Baldur’s Gate 3: Astarion approval guide

Your companions will have opinions on the decisions and dialogue choices you make. Gaining approval is a great way to build a relationship, which can lead to a possible romance. Here’s an Astarion approval guide if you want to befriend or romance him in Baldur’s Gate 3.

How to gain Astarion’s approval in Baldur’s Gate 3

There are certain things you must do and say when Astarion, the Rogue vampire elf, is in your party. Although it may not align with how you’d want to talk, gaining his approval isn’t so difficult once you get to know him. This Astarion approval guide for Baldur’s Gate 3 will outline what types of things you need to say to get his approval.

Astarion is a bit selfish and devious at times. He’s finally free from Cazador’s clutches, and rightfully only wants to make decisions that benefit his survival. Not to say that he likes the evil choices, but sometimes you may want to make decisions that aren’t so nice. Here are some big choices you should make when they come up in-game for Astarion’s approval:

Other than these choices you can make throughout the start of your BG3 journey, there’s a lot more to do when it comes to gaining this vampire’s approval. Here are some of the overall things to remember about getting Astarion on your good side.

Allow Astarion to drink your blood

First of all, one of the key moments in Astarion’s relationship with you is when he tries to take some of your blood. Astarion says he’s feeling weak, and it would help him if you’d allow him just a taste. The easiest way to gain his approval is to allow him to drink your blood.

This isn’t just a one-off situation. Whenever you talk about it, make sure you tell him that you’re okay with it, and this should improve your relationship with him. Also, during all this, you should be open and accepting of him being a vampire.

Insult, deceive, and make rude jokes to NPCs

Some NPCs will ask you for all the help they can get during certain situations. Usually, if you say yes without any doubt in your mind, Astarion will disapprove. If there’s no benefit for your party, he won’t like this decision. He’ll also approve of some of your more cheeky and rude dialogue choices.

Typically, this comes from his selfish interests, since he’s just wanting to survive. For example, if you tell Nettie in the Druid Grove you’ll promise to take the poison if you start to become an Illithid, he’ll disapprove. If Astarion was in that situation, he’d outright refuse to poison himself.

Side with the goblins

Although siding with the goblins isn’t something you must do for Astarion’s approval, it’s definitely an option. He’s a lot more accepting of you if you decide to attack the Druid Grove instead of protecting it. But in my playthrough, I didn’t do this, and I still was able to gain approval in other ways. It’s just one way of doing things if you want to try being less heroic.

Lean into your Illithid Powers

Certain companions aren’t so happy that they can gain Illithid Powers from consuming tadpoles. But if you ask Astarion about it, he’ll be a lot more open to them. This is mainly because the tadpole allows him to stay alive in the sunlight.

Everything about him is survival and self-preservation. If you convince him to lean into those Illithid Powers and talk about how you’re okay with the tadpole, he’ll be happy with you.

Complete Astarion’s questline

The best thing to do with any companion for approval is to progress through their personal side quest. Astarion, at some point during Baldur’s Gate 3, wants to get his revenge on Cazador and ascend. It’s important during his quest to help him on this journey.

Although, this doesn’t mean Astarion must ascend. You can stay loyal and be helpful throughout his quest, and even in the end convince him that ascending isn’t the right answer. This was how I did it in my playthrough, and if you convince him, he’ll be grateful. On the other hand, he can ascend, and he’ll still be happy about being a powerful vampire lord.

Who is Astarion in BG3?

Astarion in BG3 is one of the main companions who can join your party and he’s a high elf rogue. Voiced by Neil Newbon, Astarion was once a young magistrate in Baldur’s Gate until he was turned into a vampire spawn by Cazador Szarr, a vampire lord.

For 200 years Astarion was a slave to Cazador until being abducted by mind flayers and receiving the tadpole at the start of the game. He’s a charismatic yet snarky character who is initially with the party just for the means of survival.

Although he can occasionally be cruel, getting to know him can show his true loyal nature. As you progress through the game and Astarion’s quest you can eventually help him face off against Cazador to stop the ritual which could endanger many vampire spawns.