Shadowheart is among the first companions that you’ll be able to recruit in Baldur’s Gate 3. You can find her on the crashed 
Nautiloid in the prologue, or knocking on the door to the 
Overgrown Ruins in the 
Wilderness. Either way, she’ll be with you from near the start of your adventures. She has an interesting background story and a complicated relationship with her deity (Shar), which means that her character has the potential to change significantly throughout the story, but only if you encourage it. Her dark past gives her a streak of cynicism, but she finds solace in the absence of light, at least during the first half of her journey. You have the potential to guide Shadowheart to a different way of life, one that might be aligned more with your own sensibilities, but it’ll take some work. On this page, we’ll show you how to romance her in both ways; whether you want to support her in the quest to become a Dark Justiciar, or urge her to walk a different path.
Guide to Romancing Shadowheart in Baldur’s Gate 3.
How to Recruit Shadowheart in BG3¶
As mentioned above, there are multiple ways in which you might recruit Shadowheart from the beginning of the game, and if you want to start romancing her as soon as possible, you should try to rescue her from the Nautiloid during the prologue. This will give you an opportunity to gain approval with her from the start, so you can start romancing her in Act 1 of the main story, which takes place in the Wilderness region. If you want to learn more about how to recruit Shadowheart early on, be sure to check our How to Free Shadowheart page.
How to Build Approval With Shadowheart in Baldur’s Gate 3¶
You can begin building approval with Shadowheart from the beginning of the game, so long as you rescue her from the Nautiloid. As with most characters that can be romanced in Baldur’s Gate 3, you can have your first romantic scene with Shadowheart during the celebration which takes place at your camp during the main story of Act 1. This celebration will take place either with the Tieflings or the cult of the Absolute, depending on who you support, but if you want to romance Shadowheart as someone who has a sense of morality that can be described as “good”, you should support the Tieflings. Although it’s possible to romance her regardless, if you want to see her shun the religious path of Shar and develop into a more open character, playing in a way which focuses on helping the innocent is the way to go.
To get there, you’ll need to build your approval with Shadowheart early on. This can be done in various ways, but in general, you’ll want to pursue the following principles when interacting with the world:
- Be generous to those who are innocent / impoverished
- Show mercy and compassion for others, especially animals
- Be honest and seek the truth, avoid telling lies
Shadowheart and the Githyanki¶
The three points above give you a general sense of what Shadowheart will appreciate, but there’s a bit more to her character than that. Although she’s generally on the side of those who are deprived and disadvantaged, she’s more than a little prejudiced towards the Githyanki. You might argue that this is understandable in some ways, since most Githyanki explicitly state their sense of superiority over other races, and their brutal nature often leads them to unnecessary violence, so Shadowheart has good reason to dislike aspects of their way of life. Still, her disposition sometimes leads her to judge them too quickly, and if you join her in these harsh judgments, she’ll approve.
You needn’t lose hope if you want to have both Shadowheart and 
Lae’zel in your party, though. You can maintain a healthy relationship with both over time, but it’ll be a bit choppy to begin with. The best way to build your approval with Shadowheart in this scenario is to always side with her, but you can still reasonably disagree about things, even causing her to disapprove at times, without sabotaging your chances.
Help Those Who Need It Most¶
The Wilderness region of Act 1 provides plenty of opportunities to do things that will build your approval with Shadowheart. Help the Tieflings (especially the children), rescue the doggo Scratch, rescue the gnome, and just generally do the right thing when it comes to helping others. She will also approve of any action which weakens the cult of the Absolute, since their god is a pretender in her view (as are most other deities in this phase of her journey).
(1 of 2) Be sure to speak with Shadowheart at the camp celebration during Act 1 to begin the romance.
Be sure to speak with Shadowheart at the camp celebration during Act 1 to begin the romance. (left), You’ll have some important choices to make during the Nightsong quest in the Gauntlet of Shar during Act 2. (right)
A Touch of Masochism¶
However, there is an exception to this intolerance for other deities encountered in the goblin camp, when you meet an NPC named Abdirak. He’ll ask you to indulge in worshiping Loviatar, which involves a bit of sadomasochism. Yeah, apparently Shadowheart is into that. You can learn more about this interaction on our Abdirak Dialogue Choices in Baldur’s Gate 3 page.
How to Sleep With Shadowheart in BG3¶
There are a few key lines of dialogue that you can engage in with Shadowheart during the celebration at your camp. You should pursue these as stated below to get the first romance scene with her.
Dialogue Choices With Shadowheart¶
Shadowheart: “Share a bottle with me?”
- Reply: “I’d be glad to.”
Shadowheart: “We should wait a little while. Until the others have drifted off.”
- Reply: “I’ll find you after everyone’s turned in for the night.”
There are some variants to the above, but so long as you agree to share a bottle with her, you’ll be good. The scene that follows will have a few more dialogue choices, but the ones you need to start a romance are obvious enough.
Nightsong Choices and Shadowheart’s Romance¶
So long as you follow the guidelines above, you should be able to secure a scene with Shadowheart during Act 1 where you kiss her at your camp, during the celebration after protecting the Emerald Grove from the cult of the Absolute, and saving the refugee Tieflings. You can’t go further than this yet though. It’s a matter of playing the long game with Shadowheart, and it won’t be until Act 2 and beyond that you can progress your romance with her further. There’s also an important moment which occurs towards the end of Act 2, where you need to make an important choice about the path that Shadowheart takes. You can read more about this on our Nightsong Walkthrough page.
If you’re not into the overly-zealous religious types, Shadowheart isn’t necessarily condemned to this path for the entire storyline. You can make a choice during the Nightsong quest which will allow her to change not only the direction of her life, but also some of her physical characteristics. We won’t spoil this for you here, but by this time in the story you should have a good idea about which path you want her to take. There’s a lot of baggage from her childhood that needs to be examined, and her relationship with Shar is central to this. Go with whatever you prefer, but so long as you keep supporting her one way or another, the romance is bound to flourish from Act 2 onwards.
More Baldur’s Gate 3 Guides¶
If you’re looking for more guides related to Baldur’s Gate 3, including other romance guides, be sure to check the links below.
Sign up
No Comments