Quick Links
Your resident cleric inBaldur’s Gate 3, Shadowheart, has come a long way from the grumpy, prickly girl you met on the beach in Act One. Whether you’ve followed the dark path of Shar or the light of Selune, your adventure will lead you to the place where all roads lead: Baldur’s Gate.
Nestled within this bustling city is the secret cloister of Shar’s most faithful and the secrets of Shadowheart’s past. Though the House of Grief knows the sorrows of the people of the city, with Shadowheart in your company, you may come to deliver grief to its inhabitants personally.
Updated July 22, 2025, by Sean Murray:If you’re looking for the House of Grief in BG3, this guide will tell you where to look and what to do once you get there. We’ve also updated it with improved formatting and more links to other helpful Baldur’s Gate 3 topics.
Where To Find And How To Enter The House Of Grief
Don’t Forget To Bring Shadowheart
The House of Grief is on thefar northwestern side of the Lower Cityof Baldur’s Gate, further westward than the Baldur’s Gate Waypoint and entrance into the Upper City. You’ll have tocross a small bridgeto the humble building on the city’s outskirts.
Traverse up a set of stairsinto a richly clad, crimson room where a blonde elf is standing behind the counter.
For the House of Grief, we cannot stress enough the importance ofbringing Shadowheart with you.
Speak with the elf, Mirie, and demand to be let through. She’ll tell you to submit to the mapping.
When your dialogue ends, take her cue andwalk into the back room,where you’ll find an empty space with a marble bench.Sit on the benchwith whomever you wish.
An Inquirer of Grief will appear. Shadowheart will be a key part of this conversation, soallow her to “Go ahead"and speak with the woman on the bench.
After a conversation that reveals the inquisitor to beViconia, the Mother Superior, a door will open.Interact with the doorto enter the Cloister of Shar’s Embrace.
Descend past the doorson either side of the next room for now (there will be keys later) andto the very bottom of the stairs,where you’ll encounter Viconia on the other side of the grand door.
You may need to wait for the dwarf to open the doorfor you, as going ahead of him will make the door impassable.
Choices You Can Make In The House Of Grief: Encountering Viconia
The Consequences Of Your Actions
Depending on the path your Shadowhearthas taken, your encounter with Viconia will differ greatly.
In the case ofShadowheart’s Shar path, this fight is a cakewalk. You canapply the tips in the fight section of this guide liberallyas needed, though you should not suffer much with as many as ten or more allies against Viconia’s five.
Shadowheart’s Selune path,however, takesno small amount of persistence and strategy.
However, there isa third option. Instead of facing Viconia, you can decide to side with her andbetray Shadowheart.When prompted, hand over Shadowheart to Viconia.
This will cause you tocompletely avoid the encounterand have Lady Shar’s faithful join you as allies in the fight against the Elder Brain. The downside is thatShadowheart will permanently leave your group.
124
20
9m
Large/400kg (Monstrosity)
18 (+4)
19 (+4)
10 (0)
17 (+3)
16 (+3)
Feats And Conditions
Viconia regains 7-56HP each time she uses Channel Divinity.
Born Into Darkness
Viconia is immune to being Blinded and can see through magical and non-magical darkness.
Viconia can see 12m in the dark.
Fey Ancestry
Viconia cannot be put to sleep against her will by magical means or Charmed.
Advantage on Saving Throws against spells and magical effects.
Shadow Ambush
Viconia deals an additional 4-32 Necrotic damage when she attacks from shadows.
Sunlight Sensitivity
Viconia has Disadvantage on Perception and Attack Rolls that rely on sight.
Deals 1d12 + 4 Psychic damage to a target.
Divine Intervention: Sunder the Heretical
Deals 8d10 Radiant damage to all enemies within sight on a failed Wisdom save (or half as much on a success).
Channel Divinity: Cloak of Shadows
Viconia becomes Invisible. She gains Advantage on Attack Rolls while imposing Disadvantage on enemy Attack Rolls.
Hunter’s Mark
Viconia can cast Hunter’s Mark and deal an extra 1d6 Slashing damage on a weapon attack.
+11 to hit; 5ft. Deals 2d10 + 7 Slashing damage.
Handmaiden’s Mace
Very rare mace. +2 Enchantment. Increases wearer’s Strength to 18.+11 to hit; 5ft. Deals 1d6 + 4 Bludgeoning + 1d6 Poison damage.
Divine Strike: Poison
Viconia can add 1d8 Poison damage to a strike with her melee weapon.
The first important detail to know about Viconia is that shereflects Radiant damage backagainst the party anddeals it at twice its original value, making this fight especially dangerous for clerics.
With the addition of the disciples’spam-use ofChill TouchandDarkness,healing isn’t easy either. Clerics and paladins, in general, may feel useless in this fight at times. Keeping Shadowheart alive as a cleric will be a struggle.
For this fight, wehighly recommend bringing at least one spellcaster with large area attackslike:
They should also bringCounterspell.
Spells likeDarkness,Hunger of Hadar,Fog Cloud, or any effects that can inflict Blindness see highly-reduced usage here asViconia and her followers are all immune to the Blindness condition.
The rest of your party is up to your flavor and discretion, though we do recommendensuring that any party members with Radiant-damage weapons stay away from Viconia.
The other Sharrans are Vulnerable to Radiant damage. As such, you shouldn’t put your Radiant weapons away, but instead, be smart about who you target and your reactions and plan to have substitute weapons to switch to later when fighting Viconia.
As you approach Viconia to speak with her,separate your spellcaster just before reaching the dialogue zoneto ensure yourspellcaster is up high on the stairsand not stuck in the danger zone with the rest of the group.
