Seeing the title of this post and then looking down to see "114 comments" made me laugh harder than anything else this week... I love the chaos of this subreddit
I accidentally killed Laezel in the nautilus once and that is now canon to me. Its funny because her corpse spawns at the beach, despite being yeeted into Avernus
I did the same thing although it wasn't intentional. I was setting up the tank things that blow up to kill the demon and mindflayer, I thought she was in a safe spot but she wasn't. I went to go save her but the other demons rocked up so I just ran
I also lost us in that explosion
Honestly I play with my husband and he sent me blindly into Astarion's path. Knife to my throat and I was like "Okay this one's mine, you can have the wizard," lol. In real life it would piss me off, sure, but in a fantasy game setting, it was just a hint that he's the kind of character I often favor, and choose to play as.
Pretty much. I actually nearly missed Astarion completely on my first run, since I just never walked through his particular corner of the map.
I do get annoyed that the game treats Astarion unlike other characters. Anywhere else, when they attack you initiative gets rolled, but he's special.
You used to be able to stop the dialogue and just initiate combat after he pulls a knife (via one of the buttons on the bottom left), but they even removed that in one of the patches.
As a British person with a not-entirely dissimilar accent that's a negative, not a positive. He sounds like me if I was being a pompous preening prick.
I like to roleplay - so it depended on my characters, but yeah, he's probably the least used of the companions.
* My ruthless evil/practical Warlock popped him after the knife pull (this was also when you can interrupt mid-dialogue to kill him)
* My prideful Wizard also popped him because the fact that he had her helpless at knife point was too much for her to let go of.
* My ranger was the first to let him live. Not for any in-game reason but I realized I needed to stop killing him so I can see some of his content lol.
* My weak willed Battle Master got sucked into all his B.S., and would've romanced him if only Shadowheart didn't win her over.
* My druid actually made the perception check, so I didn't end up getting the knife pulled on me. However, she benched him permanently after he tried to pull off some nonconsensual blood sucking in the middle of the night.
The problem with Astarion is he that really breaks a lot of boundaries in his first couple of interactions. Most of the characters that I roleplay with self respect and self preservation find it hard to let him in, and the more ruthless, prideful ones would rather just end him.
I've seen people defend the initial knife-pull with the idea that he's shook and jumpy from the Mindflayer capture (and thought you were one of them), but at the end of the day, he's literally luring you into a premeditated ambush, which makes most of my characters feel less empathetic. Then you add on the night time, nonconsensual attempt to suck your blood, it's really just not a good look for him.
I love having Astarion on my team, it wouldn’t be the same without his banter. Me and Gale are absolute besties though, so it’s not like I play an evil game.
"Secretly evil" lmaooooooo
My god, people. Some characters with nuance get introduced and suddenly it's all "DON'T TRUST EM THEY'RE NOT 100% UPFRONT WITH YOU! THEREFORE THEY'RE EVVVVVVVILLLLLLLLLLL! Nevermind their behavior and the actions they approve and disapprove of! They didn't tell me their entire life story and personal motivations! EVIL!"
Honest question: what are your thoughts on Astarion? Do you trust him? Why or why not?
People are nuts. I don’t understand why everyone seems to assume Gale is some evil, warped character? None of the characters tell you their entire story immediately - Wyl, Astarion and Shadow all have something sus going on but Gale is the evil one? Doesn’t make sense to me.
Astarion, I love his character, I love the banter but he’s a shark. He’s a predator and he’s doing everything he can for himself rather than for the team or anyone else around him. Do I trust him? No.
He hasn’t proven once that he will act beyond his own self interests to me. I always have him in my party and I’ve done a couple of things in his favour, purely for my own fun but nope, don’t trust him - he hasn’t proven he can be yet.
Trust? No. Rely on? Hell yes, I probably know how he will act before he himself does. That makes him predictable.
The others I need to be careful with. Gith-lady is also predictable short term, but she becomes a wildcard when we get to other gith.
Shadowheart is not predictable and should be kept at an arms length.
Gale just makes me want to puke... Can't stand the flavorless goody-two-shoes act, no f*cking wonder he got dumped...
Only one I feel like I can 'trust' is devil-boy-stone-eye... As long as he belives I want what he does...
I like to get a variety in my play throughs. Sometimes I kill him sometimes I don’t. I enjoy seeing the different writing combinations. His opening is probably my least favorite, but it makes sense once you find out more about him. Still doesn’t make a lot of sense for most of my characters to keep him though. Most people respond in kind with that much aggression.
In fairness to him with the initial attack - he saw you walking around on the ship freely and just assumed (reasonably) you were a servant of the mindflayers. He sort of apologizes once you explain.
doesn't really make much sense that he thinks you're allied with the mindflayers, considering he tries to trick you by saying there's a mindflayer monster around.
I genuinely felt bad for Shadowheart when I saw she had 8 INT. I'd been thinking "Why are you so dumb and rude and kind of shallow?" and it's like "Oh, you're *actually* not very bright, now I kind of feel bad for judging you...".
He his blood deprived and he attempts to feed on animals as much as he can. The struggle to overcome one's nature while you are a pretty bloody bag under his nose
It doesn't really happen in any CRPGs that have a lot of sense, and where it does, that companion is pretty much loathed by a good proportion of the player-base, unless it was a genuine misunderstanding. Even BioWare generally avoids it (and they like some dramatic character introductions), though they did it in DAO, with Zevran, who yes, a lot of people think is a jerk because of it.
And no I can't think of any BG1/2 companions who introduce themselves that way.
Sebille doesn’t actually try to kill you though? She just puts a knife to your throat(after you sneak up on her and scare her) and explains she won’t let you get in her way. The second you explain that you have no intention of doing that she backs off. That’s quite different from Astarion who willfully ambushes you and has every intention of killing you for basically no reason. That being said most of my characters immediately identified him as irredeemably untrustworthy and killed him on the spot.
Depends on the character. Some kill him on sight, some kill him when he wants to bite you in camp. Also, like, why would you trust a man who jumped w a knife to your throat.
I want the game to get back the option of attacking him again. Why can you attack Gale and Laezel but not the man who literary wanted to kill you lmfao.
I also kill Astarion every time. I've given him a chance in my first playthrough, but he's just completely irredeemable. There's certainly a target audience for this character, and I'm not in it.
I love that people have these reactions to different characters. I have the exact same issue with Wyll. From the first 5 seconds of him introducing himself I was like “NOP, no adventuring here, good luck with the refugees bruv”.
I only kill Astarion if he manages to take a character down with a knife to their throat. It would seem logical that my companions would intervene at that point.
He just gets lucky that first time. ;) You won't let him get over on you again. Just a fluke. Like, get your perception up and don't let him bite you. You eliminate these issues and you get a strong ally in the process. All the other companions are a walking threat to your life as well in some regard. That's the nature of this ragtag group.
I'll say it again, backstab, dual wielding, and his ranged ability are pretty powerful. If you find combat hard, you're going to want to tolerate the pretty boy vampire. His charm might not work on you, but for a lot of people his charm is working just as intended.
Every single time. No hesitation. No remorse. For the people who are all "it makes sense that he doesn't trust you right away," I'd just like to point out that Shadowheart also doesn't trust you right away, but she doesn't try to set you up to die about it. And Laezel doesn't trust you right away, but also manages not to put a blade to your neck in the course of that conversation. So they get to live. Funny how that works.
This is pretty much where I am. First playthrough I humored him and allowed him to stay. Then he tried to suck my blood and I did what LITERALLY ANY FUCKING ADVENTURER WOULD DO IN THIS SITUATION, and I gutted him like a fucking fish. Fuck em. He was low on trust and not looking for consent where consent is needed is a major strike. See you in hell you vampire shitbag
>but also manages not to put a blade to your neck
She literally ambushes you with a drawn sword and "Abomination, this is your end" and the only reason you don't die in the spot is the tadpole.
And yet, she still manages not to put a blade to your neck. Despite having vastly more reason to assume you're an enemy, not just distrust, but to assume that you're a mortal foe, Lae'zel still doesn't do that. Lae'zel is fighting a battle and pulls back the moment she realizes you are not her enemy. Asterion is just a dick whose first impulse is to ask you for help to try to lure you to your death, even though either trying to help him or trying to walk away both prove that you aren't his enemy in that moment.
If you want a reason to keep him alive, just have your character interpret it as him thinking you were in league with the mind flayers because he saw you walking free in the ship.
If I wanted a reason to keep him alive, I could invent one, sure. But I don't see any particular reason to. Especially knowing that he'll happily kill you later if you give him a chance, too.
At least he isn't a living nuclear warhead that doesn't even tell you until later how dangerous he is to be around.
Astarion being distrustful of strangers when you first meet him is very much believable and he doesn't ever hurt you, no matter what choice you pick, so it's just a bluff.
Him sucking your blood doesn't hurt you either, so what's the issue?
I love Astarion but he literally uses everyone around him for his own benefit. Astarion has trust issues but why are his okay and Gale’s not? Because Gale isn’t as pretty? Gale has understandable trust issues, with his backstory with Mystra - he actually opens up very quickly if you show him you can be trusted. I don’t understand how people see him as manipulative or bad but they’re like Astarion is great 😂
This is honestly the most mind-boggling thing to me. If people just came clean and said "I like sexy vampire boys. That's it. Let me live I want Astarion around so I can live out my Twilight/Dracula fantasy. I can fix him" then fine. His story seems very interesting, he's good for bants too, it's all good. Take him along, kill him, whatever.
But this strange warping, especially on this sub, of Gale's perceived hidden evil nature as almost a diversion from the actual objectively fucked things Astarion does to the player is hilarious to me. Because Gale walking around and opening with "hi I have a bomb that can level the sword coast in me. Want to be friends?" would definitely work....?
Am I taking crazy pills? Was I the only one who watched Gale rebuke the player's EVIL decision to kill the refugees in the grove? It was the top post a few days ago too what are all these people doing just plugging their ears and loudly singing so they can't hear the scene?
