To add, Wyll is gonna end up in hell unless you provide him this miraculous chance to break the contract.

Will will fail to break out Mizora in act2 and be sent to hell as lemure. Karachi's will fail to fix engine heart and burn up.

I erm... was late to meet Lae'zel, found the thieflings dead, so I know that I'll find her dead eventually.. :/.

@@TheMentalStateZero you can actually still recruit her later in act 1. i also missed her in my playthrough and got her later. 🙂

@@TheMentalStateZero I didn’t recruit her after the cage in my first playthrough and I was still able to recruit her when I encountered other githyanki for the first time (I waited until Voss left.). It was just a lot harder because I had to keep a level 1 Lae’zel alive through the fight with her brethren (or revived by the end), without her counting as a companion yet.

I like playing Tav as a god-sent therapist monk to help straighten out these traumatized runts, before they make an already bad situation way worse.

And same the toher way around. So far I have four completed playthroughs, each one of them as Durge, and I've always started them thinking I would do a evil run, like really dark urge evil, but no, the moment I meet Karlach is the moment all my plans falls apart, she's just too much of a golden retriever and I can't let her down. Astarion is my go to romance, love that guy with durge, they fit perfectly, but I don't mind going evil with him cause well, he can be pretty evil when he wants too, but it really shows how good of a story every companion has when even the ones I don't keep in my party still matters to me, like Lae'zel and Wyll. Someone once said that the companions are also rolling the dice to persuarde the player from doing bad things, and they are 100% right, and my companions always rolls nat 20!

The only true path is the path of necromancy.

H

This is seriously so brutal in all levels.

He was also Cazador‘s favorite toy. In one conversation where Astarion drops a hint to this, you can call Cazador his „master in the bedroom“ and OH BOY. He is NOT amused by that. As with any „favorite“ victim, their supposed privileges come at a steep price. The other six spawn were only envious of Astarion because they don’t fully know what that meant, and only ever saw his preferential treatment by their master.

​@ArDeeMee wait did cazador actually do something to astarion in the bedroom? :o

@@alisapizza4776 Yup. There are bits and pieces about his story you‘ll only hear if you’re mean to him. I recommend looking them up here, there are tons of clips and compilations.

@@alisapizza4776 it was implied

Omg now that I recall his lines at the camp, it really hurts.

Someone or something picked him up alright 😞.

I feel like that is actually very true

I checked upon him almost every hour just to get a look at him. Never played the game without him. Killed a couple of goblins then heading out to see how's my pale Elf faring and each time hearing him asking for help was too much to bear. I'm glad my next playthrough isn't going to be without him.

@@kapitaineinthe fact there is a way to get the hella dead looking Astarion at camp is just foul

​@@angelicsailor1stwut

this is how my game looks lol i dodged him so bad

@@billy53784 😭

He is more than traumatized :(

Is there study to back this? I don't doubt just would like to read and learn.

He is a precious baby boy who could never hurt anyone

there is also the moment where he instantly becomes mad with power. you have version where is truly loves you or where you became his favorite tool

@@rubenrodriguez3164yes i’ve been obsessed with human psychology and i cant find any studies

Omg the way how you care for him sound so good ☺.

So you can leave him to Gandrel yourself

"well fed, geared up, properly dressed, clean, and happy" sounds like mom is describing a todler 😀

Astarian is a cat after all, it's only right you treat him like one :P

SAME ! i love him so much 😭 the first thing i ever do in all my games is : recruit him, talk to him all the time and CHANGE HIS SPAWN OUTFIT. my boy is free, he doesn't need to wear that shit anymore

LOL really? It's a ruse... he's literally trying to lure you into a trap to kill you...

@@Ailieorz The guy's been conditioned and tortured into using himself as bait for two centuries, with no worth or use outside of that. He's also scared, and yeah he pulls a knife but he threatens to kill me and doesn't actually knife me straight out. Again I'll forgive it, he's using all he knows and has to fall back on after being abducted a second time and having his world upended. No one's at their best in those circumstances. If he'd tried it a bit later, I might have been mad, but at this point he doesn't know our intentions either and sees everyone as a potential threat.

