One of the most significant path-defining decisions you’ll make in Baldur’s Gate 3 has to do with a character known as the Nightsong and comes at the end of the Shar Gauntlet. You’ll have to descend to fight Balthazar (if you haven’t already), then make a very large choice around Shadowheart and The Nightsong. You’ll want to think this choice over carefully, so let’s go over the major considerations.
Should You Let Shadowheart Kill the Nightsong in BG3?
Once you talk to the Nightsong, there are two paths to choose from. You can either let Shadowheart kill the Nightsong, or you can convince her to give the Nightsong a chance and spare her. The best way to think about this decision is as a simple choice between good and evil. Here’s what will happen based on your choice.
Kill the Nightsong
If you let Shadowheart kill the Nightsong, she will go full Dark Justiciar of Shar mode. Be prepared for her to be dark, brooding, and rather evil for the rest of the game. However, she will gain some powerful gear in return, the most impressive of which is the legendary weapon Shar’s Spear of Evening. It’s a 1H sword that deals 7 – 20 base damage plus bonus damage while obscured, which you can trigger yourself thanks to the spell that comes with the sword, Shar’s Darkness. The Dark Justiciar chest armor will be upgraded to very rare quality, and you also get Dark Justiciar gloves and boots. Each of these gear pieces have associated spells that can be cast without limit, which is very powerful.
The trade-off for the sweet new set of gear is quite severe, though. First of all, the light protection at the Last Light Inn will fall and every NPC there will either die or become undead. This can include important NPCs for other characters, such as Dammon who is very important to progressing with Karlach. In addition, all of your companions bar Astarion will disapprove of killing the Nightsong. The fight against Ketheric Thorm will become much more difficult as well, as the Nightsong won’t be around to assist in the battle.
Looking further forward, in Act 3 Shadowheart will even want to kill some of her family members. That goes to show just how dark of a path this will become for Shadowheart if you take it. In fact, you’d only really want to take this path if you plan on siding with the Absolute rather than going up against it!
Spare the Nightsong
Convincing Shadowheart to spare the Nightsong will be the best option for most players. It sets Shadowheart down a path away from Shar and towards the light of Selune. She’ll become warmer, more caring, and much nicer to be around. Of course, you won’t gain the Shar loot, but you will receive a nice weapon from The Nightsong that deals 2 – 14 base damage plus one D4 of Radiant damage. It’s also enchanted with light, which is a nice bonus for warding off the shadows.
Everyone in the Last Light Inn will remain alive so that you can continue interacting with them, and your party will approve of your choice, which is always nice. You’ll also gain a very powerful ally to help you fight Ketheric Thorm. The Nightsong is very strong and makes the initial fight much easier! Ultimately this choice will best set you up to best take down the Absolute.
That covers off the two main choices you can make around the Nightsong in Baldur’s Gate 3 and what will happen based on what you choose. In summary, you should spare the Nightsong if you want to go down the ‘good’ path and kill her if you want to go down the ‘evil’ path! And if you want to know more about the decisions you can make in the game or have other questions, make sure to look through our other coverage.
