Baldur's Gate 3: 10 Biggest Differences When Playing As Karlach (2024)

Hey, soldier! If you're looking to play Baldur's Gate 3, whether it's your first or one-hundredth time, there are many ways to go about it, and one of the biggest decisions comes from the character creator. You can make your Tav or your 'Durge,' but you can also play with some of the Origin characters, turning them into the main character.

Though most choices won't change a lot, it gives you a unique perspective on the character, and Karlach is a fantastic option to lead, being one of the best characters to be the game's protagonist. Still, what exactly will change when Zariel's top soldier leads the fight against the Mind Flayers?

Spoilers ahead.

1 She Talks To Herself

A note-worthy detail when playing as Karlach is that there will be times when she addresses herself, from the very beginning to even her monologue in Act 3. It gives an interesting perspective on her current thoughts, and you can still make choices here.

It's like talking to an NPC; Her thoughts will address her current situation, and you'll have choices that will decide her emotional state. The options will usually be an optimistic one, a pessimistic one, and a more pragmatic choice.

2 Using Soul Coins

When playing Baldur's Gate, you can give Karlach soul coins to increase her damage at the cost of getting a bit burned herself - nothing she can't deal with. She's okay with using them, though.

However, if you are Karlach, the moral gray area of using the coins falls to you. She'll do one of the aforementioned conversations to herself when you get a soul coin for the first time, thinking about whether you should use them.

3 Your Introduction To Wyll

Your first interaction with Wyll also goes a bit different. You'll meet him at the Emerald Grove, where he'll be aggressive but will not attack due to not endangering the children around you.

He'll later pop at camp during one of your long rests to kill you, and things will continue as usual, allowing you to recruit him - or not - during this conversation.

4 Dammon Gets Flirty

The Tiefling blacksmith Dammon is responsible for saving Karlach's life - or at least postponing her death. He'll help you throughout the journey if you give him Infernal Iron for your engine heart.

Most conversations will go similarly, but when you're playing as Karlach, he gets flirty with you. Nothing serious happens, but the flirting among the characters is rather cute. Future conversations imply Dammon doesn't try anything due to knowing Karlach will die, but there's no answer as to why he doesn't try anything.

5 Paladins Of Tyr Interaction

Usually, when you first meet Karlach - and choose not to kill her - she'll ask for help dealing with Zariel's servants disguising themselves as Paladins of Tyr. If you are Karlach, though, you'll have to find out who they are.

They'll still be aggressive either way, so the combat won't really change, but you get to find out why, and you get to choose whether you want to wreck the place after the fight.

6 How You Influence Mattis

You may not remember Mattis, but he's one of Tiefling's children at the Grove and part of Mol's gang - he's the one who tries to sell you a 'magic' ring. He recognizes Karlach, though, from the time Elturel descended into Avernus.

Mattis claims to have seen Karlach during one of her fights, and you can even encourage him to a warpath or to not think of using violence to solve all his problems.

7 Your Interactions With Jaheira

Jaheira is a big-time hero in Baldur's Gate - the first two games can give you more details - and Karlach is a huge fan of Jaheira, which gives them a few extra interactions.

You can acknowledge that a few times and even have further conversations with her, thanks to your fangirl skills, and their relationship is quite fun to see.

8 The Scene With Lann Tarv

Keeping with the soul coins interactions a bit further, You'll meet a Bugbear in Moonrise Towers called Lann Tarv, who will give you a few coins from Karlach's 'friend,' Flo - or Florenta the Garroter.

The scene plays out mostly the same way, but you get some extra insight into Karlach's relationship with Flo and a bit more of the soul-coin situation.

9 Your Motivations Regarding Gortash

Your main goal throughout the campaign is to fight against three enemies: Ketheric Thorm, Lord Enver Gortash, and Orin the Red. Most Origin characters have no relationships towards any of them and are fighting for the sake of not turning into Mind Flayers. But not Karlach.

Karlach used to work for Gortash, and she was fond of him, seeing him as a friend. Thus, all interactions with him change a bit, with very violent options popping up and Gortash being very nonchalant about their past relationship, which is even more infuriating.

10 The Ending

We'll skip many details to be as spoiler-free as possible, but eventually, you reach the moment where the fighting is done, and your heart is still going to explode. Your options remain similar, where you can accept fate or go to Avernus.

Still, that moment gets stalled a bit, letting you do all the core interactions you need to, and you get a last time with whoever you're romancing (Wyll, in our test). This ending can have many variations depending on who you're romancing. Even her ending with Minthara is quite wholesome - evil characters aside.

Honorable Mention: Class And Race

Though this is not exclusive to Karlach, being a Tiefling in the game gives you some interesting interactions, especially during Act 1. You have many Tiefling refugees to help; being a Tiefling certainly makes things easier.

Being a Barbarian is also pretty useful, especially for intimidation, as they usually get an advantage in their rolls - and Karlach has innate Thaumaturgy, so you can give yourself an advantage in case you don't have it.