Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Technical & Gameplay Problems Shadow Blade odd behavior - Arabella's vs upcast version

Last night I decided to abandon my self-imposed abstinence from that weapon/spell on my Hexblade-Warlock. Current party level is 9, BTW and my Tav is 1 Rogue/8 Hexblade.

I started off by casting it via Arabella's ring which I had just received, figuring the ring's level 2 version is slightly less OP than the upcast spell-slot 4 version that my Tav has access to. Plus I have her use AoA in the mornings and using the Ring's spell instead of a slot left her with a spell slot available at the start of the day.

1. For some reason, I was able to drop that ring-version of the blade on the ground in camp and pick it back up just like any old regular sword or short sword. So *I guess* in theory I would be able to enchant it with the Drakethroat Glaive's Elemental Weapon spell, but I didn't test that. In any case: I'm pretty sure I shouldn't be able to drop that thing as its tool-tip states that it "must remain on the spellcaster's person". I should probably add that I unequipped the ring after I had used its spell and gave it to Astarion who wasn't in the active party.

2. Even weirder: On the next day I knew I would have to face Balthazar, so I decided I'd drop the act and simply use the upcast version. I cast the spell in the morning at camp, then cast AoA, so she was out of Warlock slots. Which is why I decided to use one of the many Angelic Reprieve potions I had stockpiled. Which may or may not have been the issue here. The issue being that the weapon was only listed as doing base damage when I checked its stats at a later point during that day. 2d8+ instead of the 3d8+ that the upcast version should do. Also of note that *this* version I could not drop on the ground and the game even gives a "you can't do this, silly" pop-up text next to the item/cursor when you try that. None of which happened with the ring's version of the blade/spell. I did double check if this was, maybe, just a bound/hexed weapon thing, so I set another sword as her pact weapon and tried again but the game (correctly) still wouldn't let me drop that Shadow Blade on the ground.

The only explanation(s) I could come up with for this lack of added damage were that it was caused by me having used the ring's level 2 version the previous day ("confusing" the game somehow? lol) or that I had used the Reprieve potion at the start of the next day (and after having cast Shadow Blade at spell-level 4) to regain her spell-slots. Especially because I then re-cast Shadow Blade at a later point during that second day, to see if that would fix things and, sure enough, she now received the 3d8+ version.

I'll probably run this thing through its paces, as I cannot be sure what exactly happened on that second day. I don't think for example that I'd checked the damage on the upcast version before and after having used the Reprieve potion, etc. Maybe doing this a bit more methodically might narrow down the culprit for this odd behavior.

I haven't played with the shadow blade much yet, but have you read about the bug that if you apply any kind of effect to it and the effect ends, it reverts back to its basic stats? Just throwing this in because you haven't mentioned if you use weapon coatings or dip between casting and noticing the error.

I don't *think* I applied any coatings to it, but I'm only 99 percent sure on that one.

Still a good call, as it would explain what happened with the non-ring version - though perhaps taking that Reprieve potion does count as applying an effect to the weapon in this case (though it really only applies an effect/a condition to the character who uses the potion). Another possibility would be effects derived from other items/mechanics. I do use the Ring of Arcane Synergy on her and that thing triggers quite often in combat - and if Arcane Synergy counts as an effect applied to the active weapon (which it kinda is), that might be another explanation right there.

This should be very easy to test since I still have a ton of Reprieve potions stockpiled (thanks, Mr Bugbear-vendor!) and it's not that hard to trigger the Synergy-effect.

Just tried both the Reprieve Potion and Arcane Synergy and neither triggered the behavior - blade was still giving 3d8 after.


However: The ring's blade I could still drop on the ground at will:








Something that definitely doesn't work with the memorized version of the spell.

Update: Since I now rely exclusively on the Ring-version of the blade (because the spell-variant will glitch out regularly and revert back to basic damage), I've also found that not only can you drop it on the ground, you can also hand it to another companion who has the Dual Wielder feat, have them enchant the blade via the Flail of Ages and then hand it back to Tav. Something that should not be possible with this weapon and isn't possible with the spell-variant.

There's also another well-known bug where you can take one of Wither's hirelings, respec as a warlock, cast the shadowblade, give them something to hold in inventory, dismiss them, hire them again.... and voila, they'll have a perma-shadowblade in their inventory, but it will always be the 2d8 one, even if you originally created it as an upcasted version.

It is likely that there's some root commonality to these behaviours, as indicated by the 2d8 dmg reversion in both scenarios.

On a side note: I'm honestly not that unhappy about the "2d8-only"-thing - combined with Booming Blade, that sword is powerful enough as it is, even with "only" base damage.

Not even sure it was a good idea to make it non-concentration as there don't seem to be any real downsides to this weapon now and even the more powerful "classic" weapons of this class feel a bit like toys compared to it. Yes: It doesn't have a to-hit bonus, no additional benefits and no built-in special attack - and it's not great against enemies who are resistant or even immune to Psychic damage. But IMO its raw damage potential more than makes up for this.