Baldur’s Gate 3 has introduced players to its immersive world that will take the players many hours to explore. With such a massive world, along with a plethora of challenges along the way, the player will meet and recruit companions to help them throughout their journey. One of these companions could be Astarion.
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With his charming personality, many players will want to have this chaotic vampire elf on their team. Here’s how to best build him up to make him a worthwhile companion.
Updated by Rei Penber on 17 May, 2024: Astarion is a character that has fascinated many fans with his chaotic nature. Not only can he be extremely useful on the battlefield, but his story and personality can be quite compelling and definitely worth the player’s time if they choose to invest in him to build him into his very best version. This guide has now been updated to improve Astarion even further, with multiclasing.
Who Is Astarion And Where To Recruit Him?
Astarion is a wildly beloved character in the Baldur’s Gate 3 community. He is one of the game’s origin characters, meaning the player can choose to play as Astarion if they so wish, but he can also be recruited later on if the player does not choose him.
He’s one of the earliest recruitable characters. The player will find him early on in Act 1 after the ship crashes onto the ravaged beach. Going on the southwest coast of the same beach, the player can find this chaotic man who will attempt to attack the player. Once this is resolved, he will readily join the player. His story is also an interesting one, so keeping him around is definitely worth it.
Default Astarion
Astarion prowled the night as a vampire spawn for centuries, serving a sadistic master until he was snatched away. Now he can walk in the light, but can he leave his wicked past behind?
Astarion is quite a useful character. To begin with, he Elf Race, specifically being a High Elf. In addition to that, he is a Rogue, and the player can choose his subclass for him later on. As for his background, it’s the Charlatan. Overall, it’s quite obvious that Astarion’s starting build builds him up to be a dexterity-heavy character – the perfect character to sneak on enemies and pick locks.
His statistics will start off like this:
STATISTIC | SCORE |
|---|---|
Strength | 8 |
Dexterity | 17 |
Constitution | 14 |
Intelligence | 13 |
Wisdom | 13 |
Charisma | 10 |
Best Astarion Build
Astarion’s ideal class is definitely the Rogue, so it should be kept for the ideal build. At level 1, the player will have to pick expertise in 2 of 6 available skills, the best being Sleight of Hand and Stealth for him. At level 2, he will unlock cunning actions, which will come in handy.
At level 3, the player will get Sneak Attack and have the option to pick a subclass for the Rogue class - The Arcane Trickster, the Assassin, and the Thief.
All these subclasses shine in their own ways. For example, if the player wants Astarion to be able to spellcast to some degree, the Arcane Trickster would be their best option. Arcane Trickster is also likely Astarion’s canon subclass. Or, if they wanted him to be able to deal big bursts of damage on some unprepared enemies, then the Assassin subclass would be ideal. However, overall, the Thief will be the most useful subclass for the player to put Astarion in.
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The Thief will have some good set-in-stone features that the player will unlock as they level up:
- At level 3, Astarion will get Fast Hands. It will allow Astarion to gain an extra bonus action. This can make a huge difference in some battles, as it will allow Astarion to dash, disengage, drink a potion to heal, etc.
- At level 3, he will also get Second Story Work. This will render Astarion mostly immune to falling damage. It isn’t the best feature in the game, but it can come in clutch in some rare situations.
- At level 9, he will get an action that will make his stealthiness reach a new level – Supreme Sneak. Using this, Astarion can turn invisible for 10 turns by blending into his environment. With this, sneak attacks will be easy to achieve, it can also help Astarion escape danger if needed. It will be available after every short rest.
When Astarion reaches levels 4, 8, 9, and 12, he will have to pick some feats. Some good options would be Tough, Master, Mobile, and Sharpshooter.
At level 6, he’ll be able to pick yet again expertise in two skills, and players should go with Acrobatics and Deception. Ideally, the player wants Astarion to have Dexterity as high as possible, as this is where his power will shine.
Reclassing him into a Rogue is also a valid option the player could use. Overall, he will most likely perform well no matter what the player does with him.
Best Multiclass Build For Astarion
Astarion has always been a fan favorite character, not just for his charisma as a character, but also for his incredible usefulness on the battlefield. Perhaps, some players are tired of just having him as a Rogue and want to spice it up a bit by dipping into Multiclass, and if that’s the case, then Astarion is one of the best companions to Multiclass, thanks to his incredible versatility.
To make it simple, this Multiclass of Astarion will be a mix of three classes, the Rogue Class, specifically the Thief subclass, the Ranger Subclass, specifically the Gloom Stalker, as well as the Fighter class, taking into account the Battle Master subclass. With that, here’s how it will be done.
Astarion starts off as a Rogue, which is what he’ll be kept at for a few levels right now. Starting with level 1 as a Rogue, Astarion will unlock Sneak Attack (Melee) as well as Sneak Attack (Ranged). These will allow him to sneakily attack enemies, whether he’s far or close.
At level 2, and still as a Rogue, Astarion will be able to make use of Cunning Action: Hide, Cunning Action: Dash, as well as Cunning Action: Disengage. These will come in handy at any time.
At level 3 as a Rogue, he will finally be able to pick his Rogue subclass and, as discussed earlier, he should be a Thief. With the Thief class picked, he will get access to Fast Hands, which grants him an extra bonus action, something that will be extremely useful, as well as Second Story Work, which grants him resistance to falling damage.