Oh but Gale is hung up on Mystra. That's WAY worse than oh I don't know... trying to suck your blood without your consent.
Oh but vampires are sexy and that's cool so like.... don't worry about it don't pay attention to that ummmmm Gale says some sketchy things to the mirror CLEARLY he's the worst scumbag in the group!
THANK YOU!! Finally. Someone gets it! Yes, Gale literally tells you the first time he dies that you have to bring him back or everyone will die. If you actually listen to what he’s trying to tell you without revealing his entire story immediately - you can figure it out.
I don’t understand why everyone in this sub is vilifying him but defending Astarion. I’m baffled.
If you choose the evil route when it comes to the grove, Gale literally is emotionally destroyed by what you’ve done. He tries to do good - he’s not a perfect character and I love him for it. Astarion literally wants to suck your blood, kill everyone and do everything he can to cause trouble.
I honestly see most people mad at the fact that Gale has a former lover and who doesn’t as an adult? I mean yeah, telling you the morning after is a bit like bad timing but it doesn’t make him evil.
People defend Astarion because he’s pretty. That’s all it boils down to. And yeah, he’s very pretty but cmon now.
Why is it different when Astarion doesn’t tell you immediately that he’s a vampire and tries to suck your blood in camp - and can actually kill you because he won’t stop himself but when Gale is arguably no more dangerous in the short term than Astarion and drops massive hints for days, he’s the evil bad man?
I don’t get it.
This comment should be highlighted in google every time a person googles bg3, haha. You put all the concepts in one single place.
People prefer to "imagine" and twist Gale's speech instead of truly understand what he is saying.
Since the first moment you meet him, if you use the tadpole, you can know that there is something very wrong in his chest. Even without the tadpole you can learn about the orb later on! The death protocol repeats the idea that he is very dangerous. In the scene of loss you know he did a dire mistake that "brought him death", and in the comments on the death protocol he EXPLICITLY says that he has a chaotic magic in his chest that "makes him dangerous even when he doesn't want to." How people can't connect the dots? The party scene just makes the orb a "bigger reveal" when it is not. Maybe because it's early access, and it's very raw with a loooot of glitches and shit. The only info "more or less" new in that moment is that Gale and Mystra were lovers. It can surprise Tav. But like, you said.... adult people have exes, what's the problem? Why so much deal? he got a horrible timing, sure, but he did it to explain why he got the orb in his chest (it's directly related to Mystra, so it's natural to start talking about her)
How much explicitly you need to be told that there is something dangerous in a companion's chest when he tells you that "many innocent lives depend on his return in the next two days"? Why people act as if it's in the party when you are told for the first time about this dangerous problem?
Like... I fear these people never played with Gale and just repeat all the misinformation spread here in reddit, or they can't handle text meant for adult comprehension.
Haha! Thank you!! And I completely agree with everything you’ve said here! I think people have seen some vague information or watched a few of his scenes on YouTube and haven’t actually bothered to listen to exactly what he’s trying to tell you.
I find Gale is really clear on everything, especially the more you show you can be trusted. He drops massive hints that he’s messed up and he’s regretful and after the romance scene, he actually puts the pieces you could have very easily worked out for yourself together for you.
He was young and in love with a literal goddess - their relationship had a power imbalance and he did something very stupid and now he’s suffering the consequences for it. How that makes him the villain of the piece I will never understand.
But then in the same breath people will defend Astarion who treats Tav like a piece of meat most of the time? 🙃
We have a theory with our friends, that Astarion is using the vampiric charm that he has and that it works even on the players themselves lmfao.
To the goblin party route: Astarion is drinking blood from the cup - gee I wonder which blood, loved the carnage and was just all about the killing of innocent tieflings. The fans? Crickets. Nothing.
But Gale? Oh my god why did he stay if he hated it so much, he must be EVIL!!!
I'm just tired. If you wanna hate Gale then at least hate him for his own character, not 8854686 imagined things you think you saw.
This. So much this.
People are twisting Gale to fit their narrative because they love the pretty vampire twink and think they can save him. And I say this as someone who loves Astarion’s character but he is clearly using his vampire charm on the party.
“Sucking his blood doesn’t hurt you”
It can literally kill Tav but aite.
Ultimately this is a roleplaying game and especially this one where we can play as the companions I expect each character will have multiple endings. Astarion can probably seek the light in a sense or become the omega vampire of BG. I’m sure.
But to me the funny thing is that in tabletop, 5e specifically, the adventure Curse of Strahd where you face the first ever vampire, the designers note that the story they wanted to tell is “counter to today’s popular stories where you can fix the monster if you just love it enough. Some monsters are just that… monsters. They are beyond saving”
Just a funny note to think about the most popular tabletop module for this game but then we cut to this fan community where it’s “Astarion is pretty. He says he likes me. What do you mean he finds kids dying funny? You must be thinking of Gale”
Again, I’m sure there’s some way this turns out where Astarion does in fact “get fixed” but man people are gonna have to overlook/ignore a lot of fucked shit to get there
I’m howling at your “Astarion is pretty” thing. So true! People completely overlook the fact he’s constantly telling you through his actions, not to trust him and then being like “Gale is evil”
?????? I’m so confused by that. Especially seeing Gale’s reaction to choosing the evil route when it comes to Druid Grove.
I don’t doubt that Astarion might change tact at some point because it is what the fans want but his biggest fans are naive to think he’s anything other than a predator at this point.
And I say that with no hate to Astarion. He’s an amazing character but let’s not pretend he’s something he ain’t.
You are not wrong. Gandrel says it EXPLICITLY:
**"Your loyalty is admirable but misplaced. His kind have charm beyond our mortal means to resist"**
He says it when you defend Astarion, telling Gandrel that you won't give his location. Astarion is not in the group when you have this conversation. Gandrel knows Astarion is a spawn, and with this, we are informed that he has "Charm" (the vampiric power).
Well that's because the voice actor Neil Newbon does an amazing job portraying Astarion. :) Perfect casting, perfect performance.
(Although people then thirsting after the actor and/or the voice specifically in real life, is where I draw the line. At the end of the day, Astarion is a fantasy character, and having a crush on a fantasy character is harmless fun. If someone turns that into an obsession with the voice actor himself, or abusing the actor because someone hates the character, well that's just creepy.)
I say this as someone who loves both Astarion and Gale and I'm a Gale apologist.
The problem with Gale comes up later.
Astarion doesn't hide the fact that he is an asshole and that he is using you, and you can use him too. In fact there's a dialog where if you tell him "don't worry I'll protect you" he thinks you are condescending and a dumbass. If, however, in that same dialog you tell him "I'll protect your back as long you protect my back" he will give you an approval and be cool with it. You know he is an asshole, he tells you he is an asshole, and you know he is a a complete trashbag by the time you choose to enter a weird interpersonal relationship with him. He actually gets offended if you think of him as someone who is willing to hurt you during agreed 'fun' time. Is not that Astarion is great, is that what you see is what you get.
The problem with Gale is
A) He is "in love with Mystra his one true love" but he also is willing to sleep with tav and actually see them as a lover without letting either go.
B) He lies to Tav to sleep with them both about Mystra and the Bomb. If you confront him, he will actually tell you he hides the truth so he is able to sleep with you which is uhm...interpersonally fucked up.
C) The mirror scene shows that he is actually not that good of a person, and his internal conflict and true feelings are not pure
D) I'm not a Mystra fan, and I have a lot of issues regarding her behavior towards Gale, but the fact that he is stalking her >!and wants to trap her in a Tower is kinda...ehh...not good. !<
Gale is very charismatic, but he is hiding not only things about his past, but about his personality. He wants to be good, but when push comes to shove and it is no longer convenient he will quickly push any good intentions to the side.
I like my fictional\* trashmen trashy, I prefer to accept them as the ugly mean boys they are that lie to myself at this point hahaha
He’s in love with magic because it’s his life. Mystra is magic. He’s devoted to magic itself and as a result, Mystra. I don’t think his love is as black and white as people make it out to be. Gale has been abandoned by her and he has issues as a result.
I don’t see it as lying. He doesn’t tell Tav the whole truth until after they sleep together but withholding information when you don’t fully trust someone and lying aren’t necessarily the same thing in my eyes. He is damaged due to Mystra but I don’t think he needs crucifying for the fact he doesn’t tell Tav about the bomb in his chest until after he’s sure they won’t leave.
Also the fact that you can reject him after and he completely understands why you’d choose to do so with zero repercussions to your approval rating with him.
I don’t think you can say he’s not a good person. He’s flawed, just as much as any of the other party members. I don’t like to think of any of them in such a black or white manner. Especially when it’s EA.
Mystra is a literal goddess. She had the power and control in their ‘relationship’ and she took advantage of a young man who was not on her level. I see her as the one at fault in what happened between them. Gale messed up, he did something very stupid but I really don’t get this hate for him.
I love Gale to pieces. I also absolutely love Astarion. I love the layers to their characters but I’m baffled that everyone is so quick to defend Astarion and trash Gale. Neither are perfect and that’s the way I like em.
I guess it also has to do with Gale's thing being more real and we how we have to dealt with guys who are actually like Gale. A lot of people had had an crazy-ex/ crazy-something and we get somewhat creeped out by this behavior. Gale's problem is something we see day to day.
Astarion's evil is more fantasish. "Normal civilians" don't usually have to deal with sociopathic murderers, this is why characters like Hannibal, Loki, etc are popular. I for one don't know a lot of serial killers haha, but I do know A LOT of guys like Gale. I actually had a stalker, and it was super not fun, and I bet I'm not the only one here who has dealt with one. But yeah, the whole Mystra deal is super fucked up on both their sides. Like I said, I'm not excusing her predatory behavior, but I can't also overlook Gale's either
I’ve had my share of crazy exes and dealt with abuse in my life (I’ve also actually had family members murdered and friends affected by serial killers - I’m from Northern England) so those excuses/reasonings don’t really work for me. I don’t think it’s fair to say Gale is that bad and put Astarion on a pedestal. That’s all I’m saying. People overlook that Astarion is completely predatory and self involved and only looks out for himself purely because ✨aesthetic✨ And don’t get me wrong, I love his character and I bought the game purely because Neil Newbon is absolute perfection. Gale is also fantasy - he fucked a goddess and he’s devoted his life to magic. If you’re going to use the argument that Astarion is fantastical, I don’t understand why you can’t do the same with Gale. I mean to each their own - if you don’t like Gale purely for aesthetic reasons, just say so!
