Karlach is one of your most powerful companions in Baldur’s Gate 3, boasting enough strength to put the toughest enemies down. She’s also one of the Origin characters you can choose to play as, allowing you to see the entire game from her perspective. Regardless, you’re going to want to put her potential to work for you, so use this guide we’ve made to make the best Karlach build in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Best Karlach Build Baldur’s Gate 3
Karlach is a devastating frontline character with a lot of potential for powerful and complex builds. Follow along our guide for the best build you can make for Karlach:
Karlach is locked as an Asmodeus Tiefling whether you’re playing her as one of the origin characters or as a companion. You can’t change her race and you don’t need to. This already comes along with a lot of benefits.
As a Tiefling, she has Darkvision which allows her to see in the dark and is useful for Underdark expeditions. Karlach also gets Hellish Resistance which protects her from Fire damage, only taking half of the total from it. Her Base Racial Speed lets her move further than others at 9m per turn. Her being an Asmodeus Tiefling means that she also gets access to free special attacks at certain levels.
Best Karlach Class BG3
The best class for Karlach is the Barbarian. She’s already one by default. Being a Barbarian makes Karlach a monster at close ranged fights and her race only allows her to benefit a lot from this class.
Barbarians are a pretty straightforward class. They hit hard and can take a lot of punishment even without much armor. Don’t think this means you can sleep on this class as it has some very powerful potential when used right. You’re not going to find anyone messing with you with a Barbarian Karlach on your frontlines.
Karlach’s default subclass is Berserker. There’s no need to change this as Karlach should be purely on the offensive. You can respec almost every part of Karlach by talking to Withers at your camp. This is what you should make her to be:
- Race: Asmodeus Tiefling
- Class: Barbarian
- Subclass: Berserker
- Proficiencies: Athletics, Acrobatics
Best Karlach Ability Score BG3
For Karlach’s ability score, you should make it like this:
- Strength: 16
- Dexterity: 14
- Constitution: 16
- Intelligence: 8
- Wisdom: 10
- Charisma: 8
You’ll want to focus on Strength and Constitution as these are the main abilities for the Barbarian class that Karlach will benefit from. Make sure to invest some points into Dexterity as well to give her a decent chance at Saving Throws.
Best Karlach Subclass BG3
The best subclass for Karlach is the Berserker. This subclass is the physical embodiment of weaponized rage and gives you an important feature:
- Frenzy: Turns your rage into Frenzy! You gain resistance against Physical attacks, and Advantage on Strength checks and Saving Throws. You also get two additional attacks as bonus actions:
- Frenzied Strike: Attack an enemy with your melee weapon. Will put Frenzied Strain on Karlach.
- Enraged Throw: Pick up something or someone nearby and throw it at another creature. This deals Bludgeon damage and potentially causes subjects to Prone. Highly dependent on your Strength stat.
You really need to watch out for Frenzied Strain as this can drastically reduce your Barbarian’s accuracy until their Frenzy ends. Use Enraged Throw first. Karlach’s high STR means that you can pick up almost anything or anyone and throw it at someone else. The heavier the thing you pick up, the more damage Karlach will deal.
Because of its nature, Berserkers are best at the thick of things. They’re pretty risky to play so you’ll always have to ensure that a teammate, preferably Cleric, is nearby to provide support. Barbarian Berserkers either kill everything in a few turns or cripple enemies enough to disrupt them from doing anything to hamper your progress.
Best Karlach Feats BG3
Every four levels, you get to pick a feat for Karlach. However you can also pick Ability Improvement which increases your stats. Here’s what we recommend you pick per level:
- Level 4: Pick Ability Improvement and put 2 points into Karlach’s Strength.
- Level 8: Pick the Great Weapon Master feat which gives you a second attack when you score Critical Hits or kill an enemy. You do get a -5 on your Attack Rolls but the +10 Damage makes up for it.
- Level 12: Pick Ability Improvement again and put 2 points into Karlach’s Strength.
Best Karlach Gear BG3
The best weapons for Karlach are heavy hitting weapons like Greatclubs. Any weapons that have high damage and hit hard is something you want to pick for Karlach. You’ll constantly find new weapons in Baldur’s Gate 3 that you’ll want to switch out.
Because Barbarians benefit from extra Hit Points with no armor, you don’t want to wear any. Especially Heavy Armour which hampers Karlach’s ability to Rage. Your Armour Class will be equals to +10 of your Dexterity modifier and your current Constitution modifier.
Best Karlach Level Progression BG3
Initially, you’ll be working as usual with Karlach until you get to Level 3. From there, pick the Berserker subclass to work with this build. At this level you will also get Hellish Rebuke for free thanks to Karlach’s Asmodeus Tiefling race. This attack is perfect for our Berserker as it hits back against those who strike you.
- Hellish Rebuke: When you take damage, retaliate by surrounding your attacker in hellish flames. Can only be used once until Long Rest.
At Level 4, you’ll be able to pick a feat which you should invest in your Strength Ability points instead. It’s at Level 5 when you get two additional features, Extra Attack and Fast Movement.
- Extra Attack: You get an additional attack after making an unarmed or weapon attack.
- Fast Movement: Being unarmoured gives you +5 in Movement Speed.
Because of this, it’s best that Karlach doesn’t wear any armour. Her Fast Movement perk along with Base Race Speed means she has a far reach against opponents at a distance. Just ensure that she isn’t too far away for your dedicated healer to support.
At Level 6, you get new subclass features. Mindless Rage protects you from being Charmed or Frightened when raging. Your Rage also doesn’t end on Calm Emotions. You’re angrier longer which makes you a devastating enemy to deal with. Even better is that at Level 6 you also get an additional Rage charge.
When you get to Level 7 you’ll get Feral Instinct which gives you a +3 bonus in Initiative. You also can’t get surprised anymore. At Level 8, you get another pick between feats or adding more to your Ability Score points. Pick the latter and invest more in Strength.
You’ll get Brutal Critical at Level 9 which lets you roll an extra die allowing you to deal more damage. Your Berserker subclass gives you Intimidating Presence at Level 10 which lets you instill Fear on enemies. At Level 11 you’ll get Relentless Rage which prevents you from dying when your Hit Points reaches 0 and restores it back to 1 per Short Rest. At the final Level 12, you’ll get an additional Rage charge.
How to Recruit Karlach in Baldur’s Gate 3?
There are two ways to recruit Karlach which can either by following The Blade of the Frontiers and Hunt the Devil questlines or by finding her in the Druid Grove. Once you find Karlach, you need to convince her to join your party.
You’ll meet Karlach on your way to complete one of Wyll’s companion quests which is The Blade of the Frontiers. Following this will lead you directly to her. Agree to help her when you meet and she’ll join your party. We have a specific Karlach companion guide for in-depth details on getting her to join you.
Can You Romance Karlach in Baldur’s Gate 3?
Yes, you can romance Karlach like all party members. By picking dialogue options that aligns with her personality and morality, Karlach will open up dialogue that will start her romantic subplot.
Despite what you may initially expect, Karlach is a very compassionate soul. Being a former slave herself, she’ll highly approve of actions that show kindness to those who are weaker than you. Karlach will especially like it when you help free others from captivity.
Be careful as it’s possible for Karlach to dislike you and end up leaving your party if she disapproves of your actions too much. We have a guide for how to romance all your companions so you can avoid this. Romancing Karlach shouldn’t affect her build and is a great way to get to know her more.