How to Get to the House of Grief

This is a guide on how to get to the House of Grief in Baldur's Gate 3 (BG3). Learn how this is connected to Shadowheart's quest and what happens within its Cloister of Sombre Embrace.

Side Quest Details

Journal Entry
Daughter of Darkness
Recommended Level	Lv. 10
Result	Find Shadowheart's Parents
Location
House of Grief (Lower City) X: -259, Y: -9

Baldur's Gate 3 Related Guides

Get to the Lower City

Wyrm's Rock Fortress Location
Rivington (Wyrm's Crossing) X: 3, Y: 161

You will need access to Wyrm's Rock Fortress to get to the Lower City.

The House of Grief can only be accessed through Lower City of Baldur's Gate in Act 3.

When you are at Wyrm's Crossings, you will have to find a way past the Wyrm's Rock Fortress. Head over to the drawbridge and start looking for options on how to get across from there.

Once you are past the Wyrm's Rock Fortress, head north to get to the entrance of the Lower City.

How to Get to Wyrm's Rock Fortress

Head to the House of Grief

House of Grief Location
Lower City X: -259, Y: -9

The House of Grief can be found to the northwest of the Baldur's Gate waypoint. If you are coming into the Lower City the Wyrm's Rock Fortress, it is a long trek to the far west.

The house's entrance is through the veranda. Enter the house to meet the Attendant of Grief Mirie who ask you to undergo submitting a Mapping of the Heart within the house. This will progress the quest of Shadowheart if she is in your party.

Enter the Cloister of Sombre Embrace

Have Shadowheart with You

If you have Shadowheart with you, Mirie should be able to give you access to the Mapping of the Heart room without requiring you to pay 1000 gold.

Proceed into to the room and have Shadowheart sit on the bench. A cutscene will trigger. Proceed with any dialogue choice and eventually Viconia DeVir, Shadowheart's mother superior, will grant you access to the Cloister of Sombre Embrace by revealing a hidden passage.

Investigate the Entrance Button

If you do not have Shadowheart with you, you will have to pay 1000 gold to get safe access to the Mapping of the Heart room. Complete the dialogue with Viconia DeVir as usual, and she will ask you to return with Shadowheart.

Needing Shadowheart to enter can be bypassed by succeeding an Investigation Check at the corner of the room. This will reveal a button that opens the passage into the Cloister of Sombre Embrace.

Explore the Entrance

Report on Activities of Enver Gortash
Cloister of Sombre Embrace (House of Grief) X: -329, Y: -1597

Before you head deeper in the Cloister of Sombre Embrace, you will want to explore some of the locked rooms nearby first: Infiltration Training and Interrogation Training rooms. If Shadowheart is in your party, she will discuss a bit history about herself in these rooms.

These rooms can be explored for loot. But one valuable item you want to catch is the Report on the Activities of Enver Gortash inside the Infiltration Training Room, as this will give you info in getting Helsik at the Devil's Fee to talk about entering the House of Hope.

How to Get to the House of Hope

Meet Viconia DeVir

Viconia DeVir Location
Cloister of Sombre Embrace (House of Grief) X: -398, Y: -1650

Viconia DeVir is the mother supreme of the Shar sect within the House of Grief, and is responsible for orchestrating Shadowheart's kidnapping and raising her to be an agent of Shar. She can be found at the center of the Cloister.

Talking to her will initiate dialogue options regarding the artefact that protects you from the Mind Flayers. You can choose to side with them in getting them as allies for the final battle, or defeat them to progress Shadowheart's story in finding her parents.

Should You Give Shadowheart to Viconia?

Shadowheart-Viconia Encounter Outcomes
Give Shadowheart Concludes Shadowheart's questline. Lose her as a companion.	Refuse Viconia DeVir Triggers battle. Progress Shadowheart's questline. Meet her parents.

There are two known outcomes in the encounter with Viconia DeVir and Shadowheart. You can either give her to Viconia or refuse.

