Gloomstalker Ranger fits him very well thematically. And it can be Uber powerful if you dip into Thief Rogue for the extra bonus action so you can do all the Dual-Hand Crossbow Attacks with Sharpshooter. That's 4-5 attacks with Sharpshooter at level 8. It's super fun. You can even boost your damage further if you use Hunter's Mark and have "The Strange Conduit" ring from the Gith Creche (which gives an extra d4 of psychic damage to weapon attacks while concentrating. Thus Hunter's Mark adds both 1d6 and 1d4 extra damage)

Yesterday I started a new run. I intend to make him a Dexterity based Great Weapon Fighting Battle Master Fighter.

The start was bumpy until I got him Phalar Aluve. I’m already looking forward to give him Larethians Wrath later.

first Feat he got Sentinel and I rushed to get Shield of Thralls power.

he runs into enemies and triggers opportunity attacks. If they miss him he counters with a Riposte attack with advantage. If they hit they pop the shield and everyone gets stunned.

Monk/rogue with Tavern Brawler, he does the most damage of the whole party.

Monk, both open hand and shadowmonk are good.

I mean a bard multi class is a pretty awesome MC: I'm doing Astarion's origin now with 6 swords bard, 4 assassin rogue and 2 fighter and that ranged damage and epic persuasion are pretty bad ass. My other favorite Astarion build is 5 gloom stalker, 5 assassin and 2 fighter.

There might be fringe instances where Gale is better due to the extra level 3 spell slots, but pretty much astarion is the guy for most min max builds.

karlach's soul coin added fire damage applies twice to unarmed attacks IIRC, so it's basically the ascended astarion effect but available at act 1.

Astarion, Minthara, and Karlach are probably all tied.

Ascended Astarion just adds a 1d10 damage to everything which is amazing but comes online super late. The happy buff makes him the best archer though.

Soul Coins adding 2d4 to all of Karlach's unarmed attacks make her the best Monk and its online from go.

Soul Branding not being removed on throws means Minthara is probably the best thrower since its 2d4+1 on all her attacks no matter what

Astarion also later gets a free 1d10 necrotic to all of his weapon strikes. Granted, yes necrotic is the most commonly resisted damage type but free damage is free damage

Minthara as a thrower with soul brand has to be up there, and mama k 4e monk or giant Barb with soul coins (19 long rests is definitely doable) but ascended astarion is definitely the easiest to take advantage of imo.

Poison amusingly is good but only because Hexblade's Curse exists; if you opt for Caustic Band and Poisoner's Gloves you can abuse a cleave spam build (11 Hunter Ranger/1 Hexblade Warlock or 6 Tiger Barb/5 Hunter Ranger/1 Hexblade Warlock both are great for this). Because this combo makes every time you hit an enemy spawn a poison fart cloud on their body they take proficiency bonus damage for each cloud which massively stacks up when you are cleave spamming (for instance, let's say there are 5 enemies grouped up. With 2 cleaves you have made 10 fart clouds which at endgame is +40 flat damage per enemy for +200 damage that they can't do much about. Even if it is resisted that's still +100 damage to your turn for 2 gear pieces)

I think I'd add some savage attacker to my life, that feat is awesome once you start rolling a lot of dice

Rage or low hp. Which as an early game monk.. Personally I love mama K as a rogue - you can actually use your racial smites, and hitting sneak attack on top of a smite takes some great chunks out of the beefier enemies

I like Astarion as a melee character, personally. This way he can get his bite in when you need to reapply Happy. Here are my favorite Astarion builds:

• 11 Eldritch Knight/1 Nature Cleric - I did an Ice Knight build which turned out really great! I think fire suits his aesthetic better though, so a 12 EK using permanent flame blade could also be an option.

• 10 Swords Bard/2 Vengeance Paladin - Classic control martial that floats around this subreddit. I did one Phalar Aluve Dex build, which allowed him to do insane damage.

• 6 Death Cleric/6 Open Hand Monk - This one I usually do on Shart or Halsin, but I think it would be good for an evil Ascendant Astarion run as well. Focuses on doing massive necrotic damage.

