So you’re making your way through Baldur’s Gate 3, thwarting the Illithid empire, righting the wrongs of Faerûn, and protecting the innocent from harm. Now it’s time for the important part: smooching your fellow adventurers.
As one of the first companions you recruit, and one who seems the least likely to kill you in your sleep, Shadowheart is a popular companion to romance. But romance can be tricky in video games, and there are often unintended consequences to your choices that might leave you long resting alone permanently. If you’re interested in giving your heart to Shadowheart, here are some tips to spark a connection.
Raising Shadowheart’s Approval
First off, you need to have a high approval rating with any character you want to start a romance with. All party members are potentially up for it, but you can’t expect to just make a few dialogue options and win them over. Instead, you’ll need to make decisions both in conversation and in the game at large that align your character’s values with those of the character you want to romance.
While her goth aesthetic and membership in a spooky cult might suggest otherwise, Shadowheart is actually a big softie. That means the number one tip for romancing her is just not to be a jerk. If you’re playing as the Dark Urge or roleplaying as a wanton murderer, cozying up to Shadowheart will be much more difficult and could actually be impossible.
Any time you can show compassion or mercy to another character, it’s likely to raise Shadowheart’s approval toward you. Your big chances to do that in Act One center on helping the Tieflings fight off the goblins. You’ll definitely want to save Halsin and kill the goblin leaders to stop their attack, but you’ll have plenty of opportunities to defend the Tieflings against the Druids in conversation as well.
On the same note, learning the Speak with Animals spell can be helpful if you’re wooing Shadowheart. Just like it sounds, this lets you talk to almost any animal you see roaming around, which will frequently present you with a chance to help them out or say something nice. Recruiting the stray dog Scratch to your camp and interacting with him once he’s there are simple ways to boost Shadowheart’s approval.
One big exception to this policy is Lae’zel. Shadowheart and Lae’zel hate each other, which you can use to further your relationship with Shadowheart. Any time you’re given a chance to be mean to Lae’zel you should do it to score points with Shadowheart. Of course, siding with Shadowheart when she disagrees with any other character will also help.
There’s one area of conversation where you want to be very careful with Shadowheart. She likes when you show interest in her, but has firm boundaries around her past and the mysterious box she carries around. She’ll open up to you more once your approval is high enough, but especially early in the game, you should avoid prying and back off every time you get the sense she’s not telling you the full truth. When she does finally reveal her true nature, make it clear that you still support her.
When it comes to conflict, you’re always better off choosing sneaky over stabby. While violent actions won’t always turn Shadowheart off, many of them do, while using stealth and deception generally gain her favor. That means you should talk your way out of fights whenever possible, and use Persuasion and Deception skills every chance you get. For that reason, Shadowheart strongly favors characters with a high Charisma score and players who like to talk to every NPC they can instead of just rolling into every situation with their swords drawn.
If you’ve played your cards right, you should get the chance to kiss Shadowheart at the party at the end of Act One. You just need to accept her advances here. It’s best if you talk to her first just to make sure you don’t accidentally agree to a tryst with someone else first, which could ruin your chances with Shadowheart.
Romancing Shadowheart in Act Two
Things get more complicated in Act Two, where Shadowheart’s faith is tested in a temple of her goddess, Shar. At one point in the temple, you’ll come across a statue of Shar, which Shadowheart can pray to. Do not let Shadowheart pray to the statue, as doing so can make her cut off your relationship to fully devote herself to the Dark Lady.
Later in the chapter, you’ll come across one of the most important choices in the game: to spare or kill the Nightsong. We recommend letting Shadowheart initiate this decision herself and choose to spare the Nightsong. Doing so will send her into a crisis of faith, but end up better for her (and you) in the long run. Anecdotally, other players have reported making different decisions that still ended up with Shadowheart approving, but that wasn’t the case for us. It’s highly likely that your approval plays into her reaction. Whatever you do, we highly recommend making a hard save before making this decision, just in case your choice leads you down an unexpected path.
