Baldur's Gate 3: Shadowheart Romance Guide (2024)

Shadowheart is one of the most popular romantic options in Baldur's Gate 3. Her story is a blend of mystery, divine intervention, and tragedy as she undergoes a spiritual journey to decide for herself who she wants to be. By romancing her, a player can help her along on this journey, offering advice, comfort, or even support in her decisions, whether they be for good or ill. The complexity of her story and how it ties into the overall plot, though is partially what makes her so compelling.

At the core of story, Shadowheart is a young woman trying to find her way. What she has been through and how she adapted to her circ*mstances defines her in the moment. The love or affection she has for the player can become the main joy of her life, or something secondary to her chosen calling. So, here is a guide to the Shadowheart romance.

Meet the Party's Resident Cleric in Act 1

Getting Shadowheart to Open Up

• Shadowheart is distrustful at first, but heroic acts slowly build her trust.
• If players learn of her faith and are tolerant, she will become more open with them.
• At the camp celebration, the player can share a romantic moment with Shadowheart.

Players can first meet Shadowheart onboard the Nautiloid. She is the second companion they can encounter, being trapped in one of the many mindflayer pods strewn about the ship. Players do actually have the choice to leave her behind, but if they wish to pursue her romance, then they will need to free her.

After escaping the ship, Shadowheart will thank the player for releasing them, though she is still distrustful of most people. It will take a little time to wear down her walls, but they note small things about her, such as an injury on her hand that will not heal and seemingly causes her pain at random intervals.

Fortunately, though Shadowheart is a bit rough around the edges, she has her likes and dislikes. Any act of general heroism, kindness towards children or animals, or even letting her practice her faith freely without judgment will earn her approval. Basically being a good person usually makes Shadowheart like the player fairly quickly. This will be vital later once it is revealed that she is a follower of Shar.

If the player ventures into the owlbear cave, they can locate a shrine devoted to Selune, the twin and enemy of Shadowheart's goddess, Shar. If Shadowheart is present, her resistance to unlocking the shrine can prompt the player to ask why she cares so much. This forces her to reveal her devotion to Shar, a religion that most look down upon as dangerous and fanatical. If the player responds in the positive or at least the neutral, then Shadowheart will be grateful for the acceptance, not used to such treatment from most outsiders.

The First Sparks of Romance

Shadowheart's faith is her entire life — everything she does is meant to honor it. Once her religious beliefs are exposed though, the player can ask her about her faith. In doing so they learn that Shadowheart was sent with other Sharrans to find the Astral Prism and bring it back to the Sharran Enclave in Baldur's Gate. The reason why they wanted it is unknown even to Shadowheart. By going down this conversation path, Shadowheart reveals that her own memories have been suppressed.

She emphasizes that secrecy is vital to Sharrans. She also reveals that the injury on her hand is a "gift" from Shar, meant to teach her the lesson of pain. Though she claims none of this bothers her an astute player can see she isn't being totally honest with herself. The player's conversations with Shadowheart about her religion ultimately boost her approval of them.

By the time the party celebrates their victory over the goblin camp or the tiefling camp, if Shadowheart's approval is at least medium, then she will hint at wanting to spend more time with the player in private. If they agree to this, then a cutscene will be unlocked where the two of them share a romantic moment on a cliff sharing wine. While nothing too deep comes from this moment, it is clearly the first hint of a true romance between the player and Shadowheart. If they are insightful enough, they can even have the chance to kiss her.

The romance with Shadowheart will stall here until Act 2. However, by entering a flirting relationship with Shadowheart, she is more open about what she can remember. This doesn't reveal any major pieces of information about her or the Sharrans, but rather who she is as a person — little embellishments like how her favorite flowers are Night Orchids, or how she cannot swim. Slowly, but surely, Shadowheart is opening up to the player, though she makes it clear that the romance is secondary to her faith.

Shadowheart's Connection With the Player Grows in Act 2

Shadowheart Rediscovers a Lost Dream

• The player can help Shadowheart partake in the Gauntlet of Shar.
• In the Shadowfell, Shadowheart will decide her faith with the player's guidance.
• This results in a radical personality shift for Shadowheart.

As players travel through Faerun, they have the opportunity to prove to Shadowheart that they genuinely care for her. There are certain items scattered throughout the world that the player can locate and gift to Shadowheart to increase her approval of them. The first is an Idol of Shar located within the Grymforge (located at X: -644 Y: 366). It is a bit difficult to find, but upon doing so they can grant it to Shadowheart as a gift, something no one else has ever done for her before.

The next item they can find is in Act 2. Once they enter the Shadowlands, players can search the shoreline of the river to locate a patch of Night Orchids (found in various locations around the world). Handing one to Shadowheart shows that they have been listening to her, not just about her faith, but about who she is as an individual.

By this stage, Shadowheart's approval of the player might be high enough that she is willing to share her earliest memory from childhood, showing how she was rescued from a wolf by the Sharrans. It is a major moment of vulnerability for Shadowheart because she is not only revealing where her strong fear of wolves comes from, but also one of the few memories that she still has from that stage of her life.

As the party traverses the Shadowlands though, they find evidence of a previous Sharran presence. Shadowheart in particular identifies the corpses of these fellow worshipers as Dark Justiciars, the most elite warriors of the Sharran faith. It leads her to the belief that the Gauntlet of Shar, the series of trials to anoint a new justiciar, is located somewhere within these lands.

She will explain that her oldest dream was to pass the trials and become a justiciar. However, as time passes and the player learns more about the atrocities committed by the Dark Justiciars when they occupied these lands, the idea of helping Shadowheart achieve her dream becomes more complex.

