Should you let Astarion bite you in Baldur's Gate 3?

(Image credit: Larian Studios)

Should you let Astarion bite you in Baldur's Gate 3? The vampire spawn needs to feed, and while he can survive well enough on animals, it's humanoid, mortal blood that gives him the biggest boost and allows him to thrive. So when Astarion reveals that he - the pale, gothic-looking, fanged man with two puncture wounds on his neck is, shock of all shocks, a vampire, what should you do about it? Let him feed on your Baldur's Gate 3 character and drink their blood, or let him starve? I'll walk you through the Astarion bite choice in Baldur's Gate 3, and what the best option is.

Should you let Astarion bite you in Baldur's Gate 3?

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You should probably let Astarion bite you in Baldur's Gate 3 if you want to advance your relationship, but also make sure he stops before he gets too enthusiastic about it. If you don't keep him in line and tell him enough is enough, Astarion will get carried away and end up killing your character, forcing you to use a revivify spell or Withers, so you need to snap him back to his senses at the first available opportunity after that initial bite, using either a Persuasion or Strength check.

After biting you or anybody else, Astarion will have the "happy" perk for the next day, where he gets +1 to all checks. However, there's a penalty - your own character will have the "bloodless" quality, and take -1 to all checks. His gain is your loss - but Astarion will also have the Vampire Bite power now, a bonus action attack he can use once per day that lets him damage certain enemies and gain health (as well as the Happy perk) in the process. It means that if you can find an enemy for him to chew on, he won't need to bite you anymore.

Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and Very Tired Man with a BA from Brunel University, a Masters from Sussex University and a decade working in games journalism, often focused on guides coverage but also in reviews, features and news. His love of games is strongest when it comes to groundbreaking narratives like Disco Elysium, UnderTale and Baldur's Gate 3, as well as innovative or refined gameplay experiences like XCOM, Sifu, Arkham Asylum or Slay the Spire. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at Eurogamer, Gfinity, USgamer, SFX Magazine, RPS, Dicebreaker, VG247, and more.