+1. I've nothing to add, and I agree with you on everything you said.

The last conversation with him that you get if you romanced him and you didn't is also weirdly off (it just isn't emotional or personal) and not as well written as everything else in his storyline, so it would be nice if they re-wrote that, too.

Larian got out the B Roll footage for these endings lol

I romanced him and believe me, it's almost worse if you do.


He's the most well-written character in the game in my opinion and his ending completely shafted him. It's my biggest complaint.

Yep. I have a play romancing him and one not. But the one I romanced him I decided to go with Karlach because goddamn it was mean to leave her. Then it ends just like the non-romanced version. I understand his panic but how about no jokes and a way to, I dunno, scream something or say a few things before it’s too late?

Left a sour taste.

+1...

And like a few people already mentioned, it's even worse if you romance him.

I think the ending dialogue is a bit better if you take a particular route in the end, but even so it's not nowhere even near as good as everything before that.

His "good" ending is just garbage. Besides that awful scene at the docks, with him running away, teammates making jokes, Tav standing around like a statue with nothing to say to her love or in any way trying to help him...
Then if you're lucky (it triggers for me only half the time) you get a conversation scene with a very pointless few line chat with him. At least ascended Astarion has a little more to say.

The epilogue as a whole is awful, incomplete, unsatisfying, there is little closure to the awesome adventure that got us all there. They made us go through 80+ hours interactive "movie" just to get a few minutes ending? I hope they rewrite the epilogue.

This is the reason, I'm still just playing Act 1 and Act 2. I don't want to see how bad this ending is. You just spend all this time trying to help Astarion heal, and it gets throw back in your face. Sure, have one of the companions have a joke but have the option Tav to yell at them and help him. Give us a choice to follow him if you romanced him. My Character is a half-drow spending they rest her life in the dark wouldn't change a thing for her.

I am basically repeating what others have said, but I do agree that the Astarion good-ending could have been better.


I do hope they make the ending a bit more tasteful. I found it hard to watch personally.

I also support this opinion (as I already did in some other thread).

Please, Larian, do not leave this humiliating 'good' ending for Astarion. As for the whole playthrough (at least during Act 1 and Act 2, as I also believe that Act 3 is really lacking more connection to companions - almost no cutscenes and camp conversations in comparison to previous acts) you have builded such a great character with great development. And all he gets in the end is mocking from his companions (and possible lover) when he is about to burst in flames.

Sure this current ending is good, if you do not care about him. In my 1st playthrough I have almost never took him out of the camp. I have even missed some parts of his personal quest, so it was quite fitting, just standing there, while he run from the sun.

But now, I am romancing him and I am really demotivated by this to complete the game. Because I know the scene will be the same. That after all that care and support my character showed him, she will still be standing in there, as he runs for his life and (possibly) Gale mocks him.

It is really awful to have this as canonical good ending, there should be some variations depending on your relationship with him.

Well, I am leaving my current playthroug to 'hang in the air' with hope, that Larian will listen to our plea, like they did with Karlach's fans.

Ive posted this in another thread, so I will just repeat it here.

Astarion has NO good ending as of right now. Things are very vague in this state of the game, nothing is explained as to what is going to happen to them (Tav/Astarion).

If he stays a spawn and you're an elf than you've got around 700 year to stick together, if you're a human for example then in 40 years you're old and in 50-60 you're dead. And where does it leave him? Alone in the shadows and with a never ending hunger for blood. Well, does that sound like a happy ending for him? There has to be a HOPE in the so called "good" ending to have him cured of vampirism. A wish spell/ spell of true resurrection, or a Gale if he was ascended to a Godhood. Otherwise it's all down hill for Astarion after Tav is gone.

Concerning everyone's (your companion's) reactions:


What am I missing here? Who at Larian thought this was a good idea? I have 0 clue why this was supposed to be funny. We did exactly what you wanted, we got to know him. And in getting to know him, you punish us for it.

GOOD THREAD!! boosting!! i know the devs said they are gonna button down later on and focus on re-writing some stuff that doesnt make sense, but PLEASE PUT THIS ON THE LIST!! astarion is such a wonderful character who (at his non-ascended ending) earns all of his companion's respect.. it doesnt make sense that his trauma is suddenly treated so flippantly, especially at END GAME? and i totally agree about "giving hope" when it comes to his ending. most of the other characters (sans poor karlach) have a goal to work towards at the end of the game. Astarion's future is barely talked about at all.. why cant it end with him formulating a plan to find a "cure", or at least something that allows him to walk in the daylight again?

I had a post just shut down....maybe because this thread existed. I had a Not happy ending at all- I took Astarion to meet his maker. He has been a primary member of my team lvl5 thief lvl 6 monk since the start. Anyway we traveled to was that supposed to happen.

Have you tried re-loading to see if the same dialogue happens? Sometimes I only get (continue) as a dialogue option when I know there should be more, and re-loading it seems to fix it.

Part of me thinks that the writers got too caught up in trying to force in their bad erotica (or the erotica that would play best to the horny gamers). There's a lot of bizarre moments in the companion storylines, and interactions, that just seem really out of pocket and forced, while actually natural relationship moments are completely ignored.

And Astarion's good ending just seems like the writers actively spiting you for not going down their toxic badboy boytoy vampire domination route, or whatever.

So, Astarion's whole quest line is a confrontation with the master vampire. By attacking before dialogue starts, Astarion loses his only chance to confront the monster who spawned him. Your Tav basically robbed him of the one thing he wanted during the whole game. Confronting Cazador, not just killing him.

agreed! I thought that's weird the companions' only reaction was to crack jokes when Astarion ran off, and my Tav didn't even seem concerned at all. Overall it felt too rushed, like a montage of basic reactions without much depth. I've just completed my first playthrough, having romanced him(Good Astarion ending). The transitions to the next character's scenes were too abrupt. The worst part was that I was still crying about Karlach(couldn't save her) burning and dying and the scene transitioned to Astarion's final dialogue in the room too quickly. Hey I was still crying about Karlarch! Lol.. Let me engage with my special one at my own pace. I wish there were a final celebration night or something where we could take our time to say farewell to everyone, and get a glimpse of a hopeful future for the characters. I can't help but wonder if this was due to tight deadlines or budget constraints. I genuinely hope to see more content as DLC in the future. Just take my money Larian, this game worths hundreds to me.

Apparently not - see Community Update #24, it has a paragraph which explains their reasoning.

It's pretty charitable to describe "we figured people wouldn't want to see an ending slideshow in a genre for which ending slideshows have become an indispensable and expected staple" as reasoning.

This must be the innovation that Larian's brought to the CRPG genre that Reddit keeps telling me exists.

In fact, after CU 19, I personally have a lot of doubts about the answer in CU 24. The inconsistencies and gaps in the game are too noticeable.
It's just that if people change the concept it happens more smoothly. But, in any case, we won’t know, now I just want and hope that they will refine and expand what is in the game (Although I will remember the situation with the upper city for a long time) For starters, I would really like to see the normal ending of Astarion x)

I found myself thinking "Gale you d**che, cast darkenss on your friend Astarion already!" (Oh and while your at it Gale, maybe help our mind flayered best girl already... Illusion!)

Also, if my memory serves me right, Jaheira was in BG2 and was around for a curing of vampirism via Bodhis black heart. Theres a lore friendly way to improve this!

It doesnt even need a long cutscene, just Jaheira saying "Do we have the body of the one who enthralled him? There IS a cure.

(Also I just finished my first playthrough, 180 hours all up [yeah I pretty much soaked up every side quest I could find lol], and good lord Larian, what you've achieved with this game is astonishing. This is the ONLY game that actually had me in tears at one point (Astarions mini-meltdown after finishing his major quest, such an on-point depiction of trauma. That acting was superb). I really hope your staff get a nice end of year bonus out of this one, they earned it!)

I'm, personally, not the sort of person who tries to headcanon my way out of bad writing. I understand what you're saying, where you can kick back and imagine what your characters, or characters, would do after the game ends. But at the end of the day, for me, if it's not explicitly shown or stated, or implied or insinuated, it doesn't happen. At no point in the story-line does anyone express these sort of things as options, or even say, "Hey, maybe we can do this". So, at the end of the day, it just doesn't happen in my mind. Doubly so because all those characters are the primary ones hurling insults.

That ending scene is so incredibly tone deaf, I'd like to know if the person who wrote it knows more about the character than just "vampire".

Tho it's not the only instance in which Larian's handling of Astarion (knowing his backstory) feels uncomfortable.

As a matter of fact, she might literally be the person who was cured of vampirism! I had forgotten about this, but if we take the approach that the most popular path is the quasi-canon path, Jaheira was turned into a vampire by Bodhi and cured by the player character. Even if she wasn't, she almost certainly knows that it happened to someone else in the group. You can write Astarion's quest the way they wrote it, and you can put Jaheira in the game, but you can't do both. This is a pretty flagrant mistake.

This idea that companion endings could be expanded on in DLC doesn't make a lot of sense to me, because Larian would be releasing content that would only apply to certain playthroughs. Anyone who did the evil Astarion path, for instance, would have no use for a DLC about curing his vampirism. Anyone who let Karlach die or sent her to Avernus alone would have no use for a DLC about fixing her engine. Ultimately I think the only way that DLC can get Larian out of these endings is by taking the Fallout 3 approach, where the DLC literally changes the ending of the game so that it's no longer the end of the game and you have some new stuff to do.

Larion doesn't do DLC's from what I understand.

What I need is a proper ending to what we have. No love interests running away with a jest thrown after his departing back. Which is, as others have stated, totally tone deaf.

I understand that originally there was supposed to be a 6 month later get together party thing going on.

So fine. Reinstate it please Larian not just for Astarion but just about everyone playing the game mentions how awful the endings are played out.

For Astarion we chatted to Jaheira or she left a non ascended Astarion a note on his bed in camp giving us a quest (as in him and any other character who has nothing else to do or is romanced with him), instructions on the ritual and when we all show up at the party he's cured, don't have to do much with it, same body, no fangs slightly more skin colour. Easy peasy. VA recall for a bit of extra dialogue. Everyone is happy. An ascended Astarion wouldn't want to associate with us lesser folks so wouldn't show up most likely but if he did that would also work, he can just play his normal ascended 'I'm superior to the lot of you' with his Tav spawn in tow or if Tav didn't go that route they show up alone but happy. So simple.

I'd like to see a bit more but its not necessary, if they can do the above and make it so a non ascended cured romanced Astarion is still with his Tav and they are happy I'll be totally happy.
I'd be happy if I hadn't romanced him as well btw. He has a true redemption arc throughout the game if you went the good route with him and Larian just basically threw it out the window in the last few minutes.

None of this is difficult. Its all down to 'if this happened then that dialogue' which is quite straightforward pogramming. Doesn't need a shed load of character dialogue, a couple of lines from each character, a bit of exposition on the world then it can revert to something like the Act 1 party for a few minutes, credits roll.

Just came here to say that BG2 gives you a way to cure being a vampire spawn, but others beat me to it. I was surprised this angle wasn't explored in the game. I know Astarion has been a vampire spawn for a lot longer than your love interest in BG2, but . . . We have the ingredients to at least be able to discuss a cure. We have a Lathander temple in the game (it's not Amaunator but I think Lathander absorbed Amaunator anyway), we have Cazador's heart, we have Jaheira knowing about this . . .

Edit: I mean, regardless of whether they actually put this into the game I'll just headcanon it happens afterwards. Vampires are cool and all, but it would be such a ridiculously happy ending for Astarion to be cured, walk in the sun, not be hungry, reconnect to the elven spirit, etc.

There are numerous ways to cure vampirism in DnD 5e and we have at least one at our disposal from the start - Withers, which is completely ignored.

To be fair, though, Tav (at least romancing Tav) can say "I will find the way to make you walk in the sun" with Astation's response "It will give us more time to be together" (yes, as if it was not promised by Tav many times before).

Yep to that, plus how many other gods have we possibly done favours for throughout the game, Selune and Mystra are also possibilities for obtaining a wish spell. One of the three should be amenable to persuasion. Withers can certainly do it for Astarion and very easily considering he's right there, maybe after seeing Astarion choosing not to ascend he thinks he's suffered enough.

I don't think unascended Astarion (enslaved and tortured for 200 years, awesome redemption arc and gets punished for it) and Karlach (a total innocent) are treated the same way the other romance options are.
I don't want poignant, I want the same chance at a happy end as other romance options have (dependant on my choices), I'm happy to work for it but the options aren't there.

Are we sure there isn't more to his ending under Cazador's place? I got the distinct impression there was more to the place underneath, a puzzle that was bugged or something. I tried so many things, included bringing Cazador's body to a coffin near what looked like a sealed door down below... But nothing seemed to work.

But be that as it may, I didn't even romance Astarion and I loved how he was written and how his story progressed... And then came that ending at the docks. He starts to burn and I'm like "No, no Astarion, run! Or let me help you!"

And then Shadowheart is like "Well his love affair with the sun is over!"

And it felt like... What? Do we... Not get to help him? Do we... Not care?

It felt so tone deaf it completely soured me to my enter ending experience.

Also I gotta say the generic "suddenly your love interest is in a room with you and you talk about the future despite talking about it prior to the end" felt tacked on too and took me out of it, but that's fine I suppose.

Honestly this game was 10/10 up until the end. All it needs it a bit of tweaks at the end and it's golden.

The funny thing is, I like the Astarion ending if you don't care that much about him. That's the consequences of not caring. But it feels like a punishment for people who put in the work of trying to help him be a better person. It felt strange because it didn't match the tone of a party of friends who actually cared about him. At least offer him an umbrella, or have someone cast darkness as mentioned, or maybe even just a "He's going to be alright?" and then seeing him go down the sewers with a "See you tonight!“ or *something*.

This is the part that trips me up the most. The devs talk about how his whole story is about trauma stemming from abuse, and how Astarion feels like he's been just used and abused for his life. If you actually engage with him from that perspective, and push him to heal, this just happens. But if you go down the ascended path, his ending is much more fleshed out, and he seems ostensibly happier than he was in the unascended ending.

Even though all the ascended ending is, is him becoming Cazador 2.0 and restarting the exact same cycle of abuse he went through, just with other people.

Kinda messed up if you asked me.

When I first romanced him, I had full intentions of ascending him. My character was mostly good but I wanted him to be completely free.

When I ascended him though, everything about our relationship changed, as you all know, and I didn't like it for my character. Their relationship was tender and nice and I was making real progress with his healing. So I reloaded.

To know that I missed out on a more satisfying experience because I decided he deserved to deal with his issues in a healthy way pisses me off.

My thoughts exactly.

He doesn't even need to be healed from vampirism, or to immediately be able to walk in the sun without the worm. All he needs is an ending scene that doesn't turn all his pain and struggle into a tasteless joke.

But it's not just the ending. Overall it feels like more work was put into his ascended dialogue. And mechanically you only benefit if you ascend him (the bite and the extra damage). So like... I sacrifice all that good quality writing and extra damage because I want to do what's right for the character and in the end both me and that character get slapped in the face with a wet dirty rag.

Adding my voice to the choir that his ending felt totally off. It gets even more tragic if RNGesus is with you and

That has to be the most tone deaf thing said about anyone in the entire game. Someone at Larian clearly doesn't like Astarion.

Um, yes. This. 100%. We're about to die. You couldn't make the kiss last more than 1 single second?
Romances in Act 3 drive me nuts.

IMHO the only good ending for a spawn Astarion is to find a cure for vampirism. There is no good ending for him in a long run without the cure. Astarion is IMMORTAL and Tav is NOT, so when the time comes and she is gone then poor Astarion is left alone in the shadows with a never-ending hunger.

What kind of happy ending is that for him? Live through your lover's aging and death and to be left along in the whole world?

There is plenty of opportunities for Larian to give him that option. Either through a true resurrection/or a wish spell, Withers, Gale ascended to godhood. Apparently Jaheira was kicking around in BG 2 (I never played any previous games) and she was involved in curing the vampirism (that's what I've heard).

Give poor guy a Happy Ending, he had enough misery for almost 200 years...

Someone really wants us to Ascend him.

I just finished my first playthrough, with unascended Astarion, and I have to agree with what everyone in this thread has been saying. I feel like his romance arc peaked at the graveyard scene, and everything after that was either nonexistent (to be fair all romances are like that though) or just so watered down in comparison. Why don't we have one last sweet scene once it's time to go and fight the final battle? All we get is "this could be our last kiss" and then it's the most chaste kiss I've ever seen in my life. Then there's the awful scene at the docks which may have been fitting for a playthrough of someone who ignored Astarion the entire game, but not for someone who took the time to get to know him and complete his personal quest...and definitely not for someone who romanced him.

But honestly my biggest gripe is with the final scene you get with him just before the credits.


I hope that they can improve the endings to some extent, either in future patches or even a definitive edition of some kind. It's an amazing game and an amazing romance otherwise.

Also maybe it's just me, but I reeeally wish we had more opportunities to tell him he can feed on us again if he wants to. I didn't give him the option to do it a second time because he and Tav are still basically strangers at that point in the game, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't want to bring it up again later after romancing him. Ain't no way I'm going to let him survive off of rats for the rest of his life.

I so very agree with this!

The so called "last kiss" had me choking from laughter. It is so ridiculously pathetic, my kids give a more "meaningful kiss" to their Nana than Astarion to his lover before the FINAL battle where both if them could potentially perish.

Can we, please, have something similar to Aylin/Isobel kiss with our love interest?

Forget the kiss, first of all let me go after him when he runs from the sun. Romanced or not, there should be an option if we must have that kind of ending scene.

Game makes me run to Karlach, but won't even offer me an option to run after Astarion.

Yes, agree. As I wrote earlier, this scene needs more physical intimacy (not sex, but something akin to the hug in Act 2.) I think it's okay that


Yes, please! But minus the spinning around. Because I would cringe into oblivion.

Haha, I agree on NO spinning. What I'd like to see is a passion similar to their kiss and not a "dry smooch" on the lips. And for pity's sake make it last longer then a millisecond...

I'm currently doing a Durge evil playthrough with Ascended Astarion as my romance and...it's crazy how much more romantic interaction there is.

I mean, it's dysfunctional and manipulative and clearly not the "good" romance he or your Tav deserves but there was a lot more effort put into the interactions you have with Ascended Astarion than spawn Astarion which...makes no sense.

I still don't know what the ending is like; I'm bracing myself for it to fall flat like the other ending. But Astarion is already talking about our future and plans for us and when he was "good" spawn Astarion, I got literally no interaction or discussion about that at all.

Getting more and more annoyed that I'm enjoying douche-bag Astarion more....

There is quite a lot of romantic interaction for a "good" DUrge, too, though. It has even one of the sweetest and most tear jerking interactions with him - Spawn Astarion needs some work, but I'd never choose Ascendant over him again.

But you don't have to be nervous. Ascendant ending does not fall flat like the spawn one does.

