My Assastarion starts all of my fights for me, he’s a powerhouse!
Thief stealth archer ftw
All in with the hand crossbows
Assassin Gloomstalker dual wielding hand crossbows, and taking a swig of Elixir of Bloodlust. That’s 8 attacks on turn 1, assuming he’s initiating combat from stealth and killing an enemy.
No matter how strong he is, I can never get over how insufferable his personality and voice are
Insufferable? I think you meant charming and elegant.
All I ever got from him was super rapey vibes. Nothing charming about that slimeball from my perspective.
And he feigns elegance, but it never struck me as authentic. Just a manipulation technique.
That’s the thing about him. It is not authentic, but not by choice either, kinda. It is a manipulation technique, but there’s more to that.
Which I totally understand. But, it doesn’t make him likeable to me.
It’s like in the MCU Spiderman movies, how it shows Flash’s parents don’t really care about him and implies that’s why he’s a bully. Like sure, that is awful for him. But it doesn’t make him not a bully anymore, you know?
And I also don’t judge other people that do like him, to each their own. Just for me, his entire personality and character is like nails on a chalkboard.
super rapey vibes
You mean because he tried to bite you in your sleep? I was freaked out about that until I heard his backstory. It’s quite tragic.
I liked that he was mischievous, and that he always had alternative ideas about what we should do. I wouldn’t have even thought to do some of the things he suggested. If you’re not playing a good alignment playthrough, then he’s probably the best companion. I was planning a good alignment playthrough, but ended up more like chaotic neutral because of his influence.
Some of his reactions when I played a little bit of the Dark Urge really underlined just how little he cares about if you’re good or bad, as long as you’re interesting and fun to be around he’s in
Also totally didn’t surprise me when, while everyone else is all “I couldn’t possibly use those tadpoles, what’s the matter with you?!”, Asterion is over here like “so when am I getting some?”
My favorite group for a durge run is Astarion, Gale, and Minthara since they all lust for power just like my Durge.
You were able to recruit Minthara? Man, your playthrough must have been bonkers! Don’t you lose half your companions to get her?
Yeah, it really changes his character when you find out what Cazador did to him. And why he hates the Gur. Dude has a very tragic story.
I liked him at first sight, got really annoyed and disappointed with him as a character as soon as I got to know him, but kept him around because the voice acting is stellar and I needed a thief.
What really made me fall in love with the character was his story arc. One of the best I’ve seen. The character is exceptionally well crafted, and what you go through together (especially when romanced) is something that surprised me in the best way.
So I’m not disagreeing with you. The rapey vibes are real. They’re international. But do give him a chance on one of your playthroughs - even if it’s just out of curiosity about what the writers were thinking.
I mean, there’s a reason he’s only got a 10 charisma while acting like that… Nobody’s buying it…
A huge portion of the internet want to fuck this guy, brave words. I do agree though.
I ran him as a Ranger/thief/fighter. Holy shit, the damage output.
Gloomstalker assassin action surge Durge with club of giant strength and titanstring bow is my solo honor mode build. Nuke an enemy and go invis with the Durge cape, drop out of combat and repeat. You can take out the whole game with this strat. I like running either halfling or deep gnome since they get stealth advantage and good saving throws.
Really, because he’s like one of my main damage dealers, especially if I start the combat. That’s like 4 attacks in a row, and at least 1 of them is gonna crit, and 2 of them are sneak attacks.
You really missed out then. There are some amazing builds for Astarion.
Poke poke poke
I don’t want to spoil anything, but if you decide that his back story has twisted him into a vengeful madman, you can uhh…get pretty crazy powerful with him late game.
I didn’t even use him for that. I did that part myself :)
The things I put him through just to steal that idol from the druids while it was outside without being caught…
Well that and his blood gives me +2 strength.
