How do you make Astarion any good?

[Space Cowboy]

Crappy damage, terrible chance to hit with bows and spells, and the spells themself aren't too effective either. Only thing he's been good for so far is opening locks - otherwise he's a burden in any fight. How do you make him effective?

[HozzMidnight]

I don't use him a lot because my main is a Ranger/Rogue/Fighter. That said I take him when I think he has some story moments coming. I made him a Champion/Assassin, all dex no str, finesse dual wield and he is fine. Lots of good finesse melee weapons in the game. I would not say he is strong but he is not a liability.

[Dre G Writer]

Originally posted by Ashy:

cunning action -> stealth -> sneak attack (ranged)

Yup, pretty much all you need. OP, If you got poisons, and special arrows, use too.

Originally posted by Batailleuse:

Originally posted by Space Cowboy:

Crappy damage, terrible chance to hit with bows and spells, and the spells themself aren't too effective either. Only thing he's been good for so far is opening locks - otherwise he's a burden in any fight. How do you make him effective?

simple.

Pick Rogue 3 (pick the top left option rogue that has 2 bonus action)
then pick ranger (gloom-stalker) to 5 (to get extra attack) - pick archery as specialization
gloomstalker gives you darkvision, and a FREE attack (melee or ranged) on demand when you start a fight.
then warrior 2 (to get surge) or 3 to pick a specialization (pick defense as specialization or dual wield)
then finish with levels in ranger
use dualwield crossbows

stack as many source of extra damage on his gear.

now fight usually go like this.

sneak,
Sneak attack target
you now have an extra attack, then 2 extra off hand.

so 4 attacks total,

and with 2 bonus action, that means you can do a lot of extra stuff, like jumping, teleport, gulp potion in time of need.

astarion in my team (supposing everything hit) is about 80-120 damage per turn.

Damn bruh, you dun done sumtin. Ima try this.

[drager55891]

I made him a range and found some good range gauntlet for him. Now when I have him and most just point have he shoot across the battle field at what I need to be hit.

Me: Astarion I need mage to lost concentration.
Astarion : No problem
Me: Dead is better.

[Space Cowboy]

Originally posted by Chaosolous:

Originally posted by Space Cowboy:

Alright, alright, apparently this isn't my good old BG2 anymore and I have to put in some work. I'm really not much of a number cruncher so this'll be a bit of a chore, but I guess that's the price to pay for more complex and intricate systems.

It’ll come to you more naturally with time. Focus on putting him into stealth and attacking with sneak attacks (ranged is best because it’s easier to go back into stealth after).

I have thief on him so it’s two bonus actions. I go;

Move outside enemy sight.
Hide
Sneak attack with bow
Move outside enemy sight
Hide

End Turn.

I don't understand how to pull off sneak ranged attacks with him. It always says "can't have disadvantage against target".

[myhv]

What are you talking about? Rogue is like the easiest class to do damage with, just give him a bow and let the sneak attacks rain death.

[Space Cowboy]

Originally posted by myhv:

What are you talking about? Rogue is like the easiest class to do damage with, just give him a bow and let the sneak attacks rain death.

Look at my last post, please. I can't pull off his sneak attacks and don't understand why.

[mutantbeth]

u did something wrong. mines is an assassin and he deals insane damage. paired with the dark urge cape that turns you invisible after a kill hes unstoppable. was op in act 1 and 2, still good in act 3 though

[Trevor]

It sounds like a lot of people do not understand how stealth and sneak attack work in this game. The Rogue as a class is designed with the expectation that you will be Sneak Attacking basically every turn.

Luckily, Sneak Attack is ridiculously easy to pull off in this game if you know how it works. There are two main ways to do it:

1. You will automatically get Sneak Attack if you attack an enemy who is currently within melee range of a friendly. Just run another character (or summon/familiar) into melee, then Sneak Attack.

