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Version used for review: 1.2.

The premise for this mod is a great one — a dwarvern fighter/mage/thief is already an intriguing prospect, and that intrigue was only heightened for me when I first encountered Dvaradime in Waukeen’s Promenade.

Dvaradime is a gold dwarf of the Rockneedle Clan, native to the Great Rift along the south-eastern edge of Faerûn. He moved to Amn many years ago and could well be considered a local at this point, though he has retained his prominent accent from his homeland.

It was upon arriving in Athkatla all those years ago that Dvaradime met the man who was to eventually become his husband — Borcx. Through a rather comedic sequence of events that earned a genuine chuckle out of me, the two dwarves formed a fast friendship that would eventually blossom into a healthy, homely relationship. They owned a home together, had dreams together, and laughed together.

Unfortunately I cannot talk about Dvaradime without talking about the resolution of his quest. It won’t be a terribly surprising resolution, but it is a spoiler nonetheless.

When the player meets Dvaradime, Borcx has gone missing. Of course, no eventual companion of the Bhaalspawn could live a happy life forever. All who are destined to travel with such a figure meet misfortune and mayhem somewhere down the line, and Dvaradime is no different.

So, when you finally find Borcx, he is dead. Or at least, as close to death as one can get without being truly destroyed — perhaps with the exception of Saerelith’s unintentionally comedic ‘double undeath.’ Dvaradime ends his suffering; a necessary act that causes him great pain.

Like Jaheira, Dvaradime will spend the course of the game reckoning with the death of his husband, but unlike Jaheira, he is strictly not romanceable. The importance of having a gay character that only wants to be friends with the player regardless of gender cannot be understated. He is his own person, as you are yours.

Dvaradime makes the world of Baldur’s Gate feel more grounded in that way, and his sexuality is never implied to be abnormal or undesirable, other than a realistic depiction of casual homophobia during Dvaradime’s quest. It’s a single line, and the character that delivers it is unnamed and ends up being chunked by the player regardless of dialogue choice. This, in my opinion, is the best way that such a thing could have been handled.

It can be hard to write depictions of bigotry. It’s equally as unrealistic to have a character dogged by hatred at every turn as it is to not acknowledge the difficulties that minority groups can face whatsoever. Here, in this mod, it is tackled with ease. A taunt from an enemy followed by a sword solidly planted in that enemy’s face. Perfect.

On the topic of making the world feel more grounded (no dwarf jokes, please), Dvaradime is a certified Athkatla local, joining the ranks of Keldorn and Cernd as one of the few companions that actually owns a home in the city. Characters around the area will recognise him and trigger brief banters that go a long way in cementing Dvaradime’s place as a character that belongs in this world and in this game.

Throughout your journeys, Dvaradime will talk to you a fair bit. He has his own friendship path that you can succeed or fail in completing, though he is Neutral Good, so succeeding in the path basically equates to being a good person and a good friend, unlike a character like Hephernaan, who will judge you silently for the things you say and will never truly tell you how he feels about you.

Conversations with him are never boring, either. He’ll tell you stories that range from funny to insightful, share drinks with you as you discuss your respective pasts and futures, and ruminate on what to do and where to go after the death of a loved one. Dvaradime won’t figure out that last one until the very end of the game. It’s something he needs to discover himself, separate from any advice you may give or tales of your own you may tell. He will learn from these things, yes, but all that Dvaradime truly needs is a good friend to listen to him, and occasionally a shoulder to cry on.

This mod successfully displays one of the most mature, touching examples of healthy masculinity, grief, and friendship that I’ve seen in any mod.

Dvaradime comes with an optional set of player-initiated dialogues which may assist in fleshing out his character slightly, though they’re hardly necessary to achieve that end. They’re nice if you just want to kick back and chat with him for a bit, but they’re optional and you won’t miss out on anything important should you decide to skip their installation. As always, I greatly appreciate any mod that offers such things as optional components.

One thing that you may want to note is that Dvaradime’s accent is present in the same way that Khalid’s stutter is present. It’s always there and it’s displayed in writing, and it may take a little getting used to. Once I adjusted to it, I actually really enjoyed the way that it was handled. Aided by his custom voiceset, I could hear Dvaradime talking in my head as I read his lines.

