Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Shadowheart seems too squishy?

Is Shadowheart meant to be squishy? At level 4 she has less health than Gale.... Even though she is a trickster cleric, seems odd that she would be squishier than a mage.

I think the bigger issue is her deplorable ability score allocation.

Her low dex makes her AC suffer which is odd for a trickster cleric.

Her STR would be a boon and push her to heavy armor but there isn't any good heavy armor in EA.

Reposting something I've said:

I have a level 4 trickster/level 1 fighter in one of my campaigns that is 30hp, only 3 more than hers. Gales is artificially high, wizards dont roll like that. Hed have to roll a 6 on every hit dice and have +3 con to be getting to what he has (almost)

Stealth - Blessing of the trickster = Advantage on stealth, pass without a trace = +10 to your roll. Thats a pretty hefty advantage for anyone.

Disguise self - no modifier needed. The only thing that matters there is an insight check from the other party that needs to beat the DC of your spellcasting ability, wisdom, to see through the illusion.

Deception - Charisma, - you can charm, and can cast guidance to add the D4 (as Disguise Self and charm are not concentration spells) to add to whatever change to the DC is involved with the disguise self. Not being proficient in it is a shame, but I dont think it outweighs the advantages you get from the rest of their toolkit.

There ARE negatives to stealth and all that, but realistically she doesn't need it. Shes either being a face or getting past someone with the rest of the party. I am having a hard time thinking about a time where shes going to go forth and be the stealth hero while everyone waits behind.

The biggest gap is the duplicate that is just a distraction in this. Not being able to disguise self, cast a duplicate, and then cast spells through it changes where she needs to be. Having a duplicate that has mirror image on it is one HECK of a distraction for the enemy that completely wastes their time.

But, without the duplicate, still highly functional and i have used disguise self against the gith and other things to good effect. I just never caught myself going "argh! if only her [stat] was higher!"

if you wanted to do any of those things, you could. Why a cleric would be stealthing around alone, I dont know, but you could. Why a cleric should be the tank, I dont know, but you could. Shes the best at being a cleric - a reasonably armored individual that is there to buff, CC, or heal that shouldn't be put into vulnerable positions in the first place. She can cast and go around a corner and stealth, she can have the item that gives misty step and cast and bamf, she really only needs to get one thing going that is concentration and then can heal as needed, sacred flame otherwise, and end every turn in a safe spot. It sounds like people want to do a lot more with her.

As a person who plays several clerics across several campaigns of different domains - my job is to be the last person to be targeted, my spells are too critical to waste. This game nerfs spell distances, which is unfortunate, but gives powerful tools like stealth, jump, and misty step, plus other stuff to allow you to use her as a full blooded cleric. I think if people want her to be in the middle of everything using inflict wounds - thats a shield, shield of faith, hat +1 dex saves, misty step necklace, and some health potions build.

The only thing to point out is that sacred flame is a canonically garbage cantrip because your save DC is so low early game and you need either ASI or proficiency to start bumping it up to be useful. Its more of a "eh, i got nothing else to do. Neat if it works. Oh nice, after 3 misses it did 1 damage. tight.".

Clerics are very versatile, but you need to set them up to do 1 thing well. They aren't going to be great at everything with 1 gear set and 1 spell set. Depends on what fun is, I guess. Every fight has a long rest after it anyway, currently. Use all the spells you normally wouldnt because youre a smart D&D player and you dont blow all your slots every fight you run into. If people are wanting her to not need any spells or special items and to be close to the group and in the open, then she absolutely needs to be different and you will not get any arguments from me there.

She would be a lot better slightly rounded up to 10 dex and 14 con.

Also form looking at Astarions stats as well, I think the companions have lower stats than what player characters start with?

If so then I really dont like that, they should have the same.

This +1

Really wondering if she'll eventually have the life domain or something that grants her heavy armor by default as you progress her personal quest. If you talk with her, she's had her memories altered. I'm not sure if its because the church of Shar just abducted some random urchin and brainwashed her, or if she's a Selunite secret agent or something.

She need a 14 Dex, I'll die on that hill.

Shadowheart has the default Half-Elf cleric array, so no.

There is (basic chain mail), but it's not available until pretty late in the game that I've been able to find.

In community update #9, they mentioned Shadowheart is the only character to die as often as the player character. Seems like they know she's a liability.

How often she dies depends on how you play her.

I use her as a combined mage/healer and off-tank in a party with a MC Rogue, Lae'zel fighter, and Gale wizard. My Rogue and Lae'zel are always up front taking aggro and controlling the initial fight. Shadowheart starts as a back-line mage just behind those two, throwing buffs and debuffs. Her Charm spell lands often if you pick the right target.. Then I move her in for melee as needed for an off-tank.

If you rush right in with her as part of the main melee line, she doesn't do well.

She's doing just fine in my group with the Gnoll self healing mace. I gave her the Gith's armor too

We maxed out her heals, and she does great with spells and support.

She just really takes after her half clumsy but rather strong human parent, unfortunately for her AC

She becomes good if you take the feat +2 HPs per level at level 4.

I kinda like flawed companions, like 15 wis Jaheira or 15 con 8 wis minsc instead of optimized ones; but as some others said, you can fix her picking ASIs +1 in dex and con at level four unlike in previous games.

I think you would be better advised to increase her DEX to 10 and her CON to 14 at level 4. This improves saving throws as well as AC and HP.

She can "borrow" Lae'zel's half plate to improve her AC. At level 1 she can cast Shield of Faith on herself. At level 3 she can cast Mirror Image on herself which is stronger than the PnP version.

One issue is that there are a lot of good spears in Chapter 1, but Shadowheart is ill advised to use them since (unlike PnP) they require two hands, and she can't afford to do without her shield.

Her ability scores seem to be 1 point lower than they should be - 26 rather than 27.

I think it has a lot to do with everyone and their mothers beelining to her every fight with her dog AC.

I burned Ability Adjustment feat to do exactly that. I think at that point it was better than extra 2 WIS, just so she's a tiny bit less squishy with less horrible AC.

For me, +2 HPs a level (35 total at level 4) + the magic item restoring life each time she hits, her survivability is greatly increased compared to AC +1, HP +1.