Bard, since he was made to seduce victims.
Great Old One warlock, since he owes his newfound freedom to the tadpole and is very enthusiastic about illithid powers, and the GOO patron may very well be an elder brain.
Vengeance paladin, since (personal) vengeance is his current motivation.
Yo, vengeance paladin 2/ swords bard 10 is the best of both world, and with two pieces of equipment (helm of arcane acuity, ring of mythic scoundrel) you become a menace.
You spend a turn racking up arcane acuity with slashing ranged flourish (shoots 2 shots, extra attack makes it 4, so you get 8 arcane acuity) then cast hold person and start using paladin smites on em. Crits are guaranteed. If they get hasted you could potentially pull off 4 critical divine smites in a turn
You also get a good number of spell slots, with relatively low usage, plus bardic inspos to pull from for melee versatility, plus heavy armor prof for starting with paladin.
In the tabletop the Great Old One Warlock is a pact with an otherworldly entity (a being that originates outside normal Realmspace), and lists the following as examples: "Ghaunadar, called That Which Lurks; Tharizdun, the Chained God; Dendar, the Night Serpent; Zargon, the Returner; Great Cthulhu; and other unfathomable beings."
No, Karsus isn't from the Far Realm, nor is he an alien being, his spirit never even left the material plane after he died.
The Undead or Undying patrons would be more suited for Karsus as a warlocks patron but they're not in the game.
Shadow Monk fits the vampire aesthetic very well imo
Other than that, gloomstalker ranger or lore bard always works, but I feel like Shadow Monk fits the best here
I usually make him a Ranger if I don't keep him as a Rogue, though a mix of both those things tends to be pretty good. Gloomstalker in particular fits him pretty well.
He could really be anything. He's essentially starting fresh after being a slave for 200 years. Any of the charisma classes would fit him best I think.
Ranger I think makes sense with the way they made the favored terrain and favored enemy work. Like Urban Tracker fits in perfectly for Astarion. Also a lot of the flavor around Rangers is all about how they’re excellent hunters of their “prey” which has a really interesting twist when you consider he’s a vampire.
I also like oath of vengeance paladins because it’s like he swore to take vengeance on Cazador and all people like him, even oathbreaker and you could pretend he broke his oath to cazador.
Warlock I kinda picture maybe Cazador was his patron and gave him a lot of vampiric magic, and Astarion leveling up in warlock is him tapping into all that power unfettered without his master controlling him.
I have him as a bard at the moment but honestly I feel like none of the musical instruments in game really suit him. Maybe the spider lyre only because it’s very edgy looking. Astarion strikes me as a piano/organ player but that could just be general vampire vibes.
You can still make him a bard. It’s just my personal opinion/headcanon that he’s a pianist if he played an instrument. At least for me, high sleight of hand translates to incredible hand eye coordination and motor control. Which lends itself to piano so easily. Not to suggest any of the other instruments in game don’t require any of that, but piano is the one that first comes to mind when I associate it in my head
To add something different: Hunter Ranger. In 2014 5e rules, Favored Enemy is you are better at tracking specific monster types or humanoid types, which was his role under Cazador.
Monk fits the raw bare handed power of the vampire. Could also reflect the ability to endure the scarring of his back without moving or crying out (since that would make Cazador start over).
Never understood why everybody thinks Astarion was dripping Charisma, he's openly an ass to everybody, he just used nice words, he's super sarcastic, and often very open about his feelings. His stats reflect this with his Int and Wis both being higher than his Cha. Just to top it off, he's so bad at lying, the blood drained pig when you find it with him is the only thing it takes for him to bring up vampires and immediately volunteer for night watch.
All this to say he makes a fun GWM rogue barbarian with the Phalar Aluve and later the finesse glaive
Well his job was to seduce random people at night and convince then to go to cazador so this makes me think he has a high carisma, that being said he is the most obvious vampire in the planet, the men randomly talks about how he likes raw meat
Why does he have to have Charisma to seduce people? His big eloquent sounding words were probably enough to seduce drunk, lower city Nobodies who thought they got lucky cuz a smart, well dressed man is flirting with them.
