Baldur's Gate 3 players will be able to take most, if not all, of their companions to the end of the game because two companions are mutually exclusive. Indeed, Baldur's Gate 3 is a game all about choice, resulting in hundreds of hours of content simply because of how much it can change based on a bad dice roll or a certain player decision. No player can experience everything it has to offer in a single playthrough, with the two companions also highlighting this fact.
Baldur's Gate 3 companions can be, at times, at each other's throats, and it'll be up to the player to resolve the conflict one way or another. Other times, players can kill companions like Gale or Karlach upon meeting them. In fact, it's even possible to get to the end of Baldur's Gate 3's story without a single companion left (luckily, Larian Studios has confirmed there are hirelings players can get to fill out their party). And while every player will reach the end differently, two companions are mutually exclusive and cannot both be there, as the game requires players to kill one to have the other. Game ZXC recently spoke with lead writer Adam Smith, learning about this as part of all the possible story permutations.
"We are not precious about our own darlings," Smith said, explaining that Karlach is one of his favorite characters, is playable as an origin character, has full-fledged story arcs including romance, but can still be killed the moment players meet her. The flip side, of course, is that the game also pushes players to kill villains like Minthara who, if spared by the player, can actually be recruited. There are even times when players must choose between two companions, but the right choices allow players to keep both. Throw in romance, differing ideals, the luck of the dice, and more, and it's clear that Baldur's Gate 3's various companion characters are a powder keg ready to blow at any minute, just like a true D&D party.
No matter what, though, players will be forced to choose between two companions at some point in the game. While he did not diverge who specifically for spoiler reasons, he did confirm that to recruit one specific companion, another has to be killed.
There are two companions that you can never have in the same party because one is only available if you kill the other.
It'll be interesting to see how and why this happens, as well as who proves to be more popular among players. So far, Baldur's Gate 3 has confirmed a handful of companions, such as the High Elf Vampire Rogue Astarion, the Human Wizard Gale, the Githyank Fighter Lae'zel, returning characters like Jaheira and Minsc, and more. Each companion players meet are fully-fleshed characters, likely making this decision even harder, and this means this choice represents one of the major permutations in Baldur's Gate 3. These permutations explain why there are 174 hours of cutscenes in the game, as Larian had to account for all possibilities.
Because players can choose between opposing Baldur's Gate 3 factions like the Harpers and the Absolute, it's possible that these two companions are somehow tied in with these stories, but that's mere speculation. What's clear is how many diverging points there are to give every player their own personal story, and how much replay value Baldur's Gate 3 has. For now, fans will just have to wait for the launch to see which two companions force players to choose between them, regardless of their character build.
Baldur’s Gate 3 releases on August 3 for PC and September 6 for PS5.