2. At level 2, Rogues gain the ability to hide as a bonus action (make sure to use the "bonus action" version of the hide command, and not the "action" version from the bar). While hiding, you will automatically get Advantage (unless you have disadvantage for another reason), and be able to Sneak Attack. The trick to hiding is that you're automatically successful if no one can see the space you're in, but your hide action can fail if an enemy can see you. If you hold down the shift key enemy LOS will be highlighted in red. Just make sure to stand somewhere not marked red before selecting "hide", and you will succeed at it every time.

Lots of people are recommending Assassin as the Rogue subclass to use, but personally I've found Thief to be the amazing one. The extra bonus action lets you dash or disengage during the same turn you hide and attack, meaning you should almost never have difficulty positioning yourself somewhere you can hide. Assassin means you'll have a great first turn of combat, but Thief means that you'll be getting Sneak Attack every turn.

[Finical]

I didn't make a lot of use of his stealth mechanics outside of when I remembered late-game you could use sneak attacks when allies were near the target thanks to advantage, but I *did* make effective use of him as an agile character. He can move extremely far with Dash without using up his main action. Considering there are multiple situations where being quick is important, such as the Iron Throne segment of the game, and his default subclass lets him use invisibility on other people (and in Act 3 I gave him a constitution necklace I nabbed making his concentration throws stronger), he became my go-to for getting things done in quick succession. As well as being able to disengage to avoid attacks of opportunity.

Plus it's always good to have a rogue in the party to disarm traps and pick locks. He was invaluable for that.

[Mizu]

Multiclass him as an assassin rogue/gloomstalker ranger

[Deitrix]

Astarion is one of the most useful characters in the game, yo.

Make sure you're using a finesse weapon so he hits using his massive dexterity instead of his meager strength. Dagger or shortsword. You can use a rapier, but he is debatably better dual-wielding. OR, focus on bows or crossbows. They hit on Dex. Make certain you are getting in your sneak attack with him. In melee it's as easy as hitting someone who a teammate is in melee with. Hurts a LOT. With a bow it's tricker as he needs to get advantage another way or have TWO teammates on the enemy in question to get his extra damage. He's safer at a range tho, so your call there.

It seems like you may have gone Arcane Trickster with him, or are just having him use scrolls. His Int is kinda lousy for that, but if you put points into it as you level up he can get decent with spells. Don't expect AT to have powerhouse spells tho, they mostly get spells for sneaking and utility. What astarion shines at is stabbing/shooting people to death. If you really want to make him a spellcaster, either pay Withers to respec him and change his stats a bit so he has higher Int... OR look for an item in the blighted village on one of the ogres. I won't spoil any more than that, but if you kill them you will find something on one that will greatly enhance the spellcasting ability of your poor, pale rogue.

Or if you just plain don't like him... no harm. Respec him into a class you like more or just don't use him. All valid choices.

Hope this helped.

[stakanctl]

I was the same opinion of him until the middle of the second act when his personal quest started developing. Several quests later, I made him 9/3 Rogue/Bard and was amazed of the damage amount he does with sneak attacks, so frequently mentioned in the thread. I never use the hide action in combat on purpose, but always try to stay above the enemy ground level for higher andvantage. Moreover, Astarion mostly stays under the light in my fights, so absolutely no stealth here. That said, he hits with ~40-50 nearly always with a crossbow. And he also literally saved the party in the House of Hope.

[[me]-nix]

Originally posted by MarcusDavidus:

i put him down after first time he hit on me.

Sounds like someone's afraid of their own latent desires

[soniceris]

Astarion has been indispensable in both my playthroughs. He would be if only for the dungeoneering (lockpicking, trap disarming, scouting) but he is also the most reliable source of ranged physical damage in my party. In one run I have him as an arcane trickster rogue / ranger, in the other thief rogue / fighter. Archery gloves and longbow for the first, dual hand-crossbows for the second. I rarely even worry about sneak attack, just keep a bag of arrows on hand for him (silencing arrows, the ones that stop healing, the multi-target ones, lightning) and have him always start with that. I can usually get at least one piece of gear or a feat that reduces the crit number by 1 and then use a elixir of bloodlust or viciousness and voila...a delightfully murderous ♥♥♥♥♥♥ blender.

[Shotgun Merwin]

The game really improves if you give him over to that hunter.