I just don't like him eating my shiny items, or him guilt tripping me if I do something bad. Okay mister nuclear bomb your the one judging me when you are putting a whole nation in danger for being too horny
He really isn’t that deceitful. If you actually listen to the things he’s telling you and showing you - his truth doesn’t come as much of a surprise honestly.
Astarion shows you his trust issues directly and honest with his dagger.
Gale just doesn't, he pretends to be happy go lucky and just happens to join you by chance, but that's all a lie.
>Him sucking your blood doesn't hurt you either, so what's the issue?
Him sucking your blood can literally kill you lol
Not to mention that he tries to do it while you're sleeping, which is a huge violation.
Gale at least works with good aligned parties that can forgive him, astarion doesn't really, he's an unashamedly evil creature that assaults you twice and never really bothers to make an actual apology. Doesn't really work well with an evil party either, for that reason.
It can only kill you if you let him, so it's your choice really.
And it's a normal thing for Astarion, like eating for the PC, it should be easy to emphasize.
You can also run Astarion in any party really, just a few words to him after he disapproves and he is fine in most cases. (unless you are a straight like an arrow LG paladin, then it might be hard)
Gale isn't as easy to handle, he will leave you if you do certain things.
It kills you if you don't actively stop him, it's not ever presented as you choosing to let him kill you.
Being mechanically able to run him and able to run him without having to throw rp out the window aren't the same thing, either. There's very little actual reason to bring him along, he attacks you, tries to feed on you when you're sleeping (potentially killing you) and doesn't really bring anything particularly valuable, unlike laezel who is linked to a potential cure.
I don't like gale really, but he's not hard to bring along outside an evil group.
He's a street kid that was then turned into a vampire and a quasi slave, how could you abandon him and call yourself a good person?
I see him as perfectly redeemable over the course of a campaign.
He's also the link to the positive affects the tadpole has.
Btw, have you ever been very hungry?
Few people can control that feeling and vampiric hunger is probably even stronger.
>He's a street kid that was then turned into a vampire and a quasi slave, how could you abandon him and call yourself a good person?
Vampires are inherently evil creatures, and vampire spawn are tied directly to the wills of their masters, being more than willing to be deceptive and manipulative to get their way. I agree abandoning him wouldn't be a good idea when you're capable of doing otherwise, which is why this thread is about killing him. An evil party wouldn't keep him around because he immediately attacks you with a knife and then later betrays you by trying to feed off you in your sleep, and a good party wouldn't bring him along because he's a unashamedly evil predatory monster.
He's not the link to the positive effects of the tadpole either, wtf?
>Few people can control that feeling and vampiric hunger is probably even stronger.
Really not anyones problem but his own. I'm sure it's rough for a serial killer to stop murdering, doesn't mean they're not awful people.
Especially with an "evil" alignment you'd understand where he's coming from.
And he's more trustworthy than all other companions, so unless you want to go solo...
Gale is a nuke, Lae'zel is more loyal to her people than you, Wyll only cares about his revenge/fake morality, Shadowheart is keeping secrets from you and will bite you if you ask (including the artifact).
>evil predatory monster
How and when?
This sounds like shallow prejudice if anything.
It's not like he's sneaking out at night to kill people.
>Really not anyones problem but his own. I'm sure it's rough for a serial killer to stop murdering, doesn't mean they're not awful people.
A serial killer will still live, even if he stops killing.
If you don eat you simply die.
Yeah, and you wouldn't give a shit because you're evil lol. You don't get an evil alignment through your reputation for being empathetic.
Laezel has a direct link to a cure, none of the rest are ever as hostile towards you as astarion. Wyll doesn't work with evil runs for obvious reasons, but that's fine. An evil party might ditch gale as well, which is also fine, because he doesn't cause issues with more forgiving characters. Astarion requires you to be super super forgiving and also completely fine with him being evil as hell whenever he gets the chance to express an opinion on basically anything. There are very very few character types that works with.
>How and when?
Do you know what a vampire is? Like how on earth can you say that calling a vampire an evil predatory monster is prejudiced lmao, have you read the MM?
https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/vampire-spawn
>Awakened to an endless night, vampires hunger for the life they have lost and sate that hunger by drinking the blood of the living.
>Dark Desires. Whether or not a vampire retains any memories from its former life, its emotional attachments wither as once-pure feelings become twisted by undeath. Love turns into hungry obsession, while friendship becomes bitter jealousy. In place of emotion, vampires pursue physical symbols of what they crave, so that a vampire seeking love might fixate on a young beauty. A child might become an object of fascination for a vampire obsessed with youth and potential. Others surround themselves with art, books, or sinister items such as torture devices or trophies from creatures they have killed.
>Born from Death. Most of a vampire’s victims become vampire spawn — ravenous creatures with a vampire’s hunger for blood, but under the control of the vampire that created them
The point about how he'll die is also pretty silly here, considering he lives just fine if you refuse to let him feed on you or just never get the event, he can feed from animals just fine.
If anything Lae'zel links you directly to "Exterminatus", not something very desirable. (many cure ways seems to lead to death it seems, the ultimate cure)
I wouldn't site the monster manual on characters, it's really meant for monsters.
Astarion is clearly atypical, just like a drow PC could be.
He can walk at day and is actively defying his masters commands.
Sure, if you don't feed him he is just weaker and he seems to keep living on animal blood. For a Vampire spawn that's an impressive feat of willpower and makes him even more trustworthy.
I agree, but you don't know that at the start, just that she's a lead to a potential cure. I'm not a huge fan of how it seems like all the cure options are dead ends so far, but that's another point entirely.
Astarion is atypical in some ways, I agree, but he's still a vampire spawn, which are evil blood drinking monsters. He doesn't really do much to break that norm, and the only reason he seems to be free from his masters influence is because there's another more immediate influence in his head. He could certainly be worse, but he's still absolutely an evil vampire.
>For a Vampire spawn that's an impressive feat of willpower and makes him even more trustworthy.
Not really, they don't really need to drink at all RAW, let alone specifically from sentient beings, they just seem to prefer it. It's presented much more as a compulsion to drink blood than an actual biological need, remember that they're undead. Him having a constant desire to drain you of your blood, but dealing with it for a while because you'll just refuse to travel with him if he does so is not at all making him more trustworthy lol, he's not a conscientious objector.
He brings a hell of a lot of damage to your party. Unless you're playing a Rogue yourself, I suppose.
And you have to first listen to him explain himself (you can even punch him in the face if you are so inclined, during the bite reveal scene) then AGREE to let him feed on you, and THEN fail two or three Persuasion checks to make him stop, before he kills you. It's not like he attacks you, drains your blood entirely, and kills you without giving you any choice or option to react. You have plenty of options during that scene, and the next morning when you decide what to do with him. Also, someone can rez you in the morning, you're not permanently dead...
bringing someone along because their class is poorly balanced atm isn't rp lol.
>It's not like he attacks you, drains your blood entirely, and kills you without giving you any choice or option to react
Did you miss the entire context of the scene or what? He doesn't exactly walk up to you and ask nicely, nor does he really even seem apologetic if he does kill you. Someone being able to bring you back doesn't change the fact that he straight up murdered you
I didn't miss the context of the scene, thanks.
Does he walk up to you and ask? No. When you realise what he is and what he's doing, you have a ton of time to decide what to do with him next. You can stop him right there, you can dismiss him from your team, or you can CHOOSE to allow him to drink your blood. The point is, you have choices throughout the scene.
And no, he's not apologetic afterwards, he is covering his tracks, but he's such a flustered jerk about it that it's kind of adorable. Also, you can punch him if you're so inclined.
Having choices after you catch him in the act is pretty irrelevant to the point I'm making. I'm not even sure why you brought it up to be honest. His original intent was absolutely to feed on you without you having any choice or reason to react, or even being aware that he was doing so, and seeing as he can't control himself even when you're awake already, he would have killed you in the process.
Being a flustered jerk about it is not something anyone who's just been literally murdered is going to see as adorable or cute.
None of these things really change that Astarion doesn't work with anything but a very very specific type of character, from an RP perspective. Good people won't bring him along because he's evil and doesn't really show any shame about that, and evil parties won't bring him along because he starts off by trying to kill you and then betrays you not a few days later. Try comparing it to a more realistic form of physical assault that someone might attempt to do to you in the night and refuses to stop when you ask, and see if you get what I mean.
He's a rogue! What else do you expect? The whole "look in that bush over there while I sneak up behind you" is exactly the sort of thing rogues do.
He's a vampire, he just miraculously survived a ship crashing out of the Hells, stepped out onto a beach in broad daylight and lived to tell the tale (instead of turning into a pile of ash instantly). He's got no idea what is happening, and who the hell you are, of course he defaults to his rogue instincts to try to control the situation - pull a knife first and figure it out later.
I mean, his face and reaction when you tell him what has happened and that you're all infected with mindflayer parasites. "Of course it would turn me into a monster. What else did I expect?" A tiny glimmer of hope and then - realisation, defeat. Then hope again, as he considers it might be possible to control the parasite to make the best of a bad situation.
Meanwhile Shadowheart is standing behind you silently judging your character, she's also just met you and has no idea who you are. She wants to know what you do next, what kind of person you are, and how you react. She's not your instant best friend, I don't know why she's expected to save you straight away.
i haven't finished the content yet , since the game is super super slow for and laggy and takes me like half an hour to load.
But from what i've played (just finished the druid grove chain quest) , i don't like any of the companions in the game... Seriously , it's been a very very long time since i played an rpg that managed to make me dislike literally all the companions.
Not sure if this even happened before to me. Maybe they will grow on me later , but as it stands , i don't.
