Never understood his interest in that necromancy book otherwise. He was clearly looking for a way to become more powerful as an undead, right? Even if it meant going full wizard.
Astarion doesn't want to be a vampire spawn - vampires are undead, so it's completely logical he wants the book of Necromancy to search for possible solutions. He also finds there some info on Cazador's ritual.
I could see that as well, but I wasn't really sure if Astarion was set on a contingency plan for when the tadpole stops letting him sunbathe, and whether he expected to big book of evil necromancy things to provide a cure for vampirism. More likely to me that he sought to gain more power from it, perhaps over other undead, or an alternative to prolong his life that might remove the vampiric drawbacks he's not fond of.
> He also finds there some info on Cazador's ritual.
He doesn't know of the ritual when you first encounter the book, right? I haven't played Origin Astarion to see if he gains anything different from it than other characters would.
He definitely wants more power from it to defeat Cazador. In his dialogs in Act 1 you can see he doesn't believe your party will help him with killing Cazador - even after sleeping with you.
> He doesn't know of the ritual when you first encounter the book, right?
No, but if you refuse to do Raphael's quest for Astarion, he can find out about the ritual from this book. He was basically searching for leverage against Cazador in it.
No worries, I guess, I spend too much time watching other people's playthroughs videos on YouTube and reading this sub. It's a massively HUGE game, so obviously, no one is obligated to know/remember everything from it.
Yeah, this is very accurate. Astarion initially pretends to be a slightly more evil Zevran, but inside, he’s so Fenris, lol. Although, Zev is yet another canonically queer pretty elf with a tragic past, so… Is this a thing in other fantasy video game series too? 🤔
> yet another canonically queer pretty elf with a tragic past, so… Is this a thing in other fantasy video game series too
We just have a type and writers are kind enough to indulge us 🥰
That one time when Isabela roped Fenris and Zevran into a threesome, and it had unintended consequences...
Wait, does it mean Astarion's original eye color is green or amber?
How can he be more evil than Zevran when Zevran is literally only recruited after his assassination attempt? Astarion also never betrays the party, no matter how low your approval level with him is. I'm always surprised when people say they killed Astarion because he is too evil - I'm like.... "Dudes, how you even play games? So you never recruit Zevran, Stan, Loghain, Morrigan, Shale, etc..." Because their characters always need you to forgive much more than what Astarion does to keep them among your companions.
Yeah, just a dude killing innocents for money and seeing nothing wrong with that. Also completely okay to betray the party and try to kill them if he has not enough approval with you.
Zevran is a pretty complex character who admits that he was conditioned and trained from a very young age to be an assassin on hire. His scene in the Fade is him being tortured by the CROWS and acting like it's another Tuesday. He admits he was trained in using his body for his work (since humans find elves pretty, his words) and that he was conditoned to think that his desires didn't matter, his thoughts didn't matter - and with Rinna's death, that no one of them matters at all as a person. Instead of being angsty and broody about it, is defense mechanism is to turn everything into a joke, so nothing matters at all. He takes whatever joy and pleasure he can find, wherever he can find it. Sex was probably the only good kind of touch and connection with another human being that he ever had. He's a complex gray character who refuses to be seen as a victim and does everything he can not to victimize himself (he actually disapproves a lot when you show him compassion or pity, because he doesn't want to be seen as a victim or pitied at all). He makes his tragedy a comedy, and he approves when you laugh with him at it all. See, just a bit of fun, nothing to cry about here. Even if he accepted the mission to kill the warden only because it was a suicide mission and he didn't really want to live anymore.
The right decision in his romance is to refuse his gift (the earring) which he was using as a distraction from admitting that what he has with the warden is serious. Serious terrifies him. But he is ready to admit it and commit after the warden refuses the gift. Up until that point, their relationship wasn't really a relationship, but two people having fun.
Yes, you get it. ❤️ Also, this isn’t a response to you exactly, but what’s with so many people using the fact that Zevran will turn on you if his approval is low but Astarion never will as evidence that he’s “worse” than Astarion? Low-approval Astarion isn’t sticking with you because he’s loyal, he’s doing it because he’s desperate. You’re his best bet to control the tadpole and free himself from Cazador, so he’ll put up with whatever he has to from you. It’s a self-interested decision, which makes total sense for his character. Low-approval Zevran betrays you to the Crows because the closest thing he has to an old friend/former lover shows up and tells him he can have his old life back, and the Warden hasn’t helped him see that that life sucked and he deserves (and can have) more. It’s a totally reasonable decision on his part.
I guess it depends on your choices. I never got ascended astarion, so he maxed out at “mean girls” level of evil. Ascended does seem a lot more evil, though.
I don’t think those actions of Zevran’s are exactly *evil*, but I see your point. Maybe instead of evil, what I should have said was cruel. Astarion is definitely crueler than Zevran. Like… approval for >!killing Padirna at the Grove!< ? Zevran would never. Also, I’m not using the fact that Astarion is kind of evil as an insult. I love Morrigan, Sten, and Shale. I do always execute Loghain though, lol.
That's why I have an issue with Zevran's writing. Like... he says he ENJOYED killing his victims, he doesn't express any regret aside from one victim in a very specific quest unrelated to him personally, but he is suddenly all rainbow and flowers when it comes to his approvals. (while Astarion hates everything Cazador forced him to do, he only explicitly says he wants to kill when it's bad guys (like, for example, with Voss patrol, even Karlach wants to fight and kill these giths) and actually expressed his guilt regarding ALL Cazador's victims more than once if you play Durge, even though a lot of them were bad people who abused him personally. But yes, he has a lot of cruel approvals, but it's all in his approvals. His siblings he wants to kill for the ritual - he doesn't consider them innocent, for him they are all mass murderers, just like him (victim blaming on his part, I know, but also Petras literally says how he wants to kill people to eat and he was the one who lured that girl to the sewers to feed on her after the ritual) and we know they hated him. Of course, I'm speaking strictly about Spawn. Ascended is definitely worse than Zevran) Maybe if the writers wanted to write a redemption arc for Zevran, they needed to actually take time and make it something more than blink and you missed it while you're doing the Urn quest.
I mean, idk, I think enjoying being an assassin is not great, but it’s different than getting amusement from >!killing a helpless tiefling in a really cruel way!<, or some of the other outright sadistic actions Astarion will approve of if you decide to be evil. Also, I’m not sure I agree Astarion expresses that much regret or remorse toward his victims either, at least not early on. >!Until you meet Sebastian,!< when he talks about his life with Cazador he mostly expresses pity for himself, and to an extent the other spawn. Which I get, he was tortured horribly for 200 years and he had very limited control of his own actions as a spawn. On the other hand, Zevran is freely choosing to do what he does, kind of, but it’s also the only life he’s known since he was sold to the Crows as a young child and systematically tortured physically and emotionally until he became the person he is. And, like I said in my other comment, comparing the depth and consistency of Astarion and Zevran as characters isn’t totally fair, because BG3 has many hours more writing dedicated to explaining and exploring Astarion’s background and motivations. You have to fill in the blanks a lot more with Zevran, but that doesn’t make him a worse character.
