In Baldur’s Gate 3, each origin companion that you encounter comes equipped with a unique Class build. While changing their Subclass for your playthrough isn’t a very big deal at all, changing their Base Class seems far more of a drastic idea.
Though this can be an iffy decision to make, depending on other circumstances, Baldur’s Gate 3 does enable players the option to change Classes for each origin companion they befriend as an ally, so this is a possibility. However, despite this being an option, changing Classes may not be a great decision to make in every playthrough, so it’s important to know the benefits and consequences that may occur from choosing to do so before you jump to a decision.
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Should You Change the Classes of Origin Companions in Baldur’s Gate 3?
Changing Classes of your origin companions in Baldur’s Gate 3 has both benefits and drawbacks to consider, so it’s important to know exactly what you’re looking to gain from potentially editing one of these core mechanics regarding a character. The most important thing to consider is that this may partially ruin the impact of the story in several areas, as the Class of each origin character is integral to their backstory, and how they develop throughout the narrative of the game. Changing their Class will make certain cutscenes or dialogues seem odd, confusing, and out of place. For this reason, if you are participating in your first-ever playthrough of the game, it’s best to not change any Base Classes when it comes to your origin companions. This way, you will be able to experience the story in full and save the fun of potential Class changes for a second run.
The second point to consider is that if you don’t know your way around DND 5e rules, and have a good understanding of how each Class functions as a whole, you may struggle when re-building your origin characters in a new Class. As a result, choosing the wrong stats, Feat combinations, Subclasses, or in some circumstances, even armor and weapon arrangements, can completely hinder the potential for utility and damage output, and make these characters significantly weaker than what you would expect. If you’re really wanting to change your origin character Classes around and feel a little lost when it comes to 5e character builds, then it’s a good idea to have a range of build guides that you can follow along for each Class or Subclass that you plan to take, as these will not only help you understand the main stats and fundamentals of unfamiliar Classes but also help you gain more knowledge of the various game mechanics, particularly in combat.
Aside from these two minor points to consider, changing the Class of your origin companions in Baldur’s Gate 3 is a lot of fun, and can make a very exciting and enjoyable second playthrough. There’s a lot of fun to be had from trying out Classes that origin companions don’t cover, such as Bard, Monk, or Sorcerer, or even the humor that can be found in swapping origin Classes around – for example, playing Karlach the Rogue, Wyll the Barbarian, Lae’zel the Cleric, and Shadowheart the Paladin.
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What is Affected For Each Origin Companion If You Change Their Class in Baldurs Gate 3? Explained
While you can absolutely choose to change the Class of any origin companion in Baldur’s Gate 3, doing so may heavily affect how their story plays out. This is because even though you change their Class, the narrative will still treat them as if they were the same Class, to begin with. For example, changing Wyll out of Warlock doesn’t get rid of his whole shady deal with Mizora, as this would ruin his entire storyline. Changing Classes is simply a mechanical choice, so knowing how it may affect the narrative and how severely are important factors to consider, especially if you favor the immersion and roleplay side of DnD and Baldur’s Gate 3.
Astarion
Astarion’s storyline revolves heavily around the fact that he is a vampire spawn, rather than him being the Rogue Class. Rather, the Rogue Class simply adds character to him and works well with his shady, snarky, sarcastic personality. Changing his Base Class has very little impact on his story, so this is one of the more favorable ones to try.
Lae’zel
Much like Astarion, Lae’zel doesn’t have too much in her story that revolves around the fact she is a Fighter. Instead, her story focuses on the way of the Githyanki, and the story behind Vlaakith. Changing her Base Class has little impact on her story, though some options may seem quite out of place, such as Spellcasters, or Monk, due to her fierce nature and the way of the Gith she speaks of. Changing her to Barbarian, Ranger, or Rogue, will have next to no noticeable changes in her story, as these are all fairly melee-oriented Classes, much like Fighter.
