was struggling and feeling stupid to fall for durge makes it all the better. Astarion and his machinations. I'm glad durge is there to be the actual mastermind from now on.

I really want to play as Astarion origin and find Durge (Nyv) and recruit him. Please Larian. PLEASE.

By the way, I bought Divinity OS2, Baldur's gate 1&2 on ps5. Take my money. Thank you.

Ok I think it's all for now. Sorry for the looooong ranting. If you made it this far thanks for reading, and wish me luck with this mode 😉

[queerbrainrot]

to everyone who is scared of playing The Dark Urge or thinks it's just a 'murder hobo character'

don't worry, you're able to play 100% goodie-two shoes redemption Durge. It's not hard. For like 99% of time it's just you, the player, not choosing the dialogue options for succumbing to murder.

No, you won't kill Scratch or the Owlbear cub, they're perfectly safe.

There's only one unavoidable murder - there's two which are only 'unavoidable' if you approach the character (squirrel in emerald grove) and if you insist on trying to remember something (Steelclaw at Moonrise Towers).

You get Durge-specific cloak which is amazing bcs it allows you to become invisible upon killing an enemy.

Overall, Dark Urge allows your character to feel integrated into the world by having many, many unique dialogue lines from other characters (in all acts, for example: with Isobel, Oathbreaker knight, Helsik, the Chosen Ones).

Dark Urge also has Durge-specific scene for your romance options and for Astarion it has a Durge-specific break up line that can actually be just a romance scene.

Durge has adorable relationship with Jaheira and Minsc if you choose redemption path.

You learn a lot more about how the Cult of the Absolute came to be and it makes way more sense than in Tav version.

Overall, coming from someone who cannot be mean to characters in video games: I recommend The Dark Urge origin.

[mission--control]

Missing Moments with Durge: Sweet, Sweet Chaos There's currently a way to keep Karlach and even Wyll in an evil tav/durge run where you raid the grove: 1. Recruit Karlach, but don't recruit Wyll (optional on Wyll, works nicer this way) 2. Deal with Anders, go get your first and only upgrade. 3. Talk to Zevlor and offer to kill Kagha 4. Go choose to attack Kagha via dialogue (Karlach will have a +1 approval) and let the tieflings and druids kill eachotherun until it marks Save the Refugees as complete. 5. Jump Karlach into a chasm or off a bridge (If you have Wyll already recruited, him too) so you don't get an approval hit. 6. Have Withers watch their body, do not resurrect yet. 7. Talk to Minthara, explain the grove is pretty much dead, and then go to the grove and longrest. 8. After the goblin party, resurrect Karlach (if Wyllis not recruited, he will show up at camp on first long rest, otherwise resurrect him too) If you don't have the tieflings and druids duke it out and instead join Minthara's raid and betray the refugees, Karlach will leave party when you resurrect her. Keeping Karlach will bug out some of the intended bits from the party, such as Astarion's more scared sounding voicelines in the post romance scene that happens at night rather than daytime will be swapped for a daytime version which is more like the one where you save the grove, except one line when you agree to go back to camp after talking about his scars, and Volo will talk as though you saved the grove. Volo's talk will be your first indicator that you did it right. The downsides: you can't recruit Halsin, you can't successfully romance Karlach, and obviously the tieflings are dead so act 2 has 3 less things to do. Otherwise, enjoy your evil playthrough with a few more people, provided you can keep them around with approval.

[thelikesoffinn]

been thinking about it lately and Ascended Astarion = Dead Dove content and I'm not sure that's really understood, even by the writers. when I finally got around to the character I decided to ascend him with, I was SUPREMELY disappointed by the conversations options following it. it seemed like the dialogue choices were trying to push the narrative on my character that they made this choice w/o considering the consequences and they are bound to regret it. the closest I could get to answering his question of "why did u let me go thru w it?" was "I wanted u to be powerful".

but with that character? my accept Bhaal durge? that isn't the reasoning. at all. (related: "what do u want as a reward?" "ur body" was the closest answer my character could give. otherwise I'd've answered "murder :))")

for context, this run was born of a conversation w my friend discussing supposed content no one had seen bc "no one's that evil". we thought, what's more evil than killing literally every npc? I failed the conceit of the challenge immediately bc I can't handle senseless animal cruelty in my games. killing children? fine (u need a mod to do this in BG3, but I am thankfully plenty delighted to use mods), killing a neutral animal npc? no can do.

