Baldur's Gate 3 Bug Can Prevent Shadowheart From Leaving Camp (But At A BIG Cost) (2024)

Baldur's Gate 3 includes countless choices to make through the game that change the party's path as they try to solve the problem of the Absolute along with the Mind Flayer tadpoles in their brains. Naturally, not every choice has positive consequences. Instead, some result in characters leaving the party, too upset or disgusted to continue traveling with the group, and that might mean losing out on quests or a skill set that rounds out the team in combat.

[Warning: This article contains spoilers for Baldur's Gate 3.]

Ignoring a companion's quests can lead to them getting upset and leaving the group. Gale, for example, will leave if he doesn't receive magic items to eat as a cure for his Arcane Hunger. While he might be among the first group members to leave, given how early his Arcane Hunger becomes an issue, he's far from the only Origin character who's at risk of leaving, therefore removing them from the game moving forward.

Shadowheart Can't Leave The Party If She's Dead In BG3

User MICROPLASTICS on the Baldur's Gate 3 subreddit found a bug that kept Shadowheart in the party after they ignored her quests to the point that she was about to leave. Specifically, they got Shadowheart to rejoin the party after she left in a rather roundabout way that they suspect is a bug. When she was about to walk away, u/MICROPLASTICS killed her. However, they didn't bring her back right away. Instead, they left her corpse at camp for at least one long rest.

This is where the bug gets a bit glitchy. After resurrecting Shadowheart, she doesn't rejoin the party, at least not immediately. She'll be at camp, and it's possible to talk to her, but she's stuck on dialogue, saying that she's "failed Lady Shar." At this point, she can't be used in the party, but she technically stays at camp instead of leaving. Keep in mind that this took place before completing the Gauntlet of Shar, and that fact likely played a role in getting Shadowheart to return to the party.

Getting Shadowheart Back In Your BG3 Party

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10 Most Tragic Character Endings In Baldur's Gate 3

Usually, it's not possible to get a character back after they've left, but with this bug keeping Shadowheart at camp, a specific trigger can actually return the option to have her join the party. Her questline contains some of the biggest story spoilers in Baldur's Gate 3, and that might be key in how she's able to rejoin the party. After completing the Gauntlet of Shar and saving the Nightsong, Shadowheart's dialogue changes to her mentioning that her life has been a lie, which is what she says at this point if her quests have been completed, and she didn't try leaving.

The Nightsong acts as a trigger, and after Shadowheart's dialogue switches, it's possible to have her join the party again. She returns to her normal status; that would be the default if she were never displeased enough to try leaving. Regarding the story, this actually makes sense because she was distraught about failing Lady Shar, and then she discovered that she was kidnapped by Sharrans and was raised as a Selûnite. After learning how much Shar and her followers manipulated her, of course, Shadowheart wouldn't be upset about failing Lady Shar. She's angry instead.

Could The Killing Bug Work With Other Characters In BG3?

The short answer is probably not. Nightsong's presence at camp changes a lot, and that includes Shadowheart's hair in Baldur's Gate 3. Other characters don't have their own equivalent to Nightsong, and their allegiances don't change as drastically as Shadowheart's throughout their quests. Astarion, for example, doesn't waver from his main goal of freedom from Cazador. He might want to Ascend as part of this, but he's fine staying as a Vampire Spawn if it means he has his freedom. There's no equivalent trigger to Nightsong that would bring him back to the party.

However, the first part of the glitch would probably work since there's no reason it shouldn't be for any character. So, instead of leaving, the characters would remain at camp. But with the bugged dialogue and inability to bring them back into the party as playable characters. That means the best option is still avoiding choices that lead to characters trying to leave, keeping them available and functioning properly in a way that their quests and any rewards from them aren't closed off.

BG3 Characters Should Give Players A Chance For Redemption

Some characters can be driven away quite easily, meaning the only way to get them to return is reloading an older save file and making different decisions. After a character leaves, they essentially vanish from the game's world, meaning that convincing them to return isn't an option. However, most character stories have points that could act as chances for redemption, similar to how Shadowheart rejoined the party after a bug because of a trigger in her questline in the form of Nightsong. It almost acts like getting a chance to be redeemed in Shadowheart's eyes because the truth of her past and identity comes to light through the party's efforts.

Other characters could have similar redemption points added in for a second chance to bring them back. Astarion could rejoin after bargaining with Raphael to read what his scars say, and Lae'zel could be willing to work with the party again with some convincing from Kith'rak Voss, who's aware of Vlaakith's lies and how Orpheus in the Astral Prism is the true prince of the Githyanki. Since some choices already have a way to reverse the consequences, like agreeing to help the Goblin Leaders and then betraying them in the end, it wouldn't be out of place to have another opportunity to recruit characters who were lost as party members.

Baldur's Gate 3 is full of content and choices, but some choices come with heavy consequences. A glitch made it possible to keep Shadowheart in the party when she wanted to leave, and the Nightsong managed to make her available as a playable character again, but that's unlikely to be replicated with other characters who don't have their own version of Nightsong to progress their stories. However, a patch could make it possible to find redemption and convince lost companions to return without having to kill them in Baldur's Gate 3.

Sources: u/MICROPLASTICS/Reddit, Larian Studios/YouTube