Baldur’s Gate 3 mod restores cut Shadowheart and Shar content

Baldur’s Gate 3 players are discovering cut content concerning Shadowheart and her dark goddess Shar thanks to a mod that shows what could have been.

While Larian Studios’ massive RPG won’t be getting official modding tools until Patch 7 releases later this year, modders have been playing around with the game since launch, with popular options increasing the party limit and level cap.

Other mods attempt to restore cut content that can be found within the game such as OddCoward’s Shar Deity (With Restored Cut Dialogue) mod.

As its title indicates, this mod allows players to choose Shar as their deity – an option that was available in early access but was cut before release – and incorporates normally inaccessible content that mostly concerns the main character’s interactions with the Sharran Cleric companion Shadowheart.

One Reddit user documented their experience with the mod in a post that lists all the new interactions, which they say “changes [the gameplay experience] quite a lot.”

Larian Studios

The player was inspired to try the mod after playing as a Selunite and was intrigued by Shadowheart’s reactions to a Tav who worshipped her goddess’ bitter rival. This made them curious about Shadowheart’s response to a Tav who shared her deity.

Unsurprisingly, most of the cut content comes from Act 2, which includes most of Shadowheart’s major character moments and the infamous Gauntlet of Shar.

This includes a line questioning why only Shadowheart gets protection in the Shadow-Cursed Lands when they both worship Shar, NPC interactions that are normally exclusive to a Shadowheart Origin run, and the Narrator saying “it beckons you in, welcoming you home” when entering the Shadowfell.

Other highlights are Shadowheart trusting the player sooner and talking about “how she pray[s] and how would she deal with people who don’t have faith in Shar” after she reveals who she worships in Act 1. There are also some changes to the decision regarding her parents in Act 3, which the poster does not spoil.

Many commenters on the post were intrigued by the content and wished Shar had remained an option – as well as other deities cut after early access like Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul.

However, others pointed out a pretty compelling reason for cutting the content: It overlaps quite a bit with Shadowheart’s storyline. As one commenter put it, “So … It’s like Shadowheart origin but missing some?”

While the restored Shar content does have some interesting implications for the player character’s relationship with Shadowheart, it seems Baldur’s Gate 3 players who don’t use mods can get a pretty similar experience from a Shadowheart Origin run.