In terms of the basic stuff, like grammar, formatting, and so on… everything is squeaky clean. A lot of effort clearly went into making sure that Dvaradime’s accent was readable while still being present, and all the dialogue is nicely paced.

Dvaradime is a dwarvern fighter/mage/thief, marking the first appearance of a triple-class NPC should you decide to download the mod. It’s also an illegal class combination, making Dvaradime instantly unique among the cast of characters available.

Overall, Dvaradime’s stats are pretty great. He has high strength, albeit with a low secondary score, and good stats relevant to each of his three classes. His intelligence is as high as it needs to be as he’ll never be high enough level to cast level 9 spells anyway, but you can always boost it via Lum’s Machine if you want to get him some extra spell slots.

He comes with two pips in longbows, one pip in long swords, and two pips in sword and shield style. The default two pips in longbows is nice, because I’ll never voluntarily give a character that has ‘fighter’ in their class list anything except melee proficiencies. It gives you an excuse to actually use a longbow, and in most cases he’ll deal a fine amount of damage in conjunction with his magic.

Since leveling Dvaradime takes longer than any other companion, sticking with his default setup is the best option. Give him Taralash, a good long sword and shield, and he’ll be a beast in combat. In the long run, I think the best option is to have him duel-wield long swords—he gets a fantastic sword after the Underdark that you’ll want to keep on him at all times. Blackrazor or The Answerer are excellent picks for his offhand.

Another great piece of equipment for Dvaradime is the Helmet of Dumathoin. It relies on a Siege of Dragonspear import or a mod that automatically places it in the game, but it grants +2 constitution for dwarves, so if you’re not using it on yourself or Korgan, give it to Dvaradime and it’ll boost both his hitpoints and his saving throws.

Dvaradime also has the personal ability to create 10 arrows per day, similar to how Eldoth did in Baldur’s Gate 1. These arrows function as +1 arrows, but with an 85% chance to deal 1 additional crushing damage. This feels like it’s mainly for flavour, but you can easily cheese an endless amount these arrows by resting.

This mod introduces a few unique items in SoA, and even more in ToB. They’re all really cool items.

The Rockneedle Studded Jacket and Aarlagleth are nothing to write home about but they serve their purpose until something better is found, although that +1 to casting time penalty hurts.

Rocky He-Goat is a nice starting helmet but is quickly outclassed by other helmets, unless you’re specifically looking for a damage-resistance build paired with Defender of Easthaven.

Null’s Priest Cutter isn’t a terribly effective weapon, but it’s a +3 two-handed sword that you can receive fairly early on and does additional damage to priests.

The Bloodied Haustorium is a fantastic weapon to put on a mage or a dart-specialised fighter. Immunity to poison means spellcasting is less likely to be interrupted and critical hits cause a localised insect swarm.

Beard Wax provides a couple of bonuses, other than making Dvaradime devilishly handsome. Immunity to creeping doom is pretty big but there aren’t that many druids post-SoA who are going to be casting this at you. Regardless, it’s really nice to have, especially if venturing into the Druid Grove.

Pyre of the Three Bean-Nighes is a long sword that is obtained after you find both pieces, one of which is contained in a risky spot in Athkatla that previously gave minimal rewards, and the other which might be easy to miss if you’re eager to leave the Underdark.

7d4 bonus magic damage upon a critical hit is really, really good, as is immunity to backstabs. It will give Dvaradime +10% to hitpoints, which is even more useful if you have the Helmet of Dumathoin, and it does bonus fire and acid damage for every hit. This is undoubtedly the best sword that you can give Dvaradime, and it is invaluable. It can also be upgraded in Throne of Bhaal. It’s also a great weapon to pick up if you’re playing a solo fighter/mage/thief, as it’s not exclusive to Dvara.

In Throne of Bhaal, you’ll gain access to several more items.

Gravestepper’s Haste is an excellent pair of boots to put on a character you don’t expect to be putting Improved Haste on all that often. By the point you get them, THAC0 won’t be very much of a concern, so equip them without fear.

Webbed Robe of the Archmagi is an archmagi robe that gives immunity to level drain and a once-per-day use of Wail of the Banshee. Neat!

