Baldur's Gate 3's New Karlach Ending Is A Small But Meaningful Improvement (2024)
Larian Studios recently announced it would be altering some aspects of Baldur’s Gate 3’s ending in order to flesh out parts that some fans (rightfully) argued felt a bit undercooked compared to everything that preceded them. The first of these updates came out today, August 31, as part of the game’s second big patch, and it centers on Karlach, the Tiefling Barbarian party member whose ending felt especially abrupt in its initial iteration. Having seen the revisions, I’m pretty happy with what Larian’s added.
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Baldur's Gate 3's Karlach Actor On Playing The Beloved Barbarian
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Baldur's Gate 3's Karlach Actor On Playing The Beloved Barbarian
Karlach’s storyline revolves around her mortality, as the infernal engine in her chest is slowly but surely burning her alive. Depending on your choices and whether or not you’ve completed certain questlines, Karlach can either turn into a Mind Flayer and shed the engine entirely, return to Avernus (one of Dungeons & Dragons’ layers of Hell), or accept her fate and die after the final battle. Initially, the Avernus path seems to be the closest thing to a happy ending, but Karlach very much does not want to go back to a place where she’ll likely be hunted.
The silver lining has been that if the two of you are in a romantic relationship, you can accompany her to Avernus in hopes that she can buy herself some time to find another way to save her life. However, in the original ending, you would make this decision, the game would cut to black, and then the credits started rolling. It was abrupt, not at all satisfying, and felt odd considering most other characters got some kind of epilogue.
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Karlach’s new scene if you go down this path isn’t quite as fleshed out as some other party members’ epilogues, with zero back-and-forth between her and your protagonist. Instead, Karlach does all the talking. But this new sequence does, at the very least, give you a slight glimpse into what she and your character will be doing in the immediate future: kicking ass in Avernus alongside Wyll, who can choose to fight for Avernus in his own personal quest.
This is definitely an improvement from the non-ending she got in the base game, but it will likely not satisfy anyone looking for a way to definitively save Karlach from her fate. Sure, there’s hope that your team might find some solution for her condition as long as she’s alive, but I think some fans wanted a more clearly happy ending for her.
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Read More:The Baldur’s Gate 3 Sex Scenes, Ranked From Worst To Best
I get it. RPGs like Baldur’s Gate 3inherently make us care for characters because we feel like we can touch their lives (and vice-versa) with our choices and relationships. But I do think Karlach’s worrying potential fate is paramount to what makes her so effective as a party member. The scene in which she breaks down after the death of antagonist Gortash, who pretty much put her in her predicament, is one of my favorite moments in the game because it plays into themes of grief and fatalism that permeate through the story. It would feel cheap to simply erase that just for a more feel-good ending. I like the ambiguous hope of the current Avernus ending better than a more overtly happy one. It ends with her resolve hardened and more paths before her, and I think that’s a powerful note to end on.
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Karlach’s new ending is the first of Larian’s planned ending updates, so it will be interesting to see what Baldur’s Gate 3’s wrap-up looks like after a few more patches. I’m pretty satisfied with the conclusion I got as a Gale romancer, but broadly, the ending feels a little bit rushed, and could benefit from some filling out in the months to come.
The true best ending for Karlach is to let her die. That is what she truly wants, and it is the only true freedom you can allow for her. For those who truly love Karlach, they would have chose this option.
Her condition, however, prevents any sort of physical content, as she tends to run extremely hot due to her Infernal Engine. This will lock you out of any intimacy encounters or romance with her, so cooling her off is a high priority for this.
However, should you decide to side with her and make sure she's able to escape from her old masters and those hunting her, you'll find she's an invaluable asset to the team, providing powerful frontline and strong melee capabilities as a powerful Barbarian.
If you allow Karlach to become a Mindflayer, you can choose to betray her at the end to become the Absolute and take control of the Netherbrain. Doing this will result in you stabbing Karlach several times, killing her.
It seems that if Wyll becomes the blade of avernus she can take Karlach to avernus and save her from exploding. So if you want to save Karlach withouth transforming her into a Mindflayer you could try this alternative for her.
If Dammon dies, you won't meet another smith who is able to help Karlach for dozens more in-game hours — and we're currently unsure if you'll ever meet one again. So make sure to either stop the invasion of the Emerald Grove or tell the Tieflings to leave.
You lose Karlach and Wyll if you attack the thieflings or have anything that leads to goblin party in act 1. So in act 1 you need to just ignore the kill gobbo leaders quest and do not start the grove raid or harm the thieflings at all. Then Wyll and Karlach don't leave and Minthara is alive in act 2.
Across the game, we're able to repair her heart enough that existence is no longer painful (which in turn allows her to be touched, and with it, romanced), but it's a temporary fix. The game, and Karlach herself, makes it very clear that she is still dying, and fast.
So, what do you get if you agree? First off, your character will visually get a whited out eye. This will give you the Paid the Price condition, meaning you have +1 on Intimidation checks but disadvantage on Perception checks or when you're fighting Hags.
If by evil you mean raid the grove, you only lose Wyll and Karlach guaranteed. Gale will try to leave but you can pass a check to get him to stay. If you're committed to picking the evil options (but not intentionally killing your whole party) every time you'll end up with Lae'zal, Shadowheart, Astarion, and Minthara.
While there's no alignment technically in BG3, Karlach is very obviously a good-aligned character. Honestly if you went full evil, she'd probably be the first person to outright try to kill you over it.
It was possible to get the Infernal Robe without (irretrievably) killing Karlach. We've kept the recorded steps below, however this method no longer works. Make your way to where Karlach is. But before you get to her, unchain Wyll from the group and leave him behind down the road.
The fifth major update for Baldur's Gate 3 introduces a new epilogue, giving a happy ending to character Karlach. Karlach's initial endings in the game lacked a "good" option, but the new epilogue provides an optimistic conclusion for her story.
The final, and saddest, choice is unfortunately probably the best ending for Karlach. Players can fight alongside her to defeat the Netherbrain, but after the battle is over, Karlach will go out onto a dock and accept her fate, dying right there. She will die, but she will at least die as a hero and as herself.
After being introduced to Lord Gortash in the mindflayer colony, you can speak with Karlach about him. She's furious that she trusted him and she vows to have her revenge, since he's the one that traded her into servitude under Zariel.
To repair Karlach's heart, return to Dammon with Karlach in the party. Karlach must install the upgrades herself, so this only works if Karlach is present. After the first upgrade, Karlach still feels hot, but not as much as before.
If you get Wyll (and/or yourself) to go with her then the Avernus ending is the best outcome. She was against going back to Avernus because she knew the moment she did Zariel would snatch her back up and force her back into service. However if she's going there with friends with her she should be fine.
To summarize, players should side with the Emperor if they don't want to become Mind Flayers, and they should free Orpheus if they don't mind risking having tentacles on them or their companions.
His conviction falters and his celebration is a muted one. After a long rest, Wyll is visited by his patron, who reveals that she was less truthful when sending Wyll to kill Karlach. She also rewards Wyll with an Infernal Robe, a cloth armor that can be very useful with the right Eldritch Invocations.
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