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I have 200 hours in game, Astarion approves like 80% evil choices and another 20% neutral, and he always disapproves or doesn't react on good actions. He is a chaotically evil character, don't expect him to encourage your kindness, sooner or later it will cause conflict.
(
sorry, I don’t know how to make a "quote" here)
in my perception Astarion also approves of black humor. doing good deeds, I manage to raise my relationship with him to a high and exceptional.
yes a lot comes from his personal scenes. but I do not always allow him to bite his tab. maybe it’s selfishness, but who among us doesn’t like to be treated well. then we are all Astarion
In general, Astarion gives me conflicting feelings, on the one hand, it is very annoying. especially now in the game for a male bearded dwarf sorcerer. on the other hand, I feel sorry for him. and this is a very well made character. in general, if he ultimately betrays our tab. it will not be so offensive. at least expected.
but if he ends up as one vampire from bg2 ee, I'll be upset.

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Originally Posted by ash elemental
On the other hand letting Astarion drink blood, while making him happy, feels like a "trap" choice for a good aligned character. It allows him to engage in his monstrous nature for the first time, something he couldn't before, ironically due to Cazador's orders. So it is a step away from redemption.

I usually play Neutral/Good, and usually support the companions in pursuing their own personal interests rather than blindly forcing them to follow my authority.
I'm not sure about that being a step away from redemption... I see it as a step towards him reclaiming his power as a free vampire ("after all, you know what I am now, I can fight with all my weapons - teeth included"). He IS a vampire, has been for 200 years, this can't be changed. But whether he becomes a true monster by his actions in the rest of the story, and what he does with that power - that remains to be seen. Is betrayal likely? Oh probably very likely during his personal quest. Do I have a hope of redeeming him somehow? Certainly I hope the option will be there. smile

Again the fact that we all see him differently, and not just in black & white, proves how well-written AND well-acted he is as a character. smile

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Originally Posted by Alexandrite
I see it as a step towards him reclaiming his power as a free vampire ("after all, you know what I am now, I can fight with all my weapons - teeth included"). He IS a vampire, has been for 200 years, this can't be changed. But whether he becomes a true monster by his actions in the rest of the story, and what he does with that power - that remains to be seen.
In this setting vampires are evil monsters, or at least they were in BG2 (though I don't play pnp, so I don't know how vampirism is handled now). It was similar how dragons were color-coded; for example a red dragon would be evil, as this was their nature. When Astarion chooses to reclaim his power, that is power granted by being a monster, and he chooses to do so by trying to drink blood in secret. He only considers asking for consent after he was caught. Whether Astarion cannot do anything about his vampiric nature, that is unclear. In BG2 there was a quest about reversing vampirism, so it was possible in this setting according to the old rules.

Though I think they will put in a redemption path, because the writers will have to accomodate a player who chooses to play as an evil origin character and yet makes consistently good choices.

Last edited by ash elemental; 10/05/21 01:48 PM.
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Originally Posted by middle tab
I have 200 hours in game, Astarion approves like 80% evil choices and another 20% neutral, and he always disapproves or doesn't react on good actions. He is a chaotically evil character, don't expect him to encourage your kindness, sooner or later it will cause conflict.
(
sorry, I don’t know how to make a "quote" here)
in my perception Astarion also approves of black humor. doing good deeds, I manage to raise my relationship with him to a high and exceptional.
yes a lot comes from his personal scenes. but I do not always allow him to bite his tab. maybe it’s selfishness, but who among us doesn’t like to be treated well. then we are all Astarion
In general, Astarion gives me conflicting feelings, on the one hand, it is very annoying. especially now in the game for a male bearded dwarf sorcerer. on the other hand, I feel sorry for him. and this is a very well made character. in general, if he ultimately betrays our tab. it will not be so offensive. at least expected.
but if he ends up as one vampire from bg2 ee, I'll be upset.

It's fine c: To be honest, I do not know which ones good choices you talking about. It would be easier for me to understand if you gave an example. In my experience, it's only when you killing paladins to save tiefling. I don't know how much of a good choice this is, hmm.


