Baldur's Gate 3 romance options: How to gain approval

How does romance work in Baldur's Gate 3? It isn't a Baldur's Gate game without some spicy studs, beautiful barbarians, and steamy romance. Baldur's Gate 3 gives players plenty of romance options ranging from sweet seduction to intense one-time flings.

But before you accidentally turn off your sexiest companions with unintended slights, follow this Baldur's Gate 3 romance guide to learn how to gain approval from potential romance interests. We also have tailored guides for each potential partner with specific advice on romancing each potential love interest.

Here's everything you need to know about Baldur's Gate 3 romance and how to gain partners' approval.

Romance options in Baldur's Gate 3

Baldur's Gate 3 gives lots of dialogue prompts and response options. Your character's choices and stats influence your ability to progress in specific ways. Players can truly embrace their characters as they interact with companions, enemies, and other NPCs. Certain choices can attract or deter potential suitors, which the game measures as an approval rating of you. If you reach a high approval threshold with specific characters, you generate a romance opportunity.

In Baldur's Gate 3, you can romance and of your companions and other NPCs. Notably, companion romances have no limitations in terms of gender, race, or other factors beyond your efforts to build rapport within the game. They may interact with you differently based on race or class, but ultimately, you can still romance any romanceable character. You won't need to choose a specific character along for your quests to romance them. Check out our character-specific romance guides for insight on how to pursue each individual partner.

Your romance options in Baldur's Gate 3 are:

• Astarion: Male High Elf Rogue
• Gale: Male Human Wizard
• Lae'zel: Female Githyanki Warrior
• Shadowheart: Female High Half-Elf Cleric
• Wyll: Male Human Warlock
• Karlach: Female Asmodeus Tiefling Barbarian
• Halsin
• Minthara: Female Drow Paladin
• Minsc: Ranger
• Jaheira

To begin to romance with someone, you must earn a high approval rating from them. Quite simply, you'll want to take actions your romantic interest will perceive positively and avoid those they'll perceive negatively. Choose dialogue options and actions that align with the potential partner's ideals and beliefs. The character sheetwill show each character's approval rating of you, and you'll get notices that characters approve or disapprove of your actions at the upper left-hand part of the interface.

Many romance opportunities will start and grow at your camp. Here, interactions with characters will allow you to learn more about them. Once their approval of you has grown to a high enough level, you can start pursuing them as a romantic interest. You can flirt with and pursue multiple characters simultaneously, though you can only share your bedroll with one when it comes time to settle in. Characters may get jealous of your interactions with others, so be careful how you play, player.

If you can get a character to join you in your bedroll, you'll unlock some romantic — and often spicy — scenes.

Baldur's Gate 3 romance steps

The Baldur's Gate 3 romancing blueprint is generally the same no matter who you'd like to romance, though there are some known exceptions.

In each case, you must first meet the character. Upon meeting them, try to understand their wants and desires. For instance, Astarion, a Rogue with a hidden condition, will like you more if you tend to side with monsters. Wyll, on the other hand, is quite opposed to assisting monsters, particularly Goblins and Devils.

Generally, you'll need to make decisions and take actions that put your chosen characters' values at the forefront. This will often take time and story progress. If your decisions reflect a good relationship with the companion or NPC, then their approval of you will increase to the point that they may express some interest in you. This will, in turn, open up dialogue options in specific scenarios. Follow those most in line with the characters' belief systems, and if you have done so successfully, you can eventually invite the character into your bedroll.

Note that you can typically leave a character in camp or far away from the dialogue to avoid disapproval events.

What happens when you romance a character in Baldur's Gate 3?

Romancing bears fruit in the form of romance cutscenes. For most romances, you'll need to complete the Rescue Druid Halsin quest to unlock this opportunity, which will be about 20 hours into normal gameplay. You can then complete a side quest called Save the Refugees, which leads to a celebration. If you have managed to gain a high approval rating from a potential romantic interest, choosing the right dialogue options can lead to an opportunity for you to share your bedroll with them. In doing so, the game will reward you with a romance cutscene. These are often rather intimate, so be prepared for some NSFW content.

That's everything you need to know about romance in Baldur's Gate 3. If you're itching to dig into this long-awaited game, you'll also want to check out everything you can expect from ir before you jump in with our Baldur's Gate 3 release and gameplay details guide.

Disclosure: Former RPS deputy editor Adam Smith (RPS in peace) now works at Larian and is the lead writer for Baldur's Gate 3. Former contributor Emily Gera also works on it.