@@Ailieorz He traps you not to kill you, but to find out if you are a friend or an enemy, because if you turn out to be an enemy, then this is probably the only chance for him to protect himself. Moreover, he saw you walking freely around the nautiloid, so he has reason to assume that you are one of the illithids.

​@@Madeleinewith3EsWhich doesn't change the fact that his cry for help is manipulation. I hate that he is forgiven for everything just because he is beautiful. On top of that he justifies it by saying he was a victim lol.

@@rraven2670oh you're one of those people who think victims should be perfect

I really had my hopes high and had my fingers crossed quite literally.

Bro, he is not a sprite.😅

Interesting that shadowheart is unconscious because for me on my first game play she is by the door

@@onyxraven3455 That happens when you don't save her on the ship.

I skip her some times. Cause why not. Interesting to see what happens.

I only left him at camp once in my second playthrough (I wanted to see other companions' situation specific dialogue) and it felt so, so wrong without him.

☺

And I will alway let him die in the monastery and revive him. The reaction is too good

Astarion turned into zombie: Meeh... Astarion while his ding-dong was taken away from him: Cazador, you foul monster, you will pay for this!!!

☺

This is so good. I love it ❤.

Like this a lot!

Best ending

like he'd be caught alive or dead drinking, ugh, cheap wine. lol

Until Astarion suddenly turns into a Mindflayer, since he isn’t under the protection of the artifact.

I think Laezels fate is she dies and becomes a shadow creature in the shadowlands. She tried to cross it herself and you find her dead body there

Gale would be trapped in the portal which is arguably safer for everyone else than him being rescued.

I think Shadowheart would be the only person alive, but she would have been a Shar worshipper to the end, and would never have met her parents. She would have done all she can to get to Baldur's Gate, and there's a BIG chance she could have been killed by the Gith because of the prism. Wyll has a chance of surviving I guess, but there's also a big chance of him dying in the shadow-cursed lands trying to save his father, infiltrating moonrise alone.

@@IneffableChild Поправочка: без главного героя, Уилл бы умер защищая рощу, возможно ещё в первый раз, когда мы только подходим к роще. Если бы Сердцетени не умерла там же, а прошла дальше, то она не смогла бы сама убить Песнь ночи, если в той сцене не вмешиваться, она всегда выкидывает копьё. И как следствие её убили бы либо гиты, либо свои же.

I accidentally didn't recruit shadowheart in my first playthrough but then the brains killed me because I had to fight them alone so I reloaded :)

Aww

Crowd: And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... (...)

True.

It seems Cazador flayed him 😦

Very true indeed ☺.

Some things are sometimes beyond rational explanation. Love Astarion or hate him, He's one of the most interesting characters with a massive dose of human emotions. I'd never leave him alone at the ravaged beach.

Well, at least exploding is a quick death...knowing Cazador, whatever exactly happened to Astarion WASN'T...

Bc funny cutscene

You can only really torment Astarion if you keep him around. Top it off by letting him begin the ritual (because seeing Cazador brutalized is just cathartic), and then interrupt it. He‘ll attack you for that, permanently ending your affiliation. It’s a game, have fun. Astarion was the devs‘ favorite as well, that’s why he has so much variety.

At first glance Astarion seems to be made to be Durge’s BFF so that’s understandable.

Astarion is a proactive character, but there's no way of telling what kind of challenges he's faced without the safety of the group and Emperor's protection from tadpole's influence. Clearly, no matter WHAT he does, the game wants to communicate to us that joining and remaining in our group is the only way he survives all this.

Cazador mentions something about Astarion taking part in the ritual regardless if hes dead or alive, i cant remember if its in a journal or in the middle of the fight but he does say it somewhere

@@wolflithay6380 In the middle of the fight - if we release Astarion from his ritual beam, Cazador usually goes after him with hard-hitting attacks meant to knock him down/kill him (and may succeed locking him in the beam again) and screams that he doesn't need him alive to complete the ritual.