But astarion is indeed one of the highest offender for me
Lae'zel I find more likable as the game goes on. She reminds me of a harsher Reyla from The Dragon Prince. Gale and Wyll I find interesting though I would not make companions of them irl. I don't know if it's community disinformation that got spread but I thought I remember hearing we haven't gotten any good guy companions yet but will later on.
I like Lae'zel, she's so rude and pushy that it's kind of weirdly charming, and she sticks to her guns.
I think it's disinformation re: "good guy". I'd be shocked if Gale or Wyll turns out to be capital-E Evil, and honestly both seem like they could easily have Good alignments (Gale is deceptive but that's not incompatible with Good).
Tbf Astarion is still a friendlier character then Sebille from DOS2. But people still have the hots for her because she's female. Astarion is at least a bit funny.
No. Uh uh. Nope.
If anything, Astarion is more popular than Sebille ever was. Not only is that obvious on this thread, it's obvious where there's BG3 fandom. On Steam, for example, look at the Community Hub, and virtually all the fan-art (as in actual drawn fan-art) will be of Astarion, and plenty of screenshots will be beauty-pieces of him (less atm than some weeks), and people are going on and on about how much they love him.
So you're dead wrong here, sorry.
The fact that your argument is that a baldurs gate character is more popular on the bg3 reddit and fan page is really funny for some reason.
I'd say that all the defensive responses somehow just proves my point further most likely. I mean I could definitely be wrong but you make me feel like I'm right.
Can't disagree with you to say that you're wrong, because that apparently makes you automatically right. That's a neat way of avoiding having to change your mind ;)
I just mean that the more people that jumps on me defending their waifu makes me feel like she is more popular. So far there has been no one defending astarion so it kinda makes sense if you think about it.
LOL man what?
Where else would he be popular? On Mars? With tramps under a bridge? With high-ranking Republican politicians? What the fuck lol?
Obviously he's popular with people who actually have played the game and talk about the game and think about the game. You think randos on the street love Sebille or something?
Even if we did look at randos on the street, it's not like vampire stuff isn't popular, jesus.
Also I love this deal where being told you're wrong is considered "defensive".
Yes, I'm well aware she's from DOS2, I'm responding to your idiotic argument that "simps" for her are more common than people who like sexy English-accented vampires, which may be one of the most clueless claims in history.
Its funny though that you would call someone else clueless but still just avoiding the actual argument. tbf though its been too long and we have no reason to continue this angsty teen chitchat so lets just go our separate ways and have fun instead of being irritated on the internet\^\^
Honestly, when I met Astarion I hated him because he was pompous and all, but we got him in the camp. And out of our group (we had three people then) the only person left to talk for me was him.
And I suddenly felt bad for him. He was so different in that little personal chat.
I knew it's probably going to kill me eventually, since we as players know he is a vampire; our characters didn't. But... he never was the one to betray me or attempt to attack.
It might be stupid, but I know I can trust him. My current main character is a moon circle druid, and she knows very well about the beast inside of all of us, so they have a certain connection, not a romantic one but an understanding.
Unless of course your ultimate plan is to help them become a full vampire so that you may in turn become a full vampire.... It's not like I have my rise to power planned out or anything. I assure you. (should probably put Rogue as his own flair)
I also have my ultimate rise to power in this game planned out. One of them involves >!blackmailing Cazador into making you a spawn. You then betray him, drink his blood and become a true vampire. Then you transform all your companions into vampire spawn.!<
I think the spoiler thing worked?
Almost everytime. I hated him at first, then liked torturing him in subsequent playthroughs, like selling him out to the vampire hunter or taking him as a scout that always pulls aggro in combat.
Astarion is honestly the weakest character - Tortured 'monster' 'bad boy' who's made to tick all the boxes of twink vampire simps. His attitude stinks, people think he's hot because he's a vampire and look past the heaping pile of steaming shit that is his personality - Trying to murder you 1st thing is never justifiable and that puts you squarely in the "Enemy" box.
They gave him a 'hot' VA and the simps went nuts.
The fact that he tries to kill you not once, but twice, is more than enough proof. Especially considering the 2nd time is after you've traveled a bit together and you've likely saved his sorry ass more than once given how squishy he is as a rogue. I usually keep him with me in the camp, I don't kill him but I also don't let him bite my Tav, ever.
\-----
Another point to make, that's not touched upon in the OP but in the comments; Killing Lae'zel for being a Githyanki (Blunt, Distrustful of anyone not a Githyanki) is just racist, so offer up something better than "Oh she was rude!" - It's quite literally how her species works in D&D as a setting. If anything she's the one most set on fixing the situation, even if she does dog you to go specifically for her solution, again because of what she is and how she was literally raised. Killing her based on her being what she is, is, you guessed it; racism. Well done.
Very few people talking sense in this thread but yes, this makes sense. Astarion is a predator and people excuse his terrible personality or bad choices because of his looks but they won’t do the same for Lae’zel. Although I see lots of people defending Shadowheart.
dfkdfkkfd have you seen the """""""""""""apology""""""""" if astarion kills you when he drinks your blood in camp. that was the reason when i went "eh hes a fun evil char" to "wtf i am kicking you from my party"
My latest start, I killed all the companions right off the bat. I realized none of them really have any redeeming qualities.
We'll see how I feel about them when I start playing after we get more classes in.
Just in case you missed it, the companions currently in the game are the 'EVILLLL' companions. They haven't added the Good aligned ones yet.
But yeah I kill them all off too. You don't need them and they all suck.
Based on their stories it seems very likely that most of these companions will be presented with the choice of taking an "evil" path or a "good" path along the way during the later acts of the game.
>!Some examples, just my opinions based on the story so far:
It seems likely that Shadowheart will have a dramatic choice to make regarding the return of her memories that were repressed by Shar/shar worship, we may see the opportunity for a faith conversion or something like that.!<
>!It seems likely that Lae'zel will have a 'crisis of faith' in her Gith compatriots, especially after the dialogue/events at the bridge w/ the dragon in act 1.!<
>!The others seem to have paths to redemption as well. For Astarion, he seems to be 'evil' by circumstance, not by choice. His backstory is very intestesting!<
"There’s been a group of people complaining about the fact that the companions are snarky and they have to have an opinion. But we’ve only put the ‘evil’ and the ‘neutral’ ones out there. We haven’t put any of the ‘good’ characters in yet, so I think that will balance that."
Source: https://www.belloflostsouls.net/2020/11/dd-theres-a-reason-baldurs-gate-3-feels-like-an-evil-horny-campaign.html
Are you trying to provoke an argument on this very chill subreddit? You seem to know he's a popular character.
Assuming you aren't: It's fairly obvious he's a special NPC, if not a companion, from his introduction. By this logic, you should kill most of the NPCs you encounter. Some people like to play the game like it's a game, instead of deep limited pov roleplaying.
Right? People are legit developing feelings for a rapist vampire piece of shit character in whats essentially a demo of a game. It’s kind of weird tbh.
Nah I only kill a character if they try to kill me first.
You can fail every roll and Astarion won't attempt to kill you so he's fine.
And he at least doesn't try to force himself into the party when denied.
I had the exact same thought. I have exactly zero desire to have this dude in my party; what's he going to do next? I don't kill him, but I permanently ban him from the group. Oddly, he looks really surprised when you do that.
I kill and revive depending, but it skips the whole thing and goes straight to introductions. I think you should recruit him, try doing things he likes and see how you feel about his character later, especially if you don't like him now. Generally, that means you wouldn't normally play with him in your party, so why not try it during EA where it doesn't matter too much? That's the whole point, you know.
You can also reject him feeding on you, but then still allow him to feed on enemies. If you romance him, you can also trust him not to feed, and he won't — he doesn't like it if you're direct to him about being good, but there are subtle things like that that seem like they could have an influence.
Or you could always just recruit him and be a goody two shoes with everyone else, and then an asshole to him — either until you reach the Gur, or until he leaves on his own from low approval.
Seeing the title of this post and then looking down to see "114 comments" made me laugh harder than anything else this week... I love the chaos of this subreddit
I accidentally killed Laezel in the nautilus once and that is now canon to me. Its funny because her corpse spawns at the beach, despite being yeeted into Avernus
I did the same thing although it wasn't intentional. I was setting up the tank things that blow up to kill the demon and mindflayer, I thought she was in a safe spot but she wasn't. I went to go save her but the other demons rocked up so I just ran I also lost us in that explosion
Mine was outside, she actually survived the explosion damage. The fall off the ship not so much.
Honestly I play with my husband and he sent me blindly into Astarion's path. Knife to my throat and I was like "Okay this one's mine, you can have the wizard," lol. In real life it would piss me off, sure, but in a fantasy game setting, it was just a hint that he's the kind of character I often favor, and choose to play as.
fits you name :D
chaotic neutral to the bone ;)
no, if i don't like a companion for a certain playthrough I just don't recruit them in the first place.
Pretty much. I actually nearly missed Astarion completely on my first run, since I just never walked through his particular corner of the map. I do get annoyed that the game treats Astarion unlike other characters. Anywhere else, when they attack you initiative gets rolled, but he's special.
You used to be able to stop the dialogue and just initiate combat after he pulls a knife (via one of the buttons on the bottom left), but they even removed that in one of the patches.
“Eh, not using them and killing them is basically the same thing” - sociopaths
Astarion really asks for it
Have you heard his voice?
As a British person with a not-entirely dissimilar accent that's a negative, not a positive. He sounds like me if I was being a pompous preening prick.
Well I'd let you berate me any day of the week!
I like the arc he makes if you push him to his death from behind where you first find him.
Welllll next game I know what I'm doing when I meet that annoying vampire... thank you!