Well you still want a class that has Expertise in sleight of hands, so you can comfortably pick even higher DC locks. So I would go swords bard.

Tbh I never understand why people don’t like rogues. Yes you don’t get those big dpr numbers with them, but thats not their purpose, neither in BG3, nor in 5e. Their purpose is giving out of combat utility. They are meant to be used for those tasks where you absolutely cannot afford to fail. Reliable Talent is a blessing in Honor mode, if you don’t plan to save scum.

Did you do Swords bard or a different subclass?

Fighter Arcane Archer fits in my opinion.

It's magical, it's (mostly) dex based, it's ranged but can still swing a sword and use big armour because it's a fighter.

Though if you stick till lvl 6 with bard, swords bard gets extra attack for up to 4 shots in one round. At 5 you can still use your bardic inspiration to have a limited though decent pool of extra attacks.

Spore Druid is a strong contender for ranged caster that can still bonk decently in melee, thanks to flame blade, shillelagh, and symbiotic entity. It’s also a strong thematic match for evil astarion as a vampire lord raising dead and dealing necrotic damage. If you want more martial effectiveness, dropping to 5 ranger 7 spore is a strong Gish build that can be melee, bow, or thrower

When wearing medium armor, you can only use your dexterity bonus to armor class up to a maximum of +2, making this option less attractive for me. Also, most medium armor imposes a disadvantage to stealth checks, which limits Astarion's uses as a scout/sniper/pickpocketer.

Personally, I found that the best armor for Astarion is the Studded Leather +1 sold by the merchant in the zhentarim hideout near the burning inn. It gets him up to 16 or 17 (depending on DEX), or even 18 or 19 with a shield, but I usually let him dual wield magic shortswords to get maximum mileage out of poison, since using his bite power requires him to get into melee rather often.

I tend to give him Kagha's necklace, which auto-poisons his weapons as soon as he receives healing. This allows me to start off a fight with a bite (to heal, apply poison to all his weapons for free and get a permanent +1 to attacks for the rest of the fight), then go to town on the same target with melee attacks.

As for level 4, I usually pick either a +1 DEX +1 WIS stat boost, or give him the Tough feet, which helps him better survive the more challenging fights in the late parts of Act 1.

I do find the Medium Armor feat to be powerful on Wyll, and usually give him the Chain Shirt +1 sold by the halfling zhentarim merchant in the goblin lair.

BTW cool tip for the shield / two hand crossbows trick, I'll have to try it sometime.

Multi class Astarion? Didn't think that was possible in EA?

I like him with 20 dex, 2 from feat and 1 from hag. Longbow +1, the best shortswords you can find and the best light armour. I think with the happy trait and a certain ring you get +10 stealth and pickpocket.

Do like the alternative of medium armour and 18 dex, guessing rapier and shield, 2 hand Cross bows. A lot more survival.

+1 dex +1 wis (or int if you make him arcane trickster).

If elven accuracy was available, that would be an obvious pick to get 18 dex and super-advantage, elven accuracy is fantastic for rogues.

Nothing else is worth taking over bumping dex to 18 and since bumping one of the other stats is also a good boost to skills/saves I would recommend.

Magic Initiate: Warlock + Thief Astarion = 3 procs of 1d6 Hex damage and 4 times in the following turn. Can cast Hex 6 times in case concentration breaks.

Not sure what else you can suggest to compete with that. Gets even better with bonus actions from items.

4 rogue, 8 fighter with dagger/short swords

-rogue met all requirements of the first line

-at level 8, 3 thief/5 fighter get 4 attacks per turn, increasing the bonus from high dexterity by a lot. alternatively, that's 2 potions drank per turns or 2 dashes per turn if you don't want to use off-hand attacks.

-damage is consistent, and many attacks means finishing off weak enemies is easier

-go for baahlist armor, light armor that double your damage output, and you can find it right after going into baldur's gate

-go champion fighter and crit boosting gear along risky ring, act 2 feature some that works with obscuration, but act 3 shoot that number to as much as >60% crit chance with each attacks. deadshot, sarevok helmet, elixir of viciousness, bloodthirst, knife of the undermountain king. vulnerability and crit makes my tav down 2-3 enemies per turn.

