Man, lemme tell you, Act 3 hits different. You think you’ve seen it all, but then you walk into the Sharran Cloister, and it’s time to face Viconia DeVir. Everyone freaks out about this choice, and I was no different. Do you let Shadowheart take the dive, making her a full Dark Justiciar, or do you stand with her and put Viconia down, pushing for the redemption arc? It ain’t just a boss fight; it’s basically choosing your pal’s whole life path, and it affects so much more than just a piece of loot.

My Initial Path and The Temptation of Easy Loot

You gotta understand, going into Act 3, I was ready to commit. My first intent, like everyone who reads the quick guides online, was to go full nasty. I wanted the nasty armor, the edgy dialogue, and honestly, I wanted to see Shadowheart fully embrace the dark side and stick it to the whole Selûnite church. I saw the setup: Viconia is old, she’s arrogant, and she’s holding the whole Sharran operation together in the city. Killing her seemed like the cleanest way to guarantee the dark path, make Shadowheart feel strong, grab the sweet Dark Justiciar Half-Plate, and move on with the plot.

I was already rocking an evil-ish run overall. I had made some sketchy decisions already—maybe a few too many people got pushed off cliffs—so a final plunge into evil for Shadowheart felt narratively satisfying to me. I spent maybe a whole afternoon just thinking about team composition for this specific fight. I loaded up on consumables, put on all my best gear, and got Lae’zel and Karlach ready to charge in. I was committed to the bloodbath.

Why I Didn’t Stick to the Plan (The Real Battle)

I was all set, walking up to the final door inside the Cloister, ready to initiate the cinematic, ready to drop some Divine Smite or whatever on Viconia’s head. But see, my wife was watching the playthrough. She doesn’t usually care about the mechanics or my builds, but she had grown kinda attached to Shadowheart’s redemption arc from the end of Act 2. She was literally sitting next to me on the couch, drinking coffee, and when Shadowheart started talking about vengeance, Shar, and killing her parents/Viconia, my wife just snapped.

“You are NOT doing this to her,” she said, setting her mug down hard. I tried to argue. I said, “Babe, it’s just a game. The dark armor looks cooler! It’s better AC!”

She stared me down. “That woman literally just found out her parents are probably okay, and you’re going to push her back into a death cult because of a helmet? You will load the save. Now. If you do that, I’m watching the rest of the game alone.”

This is why I know what I know. Sometimes the real toughest decision isn’t in the dialogue box, it’s coming from the person next to you. The pressure was intense. I had to ditch my beautifully planned evil run, purely for the sake of couch peace.

The Reloading Grind and The Forced Comparison

I’m a save scummer, I admit it. But this time, it was personal. I reloaded my save right before the final door, and I ran the confrontation two different ways, purely because of the real-life pressure. The fight against Viconia and the Sharrans is a slog either way you cut it. You’ve got half the cultists jumping in, Viconia is tough as nails, and those big dogs are just annoying with their movement.

• Path One (My Intent: Kill Viconia): I forced Shadowheart to accept Shar and stab Viconia. It was fast. The specific loot dropped immediately: the Dark Justiciar Half-Plate and the legendary artifact. Sweet, sweet gear. Shart was happy, but in a totally cold, creepy way. I got what I wanted, but the conversation after felt empty, not triumphant. I had also just guaranteed two weeks of cold shoulder from my wife.
• Path Two (The Wife’s Mandate: Spare Viconia): This was the truly tough combat decision. I had Shadowheart reject Shar completely. Viconia is PISSED. She calls Shadowheart a pathetic fool. She doesn’t just retreat; she initiates the fight, and she brings the entire convent down on your head. The battle is significantly harder because you have to fight Viconia’s full team and Viconia herself, who is still a beast. We barely scraped by, using everything we had left. I lost a few high-level spell slots, but when Shart walked out into the light, she looked relieved, and my wife finally stopped side-eyeing the screen.

The numbers don’t lie. Killing Viconia is the easiest route to specific gear and the ‘evil’ Shart ending. Sparing her, or taking her on after Shart rejects Shar, is the morally easier route but the mechanically much harder fight. I missed out on the cool armor, yeah, and some nasty dark magic items Viconia drops only if you kill her right there.

So, should you kill her now or later? The game says “now” for the specific loot you can grab off the body immediately. My sanity, thanks to an accidental co-op partner, screamed “later”—leading to a much harder fight but a quieter couch and a morally upright companion. Trust me, load up the save and try both. See what your conscience (or your housemate) tells you. I kept the lighter path, because sometimes avoiding a real-life boss fight is more important than in-game legendary loot.