We need an Astarion fix like they did for Karlach. Astarion was one of my main followers. To have him just up and run off while I stood there and did nothing was just gross. Not to mention, you go through the entire story trying to make him less of a power-hungry asshole (if you're good) and you succeed, only to just lol at him in the end. Whoever thought that was a good/fair ending for the character should be put in that caget they kept Orpheus in.

That's just it. It really seems that way, you get a much more rewarding and complete ending with him ascended than with him as a spawn. After cemetery scene (which I absolutely adore) you barely get anything from him. Few lines of nonsensical conversation. He cannot even define who we're to him, no clear plans for future, everything is very uncertain for him/them as a couple. Really, he is like a scared puppy looking up to you. Sweet, but kind of pitiful...

It looks like they spend all the time and resources for his "bad" ending and just slapped together his "good" ending in the last minute. I certainly hope that they will give us a satisfying ending for a spawn Astarion.

Eh it's not that bad, it's normal that he's still unsure of things so soon after Cazador.

But it's very obvious that ascended Astarion has more things to say overall. He also gets gameplay benefits and an ending that doesn't turn him into a joke.

It's not really that he's unsure of things post Cazador if you go down the spawn route that's the issue, the issue is the lack of ability to properly affirm his choices and discuss his future.

Definitely agree with that yeah. Unfortunately that's how the entirety of Act 3 is.

FYI, based off what you said, I went all the way back just to get this. Had to redo the fight.

Holy crap. Worth it. That was the sweetest damn moment ever. Probably my favorite save maybe the graveyard scene. Like...

It's got the bad ending taste out of my mouth.

The "Oh shit. What...what did I do wrong?" Agh! For a second I was like "Veranis, I better not regret this or I'm blaming you!!"

Probably just repeating what was already said, but unascended Astarion got done reeaaal dirty. Sunburn and running off, that's it. Really wanna see more of all the characters in general for what they're up to next. You can always get an idea if you romance someone, but it feels so sour to end on a moment of them in extreme pain and running away.

It's great, isn't it? I'm glad you liked it, too. I was feeling so bad reading that you did not have a good time with the DUrge ending. This scene is one of the reasons why redeemed DUrge and spawn Astarion are my preferred combo. It shows how commited to each other both of them have become. They redeem each other.

I just wish this kind of writing would have poured over to the ending. As it is now it feels like the relationship is back to square one (maybe two), all that development is wiped away.

Durge is the BEST character to romance Astarion, in my opinion. I'm assuming that they have these little interactions because they share the same writer (Stephen Rooney). It is wonderfully written.

But you're right spawn/DU relationship is so sweet. It seems that Astarion found someone who is even more broken than himself. Someone who [I quote] "gives him something to care for". It is nice to see that soft and caring side of Astarion under all that luster of his pretend persona.

After doing DUrge and romancing Astarion, I see no point in playing plain Tav. You get so much more depth in his romance with DU. I wish I didn't waste all that time on 3 playthrough playing Tav...

If they would just fix the ending now, that will be great. But I think the ending is bad in general.

This post gives me hope. I keep seeing how awful the Astarion romance endings are and it makes me not want to finish the game, just reroll a new character. Honestly, this makes me want to reroll as DU now though.

Also, regarding them giving us a new ending for Astarion like they did for Karlach, how much fuss would we have to kick up to get it to happen? Online petitions? Spamming social media? Bogging down the forums with posts and requests about it? I say we start a movement!

I'm assuming that's what we need to do then

Well, the ending stinks, there is no sugarcoating this. I think the ascended Astarion has a much better epilogue than the spawn. He is his own man, powerfull with no fear of anything. With spawn Tav/DU by his side. He has clear plans for two of them or you can influence him what you want to do. In general he has a lot more to say than spawn Astarion.

It is my personal opinion that the ONLY good ending for a spawn Astarion is to find a cure for vampirism. Otherwise after Tav dies he is left alone in the shadows with a sanguine hunger.

Well, I very luckily had the scene where your Urge so I didn't have to redo too much cause like I said, I was going full evil.

Going full evil still has a super awful ending but I blame that on the endings for the game in general at this point.

Now I need to figure out if it's worth it to go back again just to get Ascendant ending dialogue....
I might be working too hard for breadcrumbs, I just love this game so much! And to see it have all the potential in the world and fall flat in such an unsatisfying way is heartbreaking...

I hope they pay attention to this thread! It doesn't have near as much attention as the Karlach thread but Astarion's "good" ending is mentioned everywhere in the forums talking about endings. There's also another semi-popular thread talking about its tone-deafness.

I've been running around trying to boost any thread that talks about Astarion's ending because of it lol

Yeah, now his "bad" path is better for him (and the player) than the "good" path, both gameplay and epilogue wise.

I'm personally fine with him staying a vampire. His problem was always with Cazador, not vampirism, and he seems to appreciate the possibility of a very long life. Man survived 200 years of Cazador and a near end of the world, he'll be fine chilling in Baldur's Gate. Especially when he's known as part of the group of people who saved the city and the Gur monster hunters promised to leave him alone.

But that absolute atrocity of his ending scene, that needs to go. I don't remember any other game I played that would have given a more tone deaf ending to a character.

Agreed with this. Though, I wouldn't mind a DLC or expansion exploring the possibility of curing him.

But I care much more about them expanding dialogue in Act 3 and getting rid of the ending scene that turns his journey into a punchline.

I don't think he needs a perfectly happy ending, just one that gives him respect akin to his development. The man is so much more than a vampire fuckboy. And whoever wrote his ending seems to not know that.

I guess it depends how far back you have to go to get to It's still a bit, but not that bad. I don't even want to admit how much I have been playing for breadcrumbs lately just to see every kind of variation to certain scenes. *cough* But playing one playthrough with just Astarion as only origin companion was hella fun.


I feel the same. I like his ending. It's hopeful and since we all know that cures for vampirism exist, it's just a matter of time until he and Tav find one. They are freaking lvl 12 heroes. I don't need to see it ingame. But I do want a respectful ending for him. And an expanded end-dialogue that makes sense for two people in love.

You know, the game conditioned me so well with lack of companion reactivity in Act 3 and his garbage ending that I saw that dialog and was happy. And then I never saw it again because I didn't want to go through that ending again. All my playthroughs now end after we deal with Cazador and Orin. But thinking back on it, yes, it doesn't look like an epilogue with a romanced character at all.

That's where a good number of my playthroughs end too. Avoids so many problems!

Sometimes I take SH to finish her quest. Have a chat with Gortash if I'm Durge. The rest just feels like a chore, especially the last fights when you know what kind of ending awaits you.

I am betting a lot of fuss, look at how many pages Karlach's demand for better endings has lol.

Sure, whenever bad endings are being mentioned people always tend to bring Astarion up... and rightfully so. Ascended Astarion's ending is fine, but spawn Astarion is just beyond bad.

Also add to that the forbidden word: datamining. Everyone knows at this point that the Upper City was supposed to be explorable outside of the last hour or two of the game, but was shafted due to time constraints. Karlach's proper idea for permanently fixing her engine laid there and apparently some sort of an idea for a cure for vampirism laid there too. Y'know, Hall of Wonders and that temple district... so many possibilities.

Yeah, in my case, my first playthrough was a completionist round. I even found all the clown parts.

But my second playthrough, I blitzed everything. Explored a few quests I didn't get last time.

Next time I play, I'll do even less.

I wonder what Astarion's main writer thinks about that ending scene. I don't believe he's the one who wrote that shit.

Literally all they have to do is give the man some shade to stand in instead of running and it's immediately better.

I sure hope that he didn't write it. It certainly doesn't fit with the way the rest of Astarion's story was written.

I really don't know what in the world people at Larian were thinking with that dock scene. Who thought that it would be a good idea to give such an awful ending to the people who were invested in Astarion? Really? Such a tasteless joke...

There's a bit of a pattern in Act III with the companions becoming less "people" and more "video game characters" - collections of pixels we're not really supposed to get attached to or take seriously. Possibly just another symptom of Larian running out of time to polish things.

Couldn't have put it better myself. Honestly, entire act 3 is just a mess. The only thing that is polished in act 3 is House of Hope.

Halsin turns into an atrocity, we get an obligatory brothel orgy scene (using companions with backstories least suited for it), Mizora is forced on you and does nothing apart from standing there propositioning you for sex, your companions don't care whatever you do with Haarlep, and the game ends with an abuse victim running away in pain while the rest of the party make fun of him.

The tonal whiplash of Gale expressing genuine sympathy for Astarion during and after Astarion’s personal quest and then laughing at him on the docks was really something else.

Don't get me started on how pointless Mizora is. I can't even get her to leave! Once I'd exhausted all of her conversation options, I asked her to leave cause at that point, she's there to ask you for sex and then just...exist in that space. She doesn't even become an ally for the ending so she's literally there for no other reason.

But getting back to the point of the thread, Astarion's ending points to a larger issue with the whole of Act 3. Like a lot of people have said, the tone is entirely different from quest to quest.

Astarion's companion quests was one of the most unique experiences I've had in a game. Never have I felt such genuine interest and concern for a video game character.

Couple that with like...hunting down the murderer in Lower City or getting the stupid mail for the post office? Like...the quests are not the same. And the mail and murderer quest last a lot longer than Astarion's quest with very little substance.

It speaks to Act 3 just being where everyone's leftover ideas drained to. They needed a lot to happen so any weird idea that was shouted out was crammed into it to make the Act longer. Definitely done by a different set of writers than the people doing the companion stories.

And Astarion's god-awful dock scene capitalizes on and confirms this.

Correct me if I am wrong because I didn't romance Astarion in my playthrough.

I read some where that Astarion will remain as a vampire in the end but Tav who romanced him stays by his side in one of the so called "good" ending? I think this is a pretty decent ending?

The problem is not him staying a vampire and doesn't even have to do anything with romancing him. The problem is the scene on the docks. After all he's gone through, and just started recovering, he runs away in pain while some other companion makes a dumb comment. And you can't even go after him.

Yeah, the lack of a chance to talk to him at the docks, romanced or not, makes this even more grating. You can give advice to/comfort Karlach, Lae'zel and Gale, but not Astarion. A decent ending should be there for everyone to see, not just the romanced character.

It's even worse when you can relate to him in some way. He's written very realistically and the game makes you feel safe with how his story is handled. It makes the tone of that ending so completely unexpected, it's like a bucket of cold water over your head. Like, of course all the pain and struggle are a joke in the end, what else did I expect.

Wait is this for real? I've finished Astarion's quest but left him out of my focus as I plan to incorporate him into my next evil playthrough.

I've thought that him crawling back into shadows accompanied by snarky remarks from Gale is due to his medium/neutral disposition towards me.

Well, that is dissapointing.

No, the voice lines from companions towards Astarion are literally the same no matter what. The only things that can possibly change is how you handled certain companions' quests

Lol no, you get the same scene at 100 approval.

Unfortunately, NO. It is just as awful if you have exceptional approval and romance him.

It seems that everyone else gets a decent/respectful ending (not the happiest), but at least not being made in to a cruel childish joke. Everyone except one of the most traumatized characters in the game. Who thought that it was a good idea?

In my case, I'm extremely frustrated that I get more time in the final scene with companions that I never used (well, I do not use any of them, really, they all rot in camp ) than with my romantic interest....

Read that in Astarion's disappointed voice when he finds out that the thing that let's him walk in the sun also will turn him into a monster eventually...

Yeah, the tone of the ending is so disjointed. As if written by someone who did not care about the characters at all.

If you put it that way, then I would already suspect that Karlach and Astarion share the writer. I see a trope in here.

Let's put a likeable character into a decade / century of misery, slavery and abuse and let him jog on afterwards

Well, at least now I know. In my next run my Astarion buddy will ascend.

Just made an account to say: The ending p*ssed me off. I hope they add more content in the future. To have nearly 100 approval on all companions just to have Astarion scamper away to never see him again then run off to smoke a cigar in Avernus with Wyll and Karlach...And not even get to see what happened to everyone else if you let Karlach decide her own fate. Such a rushed ending to a 200+ hour playthrough. Broke my heart to bond with these characters just to have a 2 minute ending with so many questions. I can only hope that this isnt the end of our gang and their adventure. Especially since I didnt even get to talk to the rest of the companions at camp or see what they were even up to while the core 4 were fighting a brain...

At least you can run to Karlach. Astarion doesn't even get that.

If he ascends he'll be perfectly fine.

Just finished the game and dear god, this is so unfair. They just had to give him a moment of hope when it seemed like his tolerance of the sun was permanent and then take it away without a chance to even talk about it right there. I still think that not letting Astarion ascend is the best choice, but ugh, this ending could've been handled better.

I too finished the game last night. My end party was a romanced Gale, unascended Astarion (also romanced, No Romance Limit mod, thank you very much) and Karlach. As Astarion ran off to the shadows the only character that commented was Halsin, and it wasn't entirely distasteful but it wasn't really full of concern for his well-being either, so now I wonder if it's random which companion comments and what they say, or if it was just bugged? This is only time I've managed to bring myself to the final point of the game so I'm not certain.

I did get a very quick scene after the docks with both Gale, then Astarion (thanks to the mod I assume). My gal was able to tell Astarion they could still remain together, perhaps in the Underdark. It felt in some small way like a tiny bit of closure, but I was still left wanting when compared to the ending with Gale.

I sat here for a good hour after the game ended, watching the credits roll, waiting for the Withers scene and thinking about my playthrough as a whole, and I just felt.. lost and loss. It was SUCH a disappointing ending overall compared to other games, and I hated that the story was over. I know I can playthrough again, and try for different outcomes, but damn. #JusticeForAstarion please. I get there are a bazillion Karlach lovers out there, and Larian in turn fixed her ending a little, but please do this for our broken broody elf. He deserves better, especially for those of us that choose not to let him ascend.

Karlach still got shafted massively in my opinion. She deserves so much better.

I also only had Halsin's comment on Astarion running away and it was rather kind hearted I think. It just sucks that there was no way to react. Even the short dialogue that happened after the docks would've been fine if it happened once Astarion found some shade and we caught up to him there. But then of course there would have to be another final conversation.

I may be in the minority when it comes to the romance convo you have with Astarion after the docks but it feels heartless.

It feel like a conversation you have with a friend before you go on vacation.

I was expecting something more tender and emotional like I had throughout his story. I hadn't had anything with him for a while up to that point (he just stops saying shit once you're done with his companion quest) so I was hoping for something more satisfying. And please please a conversation on how he feels now that he can't be in the sun and hopefully an intimate hug moment or something? Maybe my Tav can show some physical concern over his burns or something? I mean, come on, we don't even get an ending kiss....

So, other than the spiteful dock scene where no one cares that he's burning, I hate the conversation afterward. "Yay, we won! So uh...wanna stick around each other?" Versus how it has been "I love you. I love this. Any and every choice feels possible now and I get to experience it with you." I mean...the vibe is just completely different....

Makes sense that he's unsure now that the party's disbanded + he can't go outside during the day anymore. But the way Tav/Durge just stands there "5 feet away" with their arms crossed is honestly stupid.

It's so obvious that the whole thing was rushed as hell.

I think it's kinda random. Gale is the biggest offender, but none of them seem concerned.

Now there's a post about Astarion's ending scene in Larian discord's feedback channel. Hopefully they will consider it.

Yeah, I've already upvoted the post

I'm with you on that. The whole ending conversation with him at camp feels like it should have been something that he would've said at the end of act 2 and NOT after the graveyard scene where the "gloves were off" and all was laid bare. He straight up tells Tav/DU that he loves her/him and doesn't want to lose what they have together. What does losing the ability to walk in the sun have to do with "sudden amnesia" about his confession at the graveyard?

The whole final conversation with Astarion seems way off to me.

You are definitely not the minority, I already complained about it earlier in this thread and I'm not the only one. The pre-credits scene between Astarion and Tav feels so bland and loveless compared to everything that came before in the romance.

I do agree with all of this. I guess when I said "a tiny bit of closure" it was more that at least they gave us something, instead of nothing at all but the view of him running into the shadows. But as most say, compared to how deep some of the scenes were in prior acts, this was just like a whole different writer saying "let's just wrap this up quickly". I really hope they fix this ending, both the dock scene and the last conversation you have with him, or give us some DLC to let us help him find a cure.

It is random. The line is the same thing about the sun, but who says it can change if you save scum it.

Keeping this thread alive in hopes for more visibility by those who can do something about it.

I hate that at minimum a romanced Tav can't run after him.
Adding specific dialogue for Drow would be nice since their lives are spent in the underdark is an excellent point brought up by another commenter.

After Cazador, act 3 has very little for him (and other companions). And the romanced end scene is nonsense and doesn't jive with what's already been established between him and tav.

Where's the guy for a durge who says oh shit and is panicked he did something wrong when you tell him you want to end things because you're afraid you'll kill him?

Instead we get someone who says, hey if you want to go your own way now that's OK.
... what?

And then to be his friend and just ignore his burning, and be like k bye!?

Give him A better ending, he more than deserves it, for both a romanced and unromanced tav.

I disagree with the OP.

The game teaches you that sometimes what’s good for you isn’t good for the many and vice versa .

Sometimes you have to make hard choises and for me I always chose power over morale.

I let my buddy be the winner and ascend especially given the fact that I myself am the uncrowned prince of House Baal.


So it’s a fitting for a dark urge to have at least some powerful Allies who also chose power over goody two shoes choises and Astarion is perfectly made for this

The child of Baal, the ascended vampire and the daughter of Darkness sounds like an excellent team.

If you only get rewarded for being nice there won’t be any point in ever doing anything good.

Plus in real life it’s the same thing, you have to sometimes screw the others and chose what’s good for you else you are just going to be one of the many

Yup, I also brought this point that we have to, for some reason, re-affirm our relationship with him on the very first page of this thread. But yeah, I spoiler tagged it though.

Also no option to say: 'We discussed this already, I love you Astarion and I am never leaving your side" or something along those lines.

And as for who speaks during Astarion running off: it's random, just like this line of his also appears randomly (I have had endgame docks scenes where he never said it, and some where he did - there are also permutations if he speaks this line first, or butts in between other companions' lines).

When it comes to who says what during the docks scene, Gale's line is the biggest offender, next to Minsc's (or should I say Boo's?). SH, LZ, Halsin and Jaheira are somewhat neutral, Mind Flayer Karlach is the nicest of them all (which is pretty ironic, Karlach was always sympathetic to Astarion, but Mind Flayered Karlach takes it to a whole next lvl of sweetness).

I spoilered both pictures cause they take too much space, so open them at your own peril.

Also, I have no idea what Minthara says there, since I never recruited her in all my runs, maybe someday.

Sir/Madam, you are missing the point entirely.

Because YOU didn't choose the so called "good" ending that turns Astarion into a better person (morally), while he remains a pretty "powerless" spawn and therefore you didn't see the atrocity of a joke the docks scene turned Astarion into, doesn't mean that Larian didn't drop a ball there.

