Perfect. Thanks. I’ve found the mausoleum (and had the encounter outside,) but haven’t entered yet. Just wanted to make sure I wasn’t screwing anything up by working on the Halsin/shadow curse quest line and just exploring the map before visiting Moonrise. I saw people complaining about ruining their playthrough by waiting too long to go to Moonrise and I suddenly got worried that this was a Mass Effect situation and some hidden timer was running on all the prisoners or something.

I’m seeing some conflicting information about Act II out there regarding order of operations. From what I’ve read, it sounds like I’ll get a pop-up warning when I’m about to trigger something that would affect other quests. However, I’m also seeing a lot of people saying that you should just beeline to Moonrise ASAP before doing any side quests. So which is it? Am I free to explore, work on Halsin’s stuff, etc. as long as I don’t trigger that pop-up? Or is there a timer going as soon as the stuff at Last Light kicks off?

From my understanding, that only happens if you pass the point of no return to enter the mountain pass or if you go to the goblin camp and advance the story there. You can find the Grove and then leave and take as much time as you want to explore before going to the goblin camp and progressing the story.

“Added a journal step for when the tieflings leave the Emerald Grove. The Forging of the Heart quest will also close if Dammon is no longer available in the region.”

Does this just mean that the quest log will update to clarify that the next step is later in the game? Or are you just locked out of Karlach’s story entirely if you recruit her after Dammon leaves the Grove now? I’m already annoyed that I’m locked out of her romance because I listened to the game and thought resolving the Grove stuff was time-sensitive, so I dove into it right away before meeting Karlach. I was hoping that they would change it so the romance options would trigger even if the first upgrade happens in Act II, but I guess my poor Dwarven cleric is just going to be lonely on this playthrough.

How extreme are the consequences for not bringing companions with you on their specific quests?

I’ve been rolling with the same party all game and I’m really happy with it. I figured on my next playthrough, I’d just pick a different party composition and really get to know those characters on that playthrough, which would keep things fresh for me.

I don’t mind missing out on random lore or conversation bits (that’s the kind of stuff I’m trying to save for future playthroughs,) but it would bum me out a little if one of my camp buddies got mad and just left in a “bad ending” sort of way (I’d be more ok with a bittersweet “friends going separate ways” type scene, though, if it makes sense for the story.) I want to help everyone, but it just feels so video-gamey to add someone to the party, level them up, give them decent equipment, complete a quest, and then kick them out again just to get a better cutscene or something when that’s not how I’ve been playing for the past 40 hours.

Specifically, I am about to enter the part of the Act 1 map relevant to Lae’zel and she hasn’t been in my active party since I met Karlach.

So what do you think? Should I stick to my preferred play style and see what happens? Or change it up because I’m a chronic “good guy” gamer who wants to help everyone and get the “goodest” ending?

I agree. Reading other people’s experiences makes it seem like my game is bugged or something. I turned Gale down once during his magic show and I’ve been offered a couple of flirty conversation options with other companions that I didn’t choose because I wasn’t interested in pursuing a romance in them. That’s it. Meanwhile, from what I’ve read, I accidentally locked myself out of the one romance I WAS intending to pursue because I didn’t meet Karlach until after I resolved the Druid/tiefling/goblin situation.

So while everyone else is looking for a way to make their party take a cold shower because they can’t take a hint, my poor lonely dwarf is just over there pining after Karlach, who never has anything new to say to him, and being ignored by everyone else.

For reference, I’m a little behind you in the game (towards the end of Act 1) and there are 7 companions in my camp (not counting my custom character, non-playable characters, or animals.)

The guy on the windmill is not a companion. So you might just be missing Wyll.

If that’s the case, I’d just keep going, unless you’ve read about Wyll and really want to experience his story or romance. Since you can re-spec characters into any class or just use hirelings, there’s no gameplay advantage to the companions, outside of their storylines. That said, Wyll has just been hanging out at my camp ever since he joined in my game and I’m not super into his story, so I’m biased. Someone else could comment next that he’s their favorite character and you’re missing the best part of the game without him.

Bottom line: there’s no way to experience everything in BG3 in your first playthrough. If you’re having fun, keep going. If you think you’ll have more fun with every available companion, start over. It’s entirely up to you.

I had this thought when I saw a “what should Larian do next” post. It makes total sense to me. They could do a stripped down, combat-focused Icewind Dale game, as sort of an equivalent to a “tactics” JRPG. Then, they could do a Planescape game that is all dialogue/RP focused with minimal combat. And then by that point, the BG3 engine would probably a bit out of date, so they could create a new engine and make a new Neverwinter nights game.

It makes total sense to me, but I was also 14 years old when BG1 was released and the phone lines at my house were too old to be able to play Everquest with my friends, so those old DnD CRPGs were basically my life in high school.

That said, Larian is not Black Isle and they can do whatever they want. I’d be just as excited by D:OS 3 as I would be by another nostalgia bomb like BG3. It’s just fun to think about the possibilities.