Karlach is one of the companion characters that players can recruit relatively early on in Baldur’s Gate 3, and while many players will quickly float toward Shadowheart, Gale, or Wyll as a romance option, Karlach’s straight-forward personality and kind-hearted nature make her one of the best no-nonsense relationship options in the game.
I find Karlach to be one of the easiest characters to romance in the game, which is saying a lot, but maybe that’s because of my sensibilities. Compared to someone like Shadowheart, who has quite a bit of nuance to her, Karlach knows what she wants and is vocal about it.
Be warned that this guide has some spoilers, but then again, you probably didn’t come here for a guide to romancing with the expectation that you’d avoid those.
Karlach romance guide in Baldur’s Gate 3
We meet the Zariel Tiefling on the southeast part of the Risen Road in the first zone of the game. She’ll be north of the Owlbear Cave. Northeast of the Blighted Village, west of where you find Scratch, and west of Emerald Grove. If you recruited Wyll as soon as you got to Emerald Grove, you should have a quest objective that has you searching for her in that general area already.
There will be some initial conflicts of interest in getting her to join the group because Wyll has been tasked with finding her on behalf of a cambion Mizora, with whom Wyll has a pact. But worry not, you’ll be able to save Karlach without Wyll dying. He’ll just grow a pair of horns for disobeying Mizora.
Related: Can you romance multiple characters in Baldur’s Gate 3?
Once you have Karlach in your group, the best way to romance Karlach is by speaking to her regularly and gaining her approval, and it should be fairly obvious how to do so as you start to get to know her.
Karlach has an Outlander background, and she escaped from Avernus after being forced to fight in the Blood War under the command of an archdevil. So she most values freedom and helping those in need. There are ample opportunities early in the game to stand up for NPCs that are marginalized or perhaps being taken advantage of. Doing so will almost assuredly gain Karlach’s approval, and it won’t take much to get her to want to be with you. It also makes her pair well with Wyll, who approves of many of the same things she does.
Act One
In Act One, the first big step to take will be after taking down the Goblin Camp. When your camp is partying with Halsin and the Tieflings, make sure to speak with Karlach and flirt with her a little bit. This will give you an opportunity to have an exclusive cutscene with her after you go to bed.
In the romance scene, you’ll have a chance to kiss Karlach, but because her infernal engine is still running hot, she will burn you a little bit. Just make sure to let her know you’re still interested in her.
Act Two
Make sure that you keep following through with her companion quest. This will require you to find some Infernal Iron and bring it to Dammon at the Last Light Inn. To clarify, this means that you will need to save the Tieflings in Act One, and you will also need to do what you can to protect Dammon and the refugees at Last Light Inn. Once you’ve gotten enough Infernal Iron to Dammon at Last Light Inn, he can repair Karlach’s overheating heart as much as possible.
After Karlach installs the piece, you have some options for dialogue and action. Don’t be shy. In my main campaign, I was romancing Shadowheart, and I still chose the option to give Karlach a big old bear hug. She appreciates you being as enthusiastic about life—and touching—as she is.
Later on, you will be given the option to express how concerned you are that Karlach’s fix is only temporary. Worrying about her won’t cause disapproval, but she will be resistant to acknowledging the dire nature of her situation, instead choosing to live the moments that she has to the fullest. Assuming you’ve continued to be forward in expressing your interest in being intimate with Karlach, you should get a chance to have an intimate romantic scene during a long rest after her heart is fixed. Just make sure to always speak to her whenever you long rest and keep up the flirty behavior.
I haven’t personally tested out romance options with Karlach in Act Three yet, but from various playthrough videos, and discussions with other players, it’s clear you can keep up the same behavior with Karlach into the final parts of the game as it reaches its conclusion. Just beware, that your time with her is finite, as Dammon forewarned when he fixes her heart in Act Two. This piece will be updated as we continue to try out various romance options for Karlach from Act Three.