Look, we aren't asking for Astarion to be magically resistant to sunlight, we aren't asking for him not to start scorching at some point, what we are asking for is some reaction from our MAIN CHARACTER (who could possibly be in romance with Astarion) and for our companions to not start cracking underhanded jokes a'la "POOR ASTARION, BOO WILL BRING YOU A SUNFLOWER" . It's completely tone deaf!!!

What we are asking for is for our MC to rush to his help, drop a cloak over him, conjure water, cast darkness, anything!

Yeah, I didn't get this at all, but thanks for posting. And from what I read, probably a good thing I didn't have Minsc/Boo in the party, I probably would have cried at the sunflower line. I really hope they fix this stuff. Let's keep this dream alive! We can keep hoping!!

Actually, thinking about it, we know that the tadpole was manipulated by Netherese magic to delay ceremorphosis. We know that the tadpole protected Astarion from the sun. We know that the orb Gale carries is Netherese.

A nice option would be that maybe, through a group dynamic built up to this point, that Gale, should you choose to let him ascend as a god or maybe even just with the power of the orb (and that he lives, and blah blah the other criteria), would in theory be able to cast a spell to grant Astarion the ability to walk in the sun.

We have seen light magic that protects from darkness with the pixie magic and lanterns in the shadow cursed lands.

It wouldn't be far fetched that the light could be muted/negated to provide Astarion protection by a darkness spell.

It would be a nice option and tie right into established lore we know by the endpoint of the game. It would be something of a potential resolution, even if Gale just promises to research it. Even a spell that has to be cast daily and is more of a temporary solution, or even imbued into a ring or something provides some resolution and isn't the total disconnect we see at the end currently.

The point being, with what is already established, it could fit right in to add the option.

Well, Cloak of Dragomir exists so... yes, it was an addition by Beamdog to BG2:EE but still, for all intents and purposes it exists.

https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/Cloak_of_Dragomir

So Gale, or even a cleric via Divine Intervention could try to recreate/summon an item serving a similar purpose. Since it's unlikely Hexxat is dead and would voluntarily part with hers, so Astarion would need something like that tailored just to himself. Possibly.

Yes I want a cure for Unascended Astarion. The guy has suffered for nearly 200 years and what the hell else does anyone who has romanced him want if not a proper cure? I don't want him left in the dark with the hunger while I grow old and die. There are a lot of cures for vampirism, some in BG2, many in DnD5e and we have a death god in our camp that owes us a favour for sorting out the dead 3 to his apparent satisfaction.

Regardless of the above, the dock and the final chat scene need to be dealt with.

For a start the dock scene is unecessary, it's evening all they had to do was let the tadpole effect last 3 more minutes, he can find out in the morning not on the docks when all the other stuff is going on, and we can discuss it as part of the last chat.

If they MUST put it in because someone up high in Larian thinks it works (due to a lack of anything resembling empathy) then cut the stupider comments, especially those from Gale and Minsc. Only caring remarks or at least not outright cruel ones. Let it be the last dock interaction and let us follow him out. Preferably after I have yeeted any uncaring sods into the harbor.

Let the last talk we have with him have us properly together not standing 5 feet apart, holding hands while we're talking. And if we haven't managed to convince Larion to have a 'cure for Astarion' quest immediately after we knocked Cazador into the lowest reaches of the hells then we talk about the known cures, we have more than 2 lines of conversation, we decide to find Jaheira and ask her if she knows of anything, we do something hopeful rather than just stand there like stumps, and we end with a hug and a proper kiss (not one of those 1 second wonders Larian appears to enjoy).

Complete agreement. The ending is like... REALLY?! They gave this character so much depth, such a great development, just to stop any care for his arc after the Cazador fight? It is really like a joke, I cannot imagine that someone who wrote his story up to this point would be happy with the 'good' ending Astarion got.

And this kiss scene... I have not got to the end to see the final scene, because the lack of more companion's scenes in act III just makes me stop playing after fighting Cazador, but I suppose it is the same, like we have in the camp if we ask to kiss him.

This thing they call 'a kiss' and which so much resembles a kiss on a forehead somebody would give to their child just seems so absurd to me. I know he has intimacy issues, but based on his comments after the kiss - he has nothing against it, he likes it. Considering how much sex stuff is in this game, one would think Larian could be able to make a proper kiss scene. And I do not mean some extreme-kissing-getting-all-over-each-other, but just a little bit more passionate kiss than this. Or at least put there the hug option. How hard would that be?

It's even shorter. It's a superquick peck.

I think after the graveyard scene Astarion is up for proper kisses. And Larian manages it just fine with Aylin and Isobel and a few others from memory, so the animations are in game. Hugging also exists - Shadowheart and her parents for example, Karlach and Tav after Dammon makes it so she can touch folks for a bit - But apparently such niceties don't exist for fully romaced couples. Sigh

My brain just does not get it. Really. Just.... why? WHY?

This game is so amazing on so many levels and then they do some absolutely unnecessary (due to existing animations, which could surely have been easily implemented) stuff like this, which is ruining the immersion and the whole experience. And this is basically nothing in comparison to that AWFUL ending.

I have finished my 1st playthrough, but the 2nd and 3rd not and in current state of the game, I am not even planing to finish them... there is absolutely no motivation go further after killing Cazador.

But as an optimist I hope Larian will do something about this. They do listen to fans - at least in some cases. And personaly I am not even in hurry for the fixes. They had years to polish the 1st act, so sure, Larian, take your time. As long as it will be really worth it, I can wait a year or more for a proper ending.

All of the companion kiss scenes are really weird, like kissing gramma goodbye or something. I just don't do it anymore, too disappointing. And all of the prior comments are correct.. cosidering all of the sex in this game, and the kissing and interraction we see with other NPCs, but they can't add a repeatable ROMANTIC, somewhat lingering kiss for our character's LI, just this corny peck? I miss the days of the modding toolset in Dragon Age Origins where modders could make extra scenes for romance with companions, be it extra kisses or even a wedding. Some day maybe. I did put some feedback in for a better kiss on the discord, with any luck they'll see it if they don't see this thread.

I left feedback on Larian's Discord about this. Maybe more posts would make them pay more attention. Tho they have to be aware by now. People keep mentioning this when talking about the endings.

I respectfully disagree. Astarion is finally happy with who he is, finally accepted that he's enough.

He has made no indication he has a desire to return to human life. He wants to be free and also wants to walk in the sun.

You fixed the first issue by killing Cazador.

The questline for a nonascended Astarion is that he discovers he's enough and worthwhile exactly as he is -even as a vampire spawn.

He wants the ability to walk in the sun as a vampire spawn.

A cure is not the answer. It's not even something he has ever indicated he wanted.

Curing him of vampirism would be a solution that gives him the freedom to walk in the sun, but at the cost of changing who/what he is.

It's counter productive to everything you spent the game teaching/telling him.

In the graveyard, he has embraced his circumstances and his life. He says goodbye to the memory of his former human self. The one who 'lay here, dead and buried'

He can be a vampire spawn and find a way to acquire a sunwalking ability or find an item that grants it.

A cure isn't necessary and isn't inherently the answer because it fixes the sun problem.

I agree with this. I don't think he needs a solution to walking in the sun - he should exit the scene before the sun even rises in the epilogue, so he doesn't get burned at all. But I think his first stated goal as a spawn is finding a solution to being out in the sun, even a temporary one, and then working with Jaheria - and the MC if they wish - to find a cure for vampirism. But not explicitly for himself, instead for all the people he helped enslave and turned into vampire spawns.

Oh now that's a great idea to get a cure any of the spawn who may want it.
In my last comment, I realize I was a bit vague. I didn't necessarily mean something to shield him with on the docks, per se.

If you romance him, in the scene after the docs, you can tell him you'll help him find a way to walk in the sun again. And he really appreciates the possibility and expresses that's an adventure he's interested pursuing alongside Tav.

That's what I was referring to. He wants a solution so he can walk in the sun, it doesn't inherently mean he needs/wants cured.

I'd go along with that, walking in the sun is what he wants more than anything. But again it still leaves the issue that his lover will grow old and die leaving him alone.
My personal preference would be to initially have a way to let him walk in the sun (and lose that damn dock scene above all else).

So yes he might have accepted his current status and if he can walk in the sun he'll be happy. I'm up for that 100% but its all too vague as it currently is in our last conversation. It's not presented more optimistically and hopefully, more a sad comment.

So why can't we have a small quest for that before the ending, some item or potion that will enable it, thereby cutting out the dock scene entirely.
Doesn't have to be in Act 3
A puzzle room in the temple of Lathander (or the Arcane Tower in the Underdark) very well hidden with a daywalker amulet as the prize maybe, thematically it would fit in either.
Everyone could be happy with that as its player choice whether to pick it up or not.

The final scenes (which are effectively completely nondescript currently) should at the least open up more possibilities including mentioning cures (for him or anyone else) which are available in DnD5e, he has never expressed an opinion because they are never raised as a possibility.

Plus I want to be able to hug him not fold my arms and look at him from a distance.

This brings up a good point. I've often wondered why, during the ascension scene conversation, if Although who knows, maybe even that would be enough to drive his lust for even more power over the edge and then we see the same persona change that ascension gives him?

i think vampires in DnD have more dehumanising issues than the ascended Vampire, which is pretty much a one of a kind in this game. Raphael suggests that the ascended vampire has human lusts and emotions in a way that a normal vampire doesn't. Cazador up to the point of ascension is just a normal although old and strong vampire and I wouldn't want Astarion to turn into him, he has no feelings whatsoever.

Well, for starters the possibility of a cure has Never been even mention in the game, so it is logical that he is not expressing any opinion on that. He does, however, voices a lot of drawbacks of being a vampire throughout the game. After killing Casador without him he tells you that you've doomed him to an eternity of hunger in the shadows. He tells the Gurs that the pain from hunger alone is unbearable. Plus intolerance to water and sun, and other little encoviniences along with being hunted for being a vampire. Sure, Ulma tells him that he will never be hunted again, but a few hundred years from now noone will remember that.

As for the cure, as of right now the only possibility to escape the misery of being a vampire in BG3 is ascension. I do not know why there is no other option even mentioned anywhere, wish spell/true resurrection. I think that Larian either didn't think it through or just didn't bother with it.

But anyways, I think the option for the cure should be presented in the final conversation. It is a small and easy fix for Larian to add to make a lot of people happy.

IMHO his whole story arc is about getting his body autonomy and self-respect back. Stop seeing himself as a tool for others to use, stop being "slave" literally and figuratively. Learn how to stand his ground and be a wholesome person just the way he is. And our JOURNEY to get him there is WONDERFUL until you get to the ENDGAME. And then, well, the finale is very lackluster to say the least. Starting with a childish cruel joke at the docks and then very shallow final conversation. It is a conversation between two pals not partners/lovers, standing 10 feet away and having a light chat lasting 1 minute...

+1 to this. Completely agree.

I think letting him become a true vampire is even worse than ascended. There is a lot of lore on the true vampires and it's all gloom and doom for them . And why would anyone decide to be a true vampire if you could be the vampire ascended. The living vampire according to Raphael. It is all shady and unclear as to what the ascension actually does to a vampire, there is nothing on that in the DnD lore. There has never been an ascended vampire before. So Larian had to make it up as they went.

I think I got the good ending for most of characters but the whole epilogue left me feeling so sad because it was disjointed and underwhelming.

Astarion’s ending felt like such a slap in the face. In the beginning I treated this guy like he was a joke and i didn’t use him that much until he reacted badly to me telling him to drink Araj’s blood. When he talked to me at camp about how it made him feel my heart broke for him and I immediately started treating him with respect and he quickly became one of my favourite companions after that.

When it came to the ritual I AGONISED over the right decision, I thought staying as a spawn would be better for him, but I was scared of any potential consequences. Gale even comforted me by saying “That was a good thing you did, and a wise choice.” which I genuinely needed to hear at that point.

So to get to end, and all that happens is he falls over himself trying to run away from the sun… I was like… wait? That’s it???? What do you mean “It looks like we’ll never see him again.”?!

Ok, what about you Gale? Love of my life, what’s going on with you “Ohhh I dunno, I guess I’ll fish that crown out at some point, it’s not like my future depends on it, let’s have a drink, oh and I guess I should ask, do you wanna marry me?” I mean sure, I was hoping that if Gale proposed it would be romantic as hell but whatever.

I’m still not over it

Eeeeee....welcome to the club of mourners over the lackluster endings. Sounds like Gale's romance doesn't get treated much better than Astarion's...

We all feel for you experiencing that sun scene with Astarion for the first time. Given that a lot of us also romanced him, it makes even less sense for someone to be like "we'll never see him again."

In my playthrough, it was Wyll who spoke up about Astarion and he basically just said "...and he will remain in the shadows forevermore." Like...what?! No?!?

I couldn't agree more. It would be really nice to have A sweet, non hesitant embrace.

I really like the idea of it being some random item found along the way.

Lol for all I care, make it the 'magic ring' from the swindling trader kid in the grove.I forget his name.

I will first of all say this, Baldur's Gate 3 is the best game I've ever played. Full stop.
Already back in EA I had no doubt that this game were to precede Witcher 3 from my dusty number 1 pedestal, once fully released. You could just see it. The passion and love Larian had - and continues to have - for BG3 is unmistakable.
Larian has done an absolutely stunning job and I couldn't be more happy with them and their work. They deserve every bit of praise they're reciving and more.

With that being said...

Wouldn't it then be oh-so-fabulous to have a *very particular* cloak at hand for him?
What i'm referring to is The Cloak of Dragomir.

https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/Cloak_of_Dragomir
A cloak that allows a vampire to travel outside during the day in full view of the sun.
An item we could potentially run into in some way or another. Cazador's attic, perhaps?
Food for thought.


Now, I'm also one of those who wished for the cure option in Astarion's arc...
So if ever Larian bestows upon us a DLC - gods be willing - the cure is what I dearly wish to see implemented and on offer for our silly little vamp. Preferably connected to Upper City content ( Pretty please, Larian ).

This is so perfectly expressed. All my thoughts, which I have already expressed here several times, but well.... lets keep doing it again and again.... because the more we talk about the issues, the higher possibility someone at Larian will see it and do something about it. So yes... Larian... THAT AWFUL DOCK SCENE... I think it is not necesary repeat all the details, we all know, what is wrong with that.

Even with the Witcher 3 mentioned.... that game was top and I would also personally add Dragon age series, especially DA: Origins. These - now with BG 3 - are the best games I have ever played.

Eventhough there is so much 'not-so-great' stuff and feeling of something missing in act III, yes... still... BG3 is really exceptional piece of art.

It would be so nice to have cure for Astarion. My romantic soul would really love that, but as some people suggested few times: why talk about the cure, when Astarion never specificaly expressed desire to be cured from vampirism, just (beside wanting to be free of slavery) the longing to be able to walk in the sun.

So yes for the cure, but if nobody will give us that, in the end I would be very much satisfied with The Cloak of Dragomir. That is such an obvious and easy solution to the sun problem. So really, Larian, there are so many cloaks in the games, would it be so hard to put there one more and give our poor vampire possibility to walk in the sun? Pretty please.

The docks scene and the last conversation. Apart from its other issues, this is a roleplaying game, I should be able to rp a character who asks him what he wants to do in the future. And Durge should be able to say something about freedom and how they helped each other with that.

Also, someone on reddit said the docks scene is the same if you haven't dealt with Cazador at all.

I just can't help but share my heartache.
I'm beating the game for the 6th time already and with each patch the romance with Astarion is only getting worse! I like the game, and I don’t focus on just one novel, I consider them a pleasant bonus, like a dessert after a good dinner. But !
I want to know who in the central office dislikes Astarion so much that they break his scenes with every patch.
1. They broke the kissing scene, not allowing Astarion to finish his sentence and simply abruptly ending it with a kiss.
2. We broke the magnificent scene of the bite by zooming in on the camera at the moment when Astarion, having drunk our blood, leaves the fire. Shadows fell on his pale face and his pupils lit up with a predatory light (the first time I saw this, I said wow! such a small thing, but how cool the emphasis was on his predatory nature).
3. Now they broke the scene with the scars, where he carefully tried to feel them on his back. Now he just stands there like a statue and mutters something under his breath.
I'm scared to continue playing, I feel like I was deceived and abandoned. I read a lot of reviews that everyone wants a better ending for everyone and for Astarion and Karlach in particular, but I have never seen anyone comment from Lorian herself? Can they hear us? are they working on it? at least something? I'm ready to wait as long as necessary, but I need hope!
Has anyone read or heard anything? please, help !

It's not just Astarion. A lot of cutscenes are broken after the latest patch. Some of them wouldn't look out of place in a horror game. I just had Abdirak twist and turn in front of me. It's kinda funny.

One thing I miss from the bite scene is that little drop of blood falling from Astarion's lips, but it's long been gone. It was there right after release and I never saw it again.

Well maybe im Wrong but for Me Astarion should Never Had a Good ending..
he is a Thief and a Vampire.. theres no GOOD in him..
i all my games when i was playing a good dude by the time i get to finish his quest when i refuse to help him becouse i will not create another moster im a hero..
he just made me kill him..
i Beleave that He never was supposed to be played as a Good Guy like a Said.. he is a Vampire and a Thief.. dude in Any tabletop he at least would have been a Neutral evil..meaning he was never supposed to be GOOD.
But ho knows maybe im Wrong and yu guys are corret..
i just always felt that he is a Companion Perfect for a Durge game or a Evil one becouse in all my evil games he basicly become my right arm man and minthara my Demonic Godess. RS
and Fun Fact He was like a Devil in my shoulder the entire game like in old Cartoons.. haha

Pretty much sums up my thoughts also. My Tav was always keeping an eye on him to prevent him being trouble; I recruited him for his probable usefulness in BG since he had connections there. Once I resolved his quest by killing Cazador sans Astarion (and all the Vampire spawns) I killed Astarion. He is too dangerous to keep alive.

In general, you are right in stating the facts, he is a thief and a vampire, he can be classified as a chaotic evil character. But in this case, both Shadowheart and Lae'zel can be classified as lawful evil characters.
I appreciate the ambiguity of Lae'zel, Astarion and Shadowheart for their ability to change throughout the game and become, if not good, then at least neutral. Since I like to play for good people, I am proud of myself for the fact that I can change the world and reduce the amount of evil in it. Perhaps you take the fight against evil very literally?
At the end of the game, Lae'zel has a silver sword and a dragon, and Shadowheart is able to save her parents. But Astarion has nothing left except hunger and the inability to go out into the sun.

