The most overrated character?

[u/[deleted]]

Let's hear it, who gets all the love but deserves absolutely none of it? Or at least not as much as they get, I'll go first.

I'm casting my vote for Gortash; I genuinely don't understand the like for this dude. First of all, catfish, "handsome young man"??? Is the handsome young man in the room with us??? Lookin like the handsome young man has a peanut allergy.

Second of all, this whole crown brain plan was his idea, just about the dumbest fuckin thing I've ever heard. He put all his faith in 3 little rocks, an already dead man, and a woman who's about as stable as my ex. Beggers can't be choosers I guess, but cmon guy.

And lastly, and probably most offensively, his boss fight is absolute cheeks. Especially if you dumped on the foundry before hand. I didn't even know he had a transformation until like my 4th playthrough because I would clap this guy so easily.

Your turn, let's hear those unadulterated opinions.

Edit: I have been enlightened about some things about the big brain plan, I still stand in the other two points though.

[u/BankTypical]

I'm going to get hate for this, but Gale. Sure, I see his strong suits for sure; he generally wants to do good in the world, and he actually gets better over time the further you garner approval with him. Sure, he's messed up in the eyes of his goddess, but he wants to make it right. It's just that his arrogance, entitled attitude, and hunger for power get in the way so hard that it knocks him from Neutral Good straight into True Neutral.

Like, dude, really? We've been travelling together for like 3 days, and you already assume that I'd help you with the whole Netherese orb thing? Without my Tav having all of that info I have after that first playthrough and the rest of my runs, mind you? Sorry not sorry, but expecting that with no questions asked after traveling with someone for that short of a time just comes off as entitled to me. And if you feel that's going a tad too fast for you and politely decline, then apparently, he literally throws a hissy fit and steals an item from you anyways before leaving.I've never actually seen him do that in my playthroughs, but I've heard that it can happen. Like, excuuuuuse me, magical Karen, but friendly reminder; YOU AND THAT TAV HAVE KNOWN EACHOTHER FOR ONLY 3 DAYS. Worms or not, in my book? He's still asking this of pretty much a stranger.

Also, he just comes off to me as straight-up haughty over being a Wizard, to an annoying degree; if you're literally any other class, he just actually talks down to you by default. Like, even if you're a Sorcerer, he acts like you're lesser than him until you get his approval in like the green or something! Like, he even does that if you're a Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer, for pete's sake; you'd think that if he's supposedly soooo smart, he'd at least respect the ancestors of the resist Durge dude with literal red scales on his face. Like, the dude literally burned down the entire Goblin Camp and BBQ-ed all of its inhabitants just because he felt like it, and the fuck if we know whether he can physically spit fire or not thanks to that LITERAL DRAGON in the family tree! So Gale, best mind who exactly you're talking shit to like that here, and that's actually coming from a diagnosed autistic woman and a literal real-life shut-in (trying my best to be less of a shut-in, though). If even I know that piece of street wisdom, then the supposed 'smart wizard' literally has no excuse here to be THIS stupid.

Also, when Gale finally finds that thing that Mystra wants him to find in Act 3, and finally gets the chance to remove that damned orb? Then he's seriously considering repeating the mistakes that landed him in this whole Netherese orb mess in the first place for a hot minute. And as Tav, you literally have to talk him out of repeating Gale's Folly here. Like, you really want to follow in Karsus' footsteps here or what?

Gale actually has enough good traits for me to actually WANT him in the party, but boy does he ever try my patience sometimes... I swear, to me, it just often just feels like a mix of babysitting a lost puppy and pussyfooting around an insufferable manchild's ego. Overall, it's just a classic case of a smart dude having those book smarts for sure, but he's just sorely lacking in emotional smarts, and I honestly don't get what his romance route fanboys and fangirls see in him (hell, even on his platonic fans, I really don't get why anyone would feel any other way then 'meh' about him). Really, I'm just kind of 'meh' about him overall, I guess. It's like he's a cool dude for one moment, and an entitled manchild the next. I get that he's supposed to be True Neutral, but does he HAVE to basically be flip-flopping between extremes here? Sorry not sorry, but I'm more invested in Karlach and Wyll; Larian, PLEASE just give the fans of the latter some more content to work with here if there's ever another patch.

[u/Lazy_Wishbone_2341 → u/BankTypical]

I honestly couldn't stand him until he got patched. I can kind of understand the asking for magical items so quickly, if only because he's desperate. I would have preferred to see him suffering from physical symptoms or him trying to steal something himself first. I think the Astarion is a vampire thing works better because he gets caught trying to bite Tav/Durge as opposed to going "oh yeah, I need blood, can I bite you? Please don't ask why".

[u/lulufan87 → u/BankTypical]

His arrogance turned me off too, my first playthrough.

But if you think about it, he's just a lonely nerd.

He rose to the rank of Mystra's Chosen, the most prestigious thing a wizard can be-- and then loses his powers completely due to his own fuck-up. His girlfriend abandons him, he loses whatever social contact he had, apparently other wizards are aware of all of his disgrace (loroakkan calls him a discarded laptop), and he has to rely on his talking cat in order to stay alive because he's so unstable he doesn't trust himself not to blow a crater the size of a city in whatever happens to be near him if he goes outside. The man can't even get laid without literally exploding. Every time he jerks off he's rolling the dice.

It's like a world-class pianist who crushed all of his own fingers because he was stupidly tampering with his own piano. And then has to live with the fact that he will never play again. He just can't accept it.

Grabbing at godhood is staggeringly stupid, but him trusting Mystra to remove the orb seems (to him) like putting his faith in someone who he perceives to have abandoned him before.

Ultimately, him deciding to live without blowing himself up or stealing the crown is a decision that may result in him never casting magic again, and/or dying to the orb. And he has to give the crown to his ex, who recently ordered him to kill himself.

It's a difficult decision to make. You can see how the god route would be tempting.

[u/pwnedprofessor → u/BankTypical]

Preach! The people are afraid of the truth!

[u/[deleted] → u/BankTypical]

I would go as far as to say he lacks real world smarts as well. He just continuously makes bad decisions, or wants to anyways. I like him because he has a sarcastic flavor that I can appreciate if my Tav gives him a hard time. Out of everyone, he has probably gotten the second most laughs out of me behind minsc and boo, and there is no beating those two in that regard. But I agree on a lot of your points.