Baldur’s Gate 3 presents players with the option to have a companion by their side during their gameplay, and this companion can not only be personalized, but players can also have a specific build for their companion. Such is the Shadowheart, and players might want to know a few subclass options alongside an overview of a few Baldur’s Gate 3 Shadowheart Build.
- The Shadowheart companion in Baldur’s Gate 3 will focus on having a healer or a melee War Domain build.
- She will start with a Half-Elf race, allowing her to see in the dark and have features like Civil Militia, Darkvision, and Fey Ancestry.
- Players will want the Life Domain subclass for their Healer to build.
- Players can choose the War Domain to gear more toward a melee build.
- Author’s Note: With more than 80 hours spent navigating through the world of BG3, you can trust me to build your Shadowheart build.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Shadowheart Build
Below is my overview of the best builds for Shadowheart companion, including a Healer and War Domain subclass build:
| Baldur's Gate 3 Shadowheart Companion Build | Description |
|---|---|
| Starting Domain | Trickery |
| Starting Race | Half-Elf |
| Class | Cleric |
| Life Domain Features | Disciple of Life, Bless, Cure Wounds, Heavy Armor Proficiency |
| Life Domain Spells | Bless, Cure Wounds, Aid, Lesser Restoration, Beacon of Hope, Revivify, Death Ward, Guardian of Faith, Greater Restoration, Mass Cure Wounds. |
| War Domain Features | War Priest, Shield of Faith, Divine Favor |
| War Domain Spells | Divine Favor, Shield of Faith, Magic Weapon, Spiritual Weapon, Spirit Guardians, Crusader's Mantle, Stoneskin, Freedom of Movement, Flame Strike, Hold Monster. |
- Gain Weapon Proficiencies with melee weapons.
- Focuses on healing allies.
- Encourages using Heavy Armor.
- Versatile.
- Reliable and consistent.
- Does require strong offensive support.
- Magic utilization can be slightly better.
- Why I Chose This: Clerics are very hard to make use of properly, but the build listed below with Shadowheart will give you the best performance in most scenarios.
Starting Race
At the start of recruiting her, she will already have a race that will be assigned to her, and it ranges from quite a few options of races such as the Dwarf, gnome, elf, Half-orc, and many others.
She is a Half-Elf race, which grants creatures of this race the ability to see when it is incredibly dark. She also has a few key features as she is a Half-Elf that I have listed below:
| Race Features | Effects |
| Civil Militia | Players can get weapon proficiency with Halberds, Pikes, Spears, and even Glaives. |
| Darkvision | A creature can see in the dark within a range of 12 meters. |
| Fey Ancestry | Your mind will veil it, and you get an advantage over your Saving Throws against being affected with Charm. |
| Base Racial Speed | Trait for Half-Elf |
Cleric Class
In my experience, the Cleric class primarily emphasizes Wisdom as its main ability, with Saving Throw Proficiencies in Charisma and Wisdom. Clerics excel in providing support through healing spells and applying debuffs to dangerous enemies.
- Players can choose a few domains for their Shadowheart Build, but players would mostly want to focus on choosing a class that can allow them to flourish as a healer/support.
The class options are as follows.
| Cleric Subclasses | Features |
| Life |
|
| Light |
|
| Trickery |
|
| Knowledge |
|
| Nature |
|
| Tempest |
|
| War |
|
Shadowheart Healer Build
In the time I have spent with her, Shadowheart mostly served as a support and healer, as that playstyle can take advantage of the healing spells and cantrips.
Subclass
I recommend you choose the Life Domain class, where Wisdom serves as the primary ability, and proficiencies include Charisma and Wisdom saving throws.
Features
When it comes to the overall features of the class, there are a total of 4 that I have listed as follows.
| Life Class Features | Effects |
| Disciple of Life | The player’s devotion will determine the number of healing spells they can use. When you cast a healing spell, the target will get extra hit points. |
| Bless | Players can bless a total of 3 creatures and get a bonus towards their Saving Throws and Attack Rolls. |
| Cure Wounds | Heal a creature that you can interact with. |
| Heavy Armor Proficiency | Wearing heavy armor won’t cause you to have a disadvantage in your attack rolls or your spell-casting. |
Other than that, they also have a few other features that players will be able to take advantage of, which are as follows.
- Wisdom Saving Throw Proficiency
- Light Armor Proficiency
- Charisma Saving Throw Proficiency
- Medium Armor Proficiency
- Shield Proficiency
- Simple Weapon Proficiency
Level Progression
As you progress while being a Life Domain central, you can unlock a few different features, actions, and spells that can gain you an advantage for a Shadowheart.
| Level Progression | Features/Action/Spells |
| 1 | Domain Spells Unlocked |
| 1 | Players gain Heavy Armor Proficiency |
| 1 | Disciple of Life |
| 2 | Preserve Life |
| 3 | Aid and Lesser Restoration spells |
| 5 | Beacon of Hope and Revivify spells |
| 6 | Blessed Healer |
| 7 | Death Ward and Guardian of Faith spells |
| 8 | Divine Strike (Life) |
| 9 | Greater Restoration and Mass Cure Wounds spells |
Cantrips
Regarding the cantrips, you can choose from a wide selection, as follows.
| Cantrips | Effects |
| Thaumaturgy | Players can manifest a fourth power that can give them an advantage in their Performance and Intimidation checks. |
| Sacred Flame | You can bring forth a flame-like radiance that can deal with radiant damage. |
| Guidance | Grant guidance to your teammates. |
| Light | Infuse any object with light. |
| Blade Ward | Players can take half damage from all types of attacks, such as Piercing, Slashing, or Bludgeoning attacks. |
| Produce Flame | Fire damage cantrip. |
Spells
As far as the spells are concerned for the Shadowheart Build, specifically for the healer build, I suggest going for spells that capitalize on healing and enhance it.
