Baldur's Gate 3 Could Finally Make Everyone's Favorite NPC A Playable Companion

Summary Patch 7 for Baldur's Gate 3 may introduce a playable Alfira as a temporary party member.

Alfira may only be recruitable in Dark Urge playthroughs.

It's unknown how a recruitable Alfira storyline will work, or how it'll intersect with other Dark Urge story beats and exploits.

The next patch for Baldur's Gate 3 could make a fan-favorite NPC recruitable - if only for a moment. Larian recently released a blog post regarding all the fixes and new content in the next patch for BG3. Many players will be excited to hear about its improved romance scenes, along with a new feature that allows for dynamic split-screen, merging the two halves of the picture when players are occupying the same area. The developers are also hard at work on the modding toolkit for Baldur's Gate 3, which should enhance the replayability of this already huge, dynamic game.

But secreted away further down in the patch notes is a hint at a massive change to a particular NPC's storyline. While it was always theorized that this NPC was originally intended to be recruitable, there's been no official confirmation to date, and they remain non-playable in the game's current form. However, the next patch could finally change that. What that means for a related Origin character's storyline, though, isn't totally clear.

Related An Often Overlooked Baldur's Gate 3 Item Could Save Your Weakest Companions These Baldur’s Gate 3 items can keep even the weakest characters alive through the toughest situations - and some have hidden benefits besides.

Patch 7 Could Make Alfira Playable In Baldur's Gate 3

Everyone's Favorite Bard As A Party Member In BG3

Close

Community Update #28 for Baldur's Gate 3, posted July 16 on the game's Steam Community page, hints at Alfira as a playable character in the upcoming patch. Specifically, under the section on improvements to the Dark Urge questline, the blog post reads, "We may have also let a certain bard now join the party as a controllable character if there’s an empty slot, temporarily, of course." This could really only refer to Alfira or Volo, the only two named bards who could be considered major characters in Baldur's Gate 3. But especially considering Alfira's slightly larger role in Dark Urge playthroughs, it'd make more sense to have her as a playable character.

Alfira is notoriously the first victim of the Dark Urge storyline. Early in the game, she spends a night at the Durge's camp, grateful for an escape from the Emerald Grove. But the Durge wakes up in the morning to find her lying dead on the ground. This is the first hint of their murderous tendencies, and sparks their eventual journey towards resisting - or giving into - their urges.

So, it may be that a playable Alfira will be exclusive to Dark Urge Origin character runs. It's likely that she'll be briefly playable once she comes to visit, after which she'll probably be able to travel around with the Durge until that fateful night at camp. However, cut content - and the way the game treats her in general - points to Alfira as a more universal playable character. Whatever the case, players will have to wait until the next patch to find out who the playable character even is.

Related Baldur's Gate 3 Player With More Than 350 Hours Finally Finds This Easy Consumable Baldur's Gate 3 players are still finding new consumable items more than 300 hours into the game, but this one could really turn the tides.

How A Playable Alfira Could Affect The Durge's Storyline In BG3

Could Knocking Alfira Out Make Her A Permanent Companion?

The existence of a playable Alfira, even temporarily, calls into question a number of factors surrounding the Dark Urge storyline. For example, a common player trick makes it possible to save Alfira in BG3 by knocking her out before she comes to camp. That way, a tiefling named Quil comes to camp instead, and becomes the Dark Urge's first victim. However, if that really is where Alfira ceases to be a playable character in the next patch, could knocking her out make her a permanent party member?

Many players will doubtless try to replicate this trick, attempting to keep Alfira alive past her programmed expiration date. But whether it'll actually work is another matter entirely. Larian's blog post is abundantly clear: Alfira is intended as a temporary companion only. And Baldur's Gate 3 is an incredibly reactive game, with a built-in backup for everything - that's why Quil exists to replace Alfira in the first place. Considering Alfira's popularity, and Larian's knowledge of its fan base, it's unlikely they'd leave this stone unturned.

So, a temporarily recruitable Alfira will require a little tweaking, and there's an easy way to do that while also making her available even to non-Durge players. In short, Alfira needs a second excuse to leave the party once her time is up. That could be the continued migration of her people. If Alfira is only recruitable for a short time, and the Dark Urge doesn't kill her, she could simply hang around camp until the Emerald Grove kerfuffle is resolved. Then, hearing that some of her fellow tiefling refugees are headed towards Baldur's Gate, she could opt to join them, and part ways with the player character until they're reunited at the Last Light Inn in Act Two.

Related One Brilliant Baldur's Gate 3 Trick Can Save Everyone In The Last Light Inn A trick allows players to keep everyone at the Last Light Inn alive in Baldur’s Gate 3, even while letting Shadowheart become a Dark Justiciar.

Whatever the case, all signs point to a playable Alfira in the next BG3 update. How exactly it'll work remains to be seen. While there's no concrete release date for Patch 7, it's expected out sometime this September. Players will have to wait until then to test their permanent recruitment tricks on Alfira in Baldur's Gate 3.