Should I do shadowheart's trial?

[Die Dame des Berges]

I want to push shadowheart to be good, if I do the trial at Shar's gauntlet, does it mean she becomes evil?

[seeker1]

Having her do one of the trials isn't necessary, but is a requirement for getting Nightsong points ... search here or google elsewhere if you want an explanation of what those are (long story short, a hidden game mechanic).

If she does one of the trials, it won't necessarily put her on the "become evil" path, if by that you mean you're going to have her kill Nightsong and become a Dark Justiciar . Nor even would having her do all the trials.

As to whether the trials are ultimately skippable or cheesable - another subject - search other threads.

[KRON]

Originally posted by Die Dame des Berges:

I want to push shadowheart to be good, if I do the trial at Shar's gauntlet, does it mean she becomes evil?

No. Her becoming evil depends largely on her attitude towards you. Making her do the trial actually improves it. And going into Shadowfell without her will make her angry and she'll leave the party.

[superlloyd]

I also thought doing the trial was necessary?

Anyway, if you want Shadowheart to be good, you should free the Nightsong, since this is the one moment in the game where Shadowheart can reject Lady Shar!

[seeker1]

It is what folks call "a secret of Polichinelle" that you can cast Knock on the final door to the Shadowfell. You technically only need 1 umbral gem and that's just for the elevator trip down, though if you cheese Feather Fall, you can do it with 0 umbral gems. (I believe there's also a cheat mod to give yourself 4 umbral gems too, think it requires SE.)

Getting Yurgir's gem can be done a variety of ways, and he isn't technically a "trial," but if you have Yurgir's (and there could be a secondary reason you want to resolve his ... situation) ... that's the only 1 you need.

So ... can you skip all the trials? Yes. Can you cheese all of them? Yes. Will SH enter the Fell if you've done none? Yes. However, she WON'T if you haven't gotten the Spear of Night, also technically not a trial, but you gotta get there through the Library.

Oh and one more thing - if you do a trial with somebody else and SH sees someone stepping up to do it - she will whine she needs to be the one to do them - and you can get a small approval drop. Easy to cheese this, though; if you want Astarion, Halsin, or whoever to do the trial rather than SH, just make sure SH isn't in the room to see them do it, and she never complains, and there is no approval drop.

[GrandMajora]

The gauntlet is completely optional. The only place you need to visit is the library, so you can obtain the Spear of Night, which Shadowheart needs to complete the trial.

Collecting the orbs from the gauntlet is needed to legitimately open the door to Shar's realm, but you can bypass it completely with a simple Knock spell.

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by Die Dame des Berges:

Should I do shadowheart's trial?
I want to push shadowheart to be good, if I do the trial at Shar's gauntlet, does it mean she becomes evil?

No.

[Favonius]

Carefull here, there is no spoiler tag.

I'm assuming OP is on a first run and just needs to be reinsured that she can redeem Shadowheart while doing the trial.

So yes, you can do the trial with Shadowheart, supporting her even. You will gain approval for that.
Speak with her regularly and be carefull on your dialog options : you're a friend, but that doesn't mean you will embrace Shar's view. Don't be frontal with her, showing the 'good' way is your best chance for her to make good the decision when time will come. And trust her wisdom.

And hopefully you will obtain what you want. Don't hesitate to save frequently if you have a doubt.

[EricHVela]

No. That isn't the factor that decrees the lock in for "evil".

The lock-in for the evil SH path is just a bit further, and even then, there are varying degrees to adjust it afterward (for both "good" and "evil" paths).

Just play it and find out. If something doesn't work the way you like, there's always the optional reload feature outside of Honour Mode. It's there for you to use at your personal discretion. There's also seeing it through and trying another playthrough with the Human feature of "what you wish you knew then that you know now".

[Malus]

Originally posted by seeker1:

It is what folks call "a secret of Polichinelle" that you can cast Knock on the final door to the Shadowfell. You technically only need 1 umbral gem and that's just for the elevator trip down, though if you cheese Feather Fall, you can do it with 0 umbral gems. (I believe there's also a cheat mod to give yourself 4 umbral gems too, think it requires SE.)

Getting Yurgir's gem can be done a variety of ways, and he isn't technically a "trial," but if you have Yurgir's (and there could be a secondary reason you want to resolve his ... situation) ... that's the only 1 you need.

So ... can you skip all the trials? Yes. Can you cheese all of them? Yes. Will SH enter the Fell if you've done none? Yes. However, she WON'T if you haven't gotten the Spear of Night, also technically not a trial, but you gotta get there through the Library.

Oh and one more thing - if you do a trial with somebody else and SH sees someone stepping up to do it - she will whine she needs to be the one to do them - and you can get a small approval drop. Easy to cheese this, though; if you want Astarion, Halsin, or whoever to do the trial rather than SH, just make sure SH isn't in the room to see them do it, and she never complains, and there is no approval drop.

Great post
I NEVER do the trials anymore. Just a waste of time for nothing. It is fun to do at least once.

[Simon McAllister]

Originally posted by アンジェル:

Originally posted by Die Dame des Berges:

Should I do shadowheart's trial?
I want to push shadowheart to be good, if I do the trial at Shar's gauntlet, does it mean she becomes evil?

No.

If your approval with Shadowheart is high enough she will first tell you to stay out of it. But will later ask you for your opinion on how to handle Nightsong. You can either encourage her to kill Nightsong or spare her. I don't think there is a lock that makes it that she will be evil regardless. Both of my playthroughs she spared her. I just told her that its her decision to make and she spares her. After Nightsong speaks about Shadowheart being a frightened girl alone in the woods and about wolves. Which Shadowheart will reveal to the player if they speak to her with high approval sometime during Act 1. The biggest mistake a player can do is to do the gauntlet without Shadowheart present. As she will get extrememely pissed off and leave the party for good if the player does that.