Does Astarion ever show any redeeming qualities?

[Ouroboros]

He is literally only in my party right now because he can pick locks, and is a less obnoxious melee fighter than the githyaki, but ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ is it annoying to see 'Asterion Disapproves' every time I try to do anything even vaguely nice/heroic. I might tolerate it if he had a sense of humor, but he doesn't. No humility, not really any charm, everything he says sounds vaguely sarcastic... does he have, /anything/ that doesn't make him a complete waste of a sapient being?

[Recjawjind]

Just have shadowheart pick locks (or anyone else with reasonable dex, you really dont need a rogue), and take karlach as your melee martial. She's great, and will approve of good choices.

[SoloQ]

This is just pathetic.
Why do you need everyone to approve of everything you do? Are you a circus performer? Do you also require claps and pats on the back for being a good boy?

[Ouroboros]

Shadowheart has lockpicking proficiency? ...Huh. Good to know. I don't have Karlach yet though, but I'll keep that in mind for when I get her.

[GrandMajora]

Mind you that Astarion is Undead.

In accordance with the lore, Undead are sustained by negative energy, which is the antithesis of life itself. The undead hate and fear the living with every bit as much instinct as the living hate and fear death.

Only undead with an extraordinarily strong willpower can overcome this instinctual urge to kill everything that moves. But such undead would be compared to a living psychopath who goes around committing mass murder.

[Ouroboros]

...Is that seriously the 5e undead lore? Huh. Well, okay, so he has enough willpower to not go full sociopathic serial killer. Still doesn't make me want to hang out with him though.

[Recjawjind]

Originally posted by Ouroboros:

Shadowheart has lockpicking proficiency? ...Huh. Good to know. I don't have Karlach yet though, but I'll keep that in mind for when I get her.

Trickery domain has proficiency in slight of hand yes.
She's no longer trickery for me (light domain ftw), but my sorc without any SoH proficiency whatsoever has yet to fail picking a lock within 2 tries. (16 dex, guidance, smuggler ring if its a high dc). Slight of hand expertise is only worth it for pickpocketing. Lockpicking rogues overkill by a gigantic margin. No need. Anyone will do just fine, if they have decent dex.

[Ouroboros]

Guess there's no need to spend a spell choice on Knock then... nobody's really defended him yet, aside from the fact that he's 'unusually nice for an undead', which... alright, fair, but like, that still makes him a serious piece of work by the standards of the living. Guess I'll be benching him.

[Zef]

Since i haven't figured out yet how to make him a capable assasin with 2 daggers (kinda like sebille in DOS2) and he dies really really easy i only keep him as an archer and to pick locks and traps.

Can shadowheart also pick the high level locks? Or only basic ones?

If she can maybe i can kick him out for someone else.

[Pan Darius Cassandra]

• You don't need Astarion, or even a Rogue, to pick locks. Anyone with high Dex and proficiency in Sleight of Hand can do it. There's even a ring that gives a huge bonus. The only thing that Rogues get, and Bards get it too, is expertise.
• You don't necessarily need to pick locks or disarm traps to proceed in the game. You don't have to do everything in each playthrough. Try playing a party with no Sleight of Hand or Stealth. A 'no trickery' party. You'll be fine.
• Even so, there's often an alternative to picking a lock or disarming a trap - try smashing, or casting Knock.

[Jonas™]

Originally posted by Ouroboros:

...Is that seriously the 5e undead lore? Huh. Well, okay, so he has enough willpower to not go full sociopathic serial killer. Still doesn't make me want to hang out with him though.

Why do you say that? He tries to kill you twice in like the first hour. How many innocents you suppose he is killing when you aren't directly observing him? And to answer your original question, no, he had no redeeming qualities. He is basically Dorian Grey.

[zenebatos1]

Astarion will ALWAYS dissaprove acts and decisions that Helps others, selfless acts etc.
He will always approve of selfish acts and decisions that benefits Him or the Player character.

Now he can be "mellowed" out as you progress in the game, but it never is a Total *180* change to what he is.

[Recjawjind]

Originally posted by Zef:

Since i haven't figured out yet how to make him a capable assasin with 2 daggers (kinda like sebille in DOS2) and he dies really really easy i only keep him as an archer and to pick locks and traps.

Can shadowheart also pick the high level locks? Or only basic ones?

If she can maybe i can kick him out for someone else.

At level 1, she can have a +6 to +9 on lockpicking without respecs (+1 from dex, +2 from prof., +2 from smuggler ring, +1-4 from guidance.
And failing really is a non-issue, you can just try again with more thieves tools. They are plentyful enough.

[GrandMajora]

Originally posted by Ouroboros:

...Is that seriously the 5e undead lore? Huh. Well, okay, so he has enough willpower to not go full sociopathic serial killer. Still doesn't make me want to hang out with him though.

Intelligent Undead might have an easier time of it. But he still doesn't feel any remorse for having to eat people in order to survive. In fact, it's pretty obvious that he prefers eating people rather than animals.

[Thoramyr]

I made my main character a god who is good at everything because every single companion I've seen has been insufferable. I wasn't aware that Asterion is undead though. Now I can kill him without remorse.

[Seleck]

Originally posted by Ouroboros:

He is literally only in my party right now because he can pick locks, and is a less obnoxious melee fighter than the githyaki, but ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ is it annoying to see 'Asterion Disapproves' every time I try to do anything even vaguely nice/heroic. I might tolerate it if he had a sense of humor, but he doesn't. No humility, not really any charm, everything he says sounds vaguely sarcastic... does he have, /anything/ that doesn't make him a complete waste of a sapient being?

The gith story has some interesting turns she is a fanatic that hasn't seen the truth yet, though she is a pain to get along with and she is always arguing with shadowheart with is mildly amusing. Asterion is just annoying, I don't even bother with him