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Karlach in Baldur’s Gate 3 is an absolutely fantastic companion, owing to her immense Barbarian strength and endurance. On top of that, she’s also incredibly friendly and caring but also fierce when it's time to kick some Mind Flayer ass.
However, the opportunity to recruit her comes quite a way into Act 1 of Baldur's Gate 3, and it's entirely possible to miss her completely. It also doesn't help that she's being hunted by Wyll and Paladins of Tyr, so you've got to help her out of a sticky situation or two first.In this guide, we’ll show you how to recruit this Big Red Machine to your party.
Karlach's location in Baldur's Gate 3
We've got Karlach's location laid out for you on the map above. Karlach is simply sitting on a rock at the end of the path known as the Risen Road, while Anders and his warriors are in the abandoned Tollhouse in the ruined town North of her.
To find Karlach and Anders, the only real, non-exploit option we know of at the time of writing is to get into the Blighted Village and head North, then East. Keep in mind that the village is occupied by Goblins (though some dialogue checks will convince them to let you through), but the path leading East above the village is occupied by monstrous Gnolls - and there's no dialogue check that'll convince them that they want to do anything other than eat your gizzards.
Can you romance Karlach?
If you like a partner with fiery intensity - in this case, quite literally - you’ll be happy to hear that you can romance Karlach in Baldur’s Gate 3. To find out more about this, we recommend checking out our full guide to Baldur's Gate 3 romances!
Karlach or Wyll choice in Baldur's Gate 3 explained
Since Karlach is being hunted not only by Paladin Anders and his team but also Wyll, fellow party member and the Blade of Frontiers, recruiting her can be quite tricky. You'll have the choice to either hear her out or help one of the factions pursuing her, so we'll cover the major details below. Obviously there are spoilers for the Hunt the Devil quest, so keep that in mind when reading on.
- Karlach is not a true devil, but simply a skilled Tiefling warrior who was enslaved and forced to fight in the Blood War for the Archdevil Zariel, and escaped by sneaking onto the Nautiloid that captured you when it accidentally flew through Avernus.
- Anders is a sworn knight - not of the god Tyr as he claims, but for Archdevil Zariel. He was a paladin of Tyr, but no longer. He claims he wants to do good and save others, but when Tyr's gifts let him down once too often and his family was killed, he sided with Zariel for greater power, hoping to use hellish magic to help people.
- However, as part of the deal Anders owes Zariel his soul - but now she's willing to let that part of things go if he brings her Karlach's soul instead. Anders is happy to view Karlach as a villainous devil if it means his own survival.
- Wyll is also hunting Karlach, but thinks she's a true devil. As part of his warlock pact, Wyll has been sent to hunt her down - but his patron knows that Wyll would probably refuse to cooperate if he knew she was a normal person, so she's obfuscated that fact.
With all that said, we definitely suggest that you choose to side with Karlach, to kill Anders and his team. Aside from the fact that Karlach is basically an innocent trying to escape a horrible existence as a slave warrior trapped in literal Hell, Anders' willingness to throw others in the fire to save himself suggests he's not as much of a tragic hero as he claims. You also want to make sure that Wyll hears Karlach out, as once he realises that she's not a real devil but just a normal person, he's horrified at the idea of hurting her and the pair of them quickly become friends.
Helping Karlach ensures you get her to join the team as a companion, and she's a good one, a worthy tank and melee fighter on the battlefield. By killing Anders, you also get his sword - a powerful weapon for those who can handle a greatsword.
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