Yu are noot Wrong but For me Shadowheart and Lae'zel are different then him..
Becouse in the case of Shadow She actually was abducted as children has her mind wiped out..
when she discover if yu go this path with her kinda make sense she change a lot becouse all her life was a real lie.. kinda of pretty crazy like yu are reased in a Crazy Bad Cult and be doctrined to be bad all your life
and Lae'zel is almost the Same Vlakith kinda Contro her entire People in a Big Crazy F lie..huaha
But him. From the Start. he never was good..
Maybe is like yu said (Perhaps you take the fight against evil very literally?)
But i used to Play table top all my life and i do really like roleplay heavy so if im a Pala. comon. no Vampire will stand in my way Sorry theres no redemption. yu suck blood and the life of others.RS
But if im a Bad dude.. i dont Care becouse im evil and have a Vampire Lord by your side is always usefull.
(and dont think i dont like him ok.. i do think he is one of the Best companions i just never wanted to romance him i just like him as my Pal in the game when i was the Durge)
Like i Told before he Was like a Demon on my Shoulder like in old Cartoons when yu have a Angel and a Demon he was the Demon.. pretty F Amazing.. even his reaction at me turning into Slayer, defending me when jaheira wanted to cut my balls dude is Top Notch as Evil i think. In Bhaals Name lol. i will take this world for me lol
(Fun Fact he actually is one of the Few companions that want yu to do it..)

He reminds me more of Luci from the cartoon Disenchantment, often offering to cause chaos.
But I don’t agree with you that he is evil from the very beginning, he himself admits to you that he does not remember himself before the transformation into vampire spawn, and Kazdor forced him to do evil.
At a certain point, he may even share with you a story about how he tried to resist evil, for which he was locked in a coffin for several years. After which he simply accepted his fate and did all these terrible things just to survive. If you help him get rid of evil influence, he sincerely thanks you for being able to see something good in him.

If you go by DnD rules then yes, vampire spawn is neutral evil with their emotions twisted just like true vampires. However, you're missing a CRUCIAL DETAIL here, Larian has bent a lot of rules in BG3. They chose to make Astarion a SPECIAL SNOWFLAKE, a spawn with a chance for redemption. Throughout the game depending on your choices you CAN make him a better person, you will not be able to make him lawful good, but neutral or chaotic neutral or possibly chaotic good?

So with him being so "special", Larian gives you a way to make him a better person just to spit in your face at the end of the game... so, why go through all that? Make people hope for a good ending, have all the pieces set in the game hinting that you CAN get it. Only to make it all NOT matter in the end, and worse turn it into a cheap childish joke at the docks?

If they wrote him the way a vampire spawn is supposed to be in DnD, then yes, I don't see much possibility for him all of a sudden turn to the good/neutral side. But they make you invest and put an effort in to helping him to be a better person, but then in the end you've basically come a full circle back to square one minus the Casador's hold on him. He is still a spawn with all the shortcomings of being one and no solution in sight...

Well, you can play any way YOU want to, but there is no denying that Larian put a redemption arc for Astarion into the game. And as it stands right now, if you take that route you're rewarded with very little in the end. This is what this thread is about, that it seems like right now you're better off with letting him ascend. You'll get a more wholesome/complete ending for him, evil of course (although ascended Astarion really doesn't live up to my expectations of the evil encarnate . He is too theatrical and inconsistent in his nature on that path.

You do have a point, but I think it actually depends on player's approach to his character.

On my 1st playthrough, I basically ignored him, I didn't care about him at all. I actually did only his quest in act 3 - the fight with Cazador and I guess only because of my high persuasion skill I suprisingly convinced him not to ascend and he was actually nicer after that.

So in 2nd playthroug I befriend him and even romanced him and he can be whole different person (especially non-ascended version) and THIS version of him really deserves something better than to run in pain from the sun while being mocked by his companions.

would love a better ending for our dear vampire, would trade karlach+halsin for that

His redemption arc if you care about your companions generally, and influence his choices in his own quest to not become Cazador Mark 2, definitely deserves much better from the game than being the butt of a very poor taste joke.

Necromancy of Thay book gives obvious clues that there was something cut from the game to have an option to cure Astarion as an alternative ending to his quest line, they failed to cut it entirely as he is the one member of the party that wants you to let him read it and has follow up dialogues about it if you do, especially as you find something in Sorcerous Sundries which is supposed to translate it and which currently goes nowhere particularly important.

The necromancy book is an interesting way to find out the full truth behind his scars if you fumble Raphael's deal in Act II, but few people go that route, for a variety of reasons.

doesn't help that the rat person is buggy in Act 2.

Astarion is my preferred romance partner due to the writing and acting - minus the ending.

On the one occasion I did the full endings I was left with a bad taste in my mouth and just sad. He's owed so much more. Even if not romanced this guy has fought alongside you, helped you, for the entire game.

My preferred game ending is just to kill Orin, Kill Cazador and stop after I've had the graveyard scene. At that point I'm perfectly satisfied and not unhappy.
Don't care about the big bad, its just another enemy with some badly railroaded choices thrown in for good measure.
Will happily let it sit under the city not bothering me for all subsequent playthroughs if Larian doesn't sort out something better for endings.

I was so reluctant to give Necromancy of Thay to Astarion because I didn't want it to come back to bite us in the ass later. And it turned out to be worth nothing. He didn't even bonk Cazador over the head with it.


I lost interest in the main plot the moment the Emperor showed up in its true form. And after seeing the "endings" my Act 3 goes like this: Cazador first to make Astarion's life easier, Orin next because I play Durge, then House of Grief because we understand and take care of Shadowheart, and finally Lorroakan because Rolan grew on me. There are some interesting side quests, but the lack of companion reactivity makes things so dull. Nothing happens in camp anymore either which makes long rests a chore.

On my first run I gave it to Astarion, and sure there was one fun cutscene of him screaming at the book and that's it. No special abilities aside from the passive and free speak with the dead spell, and later the summon ghouls spell. I was legit scratching my head asking myself: is that it? So from then on I just went and read the book on my mains in the subsequent playthroughs, I'd rather have that speak with dead spell always available on my Tavs/Durges without having to constantly carry that amulet which gives the spell, swapping it in to activate the spell and swapping it out (I always forgot to swap it out), it's just an unnecessary chore.

But yeah, there should've been more to this book. It's been hinted at but nope, goes nowhere, just like that cave under Cazador's mansion (the one under his ritual zone), looked like there were supposed to be some puzzles, but got cut.


Yup, I've reached this point for the 3rd time now and I also feel a sudden loss of will to continue playing even BEFORE the Emperor's reveal. All 3 runs I romanced Astarion too. Interestingly patch 3 reshuffled his 'You are incredible' confession, so you are more likely to get the one he thanks you for letting him avoid munching on Araj (unless you go out of your way to not speak to her until you have dealt with Yurgir, or talk to her without Astarion around so you can at least try to buy some things), quite interesting that Larian has decided to bind 'you are incredible' confession to killing Yurgir for Raphael. Sure, makes sense I guess.

What I generally like doing in act 3 is... everything in Rivington, start the murder quest chain, then finish the murder quest chain (without entering the Tribunal ofc, that I save for much later) in Lower City, save Minsc asap - he has a ton of commentary and reactivity to a lot of quests (including Mizora's nighttime visit), from there I do Shadowheart's quest first, then Gale's, then Iron Throne, then Foundry, then Baldur's Mouth Gazette (no Steel Watchers harassing me after Foundry goes poof), then Ansur, then Emperor's hideout in Elfsong, then House of Hope, then Cazador (finally - doing it so late too is cause I want Astarion's siblings to try to abduct him, sure, could rush to Cazador immediately, but if you wait, you get more content and more info on Astarion's backstory), then Lorroakan, then Gortash (or Tribunal and Orin), then Tribunal, then Orin, then the end game. I genuinely think doing the main quests in act 3 in this order makes for the best flow story wise.

Regardless, I really gotta push myself to finish the game again... ugh. I just wish more was happening in camp between long rests. Currently it's so damn front-loaded. 1st rest - Emperor's "rEvEaL", 2nd rest Vlaakith comes to say hello and taunts Lae'zel, 3rd rest - Dark Urge's Bhaalspawn 'reveal' (if you are on good path it's basically when you rediscover who you are), 4th rest - Emperor's overhears and is sad about Stelmane's death (this one can bug Durge's out to the point you'll need Gortash to tell you who you are - discovered that the hard way on my 1st Durge), then nothing until you visit Gortash and enter the Lower City, then you are bombarded by: Mizora's visit, Orin's visit, Astarion's siblings visit, also Jaheira arguing with Minsc. Once all that is done, you get nothing until you start doing companion quests...

Still, there is nothing more I dread than seeing Astarion being scorched AGAIN. Ugh...

Like I said above, it's an alternate way to find out about the ritual (the whole truth about it). But it's redundant if you already know via Raphael. Maybe the book was originally supposed to play a larger role - dunno.

Yeah I read that response from you, but how does that work though? Obviously you gotta unlock the final page to get that knowledge I'll wager? Cause I know for a fact if you kill that last Dark Justiciar (the rat guy) before meeting Yurgir, you will automatically complete his contract and Raphael will make him a new deal but that way you don't get the knowledge about the ritual from Rapahel, Astarion is very pissed off at you (and possibly leaves if you fumble your skill checks, not sure if he also breaks up with you in the beginning of act 3 in that scenario).

Also, yeah my guess the book was very likely supposed to play a larger role. Just like you, we dunno. So much of the game was cut and rewritten...

Yep. You have Astarion fully unlock the book once you figure out how to do it (in Act III). You get another cutscene and he'll talk about what he found in it.

I believe I recall asking him about the book once it was fully unlocked and him briefly mentioning the ritual yeah (cause in all my runs I did Raphael's request).

I created this account only to concur! I am glad that in this thread I have finally found "my people"

Since finishing the game I've manically googled "news updates on Larian fixing the ending" and talked to others about this specific issue in the largest bg3 Facebook groups, on bg3 tumblr and in my gaming discord with all the other Astarionmancers.

They did us dirty with this ending. The game is a 10/10 and the best RPG I've ever played, which just makes the pain even worse.


For weeks I didn't want to touch the game, there is no point bringing a character to the end of it when there is no end.

I have read everything I've found on cut ending content, watched ending videos on YouTube, scoured discussions and forum posts.


This thread needs to be bumped into eternity, the "good ending" needs to be fixed.

Like many of you have pointed out they don't have to so much, just:


This is needed for the ending not to be broken.

For extra credit however they could:


Thank you for coming to my Ted talk, sorry for the wall of text but man it's not cool to let me put hundreds of hours into a game that builds this intense relationships with uniquely amazingly written characters and have it end in that traumatizing a way.

Please, Larian, we know you have some of the best writers, animators, actors and game makers in the world on your team, just patch this piece of the story please <3

I wholeheartedly agree with everything you (and others here) said! Very well put, @perditaxdream!

Do hope Larian will listen. Time and again game companies somehow assume companions are only for lulz, no one ever will be attached to them and this content can be pretty much ignored. Are we - those who care - really a minority?

Why did you even bother giving your 2 cents on a character that you clearly never bothered to truly know? What you "beleave" is irrelevant because Larian put a redemption arc for him into the game for a reason. Those of us who actually helped him become a better person shouldn't have to suffer with a terrible ending for him just because YOU chose to ignore him in your good playthroughs.

I'm not being serious here, but after we stand there and watch him burn the guy has the right to have doubts about the relationship.

I admit that I have never even considered to turn my PC into a squid. That's why I have Karlach, that's her sole purpose to be a squid .

I've never seen this ending as I have zero interest in being a squid. I had to look it up just now.. Well, this is disturbing that you get such a heartfelt scene with Astarion if you turn into a squid. What is a purpose of it if there is no way to continue a romance?

Jeez, it seems that you get a better cutscenes with Astarion in all but a good Ole "normal" ending. Normal in a conventional way, where 2 people who love each other just want to be together and live their lives. I guess, we can't have that, someone at Larian is convinced that a mandane happy ending is not a right way to go?

The question of the year, really! Like, we know they can write some of the best RPG material out there, with intense emotion, it's in the game already, so why make this choice? Did they forget to make this scene?



I'm pretty sure they well know how much characters mean to the players, they have created a deep masterpiece with emotional connection. They know the players will feel this, for sure. This is like the exception to the rest of the content, it doesn't feel intentional but more like an oversight?

I truly hope they will listen <3

I am almost sure they already are listening, but can't tell us exactly what they are planning

Here is another sad voice from a small room with a gaming PC and hopes to be heard.
I love this game and have reached 600 hours. It's my second full playthrough, and both times i romanced Astarion (because I can't help it)
But I can't handle the ending. How they treat their figurehead. Kicked in the dark corner with unnecessary comments. And all I can do is watch. He deserves something real for his character journey. After two centuries of pure s**t, going numb and evil, he chose the good way. Amazing. and now?
Of course, in the last scene he says that he is finally free and that he has only lost the ability to walk in the sun. OK. Maybe we'll find a cure? OK, nice headcanon.
that was it! Thats the ending of this Masterpiece? What do I deserve now?
C'mon, at least one last picture, together through the darkness with his hand in mine. Not even a 'longer' Hug for us?
And what about the others? How do I stay with them?
There was a party at the end of the first act, but at the end of the entire journey there is only laughter at Astarion and shrugging at Karlach's death?
It feels listless, unfinished and Unsatisfied. And so do I end the game!?
Pitty.
(Still one of the best games, thanks a lot. I will do support and love with passion. (take all my money and soul.))

Makes sense, but also makes it even easier to get the Araj one instead, and that one just doesn't flow well. It feels like it should be two different conversations.


That's one of my most favorite convos in the game, especially his response to saying that Cazador broke him.

That's what I thought as well, all they have to do is split the cutscene in two. One spontaneous confession for high approval and the short "thank you" after meeting the drow. And leave the full "thank you" cutscene as it is for low approval after meeting Araj.

I always do Casadors palace last right before taking out the last chosen. Otherwise I have NO incentive to continue playing act 3. There is so little interaction with Astarion in act 3 (but I hear that all companions are very quiet in act 3, so it could be a much bigger problem than just Astarion), and unless I ascend him I cannot stomach the crappy ending, so I just quit afterwards.

Yep they're all cardboard cutouts in Act 3. I hear Jaheira and Minsc have more to say, maybe I'll try taking them with me some time. But I get so used to my main party I don't want to change them. Ascending Astarion kinda helps because his power trippy comments when he has them are so entertaining.

But even then I just can't bring myself to do the final battle and everything that leads to it because it's so boring compared to Act 1. And I still remember the last battle and ending in my first playthrough when my laptop was melting like Astarion's face and Karlach, half the textures refused to load, and letting Karlach live bugged me out of Astarion's epilogue. Good times.

Yup, which is also why I prefer the high approval 'you are incredible', just flows soooooooo damn good I was kinda disheartened that I got the Araj one cause I wanted to buy some things. Well, next run I will rectify that and try to trigger Durge's 'romance' scene as late as possible, cause imho it makes so damn little sense to get the Durge scene before even establishing proper relationship with Astarion. Plus I wanna see how snitching on Marcus plays out (discovered you could snitch on him AFTER he was dead, kinda funny bug). Also, I have yet to let Gandrel live, NEXT run. Waiting for patch 4 to start a new run, will finish my current one I guess.

But yeah, I also think those should be 2 different conversations. I know a lot of people who fish for the high approval confession and then tell Astarion to suck her off for the potion. I mean... that should be a near break up moment for him, but no. Cause the way triggers work...



Jaheira & Minsc are fantastic if paired with a 'good' Durge. Jaheira basically kind of adopts you, becomes a kind of a mother figure Durge never had. Minsc is only cool if paired with Jaheira ofc. Add to that 'good' Astarion and well, you'll be smiling a ton. Especially when Minsc shouts his unhinged ideas at Astarion. Like sucking on fishes, cause they're all neck.

Until of course the ending hits and Minsc wants to let 'Boo bring him a sunflower!' and no, I won't stop ranting about this line. It's so ridiculously insulting I just can't. Every single time I hear it I hiss like a balloon letting out air. Or like His Majesty.

I SAY HISS!

Larian and their habit to overlook the obvious. I think ideally after the confession he should be even more angry if you try to make him bite her.



This is why Minsc never gets invited to our camp. But I might just do it for the sucking on fishes. This is the kind of unhinged that I appreciate. And then, well... he doesn't need to survive until the end.

I just created an account to boost this thread.

After all we've been through together, Tav devoting her heart and soul to help Astarion become a better person to just watch him burn and run away in pain. I was devastated and other companions mocking him just made me nearly fall out of my chair. What the hell...
Let me run after him and comfort him goddamit!
It hurts even more after learning that

the conversation before credits when you romancing him doesn't make things any better. It was more like I was talking to a friend, not a partner.

Its as if the writer at Larian who did the ending scenes has never played the game isn't it?

Sees 'Vampire' and writes an ending scene with no understanding of the character progression whatsoever and absolutely not one iota of empathy for either the player or Astarion himself.

I hate the end which is why I always stop my playthroughs before the final battle. Don't think anything regarding Astarion has been sorted in todays patch either, although apparently its your actual party who get priority on hurtful comments instead of people in camp. There are a couple of them who make slightly less hurtful remarks.
Still sucks though.

Or has very clear preferences and doesn't like Astarion (and Shadowheart). I'm still salty that the game didn't even give me an option to not run to Karlach when she started burning. But Astarion? Who cares, apparently.

I don't have a save with spawn Astarion that is close to the ending so I can't check, but it's not in the patch notes. However the fact that they added some new lines before his kiss animation also isn't in the patch notes, so who knows.

On a positive note: Today's patch fixed his ascended sex scene (no more sticking hands through the skin and kissing the air) and the problem with facial animations not playing from the beginning. On a negative note: His scar scene is still not fixed and now the epilogue romance scenes do not play at all anymore (neither spawn nor ascended) except for a very borked version of the dialogue with the camera hanging outside the inn. Not sure if it's a mod issue, I use a few.

His spawn ending at the docks is still the depressing mess it always was.

That's sad. Makes it all the more likely I will never get as far as the ending ever again.

Ha, I also got the broken epilogue, but I thought the save I have was just too old.

We need a mod that removes the stupid comments, gives a dialogue with an option "go after him" and fades to black and into the epilogue.

The kiss scene doesn't work for me at all. And I really liked this guy’s kisses after every victory in battle... Oh, these bloody splashes complemented his white hair so perfectly, and the chaste kiss created a contrast!

Usually old saves are not a problem if they are made before a new cutscene starts. I tried different characters and saves at different stages and nothing worked, with or without mods.

But +1 for the mod idea - unfortunately I can't mod.


It's a mod problem. If you have even one mod installed, the kiss scene doesn't play. (On that note: I would love the Halsin-kiss as a template for the "let's make it count"-kiss during the finale instead of the chaste peck we got ...)

Yeah, so I checked my epilogues and that 'new kiss cutscene' and... well, spawn Astarion epilogues are entirely borked, dunno how it is for ascended, but spawn is just a bunch of black blocks and the cutscene won't play normally - gotta press space bar or right mouse button. Also, the 'new' Karlach epilogue is also broken (sent her with Wyll), it will play but hang up and you gotta space bar or right click to get it going, otherwise it freezes. Spawn Astarion is also broken on both my saves - Tav and good Durge. Tav had Karlach turn into a mind flayer so yeah. I wonder if Larian will fix these epilogues before I get to end game on my current run. Also, I am saving my saves in case of getting those 'promised' updated epilogues eventually. In hopes of them being compatible with old saves.

