Shadowheart is one of the earliest characters you can meet in Baldur’s Gate 3. You meet the Shar worshipping Cleric trapped in a pod onboard the nautiloid ship, but eventually she becomes a steadfast companion, and she is a potential love interest should you choose to share your heart with her.
But, like all other romance options in Baldur’s Gate 3, there are some specific requirements you need to meet before you ever get the chance to have some alone time with Shadowheart. She can be slightly difficult to romance, but the payoff can be phenomenal, regardless of the route you take with her, and she is a wonderful companion. Here’s everything you need to know about how to romance Shadowheart in Baldur’s Gate 3 and what it takes to win her heart and trust.
Can you romance Shadowheart in Baldur’s Gate 3?
Not every companion you travel within Baldur’s Gate 3 is romantically available. Certain characters are more focused on their personal goals and want to avoid trying to find love with your character. As you might have expected, though, Shadowheart is a primary companion and a romanceable one. She’s available for all characters, but the journey to gaining her trust and letting your characters get close is entirely up to you and your choices.
How to romance Shadowheart in Baldur’s Gate 3
Gaining Shadowheart’s trust and approval throughout your journey in Baldur’s Gate 3 is a lengthy process that occurs throughout the three major acts of the game. You can build a solid relationship with Shadowheart in Act One, continue solidifying it in Act Two, and then complete it with a final romance scene with her in Act Three. The best way to do this is by having her in your party at all times, and knowing her likes and dislikes, which should influence your choices during certain dialogue options.
Shadowheart is one of the few logical characters in Baldur’s Gate 3. She respects you for defending yourself if you must, but if you leap forward to protect others, going above and beyond to defend someone, she greatly appreciates it. While she does enjoy these heroic acts, she prefers to keep privacy and appreciates it if you do not meddle in business that she doesn’t want to share, at least first. As you get to know her, she opens up, but only when she’s ready. She also loves many animals and appreciates it if you provide any kindness to them, except for wolves. She is terrified of wolves.
You want to avoid needlessly attacking or causing violence to other people. If there’s a way you can prevent outright fighting someone in Baldur’s Gate 3, Shadowheart appreciates this and has typically positive approval points when you go forward with these actions. You also do not want to disprove Shar, at least at first, as she does not appreciate someone criticizing her faith.
Improving Shadowheart’s approval in Act One of Baldur’s Gate 3
When you’re working your way through Act One, there are several opportunities for you to increase your approval with Shadowheart. Again, having Shadowheart as a party member and being around you while choosing specific dialogue options in Baldur’s Gate 3 is the best way to gain her approval quickly. These are some notable choices you can make during Act One that greatly increase your approval with Shadowheart.
| Baldur’s Gate 3 Scene | Choice |
|---|---|
| Rescuing Shadowheart from the pod | When you initially encounter Shadowheart at the start of the game, she’s stuck inside a pod. Lae’zel encourages you to leave her behind, but if you get her out, she can assist you on the bridge. After crash landing on the beach, attempt to wake up Shadowheart. She’ll immediately join your party and thank you for getting her out of the pod. |
| Getting Kagha to release Arabella | When you get to the Druid’s Grove, Kagha captures Arabella, who is attempting to steal the Druid’s statue. Convince Kagha to release the young girl, but after she leaves, praise Kagha for protecting her people, even if she does look like a monster. Shadowheart approves of both actions. |
| Not looting the Selunite chest | When you enter the Owlbear cave, there’s a Selunite chest beside a statue off to the side. When you find it, Shadowheart comments on it, and it’s an excellent opportunity for you to agree that messing with the chest is not a good idea. Shadowheart’s approval rating will go up. |
| Agree to find a cure | When you have your first long rest with your party, many of your companions will share their opinions about what’s been happening. Shadowheart will stress that she wants to find a cure for the tadpole, and if you agree to find a healer, she feels supported in being able to cure what you have, and her approval goes up. |
| Speaking with Fezzerk | Fezzerk, the Goblin Boss you encounter at the windmill in the Blighted Village, is tormenting a Deep Gnome. When you walk onto the scene, there’s an opportunity for you to convince him and the other goblins to leave. If you do this peacefully, Shadowheart will greatly approve of it. |
| Distrusting Raphael | When you first encounter Raphael, show disapproval towards him and how you don’t trust him. After these talks in the House of Hope, speak with Shadowheart about the encounter and share how you don’t trust anything he has to say several times. She’ll greatly approve of these choices. |
| Talk Lae’Zel out of killing everyone | There is a point where Lae’Zel believes she needs to kill everyone in the party to save them, as there’s no hope of removing the tadpole. If you can peacefully talk her out of the situation and prevent this, Shadowheart will approve the action. |
You can do multiple other small details when speaking with Shadowheart throughout Act One in Baldur’s Gate 3. It’s essential to keep her primary interests in mind, never press her for more information unless she tells you, and avoid violence if there’s an alternative.
