Astarion has permanently left my group in Baldur's Gate 3 and I am torn

Finally returning to Baldur’s Gate 3 to complete the final act means finally making the big, momentous decisions I’ve been working toward since the Nautiloid crashed on the beach all those hours ago. I’m wrapping up my companions’ storylines, and sometimes that means it’s time for us to part ways. In my playthrough, that was the case with Astarion, and I just don’t know what to make of it.

When I arrived in the titular city in late 2023, I was a little afraid to take on the important quests, so I nibbled around the edges and left the companion quests unfinished. This meant that when I picked up the game again, there was a big yellow marker with Cazador’s name on it waiting for me.

Astarion's face from Baldur's Gate 3 on Solas' head in Dragon Age: Inquisition

The launch of Dragon Age: Inquisition made me finally finish Baldur’s Gate 3

Getting started with BioWare’s party-based RPG gave me the push I needed to finally return to Larian’s.

Do my companions need me? Or do they have to move on?

It was time to finally wrap up Astarion’s storyline, and it proved to be a difficult moment for my group. The fight itself was tough and required multiple attempts, but that was ultimately a good thing because it helped me shake off the strategic rust that had accumulated in my months away.

I finally defeated the powerful vampire by splitting my party into two groups, summoning a Fire Myrmidon, and luring the enemies onto the catwalks leading out from Cazador’s central platform. Once they were there, I was able to use Karlach’s body slam ability, knocking several enemies off the bridge. The whole party joined in on the fun, knocking Gurs into the abyss. After being destroyed so many times by Cazador’s magic and his massive horde of minions, it was satisfying to watch them all fall to their deaths.

But when the battle was over, I had to make a difficult decision about the future of my friends. Astarion ripped his old master from the coffin and threatened to perform the ritual Cazador had planned. The spawn he had collected over the years would be used as sacrificial lambs to perform the ritual of secular ascension. This would free him from his lowly status as a vampire spawn and transform him into a vampire ascender, a more powerful version of himself without the typical vampire weaknesses.

I lost Astarion in Baldur’s Gate 3 and am confused

Looking at the Baldur’s Gate 3 wiki entry for Astarion’s personal quest “The Pale Elf,” I see two options I had during this encounter – to help Astarion ascend or to refuse to help – and two that I missed. The option to interrupt the ritual would only have been available if I had helped with it, so I understand that I missed that. But there is a fourth option – to convince Astarion not to go through with it – that I never got, despite having a high persuasion score. This omission confused me. I thought I had a strong relationship with Astarion, but in that moment, my only options were to support the mass slaughter of the Brood or vehemently oppose it. I couldn’t talk him down from the ledge, and I don’t know why.

Since I wrote that article, features editor Tessa Kaur has informed me of the reason for this, but that is another article for another day.

This encounter ended with Astarion breaking Cazador’s staff, leaving the spawn to rot in their cages, and leaving my party for good, hissing that he hoped I would “die screaming.” I want to stick with that decision because, honestly, in an RPG like this, you have to own your choices if you want to have a memorable experience. The negative feelings are overall positive, which means engaging in the art on its terms. More pragmatically, I hadn’t used Astarion in my core party and only traded him for this quest. My playstyle favors Gale’s magic, not Astarion’s stealth, so leaving him behind doesn’t interfere with my strategy.

But I feel like I got nothing out of that trip to Cazador’s lair. I lost Astarion, didn’t get the staff, and left the Brood in their cages. It was a purely negative experience that, XP aside, didn’t prepare me for the tough battles ahead. I want to respect the decision, but another part of me wants to go back and tinker with that conversation to see if I can get a different outcome. It’s an understandable desire, but it might be a dark urge.