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I mean, by completing the quests of the druids and tieflings and bringing good to all of them. I somehow get his approval in one way or another smile in general, sometimes it seems to me that Astarion is crazy. perhaps he was driven mad by Casador. possibly influenced by his vampire essence. but some of his actions and dialogues suggest these thoughts frown

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Originally Posted by middle tab
I mean, by completing the quests of the druids and tieflings and bringing good to all of them. I somehow get his approval in one way or another smile in general, sometimes it seems to me that Astarion is crazy. perhaps he was driven mad by Casador. possibly influenced by his vampire essence. but some of his actions and dialogues suggest these thoughts frown

Well... He doesn't really approve what you're doing. He just ignores it. x) It doesn't make him angry, but it doesn't make him happy too.

I'm also confused by "original" stories, I'm afraid choices will look ridiculous on some characters. For example, in theory, playing like Wyll you can betray grove, but this is ridiculous... As a character, he would never do anything like that.


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Originally Posted by Nyloth
I'm also confused by "original" stories, I'm afraid choices will look ridiculous on some characters. For example, in theory, playing like Wyll you can betray grove, but this is ridiculous... As a character, he would never do anything like that.
Reported that somewhere around Patch 2 ...

Even now you are totally able to save Lae'zel when talking with those Tieflings as Shadowheart, and you dont even get disaproovement. laugh
You cant invite to party anymore tho, but still ...

I certainly hope those dialogue options will be either completely deleted for Origin characters (unlikely) or clearly marked with something like:
[THIS IS COMPELTELY AGAINST THIS CHARACTER AND IT WILL COPLETELY RUIN THE STORY WE WANTED TO TELL HERE ... but its your choice, enjoy.]

Last edited by RagnarokCzD; 10/05/21 11:40 PM.

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Originally Posted by RagnarokCzD
Originally Posted by Nyloth
I'm also confused by "original" stories, I'm afraid choices will look ridiculous on some characters. For example, in theory, playing like Wyll you can betray grove, but this is ridiculous... As a character, he would never do anything like that.
Reported that somewhere around Patch 2 ...

Even now you are totally able to save Lae'zel when talking with those Tieflings as Shadowheart, and you dont even get disaproovement. laugh
You cant invite to party anymore tho, but still ...

I certainly hope those dialogue options will be either completely deleted for Origin characters (unlikely) or clearly marked with something like:
[THIS IS COMPELTELY AGAINST THIS CHARACTER AND IT WILL COPLETELY RUIN THE STORY WE WANTED TO TELL HERE ... but its your choice, enjoy.]
I remember that because of his eye, Wyl can't make a deal with the Hag, so some story choices are locked off to certain characters

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Honestly, I can see ways it could work but only if handled carefully. For example, with Wyll, he could betray the grove if he decided the best way to get to Mizora is buddy up with the enemy, as much as he hates their guts and wants them gone off the face of the earth. And tbh, Wyll isn't exactly the most lawful good guy so you could roleplay him as losing his morals or prioritizing getting out of his pact above the lives of others.

It however would be easier to block an origin character from making certain decisions to keep them consistent.

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Originally Posted by CJMPinger
Honestly, I can see ways it could work but only if handled carefully. For example, with Wyll, he could betray the grove if he decided the best way to get to Mizora is buddy up with the enemy, as much as he hates their guts and wants them gone off the face of the earth. And tbh, Wyll isn't exactly the most lawful good guy so you could roleplay him as losing his morals or prioritizing getting out of his pact above the lives of others.

It however would be easier to block an origin character from making certain decisions to keep them consistent.
not to mention the shadow druid angle

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Originally Posted by RagnarokCzD
Originally Posted by Nyloth
I'm also confused by "original" stories, I'm afraid choices will look ridiculous on some characters. For example, in theory, playing like Wyll you can betray grove, but this is ridiculous... As a character, he would never do anything like that.
Reported that somewhere around Patch 2 ...

Even now you are totally able to save Lae'zel when talking with those Tieflings as Shadowheart, and you dont even get disaproovement. laugh
You cant invite to party anymore tho, but still ...

