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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsComplete Astarion’s companion quest, The Pale Elf, by keeping him recruited, reaching Cazador Szarr’s dungeon beneath Szarr Palace, surviving the ritual encounter, and making the final decision about ascension. Your choice determines whether Astarion becomes a Vampire Ascendant, remains a free vampire spawn, or leaves the party—and it also determines what happens to the imprisoned spawn and souls.
This is a spoiler-heavy walkthrough. It covers the route into the dungeon, the three-turn rescue window, the role of the Szarr Family Ring, and the separate decision about the prisoners after Cazador dies.
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What Astarion’s quest is called and where it ends
Astarion’s personal storyline is the companion quest The Pale Elf. It develops across the game’s acts and culminates at Szarr Palace, where Cazador Szarr conducts a ritual in the dungeon beneath the palace. The finale is not just a boss fight: the timing of the battle, Astarion’s presence in the active party, and your dialogue decisions all affect which endings are available.
Quest-journal objectives can change according to earlier story decisions. Treat the journal as the current direction for your playthrough rather than a list of steps that every player must see in identical wording.
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The ending is best understood as two linked decisions. First, you decide whether Astarion completes the Rite of Ascension. Second, in the non-ascending routes, you decide what happens to the spawn held in Cazador’s prison. Those decisions can point in different moral directions: saving Astarion does not automatically free the prisoners, and refusing to help Astarion does not automatically rescue them.
Before entering Szarr Palace
Keep Astarion recruited
Astarion must still be part of your party or camp roster for his companion storyline to reach its personal conclusion. If you want to make the final decision yourself, keep him available as you progress through the acts and do not dismiss him permanently before visiting Cazador.
Having him recruited is different from having him in the active four-person party. You can reach the dungeon while he is available elsewhere, but the documented capture mechanic occurs when he is active. Decide in advance whether you want to experience that personal version of the encounter or avoid putting him on the ritual platform.
Decide what outcome you are trying to protect
The finale supports three broad decisions: help Astarion complete the Rite of Ascension, persuade him to stop, or refuse to help. The first option changes his status dramatically and sacrifices the ritual’s victims. The second leaves him a vampire spawn who is free of Cazador. Refusing assistance can cause him to leave the party, so it is not a neutral way to avoid choosing.
If your priority is keeping Astarion while rejecting Cazador’s method, the persuasion route is the clearest target. If you want the ascended outcome, avoid choices during the fight that remove the ritual option. If you are deliberately role-playing a refusal, make a separate save because the documented branch can permanently remove Astarion from the party.
Make a save before the dungeon sequence
The ritual confrontation combines a short rescue window with an irreversible story decision. Save before opening the dungeon route so you can review the conversation and combat outcome without replaying the entire palace.
A second save before the post-fight dialogue is useful as well. The combat interruption and the final conversation are separate points of no return in practical terms: killing a spawn can close the ascension opportunity for that encounter, while refusing assistance can trigger the departure branch.
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How to reach Cazador’s dungeon
Enter Szarr Palace and descend
Explore Szarr Palace until you can descend into the dungeon. The critical route passes through the prison area and continues toward the Grand Chamber, where Cazador is waiting. The prison is worth visiting because its captives are connected to the decision after the fight, but the cells are not simply another set of doors to open with ordinary lockpicking.
The Grand Chamber is the destination that matters for the quest finale. Optional exploration can give you context about the prisoners and Cazador’s operation, but you do not need to treat every room as a mandatory objective before the confrontation. Keep track of the route forward so you do not mistake side exploration for the quest’s required path.
Use the Szarr Family Ring at the crypt gate
The main crypt gate requires the Szarr Family Ring. If the gate does not open, check that you have the ring rather than repeatedly trying lockpicks. Once the gate is opened, continue through the dungeon toward the Grand Chamber.
This requirement is easy to overlook because the gate looks like a normal obstacle. The ring is the relevant key for the critical route; spending time testing ordinary lockpicking will not replace it.
