Baldur’s Gate 3’s cast of characters may just be the best thing about the game. From timeless vampires to heartwarming infernal legionnaires to reptile-orc-demon warriors, the game has it all. But people still despise one regular, harmless character—Halsin, the notoriously idle druid.
A Nov. 27 Reddit thread asking, “Do people actually dislike Halsin that much? Why,” cropped up, referencing a recent poll on which character BG3 players hate the most. Halsin, as the thread implies, came out on top, though not for the reasons people might think. The original post details Halsin as a “big chill bear dude who wants to hang out with you.” OP also added that, alongside Jaheira, Halsin feels a lot more mature than the usual BG3 character, concluding with reiterating the question, “What’s not to like about him?”
When scouring through the replies, it appears that players don’t actually hate Halsin. Instead, most people expressed their apathy towards the character, who doesn’t do much or feel part of the world. One reply says that, after the Shadow Curse story concludes, so does Halsin’s relevancy, and he only even joins after the Shadow Curse has ended, adding to his overt detachment from what’s going on.
Other replies seem to think that Halsin should’ve joined earlier in the story and would then feel more impactful overall. Another gripe players have with the character is that he does join your camp earlier but sits around and doesn’t become available as a companion until you and your party have already dealt with the Shadow Curse, making him not much better than a freeloader who snacks on your Long Rests.
In my playthrough, Halsin was of so little consequence that I wasn’t aware of who he was for the most part, and I do think the character deserved to be fleshed out a bit more. His initial mysterious nature and the players’ trial of saving him are completely wasted, but it’s made up by the rest of the crew, who are perhaps some of the best-written and designed characters in the RPG genre. And that’s saying a ton.