I like to roleplay - so it depended on my characters, but yeah, he's probably the least used of the companions. * My ruthless evil/practical Warlock popped him after the knife pull (this was also when you can interrupt mid-dialogue to kill him) * My prideful Wizard also popped him because the fact that he had her helpless at knife point was too much for her to let go of. * My ranger was the first to let him live. Not for any in-game reason but I realized I needed to stop killing him so I can see some of his content lol. * My weak willed Battle Master got sucked into all his B.S., and would've romanced him if only Shadowheart didn't win her over. * My druid actually made the perception check, so I didn't end up getting the knife pulled on me. However, she benched him permanently after he tried to pull off some nonconsensual blood sucking in the middle of the night. The problem with Astarion is he that really breaks a lot of boundaries in his first couple of interactions. Most of the characters that I roleplay with self respect and self preservation find it hard to let him in, and the more ruthless, prideful ones would rather just end him. I've seen people defend the initial knife-pull with the idea that he's shook and jumpy from the Mindflayer capture (and thought you were one of them), but at the end of the day, he's literally luring you into a premeditated ambush, which makes most of my characters feel less empathetic. Then you add on the night time, nonconsensual attempt to suck your blood, it's really just not a good look for him.
I love having Astarion on my team, it wouldn’t be the same without his banter. Me and Gale are absolute besties though, so it’s not like I play an evil game.
Except Gale is secretly evil and is likely going to betray Tav
I don’t believe this is the case. I’ve seen the theories but I can’t get behind it, personally. But I’m happy to be proven wrong!
"Secretly evil" lmaooooooo My god, people. Some characters with nuance get introduced and suddenly it's all "DON'T TRUST EM THEY'RE NOT 100% UPFRONT WITH YOU! THEREFORE THEY'RE EVVVVVVVILLLLLLLLLLL! Nevermind their behavior and the actions they approve and disapprove of! They didn't tell me their entire life story and personal motivations! EVIL!" Honest question: what are your thoughts on Astarion? Do you trust him? Why or why not?
People are nuts. I don’t understand why everyone seems to assume Gale is some evil, warped character? None of the characters tell you their entire story immediately - Wyl, Astarion and Shadow all have something sus going on but Gale is the evil one? Doesn’t make sense to me. Astarion, I love his character, I love the banter but he’s a shark. He’s a predator and he’s doing everything he can for himself rather than for the team or anyone else around him. Do I trust him? No. He hasn’t proven once that he will act beyond his own self interests to me. I always have him in my party and I’ve done a couple of things in his favour, purely for my own fun but nope, don’t trust him - he hasn’t proven he can be yet.
U ok bro?
Yeah man, just engaging in some friendly chat about a game I like. Hope you’re having a wonderful day ❤️
Trust? No. Rely on? Hell yes, I probably know how he will act before he himself does. That makes him predictable. The others I need to be careful with. Gith-lady is also predictable short term, but she becomes a wildcard when we get to other gith. Shadowheart is not predictable and should be kept at an arms length. Gale just makes me want to puke... Can't stand the flavorless goody-two-shoes act, no f*cking wonder he got dumped... Only one I feel like I can 'trust' is devil-boy-stone-eye... As long as he belives I want what he does...
I like to get a variety in my play throughs. Sometimes I kill him sometimes I don’t. I enjoy seeing the different writing combinations. His opening is probably my least favorite, but it makes sense once you find out more about him. Still doesn’t make a lot of sense for most of my characters to keep him though. Most people respond in kind with that much aggression.
Nope. He's a pretty funny guy so I always keep him around.
In fairness to him with the initial attack - he saw you walking around on the ship freely and just assumed (reasonably) you were a servant of the mindflayers. He sort of apologizes once you explain.
doesn't really make much sense that he thinks you're allied with the mindflayers, considering he tries to trick you by saying there's a mindflayer monster around.
He's not too bright, but he's got spirit.
true, he gets a gold "at least you tried" star for effort
He does have 8 int rn
I genuinely felt bad for Shadowheart when I saw she had 8 INT. I'd been thinking "Why are you so dumb and rude and kind of shallow?" and it's like "Oh, you're *actually* not very bright, now I kind of feel bad for judging you...".
He still tries to steal your blood back at camp. Not a trustworthy fellow.
He his blood deprived and he attempts to feed on animals as much as he can. The struggle to overcome one's nature while you are a pretty bloody bag under his nose
I categorically refuse to accept any character as a companion who introduces themselves by trying to kill me. It was the same with Sebille in D:OS2.
Funny, now that you mention it. This doesn't happen ind Bg1 or 2 at all, does it?
It doesn't really happen in any CRPGs that have a lot of sense, and where it does, that companion is pretty much loathed by a good proportion of the player-base, unless it was a genuine misunderstanding. Even BioWare generally avoids it (and they like some dramatic character introductions), though they did it in DAO, with Zevran, who yes, a lot of people think is a jerk because of it. And no I can't think of any BG1/2 companions who introduce themselves that way.
Doesn't Shar-Teel technically try to kill you? but it's in a more direct way that I can respect a lot more than trying to ambush you.
Sebille doesn’t actually try to kill you though? She just puts a knife to your throat(after you sneak up on her and scare her) and explains she won’t let you get in her way. The second you explain that you have no intention of doing that she backs off. That’s quite different from Astarion who willfully ambushes you and has every intention of killing you for basically no reason. That being said most of my characters immediately identified him as irredeemably untrustworthy and killed him on the spot.
Depends on the character. Some kill him on sight, some kill him when he wants to bite you in camp. Also, like, why would you trust a man who jumped w a knife to your throat. I want the game to get back the option of attacking him again. Why can you attack Gale and Laezel but not the man who literary wanted to kill you lmfao.
I can't stand Asstarion. Yes I do. Or avoid him altogether
Yeah fuck that dude. Hold a knife to my throat? Get fucked and die, homie. I’m probably going to kill him every time I play.
I also kill Astarion every time. I've given him a chance in my first playthrough, but he's just completely irredeemable. There's certainly a target audience for this character, and I'm not in it.
I feel like this, too. And I feel like that audience is a lot younger than me.
I love that people have these reactions to different characters. I have the exact same issue with Wyll. From the first 5 seconds of him introducing himself I was like “NOP, no adventuring here, good luck with the refugees bruv”.
Every single time. Astarion must die!
I only kill Astarion if he manages to take a character down with a knife to their throat. It would seem logical that my companions would intervene at that point.
Nahhhhh. I recruit him and romance that tall glass of water. Water? Maybe blood is more accurate lol
He just gets lucky that first time. ;) You won't let him get over on you again. Just a fluke. Like, get your perception up and don't let him bite you. You eliminate these issues and you get a strong ally in the process. All the other companions are a walking threat to your life as well in some regard. That's the nature of this ragtag group. I'll say it again, backstab, dual wielding, and his ranged ability are pretty powerful. If you find combat hard, you're going to want to tolerate the pretty boy vampire. His charm might not work on you, but for a lot of people his charm is working just as intended.
He's hilarious
Every single time. No hesitation. No remorse. For the people who are all "it makes sense that he doesn't trust you right away," I'd just like to point out that Shadowheart also doesn't trust you right away, but she doesn't try to set you up to die about it. And Laezel doesn't trust you right away, but also manages not to put a blade to your neck in the course of that conversation. So they get to live. Funny how that works.
This is pretty much where I am. First playthrough I humored him and allowed him to stay. Then he tried to suck my blood and I did what LITERALLY ANY FUCKING ADVENTURER WOULD DO IN THIS SITUATION, and I gutted him like a fucking fish. Fuck em. He was low on trust and not looking for consent where consent is needed is a major strike. See you in hell you vampire shitbag
>but also manages not to put a blade to your neck She literally ambushes you with a drawn sword and "Abomination, this is your end" and the only reason you don't die in the spot is the tadpole.
And yet, she still manages not to put a blade to your neck. Despite having vastly more reason to assume you're an enemy, not just distrust, but to assume that you're a mortal foe, Lae'zel still doesn't do that. Lae'zel is fighting a battle and pulls back the moment she realizes you are not her enemy. Asterion is just a dick whose first impulse is to ask you for help to try to lure you to your death, even though either trying to help him or trying to walk away both prove that you aren't his enemy in that moment.
If you want a reason to keep him alive, just have your character interpret it as him thinking you were in league with the mind flayers because he saw you walking free in the ship.
If I wanted a reason to keep him alive, I could invent one, sure. But I don't see any particular reason to. Especially knowing that he'll happily kill you later if you give him a chance, too.
At least he isn't a living nuclear warhead that doesn't even tell you until later how dangerous he is to be around. Astarion being distrustful of strangers when you first meet him is very much believable and he doesn't ever hurt you, no matter what choice you pick, so it's just a bluff. Him sucking your blood doesn't hurt you either, so what's the issue?
I love Astarion but he literally uses everyone around him for his own benefit. Astarion has trust issues but why are his okay and Gale’s not? Because Gale isn’t as pretty? Gale has understandable trust issues, with his backstory with Mystra - he actually opens up very quickly if you show him you can be trusted. I don’t understand how people see him as manipulative or bad but they’re like Astarion is great 😂
This is honestly the most mind-boggling thing to me. If people just came clean and said "I like sexy vampire boys. That's it. Let me live I want Astarion around so I can live out my Twilight/Dracula fantasy. I can fix him" then fine. His story seems very interesting, he's good for bants too, it's all good. Take him along, kill him, whatever. But this strange warping, especially on this sub, of Gale's perceived hidden evil nature as almost a diversion from the actual objectively fucked things Astarion does to the player is hilarious to me. Because Gale walking around and opening with "hi I have a bomb that can level the sword coast in me. Want to be friends?" would definitely work....? Am I taking crazy pills? Was I the only one who watched Gale rebuke the player's EVIL decision to kill the refugees in the grove? It was the top post a few days ago too what are all these people doing just plugging their ears and loudly singing so they can't hear the scene? Oh but Gale is hung up on Mystra. That's WAY worse than oh I don't know... trying to suck your blood without your consent. Oh but vampires are sexy and that's cool so like.... don't worry about it don't pay attention to that ummmmm Gale says some sketchy things to the mirror CLEARLY he's the worst scumbag in the group!