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The prisoners’ cells and the staff you encounter are relevant to deciding the captives’ fate after Cazador is defeated. Do not treat the prison as a side room whose only purpose is loot, and do not assume that lockpicking alone resolves the captives’ storyline.
The staff matters when the scene turns to what should happen to the prisoners. The dungeon therefore has two kinds of information: the route through the crypt to Cazador, and the context needed to understand the consequences of the final dialogue. You can focus on the first to reach the boss, but returning your attention to the captives after the fight is essential if you want to choose their outcome deliberately.
Prepare for the ritual confrontation
Bring Astarion only if you are ready for the capture mechanic
When Astarion is in the active party, Cazador can subdue him and bind him to the ritual star during the fight. This creates a three-turn rescue countdown. If you want to see the complete Astarion-focused encounter, bring him and plan your first turns around that possibility.
The capture is not simply a visual effect. It changes your opening priority because Astarion is temporarily unavailable until someone intervenes or the ritual is interrupted another way. Before entering, identify which party member can reach the star and reserve that character’s first action for the rescue if the event occurs.
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There are two documented ways to interrupt the ritual:
- Free Astarion with Help. Spend an action on the bound companion and remove him from the ritual.
- Kill one of the other vampire spawn. This interrupts the ritual, but it also removes Astarion’s opportunity to ascend during that encounter.
The second option is therefore a story decision as well as a tactical one. Do not use it as a consequence-free shortcut if you intend to preserve the ascension route.
These options represent different priorities. Help protects the possibility of the later ascension conversation while keeping Astarion present. Killing another spawn ends the immediate ritual threat, but it changes the post-fight possibilities. Choose the target and action with the ending you want in mind, not only the enemy who appears easiest to defeat.
Keep the three-turn limit in view
The rescue window is only three turns. Avoid spending the opening round on optional movement or unrelated targets if Astarion is bound. Decide which character can reach him, then use Help immediately if that is your chosen solution. If you instead intend to stop the rite by killing a spawn, make that target your first priority and accept that the ascension option will be blocked in this encounter.
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The three-turn rescue: exact choices and consequences
- Check whether Astarion has been captured. The documented capture event applies when he is in the active party. If he is bound to the ritual star, treat the situation as a countdown rather than a normal damage race.
- Choose your interruption method. Reach Astarion and use
Help, or kill one of the other spawn to interrupt the ritual. - Act before the third turn expires. Waiting can cost the rescue opportunity. The fight continues, but the ritual state and the available ending can change.
- Continue the battle against Cazador. Once the immediate ritual problem is handled, finish the confrontation and proceed to the post-fight dialogue.
Freeing Astarion preserves the possibility of discussing ascension after Cazador’s defeat. Killing another spawn stops the rite and removes that possibility for the encounter, so the choice should match your intended story rather than merely the easiest button to press.
If you are following the non-ascension route, rescuing Astarion is still the most controlled option. It lets the final conversation happen with him present and leaves the prisoners’ fate as a separate decision. If you are following the ascension route, the same rescue avoids accidentally closing the choice before Cazador is defeated.
What happens after Cazador is defeated
When Cazador is defeated, the decisive conversation concerns whether Astarion will complete the Rite of Ascension. The documented branches are different in both Astarion’s status and the fate of the prisoners.
| Decision | Astarion’s outcome | Prisoners and souls |
|---|---|---|
| Help with the Rite | Becomes a Vampire Ascendant. | The participating spawn and the imprisoned souls are sacrificed as part of the ritual. |
| Persuade him not to perform it | Remains a vampire spawn and is free of Cazador. | You receive a separate choice over the prisoners’ fate. |
| Refuse assistance | Can permanently leave the party in the documented branch. | The prisoners can remain locked up in that branch. |
Helping Astarion ascend
Supporting the Rite turns Astarion into a Vampire Ascendant. The transformation comes at the ritual’s stated cost: seven thousand imprisoned souls, along with the spawn participating in the rite. The number is a fictional figure used by the game to express the scale of the sacrifice, not a real-world statistic.