Oh and that new kiss is nice, still too short but nice, what isn't nice is that that cutscene also gets the infamous '(continue)' and some of his lines (and there are some new ones) won't play audio. Heck even a bunch of old ones cut audio now.

So yeah, classic - one step forward and 5 backwards. It's nice that our current endgame party set up sort of influences who speaks at the docks but eh, it would be nice if a bunch of other cutscenes didn't break. Astarion still runs away but at least now if the people I bring to the Netherbrain are of more gentle nature, so yeah, as long as I don't take Minsc or Gale with me I am gonna be gucci.

Still, dropping a cloak and running after Astarion and waiting the time until sunset out behind the crates with him would've been preferred but at least this is a very small step in the right direction.

PS: I forgot to mention, I don't use mods. At all. Call me mod phobic if you want, or mod-sist.

That did not work for me unfortunately. The saves I checked still used random people, especially Minsc, who I never take anywhere. *mutter*

Ooof ouch.

For me it used exclusively people I brought with me. So it seems to go from one extreme to the other. Oh and obviously Gale will have his little speech about the fate of the Crown and Wyll will speak about his warlock powers draining if he broke the pact (on previous good Durge I didn't break his pact, on Tav I did and on current good Durge I will break his pact again, basically perfecting a bunch of bad choices from my 1st good Durge). Also, funnily, cause I brought Lae'zel both times, when she went away with Orpheus/alone, that was one less person to talk during the docks cutscenes and more chances for Astarion to speak up (heard some new lines I never heard before too).

Pretty sure Larian will hotfix it soon.

Yes, hopefully. But this was a massive patch. I bet a lot of things that got fixed broke other things. Can't wait to find new bugged cutscenes!

About finding new lines: I did a repentant Durge/Astarion duo run just to hear all of his comments (can recommend it for just the post-Alfira dialogue with him, it's pretty funny, especially if you don't hide your deed). This made the docks scene hit even harder because you get to hear all of his lines in a row going from a happy "Look, I can still stand in the sun, even without the tadpole!" to "Let's celebrate!" to "Oh no, I'm burning up!". And Tav/Durge just stands there like "whatever" and does nothing, staring into the sunset with the narrator commenting on the whole moment inappropriately.

Patch notes #4

- Fixed a bug where Astarion's corpse was removed from your inventory upon entering Cazador's Dungeon -

.....So the haters can hate him more now.

But our spawn Astarion ist still lone in the shadows.

and my next playthrough which remains somewhere in act 3 because I can't manage to finish it.

I want my party at the docks where they all decide to go to Avernus.

probably needs those who don't use mods to send the save file to Larian direct through the proper bug reporting thingie. I can't cos I use mods. Well I did till this patch anyway.
Talk about 1 step forward 5 steps back though.
I had very few bugs in my first playthrough mostly ones I could get past one way or another but have had successively more with each patch. Not sure their testing team are being utilised properly

Damn Astarion enjoyer on life support now lmao.

Huh. He kisses you now? Interesting. I suppose it's in line with what the others do, but I kind of liked him being reversed. Silly thing to get picky over, I know.

I thought it was the mods that broke the kiss dialogue for me. Apparently they broke only the animation.

I honestly don't understand why we still can't have an option to run after him in the ending tho. All the other reasons aside, it's my character. I should be able to choose what they want to do.

The entire thing on the docks annoys me ridiculously much. It's evening for crying out loud. Can't they just let the tadpole effect run for 3 more minutes and forget the burning thing altogether? He can find out in the morning when we all have time to deal with it. Sigh
It can even be mentioned in the non existent proper ending slides or something.......grrrr

This is actually the best suggestion yet. It all feels so rushed. You hardly step out of the water after defeating the big bad and suddenly everything happens at once - . The whole ending needs an overhaul.

Agreed. I don't want them to just add a piece of dialogue here or an extra 5 seconds of us running after Astarion. It needs to be completely redone. I want the whole docks scene to be 10 seconds:

Then, Larian gives us a proper send off. We get a whole party sequence with every party member. We get an extra 30 minutes to say goodbye to characters and and extra romance moment with whoever. Then, as the whole party comes to a close, Similar sendoffs should happen with every companion. CLOSURE.

This isn't a small undertaking but I'm so SO worried that they're just going to tack on some stupid 2 second dialogue and that's going to be our "expanded epilogue."

Ooooh, I really like this. And now I really want it. Shorten down the docks scene so everyone can catch their breath and then a big tavern scene you can end anytime you want so it can be as short or long as people like it.

Your idea really reminds me of DAO ending, y'know, the throne room scene (if your warden didn't do the ultimate sacrifice that is). And yeah, that would be a proper send off. Then again I think they might do something like that, since a while back they had all the VAs together recording stuff, so I am betting aside from some extra random scenes (romantic dates and whatever) they also recorded or rerecorded the newer endings. But yeah as much as I am mad at Larian for not implementing them faster, I do kind of understand that all these programmers also have lives and are doing their best to fix things - game breaking bugs take precedence in their priority list. So yeah, curb your expectations folk, we are not gonna be seeing updated endings for at least next 3-6 months.

They tweaked some of the other characters endings, according to the patch notes. They could have at least removed or changed the rude comments from Astarion's ending.

Is that why his endings post docks look like this:


Image taken right after the update.

And this:


After game repair (verify files).

This is so bad it's hilarious.

When I tested it I only got something similar to the first screenshot and no way to advance dialogue.

Yeh, you gotta be patient until you hear any dialogue from Astarion (or whoever you romanced), then spacebar and right mouse button are your friends to get through it. Unless you play on console or with a controller, I dunno what's the default skip cutscene button there.

You know what's even more funny? Lae is supposed to be gone on a dragon ride, right? Well, I can still swap the character to her (or Jaheira) and everyone has 1 hp. I know Larian made everyone immune to damage during end game cutscenes, but there was a guy on discord who died during one of those cutscenes (took damage from the Markoheshkir staff passive) and the game just cut to ending credits. Hahaha Larian really messed up the ending sequence badly!

Guy accidentally found a way how to get a less dignified ending than Astarion's.

I endorse what's been written in this thread completely. Spawn Astarion's ending is atrocious and he deserves so much more than this! It's even more disheartening how the newest patches seem to make things worse for his romance. Though that ghost Astarion possessing Tav is absolutely hysterical.

I think it broke not only his epilogues. Some other characters too.

I'm more disappointed the fact that he still has only one camp animation.

Which is especially funny when you run around with him in the Arcane Tower in the Underdark and he finds one of those books for the Bernard encounter and comments "I'm not normally one for literature, but there's something there."

Not to mention he has the most chaste kissing animation even AFTER patch 4, sure, it's better than it was, but still a damn short chaste peck on the mouth. Compare that to:



And while I can't hate Karlach, I hate Halsin here.

Edit: I mean, who da hell kisses without touching their significant other? Sure, my husband gives me pecks like that when he's going to work and is running late, so when he's in a rush. Like come on Larian, you can do better with Astarion. Much better. Like seriously, how come a vampire who's supposedly slept with 1k people does a no touching kiss? It's not like he should be worried about germs or catching STDs.

Our former magistrate isn't one for PDA huh.


The man has standards and doesn't consider every book he reads to be literature.

Yup,his camp animation is odd. Who stands to read a book when there is a perfectly good stool right next to him? Given how he is I would expect him to be lounging on those cushions with the book and a glass of 'something'.
Patch 4 playthrough from new start and so far I haven't had any animation issues with him that wern't already present but not got to the end battle. But I did get the 'you're incredible' convo by so make of that what you will as doubtless other factors enter in as well.

Still not ovely impressed with the kissing, at the very least he should occasionally offer more than a chaste peck, its better than it was if you think kissing m forehead is better of course but really Larian, you could do so much better.

Still no intention of finishing the final battle ever again until they fix his dock scene or do something with the damn ending that is better than what we have.

It's like they took Gale's book reading animation, gave it to Astarion and called it a day. He definitely should be lounging on the cushions with those books. Sipping "wine". Playing with a dagger. Fixing his hair.

I think Astarion, like all companions, lacks a storytalling beyond the endings. Throughout the game, I only hear about Cazador, tadpoles and a little romance. If it were diluted with a question about finding a way to stay in the sun, or talk about the past of a corrupt judge, line with Gur.... I'm starting to think that this ending turned out this way because Larian simply doesn't know what to show.

Adding my two cents in this discussion. I'm truly glad there's more of us who dislike the ending scene at the docks. It made me feel so awful the first time that I cannot finish any more playthroughs...well, unless I choose to ascend him which...yeah, I just cannot stand the ascendant, but seems like Larian is pushing me towards that route solely for the fact that I won't have to watch him run away while my Tav stands there with zero reaction + the companion comments make it even worse. This is supposed to be the good ending? That makes people feel miserable? Because I sure did feel like that.

I get it, the tadpole no longer protects him but that doesn't mean it had to be portrayed this way. He's the only one who loses when the worm is gone, why isn't it treated with more respect? Especially since all the companions were so proud of him before.

It would be great to expand upon his quest after defeating Cazador - finding some item that'd protect him from the sun (maybe for definitive edition).
For now it'd be enough to re-work the ending scene. Apparently there was supposed to be a whole bit at the tavern but it was removed/not implemented. That could've been a proper sendoff, saying goodbye to everyone properly before they go their own way and then we could talk to our romanced partner. Instead we get this abrupt cut which is especially jarring when it comes to Astarion. How did he get into that room, was he waiting for sundown or where exactly is he? Tav cannot even ask him "are you alright?"

Moreover, it doesn't feel like it's two people in a relationship talking and the conversation is way too short. There should be some hug + kiss included in it, instead of standing so far away acting like acquaintances (apply to all companions of course, not just Astarion).


Lastly, spawn ending has less 'screentime' and dialogue (at least how I see it). With ascendant there's the whole turning into a spawn scene, the conversation afterwards, and a lot of questions you can ask him later, etc. For spawn, once he's done mentioning Cazador and thanking Tav, it's over. The only option we can pick is the lame "you don't need the powers of ascendant, I'll protect you" ...which I found kinda tone-deaf. He's not some damsel in distress in need of Tav's babysitting. Especially since before he talked about him and Tav being equals. So I'd like this option replaced with something like "we will protect one another just like we've been doing it till now" and I'd love some other things we could do - let's say burn down Cazador's mansion and make a bonfire out of all the tasteless art and watch the carnage holding Astarion's hand. It would be a lot of work to implement but would help for his story to feel less dead in the spawn ending IMO.

Agreed. I really disliked this dialogue. I thought one of the big points with the spawn storyline was to empower him as a person and make him see that he is enough without the ritual. And then this is the only line we can say to him afterwards which is feeding into his fear that he is not strong enough to defend himself on his own? Sometimes I have a hard time wrapping my head around the writing.

100%.. the graveyard scene was simply breathtaking, his symbolic rebirth so to speak. Absolutely beautifully done - he carves the new birth year on his tombstone and says "it's time to try living again" when he's still undead.. (while as ascendant with a restored beating heart all he talks about is creating a nocturnal horde and melting away the sun. The storytelling in here is top-tier.)

And after all that great dialogue of Tav proving he's enough the way he is, he gets slapped in the face with that knight in shining armour BS. The man is incredibly strong and Tav has no means of telling that to him. This needs to be changed asap.

Honestly, Astarion's good ending should make the player feel good after everything that's happened but it doesn't.

Oh I hated that line, it's the complete opposite of what would make sense to say. Either have a number of properly written different options or nothing at all.

"We will protect one another" would have been a nice callback to Act 1 "you keep me safe and i'll do the same".

His writing in Act 3 is a mess thanks to whoever was "helping" with it.

That dialogue is pure cringe and totally makes him feel more insecure. It's in even poorer taste if we take into account what Cazador says about Tav if they go meet him without Astarion. He compares Tav to himself (an equal influence - basicly Astarion's temporary, alternative and kinder master) and implies that Astarion doesn't know how to be on his own and that he basicly needs someone above him.
Then there's also a line from Gandrel where he explains just how dangerous a spawn can be. Astarion can take care of himself perfectly fine, he's a survivor. That crappy dialogue should be changed.


This would be great!

I don't think they gave much thought at all to the endings. Its fairly obvious more was planned and got cut short in the later stages of development so what we end up with is basically a travesty of an ending that makes little narrative sense.
All the characters suffer from this but it seem to me that even for Karlach (horrible though her endings are and I am not excusing that at all) the writers at least tried to make it seem as if her friends care.
Whereas for Unascended Astarion he just beomes a joke, and that infuriates me.
People simply don't behave like that, esp a team that has fought alongside him since the beginning of the game, they may not like him individually but they wouldn't make fun of him.
It's squaddie humour (barracks humour maybe if not in the UK) but this group aren't an army unit and this type of comic relief is out of place in this setting and this story and it should never be a final scene in any setting.

That line bothered me as well, it made no sense at all. I did it once and he reacted exactly how I would have expected, not said as much but tonally his response said he didn't like it and why should he. I reloaded and just left the convo when that choice came up.

Yes please to those suggested changes

It absolutely goes against what the spawn ending is supposed to represent and this adds fuel to the fire as well:


It's terrible.

And I agree, I clicked on it once, was not surprised by his response at all. There is only one option for us to choose and THIS is what we end up with? Feels like Astarion's dialogue till his last lines about Cazador saying how he's free and him and Tav are equals was written by one person and this one dialogue including the scene at the docks was written by somebody else entirely.

It's as if they paid less attention to his good ending compared to the evil one..

This. The game makes you go to Karlach, but won't let you go after Astarion, and I hate that.


They did and it shows.

That line makes a little bit of sense to me as a sort of bookend to his romance. He approaches the protagonist in the first place because he wants protection; now we see he's moved entirely beyond that. But I don't normally pick the line either, it usually feels strange for my character.

It would make more sense if it wasn't the only option. For example if it was that line and the suggested "we keep protecting each other". Also, as Durge you can tell the butler "we're indomitable together" during that Act 2 scene. I'd like to be able to say that to Astarion himself. "You don't need the powers of the ascendant. Nothing can stand against us together" or something like that.

Hmm I'll borrow a couple of those sugestions (the ones about him needing protection - not!) and put a post into the suggestion channel on the discord - if thats ok with everyone?

Exactly. I love Karlach as much as the next person but I did not romance her. The fact that we cannot go after Astarion is just... absolute nonsense. To make matters even worse, you can choose to go to Avernus with her and effectively abandon him. Why would I pick that?!


Fine by me! The more Larian sees this feedback, the higher chance it will get changed.

Pretty much the dialogue needs to be expanded overall. Ascendant has so many options to pick from, the imbalance of content is infuriating. I get the appeal of toxic vampire fantasy but there still can be things said or done in the good ending...like blasting Cazador's mansion to smithereens. or LET US GO ON A PROPER DATE, LARIAN, PLEASE AND THANKS!

Tarlonniel approves

I look forward to burning that place down via fanfic.

Yeah go ahead.


You can abandon everything and everyone for her, but not for any other character. It feels like whoever wrote the endings had favorites and were writing for themselves (or just to finish it asap), not for the player. Because when you write for the player, you recognize that different players roleplay different characters and prefer different companions, and try to make things as fair as possible.

When I initially got the endings at the dock, other than disappointment, confusion was a good word for it.

Astarion gets to go burn up without a single reaction from me, the supposed love of his life, but Karlach, someone my character barely knew and barely used in that playthrough, starts burning up as well and my character starts panicking and offering to help.

I love Karlach, especially in my current playthrough, but what? Aren't these roles supposed to be reversed? In what world does my vampire lover get to burn while my acquaintance gets all my attention and concern?

It doesn't make sense.


Go ahead! The more notice to these problems, the better.

Honestly, I hope Larian spends some time (it's a long shot) combing through their lines for consistency and works with the original character writers to get rid of lines like the "I'll protect you" lines for the sake of tonal congruence. Astarion isn't the only one who deserves this, but he's been the most disserviced by this in all my playthroughs.

Apparently, when you play as a githyanki you can go back to the Astral and abandon your partner just like that too.

I've seen many suggestions for a cure for Astarion so he can be mortal again. Since he's never expressed interest in that, I think what could work better is being able to convince Jaheira to let Tav use her Rite of the Timeless Body scroll to perform the druidic ritual so Tav can slow down their aging and enjoy more time with Astarion.

And after choosing to spare all 7000 spawn I should be able to fuck off to the Underdark with Astarion even without romancing him. Especially as a drow.


Yeah he's never said he'd like to be mortal again, and it's disappointing that we can't ask. We can't ask what he wants to do in the future at all, unless I forgot something.

Jaheira is also supposed to be an expert on vampires, isn't she? It's such a wasted opportunity that we couldn't ask for her assistance regarding Astarion. Like about the cloak of Dragomir or other magical items.

Yeah, as Tav/Durge the player is choosing from that extremely limited number of options, not giving him the space to decide. Not to mention how sterile that whole dialogue scene looks, like two acquaintances talking, not partners. We should be able to stand much closer to him here, hold his hand, hug him or kiss him (in all romances obviously, not just him, as I mentioned before).

As for origin playthroughs,

Jaheira even (probably) knows about a potential vampirism-removal method. Lots of good, relevant things down in Amn, if we could just talk to her about them.

She ought to
It's a shame Larian does passing nods to previous games regarding some issues, but ignores them when it would help a companion,

Not so much a third album, more a tribute band.

This would be a nice non-romantic path for him and Tav. It's actually what the game is really lacking: proper friendship routes. It was the worst for me with Shadowheart when my Tav couldn't even hug her when she was crying her eyes out after respecting her parents' wish.


They really need to rework this for all romances. There's zero intimacy in that scene. My problem is not only him not being able to decide but also him being so insecure and not having any suggestions of his own. He just rolls with whatever Tav decides and even asks them for a confirmation if they wanna stay in the relationship as if the graveyard scene had never happened.

As for Karlach origin,

That seems remarkably unintuitive (not the avoiding a scene thing but the rest of it). Why in the nine hells would you make a choice that awkward?

Agreed, I really hated that Tav has to reassure him as if we didn't establish before we want to be with him all the way.

Regarding the ascendant route,

Maybe in his eyes it's different if there is no more looming danger, distractions and all the possible competition has gone their own way? He has Tav all to himself at that point. He can take his time trying to convince Tav to change their mind.
It could also be a spared remnant of cut content and not just a loophole. Perhaps it was possible to stall it a bit and have some extra time to decide before the end of the game.

At the current state of the game I'd call it a loophole. The player avoids standard long resting mechanic to prevent a specific scene from triggering. And it serves as an argument for some people to say he isn't in fact 'evil' or controlling as ascendant. It just makes the spawn ending way less compelling and meaningful. The player gets nothing really in this path after the lovely scene at the graveyard.

