In the Lower City of Baldur’s Gate 3, you might find yourself wandering through Cazador’s Palace. This is especially true if you have Astarion in your party, as Cazador was his former master and the palace is where the vampire spent the last two centuries. Cazador is planning a ritual to ascend to new heights as a vampire, and he needs Astarion to complete it.
Before that sequence happens, though, you will find some of Cazador’s prisoners locked in cells.
These prisoners were all brought to the palace by Astarion, as he believed they would be used to feed Cazador. However, instead, Cazador used them to further his ambitions of ascending to new vampiric heights. The prisoners locked in the cells are full-fledged vampires who have been locked away for over a century. At some point, you will have to make a decision on whether to free them or end their lives.
I’m here to give you some advice on which route to take. Warning, there are spoilers for the conflict between Astarion and Cazador in the guide below.
Choosing what to do with Cazador’s prisoners in BG3
You will only get the chance to decide what to do with the prisoners after defeating Cazador and stopping his ritual. Once that happens, Astarion will have to decide if he wants to complete the ritual for himself or choose to take a different path than Cazador. If you want to free the prisoners, you need to convince Astarion to not complete the ritual. If he does complete it, then all of the vampire prisoners will die in the process.
Convincing Astarion to give up the power of the ritual will result in him having to make another decision on the prisoners. On one hand, the prisoners never did anything wrong, and were only brought to Cazador because they trusted Astarion. On the other hand, they are vampires and have had two centuries of bloodlust built up in their systems. They could be a menace to society if unleashed.
Related: Baldur’s Gate 3: How to reach the Upper City region in BG3
It’s my recommendation to free Cazador’s prisoners. Upon doing so, Astarion will command other vampires to take the former prisoners to the Underdark where they can’t hurt anyone. Astarion will see this as the right choice and thank you for stopping him from doing something catastrophic. Choosing to kill the prisoners will fill Astarion with some regret.
In the end, though, it’s your playthrough, and if you have been Astarion a certain way in BG3, then you should probably stick to that with this decision.
Published: Aug 18, 2023 10:02 am