Giving Shadowheart will end her questline here and she will leave your party permanently (this will cause disapproval among party members) in exchange for having Viconia's army as allies.

Refusing to give Shadowheart will trigger a battle with every enemy in the room, but you will able to progress her story in finding her parents.

Persuade Viconia DeVir as an Ally

Persuading Viconia DeVir is an option only available when:

• You do not have Shadowheart in your active party (either she is in camp or unavailable).
• You told Viconia that Shadowheart is dead (even if she is alive).

Succeeding in her persuasion (DC30) of asking her to spare you will cause her to be neutral to you instead of hostile. She will also agree to assist you in the final battle.

Note that this does not grant you entry into the Chamber of Loss where Shadowheart's parents reside, and unlocking the door to the chamber will cause all of them in the area to fight you.

Talking to Viconia with Shadowheart after succeeding the persuasion will still trigger the normal story encounter to offer or refuse giving Shadowheart to her.

Defeat Viconia DeVir

Recommended Attacks and Spells
Divine Smite	Spirit Guardians
Spiritual Weapon	Silence
Guardian of Faith	Hold Person
Daylight	-
Cheese Option
Alternatively, you can defeat Viconia DeVir safely without causing aggro by having a character initiate the talk with her then switching to another character and attacking her through Character Select at the bottom-left during the conversation. Progress will proceed normally as if she was defeated by battle.

Above are suggested actions for the fight. The optional cheese option above may be possible until a new patch is fixed.

When choosing to initiate combat with Viconia DeVir, it is recommended that you have weapons that deal Radiant Damage since they are all generally weak to such element.

This fight can be difficulty due to the overwhelming amount of enemies in the room. Viconia is capable of stalling due to her ability to heal. It recommended that you stall her first hwith spells such as Hold Person, and then proceed to sweep majority of the enemies with area of effect and crowd control moves before going back to deal with Viconia.

Daylight or a similar spell is a good option for clearing up the Darkness spell caused by enemies. Darkness will hinder you from using ranged attacks and spells.

Find Shadowheart's Parents

Shadowheart's Parents
Chamber of Loss (Cloister of Sombre Embrace) X: -451, Y: -1651

Once you have defeated Viconia DeVir, you can attempt to open the Threshold of Loss door behind her safely which leads to the chamber where Shadowheart's parents reside.

Either you must choose to lockpick (DC30) the door, or choose to sacrifice items of worth at the altar located in front of it.

Unlock the Chamber of Loss

Tested Offerings
12x Iron Ingots 3x Plate Armour
Rare or magical items are optional here. You may only want to part with items you do not need.

Above are some offerings you can make to the altar to unlock the Threshold of Loss door.

If you do not choose to brutally lockpick the Threshold of Loss door, you can place several items on the altar to unlock. A Black Diamond will be present on the altar which you can choose to take (this is an item that can help with opening the portal to the House of Hope).

Note that all offered items will be lost once the door has been unlocked.

It has been observed that the more valuable the item in gold, the lower the altar descends to open the door. You will want to part with items that you do not need, such as unused armor, weapons, or highly-priced items like ingots.

Decide Her Parent's Fate

Shadowheart's parents can only be talked to if Shadowheart is present as an active party member. This will initiate a dialogue and a cutscene revealing Shar's intentions with Shadowheart and her parents. From this point, you can suggest a decision to her, or have her decide on the fate of her parents.

Killing her parents while Shadowheart is nearby will conclude her questline and cause her to become permanently hostile to you. If Shadowheart is not nearby when this happens, talking to her back at camp after a Long Rest will cause her give you her belongings and leave your camp without a fight.

Without Shadowheart, the only known available option would be to kill her parents yourself, which leads to the same conclusion mentione above.

