A player in Baldur’s Gate 3 describes his wife’s experiences with Astarion, who turned out to be a scoundrel. MeinMMO reveals the whole story behind it.
Spoiler: The article contains significant spoilers about Astarion’s story.
A female player in Baldur’s Gate 3 outed herself as an enthusiastic vampire fan. She named Dracula
by Bram Stoker as one of her favorite books and confessed that she had secretly been a Twilight fan
during her teenage years.
After learning about Astarion in Baldur’s Gate 3, she inevitably felt compelled to start the game. She created a barbarian tiefling named Grak and set out to woo Astarion. The first two acts of the game completely captivated her as she delved deep into the dynamics and relationship between Grak and Astarion, and she appeared utterly thrilled.
However, after a decision in Act 3, Astarion turned into a true villain, which left her bitterly disappointed. In response to this disappointment, she drew a line under her relationship.
Astarion has very different sides than you might think
What happened in Act 3? Player RunningBlade2184 describes his wife’s frustrating experiences on Reddit. In this act, she faced a serious decision. She had to help Astarion track down and kill Cazador.
As the dramatic moment approached, she was faced with a consequential choice:
- Should she turn Astarion into the vampire lord?
- Should she rather dissuade him?
She decided on the former. Her hope was that the consequences would not be too devastating. She wanted to make her Astarion happy.
However, what shocked the player most was the glimpse into Astarion’s thoughts that she was able to catch in camp.
Her husband describes it as follows on Reddit:
Unfortunately, the decision led to Astarion changing and becoming just like Cazador, with the new goal of turning everyone into spawns and ruling over them. What shocked my wife the most was reading Astarion’s thoughts later in camp. She saw that he regarded Grak as just another subordinate. […] This led my wife to give him the boot, and it hurt her even more when Astarion acted as if he did not care at all. […]
RunningBlade2184 via Reddit
RunningBlade2184 also emphasizes that this experience underscores one of the remarkable features of this game regarding companion interactions. In many RPGs, it feels like you always have to placate romantic interests and do everything they want to keep them happy and like you.
But in Baldur’s Gate 3, he believes that blind agreement and a simple Yes
rarely lead to a happy ending.
He further emphasizes:
More often, openness, trust, and dealing with underlying issues are rewarded – like in a real relationship. This is one of the few games with romantic options that feel truly authentic and real, instead of following the formula “Win her favor first, then sex.” While there is sex, the bond itself feels more important.
RunningBlade2184 via Reddit
His wife ultimately spent a full three hours undoing her previous decisions in this quest by reverting to an older save and apparently chose the alternative option in the end.
What do you think about this topic? Did you decide to let Astarion ascend to the vampire lord or not? Feel free to share your experiences with us in the comments!
Did you know? You can watch the voice actor of Astarion live on Twitch as he plays Baldur’s Gate 3.
