Despite its global acclaim, there are some players who just could not gel with Baldur’s Gate 3. There are a number of reasons why this may happen – the overwhelming scope of the world, the absolute freedom of doing whatever you want, or simply not understanding the mechanics. However, one of the most common reasons we’ve heard is the combat.
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I’ll be honest, I play Baldur’s Gate 3 on the easiest setting, as, for me, the game is about so much more than the turn-based combat. The exploration, decision-making, and various secrets are more important and intriguing than combat. And, it’s one of the reasons that many players who have fallen off the game have cited. This is also partly thanks to Shadowheart.
Why Does Shadowheart Keep Missing?
In the early stages of the game, where your characters aren’t levelled up, you’ll notice that you may whiff a lot of attacks, especially when you cast Fire Bolt with Shadowheart. It’s one of her earliest cantrips, and you’d think it would be the best one to use, but her aim is worse than that of a Stormtrooper.
Fed up with her terrible aim, some fans have broken down the reason she’s so bad at casting it in the early game. Replying to a frustrated post on Reddit by megakaos888, user SarcasticKenobi explained why she’s so bad at combat in act one.
They firstly explained that her cantrips, dictated by race and class, are just plain bad. Sacred Flame is based on a dexterity saving throw, which misses if the enemy makes a successful saving throw. This is compounded by the fact that enemies in Act 1 have high enough Dexterity to keep passing the saving throw.
In the case of Fire Bolt, the cantrip uses Intelligence, and Shadowheart unfortunately lacks the stat heavily in the beginning, making it miss most of the time. They also explained that since you cannot change out her Fire Bolt cantrip due to her race, you’ll pretty much have to grind through it until you her up some more.
My advice: Drop the difficulty if this is your first playthrough, and if combat is the reason you’re hitting a wall in Baldur’s Gate 3. It does not take anything away from the game. You can ramp it up at any point in your playthrough, or on subsequent playthroughs. Trust me, combat is the last thing that should make you want to stop playing the game.
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.