Baldur’s Gate 3 – How To Romance Lae’zel

Baldur’s Gate 3 has a grand total of eight romanceable characters–12 if you count Haarlep, The Emporer, and the drow twins–but one of the most memorable potential romance partners is easily Lae’zel, a green-skinned githyanki fighter who players bump into mere minutes after starting the game.

Though she initially comes off as impatient and prickly, Lae’zel can grow to respect–and eventually love–the player-character. If you’ve developed a fondness for the fierce, fiery warrior, we’ve got you covered. Keep reading for a guide to winning Lae’zel’s heart (without finding yourself on the pointy end of her sword).

How To Romance Lae’zel In Baldur’s Gate 3

Recruitment

Lae’zel is the first character you’ll meet when you start playing Baldur’s Gate 3, and recruiting her is extremely easy. Make your way through the Nautiloid until you trigger a cutscene in which Lae’zel appears, ready to cut you to ribbons. Once she realizes you both share the same breed of Illithid parasite, Lae’zel will suggest you travel together. Take her up on this offer and she will officially join your party. You’ll also bump into Shadowheart here, and though Lae’zel voices her disapproval, recruiting Shadowheart doesn’t actually affect Lae’zel’s approval score.

Approval and disapproval

Eager to prove herself to both her god and her fellow gith, Lae’zel holds a deep fondness for githyanki culture, and will generally approve of behavior that shows the player-character respects her beliefs. She disapproves of displays of weakness or unearned trust, preferring a partner who is assertive and not afraid to intimidate those around her.

That said, one of the most interesting things about Lae’zel is that, unlike Shadowheart, she’ll often approve when the player-character challenges her beliefs or otherwise stands up to her. Asserting dominance will often earn you more approval than simply going along with what Lae’zel wants.

Act 1: Night(s) of passion

It’s worth noting that unlike most other companions, Lae’zel’s romance will be closed off to players who have kissed other companion characters before triggering Lae’zel’s first romance scene, so if you’ve got your eye on her, you’ll want to shut down any potential romances with other characters, at least until Lae’zel approaches you to discuss your shared attraction.

While some companions won’t get intimate until the player has gained a significant amount of approval, Lae’zel is quite the opposite. As soon as her approval score hits Medium (20), she’ll approach the player and offer to join them in bed. Despite coming onto the player so quickly, she will also make it very clear that she doesn’t equate sex with love. Players who want more than a fling will have to put some work in.

Later, after the initial encounter, Lae’zel may point out that the player has been looking at her differently as of late, and can be convinced to engage in another no-strings-attached night of mutual passion (though this one will take place off-screen).

Crèche Y’llek

Once players have made their way through the majority of Act 1, they’ll come across Crèche Y’llek, the potential source of tadpole removal Lae’zel’s been chasing since the moment you met. As you get closer to the crèche (which is actually just a repurposed house of prayer called Rosymorn Monastery), Lae’zel will inform you that you need to get a move on, saying she’ll go find the crèche herself if you take too long. You don’t necessarily need to rush to the crèche, however, as Lae’zel will only leave the party if they attempt to enter The Shadow-Cursed Lands without first visiting the crèche. Still, it’s important to keep this in mind, as once she leaves your party to go find the crèche, she’ll be killed, and even Withers will be unable to revive her.

As you approach Rosymorn Monastery, you may run into a woman who works for an organization called The Society of Brilliance. She’s looking to get her hands on a githyanki egg, as she wants to prove her hypothesis: Githyanki aren’t violent by nature, and raising one away from other gith will result in a calm, kind, nonviolent gith child.

Naturally, Lae’zel is disgusted by this. If you’re romancing her, stealing a gith egg for the Society of Brilliance isn’t a good idea, as you can lose a great deal of approval when you steal the egg (depending on how you go about it), and will lose more approval when you hand the egg over. Instead, we suggest either tricking the woman into accepting an owlbear egg (assuming you picked one up from the owlbear’s cave), or turning down the offer altogether.

