Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Astarion Spawn Ending- change request

New here, I think this is supposed to be spoiled?

Yeah, since Larian changed animations for AA kisses because some fans felt like their Tavs were robbed of their agency, I think it's only fair to ask to add some agency to Tav in the Spawn's path as well.

Agree with this! It's so weird that we just stand there and let him run off alone without a word. I understand some say there's a scene order problem if Tav/Durge leaves before everyone else's dock endings are done, but the solution to that seems simple. Just play spawn Astarion's scene last if he's romanced?? Maybe it's not simple in the code, I don't know. If it would be too costly/difficult to bring the voice actors back for this tweak, I wouldn't mind if it was portrayed only with caring animations.

It's really devastating when you play origin Astarion

The other option is if you have Wyll as the blade of Avernus, he could jump right into his scene of telling Karlach that he's going with her, if you aren't there. Or like you mentioned, just changing the order of scenes.

You know from Astarion's origin run that he's actually right there on the boat next to the docks, hiding on the ship deck. They wouldn't even have to change the order of the scenes. There could just be a scene where the player goes over to make sure he's okay before Karlach's scene plays.

They changed the companion lines to be nicer but that was never really my issue with it bc I'm not supposed to be able to control their personalities. It's just really jarring to see a companion your MC might care about run away on fire and not have the option to uh, make sure they're alive and okay lol. In my first playthrough I wasn't even sure if he died and it took me out of the rest of the ending. This was when the game first came out so Karlach's ending was still broken and didn't play, which I'm glad about because I would have been distracted the whole time if it had. As it was it just skipped right from Astarion running away to all the NPCs in the city who I had no emotional investment in celebrating.

They've added so many scenes for the companions since release and this to me always felt like the result of them deciding to cut the game off at the docks right before release, so I'm surprised they didn't change it. I don't know if they're allowed to add new dialogue and voiced lines going forward beyond what they already had planned when they ended their deal with wotc, but it would be nice to at least have a cinematic for it.

Agreed- it wasn't the companion lines that were the main issue, though it's nice that they were fixed. It's really Tav doing absolutely nothing to help.

Yeah, I guess you can be roleplaying a Tav that doesn't care and would choose to just let him run off. So a choice would be fine. But I would argue that you aren't given that choice with Karlach. The character runs over to her in distress automatically. Obviously this is what almost every player would choose, and I think this has to do with the fact that her entire story is leading up to that scene so the devs want you to see it which makes sense to me, but there's still a disconnect here with how the scenes are treated.

I remember someone saying that they always had Astarion in their party but Karlach had stayed at camp the whole time, so while they were invested in Astarion's character they never got invested in hers. And it was weird for them to be prevented from doing anything when Astarion runs away, only to be forced into chasing down Karlach. I'm fine with Karlach's scene not being optional but I imagine that would make the experience even more jarring for the player.

I wonder if this with play differently without Karlach in the group. Though I'm not sure I'd be willing to abandon her for a playthrough to find out.

It doesn't. I've played without her. Astarion runs off and then it just cuts to the scene of the city celebrating lol. So before they added the epilogue if Karlach wasn't in your party that was the last companion scene. (Unless you romanced one of them.) It's like comically bad and bewildering.

So even if you don't have to help Karlach, you can't help Astarion? Ugh that's frustrating.

I keep wondering if they made some way to help him that no one's found yet, but that's probably just copium. This can't possibly be the only option for spawn, right???

The lack of option is unfortunately the only option, yes. You're just forced to watch him run away, which is even more frustrating when you know he's still right next to the docks. They added a forced narration voice over that says something like "no worries he's always been great at making himself happy/comfortable" with a shot of the player smiling as he departs which is. so much worse lol.

I also want to support this request. I'm glad that companions are now more empathetic towards Astarion, but I think it's our character who should say something more than anyone else. Especially if Astarion is our romance, it feels bad that our character can't show any signs of concern and just stands there silently watching their love burn and run away.

Also want to add that while it makes even less sense if the player romanced him, it's still bad if they didn't. In some ways it's worse (especially before they added the epilogue) because you don't get to see him at all afterward. Everyone I've seen react to it is left confused and upset lol.

I agree with this request. While it's good that the other companions have more compassionate reactions, it doesn't help that our Tav stand by and watch him getting burned by the sun and running away, trying to hide. I don't know if if's still doable at this point, but an ending animation with Tav (romanced or not) going in his direction to try to find him would be enough.

Well, since they've changed Tav's facial expressions, because AA fans said 'it removes player agency', I think it's totally doable here too, especially because Tav isn't voiced and not being able to show your concern in this scene removes player agency just as well.

Yes, I think this would be a simple fix to do, since our character isn't voiced. I don't understand why they haven't done it yet, honestly. It could be as simple as adding a short animation of our character running after Astarion. If changing the order of scenes is impossible, our character could say some line showing concern and an animation making the move to go after him, but Karlach dying draws our attention and stop us.

I don't know. Being our romance, it feels weird that our character prioritizes Karlach when he is also in mortal danger and we don't know if he is ok. Even weirder is the possibility of being able to go with Karlach to Avernus and abandon Astarion to his fate. I love Karlach to the moon and back, but this doesn't make any sense and in this aspect, the romance with Spawn Astarion feels neglected.

