Baldur’s Gate 3 players are already plotting how to break Patch 7

One major Alfira change in Baldur’s Gate 3’s upcoming Patch 7 has players already plotting ways to make the Bard a permanent party member.

Larian Studios has revealed more details on Patch 7, which will be released in September. In addition to significant new features like official modding tools, the ability to use mods on console, and incredibly dark evil ending cinematics, the update is set to make various other gameplay changes.

Among them is this tease: “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.”

The wording – and emphasis on “temporarily” – make it pretty obvious the devs are referring to Alfira. The tiefling Bard appears no matter who you play as, but she plays a particularly gruesome role in the Dark Urge’s storyline.

Alfira’s design and status as a Bard, a class that goes unrepresented by Baldur’s Gate 3’s companions, have led many players to argue that she should have been a companion.

All this has some hoping for glitches, exploits, or even mods that will make Alfira a permanent party member post-Patch 7.

In a Reddit post discussing Larian’s community update, players celebrated the news that Alfira will become a companion, even if it’s just temporary. Others also considered ways to make it permanent.

“I’m giving it 3 days before glitchers figure out how to keep her in the party permanently. Larian may as well add dialogue and quests for her ahaha,” joked one player, referencing the Baldur’s Gate 3 community’s well-documented knack for finding exploits.

“Step 1: Turn Alfira into a sheep,” said another, referencing an early method for recruiting Minthara on a non-evil playthrough that many players used before Patch 5 made that easier.

There is actually already a way to spare Alfira’s life as the Dark Urge that involves knocking her out so she can’t come to your Camp, a choice the game does acknowledge through a letter during the epilogue party.

That has players wondering if they’ll be able to trick the game into letting Alfira stick around, especially since datamines indicate she was once planned as a party member.

At the very least, Alfira fans hope that modders will be able to make her a permanent companion, with one pointing out that “the framework for an Alfira companion is in the game.”