The zaith’isk

Sadly, just like every other attempt at removing the tadpole from your skull, making use of the gith deworming apparatus does not successfully take care of your tadpole problem. It can, however, give you a useful power: the ability to use Illithid Powers as bonus actions rather than standard actions. This can be massively useful in combat, and though you’ll have to pass some difficult skill checks, it’s worth it in the end.

Lae’zel will demand you let her use the machine first, but doing so can lead some of her stats getting permanently decreased, so it’s a better idea to use the zaith’isk yourself. Lae’zel may disapprove, but it’s for her own good.

Vlaakith

When encountering the Lich Queen Vlaakith near the end of the crèche questline, keep in mind that Lae’zel respects you for challenging her beliefs–and that extends to her religious beliefs, too. This particular encounter includes some major plot spoilers, so suffice it to say that when it comes to approval, not siding with Lae’zel and her queen is the better option.

Act 2: Crossed blades

Once you’ve completed the main quest at the crèche, increased your approval score, and entered The Shadow-Cursed Lands, a cutscene will eventually play when you go to take a long rest. You’ll awaken to an angry Lae’zel, who is absolutely furious, because she can’t get you off of her mind. This scene is adorable… or it would be, if she didn’t promptly grab her weapon and challenge you to a duel immediately after saying it.

Angry that she’s fallen for you, Lae’zel will initiate combat and demand that you prove yourself worthy of her. The fight will end when one of you reaches a low amount of HP. Lae’zel may make disapproving remarks if you heal, use scrolls and other magic, or make use of potions/elixirs during the fight, but this will not affect her approval, so don’t feel too guilty if you need to chug an enormous healing potion mid-battle.

If you win, Lae’zel will commend your prowess. If you lose, she’ll vow to protect you. Interestingly, the outcome of this battle has no effect on Lae’zel’s approval score, but it does signify that your relationship is now official. Unfortunately, this is far from the only time you’ll awaken to Lae’zel getting violent.

Talking it out

At some point during the first half of the game, you’ll awaken to her holding a knife to your throat, convinced that it’s too late for all of you to survive your Illithid parasites. She plans to kill you first before turning her blade on her fellow companions and then killing herself. Succeeding the skill check to peacefully talk her out of killing everyone is pretty vital if you plan to continue romancing her (and continue playing the game).

Later, you’ll wake up to see her and Shadowheart fighting each other. They’ll demand you choose between them, and if you can’t pass the skill check to persuade them both to stay, one of them will permanently leave the party either by walking out of camp, or being killed by the other party. Getting both Lae’zel and Shadowheart to stay is the best outcome, as losing either of them will also mean losing access to their quests and the XP you’ll earn from completing them.

Act 3: The battle

If you want to have a happily-ever-after ending for yourself and Lae’zel, you’ll need to destroy the Elder Brain, side with Orpheus, and ask Lae’zel to stay with you when prompted. However, if you or Orpheus have become Mind Flayers, Lae’zel will either end your romance, or leave to lead the gith in Orpheus’ place.

Romances with Non-Origin Characters and NPCs

• Drow twin scene: Lae’zel will say she doesn’t wish to share or be shared, and will disapprove of the player engaging in the act against her wishes.
• Emperor romance: Amusingly, players who manage to romance The Emperor will always be caught by their companions. Despite how disgusted everyone looks, getting caught with The Emperor will not have any effect on approval from any companions, including Lae’zel.
• Haarlep scene: Lae’zel will disapprove of the player sharing a bed with Raphael’s pet incubus, but she end the relationship over itl.
• Halsin romance: If Halsin expresses interest in the player, Lae’zel will object. As previously stated, she doesn’t like to share her toys.
• Mizora romance: Players who choose to sleep with Mizora will soon find themselves single, as Lae’zel will immediately break up with them upon witnessing the player’s Infernal infidelity.