Speaking as someone, who doesn't like Astarion and always finds a reason to kill him: you really don't need him. In EA Shadowheart can fill the role to open locks and disarm traps easily.
Or your own character depending on the background you take. Which is another point of contention in that I'd like more background variety to mix and match character roles more.
I don't like him either except as a companion for one character of mine, because that character became a vampire in IRL D&D campaign and their hits at him making your character one fits for that 'roleplay' experience for me. Otherwise I'd rather take pretty much any other companion than him.
Yeah this patch is just meh.
Fluff I didn't care about while classes and races still missing from the game. And some core mechanics still not working as they should.
