Highlights

  • Baldur's Gate 3 presents players with moral choices throughout its narrative, including whether to spare or kill certain characters. Factors to consider include ethics, moral compasses, innocence/villainy, and the benefits to the player and their party.
  • Viconia in Baldur's Gate 3 is different from her previous versions and has gone down a dark path. Players shouldn't feel nostalgic or bad about killing her as she has used and abused others.
  • Killing Viconia in Baldur's Gate 3 results in valuable loot, including the legendary shield, Viconia's Walking Fortress, which many consider to be the best shield in the game. However, sparing her has consequences for Oath of Vengeance Paladins.

Baldur's Gate 3 presents players with many moral conundrums during its lengthy narrative. These can come in the form of stealing NPCs' valuables, choosing whether to protect those in need, or deciding to spare or kill another character, among many more. When dealing with the latter situation, one must consider a number of factors. These include the ethics of the act, the moral compasses of the protagonist and their party members, the innocence or villainy of the character whose fate is being decided, and, of course, the benefits of killing or not the person, as related to loot and any effects on the remainder of the Baldur's Gate 3 playthrough.

For instance, gamers have the opportunity to kill Isobel at the Last Light Inn in Act 2 of the game. The primary reason for doing so is to procure her Moon Devotion Robe, one of the most powerful pieces of spellcaster clothing in Baldur's Gate 3. However, Isobel is a good person and the last line of defense keeping the inn and its inhabitants from falling prey to the shadow curse infecting the land. In such a case, forgoing the robe is most often the pragmatic and moral choice. However, when it comes to another powerful item, Viconia's Walking Fortress Shield, as well as its titular owner, the circumstances of the decision to kill or spare her are much different.

RELATED: Baldur's Gate 3: Find a Cure Walkthrough

There's No Reason to Feel Bad About Killing Baldur's Gate 3's Viconia

Baldur's Gate 3 Jaheira Harper Druid

Baldur's Gate fans may remember Viconia DeVir from the first two games, in which she could become one of the player's companions. While she was a neutral evil drow cleric with a somewhat nasty disposition, Viconia could be a valuable party member and could even be romanced in Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition and Baldur's Gate 2. Further, with quite a bit of effort, she could be realigned as a true neutral character in the second game, doing away with her evil nature.

Why BG3's Viconia is Different From Baldur's Gate 1 and 2

While such memories may give some players pause in deciding to execute Viconia, they should keep in mind that the Viconia in Baldur's Gate 3 is no longer the companion they knew and adventured with. She has gone down a very dark path and has used and abused BG3's Shadowheart and many others over the years. In fact, Larian, at the request of Wizards of the Coast, made her this evil in keeping with their version of Viconia rather than the one from previous Baldur's Gate games. As such, gamers shouldn't feel nostalgic or bad about dispensing ultimate justice to her.

That said, there are no consequences for the rest of the game whether she is dispatched or not, save for one narrow exception. An Oath of Vengeance Paladin will become an Oathbreaker if they choose to spare Viconia. This is a big change for such a character, so players with that build should carefully consider whether they want to go down this road.

The Walking Fortress Shield Is Well Worth Viconia's Sacrifice

Viconia's Walking Fortress

Having weighed all the other variables of the decision to kill or spare Viconia, there remains one last consideration: her loot. Viconia is in possession of quite a lot of high-value items, which she drops once she's been executed. This bounty includes a very rare weapon known as the Handmaiden's Mace, rare clothing in the form of Viconia's Priestess Robe, and most importantly, the legendary shield, Viconia's Walking Fortress.

What Viconia's Walking Fortress Shield Does in Baldur's Gate 3

  • Armor Class: +3
  • Rebuke of the Mighty: When a foe hits you with a melee attack, you can use your Reaction to deal them 2 – 8 Force damage and knock them Prone unless they succeed a Dexterity Saving Throw.
  • Spellguard: You gain Advantage on Saving Throws against spells. Spell Attack Rolls against you have Disadvantage.
  • Reflective Shell: A bonus action that can be cast once per Short Rest. Projectiles targeted at this creature are reflected back to their point of origin for 2 turns.
  • Warding Bond: A Level 2 Abjuration spell that can be cast once per Long Rest. Ward an ally. They gain Resistance to all damage and a +1 bonus to their Armor Class and Saving Throws. Each time the target takes damage, the spellcaster takes the same amount of damage.

As can be seen, this shield alone is well worth killing the evil cleric, Viconia. It is considered by many to be the best shield in Baldur's Gate 3. Of course, if the player prefers the pacifism route and spares Viconia, she won’t be seen again, and some party members such as Jaheira may approve the decision.