Baldur's Gate 3: 11 Biggest Differences When Playing As Astarion

Summary

• Experience player freedom in Baldur's Gate 3 by shaping your journey with character choices like Astarion, a vampire with a unique backstory.
• Interact with NPCs like Gandrel and Araj Oblodra to navigate moral dilemmas and storylines that impact party dynamics and gameplay.
• Unlock various unique endings for Astarion, each dependent on player choices throughout the campaign, offering a personalized conclusion.

The acclaimed Baldur's Gate 3 is all about player freedom. Your experience will be shaped by the decisions you make, and one of the biggest choices is the very character you'll use in your journey. The protagonist can be a human, a Gnome, a vampire, or one of many other choices besides.

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Origin characters are pre-made avatars with their own backstory, with most of them even being NPCs when you make a unique character. If you wish to play with an established character rather than painstakingly customize one of your own, one of the options is Astarion Ancunin, a vampire spawn who is now free from his master. Though taking the role of Astarion doesn't change the game as much as some other Origin characters do, it still offers a unique playthrough. Here's how Astarion's story unfolds differently.

Spoiler warning: This article will touch on several of Astarion's unfolding story elements and possible endings.

Baldur's Gate 3

11 First Contact With The Sun

We Learn Early On That Some Of The Usual Vampire Rules Don't Apply

After the tutorial area is done, you'll wake up during the day. That's when we discover something interesting: The sun will not burn our vampire. This scene is good for first-timers, showing you that familiar vampire weaknesses are irrelevant to this enigmatic character. This is thanks to the tadpole in Astarion's head, which leaves him in a unique and dangerous dilemma: The curse that will turn him into a monster is also saving him from his current situation.

Astarion sees this as liberating. He doesn't need to worry about the sun or any other flaws, which include being forced to obey his master regardless of his opinion. It's an interesting spin on the beginning of the game as experienced by a custom character, and means that the question of whether to fight the tadpole or not is a surprisingly complicated one.

10 Cazador's Nightmare

How Will You Deal With Your Vampirism?

This nightmare sequence can be skipped entirely. Whether it will happen or not depends on an early decision the player must make: Will you conceal the fact that you're a vampire from your companions? You can tell all your allies about it directly, or reveal it intentionally (or not) by biting someone during a battle. Alternatively, if you prefer, you can hide this information from everyone.

Keeping it to yourself and not drinking any blood, however, has consequences. The urge for blood will remind you of the rules your master, Cazador, imposed on you, and you'll have to bite someone. You can hunt for animals if you're worried about your companions, but ultimately, you'll have to get that blood from somewhere. It's a campaign-wide concern that can really change party dynamics.

9 Dealing With Gandrel

The Moral Dilemma Of The Nice Monster Hunter

Despite the dangers of his job, Gandrel finds it quite easy to trust others. When you're playing as Astarion, there's a huge irony to that. In conversation, Gandrel is very open about the fact that he's hunting a vampire spawn named Astarion, without realizing that's you. He has good reason, too, sharing the fact that children from his group, named the Gur, were taken by vampires (a night Astarion remembers).

Still, the man is quite friendly towards you. You can simply give him a farewell and be on your way if his tale makes you feel sympathy to his plight. Attacking is always an option too, though.

As with so many situations in Baldur's Gate 3, it's up to you, and there are positives and negatives to either killing or sparing him.

8 Learning About Your Scars

Another Core Mystery Of Astarion's Identity

When reaching Act 2, the game will properly introduce you to Astarion's scars, which contain an unknown ritual written in Infernal. Instead of sharing it with someone, you can try figuring it out by yourself by following its path and reminiscing on memories from when you first received it.

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Still, there isn't much you'll be able to figure for yourself. As such, this scene is mostly supposed to just introduce the scars to you. If you haven't seen Astarion's back up to this point, after all, you may have still been unaware of their existence. You can learn more about the foreboding pattern from Raphael, as we'll see.

7 Dealing With Araj Oblodra

Should You Take A Taste Of Her Tainted Blood?

