Must I romance Astarion to get his story?

[󠀡󠀡 WhyGamingWhy󠀡󠀡]

First time player here, don't want my guy to be gay but I really like Astarion and would like to keep him as a friend / companion. Will I miss out on his quests if I don't romance him or will we just be buddies who do all the quests together? I'm at the party in act 1... Hoping for a speedy answer haha <3

[EricHVela]

No. I never romanced him and finished his story several times.

EDIT: This holds true for every romance character afaik as I've yet to romance any of them in all my playthroughs so far. (Lae'zel is going to be first if I don't mess up again next time.)

[ppaladin123]

No. I mean obviously the story/dialogue/chocies are a bit different if you are helping him as a romantic partner but the overall story and events are present and can be accessed even if you don't ever use him in your party (though not bringing companions to events personally relevant to them can make them upset and in some cases leave).

[ChuckyDontCare]

No romance required to unlock the entire line of any companion quest.

[󠀡󠀡 WhyGamingWhy󠀡󠀡]

Originally posted by EricHVela:

No. I never romanced him and finished his story several times.

EDIT: This holds true for every romance character afaik as I've yet to romance any of them in all my playthroughs so far. (Lae'zel is going to be first if I don't mess up again next time.)

Eyy perfect then, cheers bud! The way he acts made me feel I'd messed up haha

[Zeel Ara]

The only parts of the game gated behind romance are the romances themselves. Astarion behaves like a jerk no matter how you interact with him, for the first very long while.

[Super Cosmic Space Magnet]

No, you don't need to romance him in order to be able to stab him at the campfire in act 1. That's the entirety of his story as far as I'm concerned.

[Steffan]

Originally posted by WhyGamingWhy:

First time player here, don't want my guy to be gay but I really like Astarion and would like to keep him as a friend / companion. Will I miss out on his quests if I don't romance him or will we just be buddies who do all the quests together? I'm at the party in act 1... Hoping for a speedy answer haha <3

His romance is really cool, though (mostly the ending; if you play the Dark Urge on a redemption path, he is probably the best choice). That being said, no, you do not have to romance him. You will get his story and an opportunity to help him anyway.

By the way, in Act 1 you can romance multiple companions ( I do not mean Astarion, I talk in general in case you hesitate say between SH and Karlach). They won't get jealous until act 2 where you must choose.

[KingOfFriedChicken]

You can get a different perspective from either playing them or romancing them, but it is not required to finish them. It just depends on how much you wanna hear them talk about it and how in depth you wanna go, I'd say it's worth it on some level if you into going in depth on characters motives and stories.

[Mr. Huckleberry]

Gross. Terrible propaganda.

[Dr.Abscondus]

Astarion tried to bite me on my first play, but not in the second one. I don't know what triggers that cut scene but it doesn't always happen.

[Steffan]

Originally posted by Dr.Abscondus:

Astarion tried to bite me on my first play, but not in the second one. I don't know what triggers that cut scene but it doesn't always happen.

It's the wild boar you find... that triggers that scene.

[KingOfFriedChicken]

Originally posted by Dr.Abscondus:

Astarion tried to bite me on my first play, but not in the second one. I don't know what triggers that cut scene but it doesn't always happen.

Sometimes I kill him sometimes I don't lol in my most recent I kinda set a back story of "hunts all monsters" so when his scene popped and it landed on me instead of my brother I assume cuz I found the boar, I staked him. On my durge though I kept him cuz That felt appropriate lol

[Occasum_Solis]

Originally posted by WhyGamingWhy:

First time player here, don't want my guy to be gay but I really like Astarion and would like to keep him as a friend / companion. Will I miss out on his quests if I don't romance him or will we just be buddies who do all the quests together? I'm at the party in act 1... Hoping for a speedy answer haha <3

Its much more intense if you do but you dont necessarily have to - just to make sure that you have him with you in Act 2.

[Zaknh]

Originally posted by steffan8:

Originally posted by Dr.Abscondus:

Astarion tried to bite me on my first play, but not in the second one. I don't know what triggers that cut scene but it doesn't always happen.

It's the wild boar you find... that triggers that scene.

The Gur in the swamp also triggers it if you didn't interact with the boar first.

[HisShadowX]

Originally posted by WhyGamingWhy:

First time player here, don't want my guy to be gay but I really like Astarion and would like to keep him as a friend / companion. Will I miss out on his quests if I don't romance him or will we just be buddies who do all the quests together? I'm at the party in act 1... Hoping for a speedy answer haha <3

Thankfully this is not Dragon Age II you won't get the big red points if you refuse to be gay and get the blue good points if you choose to be gay.

This game respects your choice.