This is the most direct way to obtain the ascended outcome, but it also means accepting that the ritual’s victims are consumed. If your priority is preserving the prisoners or rejecting Cazador’s method, do not choose this branch.
Ascension therefore resolves Astarion’s personal storyline and the prison question in the same direction: the participating spawn and souls are sacrificed as part of the Rite. There is no separate rescue decision to make for those victims after you authorize it.
Persuading Astarion to stop
Persuading him not to complete the Rite leaves him a vampire spawn, but one who is free of Cazador. This branch separates Astarion’s fate from the prisoners’ fate: stopping the ascension does not automatically decide what happens to the captives.
Afterward, the scene allows the player to determine whether the spawn are freed, killed, or left imprisoned, depending on the dialogue outcome. In the described freeing branch, the spawn head toward the Underdark. Choose this route when you want Astarion to reject the cycle without treating the prisoners as ritual material.
Freeing them is not the same as keeping them in the palace or adding them to your party. In the described branch, they leave toward the Underdark. Killing them produces the opposite result, while leaving them imprisoned preserves Cazador’s confinement even though Astarion himself is no longer under Cazador’s control.
Refusing to help
Refusing assistance is its own branch rather than a harmless pause. In the documented outcome, Astarion can leave the party permanently. The prisoners can also remain locked up in this branch, so refusing to participate does not guarantee that they are rescued.
Use this option only if losing Astarion is acceptable for your playthrough. It is not a substitute for persuading him, and it does not combine the benefits of the non-ascending route with continued companionship.
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How to decide the prisoners’ fate
The prisoner decision is easiest to understand as a separate question from Astarion’s personal status:
- Ascension: the ritual sacrifices the participating spawn and the imprisoned souls.
- No ascension: Astarion remains a free vampire spawn, then you decide what to do with the prisoners.
- Refusal: Astarion may leave, and the prisoners may remain confined.
If you persuade Astarion to stop, pay attention to the dialogue options that follow. The possible outcomes described for the captives are freeing them, killing them, or leaving them imprisoned. Freeing the spawn sends them toward the Underdark in the described branch; it does not mean they remain in the palace under your supervision.
The staff and prison context matter here because the captives are not an abstract reward attached to the boss. Their outcome is presented after the ritual decision, and it should be evaluated independently. A player can reject ascension yet still choose a harsh result for the prisoners, or can prioritize their release after stopping the Rite.
Common mistakes that change the result
Lockpicking the crypt gate repeatedly
The main crypt gate is opened with the Szarr Family Ring. Treating it as a standard lock can waste time and lead you away from the intended route.
Ignoring the bound companion
If Astarion is active and Cazador binds him, the party has three turns to respond. The encounter is not waiting for you to clear every other enemy first.
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Killing a spawn without understanding the trade-off
Killing one of the other spawn does interrupt the ritual, but it also removes Astarion’s opportunity to ascend in that encounter. Use it only if that consequence fits your intended ending.
Assuming stopping the Rite automatically saves the prisoners
Persuading Astarion not to ascend leaves the prisoners’ fate as a separate decision. You still need to choose whether they are freed, killed, or left imprisoned.
Refusing assistance because it seems reversible
The refusal branch can make Astarion leave permanently. If keeping him is important, use the persuasion route instead of refusing to help.
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Expecting every journal entry to match a guide
The quest journal can use different objectives after earlier choices. A changed line does not necessarily mean the quest is broken; compare the objective’s current direction with your route through the palace and dungeon.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What is not universal between playthroughs
The exact journal wording, dialogue sequence, and persuasion requirements can vary with earlier story decisions, party composition, and relationship state. The available material does not establish one universal persuasion check, approval threshold, or patch-independent requirement for every playthrough. Follow the options presented in your game rather than relying on a promised number.
The reliable constants are the quest’s identity, the Szarr Family Ring gate, the Grand Chamber confrontation, the three-turn rescue window when Astarion is active, and the three broad post-fight decisions. Earlier choices determine how those moments are presented and which dialogue checks appear.
