Are you tired of playing as an istik?Baldur’s Gate 3gives you a lot of options when creating a character, in an adventure that involves fighting the terrifying ghaik - or Mind Flayers - and stopping them from enthralling you and all of Faerûn. Their sworn enemies, the Githyanki, also appear in the game, as you can even create your own Gith.
Still, one of the origin characters, Lae’zel, is also a Githyanki, and playing as her makes you far more involved in this side of the adventure, where you can choose who to ally yourself with, becoming a top soldier of your Queen or a liberator of your people.
Spoilers ahead
11Your Ideals Are Up To You
Vlaakith, Orpheus, Or Yourself
Lae’zel is a devoted soldier of her queen, Vlaakith, at least for the most part - and usually, you may persuade her to one side or another, depending on your rolls. However, if you are playing as her, you have complete control of your allegiances.
If you want to disrespect Vlaakith from the beginning, you can, and if you want to stay loyal to her until the very end instead of siding with Orpheus, that is also up to you. You can also choose not to care, though you’ll ignore most of your backstory by doing so.
10Meeting Losiir
Replacing Lae’zel In The Nautiloid
During the game’s tutorial sequence, the nautiloid, Lae’zel, appears and gives you some basic information on what is going on and your first mission: take control of the helm. She can’t do any of that if you’re her, though.
That’s where the new character, Losiir, appears. He takes over for her, giving you information and the mission instead. He’s also a good fighter, making encounters relatively easy with two fighters right away, but he’ll die once the nautiloid sequence is complete, leaving a nice Gith armor for Shadowheart to use.
9Messing With The Tieflings
Be As Aggressive As You Want
Many people in Faerûn don’t like Githyanki, with a reputation only beaten by the likes of Drows. Being one will cause some issues because of that, so you may attempt to be nicer than Lae’zel is as a companion, but you can force them to do as you want.
The two Tieflings who cage Lae’zel when you’re not playing as her will sadly be dead, removing the conversation entirely. But you’ll have control over making Zorru bow to you, and the Tiefling Ellyka will be immediately aggressive to you, having a high chance of starting a fight against her.
8Meeting Voss For The First Time
It’s A Lot Smoother Here
The first conversation with Voss is somewhat tricky, as it involves multiple rolls, and any failure can disrupt a rather difficult fight in Act 1. Having Lae’zel around makes things slightly easier, but playing those scenes as her makes them much easier.
The conversation will only go sideways if you’re disrespectful or if you want to - admitting about being infected counts as “you want to.” There are still a few rolls, but they’re low, as Voss has no reason to distrust you.
7Interacting With Lady Esther
It’s Not Smooth At All
Lady Esther is a member of the Society of Brilliance who tried and failed to obtain a Githyanki egg from a nearby crèche. Because of that, she’s not quite fond of the Gith and will be aggressive towards you.
You can defuse the situation or (like us) kill her for attempting something as disrespectful as trying to buy a Gith egg. The situation will be much more inclined to turn into combat either way, but it’s up to you.
6Discussing With Shadowheart
This One Is Entirely Up To You
During the game, Lae’zel and Shadowheart get a long rest scene where they discuss and fight over the Astral Prism. This scene doesn’t happen when playing as Lae’zel, but while on the crèche (which we’ll address soon), you’re able to talk to her and have a few arguments over the prism, as it’s obvious how much the Gith wants it and talk about it.
You can argue without being overly aggressive, argue with a level of aggression, or choose that you don’t care about returning it to the Gith - by this point, you already know you need the prism anyway.
5The Githyanki Crèche
Your Time To Shine
Without having Lae’zel as a companion, things go pretty quickly here, as the other companions don’t speak much during this section. You’ll likely use the zaith’isk yourself, you’ll have your fair share of Giths - though most NPCs here will be nice to you, and only fight if they become aware of the relic, and you’llchoose how to address Vlaakith,as her first appearance in the game happens here.
Once this area is done, you’ll have an exclusive long rest with Lae’zel pondering the whole situation as the narrator talks about the events at the crèche. You can lean towards “Vlaakith is still my Queen” or “I’m now an enemy of my people” (which replaces a conversation you’d typically have with Lae’zel if she were a companion), but don’t forget the egg.
4Voss' Second Interaction
It’s Also Simpler Here
This moment connects to how you want your ideals to be. Still, when interacting with Voss during a long rest and realizing he wishes to betray Vlaakith, the conversation also goes smoother here - unless you want to stay loyal to Vlaakith.
You also get more dialogue options than when playing as someone else, giving you extra information on the situation and Voss. Overall, the outcome doesn’t change much, but the in-between dialogue is nice.
3Vlaakith’s Second Interaction
Return Of The Lich Queen
Going all the way to Act 3, you’ll get a special visit from none other than Vlaakith, where you’ll have one more chance to choose her despite all past events, as long as you slay Orpheus. Lae’zel will normally choose to go against Vlaakith’s wishes unless you convince her otherwise, but it’s all up to you here.
By this point, the game has given you many reasons not to choose Vlaakith, but hey, it’s nice that you still get to choose. Or you’re able to tell her off and proceed to find a wayto free the Prince of the Comet, Orpheus.
2Endings
To Leave Or Not To Leave
Lae’zel’s endings are also more or less the same, but it’s easier to decide her fate as no rolls are required. You can help Orpheus or not, turn yourself into a Mind Flayer instead of your Prince, or let him turn and lead the fight against Vlaakith along with Voss.
Or, you can still return to Vlaakith as her hero and ascend, or just let the Gith deal with themselves as you choose to stay in Faerûn with your new friends. There are many ways to go about it here, depending on how your adventure went.