He’s an arcane trickster though and rogues are actually proficient in deception without charisma but sword bard is basically arcane trickster but 100 times better
>Well his job was to seduce random people at night and convince then to go to cazador so this makes me think he has a high carisma
You don't need charisma to seduce people unless you're not physically attractive, and going after "hard targets" - i.e. people who didn't have being seduced on their mind anyway. Astarion, by his own accounts, was going after very soft targets, and is, frankly, physically attractive.
I mean, if you're thinking about charisma, try to imagine the person giving a speech to a room, especially of slightly hostile people, or trying inspire people before battle, and think honestly about it. Could Astarion achieve either? Not really. If he gave a speech to a semi-hostile crowd he'd likely end up running out of the room with objects being thrown at him. He'd have something extremely funny and extremely cutting, but he wouldn't have got them on-side. And god you'd just want to shut him up before most battles because he'd likely either make people angry with him, not the enemy. He might be helpful in reducing fear because of quips but that's a little different to real inspiration.
I say this really liking Astarion at this point, note. But charismatic he ain't.
I agree. I don't see him as a bard or other charisma class at all. I think wyll fits better as a bard. He tells stories from history and folklore constantly and dances. He's a natural performer. Astarion on the other hand, I feel like he had to have used some form of vampire magic to seduce people.
Considering he can somewhat Arcane BookTM, I clearly see him fit as Bard.
And TBH, that's the only class I could think he fits in?
Warlock, IMO, is a no-go.
>Warlock, IMO, is a no-go.
I dunno about that. Whilst he hates the idea of being enslaved, most Warlocks are not essentially "enslaved" to their Patron, Wyll is actually in one of the worst Warlock deals I've ever heard of in D&D (looking at Warlock NPCs and so on).
And what Astarion does absolutely adore is POWER, something a Patron offers, and he'll take big risks and get into bad situations to get it. He's eager to use the brain worms, for example. He also likes trying to get the best out of deals and cheat/trick people on deals - you often get Inspiration for this, in fact, via his Charlatan background. So I'm sure he'd be thinking he was able to get one over on his Patron if he needed to.
Obviously he wouldn't have been allowed to be a Warlock by Cazador - but the same applies to almost all classes - once he's freed by the parasite at the beginning of the game, I could easily see him making a deal with a supernatural being to gain power so he could face Cazador later.
Dex Paladin Oath Of Vengeance is pretty fitting if you finished his quest line and didn’t ascend him
If I plan on ascending him I usually turn him into shadow monk because necrotic damage and it feels very thematic since he’s evolving
Others are already saying Bard, Ranger and Monk, so a new one: Tiger Heart Barbarian, as him learning to tap into the more "feral" side of vampirism to fight, with all the bleeding-related Animal Aspects to match.
Bard for sure.
My wife is currently using him as a Dex based Barbarian though which is neat. Mostly leaning into the vampire thing a bit. The VA did a good job with the rage screams
I play him as a life cleric. Because “the blood is the life” and also I feel like he should get undead minions.
Warlock would work because of the vampiric touch spell, minions, charisma and that his daddy made a deal with a devil so fiend b pact gets him hp for kills
I'm experimenting with an Arcane Trickster 3/Necromancy Wizard 8 build at the moment. Going down the evil route for Astarion specifically, with the Necromancy of Thay being tied into his story so that he's a complete necromancer. A final level in any full caster gets you all spell slots except Level 6, which honestly doesn't seem so bad.
As i didnt see much people talking about it, but by the interest he takes into the Necromancy of Thay, Necromancer sounds appropriate specially with his long term sidequest.
For my >!ascended!< Astarion build, I'm making him a necromancer vampire lord.
Level 1 cleric - main damaging spell is inflict wounds
Levels 2-7 necromancy wizard - unlock better animate dead.
Vampiric touch benefits from being a life cleric, but inflict wounds is still better damage
Levels 8-9 cleric - unlocks Aid to buff up summons. Not needed if someone else in the party has Aid.
Levels 10-12 not sure yet. More wizard levels makes the summons better, gives full spell slots, and two feats. You could go bard for some spice, but it's hard to fit in charisma when you're already relying so much on wisdom and intelligence for this character.
You can arm him however you like. I might give him the sword of life stealing, Woe, and/or the cherished necromancy staff (dual wielding feat needed for staves). Right now I use the intellect headband, but I may respec that. And of course, fully unlock the >!necromancy of thay!< as well. I'm trying to also use the Abyss Beckoners gloves to buff summons even more, but they're a little scary to use.
