Baldur’s Gate 3: Best Shadowheart Build Guide

Best Shadowheart Build in Baldur’s Gate 3

Shadowheart is an amazing support character with a lot of potential for powerful and complex builds. Follow along our guide for the best build you can make for Shadowheart:

Shadowheart is locked as a high half-elf whether you’re playing her as one of the origin characters or as a companion. As a half-elf, Shadowheart has resistance against being charmed and can’t be put to sleep. She also has Darkvision which is useful for Underdark adventures.

Best BG3 Shadowheart Class

The best Shadowheart build is her Cleric class which centers around Life Domain Cleric subclass. This lets her become the purest form of healer that supports her team with healing and buffs. If you’re not playing as Shadowheart, you can recruit her as a companion where her default class is as a Cleric. You should keep this class instead of changing it.

Clerics are one of the most flexible classes in Baldur’s Gate 3 as you’re able to turn them into almost anything you want them to be. With the game coming out of Early Access, new subclass for this class are now available allowing you combat options. However Clerics are most useful as pure healers since it’s what they’re meant be.

Shadowheart’s default subclass is the Trickery Domain which you should change to the Life Domain. You can respec almost every part of her character by talking to Withers at your camp. This is what you should make her to be:

• Race: High Half-Elf
• Class: Cleric
• Subclass: Life Domain
• Proficiencies: Medicine, Persuasion

Best BG3 Shadowheart Ability Score

For Shadowheart’s ability score, you should make it like this:

• Strength: 9
• Dexterity: 10
• Constitution: 14
• Intelligence: 10
• Wisdom: 16
• Charisma: 15

You should focus on investing points into Shadowheart’s Wisdom and Charisma stats since these are the primary abilities she’ll benefit from as a cleric. Make sure to invest some points into Constitution as well to not make her as fragile.

Best BG3 Shadowheart Subclass

The best subclass for Shadowheart is the Life Domain. This subclass adds important features that make her the best healer support for your party.

• Heavy Armour Proficiency: Heavy armour will not give you disadvantage on Attack Rolls or spell casting.
• Disciple of Life: Empowers your healing spells, giving targets addition HP equivalent to 2+ the spell’s level.
• Domain Spells Information: Spells from your domain are always prepared.

The Life Domain subclass gives Shadowheart a lot of advantages which is why it’s the best subclass. The Heavy Armour Proficiency means you can add extra protection for her so she isn’t a glass cannon. Because being a Cleric already allows her to wear both Light and Medium armour, she isn’t restricted to any armour types you want her to wear.

The Disciple of Life is a big help when healing allies on low Hit Points. The additional HP your healing does is almost guaranteed to put them back into full health every time. This makes Shadowheart the backbone of your party because she always ensure you’re in fighting condition. With Domain Spells Information, those healing spells are always prepared.

Level 1

At Level 1 Shadowheart can pick three cantrips with three prepared Level 1 spells. The difference here is that cantrips are less powerful than your spells but they’re infinitely reusable without having to rest at your camp and they don’t require a spell slot. Prepared spells have to be swapped outside of combat and will take spell slots which are limited.

Here’s what we recommend you pick for this level:

Cantrips

• Thaumaturgy: Gives you an advantage on Persuasion and Intimidation checks. Very useful when you want to convince others early in the game to get the best results.
• Resistance: Make your characters more resistant to debuffs and negative effects from enemies. Useful in fights for protecting your team overall.
• Sacred Flame: Conjures a flame that deals 1d8 Radiant damage. Has decent distance allowing Shadowheart to fight at range.

Spells

• Healing Word: Your bread and butter for keeping allies alive. Heal any target you can see.
• Bless: You can buff your allies’ Attack Rolls and Saving Throws. With this spell, you can buff up to three characters.
• Sanctuary: Pretty important to ensure you’re Concentration isn’t broken as it prevents you from attacking. While casting your spells such as Bless, you can ensure you’re protected if enemies are too close.
• Shield of Faith: Grants added protection for your allies by increases their Armour Class by 2. The effect lasts until you Long Rest so it’s worth it in the long run.
• Cure Wounds: Heals a creature you can touch but you would need to be close to them. A useful healing spell if Healing Word is spent.

Level 2

Not much changes at Level 2 but you do get to learn a new spell. Here’s what we recommend you take at this level:

• Guiding Bolt: Shoot a bolt an enemy which renders them vulnerable to an Advantage attack for your ally. When you need to take out a priority target with your main damage dealer nearby, this is a good spell to use.

At Level 2, you also get new perks thank to your Cleric class and Life Domain subclass. Here’s what you can look forward to:

• Turn Undead: As a Cleric, you have the ability to use this whether in combat or exploration to drive away the undead. There are a lot of undead enemies in Baldur’s Gate 3 and you could be looking to avoid a fight.
• Preserve Life: As part of your Life Domain subclass, you can heal your allies for up to 9m whether in combat or exploration. One of the most useful abilities for when you’re all running on fumes.

