Baldur’s Gate 3 – Shadowheart: Dark Justiciar Build Guide

Quick Guide to Shadowheart: Dark Justiciar Build

Embark on a dark journey through Baldur’s Gate with this “Lore-Friendly Dark Justiciar” build for Shadowheart. Drenched in the shadows of the night, this build combines the solemnity of the Oathbreaker Paladin with the eldritch powers of the Warlock. Clad in the foreboding armor of a Dark Justiciar, Shadowheart becomes a formidable force on the battlefield, wielding Shar’s Spear of Evening.

Classes

Oathbreaker Paladin: Begin your journey as a devoted servant who, through unforeseen circumstances, forsakes their oath, embracing the darkness within. Transition into the Oathbreaker subclass to unlock potent abilities and a Fighting Style that complements your chosen playstyle.

Warlock – The Great Old One: Tap into the eldritch mysteries, forming a pact with ancient and unknowable entities. As a Great Old One Warlock, you gain access to cantrips like Eldritch Blast and spells such as Hex and Arms of Hadar, enhancing your arsenal with otherworldly power.

Abilities

• Strength: 10
• Dexterity: 14
• Constitution: 16
• Intelligence: 8
• Wisdom: 10
• Charisma: 16

Levels

1. Paladin – Oath of Devotion -> Oathbreaker
2. Oathbreaker: Fighting Style: Duelling
3. Oathbreaker
4. Oathbreaker: Feat: Check feat section
5. Oathbreaker
6. Warlock – The Great Old One: Cantrips: Eldritch Blast, Blade Ward, Spells: Hex, Expeditious Retreat
7. Warlock: Spells: Arms of Hadar, Eldritch Invocations: Devil’s Sight, Agonising Blast
8. Warlock: Spells: Misty Step, Pact Boon: Pact of the Blade
9. Warlock: Cantrips: Minor Illusion, Spells: Invisibility, Feat: Check feat section
10. Warlock: –Spells: Counterspell, Eldritch Invocations__: Repelling Blast
11. Oathbreaker
12. Oathbreaker

Feats

• Ability Improvement: +2 Charisma is always a good option, you can even take it twice to get +20 Charisma
• Dual Wielder: If you plan to use 2 weapons instead of a shield (you lose Darkness Cloak a very useful spell that summons darkness)
• Great Weapon Master: If you prefer one weapon without a shield and profits from your darkness advantage to get high damage on your main attack. Surely one that deals the most damages but can also be the worst if you miss every strikes (also lose Darkness Cloak)
• Polearm Master: Not the strongest one but Opportunity attack can be useful
• Savage Attacker: If you have enough chance of hitting you can use this feat to increase your damage potency
• Sentinel: Great combination with Polearm but you will have to provoke several Opportunity attack

Feats depends a lot on what kind of weapons you wanna play: Spear only, Spear and Scimitar or Spear and Shield.

Gear

• Shar’s Spear of Evening (Advantage on Saving Throws while obscured, 1d6 bonus damage on obscured creatures, Shar’s Darkness)
• Justiciar’s Greatshield (+2 AC, Darkness Cloak) OR Justiciar’s Scimitar
• Least Expected (1d4 bonus damage while obscured)
• Dark Justiciar Helmet (+1 Critical Hit roll when obscured)
• Dark Justiciar Half-Plate (Advantage on Stealth checks, Shar’s Aegis)
• Dark Justiciar Gauntlets (1-4 Necrotic damage on weapon, Beckoning Darkness)
• Dark Justiciar Boots (Shadow Teleportation)
• Shadow-Cloaked Ring (1d4 bonus damage against obscured creatures)
• Ring of Twilight (+1 AC while obscured)

Spells

• As you want.

Emerges as a “Lore-Friendly Dark Justiciar,” seamlessly blending the narrative with a powerful and versatile character build. Explore the depths of darkness and wield the shadows as your allies, striking fear into the hearts of your enemies. With this build, Shadowheart becomes the champion of shadows, and let the tale of the Dark Justiciar unfold in the darkness of Baldur’s Gate.

Gameplay

The synergy between the Oathbreaker Paladin and Warlock Great Old One with Blade Pact creates a powerful and lore-friendly playstyle for Shadowheart as a Dark Justiciar. The key focus is on utilizing the Blade Pact to maximize the potential of Shar’s Spear, leveraging Charisma as the primary ability modifier for both spellcasting and weapon damage.

The Warlock’s Blade Pact provides a bond weapon, allowing for Charisma-based attacks and dealing magic damage—an ideal fit for a Charisma-focused Paladin. This bond weapon also grants an extra attack, which, when combined with the Paladin’s class features, results in three devastating attacks with Shar’s Spear. Additionally, the Warlock’s Eldritch Blast, enhanced by eldritch invocations, serves as a potent ranged option when the Dark Justiciar needs to strike from a distance.

Warlock spells like Misty Step and Invisibility add versatility to the Dark Justiciar’s toolkit, offering strategic maneuverability and stealth. The Paladin, at level 7, contributes valuable spells such as healing, damage boosts, and the formidable Divine Smite. In the cover of darkness, Divine Smite becomes a devastating tool, capable of obliterating enemies with up to three uses per turn.

The Oathbreaker subclass further enhances the Dark Justiciar’s offensive capabilities with Aura of Hate. The combination of Paladin support spells, high damage output, and the intimidating presence of the Dark Justiciar makes for a well-rounded and resilient character.

In melee encounters, enemies will feel the relentless pressure of the Dark Justiciar’s attacks, and when forced to engage at range, the Eldritch Blast ensures a continued threat. The unpredictability of Misty Step and Invisibility adds a layer of tactical finesse to the Dark Justiciar’s approach, keeping enemies on edge throughout the battle.

In essence, this build transforms Shadowheart into a menacing and versatile Dark Justiciar, striking fear into the hearts of her foes with a potent blend of melee and ranged capabilities.

Fears the Dark Justiciar of Shar’s bless.

Disadvantages:

• Only possible by killing Nightsong during act 2.
• You have to break your Oath, usually it implies to kill a random NPC.

I appreciate your time and hope this little tutorial was helpful.