Gathering a party and venturing forth is something Dragon Age: Dreadwolf has the chance to build on and perfect even after Baldur's Gate 3.
Dragon Age: Dreadwolf has had a very quiet development cycle, with only a couple of teaser trailers to tide over fans waiting on news. Baldur's Gate 3's success as a CRPG, its mechanical and gameplay similarities to Dragon Age: Origins, depth, and sheer volume of quality content without microtransactions has put even more pressure on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. The fourth Dragon Age game has to meet expectations after such a long development cycle, recent layoffs at BioWare, and a string of disappointments from the developer.
With six origin characters to choose from and a massive variety of races, classes, and subclasses, there are dozens of variations of potential characters to create in Baldur's Gate 3. The Forgotten Realms are a diverse place, including not just Faerun but all the different planes including the Hells and the Astral Planes, all with their own inhabitants. The player gets introduced to the world through the party members, which needs to encompass a variety of classes to create a balanced party while adventuring.
Gathering a Party in Baldur's Gate 3
While Baldur's Gate 3 has received praise from critics and gamers alike, it has faced some criticism in regard to the balance of its companions. While there are far too many races in the world of Baldur's Gate 3 to be represented across just 10 companions, classes and races were duplicated in favor of others that would have been welcome.
Shadowheart, a Half-Elf Cleric
Lae'zel, a Githyanki Fighter
Astarion, a High Elf Rogue
Gale, a Human Wizard
Wyll, a Human Warlock
Karlach, a Tiefling Barbarian
Jaheira, a Half-Elf Druid
Halsin, a Wood Elf Druid
Minsc, a Human Ranger
Minthara, a Drow Paladin
Despite there being 10 recruitable companions, there is a distinct disparity of representation across the board, with two druids, three humans, and two half-elves. None of the shorter races, such as dwarves, gnomes, or halflings are present, nor are there any dragonborn or half-orcs in the party.
The BG3 NPC Withers makes possible to respec companions at any point, but the distribution of classes among companions is uneven, especially considering the two druids, and some players may not want to respec companions such as Wyll, Halsin, or Shadowheart as their class is closely tied to their background and story. Minthara adds some variety in being both a drow and a paladin, but many players will forego having her in their party because of the steep price to get her, demanding a very specific, ruthless playstyle that sacrifices several party members and includes some reprehensible choices in Act 1 that many won't want to follow through with.
Why Companions Will be Important in Dragon Age: Dreadwolf
One of the areas Dragon Age: Dreadwolf could improve on Baldur's Gate 3 is balancing its companions. The series is set to move away from southern Thedas to the northern nation of Tevinter, with new threats, politics, and cultures, and these need to be represented through the lives of the characters living there. To do so, there should be a companion with experience living under the Qun, a mage with experience living in Tevinter, a Dalish elf, a City elf, a dwarf with ties to Kal-Sharok, and so on.
These companions need to provide perspective on the new cultures explored in Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, but also provide an opportunity to give compelling arguments on new difficult situations, such as why anyone would want to join the Dread Wolf's cause, or the ongoing Qunari war with Tevinter.
Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is in development.
