To me, Astarion's bite is a big boon, giving a +1 all the way until the next rest. I get that the water issue doesn't seem like much right now in early access, but I imagine it could be a serious drawback if there's a portion of the game yet to come where the characters have to do something like swim through an underground stream.
And Gale's condition seems like a serious flaw from my perspective. Sure, there are plenty of items now in early access, but only some of them qualify for Gale, and they tend to be the better items. I rarely want to give up the Tyr sword, for instance, and I get the impression there's a plot point with Astarion and the Necromancy of Thay book so I'm reluctant to hand that one over. No way I'm giving Gale Nere's boots.
I have never used his bite because I always keep him ranged. You do have a point about issues if there is any swimming necessary, but I would expect that there would be some alternative way to get to an area. Locking players out of bringing a party member somewhere or themselves if playing as origin would be bad.
With Gale, I am pretty sure I was able to offer him something other than what he asked for, maybe this has changed since I last played. If it gets too much for a player then there are some options
I think he makes a deal to be rid of his issue. Someone playing his origin could most likely do the same
and if they prefer not to they would at least be able to choose their own item rather than being asked for a particular one.