| Spells | Effects |
| Healing Word | Players will be able to heal a creature that they can see |
| Bless | Go ahead and bless a total of 3 creatures, and they will get a bonus to their Attack rolls and Saving Throws. |
| Cure Wounds | Interact with a creature to heal them up. |
| Protection From Evil and Good | Protect any teammate against attacks launched by aberrations, celestials, the undead, or even fiends. |
| Aid | Bolster forth your teammates using toughness and enhance their overall max hit points. |
| Lesser Restoration | Cure any features that have been poisoned, is paralyzed, or is blinded. |
| Prayer of Healing | Heal teammates that are in your field of sight. |
| Beacon of Hope | You can bolster your teammates using vitality and hope; they will get max hit points. |
| Mass Healing Word | You can call out restoration words to heal 6 creatures. |
| Revivify | Teammates can get revived, and they will get revived with one hit point. |
| Remove Curse | You can interact with a creature and object to remove curses from it. |
| Guardian of Faith | Creatures that are hostile within a 10-foot radius of the garden must succeed with a dexterity save. |
| Death Ward | If the target drops to 0 HP for the first time, it regains it back to 1 HP. |
| Greater Restoration | End any one condition (either being charmed or petrified) or even HP reduction. |
| Mass Cure Wounds | It can affect a total of 6 creatures. |
| Heal | One creature can regain 70 HP and will be cured of all diseases. |
War Domain Subclass Build
For a specialized Shadowheart build, consider the War Domain subclass. If Shadowheart needs more support, equip her with heavier armor and choose spells that enhance her build.
Subclass
The War Domain subclass will focus on the primary ability also being Wisdom, while the Saving Throw proficiencies will focus on Charisma and Wisdom.
Features
The features of the War Domain class are as follows:
| War Domain Features | Effects |
| War Priest | Anytime you make a weapon attack, you can spend a War Priest Charge to cast out an extra attack as a bonus. |
| Shield of Faith | Players can surround a creature using a field of magic to enhance its overall armor class by 2. |
| Divine Favor | Your prayers will be able to empower you further with radiance, and the attacks will deal extra radiant damage. |
For the other features, they are primarily proficiencies such as:
- Wisdom Saving Throw
- Charisma Saving Throw
- Light Armor
- Shield
- Medium Armor
- Simple Weapon.
Level Progression
The below-listed level progression will occur as you figure out how Baldur’s Gate 3 How To Free Shadowheart and use her with the War Domain subclass.
| Level Progression | Features/Spells/Actions |
| 1 | Divine Favor and Shield of Faith spells |
| 1 | Proficiency in Martial Weapon |
| 1 | Proficiency in Heavy Armor |
| 1 | War Priest |
| 2 | Guided Strike |
| 3 | Spiritual Weapon and Magic Weapon spells |
| 5 | Crusader’s Mantle and Spirit Guardians spell |
| 6 | War God’s Blessing |
| 7 | Freedom of Movement and Stoneskin spells |
| 8 | Divine Strike (Warmaster) |
| 9 | Hold Monster and Flame Strike spells |
Spells
As far as the spells are concerned, there are a few that players can use as they level up, and they are and are specific to the War Domain.
| Class Specific Spells | Effects |
| Divine Favor | Players can have their prayers empower them further using divine radiance, and the weapon attacks will also deal extra Radiant damage. |
| Shield of Faith | Use a field of magic around a creature to increase the Armor Class by 2. |
| Magic Weapon | You can infuse a weapon using arcane energy, and the weapon will become magical, and you get a +1 bonus to Damage and attack rolls. |
| Spiritual Weapon | If the spell attack ends up hitting, then you can deal damage. |
| Spirit Guardians | Call forth spirits that will protect the area that surrounds you, and the enemies close by will take in radiant damage. |
| Crusader’s Mantle | Friendly creatures tha are present in a 30 feet radius will end up dealing extra radiant damage anytime they are hit with a weapon attack. |
| Stoneskin | Turn the flesh from a creature stone-like. |
| Freedom of Movement | The target’s movement won’t get slowed by spells, topography, or water. |
| Flame Strike | Creatures within a 10-foot radius will need to succeed with a Dex save. |
| Hold Monster | Players can paralyze a creature, and it won’t be able to act or move at all. |
My Tips On Using Shadowheart
I have played BG3 a number of times, and each and every time, I always save Shadowheart. She is simply too fun not to have around you at all times.
Personally, I run a hybrid damage and healer build with Shadowheart. It helps me deal consistent damage with a safety net to fall back on. Additionally, in the case I am demolishing my opponents, Shadowheart gets to join in on the fun.
And that’s just about it! All that players need to know about the Baldur’s Gate Shadowheart Build guide, and with that, let’s wrap up the guide! While you’re here, why not read up on the BG3 All Feats New Old guide, which tells you all that you need to know about the feats present? Besides that, the Baldur’s Gate 3 Halsin guide will tell you about Halsin as a companion!
The Strange Ox guide will also make you read about the mystery behind the Strange Ox. Wanna make love with a bear? (I’m judging) The BG3 Bear Scene guide can showcase exactly that.
Up Next:
- Baldur’s Gate 3 Wildheart Barbarian
- Baldur’s Gate 3 Character Creator
- Baldur’s Gate 3 Warlock
- Baldur’s Gate 3 Paladin Build
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