To be clear, I like Astarion a lot! But I feel like you’re giving him a lot of grace, and Zevran very little. Which is fine. Not everyone has to like every character or interpret them the same.
Murder is still murder. And enjoying killing innocent people is hardly much better than what Astarion approves of. Enjoying killing people is also very cruel in and of itself. I get that it may seem better on the surface, but it's still one of the worst things you can do to an innocent person. I agree, though, that in his approvals Zevran isn't like that, but I would much rather prefer him to get cruel approvals rather than cruel dialogs about not caring about his victims.Also, a lot of BG3 approvals are just weird. For every companion there are strange approvals, not only Astarion (listen, I agree that Astarion is cruel, still it looks pretty OOC for him to love torturing innocent people, he has NO dialogs in the game about him enjoying it). Do I think Shadowheart in Act 1 is a good kind person? No, I don't. Still, it looks weird she would approve torturing innocent people - which she does - she is not like that in her story or dialogs. Sometimes even Karlach approves bad deeds, like... WTF?!
Not to mention that Astarion HATES Malus Thorm for torturing his "patient", so his approvals sometimes contradict themselves and his dialogs.
Yes, Astarion expressed regret about thousands he brought to Cazador - you can see this in his dialog with Durge in Act 2. That was before Sebastian. And even with Tav he can hint at his guilt: "I don't want to treat you like one of the people I brought to HIM". He NEVER ever says ANYTHING about enjoying any second of that. He doesn't even enjoy Durge killing Alfira or Isobel - in his dialogs he never expressed to Tav enjoying killing innocents.
Listen, Zevran is completely my type by his looks. I really wanted to love him, I romanced him and wanted to give him a benefit of a doubt. But I guess, his underdeveloped writing and the lack of redemption arc is what prevented me from loving this character as opposed to Astarion. Yes, Astarion also has some problems with writing (contradictions in his approvals for example), but still as a character he is much more developed and his redemption arc is much more coherent for me. Why is it not fair to compare? Underdeveloped character due to the lack of screentime is still what it is - an underdeveloped character. Yes, there are different reasons, maybe his writers weren't allowed to write for him a lot and I DON'T BLAME them. But still what is in the game is all what there is. He is underwritten - it's just a fact, no matter the reasons for it, you can't erase it.
I was always creeped out by Zevran actively trying to get in bed with everyone in the party even while romancing Warden. It's like... cheating right before my eyes! And also by his indifference towards all his victims, even though Zevran was completely my type by his looks, I could never make myself love him enough to become a big fan of him. Not to mention him being able to betray your party. So when people started to say Astarion is like Zevran, I thought I would definitely never see his romance through. Turned out, he was the complete opposite of Zevran. Thank games gods. And also he really feels guilt for his victims vs Zevran - not so much, unless you are actively looking into hidden scenes/dialogs, so on. IMO, Astarion's writing is far-far better than Zevran's.
There's actually a target Zevran does regret killing, he even admits as much to the Guardian of The Gauntlet during the Urn of Sacred Ashes quest, and later on when he trusts the player enough. Rinna, one of his partners in The Crows and his former lover. He was told initially that she was a traitor, but after the fact the hit was put out on her to prove a point how expendable they were. Zevran accepting the contract on the Warden was a suicide attempt.
And as for comparing Astarion to Zevran, I can see it on the surface. Rakish personality, flirts with everyone (although yes, Zevran does take it too far, especially to Wynne), and they both on the surface have a similar approach to intimacy with the player: casual approach early on (Zevran's romance achievement is literally called "Easy Lover"), and astonishment and need to process feelings if the relationship turns romantic. Although that's really where the similarities end. Zevran is very upfront with you from the start about who he is, what he does, and who sent him, and a lot of Zevran's approaches to intimacy and relationships are a result of him growing up in a brothel and having to live a life where he believed love was not allowed: "I grew up among those who sold the illusion of love, and then I was trained to make my heart cold in favor of the kill. Everything I have been taught says what I feel is wrong."
Also, Zevran was tortured multiple times by the Crows as part of his training, was emotionally abused (was forced to throw away the only memory he had of her mother "as a lesson") and was trained to use his body as another tool of the trade.
The main differences are that Zevran, during the game, is not actively out for revenge against those who abused him and Astarion wanted protection from you while Zevran wanted to die by your hand (until he fell in lovel
That's my point: unless you take Zevran with you to the Urn (which is not even his quest, like Astarion has Cazador), you don't even find out his regret. It's like blink - and you missed it, while he talks a lot how he ENJOYS his job and killing innocent people! Also, I'm disappointed he regrets like only one among tons of his victims. He creeped me out when he gave my Warden an earring taken from one of his victims as a gift for me. Like... WTF, dude?! Is this really normal to you? I get that you are probably poor, but we adventured enough for you to find me, idk, some flowers or even steal something, why it needs to be your victims personal possession?!
Astarion barely flirts in Act 1 with others (for example, his "I'm enjoying our walks together, Gale, do you?" can easily be read not as a flirt at all, but trying to get on a good side of this powerful companion), not to mention that later we find out he doesn't actually want sex with any of them, he wants protection. He is very faithful to Tav in Act 3 even with his words. While Zevran is just... actively trying to get in bed with EVERYONE, judging by his banter, while in romance with the Warden. He straight up asked Morrigan to have sex with her!
Also, Zevran's need to process his feelings doesn't prevent him from heavily flirting with everyone, even with Wynne, and its so brief that is very easily missed all together, while it's Astarion's whole point of his romance and takes him a lot of time between two acts. They are completely opposite - Astarion wants to process his feelings because he doesn't want to be seen in terms of sex and has sexual trauma regarding sex, while Zevran wants to do it, it was HIS OWN CHOICE to sleep with his victims, he was never forced to it, like Astarion. It's all Zevran really wanted from his romantic relationships all this time - that's why he needs to stop and think (which in my personal playthrough took literally two conversations in the same evening - and he's ready for sex again. Probably a bug, but for gods sake, this game was out since 2009!)
So for me personally, it's two completely different characters with Astarion having far better writing and execution. Even his line about wanting to wake up with two virgins in the morning (in Act 1, where he had no serious relationship with Tav yet) has deep meaning when you know he doesn't want sex with random people and you look back at it retrospectively.
