Buffs and debuffs are a great way to change the way a game feels at different moments. Giving an ally an increase in a stat or making an enemy take more damage from a certain elemental type can be exceptionally useful at a particular moment when you need it most.
Baldur’s Gate 3 has many different statuses and lingering effects that you will be able to make use of during your playthrough. Bloodless is one of the more unique ones that will only be a factor when you have Astarion as a companion in your party. Astarion provides an interesting story and is a solid pick for being a Rogue.
What Is The Bloodless Status
Bloodless will give the character affected by it a -1 penalty to several of their dice rolls. This includes their Attack Rolls, Ability Checks, and Saving Throws. This is overall a bad status to have, but not one you want to avoid receiving for the positive effects that follow.
Acquiring Bloodless
Throughout the game, you will be able to set up camp and use supplies to engage in a long rest. This is great for when you are out of short rests for the day and need to top up all your character's features. During these long rests, Astarion has the opportunity to feed. If Astarion should feed during this time, the character they feed on will acquire the Bloodless status. This in turn will give Astarion the Happy status. Astarion will have a bonus of +1 to their Attack Rolls, Ability Checks, and Savings Throws while they have this status. This may seem like a simple trade-off of making one character buffed through debuffing another. However, you can remove the Bloodless status afterward. This means you can keep the buff on Astarion and not worry about his victim having lower rolls.
Removing Bloodless
There are several ways you can remove the Bloodless condition. You can use a spell such as Lesser Restoration, Feign Death, Heroes Feast, or Heal. However, none of these are available at level 1. The Paladin class has access to Lay On Hands which will be a marvelous way to remove Bloodless from the start of the game. You are mechanically using your Lay On Hands to give an ally +1 to their Attack Rolls, Ability Checks, and Saving Throws, and that is a lot of value for it. Not removing Bloodless could mean a fatal Saving Throw, which will have you needing to revive your party member.