Yes, This makes perfect sense.

And very much so compared to AA.
I'm very grateful that Larian implemented his scene about cheating with Mizora, but honestly, it should have been there from the start, because AA version has always been there.

Yes, I'm glad too because he deserves to have a conversation just like the others. But in the end, it's not something that's going to add much to my playthrough, since I'm never going to choose to cheat on him with Mizora (I'm speaking for myself, but I think most people won't either). I mean, it's great that they fixed it, but I think it's much more important to fix his final scene at the docks so that his Spawn route doesn't leave us with this bittersweet taste in the end.

I agree with this!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm glad they changed the reactions of the companions but I wanted MY character to run to him. I love Karach but no offense to her if my boyfriend was burning up, I am having no other thoughts but to run after him make sure he is safe. Like when that scene is happening my character does not know if he died from the sun, my character would race after him casting darkness on him or at least giving him a cloak. Once I know he's good then I would run back to Karlach and have that scene. Or at least have Karlach's scene happen before Astarion's which IDK if they could do because they have Karlach's Hells scene which honestly makes no sense to have if I don't go with her.


I completely agree with this and his romance feels neglected because it is neglected :///

Personally, I don't mind that the ending is sequenced the way it is. It would just be nice if Wyll could step and do his thing without player-input in case you are Avatar-Astarion (or Lae'zel) and if the game in general would register if someone had a roll of darkness in their pocket, or the spell on their bar with the spell slot to cast it.

Completely agree with everything Jessiemeows said. It makes me sad to see how neglected spawn Astarion's path is in comparison to his other route. Yes, I would like if Wyll had agency in Karlach's scene, too. Casting Darkness makes complete sense and it's a weird omission, frankly. I can see Astarion still hiding since he later admits that he felt ashamed, but at least we could feel confident that he wasn't BURNING TO DEATH. My ideal would still be running after him though. I like Karlach, but Astarion is my #1

Yeah, my issue is with the player's inability to react to something so significant. I can't really think of another scene in the game that remotely compares. I know this isn't the case but it feels like you're being glitched out of a scene that was meant to play, as you were with Karlach's scene on the docks when it wasn't playing.

While some of the companion reactions were dick-ish that's just how they were written and that was fine to me. So I was disappointed when they changed their reactions because I figured it meant they were never going to fix what was actually wrong with the scene. I understand that it's meant to reflect the tragic loss in his situation, but it's just not believable that an MC who cares about the character at all wouldn't follow him to make sure he's not dead lol. The explanation of him isolating himself afterward if he's not the player's romance choice doesn't change how weird it feels in the moment.

If they do end up creating a cinematic for it I hope it's not an option locked behind his romance, especially because the player is forced into Karlach's scene and allowed to go to Avernus with her whether they romance her or not. I don't have a problem with this, it just doesn't make sense when you can't even choose to check on your other companion who is in danger. In a very similar way actually. They're both catching on fire lol.

Also want to add that the MC starting to go after him but being forced to stop and run after Karlach doesn't rectify the situation at all. It's an unnecessary forced choice that won't make sense for a lot of players, and it would be really obvious that it was only there because they didn't want to create a new scene. I say it's unnecessary because Astarion is literally right there even though the player can't see him (bc they didn't bother to check) and they can extend his scene for a minute longer before the scene with Karlach plays.

I don't know if they're allowed to add new voice lines at this point because the deal with wotc is ended, but a cinematic of the player going after him and making sure he's okay where he is for the moment before they check on Karlach would be enough. Maybe they hand him a cloak or something. It would be nice if it was voiced or if there was a brief dialogue option for the player but again, I don't know if they can do that legally now.

It's also obviously something they can do fairly quickly since they added in the scene with Karlach in Avernus like two weeks after people complained/asked for it.

would like to leave my agreement with a change for this scene as well. i think at that point in the game, everyone is somewhat close with each other and you can see that the player does not get a decision whether or not to rush to karlach, so i think it is safe to assume tav would also check up on astarion, romanced or not. i think if the order of events were different, but that cannot be changed now. still, i would love something. while i would love for gale to just cast darkness, or pull out a big umbrella, i think it is important for astarion to have this scene, as kind of a visible consequence of the tadpole being gone, as much as it sucks. but i would love to at least have a short scene that makes it look like tav at least wants to check on him.

I really think the best way to deal with Astarion running off would be to reverse the order of the scenes.

Tav at the time of Astarion's scene doesn't know Karlach is about to burn up, that's meta knowledge. So Tav let's him run off, even though in that moment there's no reason not to chase after him.

It would be nice if Wyll and Tav could have a "You got her, I got him" kind of moment if you've gotten Wyll to blade of Avernus status.

Thematically, it might make even more sense to have Astarion start to run off, but everyone contributes to getting him out of the sunlight. He's not alone anymore, ya? It would be nice to have a moment where the entire group supports him. He's got a support system now where he didn't have one before.

For me the companion reactions are fine as is and I wouldn't even mind if they were only there if the player doesn't decide to go after him if given the choice. I feel like any further changes to their reactions are unnecessary.

The issue has always been that the player isn't allowed to go after him. Even if there is no solution to shield him offered in the moment, it can be implied that you'll find one before the scene ends and it then either goes to Karlach's scene or cuts to the ending scene if she's not in the party.