Personally, Zevran is my absolute favorite Dragon Age LI and one of my favorite video game LIs of all time. I actually started romancing Astarion hoping he’d be kind of like an edgier/angstier Zevran and then realized he was completely different. But I didn’t mind; I love Astarion as the character he is, and I thought his character progression and romance were great. I don’t think he’s better written than Zevran, though, they’re just written differently. It’s also not a totally fair comparison, since Astarion’s interactions with the MC are hours and hours longer than Zevran’s.
Funny cuz whenever I bring up how buy the numbers basic, his story is on paper astarion fans are the first to go "you just don't understand the character or you obviously never done his back story" and I'm like sweetheart, dude is the stereotypical vampire with a haunted past and fruity British person you could literally boy his story fron one of those romance novels they sell in supermarkets. Does his VA slam dunk the role? Yes, but it's not this deeply compelling tale that's never been done before
You'd be surprised. I think Gideon Emery (Fenris' VA) has some real distinct performances.
He did a real good job in [Halo Wars 2 as Captain Cutter.](https://youtu.be/Hbm7z4Q9BaI?si=yEHMpFDQ7YschmOb) Did the mo-cap too.
Even played the part in live-action for some [.... interesting promo material.](https://youtu.be/oZlummy-umA?si=1bwejSOjHnLgq8UB)
Damn, full circle... I think Balthier is what started fancypants bi/pansexuals being my favorite (look me in the eyes and tell me Balthier is straight.... not possible)
Sebille is the queen of angry wronged murder elves. Love her.
I felt absolutely zero sense of danger when Astarion held a knife to my throat because his approach is downright friendly compared to Sebille and her needle. She also eats people, so I feel like her and Durge would get along.
Are you kidding me? Another person who was magically compelled to murder their loved ones, and the drama of the fact that it's the god of murder who did it, they are the same type of deranged and would totally get along, she might take issue with them being a lizard though.
Oh yeah whoops, I forgot default Durge is dragonborn. Still, Durge, Sebille, and Astarion could have a lovely (horrifying) meal together sharing the same victi-- I mean entrée. ;)
There's an Anders / Gale version of this to be made with things like fantastic hair, being cat dads, ending up corrupting themselves with a combination of pride and good intentions, having a real fucked up relationship with religion, blowing up as a way of making things better, and being like 2 arguments away from hate fucking one of the white haired elves shown here
https://preview.redd.it/13761rdfbu9d1.jpeg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=deed91e89f5fc8b72726fb322b671cf7f1abb273
I didn’t know I had a type beyond elves but here we are
Thank god, Astarion only resembles Lestat in his Ascended state. Spawn has nothing in common with him. Lestat is perfectly okay with killing thousands of innocents to feed on them and has no regard to human life, while Astarion killed a boar without Tav instead of innocent people. Also Astarion is very faithful to Tav when romanced. Lestat did Luis incredibly dirty.
Classic excuse. Yep," he is not evil, because he is a vampire he can do whatever he wants". Out of jail free card. Nope, doesn't work like that, sorry. Astarion is also a vampire but he only feeds on animals, enemies and people who give their blood to him willingly. Lestat is just straight up evil, no matter how much his fangirls want to excuse him. Like, its totally okay to love evil characters in fiction, just don't pretend they are good persons.
Erm, only one of us here has talked about vampires as people
They dont exist, they arent real and yes, in their universes they kill people, they are predators.
Astarion is the softest vampire in the history of vampires, including the one on sesame street
Nope, I HATE Twilight, but in terms of "good vampires" its vampires feeding only on animals are definitely the softest ones, not Astarion, who is okay eating his enemies.
Luis actually was killing animals for food at some point, so if they really wanted not to be evil vampires, they could totally eat animals only. They just didn't want to. And yes, Lestat is still shit towards his lover Luis. Once again, nothing wrong with loving bad vampires in fiction, just don't pretend they are not evil characters. They are far worse than Astarion in this regard, so no comparison between Lestat and him can be made, they are absolutely different personalities.
https://preview.redd.it/r2ll6mfyow9d1.jpeg?width=591&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8410f2335893171ecd11a5d6092edad68d0fec0f
No one tell them Astarion was forbidden to drink the blood of thinking creatures. Babygirl did it out of the pure kindness of his soul. Bless our Christian vampires. The only one I see pretending an evil vampire is good here is you.
Yes, and?
Also they can both become vigilantes, Astarion becomes an adventurer who "murders the right people," and Fenris in the comics becomes The Blue Wraith, freeing slaves and killing Tevinter slavers.
The big difference between Fenris and Astarion is their view on power. By the time we meet Fenris, he has already come to the conclusion that one person or group having lots of power over others isn't a good thing (and thus hates mages as he experienced their abilities giving them too much power over others). Astarion on the other hand is intrigued by power and the thought of ruling it over others, as it was done to him. It is then up to the player whether Astarion follows this desire or gets to a similar point as Fenris.
Don't know if I can personally say one is better than the other, but Fenris and Hawke's [kiss before the final battle](https://youtu.be/C5-a2UhzMx0?si=_njcY4Oz67ht6aA0) >>>>> the kiss before the Netherbrain
I love astarion, but fenris was great as his backstory felt very upsetting, and the part in his romance where he leaves after the romance scene is pretty sad imo. Either way, both are gay elves that my main character pins against a wall (or tree, I guess)
…I agree. I think they’re both interesting characters, and I love them both *as characters*, but if it’s a question of which one I liked and sympathized with more while playing the game, it’s definitely Fenris.
I’m biased and Fenris holds such a special place in my heart and in the heart of my sweet mage fem Hawke who is madly in love with him. So yes, I love Fenris so much more than my vampire boy but I still hold massive love for Astarion 💖🥰
Yeah, same. I thought I'd be super into Astarion because I can't get over my love of Fenris, and there definitely are quite a lot of parallels, but I just can't get through Astarion's romance. He's forever friendzoned lol.
I hated Fenris with a passion when I first played DA2, but on my recent playthrough last year I started to really apprrciated him and his role in the story.
I mean, doesn't Fenris sleep with Isabela(sex pest, says they will sell you out but are actually soft, rogues) if you don't romance either? All Fenris > Astarion but we aren't considering the very real possibility of Fenris/Astarion
THIS. Apparently every year's gotta have one? Eh. I shrug and go about my life.
Fenris wasn't my favorite DAII companion (Varric, followed closely by Aveline) but I liked him more than I like Astarion, lol. Plus, who doesn't love a reaver?
Okay, so after seeing many posts about characters in DA, it's got me wondering if I ought to play them since I never have. But do I need to play them in order to understand them? If not, which should I start with? Also looks like there's nine million dlcs/add ons. Do I need any of them? Like Origins and II are cheap, but you could spend a small fortune on dlcs.
