If you’re unfamiliar with Dungeons & Dragons, or just don’t know the intricacies of the Cleric class, they get a spell called “Divine Intervention” once they reach level 10. Your Cleric can call upon the help of their god, and inBaldur’s Gate 3, do one of four things.
One option is Opulent Revival, which resurrects fallen companions with half their Hit Points and gives all nearby allies the effects of a Long Rest. One is Arm Thy Servant, which grants you a legendary weapon. One is Golden Generosity, which spawns a chest containing a bounty of potions and camp supplies. And the last is Sunder The Heretical, which deals radiant damage to all enemies within a certain range.
I didn’t know this, so when I noticed it in Shadowheart’s available spells, I was obviously intrigued. It feels like the kind of incredibly overpowered spell that you use in boss battles, but here’s the kicker: you can only use it once, then never again. I figured it would be a useful tool for the absolute final boss fight the game had to offer me. And then I found out that I was wrong.
I’m talking about Shadowheart’s arc now, so click away if you haven’t finished it yet.
If you’ve played enough of Baldur’s Gate 3 and pursued Shadowheart’s arc in a way that encourages her to turn away from Shar, you’ll know the battle I’m talking about. In the game’s second act, with enough luck or save scumming, Shadowheart will betray her goddess and instead become a Cleric of Selune. Along the way, she also discovers that her parents were Selunites and not only was she stolen from them by the Sharrans, but they have been held captive by Shar this entire time.
Upon returning to Baldur’s Gate, she’ll want to go to the House of Grief to confront the Sharrans and reclaim her parents. Obviously, the Sharran Mother Superior doesn’t want that, and she also wants you to hand Shadowheart over to her. Refuse, and you end up fighting a whole room of Sharrans. It’s a very tough battle, because there are alotof enemies and they continually cast Darkness on your party, which Sharrans are immune to.
I started over many times, got frustrated, and left the game untouched for a week so I could gather my resolve. I was worried that I’d never be able to win this battle. And then I dove back in, clicked around in my inventory and spells to see if there was anything that could be helpful to me, and remembered Shadowheart had Divine Intervention.
Pro tip: don’t be like me andrefuse to switch combat strategies till the last act.
There are two reasons I believe Divine Intervention is not just well-suited, but intended for this battle. One is that gameplay-wise, it makes complete sense. During the combat sequence, the Sharrans converge on your party and swarm you, blinding everyone with Darkness and crowding each character so that there’s no getting out of the dark clouds without getting hit. The easiest way to get out of this is by using area of effect attacks to wipe out as many enemies as possible in one go, but the fight starts with the Sharrans fairly spread out, so it’s hard to do this effectively.
But Divine Intervention will affectallenemies in a 15 meter radius with 8d10 Radiant damage, which means almost every Sharran in the room will get hit. And – this is the crucial part – Sharrans are vulnerable to Radiant damage. With one spell and a high enough initiative roll, Shadowheart can kill or severely injure almost every enemy in the room. It’s easy enough to pick off the rest after.
The second reason is that it’s not just narratively compelling, it’s the perfect ending to her arc. Just think about it: Shadowheart, betrayed by her goddess, enraged at the secrets that have been kept from her and the years of manipulation she’s endured, faces her lifelong oppressor in the place where she was subjugated for decades. She’s turned to Selune, the goddess of the moon, the eternal enemy of the goddess that demanded her abuse. Face to face with the Mother Superior, she calls on Selune to destroy the people who stole her life from her, and in doing so, takes a few steps towards reclaiming her agency and her life. I’d say the story writes itself, but it’s so perfect that I’m convinced it was intentional.
With these reasons in combination, I find it hard to imagine that Iwasn’tmeant to use Divine Intervention here. Every factor pointed me towards it – the level’s difficulty, the story, even the design of the fight. It’s hard to imagine I’ll find an opportunity to use it that’s as perfect as this one, but I don’t think it would matter even if I did, because it felt completely right. Baldur’s Gate 3 is about finding your own path within the nebulous bounds of the game, but it’s about your companions finding their paths, too. I’m glad that I chose to use this spell here, because it represents Shadowheart finding her own way, and choosing to pursue what’s right for her instead of what’s foisted on her. What could be more beautiful than that?
Baldur’s Gate 3
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Baldur’s Gate 3 is the long-awaited next chapter in the Dungeons & Dragons-based series of RPGs. Developed by Divinity creator Larian Studios, it puts you in the middle of a mind flayer invasion of Faerûn, over a century after the events of its predecessor.