so I started this durge (they are the only character that can come close to "killing" Gale with that first interaction) run with the intention of killing everyone except Shadowheart (only a cleric of Shar can truly kill Aylin) and Astarion (bc I need to smooch him). (and there is a mod for playing an origin character as durge, which would have meant playing as Shadowheart, but I MUST smooch Astarion and I don't tend to do het or female romances, unless I'm forced to (*sighs dreamily* oh, Garrus Vakarian). I'm just not interested in that set of equipment in that way, so may as well just make a durge dude.) somehow something went wonky and Halsin ended up joining us and I was so perplexed I just allowed him to stay. (he's meant to attack if u destroy the grove but free him anyway, but instead he just showed up that night and went straight into his Moonrise spiel. is it bc the wolf Silver never aggro'd me and thus survived???) so I fixed the Shadow Curse all while killing every single humanoid and hostile animal in acts 1 & 2. including Thaniel, which makes Halsin's talks later in act 3 of getting news from Thaniel and the Grove hysterical. idk what I did but I sure as hell broke this poor man.

(on a related note, Halsin will give out to u when u accept Bhaal, but will still give u the "u have exceeding my expectations, also we should bang" in the same conversation. I DON'T KNOW WHAT I DID BUT IT'S DARKLY FUNNY.)

in the conversation when Astarion is expressing surprise that u let him go thru w it, my durge is just like, yes my motivation is that I like to kill ppl :))). it's not a sex thing for him (that is separate from the murder!), but he's still fine w the outcome. yes, Astarion looks down on him, but that's fine! he's allowed to be wrong about that, durge doesn't care. so long as Astarion lets him kill ppl he genuinely just does not give a shit.

(I actually had the idea that if Halsin were to ever rediscover his morals and tried to leave he'd ask Astarion to turn him so Halsin would not have a choice. as I said, this durge *does not fucking care*.)

this is probably the only character I will play that would let Astarion ascend bc I enjoy dead dove SOMETIMES, but not always or in large doses, but I get so few dialogue options that convey that in an rp sense! I don't think the writers/devs REALLY took that into consideration, sometimes. like, yeah, there are going to be ppl making fucked up choices but surely no one would go THIS far! for THIS reason! honey, u need to look up the Dead Dove tag on AO3, there are absolutely ppl making choices for those fucked up reasons.

(and I understand the whole "this confirms to Astarion about sex yadda yadda". even if that's not Tav/Durge motivation, that's how ASTARION would *interpret* it.)

(oh yes, and also, don't let Orin abduct Yenna. it doesn't matter whether u find out in camp or the sewers, Grub will not survive. I was devastated. if I'd known, I would have made sure Halsin was available for her, but she won't abduct a party member or someone ur romancing.)

long story short, I want to play a durge that even ascended Astarion finds unsettling. that's the dream.

Hello there, duck!

Your run sounds delightfully evil! I wish I could play one of those, haha, but I'm too soft hearted. My one evil run with my durge Salira was ended before even entering the grove because I felt horrible after getting rid of Gales hand! Seriously, I can barely take killing the squirrel as durge, and I always save Alfira because I feel horrendous otherwise!

(Fun fact, on all five runs I've done Yenna just vanished at some point and grubs was left standing in my camp, which was like...eh?)

And yes, Halsin is always somewhat of an issue, isn't he? He's just running around, causing mayhem in peoples games because he seems slightly bugged out, haha. I had one run, where he wouldn't go to the spot where we save Thaniel because he joined the fight against Marcus at Last Light and somehow got stuck, for some reason. Same run, none of his vocals would play, which was also very interesting. Everybody would make noise when they climbed or got hurt but Halsin was always silent and just there! And in another run the dude really straight up hated me - he was so mean and snappy, I swear to god he wanted my Durge dead - and then he suddenly went: "Hey you're super cool and strong and I just want to gently fuck you beneath the moonlight if you'll let me" and I was like: Say what.

Regarding the dead Dove: I've talked to people of Discord before, and some of them mentioned something similar a couple of times, but personally, I do think the writers actually knew what they were doing here!

