There are several Origin characters and companions in Baldur’s Gate 3. You will have the option to play as some of these characters, romance them, or bring them into your party. Each companion and Origin has an item or unique skill that only they can have in BG3, and I had to do a lot of digging to figure every single one of them out.
Origin- and companion-specific skills and items in BG3
For every Origin character or companion in Baldur’s Gate 3, there are unique items, abilities, or other exclusive items. These are available both if you play as the Origin character (if available) or if you have that specific companion in your party. Be wary of spoilers for BG3 up to and including Act 3.
Astarion
This flamboyant rogue has several unique abilities that only he can earn during any playthrough of Baldur’s Gate 3. After the infamous Astarion bite scene, he is revealed to be a vampire spawn. This gives him immortality and the urge to drink blood, but it doesn’t come with a lot of the cool vampire powers you might expect. Thankfully, it does come with the Bite ability; it does some additional guarantied damage against anything not a construct or undead.
Related: BG3 – How to Cure the Shadow Curse
Once Astarion has drunk humanoid blood for the day, he will gain a Happy buff until long rest. This boost gives him +1 to attack rolls and ability checks. He can drink from one enemy per combat, and that creature takes damage and becomes Bloodless, which gives them a -1 to attack rolls and ability checks. This includes the player character, if you allow Astarion to drink from you.
In Act 3, in an attempt to free Astarion from Cazador’s hold, you have two options. You can kill Cazador and free the other Vampire spawn, or you can have him Ascend and become a true vampire with god-like powers. He gets:
- Ascendant Bite: This buffed Bite deals 6d6 necrotic damage and heals Astarion for 6d6.
- Misty Escape: Become a cloud that can’t be attacked but can’t speak, attack, or cast spells.
- Bonus damage: Gain an additional 1d10 necrotic damage to all weapon and melee attacks.
The Dark Urge
The Dark Urge is certainly one of the more unique Origin characters ever seen in an RPG. You play as someone with no memories who has evil urges to murder people in horrible ways. But bloodlust isn’t the only thing that the Dark Urge gets; you also will get a single-use level 9 spell that is unique to the Haunted One background. There is also a unique item earned in Act 1 called the Deathstalker Mantle. It grants the wearer The Shadow Itself; every time the wearer kills a creature in battle, they become invisible for two turns.
But probably the most interesting part of going through a Dark Urge playthrough is the transformation. If you give in to the Dark Urge in Act 2 and either kill the Nightsong or kill Isobel, you will earn a Orin-like transformation called the Slayer. This gross, giant-bug-like form has unique attacks and its own set of stats.
- Strength: 20, Dexterity: 14, Constitution: 17, Intelligence: 10, Wisdom: 10, Charisma: 8
- Just like Druidic animal transformations, you lose all normal stats and abilities. You keep permanent upgrades.
- Melee attack: Deals 4d6 plus 5 damage. This attack inflicts a disease on Bleeding targets; on Bleeding and Prone targets, it inflicts vulnerability to all types of damage.
- Multi-attack: Deals 1d4 times 4 damage. Each hit deals additional damage if the target is Bleeding.
- Let the Slaughter Begin: A scream that targets everything within a 12m radius. Inflicts Dazed.
- Relentless Lunge: A jump that deals 2d6 plus 5 that can Stun enemies you land on.
- Sumptuous Blood Bath: A melee attack that deals 2d10 damage and can cause Bleeding.
- This form is available once per long rest.
Gale
Gale of Waterdeep is a wizard that you can pick up in the very beginning of Act 1. He has a broken piece of the Weave inside him, and it gives him the unique ability to blow himself up. He also has a much more useful permanent buff to Constitution saving throws and checks.
Halsin
Halsin is the druid that needs to be saved in Act 1, and he will follow your party in Act 2 to Moonrise. Only Halsin has the ability to change into his unique druidic form: a brown bear. Other than that, Halsin does not appear to have any exclusive items or other abilities.
