Adversity forges odd alliances, and of the early-game companions available to you, there’s perhaps none as abrasive as Lae’zel. Haughty, fractious, bound only by a shared peril, and willing to imperil you for her own convenience, putting up with Lae’zel is a chore, but her martial prowess arguably makes it worth putting up with her foibles. This page will cover how to rescue and recruit Lae’zel in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Explore the Roadside Cliffs and you’ll find two tieflings have captured Lae’zel.
How to Rescue Lae’zel in Baldur’s Gate 3¶
You’ll first encounter Lae’zel during the prologue, after potentially freeing the Intellect Devourer, Us and exiting to the exterior of the Nautiloid ship for the first time. There’s not much to this first encounter - she jumps down from an elevated perch, accosts you, then offers to team up in order to reach the helm. She’ll prove invaluable in effecting your mutual escape, and there’s no good reason not to take her along. After the end of the prologue, however, you’ll find yourself on the Ravaged Beach, with Lae’zel nowhere in sight.
To reunite with Lae’zel you’ll need to make your way north to the Roadside Cliffs, where you can find two Tieflings marveling at the yellow toad they managed to cage - Lae’zel. If you get close you’ll start a dialog with Lae’zel, albeit telepathically, where she’ll rather imperiously demand you to free her. What you say to Lae’zel doesn’t matter, but how you react does, and most of your choices will lead you into conflict with the Tieflings Damays and Nymessa. They’re not too powerful, but if you’re playing an Oath of the Ancients Paladin, fighting these tieflings will cause you to become an Oathbreaker.
Defeat the Tieflings¶
If you’re not a Paladin or otherwise don’t care about fighting Damays and Nymessa, you can approach the two and just pick the option Attack the tieflings when prompted. Alternatively you can just shoot the cage Lae’zel is in - when you free her, the tieflings will turn hostile. You can also pick the following dialog option:
- [Persuasion 5] Shoot the trap down. We must kill it before it harms someone.
Once Lae’zel is free she’ll demand that you turn on the tieflings, and you’ll get a simple choice:
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Attack the tieflings.
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Attack Lae’zel.
Recruit Lae’zel¶
Pretty cut and dry here, and you can’t even use nonlethal attacks to avoid sullying your Paladin oath. If you choose to attack the tieflings, Shadowheart will disapprove and Astarion will approve. Choosing to attack Lae’zel will pit your current party and the two tieflings (who are neutral to you but hostile to Lae’zel in this case) against the outmatched githyanki. It’s not much of a fight, and it’ll obviously prevent Lae’zel from joining you. Assuming you helped Lae’zel defeat the tieflings (or your defeated them on her behalf), talk to Lae’zel where you can allow her to join you:
- All right, we journey together. Let’s find this creche.
Recruit Lae’zel Without Shadowheart Disapproving¶
Shadowheart will disapprove of letting Lae’zel join, but you can work around it. Pick the following two options:
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We’ll go our separate ways, I think.
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Wait at my camp. We can speak there.
This minor reprimand is apparently sufficient enough to ward off Shadowheart’s displeasure. You can then just fast-travel to your camp and add Lae’zel to your party from there. Finally, for the sake of completionism, you can outright refuse to let Lae’zel join you:
- Scowl all you like - you have my answer.
Lae’zel will stay near the dead tieflings and sulk - you can then talk to her again to get another shot at this, or you can just leave her be. Going through all this work only to avoid recruiting Lae’zel is kind of silly.
(1 of 2) If you’re a Paladin, you can attempt a Deception check to avoid conflict.
If you’re a Paladin, you can attempt a Deception check to avoid conflict. (left), If the tieflings survive the encounter, you can attempt a Persuasion check to learn the location of their camp. (right)
How to Rescue Lae’zel Without Fighting the Tieflings¶
If you’re a Paladin and you want to avoid a fight with Damays and Nymessa, approach them and pick the following option:
- [Paladin] [Deception 10] Your quarry looks dangerous, but I’ve handled worse. Leave it to me, get to safety.
Having to lie to protect your oath is a bit odd, but it does avoid bloodshed. As the two tieflings leave you can ask them more questions:
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A blast? I could use more specifics.
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[Persuasion 5] I’m in dire need of healing. Where is this camp?
Succeeding at this [Persuade 5] check will update the main quest Remove the Parasite, pointing you northwest towards some healer named Nettie. After they’re gone, just shoot Lae’zel’s cage to free her, then talk to her to recruit her (or send her back to camp to spare Shadowheart’s feelings).
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I've seen the persuasion option on almost every character since release. I didn't get the option as a drow or duergar (both durge), but they both had intimidation options instead, which avoided the fight.
The Shadowheart workaround no longer works. Shadowheart now disapproves of recruiting Lae’zel no matter which way you approach it.