Should You Let Araj Oblodra Take Your Blood in Baldur’s Gate 3?

Baldur’s Gate 3 is populated by a great many NPCs. Some are friends, some are foes, and some are of uncertain allegiance. One character you’ll encounter is Araj Oblodra, who expresses an interest in taking your blood. But is it a wise idea to let her? If you’re wondering whether you should let Araj Oblodra take your blood in Baldur’s Gate 3, here’s the answer.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Letting Araj Oblodra Take Your Blood in BG3

Araj Oblodra is an NPC you meet in Moonrise Towers and is probably a Drow. Why probably? Because there’s something a little off about her, and she could be something else entirely. Killing her doesn’t reveal anything, but even if she’s not technically undead, she’s not your run-of-the-mill dark elf. 

Should that make you suspicious? Absolutely. But the good news is there’s no disadvantage from giving her your character’s blood. And the advantage is that you’ll get a potion, an Elixir, in return. Each of these has unique effects depending on the race that donated. 

How to Give Her Your Blood

Donating blood is pretty simple. Just go up to her and she’ll talk about wanting your blood. Follow that conversation and say yes to giving her your blood. She’ll give you an Elixir in return.

You can only do that once, as she’ll turn you down if you try again. But if you switch to another character and speak to her you’ll, again, be able to trade blood for another Elixir. It’s worth doing this for each member of your party, even characters at your camp you’ve never used. Just fast travel to your camp, get them to join you, and have them donate. Even though the Elixirs come from a specific race’s blood, eg Elixir of Tiefling Vice, they can be used by any character.

Should You Force Astarion to Drink Araj Oblodra’s Blood in BG3

Araj will, after you’ve donated blood for the first time, offer you another deal. If Astarion drinks her blood, she’ll give you a powerful potion, one that has a permanent effect. The potion, as you later discover if you go ahead with the deal, raises the drinker’s strength by two. 

This is a permanent change. Elixirs last until you have a long rest, but the potion you get for this deal lasts forever and can be drunk by anyone. What’s the catch? Simply that Astarion doesn’t want to drink her blood, and you’ll have to talk him into it. 

There’s no persuasion roll involved. You can just tell him to do it and he will. But if you do force him to drink her blood, you’ll get disapproval points from Astarion. Conversely, if you tell him you respect his choice, you get approval points. So really, it’s up to you. Are you willing to lose some of Astarion’s respect in return for two extra strength points? There are no other negative effects. Astarion remarks that her blood tastes disgusting, fetid, and corrupted, but it doesn’t damage him physically. There’s also a little extra dialogue later, but it won’t absolutely ruin whatever relationship the two of you have. 

Araj’s initial demeanor suggests being bitten has always been a fantasy, but that may be a smokescreen. She briefly talks about using the bite to brew something up, making use of whatever Astarion’s bite introduced into her veins. But I haven’t yet seen if Baldur’s Gate 3 address that.

So, there are no major drawbacks to letting Araj Oblodra take your blood in Baldur’s Gate 3, but going further will incur Astarion’s disapproval. If you have other questions about the game, make sure to look through our full set of guides for more answers.