Rogue Assassin is crazy tbh, when playing with it I love to stack dice onto my first attack to hopefully one hit kill and proc The Deathstalker Mantle immediately after. Focusing on lethality, survivability, and Traps/Lockpicking, I'm going to build straight into DEX and CON with a lil bit of WIS for mental defenses. You can, of course, build however you choose as long as DEX is prioritized. STR 10/ DEX 15 (+2)/ CON 15 (+1)/ INT 8/ WIS 14/ CHA 8.

To begin, obviously Rogue. Expertise in Sleight of Hand and Stealth. Dual wield Shortswords, and take 3 levels until Assassin. Carry candles around and use a bonus action to dip them for a 1d4 fire damage bonus. It's better if you do this before combat begins. You can continue to level 4 if you want, but we need to prioritize damage effectiveness against enemies ASAP.

Take 3 levels of Ranger (Favored Enemies and Natural Explorer options can be anything you want) and pick up the Gloomstalker subclass, "Two Weapon Fighting" Fighting Style, Longstrider, and Hunter's Mark. With this at level 6/7 we'll have up to 3 attacks with guaranteed crits or Hunter's Mark and add 1d6, to 2 attacks at the beginning of combat. Dread Ambusher is going to be the bread and butter here. On a crit with Dread Ambusher with +3 DEX, you'll deal 6d6 (weapon + Sneak Attack) + 2d8 (Dread Ambusher) + 2d4 (fire dip) + 3 (DEX) = about 38 damage on average. (45 with Hunter's Mark) But we can go bigger.

If you took Rogue/Ranger to 4 for a feat. You'll want the Graceful Cloth to boost your DEX + advantage on all DEX checks. Stack AC boosting gear to make you harder to hit (Ring/Cloak of Protection, Bracers of Defense, Evasive Boots, etc), The Deathstalker Mantle will obviously increase survivability more, and be sure to carry invisiblity potions to pull you out of scary situations.

You can take both classes to 4 if you want feats, this is essentially the whole build up to the finale of Act 2. From here on, you can use whatever items/take whatever you want for levels:

• Knife of the Undermountain King prevents 1s when rolling Piercing damage and gives you a better crit range.
• Drakethroat Glaive adds 1d4 of any element to any weapon you cast it on.
• Strange Conduit Ring adds 1d4 Psychic damage while you concentrate on a spell (Hunter's Mark)
• Luck of the Far Realms Illithid Power gives you a free once per day crit in case of emergencies to hopefully get a kill and proc The Deathstalker Mantle.
• Executioner's Ring also gives a free once per day crit after getting a kill.
• Surgeon's Subjugation Amulet can paralyze one humanoid once per long rest when you crit them. If man's is beefy, hit em with this for easy elimination.
• Ranger 5 gives you Extra Attack giving you 4 attacks at the beginning of combat.
• Paladin 2 gives you smites which are great with free crits from Assassin. If you boost CHA and forgo Rogue+Ranger 4 for Level 6 Paladin, you can boost all your Saving Throws + your CHA. (Hag's Hair + Patriar's Memory + Mirror of Loss + Birthright = +3 to CHA) As well as getting Extra Attack through Paladin. (This route should be considered once hitting end game or level 11 in order to have most important features online).
• Circle of Shores Druid 2 gives you Symbiotic Entity which adds 1d6 Necrotic to all weapon attacks as long as you have your Temp HP.

One of my old builds was Assassin 3/Gloomstalker 3/Barbarian 5. You can respec to this once you hit level 11 of course. You can pick any Fighting Style here.

