Baldur's Gate 3 - How To Romance Shadowheart

There are many companions that you can romance in Baldur's Gate 3. One in particular is Shadowheart, a follower of Shar, the Mistress of the Dark. Although she hides many secrets, there are clear ways to win her heart. Our guide discusses how you can romance Shadowheart in Baldur's Gate 3, as well as any potential mishaps that you might encounter. Likewise, please be reminded that this guide contains spoilers.

How to Romance Shadowheart in Baldur's Gate 3

The Baldur's Gate 3 Shadowheart romance involves learning more about her past as a Shar worshiper, and continuing to welcome her in spite of her secretive nature. This is also related to her companion quest: Daughter of Darkness and Chosen of Shar. Here's a quick summary:

• You'll first encounter Shadowheart aboard the Nautiloid during the game's prologue. Make sure to save her, since this nets you approval points. You can refer to our companion recruitment guide for more info.
• Shadowheart's approval can be raised quite easily. Despite being a follower of Shar, she actually prefers kind and compassionate actions, as well as using your wiles to trick enemies (i.e. Persuasion and Deception). Early on, she's also at odds with Lae'zel, so make sure you respond to certain suggestions accordingly.
• Eventually, Shadowheart will open up about her true nature, as well as what her artifact is for. Even though Shar is feared by most citizens in Faerun, you have to remain welcoming and accepting.
• You can ask Shadowheart about her past, but you need to have her consent. Do not secretly pry into her thoughts, and do not force her to reveal more about her life if she's not comfortable yet.
• You might encounter a problem if you sleep with other origin characters:
  • We cannot confirm what happens to other companions. However, in our campaign, the moment our character slept with Karlach (not just plain flirting), Shadowheart admitted that she was happy that our character and Karlach had a loving relationship. She stated that she'll remain as a friend.
  • We cannot confirm if ending the relationship with a companion that you already slept with would lead to an opportunity to romance Shadowheart later in the game.

Potential First Kiss With Shadowheart

During the early access period, the Baldur's Gate 3 Shadowheart romance simply meant being in good standing with her, and saving the Tiefling refugees. This leads to a party back in your camp, where you and Shadowheart can have a drink. This also lets you kiss her, which advances the romance further.

Unfortunately, this option was not available during our playthrough, even though we mostly followed the same decisions/actions that we did in the past. We can only guess that flirting with and attempting to kiss Karlach during Act 1 may have boosted her approval significantly, higher than our standing with Shadowheart, at that stage of the campaign.

Note: Even though we did not get the kissing scene during Act 1, there were still opportunities to further the romance during Act 2. We just continued choosing positive responses to reinforce her approval of our character.

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Shadowheart Info: Flowers and Swimming

Anytime you have an opportunity to talk to Shadowheart (i.e. she has an exclamation point on her head), check if there are new dialogue options where she'd open up more to you. Conversations include her telling you that the Night Orchid is her favorite flower, and that she never learned to swim:

• The Night Orchid is something you can find in the Shadow-Cursed Lands during Act 2. Simply search the cliffside roads along the northern and central portion of the zone. You can give the flower to her, which she'll appreciate.
• As for swimming, well, that's related to a love scene, which we discuss in a while.
• There may be an option to give her an Idol of Selune item, though we didn't do this during our run.

The Nightsong Decisions

Fast forward to Act 2, which is where you can progress Shadowheart's companion quest further. This leads to the Gauntlet of Shar dungeon, and the eventual decision that you need to make when it comes to the Nightsong. There are a couple of possible outcomes:

• Spare Nightsong - Shadowheart will be blessed with Selune's weapon, and she'll be forsaken by Shar. She's a bit worried about her faith, though she's more open about your relationship. Choose to continue pursuing it.
• Kill Nightsong - Shadowheart will be blessed by Shar herself. She claims that she only has love for her goddess, though you can tell her that you want to keep trying with your relationship. We can't confirm if this will cause an issue with your relationship in the future.
• Unknown: Offer your heart and soul to Shar - There's a statue of Shar that characters can worship, which grants them a necrotic resistance buff. However, if Shadowheart attempts to pray, she hears nothing. The only other option is a Religion check, which notes that she has to offer her very being to Shar only. We've yet to see if the outcome for this is different after clearing the dungeon.

For the purpose of this Baldur's Gate 3 Shadowheart romance guide, we decided to spare Nightsong. The succeeding outcomes are also based on this decision.

The Dark Urge Dilemma

In addition to the above, there's also an important incident that occurs if you picked the Dark Urge origin. For us, this happened in Act 2 when (a) our character did not murder Isobel the Cleric, and (b) our character had already fallen in love with a companion (i.e. Shadowheart). The Dark Urge goads you into killing them the next time you fall asleep, so make sure to do the following:

• Attempt to wake up your partner and pass the Wisdom 14 saving throw.
• When you're bound, pass the next Wisdom 18 saving throws. You'll have a slight advantage since your lover will believe in you.

Failure to do so will make you kill your lover. The next day, your party members will get sick and tired of your murderous rampage. Your character, alone, will have to fight and eliminate every companion that's in your camp. This will not be an easy battle, and it will likely lead to a game over. Imagine being whacked in the head by Karlach and Lae'zel, all while Gale and Wyll blast you with spells. So, yes, it's imperative that you succeed in those saving throws.

Then, come Act 3, you have a chance to either fully embrace your destiny as a scion of the Dark Urge, or to be free of it completely. This occurs after the Murder Tribunal and Orin the Red arcs:

• Break free of the Dark Urge/reject the blessings - Shadowheart definitely likes it if your character breaks free of the Dark Urge.
• Accept your destiny and embrace the Dark Urge - We also tested the other outcome where our character embraced their murderous intent. Shadowheart became very angry, though she also exclaimed that she won't give up on your character.

Love Scene: Skinny Dipping

The Baldur's Gate 3 Shadowheart romance culminates at the start of Act 3 (i.e. after we spared Nightsong and defeated Ketheric Thorm). For the most part, you should rest up in your camp a few times. There will be several cutscenes and events, some of which don't actually involve Shadowheart. But, shortly thereafter, you'll learn more about her past because you spared Nightsong.

Shadowheart wants to forget her time as a deluded follower of Shar. She invites you to go swimming with her. Accept the offer and reply with: "You first." Pick the appropriate responses afterward, which will lead to a skinny dipping and intimate session on the beach.

Later, as she contemplates on her life after being free of Shar's influence, you can talk to her about how she'd build her future. She says that she wants to spend it with you, if you'd be willing.

Romancing Shadowheart and Having Flings With Halsin, Mizora, and the Emperor

Sleeping with non-origin characters or NPCs seems to be okay, at least based on our playthrough. If you're planning to flirt around with Halsin, you can check our Halsin romance guide. Long story short: it seems that you can still get it on with Halsin, while continuing to pursue a romance with Shadowheart. In our case, we asked for her permission so we could fool around with Halsin, and she was fine with it. In fact, once we were done with that particular conversation, the Shadowheart love scene triggered. That was followed by the Halsin love scene--yes, that one--on our next camp rest. The game still considered Shadowheart as our main squeeze.

The same can be said if you have a sinful tryst with Mizora, the cambion who has Wyll pact-bound. In our playthrough, Shadowheart didn't get jealous at all, and she just stated that you have your own needs, as does she. Likewise, she did not react after we had a fling with the Emperor. She didn't have any comment about the deed.

These are what we know so far about how to romance Shadowheart in Baldur's Gate 3. We'll update our guide soon in case of other developments, so stay tuned.