When the battle begins, you’ll want totry and spread out your partyfrom the bottom of the steps as much and as safely as possible (Misty Stepis great for this). Theenemies will spam Darknesson any group you have, rendering it not within your best interests to stay.
When it is your spellcaster’s turn, we recommendstarting your first turn with Ice Storm.This will both take out your enemies and also create a Difficult Terrain that could knock them Prone or, at the very least, slow down their movement.
If you haveIce Storm, we recommend your spellcasterwear theSnowburst Ring. This will cause your Difficult Terrain area to expand greatly.
For this fight, you’ll want tofocus on everyone except Viconia.Their spamming of Darkness and Beckoning Darkness will deal the most damage to you in the early rounds. Bone Chill provides an extra layer of complication.
Additionally, the high-levelJusticiars do a much higher average of damage.Viconia, as long as youdo not empty her first health bar, will be in the far less threatening form of her wolf.
Use your spellcaster to run crowd-controlon the weaker enemies while yourremaining party focuses on the high-level Justiciars.
This will be a long and grueling fight. Thebest strategieshere will be those that:
Only once all Sharrans are defeatedshould you attempt to strike Viconia. She does not resist any damage, soattack her with anything that is not Radiant.
Once her wolf form is defeated, she’llrevert to her humanoid figure.She’ll have everything at her disposal thata Trickster Clericwould. Therefore, hermost dangerous action is Sunder the Heretical.
When she uses Sunder the Heretical, you’ll likely lose half or more of your party.Having potions or, if your healer(s) survives, healing spells will be key here.With all the other Sharrans gone, Bone Chill will likely not be an issue (if so, only for one round).
To instigate a Disadvantage on her melee attacks, you canuse spells likeDaylight. This will take advantage of her Sunlight Sensitivity.
After you’ve survived her Sunder the Heretical,she’ll begin using Channel Divinityin an attempt to go Invisible while recovering health. you’re able to undo this with:
What To Do With Viconia
And How To Get The Legendary Shield: Viconia’s Walking Fortress
Once you defeat Viconia, you mustspeak with her. You’ll begranted a few choices:
If youspare Viconia, you willnot be given any of her items,a large loss in loot and the key you will want to reach the back room.
It does not matter who kills Viconia, if that is your choice.Killing her will grant you a few keys and her legendary shield,Viconia’s Walking Fortress.
Viconia’s Walking Fortress:+3 AC Legendary Shield. Grants Reflective Shell and Warding Bond Actions. Wearer gains Advantage on Saving Throws against spells and spell attacks. When the wearer is hit with a melee attack, they can use their reaction to deal 2d4 Force damage and knock the enemy Prone on a failed Dexterity Saving Throw.
What To Do With Arnell And Emmeline Hallowleaf
To Kill Or To Save Shadowheart’s Parents
This section contains heavy spoilers for Shadowheart’s dual questlines. Proceed at your own peril!As you finish the fight with Viconia,use her key to open the large door in the back of the room(the west side up the stairs and behind the Shar offering statue).
Once you enter the next room,descend the stairsto reach Shadowheart’s parents hanging from two magical disks. Approach andinteract with themwhile Shadowheart is in your party.
What To Do With The Mirror Of Loss
A Little Work Gets You A Permanent +2 Stat Bonus
The Mirror Of Loss isin the farthest section of the House of Grief.It is behind the location of Arnell and Emmeline Hallowleaf and down the stairs.
This large, purple device can only be used witha high enough Religion (DC20) and Arcana (DC25) check.Both must succeed. Otherwise, you will not receive any bonuses from the mirror.
After the mirror has been unlocked and its purpose determined, you cangive up two points in one stat to gain two points in another.Although this does not seem like a great deal,the penalty to your stat is a curseandcan be removed by the spellRemove Curse.
As a result, you can gaina permanent +2 stat bonus to any stat of your choicewith no consequence.
Where To Find Nocturne
Enter The Dormitory
There areonly two rooms worth notingwithin the House of Grief for their contents (although each room will have special dialogue with Shadowheart you may wish to see):
The Dormitory is on thenorth side of the central chamber(where you encounter Viconia) behindtwo large, wooden doors.Open them, and you’ll find Nocturne, Shadowheart’s childhood friend, inside.
Regardless of which path you have taken, Nocturne is anon-hostile NPC.you may choose to eliminate her regardless, butshe is a traderand canfill Shadowheart in on her lost memories.
If you killed Viconiaand the rest of the cult,Nocturne will leave permanentlyafter your next long rest. This means long-resting after Viconia is dead, but before you speak to Nocturne results in missing her entirely.
After speaking with Nocturne, you cango to the back of the room and unlock Viconia’s chest,as well asbrowse her bookshelvesfor important books about Shadowheart. Inside Viconia’s chest, you can always find akey to her vault in the Counting House.
The Counting House Vault belonging to Viconia isin the lower section.To access it easily, we recommend youfollow the Minsc questline.
Where To Find Night Orchid Cave
Behind The Barricade
A hiding place precious to Shadowheart and mentioned by Nocturne - you can findNight Orchid Cave in the southeastern roomof the Shar Cloister’s central chamber.
You should noticea wooden barricade on the wall.Use your weapon to break it open anddiscover a ladder. Climb it.
Inside this cave, the only items of note here arethe night orchids. Bringing Shadowheart here willunlockspecial dialoguein passing, in conversation with Shadowheart, and in conversation with Nocturne.
We recommendpicking all the night orchidshere.Give one to Shadowheart- platonically or romantically. This will instigate special dialogue as well asunlock the special achievement: “To Bloom in the Darkest Night.”
Note thatthis can be done with any night orchid in the game, as early as Act One, as long as you’ve had the dialogue in which Shadowheart reveals it as her favorite flower.
Baldur’s Gate 3
WHERE TO PLAY
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.
