So back in Patch 4 I began a Dark Urge run with the intent of ignoring Shadowheart completely, so I could obtain help from Viconia without standing off against her. The task seemed simple, ignore her entirely on the Nautaloid, don't even get near her to hear her voice, and then kill her from a distance when she stands in front of the ruins door. I've done this now across 3 different characters, from Patch 4 variations to patch 6. The artifact is given to me near the Goblin Camp, in a very buggy way as well since it plays the cutscene twice and forces me to go back to camp to sleep in between the same 2 cutscenes, and my Durge character is none the wiser about who Shadowheart is, what she was doing on the Nautaloid, or anything in the quest log related to her at all; don't even know her name technically.
The First Bug with this arrives when I meet Viconia DeVir in the Cloister. She acts like I know who Shadowheart is, and that I must give her over to her in exchange for help regarding the Artifact and the Absolute. There is only one option to tell her which is "Impossible, she is dead."; which is odd, seeing as I didn't even know her name or gender, and couldn't possibly remember one of many thousands of things I've killed since Act 1 as she's still laying there on the beach. I didn't even loot her or get near her. I am then forced into dialogue about a character I know nothing about, and must convince her to not fight me with a 30 DC Persuasion check. After the convincing, every party member in the room and back at camp scolded me (especially Jaheira) for "giving up" a companion to Viconia just for her aid in the final battle. This is not what happened at all and her body is still inaccessible laying on the ground in Act 1, I gave her nothing at all. Viconia agreed to lend me support until the Absolute was defeated and I went on my way. (Do note too I had a similar bugged action earlier where I could tell the dude in Rivington that I know of Shadowheart and that I could bring her to him; which was impossible since she was dead in inaccessible Act 1 and I never knew her name either.)
A Second Bug arrived later when doing the final battle. Completing the conversation in this specific way, rather than giving her up normally, made it so Viconia did not lend her troops to my Call Forth Allies button in any way, despite the Journal entry showing she agreed to it within Gather Your Allies ("Viconia is grateful that we helped her establish her rightful position. We can count on Viconia and Lady Shar's faithful in the fight to come."). This did not matter so much because they're not too useful units anyway and I barely use them, but the option should still not be a meaningless gesture. This was also tested on a run where I had 0 other allies, where Withers gives you a line about not gathering any friends (amusing dialogue btw), in the final room before the big fight. Viconia was the only one on my Gather Allies list, and the game did not give be a Call Forth Allies button even though it should have her units available, Nightbringer's Shadow Adepts.
The Third Bug however was the most jarring, as it arrived on my 2nd remake of this character in Patch 5 once the Epilogues were added to the game (specifically Hotfix #17, build v.4.1.4494476). Viconia sent me a letter, one that I can't seem to find mentioned anywhere online (save a few mentions on a reddit post), stating that she was altering Shadowheart's mind to be subservient to her again in the Postscript, and thanking me for inviting her to the party. Now this is odd because unless Viconia went all the way back to Act 1's area to grab her body, resurrect her, then wiped her mind, this note makes 0 sense to be sent to me. The name of the Note is simply "Letter from Viconia" which states:
"To my unlikely ally,
I must confess I was surprised to receive an invitation to your gathering, but not entirely displeased; though circumstances placed us on the same side once battle lines were drawn, you proved to be a most admirable instrument in bringing about the end of the Absolute. Nevertheless, I cannot step away from Lady Shar's sacred work. Please, raise a goblet on my behalf, and know that I shall gaze upon the very same umbral tapestry that you feast under.
Viconia DeVir
Mother Superior of the Cloister of Sombre Embrace
P.S. Our mutual acquaintance has settled back into her life of servitude very well, I am glad to report. Her mind is a blank slate, eager to learn of the Dark Lady's ways. I shall make something of her yet."
--End of note
Another thing, I have recently loaded back into this save file on newest patch, and this specific note from Viconia seems nowhere to be found as if a hotfix or small patch may have removed the note from my inventory. So this part may be slightly fixed but I am unsure. I may need to retest this full run in an active patch to see what does and doesn't work but I do not have the immediate time for now.
But the crux of what I'm asking here, is if there is any way development can be put towards altering Viconia's lines here so that we can avoid mention of Shadowheart at all if our character has never actually met her? Maybe even give some better dialogue options to convince her rather than "give me Shadowheart or die". Secondly, if it is possible to fix whatever is preventing Viconia's troops from being used when you do convince her in this way. Some of the small details may have been fixed already in recent hotfixes, but as far as I know from my 3rd playthrough doing the exact same thing in Patch 6, (Hotfix #22 build v.4.1.4905117) this is still a re-occuring set of bugs within the game. I've not seen mention in any hotfixes of anything that would relate to these 3 bugs.
Thanks for your time, discussion is readily welcome.