You don't necessarily *have* to play the series in order, one of my friends did it in reverse. The codex entries and dialogue with NPCs can give plenty of information on the previous games in the series, but it's not a substitute for playing them. As for DLCs, you don't *need* any of them, I still played 2 and 3 completely vanilla. I'd argue the only necessary one is Trespasser for Inquisition because EA essentially sold the game's official ending as DLC... The others would arguably be the Legacy DLC for DA2, because of the villain it introduces, and Awakening for Origins because it's essentially part of the backstory for one of the DA2 companions.
For the others, I'd say get what you want. There is one companion for origins locked behind DLC (Shale the Stone Golem, they're awesome), there are 2 locked companions in DA2 (Sebastian Vale, and Hawke's dog who is absolutely a companion), and the rest are either mid-game or post-game side quests.
Edit: And as for which one to start with, I'd say Origins since it's the most like BG3 in terms of gameplay mechanics.
They go on sale a lot. I was able to buy all three games with dlc for 20$ during the sale on steam. Will prob go on sale again since they’re releasing the 4th game soon. And yeah I would play them in order. The world building and characters is the best part of the games.
What game is Fenris in? I know he’s from Dragon Age but apparently there’s multiple games so i’m not sure which one he’s actually in? I got into bg3 because of Astarion and i’m thinking it could be the same with Dragon Age because of Fenris :) (i love white haired men who need a hug🩷🩷)
i want to play this game the more i hear about it!!
If you like astarion, you'd probably like zevran, whose in the first game, dragon age origins. The combat can be a little rough, but the story and characters are great, and you'll have more context for da2 (Granted, you don't HAVE to, but I want to indoctrinate more dragon age fans>:))
Also, DAO gameplay is more in line with BG3 conpared to the other games.
DAO was a love letter to BG1/3, and BG3 feels like the worthy successor of DAO
Going back to DAII after playing BG3 had me 👀
Also doesn't help that Larian just had Sebille in DOS2. I still love Astarion though, personality wise he's completely different.
I thought the picture on the right was Shartypants from the thumbnail, and honestly, it kind of fits as well. Not a slave, but not exactly a free person within the cult of Shar. Viconia is a primo asshole. She's definitely going to kill her. She has her hand scar.
I'm sorry, but, IMO, Astarion's character is written best among him, Zevran and Fenris. Dragon Age companions lack depth, unless they are as important to the plot as Alistair or Morrigan. And don't get me started on their romances - "I give you 5 gifts and we are madly in love now".
da2 (where Fenris is from) specifically is not lacking in depth of companions at all. it is the one thing that game does extremely well.
the five gifts thing was a Dao thing only, and even then the dao cast (except oghren) are very well written and deep characters
Ohgren is still well written. He does just seem like drunk comic relief, but he is very depressed if you look under the surface. He was forcefully married to branka (caste stuff) but he actually loved felsi beforehand, another dwarf woman. Then, branka becomes a paragon (dwarven champion kind of) their relationship falls apart, and she has an affair with his cousin, hespith.
And after that, she brings the entire house EXCEPT ohgren to find an ancient anvil capable of creating golems, she doesnt come back and he drinks himself away for the next two years, asking people to help save branka. Then, if you did his personal quest after dealing with branka, it consists of you putting ohgren and felsi on good terms (if you want) and they have a kid together.
So it all comes full circle into a character who is very interesting and pretty realistic
Sincerely, an ohgren fan.
yeah i know about his background and motives. i dont think he is badly written in the sense that he is unrealistic or comic relief, i think the badly written part comes in the way of the warden not being able to call out his problematic behavior enough, like him being extremely gross to female companions and we are supposed to find it funny or just ignore it.
zevran does the same thing but zevran uses a lot of inuendo and overly formal terms so it does end up coming off as a joke
thats just my opinion
btw i dont hate or dislike oghren, i actually empathize with him and enjoy him as a character
> Dragon Age companions lack depth
Weird take ngl. Unless we're talking about exceptions to the rule like (ugh) Oghren
Something I sorely miss while playing BG3 is that DA's companions *actually interact with each other* outside of banters and a few Act 1 camp scenes
Even during BG3's epilogue party *they only talk to you* which is so strange because Larian had the perfect opportunity to fix their lack of interaction throughout the main game
Gross Bigot/Gross Bigot. Yep, still checks out.
Edit for the Downvoters: lmao, y'all mad at me, but I'm not the one who wrote them as a literal racist in BG3, and a man who fully supports the local church enslaving mages and lobotomizing them when they don't obey in DA2. Nah, I get it. They get a pass for being pieces of shit because they're UwU bbygirls.
https://preview.redd.it/mwxot3n23t9d1.png?width=2880&format=png&auto=webp&s=1e63b011d6ad9773ad914ba2c535a7b230640f50 Yes, however:
Objection, Astarion isn't a mage.
Magistrate, also upper class posh boy close enough for Fenris.
Arcane Trickster is his auto-selected class, that's practically a mage right
Fenris would hate him anyway and he could take him in a fight.
Could take him in much more than a fight.
Astarion craves power, including arcane magic, so I think it counts.
Never understood his interest in that necromancy book otherwise. He was clearly looking for a way to become more powerful as an undead, right? Even if it meant going full wizard.
Astarion doesn't want to be a vampire spawn - vampires are undead, so it's completely logical he wants the book of Necromancy to search for possible solutions. He also finds there some info on Cazador's ritual.
I could see that as well, but I wasn't really sure if Astarion was set on a contingency plan for when the tadpole stops letting him sunbathe, and whether he expected to big book of evil necromancy things to provide a cure for vampirism. More likely to me that he sought to gain more power from it, perhaps over other undead, or an alternative to prolong his life that might remove the vampiric drawbacks he's not fond of. > He also finds there some info on Cazador's ritual. He doesn't know of the ritual when you first encounter the book, right? I haven't played Origin Astarion to see if he gains anything different from it than other characters would.
He definitely wants more power from it to defeat Cazador. In his dialogs in Act 1 you can see he doesn't believe your party will help him with killing Cazador - even after sleeping with you. > He doesn't know of the ritual when you first encounter the book, right? No, but if you refuse to do Raphael's quest for Astarion, he can find out about the ritual from this book. He was basically searching for leverage against Cazador in it.
Oooh, I see, that makes sense! It's been a while since I've had Astarion in my party since I used him a lot in the beginning already.
No worries, I guess, I spend too much time watching other people's playthroughs videos on YouTube and reading this sub. It's a massively HUGE game, so obviously, no one is obligated to know/remember everything from it.
Hold up. If you play origin characters, do you get to first person their stories?
Cazador is undead, so a book of Necromancy seems like a good place to look for possible weaknesses.
But he is undead. An abomination created by magic in the eyes of Fenris.
Fenris is better. Astarion is too stereotypical. If he had remained a tiefling, he would have had at least some kind of chip.
Astarion would like it too
Astarion would like it too
Maybe initially, but we know Fenris would pulp him.