Helping Shadowheart Find Her Faith

Things finally come to a head when the party finds the Gauntlet of Shar. Passing its trials, the party will venture into the Shadowfell, the realm of Shar herself. Upon reaching the end of the map and getting through a boss fight against a servant of Ketheric Thorm, the party will discover the source of Ketheric's immortality, and the final test Shadowheart must pass to become a Justiciar: the Nightsong. She is an aasimar child of Selune named Aylin.

When confronting Aylin, the captive aasimar will speak to Shadowheart about her past, stating that she is secretly a child of Selunites and that the Sharrans have twisted her mind to serve their whims. At this point, the player can intervene. They can either encourage Shadowheart to follow through with killing Aylin and finally achieve her dream, or she can accept that the Sharran faith is not what she originally thought it was.

If Shadowheart goes through with the ritual, she becomes stronger and is infused with the power of Shar. However, this results in her developing a colder personality, and any future romance with the player is almost entirely physical, with her true devotion always belonging to Shar.

Should she free Aylin though, Shadowheart will be let go of her Sharran faith, though this incurs the wrath of her former goddess. Later, after the final boss of Act 2 is defeated, Aylin appears at the party's camp to reveal the truth to Shadowheart; that she was kidnapped by the Sharrans as a child and that her true parents are still alive and held captive by her former colleagues in Baldur's Gate.

Act 3 Presents Shadowheart With a Choice

Shadowheart's Third Chapter is All About Confronting the Past

• Players will either watch Shadowheart become the worst or best version of herself.
• Her final mission will involve finding her parents and deciding their fate.
• In the epilogue, Shadowheart is either happily in love or the leader of the Church of Shar.

Once Act 3 begins, Shadowheart's behavior, along with her hairstyle, will change. A Shadowheart still devoted to Shar is much more sad*stic. She will invite the player to a Selune shrine, where she will then drench it in the blood she saved from killing Aylin, an act of defilement that Shadowheart claims is a holy rite of Shar. This moment solidifies that the woman who once only resorted to violence when it was called for is all but dead.

A Shadowheart who is trying to connect with Selune though, is far more open. Realizing that her beliefs and memories were lies, she is now devoted to finding her parents and rediscovering who she was. This version of Shadowheart wants to pursue a true romance with the player now that there is no reason for her to hide her true feelings. To prove this, she takes the player to a nearby lake, where she tries to learn how to swim, as well as sharing her first physically intimate moment with the player.

Shadowheart's final trial can be found in the Sharran Enclave. After locating the House of Grief, the party will descend into its depths where they are confronted by Mother Viconia, a former companion in a previous game, and the woman who kidnapped and raised Shadowheart. Depending on whether or not Shadowheart still worships Shar, the Sharrans can either become allies to the player for the final fight of the game or they may become another obstacle for Shadowheart to defeat so she can find her parents.

Shadowheart Must Choose What Her Future Looks Like

In the deepest part of the Enclave, Shadowheart can find her parents, who reveal her birth name: Jenevelle Hallowleaf. It is in this moment that Shadowheart's journey reaches its climax. A Sharran Shadowheart is approached by her goddess, who reveals that her final test is to murder her parents. Doing so will deny them an afterlife in Selune's care, instead being tormented by Shar for all eternity while Shadowheart will rise to become her chosen champion.

If Shadowheart goes through with this, her memories will be permanently erased, and she won't even be able to contemplate that the people she killed were her parents. It is a grim conclusion to her story, showing how ruthless her faith is and what that has turned her into. A non-Sharran Shadowheart though, is left with a heartbreaking decision.

Though she wants to rescue her parents there is a caveat. If she leaves the enclave with them, then the wound on her hand will never heal and the pain Shar will inflict upon her over the course of her life will, at least from Shar's perspective, drive Shadowheart back to her.

Her other choice was to release her parents' souls to Selune. Years of isolation and torment from the Sharrans have weakened them severely, and their quality of life even if freed would not be good. They ask their child to do this kindness for them, promising to always be with her in spirit. The player can either help Shadowheart make a decision or tell her that she doesn't need their guidance anymore to know what is right.

In the game's epilogue, the player can encounter Shadowheart again. Depending on her allegiance, she may have been living a life with the player or separately from them. A Sharran Shadowheart will speak of how her church has grown in numbers thanks to the grief and pain caused by the Absolute. She will also state that Shar comes first for her in all things, though she chooses to indulge in the player's affections from time to time.

A Selunite Shadowheart will lead a quieter life alongside the player. Though they both have adventures from time to time, they have settled down to enjoy a life of peace and to try and heal from their ordeals. It is a good life for them, and one they can either share with Shadowheart's parents or just in each other's company.

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Baldur's Gate 3

Baldur's Gate 3 is arole-playing video gamedeveloped and published by Larian Studios. It is the third main installment in the Baldur's Gate series.

RPG

Systems

OpenCritic Reviews

Top Critic Rating:96/100 Critics Recommend:98%

Franchise

Baldur's Gate

Platform(s)

PC , macOS , PS5 , Xbox Series X

Released

August 3, 2023

Developer(s)

Larian Studios

Publisher(s)

Larian Studios

Multiplayer

Local Multiplayer

Engine

Divinity 4.0

ESRB

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

How Long To Beat

100+ Hours

X|S Enhanced

yes

Metascore

96

Split Screen Orientation

Vertical Only

Number of Players

1-4

PS Plus Availability

N/A

Steam Deck Compatibility

yes

Local Co-Op Support

1-2 Players

Cross Save

yes

Cross-Platform Play

Baldur's Gate 3 doesn't support crossplay