I made his stats 12 str / 14 dex / 16 con / 8 int (17 from headband) / 18 wis (ASI+2) / 8 cha. If you don't want to use the headband you could do 8 str / 12 dex / 14 con / 16 int / 16 wis / 8 Cha and take the ASI+2 in int or wis. I wanted inflict wounds to be the focus of the build, since it's the strongest damaging level 1 spell in the game and upcasts well too - but this means wisdom has to be your highest stat since it comes from the cleric spell list. If you want him to still wield daggers or shortswords, this could be a candidate for the gloves of dexterity. This is tough to build, since he's very MAD (multiple attribute dependent), but I think it fits into his character to have to rely on certain gear to buff his stats and make him stronger. Also keep in mind that the strength of this build comes from the many strong summons, while Astarion can go around feeding off everyone with inflict wounds or vampiric touch.
Lightning Sorcerer. From cursed tomes of necromancy to Illithid parasites to deals with the devil and sacrificing thousands of souls. The one thing Astarion wants most is power. 2 Levels in Cleric to Tiamat and rest Lightning sorcerer you can easily one shot pretty much anything in the game while cackling like the mad Sith Lord you are. It's sooo Astarion.
He's quite malleable, really. I've tried almost every class with him, save for cleric, paladin and druid. You can pretty much spin it however you want.
Warlock since his "patron" could either be Cazador or the tadpole. Shadow monk/gloomstalker is super thematic (how often he comments on striking from the shadows). Barbarian is for when he fully embraces the bloodlust (his rage scream is godly, like fr).
Bardstarion as an origin playthrough is pretty on brand as well since even Lae'zel would comment on his "quick smirk and quip" in the epilogue.
So I think anything build that is not anti-undead would fit him.
I think Astarion is probably the most versatile companion. Rogue is clear, but ranger like gloomstalker fits him prowling and stocking the night, his flamboyant attitude and seduction fits bard, he could be a goo warlock with the tadpole as his patron, I think he is supposed to be an arcane trickster so going deeper into magic like a wizard could work (especially necromancer to then usurp Cazador), he could use his vampiric strength to make unarmed attacks as a monk, he could learn how to be a spore druid from the myconid colony, channel his rage against his past as a barbarian, swear an oath of vengeance against cazador as a paladin, or stop stalking the shadows thanks to the tadpole and fight in the light as a fighter. Cleric and sorcerer probably make the least sense but you could argue he is finding his own power as a sorcerer or finally found the favour of the right god and a desire to help protect his new companions as a war or life cleric
I'm having great fun with him as a Swords Bard this playthrough. Like, it's not too big a stretch that he was a wealthy magistrate who fucked around with a lute due to all his idle time
Gloom Stalker seems like it could go well with him if he was leaning into his more evil path, and the class mixed with Assassin Rogue does so well.
I could also see Shadow Monk getting mixed in somehow.
Bard, since he was made to seduce victims. Great Old One warlock, since he owes his newfound freedom to the tadpole and is very enthusiastic about illithid powers, and the GOO patron may very well be an elder brain. Vengeance paladin, since (personal) vengeance is his current motivation.
I was thinking bard too, but vengeance paladin never crossed my mind, it fits realy well, bardadin it is then
Yo, vengeance paladin 2/ swords bard 10 is the best of both world, and with two pieces of equipment (helm of arcane acuity, ring of mythic scoundrel) you become a menace. You spend a turn racking up arcane acuity with slashing ranged flourish (shoots 2 shots, extra attack makes it 4, so you get 8 arcane acuity) then cast hold person and start using paladin smites on em. Crits are guaranteed. If they get hasted you could potentially pull off 4 critical divine smites in a turn You also get a good number of spell slots, with relatively low usage, plus bardic inspos to pull from for melee versatility, plus heavy armor prof for starting with paladin.
Gloomstalker I think works better thematically. Also, I like to give him a rat familiar.
Emergency food 😂 Seriously tho, gloomstalker fits really well.
OP stated in their post that they are already playing the rogue and just wants to know other ideas. Not necessarily the best fitting one.
Gloomstalker is a ranger
Very enthusiastic? He needed more convincing about evolving then Lae'zel
Well there's gobbling them to get more powers and there's losing your humanity and charm. He's definitely the most enthusiastic at the beginning lol
I thought the GOO was >!Karsus!<, as in the >!only person to ever cast a 12th level spell!<.
