Karlach/Romance

Overview

Approval

Banter

Romance

Karlach can be romanced.

Act One

After giving Karlach her first upgrade from Dammon, the player character can say "I still can't touch you, though...". Karlach asks if the player character wants to, and if saying "Of course I do" then Karlach replies "I'd like that. Now – let's find that Infernal Iron before I overheat."

If doing this and reaching 30 approval and not having had a romance scene with anyone else, then Karlach initiates her first romance scene on the next long rest.^{[Needs Verification]} This unlocks rare dialogue trees at the camp celebration, which vary depending on whether the player character chooses to partner with Karlach or to remain friends during this romance scene. There is not much wiggle room to get 30 approval before the celebration. Refer to Karlach's approval guide.

Hot tip: The flames around Karlach visibly increase whenever she gets excited, particularly when turned on. (sparks literally fly during kisses)

The player character is not able to touch Karlach during the first romance scene since it is not possible to continue with  The Hellion's Heart past the first step in Act One. However, she can be convinced to try a brief kiss – which the player character can either end quickly or embrace the moment. Both options result in burnt lips, but with different dialogue.

Goblin hunt celebration at camp

The camp celebration at the end of the  Save the Refugees quest is a key moment in Karlach's romance story. Regardless of approval, the player character can inform Karlach how much they like her, with the following outcomes (requirements below each):

1. Accept as 1st choice – Karlach excitedly agrees to visit the player after everybody else goes to sleep that night. (during Long Rest)
   • The player character has an approval of 20 or higher and no other romance scenes were initiated during the camp celebration
2. Accept as 2nd choice – Karlach comments on the player's already-planned romance scene (see below). However, she will still awkwardly ask if the player wants to spend time her later instead.
   • The player character has an approval of 20 or higher and only one other romance scene initiated during the camp celebration.
   • If option 2 "I'd really like that." is selected, then Karlach will joyously accept and immediately plan to meet up later.
   • If option 3 "You. Me. Bed. Now." is selected, then Karlach will wrestle with herself, stating "I don't think your little friend would let me hear the end of it if I accepted. No matter how much I wanted to." before giving in to her desires by saying "And I... I really want to. Ugh. This is bad. But I want to be bad with you."
3. Reject on 1st interaction – Karlach declines, stating "Ah, c'mon, let's not spoil an effective thing. You point, I rage, we win. Doesn't need to be more complicated than that."
   • The player character has an approval of 19 or lower.
   • The player character has an approval of 20 or higher, but two or more other romance scenes were already initiated during the camp celebration.
   • The player character was partnered (i.e. had a romance scene) with anyone else before the camp celebration began
4. Reject on 2nd interaction – Karlach declines further conversation, stating "Cheers to you, soldier. And to me, if I do say so myself."
   • Happens when the player character interacts with Karlach and rejects her by choosing option 4 "Enjoy yourself tonight, Karlach." or option 5 "Leave", then attempts to speak with her again.

Karlach's romance scene is identical whether initiated before the celebration, during as 1st choice, or during as 2nd choice. When done as the 2nd choice, the other companions do not appear to react in any way to being stood up that night.

Karlach's remarks on the player's existing romance with other companions

• Lae'zel: Speaking of, I hate to butt in, but I've seen the way you and Lae'zel have been looking at each other. I like her, and I bet she's a wildcat after midnight, but I'm just not sure I trust her yet. Mind yourself, all right? But hey. At least some of us are getting a little action.
• Astarion: Speaking of possibilities, what's this I've been hearing about you and Astarion? Don't get me wrong, I'd ride him to the Feywild and back if I had the chance, but I wouldn't let my guard down around him. Good to see the two of you getting along, anyway. At least one of us is getting a little action.
• Gale: Take you and Gale, for instance. Don't think I haven't noticed the sparks flying. He's a good egg. A little scholarly for my tastes, but I'm sure you could crack his spine like a new book.
• Shadowheart: Speaking of, from where I'm standing it looks like you and Shadowheart are getting more... familiar. She's a funny one. All pointy and secretive, but it seems like there's someone very sweet beneath it all, you know?
• Wyll: Then we have you and Wyll, the ultimate incarnation of all things good in the world. There's something between you two, isn't there? He's a good one. The best, maybe. When I think about what he sacrificed for me... Give him something to smile about, all right?
• Note – "a little action" comment:
  • With Lae'zel, Karlach adds "But hey. At least some of us are getting a little action.".
  • With everyone else, Karlach adds "Good to see the two of you getting along, anyway. At least one of us is getting a little action."

Romance Spoilers This section reveals details about romance and may contain mature themes.

From the beginning, Karlach expresses frustration at not being able to act on her desires with the player character. She comments often on her pent-up urges, and ends the first romance scene early to pleasure herself after getting too worked up.

Attempts at cooling off

• After reciprocating her feelings during the first romance scene, it's possible to tell her how much the player character would love to touch her.
• Karlach follows up on this the morning after, asking the player character if they have any leads. If the player expresses confusion, Karlach says "There's got to be something, right? Something cold - or water! Or maybe if you were less... burnable. There's a thought, right?"
• The player character can figure out a way to cool her down with water or magic for a quick embrace, going into a discussion of letting the player character have fun with others while she's unavailable due to her engine.