> less dialogue
> "I'll protect you"
> the terrible ending cutscene
> needs reassurance from Tav if we really want to stay with him

That's why I'm hoping the spawn path gets some something nice, because they clearly didn't develop it well enough. I guess they were going for bittersweet but right now the ending is just bitter, half-cooked and stuffed with dirt.


It's totally unintuitive but it's also kind of funny and creative that the game lets us do that. Larian is known for allowing to play their games in unconventional ways. They made it possible for a reason, otherwise they wouldn't have bothered to have the lines voiced and mo-capped.

Totally, they dropped the ball here. There's no sugar-coating it. All we can do is hope this ending gets the love it deserves. Currently in all my playthroughs I stop playing each time I'm about to fight the brain. I don't want to see that ending cutscene or have that last dialogue. Left such bitter taste in my mouth that I don't want to go through it again.

Same.

To me he's a very relatable character, so that ending was brutal.

As someone who normally plays a Seldarine Drow, if he can't stay in the sun and we can't fix anything whatsoever about that (why not Larian?), then we go live in the Arcane Tower.
Spend a bit of money (of which I seem to have plenty) fixing the roof, the one missing bit of floor and the lighting, got a nice garden there, a few lights around the garden and interior that aren't blue tinged (or can be - choice) would make it feel quite homey etc . Remove the elevator and put in a spiral staircase so that anyone can move between levels. Can bring Scratch and the Owlbear and even Yenna and her cat, plenty of room there. Guest room for any of the others to pop in.
Bernard thinks we belong there, place is protected so why not?
And thats just a miniscule corner of the Underdark, so much we could go and see as a couple.
Can always pop back to the above world at nighttime for some tavern life etc its not difficult to get to portal back to the underdark at sunrise.

Really all we need are some better choices, not necessarily what I have described above of course, but choices - that's what the spawn ending is missing.

That and being able to hug him, and protect him at the dock of course.

I want to be able to give him a ring or an amulet of day walking, thats the only thing he ever seems to miss but that;s because nothing else is ever offered to him.
Would he go for a cure if one was offered? We don't know because its never raised as a possibility in spite of Jaheira intimately knowing a cure from BG2.

And yeah I haven't fought the brain after my first playthrough either. I really detest what the ending didn't give us.

He also misses seeing his face in mirrors - pretty sure he can just pull a Gale and cast Mirror Image for that, though.

My Tav would definitely prefer him alive over dead, for a variety of reasons, but if sunlight resistance is the only thing on the table... well, better than nothing. And a quest is a quest (she's 100% the adventuring type).

Oh mine too - Warm body is preferable to a cold one.All sorts of drawbacks to him remaining a spawn if you think about it. No kids of course (not a major consideration for me). I want to be able to travel with him, same as you can in the ascended route, and not being able to cross running water unless hes carried over it in a cart presumably driven by me is a definite drawback to that. The logistics of managing a proper travel schedule with avoiding unbridged rivers and streams and only being able to travel at night - unless I do the cart driving in the day when hes asleep which means I'll be too tired later to spend quality time with him - to say nothing of how we will manage feeding as when he is awake he'll need to hunt which cuts down travel time - well I like a challenge I suppose. rofl

Do you reckon I'm over thinking this? hehe

Just give us a cure Larian - make our lives simple.

Also, once he loses the tadpole, there's the small inconvenience of once more being bound to your coffin/crypt/grave site etc. I assume Cazador transferred piles of dirt to the manor somewhere and that's where they all rested. What do you do as an adventurer? Lug it around with you? Did they just ignore that with the vamp companion in the Enhanced Edition?

Uh, what are all those spawn in the Underdark going to do... well, maybe this is a Larian homebrew thing. Like the lack of claws and spider climbing.

Couldn't a sorcerer or a wizard just offer to cast something for him?

The coffin thing seems to only apply to true vamps in BG3. Astarion says Cazador needs to rest in his coffin during the day. The spawn slept in beds.

Not Mirror Image. Minor Illusion might work.

I also agree that the ending should be improved. I can accept an open ending where you end up looking for a way for him to see the sun again (or to cure him from vampirism). But the way he burns and becomes a joke doesn't work in a situation where the relationship (romance or friendship) is good. Maybe they should have offered a choice in a dialog. So, yeah, you can be a jerk and joke about him not seeing the sun again. Or you can cover him, help him in any way or go with him. Choosing for the player and doing it in a way that most dislike is wrong. It would be like forcing all players to become Illithid no matter what in a way that is passed as the character's choice. It is taking away agency in a wrong way.

I left another reminder in Larian's Discord feedback channel that this ending is bullshit. They seem to be looking there more than here.

But it's not just Astarion. This game sometimes just...completely lacks emotional intelligence.

Could not have put it better myself. The player invests hours into the character and in case of Astarion, doing a quest which isn't even tied to the main plot!!! It's a completely skippable thing entirely! So I'd expect that kinda "uncaring" ending when we did not invest time in him, did not talk to him, did not help him...this is not how it's supposed to look when Tav is his friend, and particularly not when they're his love interest.

Astarion's ending, his romance epilogue, how he wants to rediscover himself as a person but the game won't give us a chance to see any of that outside of the graveyard scene, the whole poly thing with Halsin and the drow orgy, the "i'll protect you" line with no other options, even just how the nicest thing you can tell him when he's trying to read his scars is "shut up and turn around" (maybe I want to rp someone nice and gentle once in a while). You get up to 5 opportunities to stake him during bite night, but not a single one to run after him in the ending and not a single one to check up on him during the drow orgy. Can't ask even once what the vampiric hunger feels like while you can be very concerned about Shadowheart's wound. Can't give him that portrait. Can't give him any gifts, which was surprising because he hasn't been given anything nice for 200 years and it would be common sense for the player to want to give him something.

Other characters get these moments too. And Halsin feels like his writer turned him into an atrocity on purpose to troll all those people who asked for more of him in EA, and now we all have to deal with it.

Adding salt to the wound is the fact that you can give Shadowheart the flower she offhandedly mentions liking, so it's not like giving gifts to the companions isn't a thing in the game. It's just a thing with this one companion. For some reason.

Shadowheart is god's favorite princess. But even she isn't safe from some of the game's bullshit.

I always give Astarion Durge's cloak, it really fits his whole thing. Would be nice if I could do that as an actual gift.

I would like to give him the portrait from Fevras. The cloak is ok and practical, but with a Durge that seeks to reject the urge, it would be a "tainted" present. The portrait is specific, so Astarion can see himself. Or even better if you were to find a portrait from before he turned to spawn so he (and we) could know what his eyes looked like. And the color.

But the the fact that with SH you have a dialog that says "I think we missed the opportunity to connect" or something similar while we don't have that option with Gale (who was bugged since EA and had plenty of missing scenes) or any other companion tell us all about which romance was prioritized. And which personal quest, for that matter. After all, SH has one abandoned Shar temple in the underdark, another huge temple plus mandatory trials in act 2, and another temple and quest in act 3. I would have been nice to have all that with all companions, but especially with Astarion.

Can I add to the list that only Ascended Astarion can react to the Mizora-affair while spawn gets no special scene afterwards?

The more gifts the better. I always play Durges so naturally I miss an opportunity to give him something...bloodier.


I like that Astarion is not connected to the plot. Sometimes I just grab him, leave or kill everyone else, and we go on an adventure to solve our personal problems and kinda accidentally save the city in the process. Or would save the city, if I ever got through Act 3. On the other hand, having the Upper City and some quest for him to charm and lie his way through would have been sweet.


Really? Well, maybe that's a good thing. Less shitty writing for him.

Bumping for the gifts idea! Especially in acts one and two or before the ascension ritual. And unique gifts (plural) if you choose to ascend or not at the end of the game, that would be cool to see.

Well, I would love to see more quests that are meant for Astarion (or Wyll and Karlach). And of course, I would love to see the upper city. I think that part of the unbalance with the companions is because many of the quests and content were left for the upper city and when it was cut, we lost all that content. But that is why I think all companions should have had a similar amount of content in all 3 acts.

I would have liked to see more Astarion on his element. Or discovering himself.

Adding my voice to the choir.

While Astarion's romance is in need of some love throughout act II and III, I'll solely focus on the ending for unascended Astarion.

After defeating the Netherbrain, we end up on the docks with our companions.

Astarion: 'I - I can't feel the tadpole. It's gone - we're free! And I'm still standing in the sun. This is incredible! Maybe whatever it changed in me was permanent?' This is the first thing Astarion says while looking happy and hopeful.

And then he has to flee the sun in a way I can only describe as cruel. We (the player) spent hours and hours to bond with this character, deal with his problems, defeat Cazador, help him realize, he's a person, he's loved (dearly by a lot of us). Only to have his and our hopes crushed. I honestly can't understand, how anyone could think, it'd be a good idea to have him scurry away like that.

We're not even given a chance to react. Why can't my Char take care of the love of her life?

Now let's see what the companions have to say:

Shadowheart: It seems that's the end of Astarion's love affair with the sun. That'll be hard on him.
Gale: I suppose that's the last time any of us will see him, and the last time he'll ever see the sun.
Wyll: Astarion will keep to the dark now, I wager. At least... he'll find plenty to feast on.
Halsin: He will sorely miss that freedom, I sense. It may be quite some time before we see him again.
Jaheira: I doubt we'll ever see that face baskin in the sun again.
Minsc: We will find you, Astarion! AND BOO WILL BRING A SUNFLOWER!
Karlach: Didn't speak up no matter how many times I reloaded the scene.

Aside from maybe Shadowheart's, none of those remarks are acceptable. I would have punched each and everyone for it before bolting after Astarion. Instead I am forced to deal with Karlach. I am sorry but in that moment I couldn't have cared less about her fate. (Which is a shame because I really liked her up to that point.)

Why not instead have the celebration they talk about? (Dragon Age Inquisition nailed that, you get to speak with all your companions and then retreat with your LI.)
______________________________

The Epilogue for Astarion and his romantic partner is severely lacking emotional depth and intimacy. During the whole scene the PC stands there, sometimes even with crossed arms. What are those poses and facial expressions? It looks like they barely want to be in the same room. Astarion and the PC are in love, yet it's not shown at all.

Astarion: 'Hello darling. I was just thinking about freedom. How I'm free of the parasite - free of Cazador. How I'll never be in someone's power again. And all it cost was my life in the sun. Now I belong to the shadows. So. What happens next?' I like that part aside from 'What happens next?'. I'd prefer 'What are we going to do next?'.

(I'm going to only talk about one of the possible answers here since that's the one I always choose.)

PC: 'I'll help you find a way to walk in the sun again.' That line sounds incredibly condescending to me. They are in a relashionship as equals after all. Better were something along the lines of 'We could search for a way for you to walk in the sun again, love. Would you like that?'

Astarion: 'You - do you think it's possible? I suppose there is a chance. And if there's a chance, no matter how small, I'm going to take it. And it would mean setting off on another adventure together. Is that what you want? Is this what you want?' I actually really like that part as is.

Astarion: 'I would understand if you wanted to go your own way.' I think, it makes not much sense but don't really mind it being there.

PC: 'No, this is what I want.' This sentence shows no emotions whatsoever, it's completely hollow and disappointing. Please, let me tell him 'I love you, Astarion. To be with you is what I want.'

Astarion: 'Good, because selfless as I am, I really did not want to let you go.' Minor change with huge impact would be: 'Good, because I love you too and selfless as I am, I really did not want to let you go.' Astarion should take PC's hands now, drawing them closer together.

Astarion: 'We are rather excellent together, you know. And united, there is nothing we can't do. I can't say what the future holds for us, but I know we'll be facing it together.' Why don't they kiss?

Astarion: 'And we're going to have a lot of fun.' Here they should embrace each other in a tight hug before it fades to black.

- the happier end (imho)
______________________________

PS: English isn't my first language, please excuse mistakes I may have made. Better yet, let me know about them. Thanks!

Somebody thought it was funny. While Karlach gets treated seriously and with respect.

I suggest posting this in Larian's Discord feedback channel so they can't pretend they didn't see it.

No need to tell you but for the record, it isn't funny. Not in the slightest.


Just did.

Edit: changed link to the repost because the upvotes were broken.

No need to tell me, but apparently we do need to tell it to the "writer" who wrote it. Somebody sat down, took a character with Astarion's story arc, and decided that it would be hilarious to watch a recovering abuse victim have their hopes crushed and run away in pain while nobody cares. And just in case you disagree, the game takes all control away from you so you don't ruin the joke by trying to make sure he's fine or disagreeing with the other companions when they make their dumb, useless comments.

This is a video game forum so i don't want to get into what this kind of writing tells people who see themselves in Astarion. And there's unfortunately plenty of them, as Neil keeps mentioning.


And the upvotes are broken lol.

The first time I saw it, I broke out in tears. I'm one of those people who relate to Astarion because of my own past and to watch that scene was incredibly painful.
If the message is supposed to be: 'no matter, how hard you try or what you do, you're always going to be a joke', they succeeded.


Great. Well, thanks for letting me know. I reposted it here.

I had to take a very long moment to admit to myself that a few seconds of a video game (and a very badly done few seconds at that) just messed me up so hard I was going to feel it for days.

Astarion was a surprise, and not a pleasant one at first, because it feels almost intrusive when interacting with a video game character makes you feel like looking into a mirror. And as I saw more and more of his scenes I almost trusted this game to treat the subject with respect. Almost. But that little amount of distrust still didn't prepare me for that.

Oh dear, I'm so sorry you felt like that. It's been very similar for me too.

How the ending is currently handled is absolutely uncalled for and I really hope that Larian is going to revisit it.

I'm sorry it made you feel like that too.

If they really look at feedback they must have realized by now that they messed up.

Thank you <3

I don't want to get my hopes up but Larian just teased a celebration is coming with patch 5 on twitter. Let's wait and see what it means for the docks scene.

Oho. Did not expect that. Let's see what happens.

Depends on who writes it.

Since I went through the romantic dialogue again yesterday to get to the party: I took his expressions and the lack of suggestions he makes as uncertainty about how to deal with the situation. He has tried to manipulate the player until the middle of Act2, then relapsed into this behaviour again early in Act3 when the ritual drew closer. I assumed that he didn't want to inadvertently push the pc into a direction again. I also saw his double and tripple checking if you really want to stay with him in this light. That is alright with me. I just hate that we can't equally be considerate and make suggestions instead of decisions.

I didn't see his dock-sequence because I was on Origin-Gale and Mystra is impatient, so Gale doesn't have to watch Astarion run away. But in Astarion's Origin, Gale has a line that suggests that they maybe should all look for shade together and I really liked that. It's both in more character for Gale and more caring about Astarion. I would prefer more statements of this kind - or just someone casting darkness, when it's on their spell-bar.

Hello! first time I post. I must say that English is not my native language, I am using google translate (please no one kill me).
I agree with previous comments about Astarion. The epilogue after the fight doesn't seem like they are a couple, they are meters apart saying what to do now. And when you tell him something (go for a sun cure, etc.), we don't have the option of telling him that we love him. It's a somewhat sad epilogue because the whole advance of the cemetery here seems like it doesn't exist and that we're just friends looking for an adventure. And giving him a gift would be great, I would love for them to add it, in addition to modifying that epilogue and making it much closer. You don't need a wedding like Gale, but you do need love.

And something else, the epilogue of patch 5, at the final party is too short. Yes, it has a spectacular hug (thanks Larian, we love you), but I would have liked it to have a couple more lines. Let me comment on something about our life these six months, a small comment. Gale talks about his school, Karlack that he has found a forge. I would have liked a little phrase, something. Talk about how traveling together is great, what city you would like to see next. Or just talk about it for a second. Let him tell us that he is happy even if he doesn't have the cure of the sun, that we are enough or something like that. One sentence only hahahaha

But I say this out of respect and admiration for Larian. It seems that they listen to the players and that little by little they are implementing things.
I really value it a lot and feel that they work hard. But yes, I would like a little more love for Astarion, especially in the first epilogue, that scene needs a remodel please Larian.

thanks for reading me

I'm still working my way toward the new epilogue (starting with my Gale run), but I'm a bit disappointed to learn:

It is pretty short isn't it? I have an Astarion- and a Gale-Origin, romancing the other. In the Astarion-Origin they do have quite a bit to talk about. I chose an adventuring live-style for both endings - and they chatted about some of their adventures together, the party and some slice-of-live stuff - "metaphorical light in the darkness" is also just a very cute compliment.

For some reason once the ending hits Larian decides to roleplay your character for you where Astarion's involved.

I'm assuming this means his docks scene is still the same?

Yes, that hasn't been changed.

In his Origin it is - and you can still not save Karlach, when a spawn.

I expected this and yet I'm still disappointed.


So if you play Astarion and don't ascend Karlach just dies and none of the other companions try to convince her to go to Avernus?

Unfortunately. The characters have a line-up. Lae'zel leaves first, then Gale considers the Crown and gets taken away by Mystra in his Origin, then Astarion starts to feel the effects of the Sun. I don't know who comes next. If you play any of these characters you get taken out of the scene and Karlach's end sequence plays. She is having a monologue and goes up in flames - even if Wyll is the Blade of Avernus and stands right in front of her.

The patch yesterday changed the order in which Karlach and Mystra's scenes play, so I had hoped they had sussed something out for Astarion as well, unfortunately not. I think Githyanki players choosing to follow Lae'zel also can't save Karlach unless they have a bug, which forgets to take them away from the dock.

I found both Astarion and Gale's dock scenes hard to bear for that reason. Sitting behind boxes while your good friend goes up in flames must be pure horror and coming home from finally being freed off the bomb in your chest to find your lover with severe burning injuries doesn't sound great either.

Edit: I do also have the feeling, that Astarion's epilogue might be a little bugged. I tried three of the possible choices (let's be heroes together, sun protection and moving to a quiet home) but the epilogue assumes an adventuring live-style for all three of them in the narration. I might try the underdark one later and then write a ticket. It would make sense why his conversation is so short if the game assumes you have chosen nothing and thus can't give you any further dialogue.

Same.


I don't know if I'm being delusional for still hoping it'll get fixed one day?

Well done, Wyll. This is why he always stays in camp.


Well, at least Gale has a good reason not to be there. Tav/Durge just stands in place and watches.


I'd be very surprised if nothing was bugged after a patch.

Yikes, it's even worse than I thought. He needs all the hugs.

Yes, that's why Wyll has camp duty. *nods*

Origin Astarion is also very disappointed that Gale's blood is still poisonous despite the orb being removed - though I admit, this must be the nichest bug ever. Then again, Withers didn't provide any blood .....

What the. As if it's not his victory too. I think someone on the writing team might be a bit too much into angst.

Is it delusional to expect at least an option to go after him when Karlach got a whole cutscene added three patches ago?

Still, for me that line seems to put the blame (for hiding alone in the shadows) on Astarion. As if he had deliberately chosen it instead of the player being held hostage by the writing.

