How to recruit all companions in Baldur's Gate 3
Looking for some companions to adventure with in BG3? Here's how to find them all.
Baldur's Gate 3 is a gargantuan RPG, destined to eat up many hours of your free time, and perhaps even some of your sanity. When you first enter Baldur’s Gate 3, you’ll be tasked with creating your own character, before later recruiting a set of companions to travel with you. Every group of adventurer’s needs a healer, after all, as they all keep reminding me.
During your adventure, which you can shape and mould however you see fit, you’ll be able to recruit companions to assist you. Including yourself, you can have three of these distinct companions join your party, and can later switch them out if the quest at hand calls for it. If you’re hoping to recruit all companions, or there’s a specific companion you’ve been eyeing up, here’s where to recruit all companions in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Where to recruit all Baldur’s Gate 3 companions
Across Baldur’s Gate 3, you’ll come across multiple companions who you can recruit to adventure alongside you. Some of these companions can actually be used as playable characters by yourself, or any friends you’re playing alongside, too.
Either way, you won’t be forgetting these characters in a hurry, especially with some of them being possible romance candidates, or one night stands...
If you’re looking to recruit these characters in your Baldur’s Gate 3 campaign, it’s simply a matter of finding them and inviting them to travel with you. You can also straight-up reject some companions, telling them you’d rather not travel with them, if you find yourself unimpressed by Astarion’s attitude, and so forth.
That said, if you don’t kill them off, be sure to invite them back to your camp so you can talk to them, or recruit them later.
Without further ado, here’s where and how to recruit all of Baldur’s Gate 3’s companions, and a little information about each of them to help you decide who’s fit for your party.
Lae’zel
Lae-zel is a badass, hot-headed Githyanki and Fighter in Baldur’s Gate 3. You’ll find her at the very beginning of the game aboard the Nautiloid ship, and later, in the Ravaged Beach area when you reach coordinates X240, Y358.
You’ll encounter Lae’zel first in your playthrough, with her helping you combat some Tieflings aboard the ship. You’ll then be given no choice but to reach the Helm and escape the ship with her. Once you leave, you’ll be alone again.
Later, you’ll find her having been captured by some Tieflings in the Ravaged Beach (at the coordinates mentioned above), and it’ll be up to you to rescue her, or help the Tieflings. If you want to recruit Lae’zel, you want to help her against the Tieflings.
On the other hand, if Lae’zel dies aboard the ship, or isn’t helped while captured by the Tieflings, she is gone for good. As a result, you can bid farewell to recruiting Lae’zel as a companion, and should start scoping out other companions to recruit.
Shadowheart
Shadowheart is a High Half-Elf and Cleric in Baldur’s Gate 3, who you’ll find in the Ravaged Beach area at coordinates X271, Y220. This is almost immediately after you exit the ship.
You’ll actually encounter her a little bit earlier than this, though. At the beginning of the game, you’ll discover Shadowheart being held captive in a pod on the ship; it’ll then become your quest to ‘Rescue the Illithid’s Captive.’ If you manage to free her here, she’ll go her separate ways from you and Lae’zel.
However, you can recruit her once you reach the Ravaged Beach, where you’ll need to wake her up before you can talk to her. All you need to do here is invite her to come with you, and then she’ll join your party.
On the other hand, if you fail to rescue her, don’t fret. She’ll instead turn up at the northern side of the Ravaged Beach, or later once you reach The Hollows, and you can recruit her here. Here's how you can romance Shadowheart, too.
Astarion
Astarion is a High-Elf and Rogue with a taste for blood. You’ll find him in the Ravaged Beach at coordinates X171, Y287, where he’ll be calling for help. This is the first you’ll see of Astarion’s attitude, and it’s entirely up to you if you wish to help him or not; either way, don’t worry about combat here.
Astarion will be pretty unfriendly at first, but sooner or later, he’ll come around and you’ll be able to recruit him to join your party. He’s also fantastic with a lockpick, if you need someone with those capabilities on your team.
If you're seeking this Rogue's approval in your playthrough, here's how to romance Astarion.
Gale
Gale is a rather handsome Human and Wizard that you’ll find peering out of a sigil in the Ravaged Beach area, but he is annoying. His exact coordinates are X224, Y323, where you’ll hear him calling out for help.
