Originally Posted by Vamathi
Continuation from the Halsin thread ¬

Originally Posted by Nicottia
Oh, Astarion is definitely hiding something, but I wouldn't call him a liar for it, he's just not really forthcoming with information, just like some of the other companions... *cough* Shadowheart *cough* Wyll *cough*. The only 2 ridiculously honest ones are: Gale, altho it takes him a while to get there, and Lae'zel - she wants to become a dragon rider. That is all she wants. Oh, and creeeeeche.

Well, about gur and Astarion, I just assumed he had an uncharacteristic, for a 9INT character, strike of 6th sense.
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Gur Maybe he just guessed by Gandrel's appearance that he's a gur or all that scented crap has given him away. Speaking of which, I wonder how strong is a vampire's sense of smell. Well, Astarion does say that he was attacked by gur on that fateful night when Cazador had found him, maybe he has the same obsession with gur that Spike (Buffy the Vampire Slayer series) has with killing slayers? Who knows?
About Cazador hunting Astarion, I do think it has something to do with those big scars on Astarion's back. Just a guess.

And Astarion wasn't on the run, when you mind meld with him for the first time you get a vision that he's been prowling dark busy streets (presumably for Cazador), then he got snatched away by the illithids and the rest is history. We don't rightly know how long Astarion has been held captive by the mind flayers, it could be a day, a week? I daresay it's safe to assume it's been long enough to get Cazador angered though.
But whatever the case might be, I do agree, it requires some further explanation.


It's hard to trust him, but it's also hard not to get yourself completely smitten XD
I find some of his approval up choices very curious. Some food for thought and heavy spoilers:
For example if you buy the artist in Zhentarim hideout - there is an option to tell Astarion that he is your slave, and he approves of it.He also both approves if the MC tortures Liam or gets tortured by the follower of Loviatar; is it just because he is a vampire, or is there some loose screws in that porcelain head?

There are definitely some missing dialogue chains with Astarion; possibly just not triggering completely.
The most obvious one is if he kills you MC during feeding, I mean... Really? He doesn't address this at all?

I've been retrying different quest paths to see, if I can meet the Hunter to get the knowledge that there is a vampire lurking about. Basically confront Astarion and tell him I know or that I am suspicious of him?
I tried both letting Astarion kill the Hunter and leaving him alone, without the knowledge on my PC that Astarion is a the vampire; For reference and and flipping out.
I don't think Astarion kills him just because he feels like we are being pulled in by a story of this mild hunter. This dialogue pops up if you tell him 'What the hells? He could have helped us!'
Another thing is that if you tell Astarion after killing Gandrel out of nowhere - 'Trust you? After that?' - he responds with this.

Unfortunately I went through several different paths, there wasn't a new dialogue option for when he would eventually trigger the feeding scene and reveal he is a vampire himself, nor was there any new dialogue option when we found the dead boar.
Only after the cinematic you can go to him and ask this, if you already killed the Gur; but he doesn't reveal anything new and sticks to his story. When we didn't kill the Gur before Astarion's reveal, there was no new dialogue.

There is also a way to get the knowledge that it is Astarion that the Gur is looking for before he tells you he is a vampire - for reference.
If you hire him after, you can't address this at all.

You might be right that Astarion identified Gur based on appearance; I tought he looked bit too much like a generic human tbh


Originally Posted by Nicottia
My first run was with a seldarine drow female cleric of Eilistraee, and of course I did romance Astarion on that run... although... for a 'good aligned cleric' it makes little to no sense to romance an undead creature... so my roleplaying skills were shit that day. laugh

My 2nd full run was with a high elven female wizard, I was curious if Astarion's lines would change at all for her being a high elf and a noble, but nope. 0 recognition aside from them both being baldurians... Larian, please fix, make backgrounds matter!

On my 3rd run I tried a warlock, but I haven't finished that one... I may have gotten a nasty case of rerollitis (it's what I call constantly creating new characters and deleting them later). Honestly? I am waiting for sorcerer to be implemented. I absolutely love that class. Oh speaking of warlocks, I was shocked when I found that Astarion does recognize you being a warlock for once, after Raphael's little visit, he confronts with something along the lines of 'you are a warlock, you know the importance of making a bad deal'. Makes me wonder how come he doesn't recognize a goddamn cleric on spot. Especially considering clerics have turn undead, heals (which technically should damage undead creatures like... errr.. vampires maybe?). I blame his 9INT. wink

Long story short, I haven't romanced another character but Astarion in BG3. Send help. laugh

And yes, Astarion's voice actor is amazing. And sorry you lost your job. ;(

Honestly I will definitely attempt to sway Astarion from the more evil/power-hungry route if that's what's gonna happen. I actually think drow Eilistraee cleric makes a lot of sense! You could just genuinely want to free him and potentially bring him back to life. She seems like a good deity for that and the drow involvement is clear as well. I just don't know if our hearts will be shattered or not...

Oh I suffer from rerolling as well, but I find Cleric the most useful if I want to run through the game and try a couple of different options. I even run two clerics party as I really don't have to care about picking out almost anything else. I have a secret wish that we would get the unofficial class - blood hunter. That would be interesting party dynamic with Astarion.

And thank you <3



You put a lot of work into this! I applaud your dedication. This is all very interesting.

I'm really hoping we get some additional dialogues that reference a character's race and background. That would really help with overall immersion, as well as make the interactions more interesting across different playthroughs.

I really hope they add some lines for situations like when he accidentally kills the MC. He makes that comment about "don't look at me" but then when you get revived and talk to him he completely skips the post feeding conversation. When you ask him about it he goes straight to the "I already apologized" dialogue. I feel like an additional conversation here is absolutely necessary since the MC can be revived and it's not a game over.

And you touch on what I was referring to when I mentioned that Astarion lies. Not regarding the Cazador stuff and his background, but there's just a general deceptiveness to his treatment of the MC. So I don't mean lies in terms of direct untruths, so much as most of his behavior is an act and you can see this drop when he gets frustrated/frightened. But it's an element of his character I find interesting. The act is largely part of his barrier to keep people at a distance. I'm curious about how this may change over time.

And yes, my biggest, biggest hope is that the romances will have multiple paths depending on how the MC plays. I really hope a good natured MC can help Astarion through a redemption arc. I absolutely love those kinds of stories. I don't want him to change inherently as a character. Just to come to see the world in a different light and (hopefully) have a good ending with the MC.

But I'm still readying myself for heartbreak. frown