Summary
Update 17:50 BST:Larian has reached out to explain that while Alfira will indeed get companion status in the next patch, it won’t be long enough for her to see any combat. Our report has been updated to reflect this.
Larianjust dropped a hugeblog postabout the nextBaldur’s Gate 3patch, revealing some of its new features. In the post, the devs tease that we might even get a new companion: Alfira the Bard.
Given her… involvement in one of the game’s playable Origins (spoilers below), she won’t stick with the party for long. However, she will appear as a companion while you have her, not as a random tag-along at camp.
Spoilers for The Dark Urge Origin in Baldur’s Gate 3 ahead.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Patch 7 Makes Huge Dark Urge Changes
In the blog post detailing the Patch 7 changes, Larian has a separate section on The Dark Urge. Here, it’s strongly suggested that this Origin will get an exclusive party member.
“We may have also let a certain bard now join the party as a controllable character if there’s an empty slot, temporarily, of course,” the post reads.
Since this is only mentioned in this section, we can hazard a guess that the bard in question is Alfira. When playing as The Dark Urge, Alfira will try to join your camp early on in Act 1, only for you to kill her while she sleeps. This is your first test as The Dark Urge - explaining yourself to your companions as you hover over her dead body.
Now, Larian appears to be making it even worse, having Alfira be given companion status when she meets us at camp. Since she joins us before a long rest, it won’t be long enough to get her into any combat situations, but she’ll at least appear in the party if there’s a spare slot. This will make the twist extra brutal for new players, unfamiliar with the Dark Urge route.
Patch 7 isalso adding new Dark Urge-ending cinematics, which we got another preview of here. One of them shows the character lying down amidst a sprawl of dead bodies. The other seemingly shows them mind-controlling the entirety of Baldur’s Gate into doing their bidding. So, pretty evil stuff.
Baldur’s Gate 3
WHERE TO PLAY
Baldur’s Gate 3 is the long-awaited next chapter in the Dungeons & Dragons-based series of RPGs. Developed by Divinity creator Larian Studios, it puts you in the middle of a mind flayer invasion of Faerûn, over a century after the events of its predecessor.