Of course, I do agree that it relies heavily on the regret notion and that it somewhat shoehorns you into a certain narrative corner, I noticed that too when I was ascending him for research - I hated doing that, but all for the asks, haha - but I thought it was really fitting for what it is!

The bad ending, that is. I know we all somewhat forget that because of how people view him as a character, but ascension is the bad ending. Even on an evil run, where your character may have considered all options, it is very likely that Tav hasn't accounted for one very important part of being a true vampire.

The obsession.

It's still somewhat mild in the game, though definitely there, but it will only get stronger as time goes on, and it will probably get to the point that the only escape is death. Either his or Tav's. So, in the end, ascension will come with an armload of regret and the writers were making sure we know that.

And, on top of that, even if we let him ascend in a pursuit for power - or in in your durge's special case: murder :) - we still cast spawn Astarion aside because he doesn't fit our needs, thus making it very clear to him that who he is isn't enough and his behaviour is the price we now pay.

It's pretty much the same with all the other companions as well - justiciar Shadowheart and ascended Lae'zel, for example. However, it doesn't bother us as much, because we have different expectations towards ascended Astarion than, for example, dark justiciar Shadowheart. We don't expect a positive narrative here, a narrative where becoming shady-shar's loyal subject isn't an objectively dumb decision to make, so we don't mind the dead dove as much. It's exactly what we've been expecting - and Aylin even warned us how Shadowheart would change upon becoming a dark justiciar - so yepp. This went exactly how we thought it would and this is what we wanted.

Astarion, however, is a somewhat special case, because his bad ending is, by far, the one that gets the most romanticised. He's so heavily romanticised by so many, that the bad parts nearly start to fade, even with those who don't like the ascended ending. It becomes just 'the other ending', if you will.

And yet, it's still the bad ending.

Ascension is the bad ending for a character that we've somewhat given up on. That we misunderstood so deeply, mayhaps, that we traded his entire being for power and, quite frankly, beauty. We showed him that he isn't enough, we let the boy run and hide the only way he knew how and now we're faced with the consequences and yes, it's really dead dove but...what did we expect?

[silvandar]

BG3 Durge run: casualty list, sunmary etc. Durge spoilers.

I absolutely loved this run. Durge is like playing a completely different game! The plot is fantastic, and the dialogues are hilarious and very clever.

My Durge looks almost exactly like this! Love this tattoo design.

Party: Durge fighter, Astarion, Shart, random hireling sorcerer. Picking Duergar was a Choice, their movement is dogshit and they keep getting stuck on jumps 😭

Act 1

Gale: maimed, presumed dead. Unless Mystra took pity on him.

The Grove: bloodbath. Stole everything that wasn't nailed down.

Wyll: dead

Goblin leaders: dead. Minthara tried to shiv me when i picked Astarion over her, should have rerolled just to see her romance scene but it was late and I was tired.

Karlach: dead. Attacked me on sight yelling about the Grove massacre, which was weird but cool. How did she knowwwwww.

Laezel: dead, because she tried to shiv me when i was sick. Otherwise we were besties 😭

Act 2

Oliver: squished

He Who Was: openly likes me, headcanon dating.

Last Light Inn: bloodbath

Jahira: dead

Isobel: dead

Yurgir: freed from contract because i couldn’t trick him into yeeting himself

Nightsong: dead

Shart: Dark Justiciar mode.

Durge plot: think I'm figuring it out. Orin is getting slapped later.

Daddy Thorm: dead. Surprisingly easy to kill when everyone has misty step and range.

Githyanki plot: pretty much ignored.

Romances: dating Astarion, flirting with Shart.

Durge has slayer form which everyone else in the camp thinks is gross, but Durge absolutely loves it.

Act 3

Picking and choosing quests is fun! I'm already level 8 so can easily ignore stuff that feels too "good" to be of interest.

Somehow my general terribleness has made me Chronically Single. So I had to bang drow beef without the offer of a foursome. Sigh. Choosing the "kinky" options was hilarious.

Kissed and made up with Gortash. He's a good guy really, very swauve. Looking forward to killing him later.

Ascended Astarion. Went at level 10, fight was surprisingly easy now I know the mechanics of the power boosts. Also having Turn Undead is big and clever. Watching Cazador scuttle like a cockroach was very cathartic.

Murder tribunal: Met Saravok, he was fun! Chatted about the old days, killed an elephant, bathed in some blood. Good times.