• Unarmored Defense lets you use DEX + CON modifier for AC (Use the Amulet of Bodily Health to get +6 CON and advantage on CON saves)
• You can take any of the subclasses you desire (I prefer Wild Magic because fun).
• Raging not required, we're only taking this for Unarmored Defense, Reckless Attack, and Extra Attack.
• What we want here is a finesse two-handed weapon that we can use with Great Weapon Master. So you have your choice of the Phalar Aluve longsword (Act 1) , the Larethian's Wrath longsword (Act 1), or The Dancing Breeze glaive (Act 3). Pick up GWM feat at Barbarian 4. Then, attack recklessly for advantage.
• With Dread Ambusher and +5 DEX, that's 2d10 (weapon) + 4d6 (Sneak Attack) + 2d8 (Dread Ambusher) + 2d4 (fire dip) + 10 (GWM) + 5 (DEX) + 1 or 2 (Rare/Very Rare weapon bonus) = about 55/56 damage on average. (72/73 with Hunter's Mark + Strange Conduit Ring + Drakethroat Glaive)

A fun one I haven't done yet is Assassin 3/Gloomstalker 5/Spores Druid 2/ Paladin 2. Any Fighting Style. Only one ASI so no super fun feats to play with. But with DEX should be +5 at this point anyways if you started with 17 DEX. The only problem with this build is your spell slots are limited (4 lvl 1's, 3 lvl 2's, 2 lvl 3's.) Once they're gone, long rests are needed to get em back.

• Acquire and equip The Duelist's Perogative, and Bhaalist Armor.
• Activate Symbiotic Entity (Out of combat)
• Profit.
• With Dread Ambusher, +5 DEX, Piercing vulnerability from Bhaalist Armor, and Divine Smite at 3rd level: 4d8x2 (Weapon + Dread Ambusher) + 4d6x2 (Sneak Attack) + 8d8 (Divine Smite) + 2d4 (fire dip) + 2d4 (Duelist Perogative) + 2d6 (Symbiotic Entity) + 5x2 (DEX) + 3x2 (Legendary weapon bonus) = about 133 damage on average (155 with Hunter's Mark + Strange Conduit Ring + Drakethroat Glaive + Duelist Perogative reaction)

Assassin makes for very powerful solo builds. It's especially neat when combined with The Deathstalker Mantle to leave combat and reinitiate whenever you want to regain Dread Ambusher. I apologize for the long write up too. Buildcrafting is my favorite thing to do. So I tend to yap a lot down to the smallest detail when doing so.

2 paladin 10 swords bard. Take the first 6 levels in swords bard. Dual wield and smite away. Could also do 6 swords bard/ 6 champion fighter, if you still want 3 feats.

8 Monk/4 Rogue is quite a common build.

I’ve only ever done it with open hand monk but I’m sure the way of the shadows monk would go quite well thematically?

I know the usual consensus is to build it as a strength monk with taking TB at level 4, but I’m sure the build is still excellent when focusing Dex.

Only issue with this is that it won’t fit with you wanting to use finesse weapons or the necromancer stuff.

Gloomstalker 5 / Assassin 4 / Battle Master 3 (in that order). Grab the Helmet of Grit, The Deathstalker Mantle, Bhaalist Armor, Craterflesh Gloves, The Speedy Lightfeet, Caustic Band, Strange Conduit Ring, Crimson Mischief (main hand) and Bloodthirst (off hand). For fighting styles, choose Two-Weapon Fighting and Defence.

Depends on the build

The only always good choice is alert in my opinion.

GWM, TB and SS are three of the best feats, if you build for it but entirely wasted, if you don't use them (properly)

Alert is universally useful

ASI is universally useful, just different skills for different classes (like warlock: Cha, fighter: no, not Str. Con. For Str you have elixirs)

For melee martial classes GWM, Savage attacker, TB for throwers. For ranged martials - Sharpshooter

For mages really depends on the build. Like for fire sorcerer I’d take Elemental adept: fire every time.

Maybe I'm in the minority on this one, but I don't really value Warcaster that highly for most builds, especially since the average build only gets 2 feats, sometimes even just 1.

It's great at what it does, don't get me wrong, but with a well-built party most fights are over before you take that many hits in the first place, especially if you spent that feat on Alert instead to virtually guarantee that you go first. Plus, things like positioning, terrain effects and crowd control can further mitigate the number of hits your casters are taking.

It's definitely not a bad feat by any means, of course, just not one that I'd consider a top priority, outside of very specific setups.