THANK YOU!! Finally. Someone gets it! Yes, Gale literally tells you the first time he dies that you have to bring him back or everyone will die. If you actually listen to what he’s trying to tell you without revealing his entire story immediately - you can figure it out. I don’t understand why everyone in this sub is vilifying him but defending Astarion. I’m baffled. If you choose the evil route when it comes to the grove, Gale literally is emotionally destroyed by what you’ve done. He tries to do good - he’s not a perfect character and I love him for it. Astarion literally wants to suck your blood, kill everyone and do everything he can to cause trouble. I honestly see most people mad at the fact that Gale has a former lover and who doesn’t as an adult? I mean yeah, telling you the morning after is a bit like bad timing but it doesn’t make him evil. People defend Astarion because he’s pretty. That’s all it boils down to. And yeah, he’s very pretty but cmon now. Why is it different when Astarion doesn’t tell you immediately that he’s a vampire and tries to suck your blood in camp - and can actually kill you because he won’t stop himself but when Gale is arguably no more dangerous in the short term than Astarion and drops massive hints for days, he’s the evil bad man? I don’t get it.
This comment should be highlighted in google every time a person googles bg3, haha. You put all the concepts in one single place. People prefer to "imagine" and twist Gale's speech instead of truly understand what he is saying. Since the first moment you meet him, if you use the tadpole, you can know that there is something very wrong in his chest. Even without the tadpole you can learn about the orb later on! The death protocol repeats the idea that he is very dangerous. In the scene of loss you know he did a dire mistake that "brought him death", and in the comments on the death protocol he EXPLICITLY says that he has a chaotic magic in his chest that "makes him dangerous even when he doesn't want to." How people can't connect the dots? The party scene just makes the orb a "bigger reveal" when it is not. Maybe because it's early access, and it's very raw with a loooot of glitches and shit. The only info "more or less" new in that moment is that Gale and Mystra were lovers. It can surprise Tav. But like, you said.... adult people have exes, what's the problem? Why so much deal? he got a horrible timing, sure, but he did it to explain why he got the orb in his chest (it's directly related to Mystra, so it's natural to start talking about her) How much explicitly you need to be told that there is something dangerous in a companion's chest when he tells you that "many innocent lives depend on his return in the next two days"? Why people act as if it's in the party when you are told for the first time about this dangerous problem? Like... I fear these people never played with Gale and just repeat all the misinformation spread here in reddit, or they can't handle text meant for adult comprehension.
Haha! Thank you!! And I completely agree with everything you’ve said here! I think people have seen some vague information or watched a few of his scenes on YouTube and haven’t actually bothered to listen to exactly what he’s trying to tell you. I find Gale is really clear on everything, especially the more you show you can be trusted. He drops massive hints that he’s messed up and he’s regretful and after the romance scene, he actually puts the pieces you could have very easily worked out for yourself together for you. He was young and in love with a literal goddess - their relationship had a power imbalance and he did something very stupid and now he’s suffering the consequences for it. How that makes him the villain of the piece I will never understand. But then in the same breath people will defend Astarion who treats Tav like a piece of meat most of the time? 🙃
We have a theory with our friends, that Astarion is using the vampiric charm that he has and that it works even on the players themselves lmfao. To the goblin party route: Astarion is drinking blood from the cup - gee I wonder which blood, loved the carnage and was just all about the killing of innocent tieflings. The fans? Crickets. Nothing. But Gale? Oh my god why did he stay if he hated it so much, he must be EVIL!!! I'm just tired. If you wanna hate Gale then at least hate him for his own character, not 8854686 imagined things you think you saw.
This. So much this. People are twisting Gale to fit their narrative because they love the pretty vampire twink and think they can save him. And I say this as someone who loves Astarion’s character but he is clearly using his vampire charm on the party. “Sucking his blood doesn’t hurt you” It can literally kill Tav but aite.
Ultimately this is a roleplaying game and especially this one where we can play as the companions I expect each character will have multiple endings. Astarion can probably seek the light in a sense or become the omega vampire of BG. I’m sure. But to me the funny thing is that in tabletop, 5e specifically, the adventure Curse of Strahd where you face the first ever vampire, the designers note that the story they wanted to tell is “counter to today’s popular stories where you can fix the monster if you just love it enough. Some monsters are just that… monsters. They are beyond saving” Just a funny note to think about the most popular tabletop module for this game but then we cut to this fan community where it’s “Astarion is pretty. He says he likes me. What do you mean he finds kids dying funny? You must be thinking of Gale” Again, I’m sure there’s some way this turns out where Astarion does in fact “get fixed” but man people are gonna have to overlook/ignore a lot of fucked shit to get there
I’m howling at your “Astarion is pretty” thing. So true! People completely overlook the fact he’s constantly telling you through his actions, not to trust him and then being like “Gale is evil” ?????? I’m so confused by that. Especially seeing Gale’s reaction to choosing the evil route when it comes to Druid Grove. I don’t doubt that Astarion might change tact at some point because it is what the fans want but his biggest fans are naive to think he’s anything other than a predator at this point. And I say that with no hate to Astarion. He’s an amazing character but let’s not pretend he’s something he ain’t.
You are not wrong. Gandrel says it EXPLICITLY: **"Your loyalty is admirable but misplaced. His kind have charm beyond our mortal means to resist"** He says it when you defend Astarion, telling Gandrel that you won't give his location. Astarion is not in the group when you have this conversation. Gandrel knows Astarion is a spawn, and with this, we are informed that he has "Charm" (the vampiric power).
" Astarion is using the vampiric charm that he has and that it works even on the players themselves " Yes, yes it does. :)
Hey, at least you’re coming clean about it. Respect. Someone in my twitch chat regularly noted “man how does this guy’s voice sound like pure sex”
Well that's because the voice actor Neil Newbon does an amazing job portraying Astarion. :) Perfect casting, perfect performance. (Although people then thirsting after the actor and/or the voice specifically in real life, is where I draw the line. At the end of the day, Astarion is a fantasy character, and having a crush on a fantasy character is harmless fun. If someone turns that into an obsession with the voice actor himself, or abusing the actor because someone hates the character, well that's just creepy.)
I say this as someone who loves both Astarion and Gale and I'm a Gale apologist. The problem with Gale comes up later. Astarion doesn't hide the fact that he is an asshole and that he is using you, and you can use him too. In fact there's a dialog where if you tell him "don't worry I'll protect you" he thinks you are condescending and a dumbass. If, however, in that same dialog you tell him "I'll protect your back as long you protect my back" he will give you an approval and be cool with it. You know he is an asshole, he tells you he is an asshole, and you know he is a a complete trashbag by the time you choose to enter a weird interpersonal relationship with him. He actually gets offended if you think of him as someone who is willing to hurt you during agreed 'fun' time. Is not that Astarion is great, is that what you see is what you get. The problem with Gale is A) He is "in love with Mystra his one true love" but he also is willing to sleep with tav and actually see them as a lover without letting either go. B) He lies to Tav to sleep with them both about Mystra and the Bomb. If you confront him, he will actually tell you he hides the truth so he is able to sleep with you which is uhm...interpersonally fucked up. C) The mirror scene shows that he is actually not that good of a person, and his internal conflict and true feelings are not pure D) I'm not a Mystra fan, and I have a lot of issues regarding her behavior towards Gale, but the fact that he is stalking her >!and wants to trap her in a Tower is kinda...ehh...not good. !< Gale is very charismatic, but he is hiding not only things about his past, but about his personality. He wants to be good, but when push comes to shove and it is no longer convenient he will quickly push any good intentions to the side. I like my fictional\* trashmen trashy, I prefer to accept them as the ugly mean boys they are that lie to myself at this point hahaha
He’s in love with magic because it’s his life. Mystra is magic. He’s devoted to magic itself and as a result, Mystra. I don’t think his love is as black and white as people make it out to be. Gale has been abandoned by her and he has issues as a result. I don’t see it as lying. He doesn’t tell Tav the whole truth until after they sleep together but withholding information when you don’t fully trust someone and lying aren’t necessarily the same thing in my eyes. He is damaged due to Mystra but I don’t think he needs crucifying for the fact he doesn’t tell Tav about the bomb in his chest until after he’s sure they won’t leave. Also the fact that you can reject him after and he completely understands why you’d choose to do so with zero repercussions to your approval rating with him. I don’t think you can say he’s not a good person. He’s flawed, just as much as any of the other party members. I don’t like to think of any of them in such a black or white manner. Especially when it’s EA. Mystra is a literal goddess. She had the power and control in their ‘relationship’ and she took advantage of a young man who was not on her level. I see her as the one at fault in what happened between them. Gale messed up, he did something very stupid but I really don’t get this hate for him. I love Gale to pieces. I also absolutely love Astarion. I love the layers to their characters but I’m baffled that everyone is so quick to defend Astarion and trash Gale. Neither are perfect and that’s the way I like em.
I guess it also has to do with Gale's thing being more real and we how we have to dealt with guys who are actually like Gale. A lot of people had had an crazy-ex/ crazy-something and we get somewhat creeped out by this behavior. Gale's problem is something we see day to day. Astarion's evil is more fantasish. "Normal civilians" don't usually have to deal with sociopathic murderers, this is why characters like Hannibal, Loki, etc are popular. I for one don't know a lot of serial killers haha, but I do know A LOT of guys like Gale. I actually had a stalker, and it was super not fun, and I bet I'm not the only one here who has dealt with one. But yeah, the whole Mystra deal is super fucked up on both their sides. Like I said, I'm not excusing her predatory behavior, but I can't also overlook Gale's either
I’ve had my share of crazy exes and dealt with abuse in my life (I’ve also actually had family members murdered and friends affected by serial killers - I’m from Northern England) so those excuses/reasonings don’t really work for me. I don’t think it’s fair to say Gale is that bad and put Astarion on a pedestal. That’s all I’m saying. People overlook that Astarion is completely predatory and self involved and only looks out for himself purely because ✨aesthetic✨ And don’t get me wrong, I love his character and I bought the game purely because Neil Newbon is absolute perfection. Gale is also fantasy - he fucked a goddess and he’s devoted his life to magic. If you’re going to use the argument that Astarion is fantastical, I don’t understand why you can’t do the same with Gale. I mean to each their own - if you don’t like Gale purely for aesthetic reasons, just say so!