Improving Shadowheart’s approval in Act Two of Baldur’s Gate 3
There are less specific dialogue options and choices for you to make for Shadowheart to increase her approval with you during Act Two of Baldur’s Gate 3. Many of them are small, but the larger ones occur when you’re working on her quest to find the Nightsong, which is discovered to be in the Gauntlet of Shar. Taking Shadowheart through this Gauntlet and supporting her at every step of the journey is critical. When you have the chance, make sure she’s the one who goes forward with any of the acts, and the more you support her, the higher her approval rating increases.
Your choices with the Nightsong do matter for Shadowheart’s overall romance. It is possible to romance her still if she is a follower of Shar, but it’s also possible for her to throw away these teachings and give up Shar in Baldur’s Gate 3. If you want the true, final ending with Shadowheart and to reach the final romance scene, stop Shadowheart from killing the Nightsong. She needs to give up Shar and not continue worshipping Shar before you reach Act Three. This can take some convincing, though.
Improving Shadowheart’s approval in Act Three of Baldur’s Gate 3
Like Act Two, Act Three offers fewer opportunities to increase your approval with Shadowheart. Thankfully, several activities and discussions are happening during Baldur’s Gate 3‘s Act Three, and these are some of the notable chances you can increase Shadowheart’s approval if you still need to win it before the final romance scene.
| Baldur’s Gate 3 Scene | Choice |
|---|---|
| Speaking with Yenna | Yenna is a young girl you can meet early on in Act Three. Offer to find a guard to protect her and offer her food or money to help her. Shadowheart approves of all these actions. |
| Speaking with Duke | Following the Coronation, there’s a chance to speak with Duke Ravengard. Press on Duke if what is happening is what the city needs, ask what happened to the great hero of the city, and encourage telling him that Gortash is a tyrant. |
| Speaking with Zethino | Zethino wants to test the love of you and your romanced party member, who should be Shadowheart. You’ll want to answer with “Good company,” “Being discreet,” and then “She can’t swim,” as the answer. Shadowheart has small approval ratings for each choice. |
| Speaking with Angry Mar’hyah | When speaking with Angry Mar’hyah about Scratch, convince her to keep the dog in your company. Shadowheart approves of having Scratch around camp. |
| Bear the Monk’s Manifestation curse | When working on the Help the Spirit of the Amulet quest at the Open Hand Temple, ensure your character endures the curse themselves. Shadowheart approves of not asking another person to do this for you. |
| Allow her to do the Mapping of the Heart | As you draw closer to the Shar templar in Baldur’s Gate, allow Shadowheart to go through the Mapping of the Heart trial. |
Final Shadowheart romance scene in Baldur’s Gate 3
When you’re reaching the final romance scene with Shadowheart, again, you need to convince her not to kill the Nightsong in Act Two for the best outcome. If you cannot do this, she is still considered a romanced party member, but she’ll be much colder to you and not take your relationship as seriously as she does her faith to Shar in Baldur’s Gate 3.
By convincing Shadowheart not to kill the Nightsong, she eventually invites you to swim during Act Three of Baldur’s Gate 3. The two of you will share a private moment swimming with one another, and the two of you share an intimate moment. Later, the two of you share a moment in front of a Selunite statue, where she discusses her parent’s fate with you, depending on your choice of what you did with them.
Both outcomes are viable, and you can complete romancing Shadowheart regardless of your choice with her parents. Saving them, though, does lead to Shadowheart sharing how she envisions a future with your character at a cottage, where the two of you take care of animals.
Should you romance Shadowheart in Baldur’s Gate 3?
Romancing Shadowheart can be one of the more rewarding activities in Baldur’s Gate 3. She has a great redempetion cycle where she starts off as one of the colder party members, but if you turn her away from Shar and have her come to understand who her parents were and where she stands with Selune, it’s an exceptionally rewarding experience.
The downside to romancing Shadowheart is that you might mess up, and she could still kill the Nightsong. This may occur if you don’t build up a solid foundation of her relationship during Act One of Baldur’s Gate 3, as there are far fewer options to improve it in Act Two. If she doesn’t listen to your character and kills the Nightsong, it does cement her as a Shar follower, and she becomes much colder moving forward.
However, even if you’re not romancing Shadowheart, there’s still a chance to build a solid relationship with her throughout the game. She can still turn away from Shar, and you can still have her rescue her parents. Although she might not share a cottage with your character at the end of the game, Shadowheart has a happy ending in Baldur’s Gate 3, and watching this unfold is extremely rewarding.
