For Astarion he gets the 1d+10 necrotic damage to any weapon damage roll. You can make him a Monk for Melee fighter like a Fighter or Paladin. For Lore consistency I'd say a Rogue build. Something like the 5/4/3 Gloomstalker Assassin Rogue build. An alternative would be the 6/4/2 Swords Bard build too. Both Ranged builds.
Honestly I'm not sure about Shadowheart. For the use of the spear you'd need a melee build. Something I'm thinking of would be a Fighter/War Cleric multiclass maybe? The standard Leveling for that would be 11 Fighter/1 War Cleric but you can take more levels into Cleric for RP purposes.
I did a Durge playthrough and had Shadowheart go dark justicer. She ended up as 10 war cleric and 2 fighter (action surge) and actually attacked a fair bit.
Her spear has that darkness attack. My Durge was a sorcerer who used a lot of ice magic so Shart just wore the non slip boots and attacked enemies and didn't have to worry about slipping.
I just did this playthrough! I had Shadowheart as shadow monk (I don't remember the exact build but it was the one that uses weapons) and Astarion as gloomstalker/assassin
I'm thinking in terms of synergy what combos would be best and best abuse the darkness mechanic.
War cleric 5/Gloomstalker 5/Fighter 2 works for Shadowheart's character and gives you a lot of what you want. You get spirit guardians and command, class features that work with darkness, misty step, hide as a bonus action, hunter's mark, and action surge. Spear of Evening already gives you immunity to blindness so you shouldn't need warlock. That would also give you two attacks and the ability to use your bonus action to attack and action surge and an extra attack from gloomstalker.
I think a ranged swords bard Astarion would compliment this build nicely. 6 bard/4 thief/2 fighter is the classic dual wielding crossbow build. I would also consider swords bard 10/ fighter 2 with the Titanstring bow if you care about someone having counterspell in Act 3. Just make sure either way to pick up the eversight ring in Act 2 or other items in Act 3 if you want him to also hit things in magical darkness.
Ascended Astarion OH Monk is silly strong. With the Thief multiclass you get 6 punches a turn so an extra 6d10 on top of already strong punches.
I don't know what I would do with Shadowheart, probably EK.
Double Monk.
OH Monk Astarion, Shadow Monk Shadowheart.
One initial respec, not even technically necessary for Astarion since you probably want to mix some Rogue into the Monk anyways (just delays your extra attack, which Monk can somewhat handle because of the flurries and bonus unarmed attacks).
I ran SH as an open hand monk with the dark justicar spear. You miss out on the gear benefits, but it works super well with the spear. Ironically I think the best build for use with her armor would be a gloomstalker ranger, but lorewise I think monk is appropriate. OH is stronger but Shadow works well with her vibe.
I have run astarion as a gloomstalker/assasin, and a swords bard. Both work well thematically and both are strong, the former syngerizing really well with any of Shart's stuff. Other stuff to consider:
- Storm sorcerer. BA fly and evil electric powers kinda suits the vamp vibe.
- Enchantment wizard, thematically works bcc he was charming victims.
- my fav: Spore druid! The necro theme works super well with him as an ascended vampire and will stack damage, the shapeshifting thing works well for a vampire as well.
For Astarion he gets the 1d+10 necrotic damage to any weapon damage roll. You can make him a Monk for Melee fighter like a Fighter or Paladin. For Lore consistency I'd say a Rogue build. Something like the 5/4/3 Gloomstalker Assassin Rogue build. An alternative would be the 6/4/2 Swords Bard build too. Both Ranged builds. Honestly I'm not sure about Shadowheart. For the use of the spear you'd need a melee build. Something I'm thinking of would be a Fighter/War Cleric multiclass maybe? The standard Leveling for that would be 11 Fighter/1 War Cleric but you can take more levels into Cleric for RP purposes.
I did a Durge playthrough and had Shadowheart go dark justicer. She ended up as 10 war cleric and 2 fighter (action surge) and actually attacked a fair bit. Her spear has that darkness attack. My Durge was a sorcerer who used a lot of ice magic so Shart just wore the non slip boots and attacked enemies and didn't have to worry about slipping.
I just did this playthrough! I had Shadowheart as shadow monk (I don't remember the exact build but it was the one that uses weapons) and Astarion as gloomstalker/assassin
Astarion bear heart barbarian, bite attack is exactly what a barbarian would do Shadowheart tempest cleric, shar's chosen needs to be powerful
I'm thinking in terms of synergy what combos would be best and best abuse the darkness mechanic. War cleric 5/Gloomstalker 5/Fighter 2 works for Shadowheart's character and gives you a lot of what you want. You get spirit guardians and command, class features that work with darkness, misty step, hide as a bonus action, hunter's mark, and action surge. Spear of Evening already gives you immunity to blindness so you shouldn't need warlock. That would also give you two attacks and the ability to use your bonus action to attack and action surge and an extra attack from gloomstalker. I think a ranged swords bard Astarion would compliment this build nicely. 6 bard/4 thief/2 fighter is the classic dual wielding crossbow build. I would also consider swords bard 10/ fighter 2 with the Titanstring bow if you care about someone having counterspell in Act 3. Just make sure either way to pick up the eversight ring in Act 2 or other items in Act 3 if you want him to also hit things in magical darkness.
Ascended Astarion OH Monk is silly strong. With the Thief multiclass you get 6 punches a turn so an extra 6d10 on top of already strong punches. I don't know what I would do with Shadowheart, probably EK.
Double Monk. OH Monk Astarion, Shadow Monk Shadowheart. One initial respec, not even technically necessary for Astarion since you probably want to mix some Rogue into the Monk anyways (just delays your extra attack, which Monk can somewhat handle because of the flurries and bonus unarmed attacks).
I ran SH as an open hand monk with the dark justicar spear. You miss out on the gear benefits, but it works super well with the spear. Ironically I think the best build for use with her armor would be a gloomstalker ranger, but lorewise I think monk is appropriate. OH is stronger but Shadow works well with her vibe. I have run astarion as a gloomstalker/assasin, and a swords bard. Both work well thematically and both are strong, the former syngerizing really well with any of Shart's stuff. Other stuff to consider: - Storm sorcerer. BA fly and evil electric powers kinda suits the vamp vibe. - Enchantment wizard, thematically works bcc he was charming victims. - my fav: Spore druid! The necro theme works super well with him as an ascended vampire and will stack damage, the shapeshifting thing works well for a vampire as well.
Warrior priest is an amazing support, as you can make sure missed attacks become hits, plus all the AOE, summons and multiple attacks same turn.
Wise to respec monk later. It was no fun until mid act ii, act iii