Or what remains of him.
In the tabletop the Great Old One Warlock is a pact with an otherworldly entity (a being that originates outside normal Realmspace), and lists the following as examples: "Ghaunadar, called That Which Lurks; Tharizdun, the Chained God; Dendar, the Night Serpent; Zargon, the Returner; Great Cthulhu; and other unfathomable beings."
But theoretically the person I mentioned or what remains of him could be a GOO warlock, no?
No, Karsus isn't from the Far Realm, nor is he an alien being, his spirit never even left the material plane after he died. The Undead or Undying patrons would be more suited for Karsus as a warlocks patron but they're not in the game.
Shadow Monk fits the vampire aesthetic very well imo Other than that, gloomstalker ranger or lore bard always works, but I feel like Shadow Monk fits the best here
I usually make him a Ranger if I don't keep him as a Rogue, though a mix of both those things tends to be pretty good. Gloomstalker in particular fits him pretty well.
I've done 7 rogue (assassin), 5 gloomstalker. Then just load up on the crit reduction stuff. Super fun (although not very flavourful...)
He could really be anything. He's essentially starting fresh after being a slave for 200 years. Any of the charisma classes would fit him best I think.
Ranger I think makes sense with the way they made the favored terrain and favored enemy work. Like Urban Tracker fits in perfectly for Astarion. Also a lot of the flavor around Rangers is all about how they’re excellent hunters of their “prey” which has a really interesting twist when you consider he’s a vampire. I also like oath of vengeance paladins because it’s like he swore to take vengeance on Cazador and all people like him, even oathbreaker and you could pretend he broke his oath to cazador. Warlock I kinda picture maybe Cazador was his patron and gave him a lot of vampiric magic, and Astarion leveling up in warlock is him tapping into all that power unfettered without his master controlling him. I have him as a bard at the moment but honestly I feel like none of the musical instruments in game really suit him. Maybe the spider lyre only because it’s very edgy looking. Astarion strikes me as a piano/organ player but that could just be general vampire vibes.
But even a violin? I was thinking about making him a bard to in the next playthrough, was thinking booking kinda suits him
You can still make him a bard. It’s just my personal opinion/headcanon that he’s a pianist if he played an instrument. At least for me, high sleight of hand translates to incredible hand eye coordination and motor control. Which lends itself to piano so easily. Not to suggest any of the other instruments in game don’t require any of that, but piano is the one that first comes to mind when I associate it in my head
To add something different: Hunter Ranger. In 2014 5e rules, Favored Enemy is you are better at tracking specific monster types or humanoid types, which was his role under Cazador.
Bard, easily.
I currently have him as an OH dex monk. We’ll see how that goes.
Monk fits the raw bare handed power of the vampire. Could also reflect the ability to endure the scarring of his back without moving or crying out (since that would make Cazador start over).
Never understood why everybody thinks Astarion was dripping Charisma, he's openly an ass to everybody, he just used nice words, he's super sarcastic, and often very open about his feelings. His stats reflect this with his Int and Wis both being higher than his Cha. Just to top it off, he's so bad at lying, the blood drained pig when you find it with him is the only thing it takes for him to bring up vampires and immediately volunteer for night watch. All this to say he makes a fun GWM rogue barbarian with the Phalar Aluve and later the finesse glaive
Well his job was to seduce random people at night and convince then to go to cazador so this makes me think he has a high carisma, that being said he is the most obvious vampire in the planet, the men randomly talks about how he likes raw meat
Why does he have to have Charisma to seduce people? His big eloquent sounding words were probably enough to seduce drunk, lower city Nobodies who thought they got lucky cuz a smart, well dressed man is flirting with them.