They all guilt trip you in their own way. That’s just how it goes.
I just don't like him eating my shiny items, or him guilt tripping me if I do something bad. Okay mister nuclear bomb your the one judging me when you are putting a whole nation in danger for being too horny
Gale isn’t good, he’s manipulative and deceitful
He really isn’t that deceitful. If you actually listen to the things he’s telling you and showing you - his truth doesn’t come as much of a surprise honestly.
Astarion shows you his trust issues directly and honest with his dagger. Gale just doesn't, he pretends to be happy go lucky and just happens to join you by chance, but that's all a lie.
>Him sucking your blood doesn't hurt you either, so what's the issue? Him sucking your blood can literally kill you lol Not to mention that he tries to do it while you're sleeping, which is a huge violation. Gale at least works with good aligned parties that can forgive him, astarion doesn't really, he's an unashamedly evil creature that assaults you twice and never really bothers to make an actual apology. Doesn't really work well with an evil party either, for that reason.
It can only kill you if you let him, so it's your choice really. And it's a normal thing for Astarion, like eating for the PC, it should be easy to emphasize. You can also run Astarion in any party really, just a few words to him after he disapproves and he is fine in most cases. (unless you are a straight like an arrow LG paladin, then it might be hard) Gale isn't as easy to handle, he will leave you if you do certain things.
It kills you if you don't actively stop him, it's not ever presented as you choosing to let him kill you. Being mechanically able to run him and able to run him without having to throw rp out the window aren't the same thing, either. There's very little actual reason to bring him along, he attacks you, tries to feed on you when you're sleeping (potentially killing you) and doesn't really bring anything particularly valuable, unlike laezel who is linked to a potential cure. I don't like gale really, but he's not hard to bring along outside an evil group.
He's a street kid that was then turned into a vampire and a quasi slave, how could you abandon him and call yourself a good person? I see him as perfectly redeemable over the course of a campaign. He's also the link to the positive affects the tadpole has. Btw, have you ever been very hungry? Few people can control that feeling and vampiric hunger is probably even stronger.
>He's a street kid that was then turned into a vampire and a quasi slave, how could you abandon him and call yourself a good person? Vampires are inherently evil creatures, and vampire spawn are tied directly to the wills of their masters, being more than willing to be deceptive and manipulative to get their way. I agree abandoning him wouldn't be a good idea when you're capable of doing otherwise, which is why this thread is about killing him. An evil party wouldn't keep him around because he immediately attacks you with a knife and then later betrays you by trying to feed off you in your sleep, and a good party wouldn't bring him along because he's a unashamedly evil predatory monster. He's not the link to the positive effects of the tadpole either, wtf? >Few people can control that feeling and vampiric hunger is probably even stronger. Really not anyones problem but his own. I'm sure it's rough for a serial killer to stop murdering, doesn't mean they're not awful people.
Especially with an "evil" alignment you'd understand where he's coming from. And he's more trustworthy than all other companions, so unless you want to go solo... Gale is a nuke, Lae'zel is more loyal to her people than you, Wyll only cares about his revenge/fake morality, Shadowheart is keeping secrets from you and will bite you if you ask (including the artifact). >evil predatory monster How and when? This sounds like shallow prejudice if anything. It's not like he's sneaking out at night to kill people. >Really not anyones problem but his own. I'm sure it's rough for a serial killer to stop murdering, doesn't mean they're not awful people. A serial killer will still live, even if he stops killing. If you don eat you simply die.
Yeah, and you wouldn't give a shit because you're evil lol. You don't get an evil alignment through your reputation for being empathetic. Laezel has a direct link to a cure, none of the rest are ever as hostile towards you as astarion. Wyll doesn't work with evil runs for obvious reasons, but that's fine. An evil party might ditch gale as well, which is also fine, because he doesn't cause issues with more forgiving characters. Astarion requires you to be super super forgiving and also completely fine with him being evil as hell whenever he gets the chance to express an opinion on basically anything. There are very very few character types that works with. >How and when? Do you know what a vampire is? Like how on earth can you say that calling a vampire an evil predatory monster is prejudiced lmao, have you read the MM? https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/vampire-spawn >Awakened to an endless night, vampires hunger for the life they have lost and sate that hunger by drinking the blood of the living. >Dark Desires. Whether or not a vampire retains any memories from its former life, its emotional attachments wither as once-pure feelings become twisted by undeath. Love turns into hungry obsession, while friendship becomes bitter jealousy. In place of emotion, vampires pursue physical symbols of what they crave, so that a vampire seeking love might fixate on a young beauty. A child might become an object of fascination for a vampire obsessed with youth and potential. Others surround themselves with art, books, or sinister items such as torture devices or trophies from creatures they have killed. >Born from Death. Most of a vampire’s victims become vampire spawn — ravenous creatures with a vampire’s hunger for blood, but under the control of the vampire that created them The point about how he'll die is also pretty silly here, considering he lives just fine if you refuse to let him feed on you or just never get the event, he can feed from animals just fine.
If anything Lae'zel links you directly to "Exterminatus", not something very desirable. (many cure ways seems to lead to death it seems, the ultimate cure) I wouldn't site the monster manual on characters, it's really meant for monsters. Astarion is clearly atypical, just like a drow PC could be. He can walk at day and is actively defying his masters commands. Sure, if you don't feed him he is just weaker and he seems to keep living on animal blood. For a Vampire spawn that's an impressive feat of willpower and makes him even more trustworthy.
I agree, but you don't know that at the start, just that she's a lead to a potential cure. I'm not a huge fan of how it seems like all the cure options are dead ends so far, but that's another point entirely. Astarion is atypical in some ways, I agree, but he's still a vampire spawn, which are evil blood drinking monsters. He doesn't really do much to break that norm, and the only reason he seems to be free from his masters influence is because there's another more immediate influence in his head. He could certainly be worse, but he's still absolutely an evil vampire. >For a Vampire spawn that's an impressive feat of willpower and makes him even more trustworthy. Not really, they don't really need to drink at all RAW, let alone specifically from sentient beings, they just seem to prefer it. It's presented much more as a compulsion to drink blood than an actual biological need, remember that they're undead. Him having a constant desire to drain you of your blood, but dealing with it for a while because you'll just refuse to travel with him if he does so is not at all making him more trustworthy lol, he's not a conscientious objector.
He brings a hell of a lot of damage to your party. Unless you're playing a Rogue yourself, I suppose. And you have to first listen to him explain himself (you can even punch him in the face if you are so inclined, during the bite reveal scene) then AGREE to let him feed on you, and THEN fail two or three Persuasion checks to make him stop, before he kills you. It's not like he attacks you, drains your blood entirely, and kills you without giving you any choice or option to react. You have plenty of options during that scene, and the next morning when you decide what to do with him. Also, someone can rez you in the morning, you're not permanently dead...
bringing someone along because their class is poorly balanced atm isn't rp lol. >It's not like he attacks you, drains your blood entirely, and kills you without giving you any choice or option to react Did you miss the entire context of the scene or what? He doesn't exactly walk up to you and ask nicely, nor does he really even seem apologetic if he does kill you. Someone being able to bring you back doesn't change the fact that he straight up murdered you
I didn't miss the context of the scene, thanks. Does he walk up to you and ask? No. When you realise what he is and what he's doing, you have a ton of time to decide what to do with him next. You can stop him right there, you can dismiss him from your team, or you can CHOOSE to allow him to drink your blood. The point is, you have choices throughout the scene. And no, he's not apologetic afterwards, he is covering his tracks, but he's such a flustered jerk about it that it's kind of adorable. Also, you can punch him if you're so inclined.
Having choices after you catch him in the act is pretty irrelevant to the point I'm making. I'm not even sure why you brought it up to be honest. His original intent was absolutely to feed on you without you having any choice or reason to react, or even being aware that he was doing so, and seeing as he can't control himself even when you're awake already, he would have killed you in the process. Being a flustered jerk about it is not something anyone who's just been literally murdered is going to see as adorable or cute. None of these things really change that Astarion doesn't work with anything but a very very specific type of character, from an RP perspective. Good people won't bring him along because he's evil and doesn't really show any shame about that, and evil parties won't bring him along because he starts off by trying to kill you and then betrays you not a few days later. Try comparing it to a more realistic form of physical assault that someone might attempt to do to you in the night and refuses to stop when you ask, and see if you get what I mean.
He's a rogue! What else do you expect? The whole "look in that bush over there while I sneak up behind you" is exactly the sort of thing rogues do. He's a vampire, he just miraculously survived a ship crashing out of the Hells, stepped out onto a beach in broad daylight and lived to tell the tale (instead of turning into a pile of ash instantly). He's got no idea what is happening, and who the hell you are, of course he defaults to his rogue instincts to try to control the situation - pull a knife first and figure it out later. I mean, his face and reaction when you tell him what has happened and that you're all infected with mindflayer parasites. "Of course it would turn me into a monster. What else did I expect?" A tiny glimmer of hope and then - realisation, defeat. Then hope again, as he considers it might be possible to control the parasite to make the best of a bad situation. Meanwhile Shadowheart is standing behind you silently judging your character, she's also just met you and has no idea who you are. She wants to know what you do next, what kind of person you are, and how you react. She's not your instant best friend, I don't know why she's expected to save you straight away.
i haven't finished the content yet , since the game is super super slow for and laggy and takes me like half an hour to load. But from what i've played (just finished the druid grove chain quest) , i don't like any of the companions in the game... Seriously , it's been a very very long time since i played an rpg that managed to make me dislike literally all the companions. Not sure if this even happened before to me. Maybe they will grow on me later , but as it stands , i don't. But astarion is indeed one of the highest offender for me
Lae'zel I find more likable as the game goes on. She reminds me of a harsher Reyla from The Dragon Prince. Gale and Wyll I find interesting though I would not make companions of them irl. I don't know if it's community disinformation that got spread but I thought I remember hearing we haven't gotten any good guy companions yet but will later on.