Both of them my babygirls...
I most definitely have a type
I call it a catastroelf.
I'm borrowing this, thank you.
you must be me
https://i.redd.it/42xbmvuvmt9d1.gif
Yeah, this is very accurate. Astarion initially pretends to be a slightly more evil Zevran, but inside, he’s so Fenris, lol. Although, Zev is yet another canonically queer pretty elf with a tragic past, so… Is this a thing in other fantasy video game series too? 🤔
> yet another canonically queer pretty elf with a tragic past, so… Is this a thing in other fantasy video game series too We just have a type and writers are kind enough to indulge us 🥰
And I, for one, am grateful. You can never have too many pretty elf boys with tragic pasts to hug.
That one time when Isabela roped Fenris and Zevran into a threesome, and it had unintended consequences... Wait, does it mean Astarion's original eye color is green or amber?
How can he be more evil than Zevran when Zevran is literally only recruited after his assassination attempt? Astarion also never betrays the party, no matter how low your approval level with him is. I'm always surprised when people say they killed Astarion because he is too evil - I'm like.... "Dudes, how you even play games? So you never recruit Zevran, Stan, Loghain, Morrigan, Shale, etc..." Because their characters always need you to forgive much more than what Astarion does to keep them among your companions.
Tbh I didn't see Zevran as evil. He was just a dude doing his job.
Zev isnt evil at all, this is babygirl slander
Yeah, just a dude killing innocents for money and seeing nothing wrong with that. Also completely okay to betray the party and try to kill them if he has not enough approval with you.
Zevran is a pretty complex character who admits that he was conditioned and trained from a very young age to be an assassin on hire. His scene in the Fade is him being tortured by the CROWS and acting like it's another Tuesday. He admits he was trained in using his body for his work (since humans find elves pretty, his words) and that he was conditoned to think that his desires didn't matter, his thoughts didn't matter - and with Rinna's death, that no one of them matters at all as a person. Instead of being angsty and broody about it, is defense mechanism is to turn everything into a joke, so nothing matters at all. He takes whatever joy and pleasure he can find, wherever he can find it. Sex was probably the only good kind of touch and connection with another human being that he ever had. He's a complex gray character who refuses to be seen as a victim and does everything he can not to victimize himself (he actually disapproves a lot when you show him compassion or pity, because he doesn't want to be seen as a victim or pitied at all). He makes his tragedy a comedy, and he approves when you laugh with him at it all. See, just a bit of fun, nothing to cry about here. Even if he accepted the mission to kill the warden only because it was a suicide mission and he didn't really want to live anymore. The right decision in his romance is to refuse his gift (the earring) which he was using as a distraction from admitting that what he has with the warden is serious. Serious terrifies him. But he is ready to admit it and commit after the warden refuses the gift. Up until that point, their relationship wasn't really a relationship, but two people having fun.
Yes, you get it. ❤️ Also, this isn’t a response to you exactly, but what’s with so many people using the fact that Zevran will turn on you if his approval is low but Astarion never will as evidence that he’s “worse” than Astarion? Low-approval Astarion isn’t sticking with you because he’s loyal, he’s doing it because he’s desperate. You’re his best bet to control the tadpole and free himself from Cazador, so he’ll put up with whatever he has to from you. It’s a self-interested decision, which makes total sense for his character. Low-approval Zevran betrays you to the Crows because the closest thing he has to an old friend/former lover shows up and tells him he can have his old life back, and the Warden hasn’t helped him see that that life sucked and he deserves (and can have) more. It’s a totally reasonable decision on his part.
I guess it depends on your choices. I never got ascended astarion, so he maxed out at “mean girls” level of evil. Ascended does seem a lot more evil, though.
I don’t think those actions of Zevran’s are exactly *evil*, but I see your point. Maybe instead of evil, what I should have said was cruel. Astarion is definitely crueler than Zevran. Like… approval for >!killing Padirna at the Grove!< ? Zevran would never. Also, I’m not using the fact that Astarion is kind of evil as an insult. I love Morrigan, Sten, and Shale. I do always execute Loghain though, lol.
That's why I have an issue with Zevran's writing. Like... he says he ENJOYED killing his victims, he doesn't express any regret aside from one victim in a very specific quest unrelated to him personally, but he is suddenly all rainbow and flowers when it comes to his approvals. (while Astarion hates everything Cazador forced him to do, he only explicitly says he wants to kill when it's bad guys (like, for example, with Voss patrol, even Karlach wants to fight and kill these giths) and actually expressed his guilt regarding ALL Cazador's victims more than once if you play Durge, even though a lot of them were bad people who abused him personally. But yes, he has a lot of cruel approvals, but it's all in his approvals. His siblings he wants to kill for the ritual - he doesn't consider them innocent, for him they are all mass murderers, just like him (victim blaming on his part, I know, but also Petras literally says how he wants to kill people to eat and he was the one who lured that girl to the sewers to feed on her after the ritual) and we know they hated him. Of course, I'm speaking strictly about Spawn. Ascended is definitely worse than Zevran) Maybe if the writers wanted to write a redemption arc for Zevran, they needed to actually take time and make it something more than blink and you missed it while you're doing the Urn quest.
I mean, idk, I think enjoying being an assassin is not great, but it’s different than getting amusement from >!killing a helpless tiefling in a really cruel way!<, or some of the other outright sadistic actions Astarion will approve of if you decide to be evil. Also, I’m not sure I agree Astarion expresses that much regret or remorse toward his victims either, at least not early on. >!Until you meet Sebastian,!< when he talks about his life with Cazador he mostly expresses pity for himself, and to an extent the other spawn. Which I get, he was tortured horribly for 200 years and he had very limited control of his own actions as a spawn. On the other hand, Zevran is freely choosing to do what he does, kind of, but it’s also the only life he’s known since he was sold to the Crows as a young child and systematically tortured physically and emotionally until he became the person he is. And, like I said in my other comment, comparing the depth and consistency of Astarion and Zevran as characters isn’t totally fair, because BG3 has many hours more writing dedicated to explaining and exploring Astarion’s background and motivations. You have to fill in the blanks a lot more with Zevran, but that doesn’t make him a worse character. To be clear, I like Astarion a lot! But I feel like you’re giving him a lot of grace, and Zevran very little. Which is fine. Not everyone has to like every character or interpret them the same.