Nightsong redux: Robbed Lorroakan while he sulked about the Nightsong being dead. Astarion can now summon Ghouls. (Genuinely, just hopped on downstairs and cleaned out the vault. Not a single combat reaction from anyone. Bugged? Or just wizarding hubris? Didn't try to take anything from the main tower tho as I didn't need the robes or staff.)

House of Grief: Shart turned about 1/4 of the adds to our side, so it was a surprisingly easy fight. Shart is now God's Extra Special Princess.

Orin: died in 3 turns, just went Slayer on her and ripped her apart. Fun! Astarion has a new sword.

Saravok redux: Durge has a nice new sword and hat. Although he did one-shot me at one point. Don't know why I expected anything other than a fight, honestly.

Gortash: roasted by the Netherbrain. Saves me killing him I guess. Bit annoyed that I couldn't loot him.

Ignored Raphael and Orpheus completely. Gave the Emperor the Netherstones. Pretty much zero Githyanki plot on this run, as it seemed pointless with Laezel dead.

Netherbrain: much harder with only 2 sets of allies! Blinding the dragon helped, and for some reason the mage got stuck and glitched, so I consider the fight Cheesed By Accident.

Ending: murdered the Emperor, dominated the Netherbrain, turned my party into thralls, ruled the world as Bhaal's Chosen. Epic end scene, absolutely brilliant. IN BHAAL'S NAME!

[crossdressingdeath]

hi!! would you happen to have any mod recs for bg3? :з going though the nexus mods page for the game right now and feeling kinda overwhelmed lmao

Yeah, there are... so many. Let me see... First off, you're almost certainly going to need the Mod Fixer, most mods require it. Also the mod manager if you didn't get it already. Unique Tav (and the required Old Shader Pack that goes with it) is really good for character design stuff; I use it for Kyvir, that's where his tattoos come from. You can look through the requirements list to see all the mods that use it too, I think most body tattoo mods and things along those lines use Unique Tav. There's also the Leathery Garb mod which just adds some fun additional camp clothes (also what I use for Kyvir). For Durge specifically I've got an autopsy scar mod that's really good, and of course the Strangely Familiar Ring mod my beloved.

In terms of gameplay, first off you should absolutely get the Camp Events Notification mod. It does exactly what it says on the tin and it's netted me so much dialogue that I would've missed without it. Then I've got a mod that lets you buy all the camp clothes and underwear in act 1 so you can get all the fancy act 3 stuff right away and another mod that adds boots as camp footwear (both of them give their respective stock to merchants in act 1; Arron in the grove will have everything). Then there's Deity For All and the associated Deity Tag Activator if you want your character to have a deity without having to be a cleric (although keep in mind that if you use these everyone except Shadowheart—and your character if you change their deity—will be a Selûnite due to her being first in the deity list). There's also this one which adds more gods to choose from; the vast majority of additional gods are just for flavour, but from what I can tell gods who could be selected and had dialogue associated with them in EA but were later scrapped (eg the Dead Three) have that dialogue restored by this mod. Although I can't currently confirm that everything works properly together; side note, if anyone knows of a point where clerics of Bane got unique dialogue in EA act 1 please let me know, I'd love to be able to confirm if it'll show up for Kyvir. And of course if you're playing Durge Better Dark Urge is always fun; it basically adds some additional features that you can toggle on and off to give more of a sense in gameplay that you're not Just Some Guy.

That's everything from my list, but if anyone has any additional recs feel free to chime in!

[dizzyrobinsims]

Goodie Guide to Romance Astarion- Points Breakdown

Ok so quick Points break down of (some of!) the biggest Astarion Approval Amounts, Act 1.

I will try and update this as I go along and do a cleaned up version for the final run. Note, for my own sanity, I'm only adding up the 5 or more approval point gains and disapproval tracking will be spotty.

Act 1 Spoilers, obviously. And from my Chaotic Good play through.

BITE:

Saying you believe him:5 Allowing Him to Bite: 10 Defending him to others, saying you trust him: 5 Agreeing to let him snack on Bandits: 5 Total: 25

Biggest early boost to approval.