Interact with the Mirror of Loss

The Mirror of Loss is a special object that can be found in the chamber (it is not required for any quest). What it does is that is that it allows you to:

• Offer a memory to get a permanent -2 in a choice Ability Score aligned with the dialogue option's theme (apears as Stolen Vigour under a character's Conditions). You must pass an Arcane Check for this.
• Offer a prayer (Religion DC25) to gain a +2 in a choice Ability Score (must have offered a memory first.)
• If a character has the Forbidden Knowledge from the Necromancy of Thay, that can be offered up to the mirror for a +2 stat increase.

The Stolen Vigour can be removed through the Remove Curse spell. This leaves you with the beneficial +2 stat if you successfully offered a prayer.

Baldur's Gate 3 Related Guides

List of All Side Quests

Prologue Side Quests

All Prologue Side Quests
How to Free the Intellect Devourer	How to Free Shadowheart

Act 1 Side Quests

Druid's Grove Quests

Druid Grove Quests
How to Steal the Sacred Idol	Should You Save The Goblin Sazza?	How to Avoid Tiefling Pickpockets
Save the Refugees	How to Save Nadira	How to Save Mirkon
How to Save the First Druid Halsin	How to Open the Stone Slab	Request Help from Nettie
How to Investigate and Expose Kagha	Save Arabella	-

The Risen Road Quests

The Risen Road Quests
Find the Missing Shipment	How to Rescue the Grand Duke
Rescue the Trapped Man	How to Free Oskar Fevras

Blighted Village Quests

Blighted Village Quests
How to Beat the Goblins: Blighted Village	How to Open the Necromancy of Thay	How to Recruit the Ogres
How to Finish the Masterwork Weapon	That Barn: Avoid Killing Buthir	Rescue the Gnome and Stop the Windmill

Goblin Camp Quests

Goblin Camp Quests
How to Get Volo's Ersatz Eye	Defiled Temple Puzzle
Find the Nightsong	Ask the Goblin Priestess for Help

Nautiloid Crash Region Quests

Nautiloid Crash Region Quests
Dank Crypt Guide	The Dying Mind Flayer	Auntie Ethel Quest Guide
How to Get Owlbear Cub	Spiderling Nest Guide-	How to Open the Selunite Chest
How to Get Scratch	Should You Heal Pandirna	Underground Passage Guide

Underdark Quests

Underdark Quests
Arcane Tower Guide	Defeat the Duergar Intruders	Save the Grymforge Gnomes
Find the Adamantine Forge	Deliver Nere's Head	How to Find the Mushroom Picker
How to Cure the Poisoned Gnome	Help the Cursed Monk	Omeluum Location

Mountain Pass Quests

Mountain Pass Quests
Steal a Githyanki Egg	How to Beat Gremishkas	How to Access Guardian of Faith Room
Dawnmaster Puzzle Guide	Where to Find the Githyanki Creche	-

This section is currently under construction. Check back later for updates!

Act 2 Side Quests

Last Light Inn Quests

Last Light Inn Quests
Seek Protection from the Shadow Curse	Rescue the Tieflings	Rescue Wulbren
How to Lift the Shadow Curse: Where to Find Thaniel	Find Zevlor	Help He Who Was
Investigate the Selûnite Resistance	-	-

Gauntlet of Shar Quests

Gauntlet of Shar Quests
Gauntlet of Shar: All Trials and Umbral Gems	Kill Raphael's Old Enemy

Mind Flayer Colony Quests

Mind Flayer Colony Quests
How to Solve the Necrotic Laboratory

Act 3 Side Quests

Rivington Quests

Rivington Quests
Investigate the Suspicious Toys	Solve the Open Hand Temple Murders	Find the Missing Letters
How to Get to Wyrm's Rock Fortress	How to Find Dribbles the Clown	-

Lower City Quests

Lower City Quests
How to Get to the House of Hope	How to Get to Cazador's Palace	Rescue Orin's Victim
Aid the Underduke	How to Get to the House of Grief	Investigate the Murders