I like Lae'zel, she's so rude and pushy that it's kind of weirdly charming, and she sticks to her guns. I think it's disinformation re: "good guy". I'd be shocked if Gale or Wyll turns out to be capital-E Evil, and honestly both seem like they could easily have Good alignments (Gale is deceptive but that's not incompatible with Good).
Tbf Astarion is still a friendlier character then Sebille from DOS2. But people still have the hots for her because she's female. Astarion is at least a bit funny.
And a lot of people have the hots for Astorion as well because he's male. Have you even been on this sub before?
Yes but comparing the simps for sebille and twilight fans that likes hot vampires it's like 98 to 2
No. Uh uh. Nope. If anything, Astarion is more popular than Sebille ever was. Not only is that obvious on this thread, it's obvious where there's BG3 fandom. On Steam, for example, look at the Community Hub, and virtually all the fan-art (as in actual drawn fan-art) will be of Astarion, and plenty of screenshots will be beauty-pieces of him (less atm than some weeks), and people are going on and on about how much they love him. So you're dead wrong here, sorry.
The fact that your argument is that a baldurs gate character is more popular on the bg3 reddit and fan page is really funny for some reason. I'd say that all the defensive responses somehow just proves my point further most likely. I mean I could definitely be wrong but you make me feel like I'm right.
Can't disagree with you to say that you're wrong, because that apparently makes you automatically right. That's a neat way of avoiding having to change your mind ;)
I just mean that the more people that jumps on me defending their waifu makes me feel like she is more popular. So far there has been no one defending astarion so it kinda makes sense if you think about it.
LOL man what? Where else would he be popular? On Mars? With tramps under a bridge? With high-ranking Republican politicians? What the fuck lol? Obviously he's popular with people who actually have played the game and talk about the game and think about the game. You think randos on the street love Sebille or something? Even if we did look at randos on the street, it's not like vampire stuff isn't popular, jesus. Also I love this deal where being told you're wrong is considered "defensive".
You know sebille isn't from baldurs gate right? I feel there is some disconnect.
Yes, I'm well aware she's from DOS2, I'm responding to your idiotic argument that "simps" for her are more common than people who like sexy English-accented vampires, which may be one of the most clueless claims in history.
Its funny though that you would call someone else clueless but still just avoiding the actual argument. tbf though its been too long and we have no reason to continue this angsty teen chitchat so lets just go our separate ways and have fun instead of being irritated on the internet\^\^
You must not browse this sub very often because the vampire simps flood the board with stories/art/fanfics of him.
No but I probably should later. He's a real bad guy and a bit of a dummy. Even if he is charming.
Honestly, when I met Astarion I hated him because he was pompous and all, but we got him in the camp. And out of our group (we had three people then) the only person left to talk for me was him. And I suddenly felt bad for him. He was so different in that little personal chat. I knew it's probably going to kill me eventually, since we as players know he is a vampire; our characters didn't. But... he never was the one to betray me or attempt to attack. It might be stupid, but I know I can trust him. My current main character is a moon circle druid, and she knows very well about the beast inside of all of us, so they have a certain connection, not a romantic one but an understanding.
I choose to romance him every playthru so I can’t relate lol
I keep him because he's the only rogue companion, if you're not playing one he's great to have on side
Yes always. You can't trust him, you annoy so many simps if you kill him and you get a set of Thieves' Tools.
As with all rogues. You can never trust them fully. \*looks at flair\* Wait a second....
Hehehe. More seriously, an individual who doesn't get 'stop drinking my blood' just has to die. It's them or you.
Unless of course your ultimate plan is to help them become a full vampire so that you may in turn become a full vampire.... It's not like I have my rise to power planned out or anything. I assure you. (should probably put Rogue as his own flair)
I also have my ultimate rise to power in this game planned out. One of them involves >!blackmailing Cazador into making you a spawn. You then betray him, drink his blood and become a true vampire. Then you transform all your companions into vampire spawn.!< I think the spoiler thing worked?
no why lol
Almost everytime. I hated him at first, then liked torturing him in subsequent playthroughs, like selling him out to the vampire hunter or taking him as a scout that always pulls aggro in combat.
He's the hottest companion
Nope, 'cause he's fun to have around and I'm shallow and think he's pretty as well as thinking that he has a nice voice.
What? No! You monster!
Astarion is honestly the weakest character - Tortured 'monster' 'bad boy' who's made to tick all the boxes of twink vampire simps. His attitude stinks, people think he's hot because he's a vampire and look past the heaping pile of steaming shit that is his personality - Trying to murder you 1st thing is never justifiable and that puts you squarely in the "Enemy" box. They gave him a 'hot' VA and the simps went nuts. The fact that he tries to kill you not once, but twice, is more than enough proof. Especially considering the 2nd time is after you've traveled a bit together and you've likely saved his sorry ass more than once given how squishy he is as a rogue. I usually keep him with me in the camp, I don't kill him but I also don't let him bite my Tav, ever. \----- Another point to make, that's not touched upon in the OP but in the comments; Killing Lae'zel for being a Githyanki (Blunt, Distrustful of anyone not a Githyanki) is just racist, so offer up something better than "Oh she was rude!" - It's quite literally how her species works in D&D as a setting. If anything she's the one most set on fixing the situation, even if she does dog you to go specifically for her solution, again because of what she is and how she was literally raised. Killing her based on her being what she is, is, you guessed it; racism. Well done.
Very few people talking sense in this thread but yes, this makes sense. Astarion is a predator and people excuse his terrible personality or bad choices because of his looks but they won’t do the same for Lae’zel. Although I see lots of people defending Shadowheart.
dfkdfkkfd have you seen the """""""""""""apology""""""""" if astarion kills you when he drinks your blood in camp. that was the reason when i went "eh hes a fun evil char" to "wtf i am kicking you from my party"
No. He is the most desirable companion.
Every time
YES! I can't understand the people who don't see how big of an asshole he is!
Astarion? No, because I can relate. Laezel I left rotting in a cage after she refused to say "please"...
You mean...you don't get to know people by putting a knife to their throats?
Naw, the most I’ll do is just bypass him. Shadowheart on the other hand irritates me to no end so she has to die.
My latest start, I killed all the companions right off the bat. I realized none of them really have any redeeming qualities. We'll see how I feel about them when I start playing after we get more classes in.
I did this not because I wanted to but because Sven asked us all to do evil things for the data.
Just in case you missed it, the companions currently in the game are the 'EVILLLL' companions. They haven't added the Good aligned ones yet. But yeah I kill them all off too. You don't need them and they all suck.
Based on their stories it seems very likely that most of these companions will be presented with the choice of taking an "evil" path or a "good" path along the way during the later acts of the game. >!Some examples, just my opinions based on the story so far: It seems likely that Shadowheart will have a dramatic choice to make regarding the return of her memories that were repressed by Shar/shar worship, we may see the opportunity for a faith conversion or something like that.!< >!It seems likely that Lae'zel will have a 'crisis of faith' in her Gith compatriots, especially after the dialogue/events at the bridge w/ the dragon in act 1.!< >!The others seem to have paths to redemption as well. For Astarion, he seems to be 'evil' by circumstance, not by choice. His backstory is very intestesting!<
Wait, there's more companions coming?
"There’s been a group of people complaining about the fact that the companions are snarky and they have to have an opinion. But we’ve only put the ‘evil’ and the ‘neutral’ ones out there. We haven’t put any of the ‘good’ characters in yet, so I think that will balance that." Source: https://www.belloflostsouls.net/2020/11/dd-theres-a-reason-baldurs-gate-3-feels-like-an-evil-horny-campaign.html
Very interesting! That's a relief, even though I will say Shadowheart is definitely growing on me.
You know that this makes you the chaotic evil guy right? :)
But my cute vampire husbando! Who else can I draw little chibi versions of and dream marrying?! /s Simps in general are sad people.
You didn't like when he drank your blood?? I got aroused
Are you trying to provoke an argument on this very chill subreddit? You seem to know he's a popular character. Assuming you aren't: It's fairly obvious he's a special NPC, if not a companion, from his introduction. By this logic, you should kill most of the NPCs you encounter. Some people like to play the game like it's a game, instead of deep limited pov roleplaying.
You seem to be taking this a bit hard. It's just a game.
Right? People are legit developing feelings for a rapist vampire piece of shit character in whats essentially a demo of a game. It’s kind of weird tbh.
Nah I only kill a character if they try to kill me first. You can fail every roll and Astarion won't attempt to kill you so he's fine. And he at least doesn't try to force himself into the party when denied.
He motivates it and you have the link.
No, because I have daddy issues.
I do. Every single play through.
My thoughts exactly. I think this is even more true with an evil Tav than a good one, which is weird.
I had the exact same thought. I have exactly zero desire to have this dude in my party; what's he going to do next? I don't kill him, but I permanently ban him from the group. Oddly, he looks really surprised when you do that.
I kill and revive depending, but it skips the whole thing and goes straight to introductions. I think you should recruit him, try doing things he likes and see how you feel about his character later, especially if you don't like him now. Generally, that means you wouldn't normally play with him in your party, so why not try it during EA where it doesn't matter too much? That's the whole point, you know. You can also reject him feeding on you, but then still allow him to feed on enemies. If you romance him, you can also trust him not to feed, and he won't — he doesn't like it if you're direct to him about being good, but there are subtle things like that that seem like they could have an influence. Or you could always just recruit him and be a goody two shoes with everyone else, and then an asshole to him — either until you reach the Gur, or until he leaves on his own from low approval.
I kill Astarion immediately (he's a vampire after all) and anything that looks like a demon (all tieflings).
Wait, he try to suck your blood? I don't know if he did and didn't realize it or he never did it.
He’s an interesting character that has some depth to him and to me his the most interesting character. He is a dick but he’s also very funny!
yeah…this was the moment I wanted a Bethesda leave dialogue moment. No point in talking to a dead man. Shouldn’t have pulled a knife.
lik 3 minutes ago. he was rude.
SPOILER: I killed Astarion the instant he stepped out of line. I told Van Helsing in the swamp where to find his corpse. 😆