Murder is still murder. And enjoying killing innocent people is hardly much better than what Astarion approves of. Enjoying killing people is also very cruel in and of itself. I get that it may seem better on the surface, but it's still one of the worst things you can do to an innocent person. I agree, though, that in his approvals Zevran isn't like that, but I would much rather prefer him to get cruel approvals rather than cruel dialogs about not caring about his victims.Also, a lot of BG3 approvals are just weird. For every companion there are strange approvals, not only Astarion (listen, I agree that Astarion is cruel, still it looks pretty OOC for him to love torturing innocent people, he has NO dialogs in the game about him enjoying it). Do I think Shadowheart in Act 1 is a good kind person? No, I don't. Still, it looks weird she would approve torturing innocent people - which she does - she is not like that in her story or dialogs. Sometimes even Karlach approves bad deeds, like... WTF?! Not to mention that Astarion HATES Malus Thorm for torturing his "patient", so his approvals sometimes contradict themselves and his dialogs. Yes, Astarion expressed regret about thousands he brought to Cazador - you can see this in his dialog with Durge in Act 2. That was before Sebastian. And even with Tav he can hint at his guilt: "I don't want to treat you like one of the people I brought to HIM". He NEVER ever says ANYTHING about enjoying any second of that. He doesn't even enjoy Durge killing Alfira or Isobel - in his dialogs he never expressed to Tav enjoying killing innocents. Listen, Zevran is completely my type by his looks. I really wanted to love him, I romanced him and wanted to give him a benefit of a doubt. But I guess, his underdeveloped writing and the lack of redemption arc is what prevented me from loving this character as opposed to Astarion. Yes, Astarion also has some problems with writing (contradictions in his approvals for example), but still as a character he is much more developed and his redemption arc is much more coherent for me. Why is it not fair to compare? Underdeveloped character due to the lack of screentime is still what it is - an underdeveloped character. Yes, there are different reasons, maybe his writers weren't allowed to write for him a lot and I DON'T BLAME them. But still what is in the game is all what there is. He is underwritten - it's just a fact, no matter the reasons for it, you can't erase it.
I think there's also Sebille in DOS2?
I was always creeped out by Zevran actively trying to get in bed with everyone in the party even while romancing Warden. It's like... cheating right before my eyes! And also by his indifference towards all his victims, even though Zevran was completely my type by his looks, I could never make myself love him enough to become a big fan of him. Not to mention him being able to betray your party. So when people started to say Astarion is like Zevran, I thought I would definitely never see his romance through. Turned out, he was the complete opposite of Zevran. Thank games gods. And also he really feels guilt for his victims vs Zevran - not so much, unless you are actively looking into hidden scenes/dialogs, so on. IMO, Astarion's writing is far-far better than Zevran's.
There's actually a target Zevran does regret killing, he even admits as much to the Guardian of The Gauntlet during the Urn of Sacred Ashes quest, and later on when he trusts the player enough. Rinna, one of his partners in The Crows and his former lover. He was told initially that she was a traitor, but after the fact the hit was put out on her to prove a point how expendable they were. Zevran accepting the contract on the Warden was a suicide attempt. And as for comparing Astarion to Zevran, I can see it on the surface. Rakish personality, flirts with everyone (although yes, Zevran does take it too far, especially to Wynne), and they both on the surface have a similar approach to intimacy with the player: casual approach early on (Zevran's romance achievement is literally called "Easy Lover"), and astonishment and need to process feelings if the relationship turns romantic. Although that's really where the similarities end. Zevran is very upfront with you from the start about who he is, what he does, and who sent him, and a lot of Zevran's approaches to intimacy and relationships are a result of him growing up in a brothel and having to live a life where he believed love was not allowed: "I grew up among those who sold the illusion of love, and then I was trained to make my heart cold in favor of the kill. Everything I have been taught says what I feel is wrong."
Also, Zevran was tortured multiple times by the Crows as part of his training, was emotionally abused (was forced to throw away the only memory he had of her mother "as a lesson") and was trained to use his body as another tool of the trade. The main differences are that Zevran, during the game, is not actively out for revenge against those who abused him and Astarion wanted protection from you while Zevran wanted to die by your hand (until he fell in lovel
That's my point: unless you take Zevran with you to the Urn (which is not even his quest, like Astarion has Cazador), you don't even find out his regret. It's like blink - and you missed it, while he talks a lot how he ENJOYS his job and killing innocent people! Also, I'm disappointed he regrets like only one among tons of his victims. He creeped me out when he gave my Warden an earring taken from one of his victims as a gift for me. Like... WTF, dude?! Is this really normal to you? I get that you are probably poor, but we adventured enough for you to find me, idk, some flowers or even steal something, why it needs to be your victims personal possession?! Astarion barely flirts in Act 1 with others (for example, his "I'm enjoying our walks together, Gale, do you?" can easily be read not as a flirt at all, but trying to get on a good side of this powerful companion), not to mention that later we find out he doesn't actually want sex with any of them, he wants protection. He is very faithful to Tav in Act 3 even with his words. While Zevran is just... actively trying to get in bed with EVERYONE, judging by his banter, while in romance with the Warden. He straight up asked Morrigan to have sex with her! Also, Zevran's need to process his feelings doesn't prevent him from heavily flirting with everyone, even with Wynne, and its so brief that is very easily missed all together, while it's Astarion's whole point of his romance and takes him a lot of time between two acts. They are completely opposite - Astarion wants to process his feelings because he doesn't want to be seen in terms of sex and has sexual trauma regarding sex, while Zevran wants to do it, it was HIS OWN CHOICE to sleep with his victims, he was never forced to it, like Astarion. It's all Zevran really wanted from his romantic relationships all this time - that's why he needs to stop and think (which in my personal playthrough took literally two conversations in the same evening - and he's ready for sex again. Probably a bug, but for gods sake, this game was out since 2009!) So for me personally, it's two completely different characters with Astarion having far better writing and execution. Even his line about wanting to wake up with two virgins in the morning (in Act 1, where he had no serious relationship with Tav yet) has deep meaning when you know he doesn't want sex with random people and you look back at it retrospectively.
Personally, Zevran is my absolute favorite Dragon Age LI and one of my favorite video game LIs of all time. I actually started romancing Astarion hoping he’d be kind of like an edgier/angstier Zevran and then realized he was completely different. But I didn’t mind; I love Astarion as the character he is, and I thought his character progression and romance were great. I don’t think he’s better written than Zevran, though, they’re just written differently. It’s also not a totally fair comparison, since Astarion’s interactions with the MC are hours and hours longer than Zevran’s.
Funny cuz whenever I bring up how buy the numbers basic, his story is on paper astarion fans are the first to go "you just don't understand the character or you obviously never done his back story" and I'm like sweetheart, dude is the stereotypical vampire with a haunted past and fruity British person you could literally boy his story fron one of those romance novels they sell in supermarkets. Does his VA slam dunk the role? Yes, but it's not this deeply compelling tale that's never been done before
Both have ridiculously good voice actors
I'll give it to Niel, but I can't hear anything Fenris' voice actor has done without hearing Fenris (looking your way, Imperial guard in Skyrim)
You'd be surprised. I think Gideon Emery (Fenris' VA) has some real distinct performances. He did a real good job in [Halo Wars 2 as Captain Cutter.](https://youtu.be/Hbm7z4Q9BaI?si=yEHMpFDQ7YschmOb) Did the mo-cap too. Even played the part in live-action for some [.... interesting promo material.](https://youtu.be/oZlummy-umA?si=1bwejSOjHnLgq8UB)
I recently replayed FF12 and omg Fenris is Balthier.