Astarion has no plans or real ideas. He would try and run, but the Gur will track him down eventually. Gandrel isn’t the only one looking for him. If you want Astarion to get a redemption arc, ask Gandrel distracting questions so he doesn’t grow suspicious, and Astarion doesn’t feel the need to kill him. You‘ll meet him again in BG, and he won’t be angry. The Gur will charge Astarion with saving their children. When you’re in the dungeons, opposite Sebastian‘s cell is another containing the children. Talk to them. After the fight, release the spawn. You‘ll find Gandrel with the children on your way out. It’s really rewarding - and a complete accident for my playthrough. I originally wanted to trigger Astarion‘s attack on Gandrel, for the funneh. But this is better. Even though I‘m on an evil run. =) When I go Durge, this is going to play out a whole lot differently. 😂

@@ArDeeMee that's what I keep saying to myself, that next time I play durge (I always play durge) it will be an evil run. Let me tell you something: the moment you even think about doing something bad, Karlach will be there and the "My companion, I adore you" will play in your head on repeat and you won't be able to do a thing beside becoming a holy paladin of kindness.

You're not the only one

Wonder what happens if you carry his body the whole game…

🥲

This whole game is all about guilt tripping and manipulating the player by controlling his reactions, decisions and judgement through some twisted emotional "carrot and a stick" system. Toxic, psycho manipulative, unsafe to play without taking the risk of being brainwashed.

@@SzaraSzarancza At least it lets you kill them all. I never had a chance to learn his TragicBackstoryTM, he wasn't walking away alive after threatening my character with that knife.

At best, he is ignored in my camp. At worst, he gets staked

​@@Thomasnmi+1 he is one of worse xd

If someone fetishizes carrying around vampire corpses for good fortune, then why not.¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@@Thomasnmi Agreed

I disagree

He doesn’t need fixing, just help and time for healing.

@@katiatall Exactly this 🙏

@@katiatall well you kinda have to “fix his fear” (ie kill Cazador) so that he can learn to heal his trauma and live a life or relative safety

Well, Cazador fixed him pretty well, there is nothing more to be fixed now.¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@@SzaraSzarancza wtf? Cazador broke him, I mean literally broke him because he can no longer do something important to elves - which is to be able to see their past selves when they do their meditation (their version of sleep), which is why he can not remember what he looked like beforehand (because elves can see their past selves and old memories when they meditate, so the only time they lose that ability is through a lot of trauma)

Good for you . Astarion not in the party removes most of the banters and witty comments from the game.

I can't. This character has gotten entirely under my skin and I cannot hurt him, period.

@@jhod555 I refuse to treat him badly, but in that scenario..my heart broke when it crossed my mind

They probably just didn't allow him to drink blood for a long time.

3 playthroughs and still haven't dismissed him? Impressive.

@@kapitainein well, I do play with a mod that lets me have more people in my party 😅 but I had dismissed everyone at least once except Astarion.

lol .

Hey now - Minthara ALSO approves of killing innocent people...most of the time anyway

True. Even Minthara will criticize you for going full murderhobo.

The first sensible argument in favor of Astarion that I saw in this comment section.😅

Wot?

In my first playthrough I didn't realize the dead Dragonborn in the Bhaal temple was DU.

😃

As I understand, Larian changed a lot of things regarding undead for their game

The scars bind him to the ritual, so maybe the way the contract with Mephistopheles is that he has to provide 7k spawn with the contracts carved into their backs and the fact that Astarion is dead is basically a loophole in the contract. Like "I gave them all the scars and performed the ritual, you didn't say they all had to be alive." Cazador even says during the fight if Astarion is present that Astarion will be part of the ritual 'dead or alive' or 'your corpse will participate in this ritual' or something. Which is presumably also why when Astarion went missing, Cazador couldn't just turn someone else into a spawn and carve the contract on them. The fact that Astarion had the contract carved on him already meant that he had to be be part of the ritual, no takebacksies since once a devil contract is written/signed it can't be undone unless the devil themselves agrees to it

​​@@destinygalearies7382 Probably not even a loophole. The contract was already written and signed, so Astarion's soul was already bound and probably yeeted straight to hell when he died. I doubt Mephistopheles cares whether the whole payment arrives simultaneously. The body with its brands just had to be present for the ritual even if the first instalment had already been sent, as it were. Though I don't really see the purpose of making him a zombie, since his corpse would probably work just fine. Except maybe just for the sake of inflicting more torture on "him" even after death. 😬

Yeah, I got lucky with a headbutt and then selected the dialogue options to exit the convo before manually attacking him. It would've been nice to have an option to attack in the dialogue tree though

😃

Song of Balduran.

Yes .