(Spoiler) Disappointing Shadowheart decision at the end of Act 2 and how it (doesn't) play out in Act 3

[Mayfair]

First, I mostly don't reload major choices for immersion, even if they turn out badly.

So at the end of Act 2, if you choose the "good" answer and decide to stop Shadowheart from killing the Nightsong immediately, you have to pass a 30 dice roll so she doesn't attack you and the group, if you fail, she dies. Apparently, the only way she'll live is if you "trust her and let her handle it", which is fine if you're roleplaying a naive character that cares more about friendship than the fate of all people. If you don't, that choice is a pretty ludicrous gamble to pick. From the point of my good character, this stopped being her decision once other peoples lives were involved.

At that point in the game, that 30 check was impossible, so Larian really wants shadowheart to die here if you try to save the Nightsong - which is fine. I accepted that outcome.

Here's my problem, not only is shadowhearts death never mentioned again by any companion in the game, they also think she's still alive.
Her death locks the player out of her questline - of course. But once I got to Shars temple in Baldurs Gate it just became clear that she wasn't supposed to die. When talking to the cult leader, Karlach talks about how they'll never betray shadowheart and bring her there and the only option to tell the leader that shadowheart is dead feels like it was written with the intent of decieving her, afterwards the NPCs still talk about shadowheart as if she's there. In my opinion. pretty disappointing.

[Talia Sendua]

I had the same issue, made also a post and got re-educated by people that a natural 20 throw still works out....

HOWEVER, please keep in mind that for other characters in their "pinnacle moments" the persuasion checks are around 15-18 (like Astarions). So it feels a bit unfair that Shadowhearts is 30 (requiring you to roll a 20 which is STILL a 5% chance in total).

[Pixel_Kitsune]

No, you're disappointed in that outcome. I didn't naively trust Shadowheart, I had built a rapport with he across allbact 1 and 2 and seen that she cared for people and wasn't prone to violence or murder. I trusted her.

And she made the right choice.

[Zygfryd]

I let Shadowheart handle both her major decisions and I was relieved she chose right the first time. Had to reload the second time, because that was ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up.

I've had similar narrative bugs though, can't remember them off the top of my head. But they definitely can be immersion breaking.

[Zorn]

Originally posted by Roggenmuhme:

Here's my problem, not only is shadowhearts death never mentioned again by any companion in the game, they also think she's still alive.

No you are mistaken, Act III clearly is finished and a totally not unfinished masterpiece without about 25% broken dialogues by the standarts of most people here :D ;)

[Lysamus]

It's a mechanical expression of Shadowheart's certainty of her course of action in that moment. It's meant to be nearly impossible to disrupt.

I also failed the persuasion roll, but as a chaotic good aligned character, I respected her autonomy to make the right choice.

[Tijger]

Originally posted by Zorn:

Originally posted by Roggenmuhme:

Here's my problem, not only is shadowhearts death never mentioned again by any companion in the game, they also think she's still alive.

No you are mistaken, Act III clearly is finished and a totally not unfinished masterpiece without about 25% broken dialogues by the standarts of most people here :D ;)

There's other topcis to whine in about this, why dont you post this kind of tripe there.

[Tijger]

Originally posted by Pixel Kitsune:

No, you're disappointed in that outcome. I didn't naively trust Shadowheart, I had built a rapport with he across allbact 1 and 2 and seen that she cared for people and wasn't prone to violence or murder. I trusted her.

And she made the right choice.

Same here, I've played this part with several characters now and she's always tossed the spear but I always had high approval with her.

[Dead Boy]

This isn't naivety. If you trusted her and didn't read her mind while she was praying, you would have seen that she had a dissatisfied expression after the dialogue with her goddess. It's more about insight than naivety to understand that Shadowheart is beyond fed up with giving without receiving anything from her goddess.
I hope you're not one of those who say that some people can't read social cues.

[Zorn]

Originally posted by Tijger:

Originally posted by Zorn:

No you are mistaken, Act III clearly is finished and a totally not unfinished masterpiece without about 25% broken dialogues by the standarts of most people here :D ;)

There's other topcis to whine in about this, why dont you post this kind of tripe there.

Because sarcasm only works if people like you read it and get annoyed by it.

and i used Sarcasm to imply that "everybody ignoring that she is dead" is a Bug ,so OP can see that its a broken dialogue trigger.
In anything else i mostly disagree with him, its not naive to tell her to make her own choice, who am i...her dad ?
The funny thing is that me playing this way basically made me choose "correct" 90% of the time as the Storyprogression seems to be that having them make their own choices being the "good" decision :D

[goodbye_bonito]

It supposed to work without a roll, if you have 30 roll then it means you raised your SH wrongly.

[HTakara]

i let shadowheart decide and she spared nightsong, but knowing what i know, i would've grabbed the spear and kill the nightsong myself. in fact, letting Balthazar kill her is the best option 100%

[PaloG]

Not the first time this happens in the game. If you allow Lae'zel to use the Zaith'isk and you fail the check to detect it's true function then her Persuasion/Deception roll is also 30 and that's at least 2 levels earlier if not more.
Also you get the hint from the narrator that Nightsong also feels Shadowheart can be persuaded but hasn't spoken to her yet which nudges you towards metagaming that there's more in this conversation coming and to delay your attempt.

Honestly, during my first playthrough I also fell for it and had to do the 30 check, which ofc as a non Charisma spec'ed PC I failed and that was the second time in that playthrough I savescummed so I never saw how botched it is if you go to Act 3 with that decision. Very disappointed to hear it's this bad.

[Bloodwest]

Fell for it too. Actually reloaded couple hours worth of progress when I realized I should've let her do her thing. I mean she literally threatens you before you decide what to do with her. She's like: I'm gonna kill NS even if I have to step over your corpse.
Then you have options:
1. Don't do that pls (30+ roll check)
2. Have it your way (prolly let her kill that chick)
3. No you don't (Attack)
And what do you know, some complete stranger she was planning to kill in fact turned out WAY more convincing and worth of trust than you, her closest companion could've ever dreamed of.

[Devitancotia]

But you did judge her and trying to take off her hand, right? Then at a zeal moment to her like that 30 seems not unreasonable. That was the personal success for her life so far, regardless the right thing or not.
My problems with this however, is 'other peoples lives were involved', in a very convenient and at least, unexplored way. Nightsong is no doubt connected to Isobe. But is there more to it? Like Isobe's back to life, and her holy power? If not, again, is it right or not Shart is very unfortunate to have her "own"( or yes, Shar's) fate warp up in the grand scheme of things.

[MachineGod]

Originally posted by HTakara:

i let shadowheart decide and she spared nightsong, but knowing what i know, i would've grabbed the spear and kill the nightsong myself. in fact, letting Balthazar kill her is the best option 100%

How come?