Interact with the sigil and choose to grab his arm so that he can escape the sigil. Once freed, you can then recruit his wizarding skills to be in your party. Simple as that, provided you don’t accidentally run right past him.
The sigil that you will have pulled Gale from will now also function as a new fast travel spot, and if Wizards are your thing, here's how to romance Gale.
Wyll
Wyll is another Human, like Gale, but he is of the Warlock class, making him pretty tough. You’ll find this fella at the beginning of The Hollow area at coordinates X203, Y406.
You’ll first find Wyll as part of a large group of characters at the Tiefling refugee camp in Emerald Grove, who are under threat from goblins. Here, Wyll will need your help against the hostiles, so you’ll immediately enter combat. You’ll want to help Wyll fend off the goblins, rather than the latter, if you wish to recruit him.
Once the battle is over, make your way through the gate here and head towards The Hollow area. At coordinates X209, Y547, you’ll find Wyll teaching children to wield a sword. Talk to him, where you’ll learn some information about another companion, Karlach, and he’ll soon agree to join your party if you welcome him.
If your party is full, he will return to the camp, where you can change him with other members of your party as and when by talking to them.
Karlach
Karlach is a Tiefling and Barbarian, and she’s hard as nails. She also happens to be one of Wyll’s targets, with him hunting demons. That said, unless your character has a particularly strong Charisma Ability, we recommend making sure that Wyll is not in your party when you meet Karlach.
Karlach can be found in The Risen Road area at coordinates X110, Y504. To reach this area, start Wyll’s ‘The Blade of Frontiers’ quest, which will lead you right to Karlach. All you need to do is chat to her and complete the Hunt the Devil quest, which has you choose between her and Anders, who is not a companion character.
If you want Karlach as a companion, side with her during this quest. You’ll then be able to speak to her afterwards and recruit her to join your party.
Halsin
Halsin might be one of the companions in Baldur’s Gate 3 that you’re more familiar with, considering a particularly steamy scene involving him in his bear-form went viral not long before the game’s release. If you fancy hooking up with a Wood-Elf Druid who can transform into a bear during your romantic rendezvous’, look no further than Halsin.
Halsin is actually encountered a little later in the game than the other companions. He’ll be found in Shattered Sanctum, in his bear form, and will be in trouble with some goblins. You’ll need someone in your party that can talk to animals to be able to speak with Halsin, but once you’re able, it's time to rescue this Druid. Side with him, defeat the goblins, and you’ll then be able to recruit Halsin to join your camp as you progress the main story.
Once you reach Act 2, another branching side quest with Halsin will appear. He wants to cure the forsaken land of its curse and needs your help to heal it. Speak to him about the comatose Flaming Fist, Art Cullagh, you find at the Last Light Inn and he will go there to help.
See this quest line to its conclusion and Halsin will offer his services as a full-blown companion to your party.
Minthara
This Drow Paladin can also be found at the Shattered Sanctum, but allied with the goblins and the Absolute. Now, Minthara is where you’ll have to make important decisions regarding your party. Like Wyll and Karlach, both Minthara and Halsin have bad blood between one another.
However, unlike Wyll and Karlach, there’s no putting issues to the side with these two; if you recruit Minthara, you will not be able to recruit Halsin, and that’s a risk you might not want to take.
This is because Halsin has you pledge to protect Emerald Grove, which is the exact opposite of what Minthara wants to do. So, it’s up to you to choose whether the Drow Paladin or Wood-Elf Druid is better suited to your party. Just know, you might be making an enemy of plenty of goblins or Emerald Grove in the process.
Minsc and Jaheira
Minsc and Jaheira are two more possible camp-mates that appear later in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Jaheira is a High-Elf Druid and Fighter that you can find in the Shadow-Cursed Lands at Last Light Inn. She will help you during your mission to infiltrate the Moonrise Towers in Act 2, where she becomes a powerful ally and companion.
Minsc, on the other hand, is a Human Ranger that you can find in the Counting House during Act 3. All we'll share about him right now is that he is tied to Jaheira’s personal quest, The High Harper, and can be recruited at some point after this.
We’ll update this space with more about these two elusive companions!
For more on Baldur's Gate 3, be sure to explore the Goblin Camp, and check out how to get your belongings back in The Hollow as you'll run into these areas when recruiting your first few companions.