Astarion, voiced by award-winning Neil Newbon, is a great companion to have by your side in Baldur’s Gate 3. This handsome, blood-sucking, High-Elf Rogue vampire plays a significant role in the story’s progression. Astarion is recruited at the start of Act One, and he only works for his own agenda to get revenge against Cazador. Dexterity and Constitution stand as his primary abilities.
This guide will span from recruiting him to increasing his approval rating, which allows you to romance him. If you want to perfect your adventures with Astarion, follow this guide.
How to Recruit Astarion in Baldur’s Gate 3
Astarion can be found when Nautiloid crashes, and you reach the Ravaged beach. As soon as you approach him, he’ll lure you into his traps by telling you to kill something. As you look, he will come behind you, draw out a knife, and take you down while pointing the knife at your neck.
Pass the dice roll check to make him put away the knife. A conversation will take place where you both will break the ice and find some common ground to find the person responsible for inserting these mind-controlling tadpoles in your heads.
Astarion will then further brief you about his story as well. At this point, you can ask him to join your party to look for the person responsible for your condition. Recruiting companions like Astarion is easy, as it only needs finding them and having a heart-to-heart conversation in Baldur’s Gate 3.
How to Raise Astarion’s Approval Rating
Astarion’s longing for power, his aristocratic demeanor, and his frequent reliance on deceptive and flirtatious methods give you an idea about what type of person he is and how to get him to like you.
To raise the companion approval rating for Astarion in Baldur’s Gate 3, don’t be judgmental or condescending when he reveals himself as a vampire. When he sneaks into your camp at night and tries to drink your blood, don’t stop him. Instead, encourage Astarion to bite you. Try to side with goblins and all the negative people, as it displays brute force and authority.
Try not to show any weaknesses or kindness. Displaying cruel behavior will also get you his approval. Avoid altruism and be ambitious when it comes to your goals and tasks. Support him every time, no matter how wrong or violent he is. Doing all these things will quickly raise your approval with Astarion.
How to Romance Astarion in BG3
The prerequisite to romance Astarion is the quest named Save the Refugees. You must converse with him and share your concerns with him to get him to consider you a potential romantic partner. You must obtain a high approval rating for Astarion before you can have a romantic scene with Astarion.
After saving the Druid Grove, engage with him in a conversation at the camp during the party. Select the following dialogue options to successfully romance Astarion in Baldur’s Gate 3.
- Really? Saving lives is awful.
- True, the Goblins would’ve thrown a wilder party.
- And what’s your idea of a little fun?
- All right, let’s do it. I’ll see you later.
Given that you follow our guidelines, you will be able to romance him successfully.
During Act 2, follow the story until you meet Raphael once more. He will ask you to kill Yurgir in exchange for some information vital to Astarion. Kill Yurgir inside the Gauntlet of Shar and then return to Raphael. Once Astarion learns about the writing on his back, he will open up to you more. Rapahel will also tell you of Cazador and his plans for Ascension.
In Act 3, find Cazador’s Palace and stop the ritual by defeating him. Here, you will get two options. Whether you can allow Astarion to ascend or stop him from becoming the new vampire lord.
If you go with the first option, Astarion will lose all respect for you and treat you like his pet while continuing the romance. For the second option, you will have a much warmer Astarion who will have a much better romance with you.
Astarion’s Companion Quest
After Astarion decides to stay in your party, you will unlock his “The Pale Elf” companion quest. This quest will give you information about Astarion being a vampire and trying to escape his Lord vampire, Cazador. Astarion will reveal the scars on his back during the romance scene.
As you progress through Act 2 and reach Last Light Inn in the Shadow Cursed Lands, Astarion will open up more about his scars. He will ask you to find Raphael to learn about the scars. Raphael will ask you to visit the House of Hope and kill Yurgir in exchange for his services.
Once you make a deal with the devil, see it through to the end. Talk to Raphael once more after killing Yurgir, and he will tell you that Cazador is planning on becoming a vampire ascendant by killing all vampires in the realm. Find Cazador and kill him before he can complete the ritual. At this point, you can either convince Astarion not to become a vampire ascendant himself or help him become one. Doing either will finish Astarion’s quest in Baldur’s Gate 3.
All Astarion Endings in BG3
Astarion has a multitude of endings in BG3, depending on how you approach his quest and whether you romance him or not.
- If you let Astarion ascend, he will keep you as his pet and make you a vampire spawn at the end of Act 3. However, if you become an Illithid, he will leave you, saying that you are too ugly for his taste.
- Upon successfully convincing Astarion to let go of godhood, he will stay with you after the end of Act 3 and try to search for a cure for his condition. These endings are only achievable if you are romancing Astarion.
- If you decide to become the absolute, Astarion will either be killed or become your slave, depending on your choices.
- Upon playing with Astarion as an origin character, you can go for the evil ending, where he summons a swarm of vampire spawns to feed on the people of Baldur’s Gate.
Astarion’s Attributes and Proficiencies in Baldur’s Gate 3
Astarion is another origin character with a unique storyline of his own. However, being an origin character has its own unique limitations. You can’t change the appearance, race, class, or background of the character. Astarion is a High-Elf Rogue with a Charlatan background. Being a High-Elf makes Astarion proficient with ranged weapons and grants him an additional 9m movement speed.
Below is his default ability sheet that you can tweak at the character creation screen.
- STR 8
- DEX 17
- CON 14
- INT 13
- WIS 13
- CHA 10
Astarion has proficiencies in the following skills by default.
- Stealth
- Sleight of Hand
- Deception
- Persuasion
- Acrobatics
Being a rogue, Astarion excels in dual-wielding short weapons. His weapon and armor proficiencies include.
- Rapiers
- Crossbows
- Light Armour
- Bows (long and short)
Best Build for Astarion in Baldur’s Gate 3
Being a High-Elf Rogue, the Astarion build is a bit sneaky and will allow you to embrace evasive techniques. It also allows you to use Sleight of Hand when attacking your opponents frequently mid-combat.
For melee, select the thief subclass of Rogue for Astarion. This not only gives him an immense bonus in sneak attacks, but he also gains mastery in disarming locks, Proficiency in sneak attacks, and a higher movement rate. It also increases the bonus actions by 2.
You can also multiclass Astarion’s Thief Rogue build with the Fighter class (7/5) to make him even a deadlier silent assassin.