I certainly hope those dialogue options will be either completely deleted for Origin characters (unlikely) or clearly marked with something like:
[THIS IS COMPELTELY AGAINST THIS CHARACTER AND IT WILL COPLETELY RUIN THE STORY WE WANTED TO TELL HERE ... but its your choice, enjoy.]

I'd like to believe that too, but I've played DOS2 and I know they probably won't remove these dialogues, so I'll never consider "original" stories as canon for the characters ' personalities..


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Based on a datamined picture of Karlach, Shadowheart is going to remain the best-looking female companion

reddit post of Karlach's datamined picture

And I'll be killing Karlach with pleasure.

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Since Karlach looks like she is getting that new 'buff' character model that's been kicking around in the files for a while, I would think that she'll be another strength-based bruiser, which makes me wonder if Lae'zel will be made into a dex fighter to avoid redundancy-since we know
Minsc
is coming and they are definately str-based, plus she does use a scimitar in her art after all, which is a finesse weapon.

I like her new look-very striking, and looks much more fitting for the 'footsoldier of the Blood Wars' backstory she has going on, and it's good that we'll have a buff companion of both genders for folks who like that sort of thing. I'm going to assume that they are going to change her hairstyle from what she has in-game as well, since that's a generic hairstyle and afaik none of the companions so far use the generic hairstyles. Looks like she's almost done though, I wonder if she'll be ready as a companion by the next big patch.

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Originally Posted by Passerby
Based on a datamined picture of Karlach, Shadowheart is going to remain the best-looking female companion.
I dunno ...
I dont like Shadowheart default look. :-/

But, she certainly have potential ...
As i watched last Chubblot's datamining video, i really liked her look ... and all that was changed was hair, and some darker makeup. O_o

So ... yeah, she stay best-looking female companion ... but only since she is the only female-looking companion so far. :P

Last edited by RagnarokCzD; 20/05/21 07:16 PM.

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I still find it hilarious that the men-folk keep complaining about lack of "attractive" female companions, meanwhile we girls have 3 attractive male companions to admire. THIS NEVER HAPPENS IN GAMES, people! Do you have ANY IDEA how awesome this is?! smile

Also, I really like Karlach's new model. In general, all the female characters are strong in their own way.

It's so refreshing to have a game that is not designed purely for the male gaze.

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Oh ... "male gaze" again. While it's always okay to have shirtless brawny men for the women-folk to indulge in their female gaze.

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I mean Attractiveness is in the eye(s) of the Beholder, I am sure there are many straight guys out there who would enjoy a tall buff tiefling lady, just like how many many people were all about that tall vampire lady from RE8. Attractiveness is personal taste and I posit there are as many who find Shadowheart unattractive as there are who find her attractive. And there are likely many who will like Karlach, as there are many who won't, both having their opinions based on the same features. (Though Laezel probably has less defenders on that front.)
Then again I don't really have horse in that race cause I am content with Astarion and Gale for my romances, unless of course we get someone really out there...

Last edited by CJMPinger; 20/05/21 11:11 PM.
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Originally Posted by Passerby
Oh ... "male gaze" again. While it's always okay to have shirtless brawny men for the women-folk to indulge in their female gaze.

Hah - I personally don't find brawny men attractive at all. I'll leave Halsin for others to drool over - I'd take Astarion any day! :P

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I just hope this still isnt final model ...
Meaning i hope Karlach will not remain bald. laugh Even tho that thing she have on head right now, isnt much better in my taste, it kinda looks like some small animal, like ferret, that is just sleeping there. laugh
What will probably remain is that broken horn. frown I get it, i understand it ... but i just hate it ... i know some sort of symmetry is natural, but the more asymmetric models are the less i like them ... maybe im just weird in this. laugh
Love that scars tho! And kinda like her face. :P

Originally Posted by Alexandrite
Do you have ANY IDEA how awesome this is?! smile
Yes.
Not at all, for us. laugh

Last edited by RagnarokCzD; 20/05/21 11:39 PM.

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Originally Posted by Alexandrite
It's so refreshing to have a game that is not designed purely for the male gaze.

Larian seems to do a decent - not 100% perfect, but whatever - job of avoiding that particular pitfall. Thanks for equal opportunity depravity, devs! up grin

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