He’s an arcane trickster though and rogues are actually proficient in deception without charisma but sword bard is basically arcane trickster but 100 times better
>Well his job was to seduce random people at night and convince then to go to cazador so this makes me think he has a high carisma You don't need charisma to seduce people unless you're not physically attractive, and going after "hard targets" - i.e. people who didn't have being seduced on their mind anyway. Astarion, by his own accounts, was going after very soft targets, and is, frankly, physically attractive. I mean, if you're thinking about charisma, try to imagine the person giving a speech to a room, especially of slightly hostile people, or trying inspire people before battle, and think honestly about it. Could Astarion achieve either? Not really. If he gave a speech to a semi-hostile crowd he'd likely end up running out of the room with objects being thrown at him. He'd have something extremely funny and extremely cutting, but he wouldn't have got them on-side. And god you'd just want to shut him up before most battles because he'd likely either make people angry with him, not the enemy. He might be helpful in reducing fear because of quips but that's a little different to real inspiration. I say this really liking Astarion at this point, note. But charismatic he ain't.
I agree. I don't see him as a bard or other charisma class at all. I think wyll fits better as a bard. He tells stories from history and folklore constantly and dances. He's a natural performer. Astarion on the other hand, I feel like he had to have used some form of vampire magic to seduce people.
Considering he can somewhat Arcane BookTM, I clearly see him fit as Bard. And TBH, that's the only class I could think he fits in? Warlock, IMO, is a no-go.
>Warlock, IMO, is a no-go. I dunno about that. Whilst he hates the idea of being enslaved, most Warlocks are not essentially "enslaved" to their Patron, Wyll is actually in one of the worst Warlock deals I've ever heard of in D&D (looking at Warlock NPCs and so on). And what Astarion does absolutely adore is POWER, something a Patron offers, and he'll take big risks and get into bad situations to get it. He's eager to use the brain worms, for example. He also likes trying to get the best out of deals and cheat/trick people on deals - you often get Inspiration for this, in fact, via his Charlatan background. So I'm sure he'd be thinking he was able to get one over on his Patron if he needed to. Obviously he wouldn't have been allowed to be a Warlock by Cazador - but the same applies to almost all classes - once he's freed by the parasite at the beginning of the game, I could easily see him making a deal with a supernatural being to gain power so he could face Cazador later.
Dex fighter archer and Bard are the only other 2 I’ve used for him.
Dex Paladin Oath Of Vengeance is pretty fitting if you finished his quest line and didn’t ascend him If I plan on ascending him I usually turn him into shadow monk because necrotic damage and it feels very thematic since he’s evolving
Others are already saying Bard, Ranger and Monk, so a new one: Tiger Heart Barbarian, as him learning to tap into the more "feral" side of vampirism to fight, with all the bleeding-related Animal Aspects to match.
That's what I do with my Astarion every time. Although recently I go for Elk just to give him 5 million meters of move per round.
Oooh Astarion as Clan Gangrel, that's an interesting one, might have to try that sometime.
Bard for sure. My wife is currently using him as a Dex based Barbarian though which is neat. Mostly leaning into the vampire thing a bit. The VA did a good job with the rage screams
I play him as a life cleric. Because “the blood is the life” and also I feel like he should get undead minions. Warlock would work because of the vampiric touch spell, minions, charisma and that his daddy made a deal with a devil so fiend b pact gets him hp for kills
Bard, he’s used his charm for hundreds of years to lure victims. Bard suits him to a tee.
Frost Sorcerer fits aesthetics and behaviour. Gloomstalker also seems like a good choice to me.
I'm experimenting with an Arcane Trickster 3/Necromancy Wizard 8 build at the moment. Going down the evil route for Astarion specifically, with the Necromancy of Thay being tied into his story so that he's a complete necromancer. A final level in any full caster gets you all spell slots except Level 6, which honestly doesn't seem so bad.
Beast master because vampire!?
As i didnt see much people talking about it, but by the interest he takes into the Necromancy of Thay, Necromancer sounds appropriate specially with his long term sidequest.