All I want for the dock scene is the companions to either say something helpful or say nothing at all and the option to follow him.

One would think a choice between following and not following him would be common sense in a roleplaying game. I'm honestly curious why we don't get it here. And then the writing throws us at Karlach.

A choice to follow Astarion? Perish the thought. Seriously though, no idea. But being forced to play through Karlach's scene (once I got myself halfway together which took way longer than I'd like to admit) made me so mad. As a consequence she isn't part of my current playthrough. Well, her head technically is.

It's like the writing says "this kind of person deserves all the attention while that kind of person deserves none", right? And it's unfortunate that they got so much of him right, and then the ending...well, practically needs a trigger warning for someone who can relate to him.

Poor Karlach. Through absolutely no fault of her own, she's never survived one of my runs intact. The universe must have it out for this tiefling...

So, instead of fixing the dock scene they made it even worse? This is heartbreaking.

Though I really like the new epilogue, so one loss, one gain I guess. (But why are there three different lines from him about the lack of fresh blood and I can't even offer?)

I personally felt his epilogue was nicely done. He acknowledges that he felt shame, but then talks about overcoming it. I am not surprised it hits some people wrong. I think the dock scene poisons the well.

Replaying the last battles for the epilogue, I got Astarion Bugged?

No, the tadpole's magic just needs a moment to wear off - I was wondering, is there any special cut scene if you did the worst possible thing and forgot to deal with Cazador?

It's very realistic, what he does. But he only has to do it because the game doesn't let us follow him on the docks.


On the docks it's the same as when he doesn't ascend.

Gonna jump back into the discussion again.


CONS:
the docks scene is the same
that line of dialogue when Astarion blames himself

PROS:
despite that one line there....what he says afterwards made me cry my eyes out (bravo, Neil!). he genuinely sounds so happy and at peace with himself, I especially love how he says he won't be defined by what Cazador did to him. and the fact that he can either be girlbossing the spawns in the Underdark or essentially becoming Deadpool vigilante is absolutely amazing and I love that for him

Exactly. I feel like you understand and share (some of) my thoughts and why the scene is such an issue. You have no idea, how much that means to me. Or perhaps you do, anyways, thank you.


At least it's not mentioned when he's in a romantic relationship. So I won't ever see that in any of my games.

He says that? Alas, Withers, what didst thee bethink?


This. He and the player were forced into the situation. I admit, Astarion handles it better than I'm able to. The point is, he shouldn't have to handle it in the first place. The way he's treated at the docks is horrible and the player should be given a choice to follow him.

True. We should've been given a choice here instead of being stuck in place.

I just read this on discord about the dock scene and the epilogue:

"Having an epilogue helps, but it's like wrapping an already infected wound in a bandage." link

It's exactly it.

btw I haven't checked but I doubt it has been changed anyway -> the whole "I'll protect you"

if you guys are on larian's discord, there's another absolutely amazing suggestion we could send.. to change this option from "I promise to protect you always, you'll never need the power of an Ascendant" into this "You don't need the powers of an Ascendant to protect me."

Which would be great callback to camp ambush dialogue. Not getting my hopes up, though.



(credit for this idea raviolirash on tumblr)

I think I do. As much as I don't like talking about why exactly this scene is so wrong, I'm glad I did.



It's still the same.

It's just hard to "unhear" it now that I know it's there and that this is the canon feeling for him in that moment. Luckily we know that he does seek out a romanced pc after sunset, but that doesn't really make up for not being able to go after him right away to make sure he's ok.

Larian has given us a lot of great possibilities to roleplay our characters and have thought of a lot of odd situations that can occur, but the moments where they railroad us into a certain behaviour to make the story work are really frustrating. And it's very often in the companion moments (thinking of not being able to hug Shadowheart in that certain Act 3 scene, argh!).

I've mentioned this before, but the dock scene gets even worse if you are doing a playthrough with Astarion as the only companion as you hear his whole conversation from the hopeful "maybe the sunwalker effect was permanent" to him running away and then you totally unfazed turn your back to him and sheepishly smile into the sunset with the narrator saying that Astarion will probably seek comfort in the shadows now but that his own comfort luckily always was one of his specialities. Not even the epilogue can make up for that experience.

I agree with the "infected wound in a bandage" comparison.

My only hope is that they might revisit the dock scene at a later date if we keep this discussion alive via feedback in different channels. Up to now their story focus has been the epilogue so maybe they have time to tweek other bits.

Regarding the dock scene, I always hear people complain about Minsc's cheesy line of bringing him a sunflower since he can't see the sun, but he's the only companion that mentions actually going after him. The epilogue nicely ties this up with Minsc hanging out with Astarion underground. (However one-sided it is implied to be.)

Yeah, but in this case (and Shadowheart's) there isn't even a story. What would it be? That the pc is emotionally inept or an asshole?


"his own comfort luckily always was one of his specialities." Do I need to say anything about this line in relation to his past? Please tell me I don't.


That whole sequence is a mess so they should at some point revisit it. Maybe if Astarion's ending somehow makes it to frequent feedback we have a chance.

Ha! Yeah, sorry. Maybe I should have said "make the scene work with the least common denominator" so it even fits those that have no special relationship to the companions. The game is constantly forgetting we're in a romance . Small things like standing closer while you are talking, taking the other's hand etc would go a long way. That's why the romance content (as good as some of it is outside the main the story) feels half-baked.


I think I swore loudly at my monitor when that came up. Like, who the hells wrote this?


Yep, we need to keep soldiering on. This is still my biggest gripe with the spawn Astarion arc (this and the "I'll protect you line").

No worries, the dig was meant at the writing, not at your comment. And they certainly didn't make it work for people who have no special relationship to the character in Karlach's ending.

Also, where I'm from, if someone's face is burning we check up on them even if we don't know them at all.


Dare I say... someone who is either emotionally inept... or an asshole..? Seriously though, it doesn't take a phd in psychology to understand what it implies.


And if you play Durge, after rejecting Bhaal you can once again tell him practically the same. The two options are "you don't need to be afraid of me anymore" and "now I'll be able to protect you." At least the second one also thanks him for staying with you that night in Act 2. But I think saying something more along the lines of "now I won't have to be afraid of waking up to your dead body" would make more sense.

Oh.... this own comfort thing suddenly lets that utterly weird cut-scene you get in Origin make sense. The one in which he stalks some fellow in the sewers - Which I found very disconcerting because it made assumptions about my PC that didn't align at all with what had happened before in the game.

There is.

TRIGGER WARNING - this video will damage you mentally and make you cry!

They really are into angst, aren't they? Although I will always go with ascension in my game, I would still like to see the spawn path get its justice and have a different ending. I am disappointed to see they didn't fix the atrocious dock scene but even doubled down on it and added extra angst for Astarion. He was ashamed... really? Even if your chara was his only real friend? Even if he's scared of being alone? C'mon... He was part of the team!

Now that they added such a nice epilogue party, they should also change the ending itself. If they insist so much on having Astarion burn in the sun, I would like to see a short scene where they all go look for him, find him and then go into the tavern and toast together and have that be the last shot before the private conversation with our LI.

Oh .... no.... note to self: Not in that order, more in parallel importance of horrible things to do. Thank you for sharing that very depressing video.

Gale became
Not helping Astarion with Cazador and Mad Durge are the worst 'good' endings to me now.

Something to cleanse the palette after that sad video: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NqKlFa9QoCw (happy Astarion speaking into the camera)

It would help, in my opinion, if they took the whole scene and not only a portion of it seriously. I mean, what happens is, that right when they are feeling good about themselves and want to celebrate, two horrible things happen almost at the same time, both Astarion and Karlach go up in Flames. If some of those who aren't necessary for Karlach's scene went after Astarion instead, that would help a lot - maybe some of the spellcasters who could actually do something useful or heal him.

(Though my headcanon remains, that the remaining gang meets at Nine-Fingers Bar to celebrate/mourn that not all their friends can be around.)

Not everyone has both Astarion and Karlach in the party. So in that case you should be able to go after the one you have. Now Astarion can be literally the only other person with you on the docks and you still can't follow him.

If you have both, you should have a choice.

It really is that simple.

That is utterly ridiculous... Wow. There really is no excuse for Tav to not go after him in this scenario.

Ah I hadn't even considered that, since I usually have a full party. ^^; In any case, I think they should both be taken seriously.


It's not the worst, but I much prefer

No kidding! Though I applaud Larian for leaning into our choices and including so many heart-breaking consequences. Just never want to see those myself.

Awww that sounds so sweet.

And get rid of the unnecessary comments.

Yes, that would be much more appropriate. That would also be a nice throwback to the dialogue where you can say you want to break up because you are afraid you might kill him.



Ouch, that was very hard to watch. Poor Astarion. Not that I would ever not kill Cazador in a run, but now I'm very sure I won't leave that quest undone.

They can direct all their thoughts at my rapidly retreating back.



If you think about it, Durge should go to sleep every night wondering if they'll wake up standing over a fresh corpse again. At least Astarion is always willing to tie them up.

Also, I find it really funny how noone, especially the vampire, wakes up during the Act 1 incident. You'd think Astarion would smell the blood.

I completely agree how the characters react to Astarion burning up feels a bit off base. This is huge moment and adjustment for Astarion. If you romanced Astarion as I did it feels even worse, you just stand there and do nothing when you should be there for him in that moment. If they want to keep it so he is running away/hiding from the sun, you should have the option to follow and help him find shade, chase after him, or find him later, especially if you romanced him! Or change the scene all together and have him leave before he burns up and explain where he is going and catch up later.

The scene “romance” afterwards is pretty lack luster for good Astarion as well. After they have the convo they could hug, cuddle, kiss or something! Or be sitting and holding each other while they have the convo, something!!

Yeah, actually, tying Durge up every evening should be a fun little ritual of theirs. The Act 1 incident always needs a lot of suspension of disbelief with it happening right next to everyone. I always headcanon that he does wake up, but just shrugs and turns around again, ha ha. Also, the morning after talk if you have Astarion as the only companion in camp is hilarious.


I wrote in another thread that one quick fix could be that the after docks romance dialogue could be placed by the crates he took shelter behind. It would indicate that Tav actually ran after him and kept him company until sunset. Both cuddled up next to each other (we know those animations are in the game) would also feel more intimate. This does not fix the scene for the people who were on a friendship path though.

"Can't be too careful, darling."

And same. I pretend he just decides not to bother. This is too messy for his tastes. I love that conversation if he's the only one in camp, every word out of his mouth is gold.

Just saw the new afterparty epilogue and personally I am very happy with it. (I got issue with textures not being loaded corectly, but that was not bothering me much, because the reunion with my friends was still worth it! )

So far, I have only saw the epilogue in my playthrought where i did not romanced Astarion but still... (despite the awful dock scene, which is still there)... taking into consider just the new camp party epilogue, he just seems SO happy and content!

Yes the dock scene should still be handled better, but since it is now followed by the afterparty, the ending left in me so much better feeling and I cannot wait to see it also for the romanced version.

Thank you, Larian, I kept hoping you will get us some nice ending, and my hope was rewarded.

After playing all the endings last night, also add:

Agreed, the eplilogue party is indeed incredible and we're all thankful for it. This thread is about how atrocious the docks scene (still) is and we'd like to see it fixed.

We specifically ask for a choice to follow Astarion (especially if he is your romantic partner) instead of being forced to ignore his pain.

I romanced Astarion and did his spawn ending and I thought his ending scene was fine. The only thing I would change is adding a line from one of the recruitable non-origin characters about checking on him. I honestly just assumed it was one of those "you have to go through it alone" moments for him.

Lae'zel, Karlach, Wyll, and Gale still have some pretty huge character-defining moments left and I liked how the game emphasized them in those moments.

It is great for you that you thought it's fine. It's a RPG though and I should be able to choose how my character reacts when the love of her life is about to turn to cinders. She'd make sure, he gets to safety and healed. Instead my character is forced to ignore him. That is in no way, shape or form how any of my characters would ever react. Astarions pain and fear are just brushed aside.

That's why I ask for the option to choose: either follow him or ignore him (for the people who are fine with the scene or don't care about Astarion).

Besides, the other companions get their huge moments handled with dignity. Imho Astarion loosing immunity to sunlight is a huge character-defining moment as well (let's not forget, Larian has him say that perhaps the changes were permanent. They had him get his hopes up). Why is his huge character-defining moment turned into a tasteless joke?

Sorry for causing you emotional distress, that wasn't my intention.

It's not that kind of moment, it's just rushed. It's a roleplaying game. The writing shouldn't decide for me what my character chooses to do in a moment with two very clear choices.

And when the dude is the only companion I recruited and there isn't even anything else to do, the narrator/DM shouldn't start telling me what my character is thinking. The narrator/DM should never decide for you what your own character is thinking.

I appreciate that but you didn't cause me emotional distress. Everyone involved in the development of the scene did.

First of all, sorry if I have caused you any emotional distress.

Secondly, it is a roleplaying game, but it's not an unlimited roleplaying game. It's a vastly different experience from real life roleplaying, and to be able to write a story and create a reasonably sized game, there have to be interjections by the narrator/the game itself.

Thirdly, sometimes I feel like it gets forgotten that millions of people play this game, with different tastes and opinions. We have no idea if out of those millions of players enough feel the need for an alternative ending to make it worth implementing it in the game. A lot of the Astarion discourse happens in bubbles.

Doesn't mean people can't ask for it.

Would it hurt anyone if an option was added? No.

I play the game quite a lot and it still has some serious performance and bug issues, there are issues with other companions' content (Wyll, Minthara, Halsin) and Larian seems to add originally planned but ultimately cut content for now.

Sure you can ask for things, but there are a lot of things asked from Larian I wouldn't be surprised if most of it is lower priority for now.

But anyway, have a nice day

How would Larian know what we want if we don't ask?

It's not like they haven't already proven, they are more than capable to work on all sorts of different changes simultaneously. Just look at the patches, each includes a wide variety of changes.

We have good reasons to ask for the dock scene to be changed. People avoid to actually finish the game because Astarion is treated like a joke there. It's not pleasant to watch.

Larian, please change or remove companion remarks and give the player an option to follow Astarion.

Edit: typos

Please don't misinterpret my words. I didn't say you shouldn't ask for it, I just tried to highlight that the game has some technical and story issues, which hopefully are prioritized. Based on the statistics Larian released, most players are still Ethan, the human paladin, who probably struggles with different issues while gaming.

From a game development perspective, some problems are easier to solve than others, some features can be implemented "in isolation" while others can't.

I thought, my answer did reflect that I understood what you said.

Obviously some things are easier to implement than others and some issues are (probably) prioritized. I am not asking Larian to stop working on everything else.

• But Larian wants our feedback / suggestions and I am incredibly grateful for it.
• They work on different changes simultaneously instead of addressing one issue at a time with their whole team.

I know how game development works, and I think adding an option to go after Astarion needs some flagging with the other origin character endings. It's all just a logistics at the end, especially around Karlach. (Yes, I know, not everyone has Karlach in their party, but since she's a barbarian, a lot of players very likely do.)

I know how game development works, and I think adding an option to go after Astarion needs some flagging with the other origin character endings. It's all just a logistics at the end, especially around Karlach. (Yes, I know, not everyone has Karlach in their party, but since she's a barbarian, a lot of players very likely do.)

It's not about howit is done.

You know, I somehow get the feeling, you're just trying to invalidate our thoughts on the matter. You didn't answer the questions I asked you on the last page. Instead you bring up all sorts of stuff that might or might not directly relate to our request. It's all right if you don't care about the issue. But I do. And I can't help but start do wonder why this thread seems to bother you.

There are (a lot) of people who have an issue with the way Astarion gets treated on the docks.

Like it or not but I'll keep asking Larian, please change or remove companion remarks and give the player an option to follow Astarion until Larian tells me it's impossible / not going to happen.

To be honest, originally I just commented that I generally agree with the sentiment, the dialogue could/should be changed, but I do not necessarily feel the need for an option to go after Astarion. I'm essentially agreeing with you and the thread but I just have a more realistic view of the matter. I'm sure Larian knows about this issue since it has been a topic of discussion in gaming circles since the game launched and not even a partial modification has been done in the past 5 patches.

I'm happy to answer all your questions as long as the forums load.

While it obviously would be incredible to have a cutscene that shows, we folloow Astarion, it'd be fine if the unnecessary rude/cruel comments from our companions were fixed/deleted and a dialogue option along the lines of:
1. let Astarion leave
2. follow Astarion to make sure he's safe
were available.

Instead of forcing my character to ignore Astarion. Of course it would interfere with Karlach's cutscene but perhaps they could be switched around.

Even though Larian is (probably) aware, what's the harm in repeating the request? I haven't seen any feedback about the issue from their side yet.


I quote myself for easy access. It's the reply to your first post in this thread.

And it's not, as if less cruel versions of these comments didn't exist. Adding an option to follow Astarion sounds like an endeavour but using the character reactions from his Origin for the Companion version as well, sounds much less challenging.

Larian added a little scene to the end of the drow orgy of all things. They sure can add a short animation of the pc walking towards Astarion's general direction after Karlach is dealt with, for those who choose to do so. He's right there behind some crates.

And change what the narrator says if Astarion is the only person with us on the docks. Neither me nor any of my characters would ever think "the guy who's been abused for years will be fine by himself because he's good at comforting himself, I don't need to go check up on him."

Come to think of it, he is kind of hard to miss when they leave the dock.

I didn't answer because I assumed that it was obvious I agree that it is not handled the best. Maybe the biggest difference between our views is that I do not see it as a huge character-defining moment for Astarion the same way the dock scene is a huge moment for Lae'zel, Karlach, or Gale.

While there are comments about the sun throughout the game by act two I thought his arc was more about trauma and bodily autonomy. After his quest is completed he would be able to start the healing process and start being able to process emotions and situations in a more balanced and healthy way. Of course, he's just a fictional guy and it is all just speculation, but for me, he was already after his big moment.

When I romanced him, I played as the Dark Urge and my Tav assumed he could protect himself, the same way he took care of my character during the game. In romanced and non-romanced games too I imagined the group going after him, but I never felt I needed an extra cutscene.

It's only mildly related, but even after several playthroughs I feel like the group dynamics need more work. The companions never came across as friends (at most they seemed to be coworkers). The remarks at the docks scene seemed to underline my assumptions that they do not like each other, and they really don't like Astarion. I would love it if Larian could put more work into this.

The sunlight is the one thing he really enjoys from the start of the game on. That one moment of genuine bliss, when he is trancing in the early sunlight, is personally what "saves" that incredibly fake night together with him for me. And it's more than just light and colour, being able to walk in the sun is being part of the world instead of having to hide in the shadows. If you look at the dock scene, the group is in the process of finding a tavern in which to celebrate their victory together, when the sunlight casts Astarion out of the group. Like the heaven telling him: You don't belong. That is harsh.