Have you read the feat?

The answer is tavern brawler.

You can have a stat at 17 when you create, so it's also an ASI in function.

It's massively overpowered- equal to +4 to hit and +4 to damage - so many builds are entirely put together around it.

Alert is next. Initiative is a d4, so alert may as well read "you go first"

idk about warcaster, since once you reach Last Light you can get the shade clinger armor and get permanent advantage on conc saves (and all others). Maybe if you grab it at 4 and then respec at Last Light, but idk if there’s enough encounters/high level concentration spells in that time frame to make warcaster a top tier option

On a caster, usually try to reach 20 on your spell attribute, unless you got some gear already boosting your spell DCs a lot. But it's never not good to max it out.

A fighter will always want to reach 20 strength asap, so I'd say an ASI is always very strong, unless you wanna be super edgy or are a druid, in which case it doesn't really matter.

Other than that alert and Gwm are clutch

I like to do him as a gloomstalker ranger x rogue assassin and dump a bunch into dex. If you give him the right equipment you'll never need to lockpick anything twice hehe

He’s an arcane trickster, which is probably one of the funnest and most unique classes in the game while being quite strong.

A lot of people like to make him a Swords Bard. The class thematically complements his flamboyance and his wit nicely, and it's well-suited for a dexterity-based build which is canon for him.

Bow of the Banshee is another good early bow.

5/7 gloomstalker/assassin

Astarion is probably the only companion where his class is not a big part of his character, so almost anything works - main ones that I think would be wrong for him is cleric (pretty obvious from his dialogue he has no time for the gods, none of them helped him) and druid (he's not really a fan of nature and cute creatures! Spore druid though, maybe?).

I've seen some people say Warlock wouldn't work as he won't want to be beholden to anyone else, but he has quite a bit of dialogue in the game where he's perfectly happy with the concept of making a deal/giving something up for power, but he does draw a line (tadpoles yes, astral tadpole nonono, and he says after meeting Raphael he'd rather have a devil have what's left of his soul than Cazador - so if he felt a warlock patron would give him the power to be free of Cazador, he'd definitely take it imo).

A common reclassing for him is rogue/ranger, I've done it myself and it certainly slaps, but he also doesn't strike me as a ranger, they're a bit... druid adjacent 😂

Sorcerer? Works. Maybe Cazador forbade him from using his magic but now he's free he can finally utilise it.

Wizard? See sorcerer. Necromancy works as he's very interested in the necromancy of thay.

Bard? I think it works, his mockery lines are amazing. He doesn't strike me as musical at all (he's quite mocking of bards and music in game as well) but bard doesn't mean they have to be musical, can be more of a storyteller, actor, etc, but it is a big part of how BG3 bards work (using instruments for spell etc)

Barbarian? He's pretty damn angry about his 200 years of PURE SHIT, so I guess that could fuel rages!

Paladin? Oath of vengeance works imo, not a stretch to imagine he'd swear an oath of vengeance against Cazador. Oath breaker also works. Paladin powers come from the oath, not a god.

I currently have him as Hexblade warlock, I'm going to 6 as I want the spectres, but then I'm toying with the last 6 levels as shadow sorcerer or vengeance/oathbreaker paladin.

Another option is waiting a couple levels and having him lv1 as something that gets medium/heavy armor out of the gate. Starting fighter, dipping to action surge, then multiclassing back to rogue saves you a feat and lets you still pump dex sooner without having to spend a feat on medium armor.

Plus a thief rogue with action surge and haste gets 3 actions and 2 bonus actions, which can be pretty disgusting.

I go dual wield cause the thief extra bonus action is crazy, so depends on which subclass you pick(ed) too

Dw let's you use dual rapiers and more ac is always welcome

And addition +1 bonus from Dex would also grant +1 to AC as well as +1 to hit and +1 to damage. So...

Dex+Con

Mobile. There's quite a lot of hard terrain - dashing almost every turn as thief + ignoring attacks of opportunity by stabbing people with offhand attack helps to cruise the battlefield at supersonic speeds.