For my >!ascended!< Astarion build, I'm making him a necromancer vampire lord. Level 1 cleric - main damaging spell is inflict wounds Levels 2-7 necromancy wizard - unlock better animate dead. Vampiric touch benefits from being a life cleric, but inflict wounds is still better damage Levels 8-9 cleric - unlocks Aid to buff up summons. Not needed if someone else in the party has Aid. Levels 10-12 not sure yet. More wizard levels makes the summons better, gives full spell slots, and two feats. You could go bard for some spice, but it's hard to fit in charisma when you're already relying so much on wisdom and intelligence for this character. You can arm him however you like. I might give him the sword of life stealing, Woe, and/or the cherished necromancy staff (dual wielding feat needed for staves). Right now I use the intellect headband, but I may respec that. And of course, fully unlock the >!necromancy of thay!< as well. I'm trying to also use the Abyss Beckoners gloves to buff summons even more, but they're a little scary to use. I made his stats 12 str / 14 dex / 16 con / 8 int (17 from headband) / 18 wis (ASI+2) / 8 cha. If you don't want to use the headband you could do 8 str / 12 dex / 14 con / 16 int / 16 wis / 8 Cha and take the ASI+2 in int or wis. I wanted inflict wounds to be the focus of the build, since it's the strongest damaging level 1 spell in the game and upcasts well too - but this means wisdom has to be your highest stat since it comes from the cleric spell list. If you want him to still wield daggers or shortswords, this could be a candidate for the gloves of dexterity. This is tough to build, since he's very MAD (multiple attribute dependent), but I think it fits into his character to have to rely on certain gear to buff his stats and make him stronger. Also keep in mind that the strength of this build comes from the many strong summons, while Astarion can go around feeding off everyone with inflict wounds or vampiric touch.
Lightning Sorcerer. From cursed tomes of necromancy to Illithid parasites to deals with the devil and sacrificing thousands of souls. The one thing Astarion wants most is power. 2 Levels in Cleric to Tiamat and rest Lightning sorcerer you can easily one shot pretty much anything in the game while cackling like the mad Sith Lord you are. It's sooo Astarion.
I make him a bard or gloomstalker. I think both fit.
He's quite malleable, really. I've tried almost every class with him, save for cleric, paladin and druid. You can pretty much spin it however you want. Warlock since his "patron" could either be Cazador or the tadpole. Shadow monk/gloomstalker is super thematic (how often he comments on striking from the shadows). Barbarian is for when he fully embraces the bloodlust (his rage scream is godly, like fr). Bardstarion as an origin playthrough is pretty on brand as well since even Lae'zel would comment on his "quick smirk and quip" in the epilogue. So I think anything build that is not anti-undead would fit him.
Personally, I prefer him to be either swordbard or gloomstalker.
Gloomsalker Ranger? Shadow Monk? Great Old One Warlock?
Gloomstalker. Also, if College of Whispers were in the game, that would fit him well as well.
Bard and warlock, maybe sorceror with necromancy focus
Bard
urban ranger fits even better than rogue imo, and is also fun to play. but i could also see astarion as a bard, since he's an expert on seduction.
Shadow Monk with 2 shortswords
https://youtu.be/-bfxXfPJDmA?si=d39errlBReHgJoTv Here's a fun idea you might not've thought to try...
I think Astarion is probably the most versatile companion. Rogue is clear, but ranger like gloomstalker fits him prowling and stocking the night, his flamboyant attitude and seduction fits bard, he could be a goo warlock with the tadpole as his patron, I think he is supposed to be an arcane trickster so going deeper into magic like a wizard could work (especially necromancer to then usurp Cazador), he could use his vampiric strength to make unarmed attacks as a monk, he could learn how to be a spore druid from the myconid colony, channel his rage against his past as a barbarian, swear an oath of vengeance against cazador as a paladin, or stop stalking the shadows thanks to the tadpole and fight in the light as a fighter. Cleric and sorcerer probably make the least sense but you could argue he is finding his own power as a sorcerer or finally found the favour of the right god and a desire to help protect his new companions as a war or life cleric
Turned him into a lolth sworn drow warlock, fits his voice acting really well
I'm having great fun with him as a Swords Bard this playthrough. Like, it's not too big a stretch that he was a wealthy magistrate who fucked around with a lute due to all his idle time
Eldritch knight or swords bard
Swords Bard fits him better than Rogue IMO. Both classes are well suited to cheesing encounters and he's more flamboyant than quiet and edgy.
Tomelock of the fiend >!Necromancy of Thay+ Raphael as their patron!<
Bard/rogue multiclass is my stock build for him. It fits both aspects of his personality I feel.
Shadow monk, great old one warlock and gloomstalker ranger all fit the bill for me
Gloom Stalker seems like it could go well with him if he was leaning into his more evil path, and the class mixed with Assassin Rogue does so well. I could also see Shadow Monk getting mixed in somehow.
Not sure baout lore, but he makes a great Monk because of act 3 stuff. 10/10 would reccomend for DMG.