SEX:

Agreeing to sleep with him nets you: 10 Allowing him to bite while sleeping with him: 5

RANDOM:

Bugbear/Ogre Walk In, Letting Astarion Open Door (added back in latest patch): 5

Giving Him The Necromancy Book: 5

In Conversation About Cazador, saying "I will watch your back if you watch mine": 5

Selecting Knife or Poison option on "How would you prefer to be killed" dialogue at camp: 5

Priest of Loviatar, doing the pain ritual: 5

So if you do all this, you can reach 60 points out of 99 with only visiting the Grove, Blighted Village, and Camp in Act 1. Of course you can also hold off on some things and mix and match as well. After all, the fact you can net 60+ points with only visiting a fraction of the Act 1 Map? WHOO boy. Yeah you have some wiggle room.

I also gained a lot of 1's here and there by going stuff like after a protest allowing Lae'zel to interrogate Zorru, asking Lae'zel to say 'please' to let her down, playing along with blood drinking question, and Durge shenanigans.

[utterdrip]

starry comp

(astarion romance woods scene) >i could always go again >sure, let’s go

(act iii) idle dialogue about victoria’s body

(act iii, post cazador, spawn) speak to jaheira after the cazador fight with astarion in party

(act iii, spawn, durge accepted bhaal) >when i conquer the world, perhaps i shall spare you

(act i, barbarian*) >smash the magic mirror

(act i, don’t know astarion is a vampire, meet [and kill] gandrel) >cast speak with the dead on gandrel’s corpse to find out his quarry >confront astarion

(act i, underdark, sorcerer) >it’s the flower, my magic is gone

(anytime) >spam click astarion’s profile

(act ii, do not speak with raphael at last light with astarion, have astarion in party approaching mausoleum) >what do you think, astarion?

(act ii, post killing orthon) >repeat after me: thank you for helping me. it was very kind.

(act i, underdark, sorcerer) >it’s the flower, my magic is gone >just my good looks, then

(act i) enter auntie ethel’s home to trigger unique dialogue with astarion

(act i, emerald grove) lae’zel specific idle chatter

(act ii, after breaking up with a different LI) >maybe i like complications. they keep things interesting.

(act iii, post cazador, spawn, pre bhaal confrontation durge) special breakup dialogue

(act iii, sewers) idle chatter in caustic brine room

(act i, underdark, sorcerer) prompted conversation from reaction to sussur trees

*not sure if barbarian specific or just a skill check

[alicelufenia]

would you recommend pursuing a minthara romance with her current state?

and follow-up questions—can a resisting durge still work with minthara? will she hate us? do you have to go all or nothing?

Despite every Minthara fan's protestations she is literally the most stable and accessible ever right now.

Her romance dialogue works, as little as it is (you "only" need external tools to access one set of dialogue, whereas before it was two or more, but even then it wasn't a big deal). Her kisses from patch 6 are 🔥🔥FIRE🔥🔥 and have a chance to trigger an easter egg dialogue where you feel strange after one of your kisses. Pretty sure that's unique to her, so that's cool.

Knocking her out in a "side with the Grove" run is as simple as using non-lethal damage on the last blow. She has banter with and comments on every other companion (except Halsin; they used to be mutually exclusive so they'll just ignore each other. Honestly preferable to them remaining exclusive)

As usual the most reliable way to recruit her is still to side with the goblins which is not everyone's cup of tea. If you can though, it is EASILY the best experience; her act 1 romance is incredible and ties in beautifully with her recruitment in act 2 (hint: enter her mind rather than fighting the guards first)

It's also recommended cause she still doesn't have an act 3 romance scene. The quest to retrieve Orin's Netherstone effectively becomes her companion quest, which is okay. Romancing her without her act 1 scene is still totally possible, get ready to say and do some questionable things (not too bad tho: my Tav is Oath of Devotion and I have 89 approval in act 3 without breaking my oath)

Resisting Durge CAN still romance Minthara, they have an epilogue scene together and everything. Telling her you intend to resist will earn you a warning that she'll end the relationship, but nothing happens if you do. The only thing that will end your relationship is cheating on her. On the upside, that means lots of reactions to everything you can do by end game.