Shadowheart
Shadowheart’s story largely revolves around her Shar worship and is intertwined with some pretty big choices that you can make during your playthrough. For this reason, it’s probably best not to Class her outside of Cleric, as this will make her story feel quite out of place. Instead, you can simply change her Cleric Domain (Subclass) to another choice, as there are a few to pick from, which will change how she plays slightly. However, if you’re unbothered about her story being a little wonky, then by all means, make her something out of the ordinary!
Gale
Gale is in a similar boat to Shadowheart, in which his whole gig is kind of being ‘the Wizard from Waterdeep’, and if you take that away, well, he’s pretty much just ‘Gale from Waterdeep’. His whole Magical Artifact mechanic plays around his arcane skills, so if you are to re-class him and want to keep his story running as smoothly as possible, some sort of magic user is the best bet. Sorcerer would probably be the easiest, but Bard, Cleric, or Warlock can work, too. Heck, you can even play melee-fighter Gale, if you’d like, but be prepared for a strange experience, due to his heavily magical storyline.
Wyll
Wyll’s story will be heavily impacted if you choose to change his Class, as his entire narrative revolves around his Warlock Pact with Mizora. If you do choose to change his Class, things will seem a little out of place on many different occasions, especially if he is switched to a melee-only Class, as Mizora will still appear, reinforce the rules of their Pact, and still even punish Wyll if you choose to let Karlach live. If you don’t mind his narrative having no correlation to your mechanical gameplay, though, then he will certainly be a fun one to play around with in various builds.
Karlach
Karlach’s story revolves around her past with Zariel and the uncontrollable heat from her Infernal Engine, with the intensity of this heat being influenced by her emotions. This works very well with her Barbarian Base Class, due to the Rage mechanic, so changing her out of this may seem a little strange. However, as the flames are a direct result of her Infernal Engine heart, not her Barbarian Rage, this story won’t be as drastically altered as others.
Halsin
Halsin is the lead Druid of Emerald Grove, so changing him out of Druid will once again, be a little bit odd for narrative purposes. However, Halsin’s involvement in the story isn’t as thorough as other companions, so choosing to change his Class to something else won’t have a massive impact, as long as you are fine with a few things not lining up here or there.
Minthara
Much like Halsin, Minthara plays a lesser role than other companions, so changing her Class alters her story very little. On top of this, Minthara’s Class of Paladin plays an ever lesser role in her character than that of Halsin’s Druid leadership, so changing her to anything else should have very little effect on the narrative.
Jaheira
Jaheira is a character that appeared in previous Baldur’s Gate titles, so if you want to stick to her lore, then leaving her in the Class of Druid will do the trick. Jaheira is great to have by your side in Act 3, due to her wisdom, knowledge, and history regarding the city of Baldur’s Gate. However, changing her from Druid doesn’t have too huge an effect on her narrative, especially if you choose to play her as Ranger or Fighter, as this works quite well with her link to the Harpers and makes sense with her story.
Minsc
Minsc is the second character returning from previous Baldur’s Gate titles, so it’s only natural that his story is linked to Jaheira. By default, Minsc is a Ranger, which suits his character due to him having an animal companion in the form of Boo, a miniature Giant Space Hamster. However, Minsc can be respecced, there just may be some dialogue and scenes that seem a little off as a result. If you’re looking for a Class change that fits his animal-loving nature and hulkish build, then a Wildheart Barbarian could be an interesting choice, or perhaps even a Druid of some sort.
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How to Change Classes For Origin Companions in Baldur’s Gate 3
Thankfully, changing classes of origin companions in Baldur’s Gate 3 is relatively simple. All you’ll need to do is head to your camp, select the character whose Class you would like to change and speak to Withers. Just like when it comes to respeccing your own Tav, you’ll need to select the ‘Can you help me change my Class?’ option, and pay Withers 100 Gold.
This will now take you to the character level screen, where you can choose a new Class for the character to start fresh in at level 1. After confirming your choice, you will be able to click on the character portrait on the left side to level them back up to wherever they were before the respec, meaning they won’t fall behind the rest of your party.
