Baldur’s Gate 3 player claims Astarion is “irrelevant” to story & fans are divided

While Astarion may be one of the most popular Baldur’s Gate 3 characters, players have pointed out that his backstory is not relevant to the main plot – and they had lots to say about it. 

The stories behind the Baldur’s Gate 3 Origin characters are, mostly, tied to the main storyline in some way. Wyll is linked to his father, Duke Ravengard, who is a hero of Baldur’s Gate and a pawn in Ender Gortash’s plan. Lae’zel is intrinsically connected to the Astral Prism and Orpheus, and Karlach is linked to Gortash – one of the main villains. 

These are not all of the companions, of course, but the examples serve to show how the stories of the characters link. Players have started to notice that Astarion does not have the same kind of connection as the others you can recruit. 

Astarion’s personal story is mainly centered around Cazador and whether or not he will ascend to become a true vampire. In a Reddit post titled ‘Astarion is irrelevant to the main plot’, players discussed why this mattered – or not. 

“After playing through the game a couple of times now I can’t help but feel that Astarion ‘s story is missing something for me, and I’ve finally realized what it is. Astarion has nothing to do with the main plot,” OP ‘Shadowxk1’ said.

“Other than a tadpole freeing him Cazador, he has no interaction with any main story element like the other characters do.”

Some players felt that something was missing from Astarion’s story as a result of this revelation. Even though Larian promised that they didn’t cut a significant amount of content, it would have made sense for Cazador to be part of the internal politics in Baldur’s Gate 3. 

“I just don’t think it makes sense that he’s one of 6 origin stories and they always planned for him to be the only one completely removed from the main plot,” a player commented. 

On the other hand, however, some fans felt that Astarion’s story being so detached from the main plot was better for the game. “It makes it much more meaningful for your relationship (platonic or romantic) when you actually complete his character-quest. You go out of your way to help him gain his actual freedom (or power, I don’t judge),” a player explained. 

One player also pointed out that your custom character has no intrinsic ties at all to the main plot – that you’re just “some random person trying to get home.” 

Whether or not you liked Astarion’s storyline, it cannot be refuted that the character has had a major impact on players. That, according to some, is the beauty of a world like Baldur’s Gate 3 offers them. 

For more on Baldur’s Gate 3, read about why Soul Coins are useless and how to get secret OP weapons in Act 3.