For that reason, do not plan around an exact approval score or a guaranteed dialogue roll. Make a save, read the options shown in your own scene, and use the broad outcome categories above to choose. The game’s presentation can differ while the central consequences remain recognizable.
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If you want Vampire Ascendant Astarion
- Keep Astarion recruited and advance The Pale Elf.
- Reach the dungeon beneath Szarr Palace and open the crypt gate with the Szarr Family Ring.
- Bring Astarion into the active party if you want his personal ritual scene.
- When he is bound, free him with
Helpwithin three turns rather than killing another spawn. - After defeating Cazador, support the Rite and accept the sacrifice of the participating spawn and imprisoned souls.
If you want Astarion free but still a vampire spawn
- Follow the same route to Cazador’s dungeon.
- Rescue Astarion with
Helpif he is captured, preserving the later dialogue. - Defeat Cazador.
- Persuade Astarion not to perform the Rite.
- Resolve the prisoners’ fate separately, choosing whether to free, kill, or leave them imprisoned according to the options shown.
If you are willing to lose Astarion
- Reach the post-fight conversation.
- Refuse to assist with the Rite.
- Expect the documented branch in which Astarion can leave the party permanently, with the prisoners potentially left locked up.
If your priority is the prisoners
- Keep Astarion recruited so you can reach the final scene with all options available.
- Use the Szarr Family Ring to enter the crypt route and proceed to the Grand Chamber.
- If Astarion is captured, use
Helpwithin three turns rather than killing a spawn. - Defeat Cazador and persuade Astarion not to ascend.
- Use the separate prisoner dialogue to free them if that is the outcome you want; the described branch sends them toward the Underdark.
This route avoids treating the prisoners as the Rite’s fuel while also avoiding the documented party-loss risk attached to refusing assistance.
Bottom line for completing The Pale Elf
The quest is completed at Cazador’s dungeon, but the outcome depends on what you do during and immediately after the ritual. Use the Szarr Family Ring to reach the Grand Chamber, treat Astarion’s capture as a three-turn emergency, and choose between ascension, persuasion, or refusal with the prisoner consequences in mind. The most controlled non-ascension route is to free Astarion with Help, defeat Cazador, persuade him to stop, and then make a separate decision about the captives.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Astarion’s companion quest called?
It is called The Pale Elf, and its major finale takes place in Cazador Szarr’s dungeon beneath Szarr Palace.
How do I open the main crypt gate in Cazador’s dungeon?
Use the Szarr Family Ring. The gate is not solved by repeatedly trying ordinary lockpicking.
How many turns do I have to rescue Astarion?
You have three turns when Cazador binds Astarion to the ritual star. Use Help to free him, or kill one of the other spawn to interrupt the ritual.
What happens if I kill another vampire spawn?
It interrupts the ritual, but it also removes Astarion’s opportunity to ascend during that encounter.
Can Astarion remain in the party without ascending?
Yes. Persuade him not to perform the Rite, and he remains a vampire spawn who is free of Cazador. Refusing assistance instead can make him leave permanently.
What happens to the prisoners if Astarion does not ascend?
Their fate is a separate decision. Depending on the dialogue outcome, they can be freed, killed, or left imprisoned. In the described freeing branch, they head toward the Underdark.
How many souls does the Rite sacrifice?
The game states a fictional count of seven thousand imprisoned souls, in addition to the participating spawn.
Is there one guaranteed persuasion check or approval score?
No universal check, approval threshold, or patch-independent requirement is established for every playthrough. Earlier choices, party composition, and relationship state can affect the dialogue shown.
The Bottom Line
Reach Cazador through the Szarr Family Ring, rescue Astarion within three turns if he is captured, and choose ascension, persuasion, or refusal deliberately. For the controlled non-ascension outcome, use Help, defeat Cazador, persuade Astarion to stop, and then decide the prisoners’ fate separately.
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