Now, it’s time to switch Astarion’s class from Rogue to Ranger, making him Rogue 3 - Ranger 1. At level 1 as a Ranger, he will be able to pick one Favored enemy, and one natural explorer environment. Out of the options he has, he should pick Bounty Hunter for Favored Enemy, and Wasteland Wanderer: Fire, for the Natural Explorer Environment.
Now, he should be Rogue 3 - Ranger 2. Here, he will be able to choose a fighting style, Two Weapon Fighting or Archery will fit him best, depending on what the player has in mind for him.
At level 3 as a Ranger, making him Rogue 3 - Ranger 3, he will be able to choose his Ranger subclass. As mentioned before, the player will have to go with Gloom Stalker out of the three options provided. With this choice made, Astarion unlocks the following:
• Dread Ambusher
• Superior Darkvision
• Dress Ambusher: Hids
• Umbral Shroud
• Disguise Self
All of these are amazing to make Astarion even more stealthy than he already is.
Now, as a Range 4 - Rogue 3, Astarion gets to pick a feat. Durable, which would increase his constitution by 1 and allow him to regain full HP every short rest, is a good option. Mobile is another good one.
Later when he reaches Ranger 5 - Rogue 3, Astarion will finally unlock a very interesting feature, the Extra Attack. Astarion can perform an extra attack after making his first one. He also gets Misty Step which will allow him to teleport anywhere within a specific range.
Now, it’s time to switch classes once more. Astarion will go from a Ranger to a Fighter. With that, he’ll be Ranger 5 - Rogue 3 - Fighter 1.
At level 1 of fighter, Astarion will have to pick a fighting style. Still fighting styles don’t stack, so they should pick the fighting style they didn’t pick earlier. As such, if the player chose Two Weapon Fighting earlier, they should pick Archery now. He will also get Second Wind, which allows him to heal himself with a bonus action.
At level 2 of Fighter, making him Ranger 5 - Rogue 3 - Fighter 2, he will unlock action Surge, which will allow him to gain an extra attack.
Finally at level 3 of Fighter, making him Ranger 5 - Rogue 3 - Fighter 3, he will be able to pick a subclass. Here, the battle master will be ideal. This will grant him Combat Superiority. With that, he’ll get 4 superiority dives and he’ll be able to pick 3 manœuvres.
Some good manœuvres for Astarion include the following:
• Disarming Attack
• Sweeping Attack
• Feinting Attack
For his last level up, he’ll stay a Battle Master and will unlock a Feat. A good option here could be Lucky. This gives him lucky points that he can use to gain an advantage on Attack Rolls, Ability Checks, and Saving Throws. It can also be used to force an enemy to reroll their attack roll.
Best Items For Astarion
Items are essential when building up a character, and Astarion is no exception to this. These items will help elevate his power and abilities to the next level and make him a worthwhile companion to have on the player’s roster at all times.
Some of the best items to hand over to Astarion would be:
- Spidersilk Armour. This is a light Armor, meaning Astarion, by default, will be able to wear it with no issue. Getting this armor isn’t the easiest thing to do, as it is dropped by Minthara in the Shattered Sanctum. If the player defeats and loots her, they can acquire this armor, which will provide a +1 bonus to stealth checks – something that Astarion will definitely need as the game progresses.
- Broodmother’s Revenge. This uncommon amulet has the Venomous Revenge feature. This means that whenever Astarion would be healed, his weapon would get coated in magic poison, which would deal an extra 1d6 poison damage to his enemies. This will allow him to chip at an enemy’s health from afar easily. This can be acquired from Kagha in the Emerald Grove.
- Crimson Mischief. This legendary shortsword will not be easy to find, but when the player gets it, it can be a game-changer for Astarion. It offers 1d6+2 piercing damage and 1d4 necrotic damage. It also has some interesting abilities such as Prey Upon The Weak, which would allow Astarion to finish off already injured enemies, as it adds an additional 1d4 piercing damage when they’re at 50% or less of their HP. As it is a Finesse weapon, it will make use of Astarion’s dexterity instead of strength.
- Hellfire Hand Crossbow. For most of the game, a regular crossbow will do the trick just fine. Later on, however, the player can get their hands on the Hellfire Hand Crossbow, a very rare weapon, and possibly the best crossbow in the game. With it in hand, Astarion will be able to deal extra 1d6+3 piercing damage and scorching Ray Shot. He will also unlock a piercing shot and a mobile shot.
- Gloves of Dexterity. This very rare item will bump up the wearer’s dexterity to 18. If Astarion’s dexterity is less than 18, this can definitely be useful for a while, until he surpasses the figure. It also gives a bonus +1 to attack rolls. It can be found at Crèche Y’llek, sold by A’jak’nir Jeera and will be available for 300 gp.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is now available to play on PC and PlayStation 5.
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Baldur's Gate 3
Baldur's Gate 3 is a Dungeons and Dragons inspired RPG developed and published by Larian Studios. Featuring both a single player and cooperative element, players create their character by selecting a starting class, take on quests, level up, and engage in turn-based combat using the D&D 5th edition rule set.