Hotfix 21 added dialogue where she claims to break up with Redeemed Durge after rejecting Bhaal, then hotfix 22 removed it (it didn't actually end the relationship so Larian only knows why) Minthara fans have STRONG opinions one way or the other as to whether this addition/removal was good or bad (my opinion is that no reaction is less satisfying than SOME reaction, but especially with Larian's announcement that they will end creating new content for bg3 soon, we can't realistically expect anything more here either way)

Bottom line: you can romance her in any playthrough, you just need the approval. She has by far the least romance content out of all the companions except maybe Halsin, but if you enjoy her dialogue and like to headcanon-fill in the blanks you will still have a good time (I certainly have!)

Every Origin character has special lines and epilogues with her too. Fan favorites seem to be Karlach and Gale (don't know anything about the others personally)

Thanks for your question, hope that helped!

[spellshite]

Ho there traveler! What news does your Tav bring? Some questions, if I may ask!

1) What's your Tav's name, race, class and background?

6) What would the player gradually learn about your Tav in that quest? Would it have relevance to a place / an event / a character / a theme in the in-game campaign?

15) What sort of general decisions would your Tav approve or disapprove of? Are there any particular driving decisions? (ex. saving or raiding the grove, how you handle other companions, dealing with a specific thing they love/hate, etc…)

Cheers~ 🧡

Hello there stranger, and thank you for your questions! Tav and Durges have all something to say~

(asks from here)

1) what's your Tav's name, race, class and background?

Kylech, Asmodeus Tiefling, Illusion Wizard, Entertainer.

Hrodak, Half-Orc, Berserker Barbarian, Haunted One (alt: Outlander)

Xarann, Lolth-sworn Drow, Necromancer Wizard, Haunted One (alt: Urchin)

6) What would the player gradually learn about your Tav in that quest? Would it have relevance to a place / an event / a character / a theme in the in-game campaign?

In Kylech's personal arc, you'll learn how his being cheery and light-hearted is a facade to hide his insecurities, and how he sees himself as just a failed wizard who can use illusion magic only to conjure some trick to entertain people. There's the theme of learning to appreciate oneself and learning that one doesn't have to be powerful to be liked. As for relevant of places and such, you'd learn that he was originally from Elturel but left the city when he was an ambitious young teen who had just figured out he could use magic. And that when the Mind Flayers kidnapped people, it happened while he was travelling with a troupe of artists to Waterdeep for a spectacle (and because he wanted to know the Wizard of Waterdeep).

Xarann's personal arc is about self-discovery and becoming a better version of themselves. He doesn't remember what he was before the tadpole (like all durges), but he grasped hard at the vague memory of his drow life and worship of Lolth. He doesn’t understand the Urge that eats at him: his personal quests are tied to that. Probs would be like "what if Durge was a companion?" kinda thing. You'll later learn that he was of a lower class in Menzoberranzan and then caught and turned into a Bhaalspawn when he was very young.

Hrodak...hm. I think he'd be the one with the hardest personal quests as he mainly embraces the Urge and cares little about who he was before, but there's always the possibility to sway him away from that ofc but won't be easy. But it's possible. And what you learn about him will vary depending on which direction you choose for his personal quest. (I'm still working on his arc as companion tbh)

15) What sort of general decisions would your Tav approve or disapprove of? Are there any particular driving decisions? (ex. saving or raiding the grove, how you handle other companions, dealing with a specific thing they love/hate, etc…)

I might have a mental list of all the approval/disapproval things for all three, but let's try to make it short...kinda?

Kylech: he's chaotic more good than neutral, so there are some things in grey areas that could make you get his approval like successfully deceive/persuade an enemy to let you pass or in general lying your way in/out of situations. There's a long list of things I could list for his approvals (and disapprovals), but I'll try to write only the *main* decisions: side with the Tieflings and help them, if you decide to raid the Grove he will permanently leave after a short dialogue at Goblin Camp where he asks if you're really going to do that... Companion-wise: helping Gale is a big yes, as siding with Karlach and Wyll, if you kill Karlach (either by the river or in the confrontation with Mizora) he'll leave camp. He's okay with helping Astarion against the monster hunter, bonus approval if you pick the "I didn't know you were also racist" dialogue option.

Hrodak: You can get approval raiding the Grove, but he doesn't really care about anything other than killing, so saving the Grove is on the plate bc he can always kill the cultists. It will seem a weird thing but spare Owlbear mother (if he's already in your party) and then make the cub join camp will give you approval, same with Scratch. If you took the evil route, he'd approve of siding with the caravan and killing the Harpers but won't disapprove if you betray the cultists, and ofc letting him kill Isobel at Last Light for a big fat approval buff (and maybe something else if you tried to romance him). Oh and torture Liam and get uh- punished by Abdirak are other approvals, the latter also gives inspiration.