Jaheira
The older druid you meet in Act 2 at the Last Light Inn, named Jaheira, comes with a weapon that usually can’t be found until Act 3. She carries a Sylvan Scimitar, a weapon with Melee Caster (Instead of their Dexterity Modifier, the affected entity add its Spellcasting Ability Modifier to Attack Rolls).
Related: Best Mods for Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3)
Karlach
Karlach is graced with a unique Barbarian rage that wreaths her in flame, and she has the ability to devour Soul Coins to give an additional 1d4 damage to her attacks.
Lae’zel
Lae’zel is a powerful warrior, and her starting gear is proof of this. She has Githyanki Half-Plate, which gives an AC of 15 to the wearer. This is way better than any other armor in Act 1, and you probably won’t be replacing it anytime soon. It’s not just the armor that Lae’zel gets; she also has a Silver Sword that can be obtained depending on player choices. The Silver Sword has:
- Soulbreaker: Possible stun on hit.
- Githborne Psionic Weapon: Deals an additional 1d6 Psychic Damage when held by a Githyanki.
- Githborn Psionic Resistance: If the person wielding the Silver Sword is a Gith, they have Advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma Saving Throws, Resistance to Psychic Damage, and cannot be Charmed.
- Weapon Enchantment +3
Minsc
Minsc is a legendary hero in Baldur’s Gate that can be added to your party in Act 3. He has a special familiar summon called Summon Boo, which brings his miniature giant space hamster into battle as a bonus action. This little helper has a melee attack that deals a surprising amount of damage.
Minthara
Minthara is the Lolth-sworn Drow elf that wants to kill everyone in the Druid’s Grove in Act 1. Not only is it possible to get her to join your party, but she is also a romance option. She might be a Paladin, but she wears some amazing stealth-based armor that can also be swiped from her dead body. This underelf also has a unique ability called Soul Branding as a bonus action; it makes the target’s movement speed increase by 1.5m, and their next weapon attack deals an additional 2d4+1 fire damage. Soul Branding ends on landing a successful weapon attack.
Shadowheart
Depending on whether Shadowheart kills the Nightsong or not, she’ll have two different forms in BG3. Both Dark Justiciar Shadowheart and Selunite Shadowheart have an exclusive weapon, but they are slightly different from one another. Dark Shadowheart also gains special Dark Justiciar armor when she kills Dame Aylin.
Dark Shadowheart will get the Dark Justiciar Half-Plate. It has Shar’s Umbrae (Advantage on stealth checks when obscured), Shar’s Protection (when wearer has Shield of Faith active, reduce all incoming damage by two, then hit anyone who damages the wearer with 1d4 necrotic), Advantage on Con Saving Throws, and an AC of 17. Anyone wearing it also gets the spell Shar’s Aegis, a spell that increases the wearer’s AC by 2 until long rest.
Also, Dark Shadowheart gets the weapon Shar’s Spear of Evening, a spear that grants Blind Immunity and has a weapon enchant of +3. It also has Shar’s Blessing, which gives the wearer Advantage on Saving Throws when obscured and deals additional damage to enemies that are obscured. There is also darkness spell on it for the bearer.
As for the lighter side of things, Selunite Shadowheart will gain two different weapons: the Moonlight Glaive and the Selune’s Spear of Night. The Glaive has reach, glows, and it has an weapon enchant of plus two. The Spear is much better; this item gives Advantage on Wisdom Saving Throws and Perception checks, darkvision, and weapon enchantment plus three. There are two spells on this weapon as well, which are Moonbeam (offensive spell) and Moonmote (a dancing lights spell).
Wyll
Wyll, in spite of being a human and a Warlock, has an inherent proficiency in the rapier weapon type. This jives with his Background, even if it doesn’t make much sense for his class. Depending on the choices made with Karlach and Mizora, he can also earn the Infernal Robe. It has Fire Shield: Warm (Level 4 Evocation Spell), AC +1, and it gives resistance to Fire Damage.
For more Baldur’s Gate 3, check out Baldur’s Gate 3 Ranger Build Guide – Best Stats and Subclass on Steam Game Guides.