Level 3

At Level 3 things start to open up for Shadowheart because her Life Domain subclass gives you two new Level 2 spells for free:

• Aid: Heal all your allies and increases their Hit Point Maximum by 5. Similar to Preserve Life but this spell gives you an extra defense.
• Lesser Restoration: Cure anyone suffering from debuffs. Allies and NPCs inflicted with blindness, poison, paralysis, or disease can be cured.

Shadowheart also gets an additional Level 2 spell of your choice. Here’s what we recommend you pick at this level:

• Spiritual Weapon: Summon a flying spectral sword to fight with you. A great additional protection for Shadowheart when your party is overwhelmed.

Level 4

Every four levels, you can pick a feat but you can instead choose to just increase your ability score which is what we recommend. At Level 4, increase your Wisdom ability by 2 points. You also get a Level 2 spell to pick so here’s what we recommend:

• Warding Bond: Cast a spell that protects an ally from all damage. This also gives them a +1 to their AC and Saving Throws.

Level 5

Level 5 unlocks Level 3 spells for Shadowheart to use. You get to pick two of them and they’re all pretty powerful. We recommend you pick the best ones which are:

• Revivify: Bring a companion back from the dead with only 1 Hit Point left. Useful for when you’re in trouble and down a party member.
• Beacon of Hope: When healed, your allies could possibly get all their HP back. They also get Advantage on Wisdom and Death Saving Throws.

Level 6

Level 6 gives you an additional Level 3 spell to pick. Here’s what we recommend for this level:

• Mass Healing Word: Heal up to six of your allies. With Beacon of Hope, you could potentially put your party back at full health.

At Level 6 you get more perks for your Cleric class and Life Domain subclass. Here’s what you can look forward to:

• Channel Divinity Charges: You get an extra charge for either Turn Undead or Preserve Life. You’ll get more use out of Preserve Life as its healing has more utility.
• Blessed Healer: Casting Level 1 spells or higher you can regain hit points +2 equal to the spells level. This means that Shadowheart is also healed when she heals others.

Level 7

At Level 7 Shadowheart finally gets access to a Level 4 spell slot. You only really get to pick between two but here’s what we recommend for this level:

• Banishment: Send a target of your choice to another plane of existence temporarily. Stops you from having to worry about an enemy for a few turns.

Shadowheart also gets two new spells thanks to the Life Domain subclass. Here’s what you can look forward to in this level:

• Death Ward: Protect your target from death for one time. When their Hit Points reaches 0, it gets turned back into 1. Saves you from having to use Revivify.
• Guardian of Faith: Surrounding creatures within 10 feet take 20 Radiant damage unless they pass a 20 DEX saving throw.

Level 8

At Level 8 you get to pick another feat or pick to increase you Ability Score points by 2. Spend this on increasing your Wisdom instead. You also get one more pick for a Level 4 spell slot. You only really have one other pick here:

• Freedom of Movement: As the only other Level 4 spell, you kind of have to pick this one. It’s still extremely useful to cast on your Rogue or tank as they can maneuver around without being affected by the terrain.

Thanks to your Life Domain subclass, Shadowheart gets another feature she can use. Here’s what you get:

• Divine Strike: Hit a foe with your weapon for 1d8 Radiant damage.

Best BG3 Shadowheart Gear

The best gear for Shadowheart is Selune’s Spear of the Night. This weapon gives her bonuses to Wisdom and Perception checks which our Cleric class relies heavily on.

We’re entering spoiler territory here but how you get the weapon has something to do with finding the Nightsong. You have to convince Shadowheart not to kill the Nightsong in order to get this weapon in Act 3. It’ll be worth it as Shar’s Spear of Evening just doesn’t compare.

How to Recruit Shadowheart in Baldur’s Gate 3?

Shadowheart can be recruited at the Prologue of the game while you’re still in the Nautiloid. You can find her trapped on one of the pods and she’ll join you after you manage to save her. After crashing, you can then find her on the beach where she’ll join your party for good.

If you don’t save Shadowheart at the Nautiloid, then you can find her at the Overgrown Ruins Waypoint. Head north from the beach until you reach that location. Shadowheart will be a little hostile to you because you couldn’t save her but she’ll still agree to join you.

You have multiple chances of getting Shadowheart to join you. If you haven’t recruited her early on, she could wander into your camp at night where you’ll have to talk her down.

Can You Romance Shadowheart in Baldur’s Gate 3?

Shadowheart like all party members can be romanced. Despite her loyalty to the evil deity Shar, she’s a kind person at heart who likes more merciful decisions which conflicts with her default nature as a Cleric. You can romance her by continuously being virtuous.