Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion Ascended Astarion - headcanons, content, and chatter

Yes, I've read that in BG3 there's as much as two hours of content dedicated to cheating, reactions to it, choices between different partners and the like (with all companions in total, not just Astarion). It's a shame that in the pursuit of such innovation in romance, the authors completely forgot about those players who want a beautiful story of true faithful love (maybe love at first sight, or first bite, why not? ) and there's not a single line that takes into account such an attitude towards the beloved at all. During the first game, I was a bit confused at all why almost everyone is trying to seduce me, as if they were blind and couldn't see that I was with Astarion. And most importantly, okay, they're trying, everyone may think they're the most charming and attractive, but I myself have no way to say anything about our relationship with Astarion. Yes, at first one can imagine that Astarion cares about his independence, he has only recently gained his freedom, he should not be pressured to talk about relationships, and in time there might be an opportunity to get closer, he needs time to start trusting. But then it turns out that he is really a bit fragile and insecure, you can feel it in the confession scene of Act 2 after Oblodra, when he reacts so much to the unexpected kindness shown to him that he spontaneously confesses and opens up (though I didn't even consider it a special act, it's natural to support Astarion in such a situation, even more natural for me would be to punch Oblodra in the face in such a situation, but come on). The way Astarion asks: "Really?"


He really seems so fragile at this moment, it's as if he doesn't believe in your feelings and doesn't expect anything good. Astarion wouldn't mind if you could confess your feelings to him earlier and tell him that you don't need anyone else but him, he'd love it, he'd probably be playful and pleased, clearly no less than when Tav picks him out of the love triangle. Really, it's like we're expected to do this experimenting and flirting, well okay, some will appreciate the opportunity, and some like to play seriously and with immersion. And after all, for Astarion, fidelity would be especially valuable, it would make him feel more confident and better about himself. It's him, not Will or Gale, that the game allows to be dragged into a "threesome with Halsin", and there's a very heavy scene with him in a brothel (Will and Gale avoid that pain too). So why not make a scene for true love with fidelity as well? A fair balance is when there's a bad scene and there's a good one. There are tons of bad scenes with Astarion. Let's not count all the breakup scenes and other bad scenes, specifically about fidelity - here are two situations with infidelity, there's also infidelity with Mizora, with the Emperor, early love triangles with the entire compaine are spelled out, companion lines for that, and on the other side... Zero. "Evil is isolation", fidelity is a void? Fidelity exists in real life relationships, so there should be room for it in game relationships too. Speaking of evil - the immersion is better when playing as evil, in terms of romance, that's for sure. No annoying dialog with Halsin, in which we are expected to be ready to cheat on our beloved with the first bear we see, and if we don't, it's probably because this particular bear is not attractive, and some other bear will do (you can't tell even Halsin that you love Astarion, directly and firmly, without any "oh, I don't know"). No Halsin, no dialog. Other companions give disapproval, Will and Carlach can leave altogether in the event of an attack on the grove, we end up with far fewer contenders for the role of lover. But there are no additional scenes with Astarion in this case either, which is also unfair and creates an imbalance where you have less content when roleplaying an evil character.


I think the dance scene would look great the night before the night after the Ascension, like they're celebrating a victory.


I really like that dialog too, I never choose "freedom," because that line is something completely opposite of what I want, for comparison's sake I recently chose it - it's the only place where Astarion is hurt and bad (judging by his facial expressions). I did a photo hunt for the Lord in the epilogue and that's the only dialog I don't want to photograph (and why would you want photos to commemorate events that never happened? :)). But real dialog with appropriate lines - gives just charming results!


Yeah, it's very unfair that you can't hug and kiss the person closest to you. I've only hugged Shadowheart and Gale, with Halsin I can't bring myself to do it because he looks at Tav like he wants to have sex with her, it's disgusting. With Gale the hug is a one time thing, but with Shadowheart you can hug as much as you want and the hug is very touching. I have nothing against her personally, and treat her well, but it's so unfair in contrast to the fact that we can't even touch Astarion at all! Larian did a lot of great work filming scenes that then didn't make it into the game, which is a shame (like the great scenes from EA). And it would be a shame if the kiss scene of patch 5 will suffer the same fate, the scene is beautiful, many people like it, very much need a kiss in the epilogue, it would be logical - to return players their favorite scene, and keep in the game already done a great job. By the way, no one asked for new kisses after patch 5, Larian themselves decided to make players such a "gift", which caused a storm of just indignation, it's good that they promised guaranteed to fix the faces, but that Astarion needs a kiss in the epilogue, players have been writing for a long time.


There's plenty of misinformation on the topic of Ascension. For example, I once saw some nonsense in a game magazine about "some players saying" how they saw a scene in which Astarion himself refuses the ritual. And a YouTube user wrote that to me in the comments too. And the request to show this magic video or at least the keywords where this something can be found, of course, led to the instant disappearance of the active and vigorous disputant from the discussion, lol. And now something else new, Astarion is being "forced" to Ascend! Astarion is literally begging for help, this stupid manipulative persuasion check can fail, then if you don't help Astarion, he will leave the group and say he wants Tav to die in agony. One cannot accept this as true if one has played the game, can read, or understands the language Astarion speaks. Perhaps only if one really wants to feel right, the game gives them the opportunity to force (now, really force) Astarion to behave the way they want, be dependent, "nice", and not dare raise their voice to their highness. Needless to say, they don't like the Ascension path. Anyway, yeah, it's misinformation for new players, certainly not for those who understand the plot of the game, but for those who decide what they want to do in that scene. I read all sorts of crap once too, and thought that there would be something bad after Ascension (of course, I wouldn't have left Astarion as a spawn forever anyway, though there were thoughts of quitting the game at that point), that I might have to do the main quest quickly, bring Astarion to the finale, and never play again. It was great to find out that wasn't the case, though! I felt like Astarion even appreciated my "attempt at self-sacrifice," judging by how heartfelt he said: "You gave me everything. Thank you." <3


Yes, this is a gorgeous shot! So much joy and jubilation! You look at an Astarion like that and it's immediately cheerful! <3


Interesting, be sure to let us know what the result is!


+100! Awesome, he's so cute! <3 Such a sunshine can convince anyone of anything, future ruler! The first step to world domination is unlimited power over a bag of candy!


Hehehe, little spy! Sceleritas attentive, or else it's easy to miss such a little guy if he carefully flies into stealth.


Dark Urge and Astarion will probably have very surprised looks on their faces when they notice the chaotically fluttering hat.


That's a pity. Those scenes should have been added for all players, certainly not cut. Hopefully it's just a bug and will be fixed.


Sceleritas is a great babysitter! Looks like the cutie will be getting his candy in portions after all, rather than getting so full that he can't fly!


Poor Sceleritas ... Well, the baby grows and gets smarter with time, so I'm sure Sceleritas will soon get easier ... Or not ... Getting smarter can be different.