Baldur's Gate 3 fan discovers second, hidden approval score for Shadowheart that unlocks dialogue I've never seen in 300 hours of play

Companion approval is one of Baldur's Gate 3's main systems, the friendship meter that determines everything from major plot beats to what romance opportunities are available, but it turns out this isn't the only metric Larian used to track our relationships with companions. Spoilers for Shadowheart's story in Baldur's Gate 3 ahead.

SlimX on YouTube has found "Shadowheart's hidden score," something Baldur's Gate 3's script files refer to as "Nightsong points." These are earned in certain conversations with Shadowheart in acts one and two, and earning four of a potential six points unlocks a conversation where she begins to doubt her faith in Shar. 

If you have both high approval and managed to trigger this conversation, you no longer have to persuade Shadowheart not to kill the Nightsong toward the end of act 2⁠—she defaults to wanting to spare the Aasimar. Notably, this only seems to affect Shadowheart's behavior in the first two acts, with her ultimate decision about the Nightsong, no matter how it was reached, being what determines her story in act three.

After 300 hours of play, with three of my characters having gotten to this point in the story, I've never had enough Nightsong points to unlock this dialogue. SlimX notes that some aspects of the system, particularly the point earned from a conversation about Shadowheart's supernatural hand wound, seem to be bugged. The opportunities to earn Nightsong points are:

• Two from the conversation about Shadowheart's wolf memory.
• A conversation about her hand wound.
• Unlocking her memory with the Noblestalk.
• Giving her a Night Orchid.
• Letting her give blood at the Gauntlet of Shar.

Now that I know about this system, I'd like to prioritize getting Nightsong points and unlocking this dialogue in my next playthrough⁠—I've got some unfinished business with Honour mode, and I think a stab at one of my sicko multiclass builds is in the cards after Shadow of the Erdtree mania subsides. I'll definitely be coming back to SlimX's video about the system, which helpfully outlines what dialogue choices you need for Nightsong points, and where to avoid those pesky bugged interactions.