Old Hag’s Mantle is a good replacement for a Cloak of Protection.

Trevor the Rooster is potentially the most game-breaking item ever introduced into this game by a mod. It’s utterly insane how quickly my final battle with Amelyssan changed tides once I brought out Trevor. What does he do, exactly? Uh…

Haunted Pyre of the Three Bean-Nighes is the upgraded version of Dvaradime’s sword, and I must say that it’s not an incredible improvement. Granted, there’s absolutely no reason NOT to upgrade it, unless you can’t spare the cash for some reason, but a +1 to damage, a slight reduction of the Save vs. Death penalty, and a 10% chance to reduce an enemy’s Save vs. Death by 1 on hit isn’t a significant upgrade. It’s already an incredibly powerful weapon though, so any upgrade at all is appreciated.

The quest to find Borcx starts as soon as you meet Dvaradime. The mod repurposes the ruined house in the northern part of Waukeen’s Promenade and investigating it will be the first step in the quest. Eventually, things will lead to you finding Borcx, though the circumstances in which you do felt a little off to me at first.

There are basic go-here and do-that tasks in the quest that remind me somewhat of the Sir Sarles quest in which you have to get him to paint for the temple of Helm. In Dvaradime’s quest things get a little more complicated when it pulls a twist at the end that I perhaps would have seen coming if I had been slightly more observant. In retrospect, it shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise. There’s an appropriate amount of foreshadowing and I think it’s just my very trusting nature as a person that caused my surprise when I reached the twist.

It’s a good quest, and it ends with a pretty tough battle, so if you’re planning on picking up Dvaradime right after leaving Chateau Irenicus then I’d recommend taking your time in completing it. It’s worth it to build up your party and your power before tackling the quest fully.

In Throne of Bhaal, Dvaradime has a small quest that isn’t really related to him as a character, but results in some nice items as well as the one required to upgrade his sword. It uses a cave interior repurposed from Siege of Dragonspear and it’s a nice, short side quest in a part of the game that feels particularly lacking in them.

Overall my feelings towards Dvaradime’s quests are positive, and they fit quite well into the original format of the vanilla game’s quest design.

Dvaradime’s portrait is gorgeous. It’s truly a wonder how far we’ve come with Infinity Engine modding and Lava Del’Vortel’s skill for creating these portraits is impressive indeed. It’s a near perfect replication of the vanilla BG2 NPC portrait style and I’m actually in awe of how well it blends in. It makes me incredibly excited to think of how such methods of portrait creation could be improved and perfected over time, and it bodes well for the future of modding. Take a look at any one of the screenshots above, and you’ll see well it fits in with with the original NPCs.

Another great thing to note with the portrait is how Dvaradime just looks like your average dwarf. Sure, he’ll become one of the most powerful people alive if he stays with you right to the end of Throne of Bhaal, but he’s a humble guy and it shows in his portrait. Mike Sass, the original portrait artist for both Baldur’s Gate games, was great in giving the characters clear identities in their portraits. For example, Anomen looks like a douche but not necessarily a bad person. Cernd looks stoic and concerned with all things balance. Valygar looks like Vin Diesel, but it works.

Dvaradime also manages to encapsulate his personality within his portrait. A modest, friendly dwarf who’s a little rough around the edges. It’s easy to imagine him laughing with his friends or eating scrambled eggs with his husband.

Not only is the portrait fantastic, but Dvaradime’s voice is custom recorded, though is restricted to selection sounds. It’s a happy medium where the workload for the modder isn’t immense, it keeps file sizes down, and the mod maintains a high level of quality control. The voice-acting and editing are top notch. Again, it blends in seamlessly, to the point that I haven’t heard a better custom recorded voice in a mod to this day.

I didn’t really play this mod with the intention of reviewing it straight away, but once I had finished my playthrough all I wanted to do was write. The sort of passion that inspires me to immediately put proverbial pen to paper and write over 2000 words in an evening is rare indeed, but this character found its way into my heart very quickly.

Dvaradime will now be a mainstay in all my future installations of the game, and I hope that regardless of whether you read this whole thing or just skipped to the star rating at the bottom that you give this mod a try. It’s worth your time, I promise you.

Thanks for reading.

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