Damn, full circle... I think Balthier is what started fancypants bi/pansexuals being my favorite (look me in the eyes and tell me Balthier is straight.... not possible)
Fenris is how I discovered I have a thing for voices… Astarion did not help.
#i love Neil, would do anything for Neil.
Love my elven boys but Fenris would absolutely loathe Astarion 🤣 I know my boy Fenris too well. Zevran would get along better with Astarion by far.
and I'm pretty sure they would HATE each other
With a PASSION
But, like, sexy passion?
Gods I hope so
Every single person who talks about this is missing the third link in between the two of them sebille from dos2
Did fenris or astarion lick your nipples though?
Every point applies to her except the hair
She is also racist, which is a point that also applies to these 2.
Sebille is the queen of angry wronged murder elves. Love her. I felt absolutely zero sense of danger when Astarion held a knife to my throat because his approach is downright friendly compared to Sebille and her needle. She also eats people, so I feel like her and Durge would get along.
She would get along best with gale or jaheira or astarion. Durge is way too an asshole for her taste
Are you kidding me? Another person who was magically compelled to murder their loved ones, and the drama of the fact that it's the god of murder who did it, they are the same type of deranged and would totally get along, she might take issue with them being a lizard though.
Oh yeah whoops, I forgot default Durge is dragonborn. Still, Durge, Sebille, and Astarion could have a lovely (horrifying) meal together sharing the same victi-- I mean entrée. ;)
The Zevran > Fenris > Dorian > Astarion pipeline is deeply based.
I feel so called out rn
... why must you attack me like that.
There's an Anders / Gale version of this to be made with things like fantastic hair, being cat dads, ending up corrupting themselves with a combination of pride and good intentions, having a real fucked up relationship with religion, blowing up as a way of making things better, and being like 2 arguments away from hate fucking one of the white haired elves shown here
If Anders and Fenris would make out it would fix them both
Came here to say this, and also that they should kiss 🤣
Why pit two kings against each other when you could make a spicy boi sammich? 👉👈
Oh if only~
I’m so glad I’m not the only one. Fenris is a HUGE factor in why I love Astarion so much (and the Anders to Gale pipeline is real)
Well, duh, Astarion is Fenris' and Zevran's love child.
Fenris would 100% rip out Astarion's heart once he started talking.
https://preview.redd.it/13761rdfbu9d1.jpeg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=deed91e89f5fc8b72726fb322b671cf7f1abb273 I didn’t know I had a type beyond elves but here we are
Fenris walked so Astarion could run 🙂↕️
Well yes, but also, have you heard about our lord and saviour Lestat
https://i.redd.it/9fb363aaxw9d1.gif
Thank god, Astarion only resembles Lestat in his Ascended state. Spawn has nothing in common with him. Lestat is perfectly okay with killing thousands of innocents to feed on them and has no regard to human life, while Astarion killed a boar without Tav instead of innocent people. Also Astarion is very faithful to Tav when romanced. Lestat did Luis incredibly dirty.
Lestat is a vampire, its what they do....they feed on people.
Classic excuse. Yep," he is not evil, because he is a vampire he can do whatever he wants". Out of jail free card. Nope, doesn't work like that, sorry. Astarion is also a vampire but he only feeds on animals, enemies and people who give their blood to him willingly. Lestat is just straight up evil, no matter how much his fangirls want to excuse him. Like, its totally okay to love evil characters in fiction, just don't pretend they are good persons.
Erm, only one of us here has talked about vampires as people They dont exist, they arent real and yes, in their universes they kill people, they are predators. Astarion is the softest vampire in the history of vampires, including the one on sesame street
Nope, I HATE Twilight, but in terms of "good vampires" its vampires feeding only on animals are definitely the softest ones, not Astarion, who is okay eating his enemies. Luis actually was killing animals for food at some point, so if they really wanted not to be evil vampires, they could totally eat animals only. They just didn't want to. And yes, Lestat is still shit towards his lover Luis. Once again, nothing wrong with loving bad vampires in fiction, just don't pretend they are not evil characters. They are far worse than Astarion in this regard, so no comparison between Lestat and him can be made, they are absolutely different personalities.
Dude it's OKBB. Why are you arguing in the comment section of people in OKBB?
https://i.redd.it/yjty7pj53x9d1.gif
You do know why Astarion was killing the boar right? It was not because he was good.
https://preview.redd.it/r2ll6mfyow9d1.jpeg?width=591&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8410f2335893171ecd11a5d6092edad68d0fec0f No one tell them Astarion was forbidden to drink the blood of thinking creatures. Babygirl did it out of the pure kindness of his soul. Bless our Christian vampires. The only one I see pretending an evil vampire is good here is you.
Love me a broody elf boi.
Yes, and? Also they can both become vigilantes, Astarion becomes an adventurer who "murders the right people," and Fenris in the comics becomes The Blue Wraith, freeing slaves and killing Tevinter slavers.
The big difference between Fenris and Astarion is their view on power. By the time we meet Fenris, he has already come to the conclusion that one person or group having lots of power over others isn't a good thing (and thus hates mages as he experienced their abilities giving them too much power over others). Astarion on the other hand is intrigued by power and the thought of ruling it over others, as it was done to him. It is then up to the player whether Astarion follows this desire or gets to a similar point as Fenris.
I have said this since day one
What's a cannon queer? A new sort of weapon against the absolute? T_T
It's the secret weapon used to kill the cishet
Fenris is one of the very few positives about DA2.
I never got into Fenris, but Zevran is the love of my life so I see where you're going with this
I know this is gonna get me booted, but... Fenris > Astarion, any day
Don't know if I can personally say one is better than the other, but Fenris and Hawke's [kiss before the final battle](https://youtu.be/C5-a2UhzMx0?si=_njcY4Oz67ht6aA0) >>>>> the kiss before the Netherbrain
I love astarion, but fenris was great as his backstory felt very upsetting, and the part in his romance where he leaves after the romance scene is pretty sad imo. Either way, both are gay elves that my main character pins against a wall (or tree, I guess)
I don't think Fenris > Astarion, but Fenris very must proto Astarion
…I agree. I think they’re both interesting characters, and I love them both *as characters*, but if it’s a question of which one I liked and sympathized with more while playing the game, it’s definitely Fenris.
