One Baldur’s Gate 3 player has shared one particular interaction you shouldn’t miss out on if you want to raise Astarion’s approval.
Since Baldur’s Gate 3 launched last year, it’s no secret that Astarion has become one of the community’s favorites. Despite many praising his in-depth storyline, however, the rogue vampire can be quite tricky to please – especially if you’re running a morally good playthrough.
Much of his disapproval comes from when you decide to help others, whether that’s lending a hand to the Tieflings in the grove, agreeing with Halsin to kill the Goblin leaders, or even freeing a particular artist in the Zhentarim hideout. The list goes on.
Luckily, you don’t always have to be cold-hearted to have the vampire by your side, as one player has shared the “key” to raising his approval to high for those who are struggling in a Reddit thread.
The user explained that after dealing with getting stuck on medium approval despite Astarion “seemingly warming up” to their “goddy-two-shoes Tav” from his greetings, they’ve found a way to reach high approval without having to “betray” their “good playthrough.”
“And I did it by … quietly admiring a cat … That was it. That was the deciding factor, the last act that made Astarion go from not minding to liking my people-pleasing Tav,” they wrote.
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“So, to everyone else struggling to earn Astarion’s approval with a good-aligned Tav, just know the key to his heart is the key to so many people’s hearts: cats.”
Some players in the comments said this made a lot of sense, as Neil based Astarion’s behavior “on a feral cat he spent 3 years trying to befriend.”
Meanwhile, one user claimed that the secret to getting Astarion to like you is “chaos.” This involves vandalizing Vlaakith’s portrait, giving him the “creepy book,” and letting him walk on an ogre and bugbear having intercourse, among others.
“He’s a gremlin and he likes fellow gremlins. This is why he also likes cats,” they added.
Speaking of cats, some of them can be found in Act 2, one of which can be seen hanging around the Last Light Inn. They don’t always seem welcoming at first, but hearing their dialogues with Speak with Animals is one of the things you should do at least once.