They also never treat the subject lightly in any other situation. It is a topic that is part of his dialogue during the epilogue party when you are friends, you can talk about finding a way to cure him with Minsc when in a relationship with Astarion and even in my otherwise very sweet romance dialogue for Origin-Astarion and Gale, they snuck in a line about how it was difficult for the two of them to settle into their living arrangements at first.

And yes, I agree portraying them as friends by the end could have been handled better, though it works in some cases - and also it depends heavily on banter playing and such.

His "moment" is definitely with Cazador. But sunlight is always right there too. If you click on him in Lower City he talks about seeing all the city's colors in sunlight with such wonder in his voice. And at the party if you're just friends he tells you how he felt he lost everything at that moment, right? The docks scene is the only one where it's not treated seriously. Or maybe they wanted to show the loss, but it really doesn't work with the way he runs off followed by these comments. And if you don't romance him it turns out you never even tried to find him later. While all you had to do was look behind the crates.

The companion comments also don't work with the rest of what they say about him. If you talk to them after you learn what his scars are for, and after Cazador, they're much more caring. (And no, Gale, we are not "never seeing him again". Me and him live in the same city. Oh and I'm sleeping with him, if you somehow haven't noticed.)

Speaking of moments, Gale's ending also wasn't good as a character defining moment. I told him what to do, he was like "yeah ur right" and that was it.


Everyone rolled a nat 1 on that perception check.

Gale doesn't really have one, in that sense. The way you deal with him during the game creates his final decision about the Crown. If you tell him on the docks to get the crown after all, while having dissuaded him before, he won't do it. He will offer to sacrifice himself for the group so nobody has to become a Mindflayer, but if you decline and later on decide the final battle is too hard and he should blow himself up after all, you'll have to bully him into it. (No idea how much approval matters) I think, they tried to give him a slow progression instead of one big moment. The thing at the docks is more a wrap-up than anything and he never has a heroic scene like Astarion, Lae'zel or Shadowheart. (Unless you count his dagger animation if he blows up.)

He is also the only one who expresses that he really likes their little group in the "good" version, wants it to stay together and they drive that point home again during the epilogue, so his comment undermines his own character arc. In Astarion's Origin it's something like "we should find shelter" just with more words, which fits much better. But ... not the thread to talk about my favourite wizard. *coughs*

Just saying, Lae'zel, Gale and (I assume) Shadowheart would totally be free to do stuff by the time Astarion's sun-problem hits.

What strikes me as kinda odd is how short the reunion party dialogue with him is (I'm going back to this because I watched romanced Gale convo and it's a full on married couple conversation there). I loved how it's mentioned twice that he's happy and I absolutely loved the hug, it's a beautiful callback to act 2.. but we are robbed of a proper conversation which you can have with him as a friend...everything he says there is profound, shows his confidence, and character growth. However, we don't get to hear any of it in the romanced conversation.

Why can't we mention anything about the spawn in the underdark or let him talk about our travels or anything related to the sun-walking?

Once again feels like there wasn't enough time spent on this ending.

I filed a bug report about that. There's a couple of things not adding up. You get the adventuring narrative introduction to the scene, even if you chose to settle down, you can always tell Minsc that you are looking for a cure which seems to be very specific to the "looking for a cure" plan for the future and, like you said, the dialogue feels very short compared to all the other conversations, as if the middle / main portion would be missing.

I also get the narrator telling me I'm "almost entirely free" before the romance epilogue now, which I'm pretty sure is a line meant only for ascended Astarion.

Huh, is that when you're playing as Astarion or Tav/durge?

Tav/Durge if he turns you.

That's super confusing... do you have a video of it or a screenshot?

That's super confusing... do you have a video of it or a screenshot?

That's super confusing... do you have a video of it or a screenshot?

That's super confusing... do you have a video of it or a screenshot?

Sorry, no. And I don't want to go through the whole ending again to get a screenshot. It's the morning after the ending on the docks and it's like the game can't tell which version of Astarion I have.

This is is a Dark Urge specific line no matter the LI. I guess it simply means that even if you rejected Bhaal you are still a Bhaalspawn and are for example not free to sire children/get pregnant because they'd become Bhaalspawn, too.

Mmm. Could have sworn I didn't have it with spawn Astarion before, but my memory is as good as Durge's.

Baldur's Gate 3 Developers Explain ...racters, and Making the Best RPG of 2023

"So we knew it wasn't that complete, it was very abrupt, but we wanted to finish and so now it's better."

At least they admit it's bad.

That would at least be an improvement.


Well, they have their priorities sorted out. I guess, lol.


Haven't had an epilogue with just Astarion and my Char yet. It sounds ridiculous. Each of my characters and I would certainly feel the need to make sure he's safe and accompany him.


While Astarion's "big moment" is with Cazador, the sun is brought up during the whole game, not only in dialogue. You get the scene of him basking in the morning sun, he talks about the colors he sees for the first time in centuries. The moment on the docks shows the consequences for his decision to not ascend. It could have been an incredible moment that shows the extent of his sacrifice. Instead it turned out extremely tasteless.

I believe his arc is about trauma, bodily autonomy and so much more than that. It's about freedom and healing and trust to name a few.
Even if he can protect himself (and in hindsight we know that he can), that's not the point. As I told you before, the point is, my Character is forced to act as if she doesn't care about Astarion. Despite the promise she made.
They added a cut scene for the sharess caress orgy, they surely can at least add my character running after Astarion. If they'd switch his and Karlach's moments, he could even go to Avernus if the player feels like it.

It would be nice if the companions were friendlier to each other and were more lively in act 3 in general.

This above all. In general I am starting to get a Karlach problem that gets worse every play-through, the amount of effort the game puts into making you and all the companions like her, is disproportional to the attention the other characters get, especially those who share similar problems to her's. I mean look at the drama her exploding gets compared to the way Gale goes out, if you choose to blow him up. Besides the whole Astarion burning in the sun issue.

Yep, she gets special treatment. If it works it works, but if it doesn't it can be really annoying. As a result she's never in my camp.

The more the game blatantly attempts to make me care for her, while not giving the same attention to other characters who also have these problems, the more I get put off by her character.


I would do the same in my future second playthrough with my Tav, were she not the perfect candidate for the heroic sacrifice, because she became expendable to me after taking Gortash's deal and her story makes her look like a cannon fodder character in the first place. Funnily enough, I cared more about the guy who I could finally chat with for the very first time (through Lae'zel's story) than someone who had been with me since act 1. Even that epilogue tries to make her as likeable as possible.

Same. Not going through that again therefore not going to recruit her anymore. It's a shame because I really liked Karlach.

Quoted to keep this thread active and noticeable They need to swop the Karlach dock scene and the Astarion dock scene in the running order. A while back there was a poster (not sure if it was this thread or another) who played as Astarion and romanced Karlach, that must have been the most disappointing ending imaginable. You run away from your lover cos you're burning she starts to burn up as well and either dies or goes to Avernus (possibly with someone else) while you are forced to lurk behind some crates and can't comfort your love interest or go with her because you are out of dialogue range. Did larian really think that would never happen or something?
If they did that, following Astarion off the docks (if he didn't go to Avernus) would be the most natural thing in the world

Meanwhile if you play as Karlach you get Astarion's whole romance adapted to her situation. Don't know about the ending though, it probably still sucks.

Well, in that article they did admit that they just couldn't be bothered to figure it out.

Again, not so much for other people with poisonous blood. But I'll take those extra approval points, for letting him nibble, thank you very much.

Well, it should be different for Gale too, especially since he's been in development longer.

Another thing that was disappointing in Astarion's origin was that the game never acknowledges how well he understands what Minthara's been through with the worm, and her need for revenge.

I haven't had the pleasure with Minthara yet, but I was in general surprised how few reminders of his past with Cazador he gets. In Gale's Origin, whenever something pops up that Mystra might have an opinion on, the narration reminds you about it or prompts you to consider your own position on the matter - usually this also coincides with one of Astarion's little manipulation attempts. It is a good representation of how important Mystra still is to him and creates a nice (percieved) dynamic between the characters.

Astarion's past before Cazador was cut and they didn't give him a new one. Cazador related stuff changed too. That might be why there's nothing in his origin and why the narrator says things that don't make sense sometimes, like "your master's coven is close to Baldur's Gate" when the palace is in the middle of the city, or how sunlight on his skin feels like "a caress of a lover who doesn't know better yet". 5 patches and they haven't figured out that maybe they shouldn't imply that he enjoyed being used that way.

Makes no sense whatsoever. A huge chunk of Act2 and the Act 3 (up to when you go to the palace) is him being celibate (and so are we of course) to get over his trauma.
They wrote that, then ignored it on multiple occasions.
It's not only Spawn Astarion, Ascended Asatarion has some diabolical voice lines for Tav that show at least one of the writers hadn't done any homework.

You're really left doing the thing I was hoping I wouldn't have to do with Larian - which is wait for modders to fix it (when did Bethesda take over?).

One modder has thankfully dealt with the worst of Ascended Astarion and Tavs dialogue (oddly it isn't what he says that's the issue its what Tav says - so no idea what Larian was thinking by that point).

But that damn dock scene is the absolute pits and should be cut out of the scene altogether and consigned to an incinerator.

Which lines? And what mod? Got me curious.

https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3/mods/5037?

Encountered soon after Ascension. Basically 'Make me a vampire too', 'Have sex with me', or scolding him like a teenager (Hope you've learned something from all this).

Sooo the entire thing was cos I wanted my Tav to be a vampire, or I view Astarion as a sex object, or he's a kid in need of admonishment.

Very poorly written , and none of the options have a hint of affection.

Modder just softened the edges a bit

Ah, that one. When the writing is so bad you need a mod to make it make sense.

Tho to be fair the player's dialogue in the graveyard scene isn't masterclass of writing either.

If I could mod I'd mess around with his Act 2 convos a bit. Araj was a good idea, but the implementation sucks in the romance version.

Or the player dialogue in the romantic cut scene before the epilogues. They seem to have unlearned writing flirty banter along the way.

In Araj's case I would really like to be able to tell her off first and then ask Astarion what was wrong with her afterwards. It feels like more natural thing to do than having the discussion about the why's under her nose.

I am also currently stuck with everyone's favourite "I will protect you" again, which feels so heavily tone deaf especially right after the two lovely speeches about partnership and equality.

Reading our response options there is like reading a cheap restaurant menu. Also a missed opportunity for our character to feel a little insecure too, especially as a Durge after Omeluum's told us that the worm is what holds our brain together. And now the worm is gone.


It does its job the way it is, it just looks really stupid when we all pretend she can't hear us right here. What I'd like in that scene is to be able to say "it's more the other way around" when she asks if he belongs to me. Just to mess with her and watch the disbelief and disgust on her face if I do it as a female drow.

One of the things that I don't like about the post-Araj convo is that you can't say for example "you mean a great deal to me" and then hug him.

The other one is the really stupid way that lets you keep the romance after pushing him to bite her. I go through it and I honestly can't tell if it's a bug or intentional.


At least he has a good response to that.

There are more places where I'd like to fix the player's dialogue. Like when he's drunk on a bear and talks about power, we can't agree with him that yeah, power lets you do anything.


"You can play evil" my ass.

That would be nice, yes. I believe most Origins are in a slightly vulnerable state in the end if they have broken with their previous lives. It might not be as severe as for a Durge but it's still new and maybe a little daunting, so it would be lovely to be able to reflect that.


That would be hilarious. Isn't "you mean a great deal to me" and then hug him how the dialogue normally goes? Or did you mean as one action? I never had the heart to make him drink from Araj yet ... apart from on his Origin, where you are not told that her smell is off and you shouldn't drink from her.


Ha, I want wizard options in that conversation to discuss the effects of different kinds of blood in annoyingly great detail! All the options are very patronising, you don't even have to play evil to want different options here. It would have been a nice spot for a little bonding if your character also is on the power-hungry side, knows what it is to have lost all power or maybe to just wants to be supportive of him feeling good about himself for once.

No, they both come after "I care about you" and are mutually exclusive.


Change "you" into "us" in the last response option and it's a bonding moment. They were so close lol.

We can at least say that we're not powerless and that the tadpole is a useful thing. But I second the idea, I'd like to be able to agree with him and then at the end of that conversation when he says he intends to use the tadpole to actually have dialogue options to say 'I intend to as well', 'I'm not sure about it just yet', or 'I fully intend to be rid of the worm, I don't trust it'. I think the conversation ends too fast there.

Greetings! Someone on reddit said about the docks scene:

"They kind of fixed that with patch 5, he doesn't have to run off immediately so it's not as jarring."

Please, could somebody ascertain if that's true? I'd do it myself but Im still on patch #3

I only have a file with his Origin (my other endgame save cuts off before his scene) and nothing has changed there. The Githyanki leave, Wyll looses his powers (or the other way around?), Gale contemplates the crown and while you are discussing what to do next, Astarion starts to feel the effect of the sun and has to run.

I went through it like 10 times trying to trigger the epilogue on a modded save. Nothing's been changed. What they did in Patch 5 was make it so the companions in your active party get priority in speaking up at the docks. So now it's more probable to get his whole "oh I can still walk in the sun, no I can't" thing.

I also found out that sometimes he's the one who will offer to go celebrate, which makes his ending then feel even worse.

I forgot to reply to this. This would be extremely cute and I love it.

It could have been a nice "us vs the rest of them" moment for a certain kind of character, and it would also work well with Astarion's "let's take over the cult" Act 2 speech.

Thank you both. It would have been surprising if they would have changed it and no one in this thread said a peep.

It would have even tonally fit right in with the banter about how the party members taste. Mind if I mention this when I write them a feedback ticket about player dialogue during the holidays?

I love the "take over the cult" speech, especially if the bedtime-musings narration continues it with - among other options - "To wield enough power to threaten a god. That would be quite something ..." Astarion is such a perfectly charming devil on the shoulder in Act 2. But I might have gushed about this at least once before. ^^;

To be honest I wouldn't have checked if not for the epilogue (which I didn't manage to trigger in the end lol), so I would have missed it if any changes were made.


Go ahead.

When you play Durge the conversation about what the others would taste like and the one where he asks you how he should kill you feel like some hardcore flirting, so it would fit even more in that case.

And taking over the cult speech is also funny with Durge because
I wish Larian knew what friendships are, because Astarion is perfect as both a bro and a lover for someone who's hungry for power. And the friend version of his post-Araj convo is better than the romance one. You can talk about how in some circumstances it's necessary to use all available assets, which is perfect for a manipulative power hungry playthrough, and he says one of my favorite lines of his:

I think, their advice to not play Durge in your first run is really not good.


Treating friendship as lesser than romance is a sentiment I generally dislike. In Astarion's case, it's especially bitter because I feel that his romance has an air of being in a relationship with your best friend, but if you do change it to a none-romance something of that best friend feeling gets lost. I watched the friends version of the scene after the Araj encounter on yt and I really liked it too. It has more nuance than the romanced one, which feels like a less heartfelt variation of the other romance scene. For a game that has power as its core theme there could be some more options to talk about it - or even about what being powerless feels like.

Exactly this.


Because that version is about the actual topic and not about "so why did you sleep with me".

It would have been nice if you could lead the conversation to the actual topic if you don't focus on the possibly hurt feelings. If you romanced someone else alongside him in Act 1 (or exploited poor Wyll's dance) and he gives you the whole "new true love" speech, the Araj thing also feels slightly redundant to me. It's not heartfelt enough to make the moment of jealousy feel like a step on the way, yet it doesn't add much either.

That's basically where Karlach's special romance treatment in act 1 falls flat for me too. The sex is intended as manipulation and the whole scene is staged in a way that it feels performative while him enjoying the sunshine the morning after feels real - at least that's how it feels to me. He knows beforehand that he can't have sex with Karlach, so why doesn't he come up with a different plan to sink a hook in when Plan A obviously is cannot work? He is usually not that bad at spinning people along or at combining flirtation with manipulation. If you already make all the effort to make a scene specific for one character, you can also really make it work for that one character.

A lot of dialogues in the game are disconnected from each other when they shouldn't be.


My gripe with it is that the way it is now, it could also work for any custom character. There can be many reasons why someone wouldn't be able to sleep with him that night despite really wanting to, and they could have allowed us to see what happens when he's forced to go off-script without having to play an origin we may not even care about.

It's also funny that they put all this work into their romance when you play as Karlach, but didn't make the ending work if you play as him and romance her.

If they hadn't put her name into every second line to make it somehow feel personal. *coughs* Otherwise it would be helpful, yes.


That must be so painful ...

Speaking of Karlach and all the extra stuff in her origin. Astarion even has unique lines gushing over Wyll in Karlach playthrough.



I actually find this surprising because in my game he and Wyll were only bickering and dunking on each other.
Astarion seems to have the biggest rivalry between the other dudes for Tav's affection and he sounds the most jealous and cynical when saying 'new, true love' when speaking about Wyll and Gale. Then there's the whole Halsin thing. On the other hand he says he'd be ok with a poly arrangement with the ladies but won't do it because they're too fragile (Karlach) or inexperienced (Shadowheart).

The more I see of Karlach's origin the more it feels like somebody's fanfiction.

And all those unique interactions that have no reason to be exclusive to her., It's like they really want everyone to play it.

Writing up my favourite little things for the other thread made me realise how true this is. (Not the fanfiction portion though that is very true as well.) I had originally wondered if Gale's conversation about post battle tingles was something they had made especially for Astarion-Origin because it fits so well. It isn't and it works really well for many other characters too. That it's not exclusive doesn't make it less enjoyable on the Origin. Same with most of the (Wizard) dialogue options. I am pretty sure most of those were written with Gale in mind as some have his speech pattern, but they can also work very nicely for other wizards, so it's nice they got shared.

Also bumping the thread a bit.

In his origin the whole ending sequence is meh.

We chill behind those crates until sunset. Then there's a scene in some cave with that tied up guy, and it's light outside, implying this is at least the next day. Narrator says we will flourish in the city. And then we get the scene where it's again implied to be the day after the docks where we choose what we will do next and we can choose to have nothing to do with the city.

Logical and consistent writing at its finest.

It really seems like the narrator doesn't understand Astarion. That comment, plus 'the caress of a lover' and him 'knowing how to find comfort'.

The narrator has no idea what's going on.

In his origin at one point the narrator says Cazador's coven is near Baldur's Gate while the palace is literally in the middle of the city.

Or during the forced long rest between Act 2 and 3: "you are hungry, beyond blood, beyond lust." Thank you for reminding me I'm playing a vampire, because the last time blood hunger was mentioned was beginning of Act 1. And not a single lustful thought.

More related to the ending: Is Astarion singling you out for killing Cazador even though he was present a new thing or a bug?

When? I don't remember him doing that.

During the morning after conversation after defeating the brain. I am currently getting "We've dealt with the parasite. And you dealt with Cazador." on my admittedly somewhat old safe. He was present during the Cazador-fight but we started it with a sneak attack.

It has to be a bug. He didn't do that in my Patch 4 save last I checked.