Astarion's true feelings **Spoilers - don't click if you haven't played his story**

[Mojo JoJo]

I have just completed my 2nd play through - once as Astarion and once as Dark Urge and i know he's a victim of countless r*pes and abuse etc, which makes him very untrusting and emotionally walled off but I dunno.. does he ever actually develop love and affection for you?

I've tried telling him that I genuinely care about him and I've given him all the love and support the game lets me, but it just feels like he never truly reciprocates back.

Eg - When he's wanting you to help at the ritual it's about 'well you do want me to be happy don't you? You do want what's best for me?' and is clearly manipulating you. Even when he's offering to make you a vampire he even tells you that he loves you, but in such a way, you know it's just words and he doesn't mean it in the slightest.

if you don't go down the vampire asendant route he isn't bothered apart from a momentary 'what!!' if you say you want to break up before being 'oh well never mind, take care dahling!'

Also, he's never bothered if you want to sleep with other people. I tried kissing halsin just to see if he would at any point be like 'umm i just want it to be us and no one else' but instead it's no different than if you sleep with the siblings at the brothel - he just says 'i hope you aren't doing this just because we aren't having sex'

it's been a bit disappointing.....sorry Larian...

and for the record, it would be nice if we could actually wake up spooning our lover or something, rather than getting no closeness other than just a request to kiss.

[Mojo JoJo]

damn you for breaking my heart Astarion...

[Miss Witch]

I feel ya. Even in the end, at the final conversation about the player's plans with him for the future, he so casually offers a way out. Like "we can do this, but if you wanna go your own way I get it." Boy, what???? He doesn't fake it from act 2 onwards, but I swear whoever wrote Astarion has never known longing.

[Mojo JoJo]

Originally posted by Miss Witch:

I feel ya. Even in the end, at the final conversation about the player's plans with him for the future, he so casually offers a way out. Like "we can do this, but if you wanna go your own way I get it." Boy, what???? He doesn't fake it from act 2 onwards, but I swear whoever wrote Astarion has never known longing.

yeah it's like one step forward and two steps back...leaves a bit of an empty feeling

[Noctoculus]

The tadpole didn't give him a soul. He's a vampire.

[Morgian]

And he has as many feelings for others as a rock. He is a CE monster behind a pretty facade.

[Noctoculus]

Originally posted by Morgian:

And he has as many feelings for others as a rock. He is a CE monster behind a pretty facade.

I don't like Astarion. He's been one of my main companions for my singleplayer campaign and unlike the other two, Lae'zel and Shadowheart, he did not grow on me. Progressing his story revealed to me that he has zero empathy for others, even those that have shared his suffering, even his past victims.

I helped him achieve his ascension. He's a monster, but in the process of attaining his goals, thousands of vampire spawn were destroyed. If all goes well, he'll be dead at the end of my game.

[Mojo JoJo]

Originally posted by Noctoculus:

The tadpole didn't give him a soul. He's a vampire.

You might have a point, but if he didn't have a soul, withers wouldn't be able to bring him back?

[Malaficus Shaikan]

I planing to play astarion in our multiplayer session.
It will be interested experiance if nothing else.
Going to make him a druid tho.
Rogue's are boring.

[Mojo JoJo]

Originally posted by Noctoculus:

Originally posted by Morgian:

And he has as many feelings for others as a rock. He is a CE monster behind a pretty facade.

I don't like Astarion. He's been one of my main companions for my singleplayer campaign and unlike the other two, Lae'zel and Shadowheart, he did not grow on me. Progressing his story revealed to me that he has zero empathy for others, even those that have shared his suffering, even his past victims.

I helped him achieve his ascension. He's a monster, but in the process of attaining his goals, thousands of vampire spawn were destroyed. If all goes well, he'll be dead at the end of my game.

He's definitely damaged goods I agree, but I still want him to be happy.

[Noctoculus]

Originally posted by Mojo JoJo:

Originally posted by Noctoculus:

The tadpole didn't give him a soul. He's a vampire.

You might have a point, but if he didn't have a soul, withers wouldn't be able to bring him back?

Fair, but is Withers actually part of the story or is he just a tool for the player?

[Mojo JoJo]

Originally posted by Malaficus Shaikan:

I planing to play astarion in our multiplayer session.
It will be interested experiance if nothing else.
Going to make him a druid tho.
Rogue's are boring.

I did feel his story wasn't more in depth when you got to play him, which I figured it would be. It would also have been nice to have aspects of his story come up that you couldn't get any other way than playing them, which would add to the replay value

[Mojo JoJo]

Originally posted by Noctoculus:

Originally posted by Mojo JoJo:

You might have a point, but if he didn't have a soul, withers wouldn't be able to bring him back?

Fair, but is Withers actually part of the story or is he just a tool for the player?

There is a cut scene at the end involving withers, but I didn't feel it added anything to the story.

[Noctoculus]

Originally posted by Mojo JoJo:

He's definitely damaged goods I agree, but I still want him to be happy.

All the companions are. Unless you can somehow restore Astarion's humanity, the kindest thing you can do for him is to end his undeath.

[Ronin Gamer]

Given all he's been through, I feel like his character is very appropriate, and the fact that he wailed and cried when he finally stabbed the hell out of Cazador was amazingly tear jerking to watch.
You can't expect every single person to react the same way to one approach, because one approach doesn't work for the multitude of complexity that is people. Astarion is reasonably untrusting and damaged from his life with him and expecting him to just be forthcoming to asking if he wants a hug is a bit juvenile, sorry to say.
Regardless of if you want to have the argument of a "soul", something I don't believe in in real life let alone fantasy, but this world has souls and gods so I can't argue against it, Astarion is more of an evil nature when you meet him, and that's not going to fully leave him. As some people say, what is done to you you are very likely to do to others. Astarion isn't an exception there.
He can become better, but to expect him to become a flowery kindness machine is a bit too much.

[Mojo JoJo]

Originally posted by Ronin Gamer:

Given all he's been through, I feel like his character is very appropriate, and the fact that he wailed and cried when he finally stabbed the hell out of Cazador was amazingly tear jerking to watch.
You can't expect every single person to react the same way to one approach, because one approach doesn't work for the multitude of complexity that is people. Astarion is reasonably untrusting and damaged from his life with him and expecting him to just be forthcoming to asking if he wants a hug is a bit juvenile, sorry to say.
Regardless of if you want to have the argument of a "soul", something I don't believe in in real life let alone fantasy, but this world has souls and gods so I can't argue against it, Astarion is more of an evil nature when you meet him, and that's not going to fully leave him. As some people say, what is done to you you are very likely to do to others. Astarion isn't an exception there.
He can become better, but to expect him to become a flowery kindness machine is a bit too much.

i 100% agree, there's been a lot of damage done to him over centuries and a few in game weeks isn't going to over come that, plus that scene when he killed cazador was so well done that you can't help but respect how much went into that, from the voice acting as well as the scene itself, that it wasn't in the slightest bit 'overdone'.

I was even surprised that they went as far as having him say that he didn't want to have sex with anyone anymore, because his body hadn't been his to choose what was done to it for so long

it's gonna take a long time to get over it and there is so much more character growth to be done even after BG has been saved.