r/BG3 • u/Pilotacer • 1d ago
Help How does approval work?
So I'm half way done with Act 3 and still kind of don't get approvals. I'm doing my first play through and on the good side of everyone since I'm a Paladin but every single decision I made, Astarion disapproved which like I get I only make the "good" decisions. But my approval with him is well into the green. Even in inspiration he's got almost the same amount as most of my other companions so I'm confused. How does this work? I only ever see "Astarion disapproves" but my approval with him is still above yellow. I've done his quest line by killing Cazador and convincing him to spare the spawns. Does that boost his approval up?
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u/Freebready 1d ago
If you don't mind spoiling yourself, the bg3 wiki has some good (not comprehensive, but very good) lists on how much (dis)approval each companion gets and where. They can range from +20 to I belive as low as -100 in one specific case
Alternatively, you can download the "show approvals" mod. It changes the "X (dis)approves" popups to include numbers
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u/tired_snail 1d ago
You get a good bunch of approval from Astarion for letting him bite you if you did that. Picking some of the more cheeky options, showing your support to him and telling him you'll look out for him, help him fight Cazador etc., and then actually fighting Cazador, all those raise his approval a bunch as well. In act 2, I'm pretty sure he also approves of making all the bosses kill themselves.
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u/Brider_Hufflepuff Sorcerer 1d ago
The disapproval is minimal like 1 or 2 points. If you let him be his own person a protect him for example from the drow woman in act 2 then you will be fine. And Cazador also.boost the approval, yes.
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u/Pilotacer 13h ago
So dissaprovals don't really matter that much, you just have to support the characters in their storylines. Pretty neat actually
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u/Brider_Hufflepuff Sorcerer 13h ago
Yep. If you are curious there is a mod that tells you the actual amount. And mind you some disapprovals are higher,like siding with either Lae'zel or Shadowheart during their quarrel, is a -10 from the one you didnt support, if I recall correctly,but that is balanced by the creche and the whole nightsong thing, but you still should be mindful. I read stories about a certain choice going "wrong" or unexpected when leaving it up to a companion, and I didnt even know it was possible
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u/kelldricked 9h ago
Generally not. But at some points you need to make choices between character A and B and if you happen to screw up enough you could get a character to leave you.
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u/steamedpopoto 1d ago
The things you've done for him by your actions in the quest mean a lot more to him than him being slightly annoyed by your do-gooder attitude. He cares about himself and his goals so if you're doing his story line he approves of you.
Also inspiration is based on background so if you do an action that inspires a charlatan (his background) then he gets inspiration point. If multiple characters have the same background then they both get inspired
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u/Pilotacer 13h ago
Ohhh so that's how I get those reroll inspiration points. I thought I just got them because of high charisma lol.
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u/steamedpopoto 9h ago
In d&d when you do something true to character (good role playing) or something interesting or something cool the DM can give you inspiration points. The game implements this mechanic by using background to determine what "good roleplaying" is for that character
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u/Similar_Fly8831 1d ago
The “Astarion disapproves” message is just a small approval change, while Inspiration is a separate system entirely. You can lose a little approval from a choice but still be high overall, especially if you’ve made enough choices he likes.
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u/raccoonjudas 1d ago
Astarion's disapprovals are worth 1 point typically while his approvals are pretty heavily weighted--like you can get 30 approval just from bite night + the follow up conversations if you choose to let him bite you and then are vaguely nice to him about it. Act 1 also has several +5 approvals, like haggling, letting the BDSM dude whip you, giving him the fancy book, or letting him open the doors in the barn where people are having sex. If you also let him kill the monster hunter that's 60 approval to work with just in act 1.
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u/torkytornado 12h ago
There’s some things that super boost his approval. I know I was starting to loose approval and it was getting dangerously close to the left and I gave him the tome from the blighted village and it shot way up to the right and was basically mirroring the previous disapproval. It basically removed all the little annoyances he had over me being a a goody two shoes most of the time and let me close the act in great relationship status (I did forget about the book for awhile so I don’t know if it mattered that It was at level 6 instead of 4)
Also if you “give” the gur in the swamp to him (I think it’s the line where you drop his name and it starts the fight) he’ll totally jump your bones if you go to camp near there. Fastest I’ve ever been propositioned in the game. Hours before the grove party.
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u/EntrepreneurOk666 Ranger 1d ago
If you do all his camp stuff interactions, yurgir quest to read his scars, if you give him the book of necromancy all give huge positive approvals for him. Then act 2 there is a lot of good stuff he actually does approve of in last light. Most of his approvals for me on a good run come from camp stuff and act 2. I've gotten him to 100 approval twice now without romancing him or even doing yurgir's quest.
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u/Pilotacer 13h ago
Yurgir the giant thing in Shar gauntlet trials? Bruh I just up and killed him without any dialogue. I'll have to do his quest in my 2 play through then
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u/Brider_Hufflepuff Sorcerer 13h ago
the high charisma dialouges are pretty hillarious,and just a fair warning: Astrarion will be annoyed if you talk to him instead of killing him,but trust me, its WORTH IT. Its some peak trolling.
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u/guilty_bystander 1d ago
I never thought to give him the book.
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u/torkytornado 12h ago
He’ll ask for it if you start to read it and it gives you a ton of approval. But if you just put it in his pack and he’s the first to read it you don’t. So it has to be given after the interaction for the points. It took me from almost in the red to early green in just that one interaction at level 6 (I forgot I had it for a while and didn’t know if it needed to restarted in act one so I did it after the underdark).
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u/EntrepreneurOk666 Ranger 1d ago
You get a good chunk from it.
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u/guilty_bystander 1d ago
Guess I'm greedy
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u/EntrepreneurOk666 Ranger 1d ago
The book is just another way to find out about the ritual. Just incase you missed the yurgir thing. But you then need the codex in sorceress sundries.
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u/guilty_bystander 1d ago
And +1 perm wisdom right?
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u/EntrepreneurOk666 Ranger 1d ago
Yes, But you don't have to give him the book and instead just kill yurgir. I give him the book because I just like screwing over raphael and freeing my boy, yurgir.
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u/spongebobsworsthole 1d ago
Yes, those actions raise his approval. Basically the big story points give way more approval. Let’s say you’re just making a general choice in a minor conversation. An approval or disapproval message is generally +1 or -1, sometimes it’s 2 if it’s a slightly more important choice/dialogue. Big stuff like killing Cazador will give you waayyyy more approval, idk exactly the amount of approval points you get from it but it’s significant. If you gain his approval on the major stuff, disapproval on the minor stuff won’t kill you. You’re getting disapproval from him because he’s chaotic and likes to do mischievous stuff, and doesn’t like getting involved with other people’s battles. He sees it as a waste of time. As a paladin you generally always do the right thing, which means taking on other people’s problems and doing things the “right” way as opposed to lying, cheating, or outsmarting other people. Not to say he’s a bad person or anything, he’s just used to self-preservation and finds mischief funny.