Baldur's Gate 3 · Companions & Romance. Companion recruitment, approval, personal quests and romance paths. Browse Baldur's Gate 3 Karlach Romance Guide: Infernal Iron, Act 2 Lock-In & Act 3 Date, Baldur's Gate 3 Astarion Romance Guide: Act 2 Confession, Araj, Cazador & Ascension, Baldur's Gate 3 Shadowheart Romance Guide: Act 1 Start, Nightsong & Act 3 Endings, with requirements, routes and walkthrough steps.
Karlach’s old “30 approval → she visits you at night before the party” scene is bugged and no longer triggers in an unmodded game. The tiefling refugee celebration is therefore the current practical romance start. Start the romance at the tiefling refugee celebration instead of waiting for the old night visit.
Astarion often approves of self-interest, wit and power, but a successful romance does not require a murder-hobo route. Respecting his autonomy, taking his abuse seriously and helping him against Cazador matter just as much to the long arc. Before Save the Refugees resolves, reaching 40+ approval can make him propose a night together in normal dialogue. The tiefling or goblin celebration is the other major Act 1 start window when relationship slots permit it.
At the tiefling celebration, Shadowheart can invite the player to share a bottle if approval is at least 20 and the relationship slots allow it. The private rendezvous plays near a waterfall. A passive Insight check reads that she expects a kiss, but failing the check does not kill the route: the next-day conversation can acknowledge that the player wishes they had kissed her. What does end the route is treating the night as a mistake or rejecting the connection outright.
The full companion romances are Astarion, Gale, Karlach, Lae’zel, Shadowheart, Wyll, Halsin and Minthara. Jaheira and Minsc are permanent companions but are not romance options. The game also contains one-off intimate encounters — Mizora, the Emperor, Haarlep, the drow twins and others — but those are not equivalent to a multi-act companion relationship and can affect an existing romance differently.
Baldur’s Gate 3 has six Origin companions who can join in Act 1 — Shadowheart, Astarion, Gale, Lae’zel, Wyll and Karlach — plus four later permanent companions: Halsin, Minthara, Jaheira and Minsc. You only field four characters at once, but there is almost no reason to leave recruitable story content behind: recruit broadly, keep everyone at camp, then rotate companions into the active party when their personal quest or location matters.
