Baldur's Gate 3 Needed More Drow Representation Than One…

Summary

Baldur's Gate 3 lacks representation of the Drow race, with only one Drow companion available in the game.
Minthara, the Drow companion, is often overlooked or killed by players, leading to a missed opportunity to experience her story and romance.
The game could have included other Drow companions, such as Araj Oblodra, to increase the representation and offer more gameplay options.

The Drow are a fascinating race that live in the Underdark in Dungeons and Dragon’s Forgotten Realms. In Baldur’s Gate 3, there is only one Drow companion available, and barely any encounters with the Drow. Baldur’s Gate 3 has a plethora of companions and characters from other groups, as there are lots of Humans, Elves, Gnomes, Githyanki, and Teiflings, as well as many other races.

Baldur’s Gate 3’s Minthara is overlooked by many players due to her tricky recruitment, and therefore, she is not regularly recruited. As such, Minthara being the only Drow companion leaves a big gap when it comes to Drow representation. Drows don’t seem to get as much love as the other races in Baldur’s Gate 3, and the game certainly could have benefited from having more than one Drow companion.

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By Cameron Lucas

Baldur's Gate 3 Not Having Another Drow Companion is a Missed Opportunity

Minthara Could Be Considered an Underrated Companion

Baldur’s Gate 3’s resident Drow Companion, Minthara, could be seen as an underrated companion, maybe even more so than B aldur’s Gate 3’s Wyll Ravengard. She is only available if players pursue the evil route, or knock her out and recruit her later in Act 2. Due to many players killing Minthara to protect the Tieflings who reside in the Emerald Grove during Act 1, these players miss out on her story and her romance. This also means that these players miss out on having a Drow companion in their party, unless they summon a Drow Hireling, but that defeats the purpose of having a Drow companion because the Hireling wouldn’t interact with the narrative or have a romance.

Following the release of patch 5, good-aligned players are given the option to recruit Minthara in Act 2 if she was knocked out in Act 1. As of now, both Halsin and Minthara will both stay in camp, but there is leaked data that shows dialogue from Halsin insisting on the player choosing between him and Minthara. Perhaps this will be released in a future patch, preventing players from having both Minthara and Halsin.

How Another Drow Companion Could Have Been Included in Baldur’s Gate 3

There are plenty of moments where the player encounters Drows, from the Petrified Drows in the Underdark to Araj Oblodra in Moonrise Towers. Any of these Drows would have been perfect to add to the roster of companions and boost the representation of the Drows.

Notable Drows in Baldur’s Gate 3 that could have been companions include:

Araj Oblodra: A trader and blood alchemist in Moonrise Towers. She is likely a Rogue, considering her high dexterity stat of 17. Araj could have worked as a companion, much to the disapproval of Astarion.
Dhourn: A petrified wizard found in the Underdark. Dhourn could have worked as a companion, but he is very prone to attacking the player, even if they helped free him and his group of Drows from the Spectator that petrified them, and therefore would probably not want to join the player on their adventures.
Nere: A true soul who is possibly eviler than Minthara, Nere would have made an excellent companion for players who wanted to pursue an evil-aligned playthrough. He is likely a Sorcerer considering his abilities when engaged in battle with the player.

Out of these companion worthy characters, Baldur's Gate 3's Araj seems like a character that would have worked with both evil-aligned and good-aligned playthroughs. She doesn’t seem too fussed about right and wrong, only what benefits her research. Araj could’ve chosen to travel with the player for her own research of the player’s Tadpole. It certainly would’ve given her perfect research data to see the effects of this unique Tadpole firsthand.

Seldarine Drow Representation

While the Drow are generally seen as an evil aligned race, it could be argued that the Seldarine Drow are more neutral-aligned than their Lolth-Sworn counterparts. The Seldarine Drow are trying to settle their conflict with the eviler aligned Lolth-Sworn Drow, though, they are trying to settle this conflict by any means necessary.

Baldur’s Gate 3 mainly showcases Lolth-Sworn Drow, with the majority of Drow that can be encountered being Lolth-Sworn. The Drow Twins, Sorn and Nym Orlith in Sharres’ Caress are some of the only Seldarine Drow that the player can interact with. The other two that can be encountered are a victim of Auntie Ethel called Moy and a Hireling called Ver'yll Wenkiir.

The Hireling, Ver'yll Wenkiir provides players with another Drow companion and does give the opportunity for more Drow content in the party. However, Ver’yll is still a Hireling and, even though he has his own backstory and is a Seldarine Drow, doesn’t contribute to the narrative of Baldur’s Gate 3 in any form.

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OpenCritic Reviews: Top Critic Avg: 96 /100 Critics Rec: 97%

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Released: August 3, 2023
ESRB: M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence
Developer(s): Larian Studios
Publisher(s): Larian Studios
Engine: Divinity 4.0
Multiplayer: Online Co-Op, Local Co-Op
Cross-Platform Play: Full cross-platform play.