When you're not playing as Astarion, the NPC will have a pronounced negative reaction to the blood trader Araj Oblodra. For her part, she's not very friendly to him either, seeing him only as a tool to satisfy a personal desire to interact with a vampire.

However, when you are Astarion, she's actually quite nice to you, and you don't notice right away that her blood is tainted. Overall, the deal she offers is very tempting, with the powerful Potion of Everlasting Vigor (offering a +2 to Strength) at stake. Other than the bad taste, biting her doesn't bother Astarion at all while you're playing as him.

It's the small interactions with NPCs that really help make the experience and flesh out the world, and this makes for an interesting shake-up for one of them.

6 Gaining Insight About Your Scars From Raphael

An Infernal Deal To Help With An Infernal Mystery

This particular part of the game plays out much as it does if you've created your own character and simply have Astarion as a companion. If you want to learn about the meaning of the scars the vampire bears, you'll have to help Raphael by killing another fiendish enemy, Yurgir. The main difference here is agency.

If you want your scars to be addressed, you need to talk about it. Raphael, of course, doesn't really care about your personal issues, having his own nefarious priorities and desires to address. So, bring it up, help him out, and learn more about them. You also have the option of ignoring this whole side plot, but when playing as Astarion, you might want to glean all the available information about him.

Battling Yurgir is a challenge indeed. If you need some help, consult our in-depth guide to the battle.

5 Interacting With The Gur

Are They Friends Or Foes?

Upon reaching the famed Baldur's Gate, you can meet a group of Gur, the monster hunters. Gandrel will be here again, unless you opted to fight and kill him during your prior encounter with the man. Either way, the Gur that await here will acknowledge that you're different from the other spawn. Armed with that information, they're hopeful that you can help them in their fight to deal with Cazador.

The difference here is essentially in the dialogue. The Gur will try to make you feel enormously guilty, in order to convince you to help them with the kidnapped children. You can still say no when playing as Astarion, but that makes them hostile. They then consider you a monster.

4 Interacting With The Other Spawns

A Tragic Family Reunion

Elsewhere in Baldur's Gate (the game's Act 3), you can find more of Cazador's spawns in the city. There's also a harrowing scene in which a group of them attempt to attack you in your sleep. These scenes also come with interesting dialogue, and if you manage it carefully, you can convince the others that you want to help them.

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You can't stop them from attacking you, as they're bound to obey Cazador, but they can give you extra information, such as where to find their master. It's heartbreaking to see them being forced into fighting you, but ultimately, you can pursue Cazador and decide the fiend's fate.

3 Entering Cazador's Palace

The Resolution To His Story Is What You Make It

Dealing with Cazador is a backstory mission with a variety of possible resolutions. It all depends on your moral compass -- either as a player, as Astarion, or both -- and just how vengeful you're feeling after all the insight you've gathered about Astarion's past.

In the palace, you will interact with your former torturers, people you kidnapped in your Master's name. You even have to roll to successfully remember Sebastian's name. You must then decide how to deal with Cazador himself. Perhaps using him in the ritual would be fitting. Alternatively, if that isn't satisfying enough for you, making him beg for his life only to still finish him off seems delightfully vicious. When playing as Astarion, you get to reach this crucial chapter in his development and consider the resolution that seems most fitting.

2 His Unique Endings

Ask Yourself: What Would Astarion Do?

The numerous endings of Baldur's Gate 3 aren't to be spoiled, but it's crucial to note just how much variety there is to enjoy. As an Origin character, Astarion alone has several fascinating options for how his story wraps up. As always, it will depend on multiple choices made by the player throughout the campaign. The most signficant ones will be who you've chosen to romance, whether you Ascended or not, or whether you turned yourself into a Mind Flayer.

These endings can range from Astarion living with his partner to relying on criminals to feed himself. Alternatively, he may enjoy his new life as a tentacle monster, or become a sort of Cazador 2.0. Whatever happens here, it was the results of your actions that caused it. A character as popular and interesting as Astarion deserves his own personal ending, whatever it may be.