QueenNioiclin

Member of the Dtoid Exile.

  • she/her/sí/í

Writer of Queer Fantasy & Narrative Designer. Gamer. Tá mé ag foghlaim Gaeilge. Lover of great stories. She/her 🏳️‍🌈 / Amateur artist


Mastodon (mainly writing stuff)
writing.exchange/@Ink_Soul
Mortal Kombat and Horizon fanfics
archiveofourown.org/users/Inkwoman/works

I've just finished Maëlys' story - truth be told, I want to play more with her, but I wanted to see her epilogue, so I played the final quest sooner. After this, I can share with y'all my... it's not really a ranking, more like my opinion on each of my favourite romanceable companions: Minthara, Karlach, and Shadowheart. My Dragonborn is romancing Lae'zel and is still on Act 1, but I don't know, I don't feel the same affinity with Lae'zel as I do with these three. I might do a separate post for her later. (I miiight do one for Astarion too if my second Dark Urge - yeah, yeah, I made a new one - romances him. We'll see if Astarion can survive that far.)

Anyway, here we go:

Minthara

Alywyll and Minthara sharing a kiss in camp

Okay, I said this wouldn't be a rank, but Minthara is TOP 1. Ever since I allied with her on my Dark Urge playthrough, she has quickly become my favourite companion, whether in a romance or not (though both times I had her in my party I romanced her lol). She's a fascinating character who goes beyond the label of "evil" some players attach to her without even giving her a chance. She's ruthless, prejudiced, and power-hungry, yes, but also extremely intelligent, insightful (her opinions on the companions are the absolute best), funny, and surprisingly loveable when you romance her (and if you sided with her on Act 1, the development of your romance has a special flavour).

The Dark Urge romance with her is incredible - I don't know if all companions have romance-exclusive lines with the Durge, but Minthara certainly does, and it's beautiful 🥺 Deep down, she's a romantic poet! And see, that's considering that Minthara's romance line - her character, really - is still incomplete. Imagine when Larian adds everything (and then some) 💜

Also, her sex scene is by far the best in the game, it makes an evil playthrough worth just to watch it!

Karlach

Ashrah and Karlach with their faces close and a lovingly look in their eyes

It's fair to say Karlach pushed me to buy the game. I was very excited to romance this muscular one-horned Tiefling with flames all over her. And I don't regret it one bit! Karlach has the best kiss animation out of all the female companions (the others haven't been updated yet, but even when I do, I find it hard to beat the forehead bump 🥺), and her joy at life is so contagious!

Karlach's ending is also my favourite - the one I chose, at least.

Shadowheart

Maëlys and Shadowheart with their backs to the camera, their glasses of wine about to clink for a toast

I was positively surprised by Shart's romance line. She becomes so sweet when you start romancing her - if Karlach has the best kiss animation, Shart has the best greetings, and it's not even a competition!

She also has the benefit of having the... I won't say "most impactful" because both Minthara and Karlach have amazing personal journeys in their own way, but Shart's is definitely the most fleshed out.

Honestly, I can't choose between Karlach and Shadowheart. They're special for one reason or another, and I welcome them both in my heart - even though Minthara has conquered it, she accepts to share 😅


You must log in to comment.

in reply to @QueenNioiclin's post:

One of these days I'll gather the stones to do what you have to do to get Minthara (and no, I don't consider the system-based workaround they patched in as my personal canon). It's not how evil she is, it's how evil you have to be.

Also, super interested to see your take on the Good Durge playthrough. I'm slowly but surely working my way through that (took a break to finally play through the Crossbell duology) and I gotta say, it feels like the canon playthrough

The workaround is a way to get Minthara every time (and she's certainly worth it!), but I agree that you should take a deep breath and "do the deed" at least once to recruit Minthara as it was initially intended. As I wrote in my "evil run analysis," the worst isn't even the deed itself, but how much content - including companions - you lose by doing it (there's a workaround for this as well, it seems, which I'll try, but anyway). After that sequence in Act 1, you can be mostly a "good guy." Just promise Minthara you'll take control of the Absolute with her and it's all good lol All this said, I hope Larian will implement an actual alternative story to recruit Minthara in Act 1 without having the raid the Grove (or raid the Grove but kill only the Druids). Judging by what you learn of her later, it would make sense to have this alternative path.

I'm curious to play a good Durge, but I'm not sure when I'll do it. My new Durge is a Lolth-sworn Drow, so... yeah, she's even worse than my first Durge 🤣 I made her so I could fully embrace her bloody fate and see the truly evil ending! I read another person saying how the good Durge feels like the canon way of playing it, though. But man... what about the second reward you get for embracing the urges?! It's so good (even better if you're romancing Minthara)! 😭

Roll a rogue, and the first reward (the one you can get while maintaining the "good" playthrough) is all you need to fucking dominate. Story-wise, it's so rewarding. Fighting the Urge is incredible.

If you want to do another evil playthrough that's still fun, go non-Durge Paladin. Be evil because you want to, not because you're driven to

It's an interesting strategy, for sure, and I haven't played with a Rogue yet. We'll see!

I don't think I'd do a non-Durge evil run. What's even the point if you don't get the Slayer and all the Durge nastiness? 😂 (An evil Paladin sounds cool, though!)