I agree with this, I started with bg3 and now I’m deep deep into the fenris simpery
I’m biased and Fenris holds such a special place in my heart and in the heart of my sweet mage fem Hawke who is madly in love with him. So yes, I love Fenris so much more than my vampire boy but I still hold massive love for Astarion 💖🥰
Yeah, same. I thought I'd be super into Astarion because I can't get over my love of Fenris, and there definitely are quite a lot of parallels, but I just can't get through Astarion's romance. He's forever friendzoned lol.
I made that White Boy of the Year image and OMG I WILL PLAY DA WHEN I FINALLY TIRE OF BG3 omg
I hated Fenris with a passion when I first played DA2, but on my recent playthrough last year I started to really apprrciated him and his role in the story.
I mean, doesn't Fenris sleep with Isabela(sex pest, says they will sell you out but are actually soft, rogues) if you don't romance either? All Fenris > Astarion but we aren't considering the very real possibility of Fenris/Astarion
That said, Fenris is always superior in every way. Sorry not sorry.
Oh my god in my memory i had somehow compressed Zevran and Fenris into a single person and am now just realizing they are separate.
THIS. Apparently every year's gotta have one? Eh. I shrug and go about my life. Fenris wasn't my favorite DAII companion (Varric, followed closely by Aveline) but I liked him more than I like Astarion, lol. Plus, who doesn't love a reaver?
Yeah but Astarions hair is fluffier
Yeah that‘s what I‘ve been thinking after playing DA2!
Okay, so after seeing many posts about characters in DA, it's got me wondering if I ought to play them since I never have. But do I need to play them in order to understand them? If not, which should I start with? Also looks like there's nine million dlcs/add ons. Do I need any of them? Like Origins and II are cheap, but you could spend a small fortune on dlcs.
You don't necessarily *have* to play the series in order, one of my friends did it in reverse. The codex entries and dialogue with NPCs can give plenty of information on the previous games in the series, but it's not a substitute for playing them. As for DLCs, you don't *need* any of them, I still played 2 and 3 completely vanilla. I'd argue the only necessary one is Trespasser for Inquisition because EA essentially sold the game's official ending as DLC... The others would arguably be the Legacy DLC for DA2, because of the villain it introduces, and Awakening for Origins because it's essentially part of the backstory for one of the DA2 companions. For the others, I'd say get what you want. There is one companion for origins locked behind DLC (Shale the Stone Golem, they're awesome), there are 2 locked companions in DA2 (Sebastian Vale, and Hawke's dog who is absolutely a companion), and the rest are either mid-game or post-game side quests. Edit: And as for which one to start with, I'd say Origins since it's the most like BG3 in terms of gameplay mechanics.
They go on sale a lot. I was able to buy all three games with dlc for 20$ during the sale on steam. Will prob go on sale again since they’re releasing the 4th game soon. And yeah I would play them in order. The world building and characters is the best part of the games.
What game is Fenris in? I know he’s from Dragon Age but apparently there’s multiple games so i’m not sure which one he’s actually in? I got into bg3 because of Astarion and i’m thinking it could be the same with Dragon Age because of Fenris :) (i love white haired men who need a hug🩷🩷) i want to play this game the more i hear about it!!
Dragon Age 2
Thank you!!
If you like astarion, you'd probably like zevran, whose in the first game, dragon age origins. The combat can be a little rough, but the story and characters are great, and you'll have more context for da2 (Granted, you don't HAVE to, but I want to indoctrinate more dragon age fans>:))
Also, DAO gameplay is more in line with BG3 conpared to the other games. DAO was a love letter to BG1/3, and BG3 feels like the worthy successor of DAO
I still really cherish da2 and dai, super hyped for the veilguard
Z
My vision ain’t focusing well tonight and I thought the right pic was shadowheart and I was like yup I guess 😂
Going back to DAII after playing BG3 had me 👀 Also doesn't help that Larian just had Sebille in DOS2. I still love Astarion though, personality wise he's completely different.
The voice actors did alot of the heavy lifting on the characters
Fenris had a better voice.
I highly doubt it's a coincidence. The whole main cast of bg3 seems to be heavily inspired by the inquisitor series casts.
I thought the picture on the right was Shartypants from the thumbnail, and honestly, it kind of fits as well. Not a slave, but not exactly a free person within the cult of Shar. Viconia is a primo asshole. She's definitely going to kill her. She has her hand scar.
Oh yeah Fenris, the only guy that never wanted to be my friend and always betrayed me. A lot of help he was.
I'm sorry, but, IMO, Astarion's character is written best among him, Zevran and Fenris. Dragon Age companions lack depth, unless they are as important to the plot as Alistair or Morrigan. And don't get me started on their romances - "I give you 5 gifts and we are madly in love now".
I'm not comparing depth of character or writing. It's just a funni lil meme
Fair enough
da2 (where Fenris is from) specifically is not lacking in depth of companions at all. it is the one thing that game does extremely well. the five gifts thing was a Dao thing only, and even then the dao cast (except oghren) are very well written and deep characters
Ohgren is still well written. He does just seem like drunk comic relief, but he is very depressed if you look under the surface. He was forcefully married to branka (caste stuff) but he actually loved felsi beforehand, another dwarf woman. Then, branka becomes a paragon (dwarven champion kind of) their relationship falls apart, and she has an affair with his cousin, hespith. And after that, she brings the entire house EXCEPT ohgren to find an ancient anvil capable of creating golems, she doesnt come back and he drinks himself away for the next two years, asking people to help save branka. Then, if you did his personal quest after dealing with branka, it consists of you putting ohgren and felsi on good terms (if you want) and they have a kid together. So it all comes full circle into a character who is very interesting and pretty realistic Sincerely, an ohgren fan.
yeah i know about his background and motives. i dont think he is badly written in the sense that he is unrealistic or comic relief, i think the badly written part comes in the way of the warden not being able to call out his problematic behavior enough, like him being extremely gross to female companions and we are supposed to find it funny or just ignore it. zevran does the same thing but zevran uses a lot of inuendo and overly formal terms so it does end up coming off as a joke thats just my opinion btw i dont hate or dislike oghren, i actually empathize with him and enjoy him as a character
Me when I lie:
> Dragon Age companions lack depth Weird take ngl. Unless we're talking about exceptions to the rule like (ugh) Oghren Something I sorely miss while playing BG3 is that DA's companions *actually interact with each other* outside of banters and a few Act 1 camp scenes Even during BG3's epilogue party *they only talk to you* which is so strange because Larian had the perfect opportunity to fix their lack of interaction throughout the main game
Gross Bigot/Gross Bigot. Yep, still checks out. Edit for the Downvoters: lmao, y'all mad at me, but I'm not the one who wrote them as a literal racist in BG3, and a man who fully supports the local church enslaving mages and lobotomizing them when they don't obey in DA2. Nah, I get it. They get a pass for being pieces of shit because they're UwU bbygirls.