Should You Free Or Kill Cazador's Vampire Spawn In Baldur's Gate 3? (2024)

One of the toughest choices in Baldur's Gate 3 is deciding whether to kill Cazador's vampire spawn in Act 3 or set them free, as it's a situation where neither option is exactly appealing for a party attempting to do good. Although Cazador isn't related to the main story in Baldur's Gate 3, the vampire is still one of the biggest villains in the game, with ruthless ambitions that put countless innocent souls on the line. Coming face-to-face with Cazador is necessary to complete Astarion's personal arc, and there are a number of different ways for the climactic encounter to play out.

[Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Act 3 of Baldur’s Gate 3.]

Cazador is responsible for much of Astarion's personal trauma, having saved Astarion from death many years before by turning him into a vampire spawn and coercing him to serve his will. Regardless of what influence the party has on Astarion, he views a confrontation with Cazador as fundamentally necessary for closure. The ascension ceremony that Cazador is planning is the perfect opportunity for a spectacular showdown, but it also presents Astarion and the party with some major choices that can be seen as either intriguing opportunities or dreadful fates.

Killing The Vampire Spawn Has The Biggest BG3 Benefits

See Also

Baldur’s Gate 3 – All Party Companion Dialogue / Outcomes (Astarion Reveals He Is A Vampire)Baldur’s Gate 3 Astarion companion guide

Speaking purely from a mechanical perspective in Baldur's Gate 3, the biggest advantage that can be gained from this encounter comes from choosing to sacrifice the souls that Cazador has assembled. Specifically, Astarion has the opportunity to step into Cazador's place and complete the ritual himself, changing from a vampire spawn to an ascendant vampire and gaining more power. In combat, this manifests as a general +1d10 necrotic damage and the extra features Ascendant Bite and Misty Escape. The former is a significantly upgraded version of the standard Vampire Bite, while the latter lets him turn into a cloud of mist once per short rest.

There's no way to complete the ascension ritual without using the vampire spawn for it, and Astarion won't gain any unique advantages from remaining a vampire spawn. Consequently, any campaign that's concerned first and foremost with success in battle should take this course, especially on an Honour Mode playthrough where every little advantage counts. This approach does spur an extra encounter with the monster hunters called the Gur upon leaving the scene of the ritual, so a bit of care after winning the fight with Cazador is advised, but the additional fight shouldn't be challenging enough to make or break the decision.

Freeing The Vampire Spawn Helps Astarion More In BG3

Mechanical advantages aren't the only object of concern in Baldur's Gate 3, however, and letting Astarion ascend is the worst moral choice to make. This decision satisfies his worst impulses and curbs the side of him that's possible to redeem, making him more cruel and uncaring in the end. Having another powerful ascendant vampire in Cazador's place is also a general threat to the world at large, and all the vampire spawn sacrificed for the ritual are killed for a fundamentally nefarious purpose. Astarion does have to return to the limitations of being a vampire spawn when all is said and done, but there are worse possible fates for the fan-favorite character.

These don't have to be downsides, as they all work out perfectly well for a party attempting an evil campaign, but anyone trying to help out the world might not be as enthused by the outcome. Choosing instead to both abandon the ritual and set the vampire spawn free addresses Astarion's trauma better than other options, as he can take comfort in knowing that he did what he could to help his victims. This also avoids an additional combat encounter after the battle with Cazador, as the Gur who disapprove of the decision to set the spawn free won't immediately take a militant stance because of it.

Baldur's Gate 3 Has Middle Ground Options For Astarion

The two extremes aren't the only ways to tackle the situation, however, as deciding not to complete the ritual doesn't mean that the vampire spawn have to be freed. The party can choose to leave them in the cells or kill them without a nefarious motive, as setting thousands of vampire spawn free could have disastrous consequences for Faerûn. Neither of these options will bring Astarion the same degree of resolution as letting them go, but it's still possible to maintain his overall redemption while taking these paths.

These are ultimately both the safer choices for protecting the world at large, but they're more directly cruel, especially leaving them in the cells where they've long been trapped. Although the Gur will happily approve of killing them, their approval doesn't matter in the way that it does for party members, so it isn't a significant factor. The potential for freed spawn to wreak havoc later on is addressed, but that outcome doesn't occur within the scope of the story, outside a positive bonus where characters romancing Astarion in Baldur's Gate 3 can get an extra epilogue scene for choosing to release them.

The best way to approach the vampire spawn decision in Baldur's Gate 3 is to consider whether combat power is a prerogative, in which case completing the ritual is the best move. Freeing the spawn outright might be the most appealing option otherwise, as it offers the most redemption despite the can of worms that it obviously opens. It's ultimately a fairly personal moral choice, depending on whether a character weighs helping victims or preventing the possibility of further crimes more heavily, but any approach to the vampire spawn comes with at least some positive benefits in Baldur's Gate 3.

Baldur's Gate 3

Franchise

Baldur's Gate

Platform(s)

PC , macOS , PS5 , Xbox Series X

Released

August 3, 2023

Developer(s)

Larian Studios

Publisher(s)

Larian Studios

Genre(s)

RPG

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence