Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion The romance with Astarion pulls you over to the "dark side".

It's a pretty quick shot and the pause doesn't do much here, so you can interpret it in different ways, but no interpretation will make it better. On the contrary, I really liked the attack scene in the sewers because of how realistic it was. It clearly shows that Astarion is a vampire, and he wants to eat anyway. The Ascended, by the way, can eat regular food as well and doesn't feel hungry. It is clear, of course, that he will drink blood, but for him it will not be such a harsh and all-consuming necessity, desperately looking for a victim will certainly not have to.


Interesting! But he's selfish in a lot of ways - his remarks towards the other companions, especially when some misfortune happens to them, show that. He seems to care mostly about himself, and about Tav if Tav becomes a friend (in the romance he probably does too, I haven't romanced him, but I'm sure he will). Not only about Astarion in terms of the line after the bite scene that pissed me off at the time (he reacts pretty adequately to Ascension, by the way, compared to the tantrums of some of the other companions), but also in the video where Tav gives Shadowheart to Viconia - there's a very cold and indifferent attitude there in general. I'm not saying it's bad, he's quite logically looking out for his own well-being. And in general in BG3 companions don't really care about each other, there's no party unity, even at the end of the game, so he's not the only one, it's more like the whole game.


I never killed companions in the games, I always tried to avoid situations where they can attack me, I tried to somehow maneuver between “evil” and “good” in BG2, and in other games there were no such problems. The exception is Camellia in Pathfinder in the final part of her quest, that was too much even for me. In BG3, they're also dependent because of those maggots. True, Jaheira, Minsc and Halsin - no larvae, they stuck to me on their own, but I think if I go “evil”, they won't be in the story anyway, I won't have to kill anyone on purpose.


Ascended Astarion's thanks are much stronger and more sincere. “You gave me everything, thank you” is the most touching and poignant line in the game. So is his gratitude the next morning. And without the Ascension, he's just saying everything the “good hero” wants to hear. I don't know about SH, it's “officially” considered toxic, some people like her dark version, some don't. There's definitely nothing “toxic” about Astarion, except for patch 6. The kneeling darling scene is rails, Astarion thinks I like it, well let him think that, it can't be helped. I could somehow judge his “toxicity” if there was roleplay in the game, and I could give him a sincere and genuine response in that scene, just like saying a normal line before it, instead of, “I want your body”. Before assessing Astarion's behavior, it is worth looking at Tav through Astarion's eyes, from the outside. What does he see in front of him? A sex addict who enjoys degrading herself? Well, or Tav the submissive. For a submissive, a very good and loving dominant (again, let's exclude that artificially added victim facial expression). For Tavs who are not sabmissives - no idea, there is no such roleplay in the game. But even in the absence of this roleplay, Astarion's behavior is very loving, playful, and he is very much attached to Tav. Until patch 6, I enjoyed interacting with him, how proud and content he became, literally blossomed before my eyes. It's a wonderful feeling when a loved one opens up in a relationship with you.

Astarion Act 1.


Astarion act 2.


Astarion act 3.



I see him being himself, and not a gram of “toxicity”!


I've seen a few videos of the “good ending”. The scene at the docks (different videos with all companions' lines) + the dialog after. About the condescension - Tav's lines (don't know if Tav or DU was in the video). But that could be my opinion based on nuances - including Tav's facial expressions and gestures, if you're not too picky about such nuances, there could certainly be a different perception.


Astarion is free of Cazador without the ritual. That's it. Ascended is free from Cazador + many other things, I won't repeat myself.

Excuse me, but why do you like to use the word “bitch” so much? You can say “contract worker”, “tied to the devil”, there are many other words besides profanity that you can use. I admit that I don't like Jahaira, but I'm not saying that “that old bitch is really pissing me and Astarion off”.


I don't know what there is to be scared of, but the degree of scariness is certainly different for everyone. Of course, there's no reason to play it if it makes you scared and uncomfortable. His body language is fine, I really like his body language. He holds himself more confidently and doesn't move all his body like he used to (only when coaxing Tav, but not afterward). The posture is aristocratic, proud. Shrugs very nicely when he says, “Yes, my treasure!”. The state of the spawn? Yes I fight every day, all the time some kind of danger, if I'm afraid of everything, I'd have to put on a diaper and not leave the room. And that's scary, the Brain will take over and everyone will die. The scariest thing is death, it can always happen, including suddenly. If all the time think about it and fear everything, life will become a very sad thing.


Of course, everyone has their own headcanons, the game allows for different perceptions (well, until patch 6 it definitely did). I try to always make conclusions based on logic and analysis, not “authorities” and “rules”. Well and emotions, of course, empathy in such a game, when the character is like a live one, also works well. But I'm not going to impose anything on anyone, let everyone perceive it the way they prefer.


Interesting. On the contrary, I don't want to play “good” in BG3. In other games, mostly liked to go the “good” way, but not strictly following the “letter”, of course, some moments, according to the situation, maybe decided and “evil”, but in general always wanted to make the world better, after all, creation is more pleasant than destruction. BG3 is a specific exception, here I just want to play evil, good in many moments just disgusts me. But it's also hard to play evil, if you drive yourself into this framework, there will probably be a lot of extremely repulsive moments. One way or another, I get a kind of chaotic mess. But my favorite alignment is chaotic, so I guess it'll do. At the table in DnD, a lot depends on the DM. Say, with a very kind DM whose world I rest my soul in, I absolutely hate to spoil it for him and try to create an evil character. With a harsh fan of DnD realism, at which you can easily die, and which does not make any “discounts on morality”, and a good deed will not always lead to good consequences, you need to play carefully and calculate your actions, NE alignment in this case becomes a suitable choice.