Building characters is one of the best parts of Dungeons & Dragons, and that’s true in Baldur’s Gate 3 as well. One of the biggest decisions you need to make is which Feats to assign your party members, as they can totally change the way they play.
Clerics like Shadowheart in Baldur’s Gate 3 have to serve multiple roles. They protect the party with buffs, heal any damage taken in combat, and bring the pain to enemies. That means they can benefit from Feats that enhance very different aspects of their character, rather than stacking Feats that target one action.
The Best Feats for Shadowheart in Baldur’s Gate 3
Every class in Baldur’s Gate 3 can benefit from Ability Improvement, and Clerics can potentially get two benefits from it. Since Shadowheart’s healing and damage are both tied to Wisdom, a buff to that stat can make her more deadly by boosting the damage her spells deal enemies while increasing how much she can heal allies.
Even if you take Ability Improvement, you’ll still have two more Feats to play with. Here are our favorite Feats for Shadowheart in Baldur’s Gate 3:
- Mobile - Mobile is an easy Feat to overlook, but it can make Shadowheart better at everything she does. This Feat increases your movement speed, negates the penalty for moving through difficult terrain when you Dash, and prevents enemies from taking Opportunity Attacks against you after you make a melee attack. Put all that together, and Mobile helps Shadowheart reach distant allies for healing spells, hit more enemies with Spirit Guardians, and duck out of danger.
- Tough - You can’t heal your party if you’ve already been knocked out. Tough increases your maximum hit points by two for every level-up, which can help keep Shadowheart on her feet longer.
- War Caster - Keeping buffs on party members is essential to Clerics, and this Feat helps you do that. War Caster grants advantage on saving throws to maintain concentration when you’re hit, and since Shadowheart is best when she’s in the thick of combat, you’ll likely be making a lot of these saves.
- Shield Master - Giving your Cleric a shield is always a good idea, and Shield Master makes it even better. It grants a +2 bonus to Dexterity saving throws while you have a shield and prevents all damage if you pass a Dexterity saving throw against a spell while cutting damage in half if you fail. Like the Tough Feat, this is an easy pick for keeping Shadowheart alive longer.
- Spell Sniper - Between buffs, heals, and attack spells, Shadowheart gobbles up spell slots. Spell Sniper gives you one free cantrip to work with and makes spell attack rolls of 19 count as critical hits. That way, you have one more option when you’re out of spell slots, and you can get more damage out of your attacks.
One of the most solid builds you can make for Shadowheart would be to take Mobile, Tough or Shield Master, and War Caster. That will ensure you can move in and out of combat while staying on your feet and keeping buffs on the party. If you’re using Shadowheart at range rather than as a tank, you can replace Tough with Spell Sniper.
For a less typical build, there are still a few good Feats that can help you meet specific challenges with Shadowheart:
- Alert - If you find yourself getting ambushed a lot because of your Cleric’s clanky armor, Alert can help prevent that. But more importantly, it gives a +5 bonus to initiative, meaning Shadowheart is more likely to act first, so you can buff your party in the first turn of combat or top up the health of anyone who’s hurt.
- Dungeon Delver - Shadowheart’s Wisdom improves her Perception skill, making her great at spotting traps. Dungeon Delver grants advantage on checks to detect hidden objects, meaning you’ll have one more chance to avoid walking into poison gas if her first roll fails.
- Heavily Armored - By default, Shadowheart doesn’t have heavy armor proficiency, but if you change her Domain, you may get access to it. Otherwise, Heavily Armored will grant you proficiency and increase your Strength by 1. If you’re using Shadowheart as your tank and really having trouble keeping her alive, this Feat will certainly help.
- Sentinel - While it’s probably better used on a Fighter with Polearm Mastery, Sentinel can still be a good choice for tanky Clerics. It lets you make Opportunity Attacks with advantage and prevents enemies from moving if you hit them. That means you can position Shadowheart to intercept melee attackers before they reach allies, giving her one more way to protect the party from harm.
