Wyll is the reliable good guy in Baldur’s Gate 3 — a warlock with a hero’s smile and, for many players, the least spectacular story. Fans have long wondered why the Blade of Frontiers never got the same post‑launch attention as Karlach, Astarion or Halsin. In a recent Reddit AMA, senior writer Kevin VanOrd offered a candid explanation: it was less a creative snub than a chain of bad timing, cuts and misfortune.
VanOrd’s short version: Wyll began life in early access as a different character, and the team rewrote him late in development. By the time they were ready to give him a properly fleshed-out arc, most companion stories were already locked in. Key sequences that would have involved him — notably a planned scene at the Red War College near Baldur’s Gate — were cut. VanOrd also fell ill at a critical moment, slowing progress when the team had finally tied Wyll into Duke Ravengard and the Wyrmway dungeon. The result was a companion whose content felt fragmented and, to many, undercooked.
“Wyll’s content is sparser than I’d have liked,” VanOrd admitted. “He’s also split into two stories, really — the Mizora story and the Ravengard story, and that might have been a mistake in hindsight.” He added that it always bothered him that Wyll can finish the game essentially unchanged: still the Blade of Frontiers, without a meaningful endpoint.
Why that matters
Companion arcs are the emotional engines of Larian’s RPGs — they’re where moral choices, romance, and character growth pay off. When one companion’s thread is thin, it skews how players see the ensemble. Fans noticed this in hard numbers, too: Wyll clocks in with less recorded dialogue than most other companions, and post‑launch patches that added new endings and interactions for characters like Karlach didn’t do nearly as much for him beyond some romance tweaks.
VanOrd’s explanation doesn’t erase the frustration, but it does put it in context: late rewrites, a cut sequence (the Red War College), a design choice to slot Wyll into an already busy narrative, and the writer’s unexpected illness all intersected. Some content did make it in — a dungeon tie to the Wyrmway and a boss (Ansur) — but VanOrd says he couldn’t do more than craft a single dungeon boss out of that thread once development momentum had shifted.
The human side of development
This exchange also highlights a recurring truth about big RPGs: stories are vulnerable to production realities. Characters are born, reimagined and sometimes simplified to fit schedules, budgets and last‑minute design shifts. VanOrd’s tone in the AMA was apologetic but proud; he called Wyll “sincere” and “eager” and said he’s “truly sorry” players didn’t get more time with him.
For players who want more BG3 moments — whether through official patches or fan projects — the community hasn’t been idle. Ambitious mod efforts like Path to Menzoberranzan aim to expand what’s possible in the game, and platform features that make playing on the go (and testing mods or alternative builds) easier, such as the way the PlayStation Portal can now stream your PS5 library, give players more flexibility to explore those additions.
Would more post‑launch content have changed Wyll’s fate? Probably. VanOrd flagged romance and companion relationships as areas he’d like to deepen in future projects — more interplay between companions, subtler romance progression, and richer friendship arcs. Those are lessons Larian seems to be taking forward as it looks toward its next titles.
If you prefer console play, hardware upgrades remain an option; some fans keep their BG3 install running on high settings with a PlayStation 5 Pro Console for smoother performance and better visuals.
Wyll’s case is a small study in how even beloved characters can be flattened by development realities. The good news for players is twofold: the studio and at least one of Wyll’s writers recognized the shortcomings, and the community continues to tinker and patch stories in ways studios sometimes can’t. Whether Wyll ever gets the full, satisfying arc that was intended may come down to whether Larian revisits him in DLC or future projects — or whether the modding community decides to pick up the sword and write him a grander ending.