Xarann: he's trying to become a better person, but being a Durge makes him easy to sway. If he joined your party early (either after the crash or around the Blighted Village) he will be strongly against raiding the Grove, but if you pass some checks you could gain the possibility to make him believe it was a means to ends (but will still give you disapproval). Either help him find it or give him the Necromancy of Thay to get a big approval buff. Anything Lolth-related will give you approval (bonus inspiration when you read the Drow Matron text). Choosing the Underdark route will give you approval. Play the Spider's Lyre is another approval. Other things may depend on which direction his personal quest has taken, and for the evil route you have some checks to pass to convince him that embracing the Urge is the right thing to do. There would be a scene where he reveals the Urge in the good route, and you get a lot of disapproval if you downplay/dismiss his concerns.

[rottenbrainstuff]

Bg3 redo thoughts: after I finished my very first big amazing bard drow durge playthrough, I’m going back and doing it again with a tielfing paladin, to see what different things I run into and whatnot.

I’m really enjoying all the small little details and updates that have been changed since I last began a playthrough: stuff like Astarion’s boar now sometimes being found in a different spot. When I went into the spider cave, this time I noticed flies buzzing around the corpses… I swear I don’t remember seeing that detail there before?

Since my tav this time is a tielfing, she’s not getting her ass kissed by the goblins anymore, which is interesting. She failed an intimidation check with the goblins at the windmill so we got into a fight. Well. My guys are tired and health is low and there’s a lot of goblins here but whatever, we’ll see how it goes.

Then I hit Fezzerk one single time and he surrendered. Lmao! I had no idea that was even a thing that happened, it’s been so neat to see that even though my first playthrough was extremely thorough, there’s still been neat stuff to find.

I didn’t automatically decide who I would romance this game, I thought I’d just sort of let things happen as they happen. The end result is: I’ve got Gale and Astarion’s romances locked in now. I really just don’t get the folks who say they have such a hard time romancing Astarion, or even just getting him to like them. He’s consistently always the second in line for me, behind only Gale. Possibly Lae’zel would be quicker if my tav made less decisions that pissed her off, but it seems that they’ve also made some changes with recent patches and she needs a couple conditions to be met now before she starts talking about how much she likes your stink. I mean I haven’t even got to the necromancy of Thay yet, or Gandrel, or the goblin camp. I triggered his first romance after I recruited Karlach.

Astarion gets cranky at a few choices in the grove, but I mean, so does Wyll, so does Lae’zel. I dunno. Like, here’s some quick tips if you guys aren’t just making jokes and do legit have a hard time making him like you:

You can send him back to camp, along with Lae’zel, as soon as you enter the grove, because they’re both going to be cranky. Once you’ve talked to Zevlor and saved Arabella you can bring them back. Astarion likes Auntie Ethel so be sure to bring him back before you chat with her.

He has a lot of little cut scenes and special dialogue, and a lot of little approvals come from these and they add up. I wonder if people are missing these. Be sure to camp often. Like seriously. Camp all the time. There’s the first night camp scene, the musing about how would be best to die, the stargazing scene (although I dunno, I don’t think that gives any approval?) musing about what each companion would taste like, the drunk from bear blood scene, and the mirror scene.

If he’s on your party when you visit Raphael he has a couple approvals to give there if you refuse to be Raphael’s toy.

When he bites you, you’ll get five approval the next morning if you tell the other companions they can leave if they’re not happy about a vampire in the group, and you’ll get five more approval if you don’t force him to keep biting you, but instead just agree to his plan of biting enemies. You can get almost 30 approval just from the bite scene alone!!!!

Like I said, I triggered his first romance after I recruited Karlach: I had barely even left the grove at that point. I wasn’t being evil. I only sent him back to camp for two events (talking to zevlor and saving Arabella). I think I still could have romanced him just as early even without doing that. It shouldn’t really be this hard. I know it’s funny to joke about how he hates everything you do, but if you guys are seriously having troubles with it, I dunno send me a DM and I can help maybe, I’ve been very thorough in my analysis of his approvals.