Act Two

  If Karlach's first romance scene does not happen before starting Act Two, then it will be impossible to romance Karlach for the remainder of that playthrough.

• Once Act Two is reached and the party has arrived at the Last Light Inn, Karlach's Engine can be repaired with the help of Dammon. During the next long rest (and if no other events are queued), the player character can have sex with her.
• Warning: If the sex scene is not triggered by the time the party leaves Act Two (because of other queued long rest events), then Karlach terminates the relationship upon arriving in Act Three. The long rest triggered by entering the road to Baldur's Gate will not trigger the sex scene - it is too late.

Act Three

After entering the Lower City, Karlach asks to have a "first date" at her favourite restaurant, The Singing Lute. She pretends to be only just meeting the player character (with varying levels of success), and she and the player character ask each other getting-to-know-you questions over dinner and a drink. At the end of the date, Karlach reveals she has rented a private room for the night in the inn upstairs, and the player character can agree to accompany her there. Like with her previous romance scene, there is a choice between a sex scene and non-sexual intimacy ("I'll happily head upstairs with you, but I want to make sure I'm clear about not wanting to sleep together.").

In the Circus of the Last Days, the player can take the love test by Zethino with Karlach.

Karlach always declines a foursome with the drow twins at Sharess' Caress, but she is supportive if the player has sex with either twin individually. Karlach will neither gain nor lose approval from hiring one of the twins.

If the player character chooses to have sex with Mizora, they will be confronted by Karlach afterwards. She is deeply hurt, and regardless of whether the player apologizes for or justifies their behavior, she will demand an ultimatum for their relationship. Depending on dialogue choices, the player character can continue their relationship with Karlach, break up and go back to being just friends, or permanently kick Karlach out of the party.

Romance mechanics

This section contains information regarding the unique in-game mechanics and interactions for Karlachs's romance.

Relationship stages

Like the other major romance options in the game, Karlach's relationship progression can be divided into specific stages: friendly, dating, partnered, and ex-partnered.

1. Friendly: When not romanced, Karlach's greetings to the player character are friendly as long as she has at least 10 approval.
2. Dating: In Act 1 with high enough approval, the player character can begin dating Karlach.
3. Partnered: If the player character is still dating Karlach in Act 2, they are able to partner with her after completing both upgrades to her infernal engine.
4. Ex-Partnered: Once partnered with Karlach, the player character can break up with her anytime by selecting the appropriate dialogue option.

Unique dialogue

(see the "Romantic" columns on Karlach's Banter page for more examples)

Greetings

Player characters who romance Karlach will hear unique greetings dependent on the stage of the romance and approval/game progression:

• Friendly:

• "Hey, soldier."
• "Soldier?"
• "What's on your mind?"
• "Copper for your thoughts?"

• Dating:

• "Hey, you."
• "What're you thinking about?"
• "Oh, hi!"
• "Hey, soldier." (low approval)
• "Uh huh?" (low approval)
• "What is it?" (low approval)

• Partnered:

• "Darling."
• "Hey!"
• "Soldier?"
• "Hey, you."
• "What's on your mind?"
• "Yeah, honey?" (low approval)
• "Hmm?" (low approval)

• Ex-Partnered:

• "Hey, soldier." (high approval)
• "Yeah?" (high approval)
• "What's on your mind?" (high approval)
• "What?" (low approval)
• "Yeah?" (low approval)
• "Something on your mind?" (low approval)

Party/camp interactions

While in the partnered stage (following her relationship progression scene in Act 2), Karlach will have the following unique dialogue options that are always available when interacting with her both in camp and while she's in the party, which can be instigated by selecting "About our relationship...":

• The player character can inquire about Karlach's feelings regarding the relationship. ("Are you happy with how things are between us?")
• The player character can ask for a kiss. ("Can I kiss you?")
• The player character can break up with Karlach. ("Karlach, I think things have gone far enough between us.")

As Origin Karlach

Like her Companion counterpart, Origin Karlach's infernal engine presents a challenge to pursuing romance, and her personal story progression affects when and if specific romantic interactions are available with different characters. An incomplete list is below:

Astarion

Karlach is the only player character who can progress Astarion's romance without having sex. In his Act 1 romance scene, instead of initiating sex, Astarion will become frustrated and confused that he can't touch Karlach. It is possible to suggest they just lay near each other and talk instead, which is a novel concept for him. Karlach still appears naked in the morning.

Astarion’s Act 2 romance scene doesn’t account for Karlach’s engine when pressuring him into sex, meaning the implied sex scene (and resulting break-up) will happen even if Karlach isn’t actually able to be touched.

If Astarion ascends, he will inevitably break up with Karlach. If Karlach accepts his proposal to “fix her” and become his spawn, he is unsuccessful in turning her—he will catch on fire after drinking her blood, whether or not her engine is repaired. Enraged, he breaks up with her. This situation leads to a unique post-break-up dialogue where Astarion accuses her of “rejecting him with her whole body” and concludes she is “doomed”.

However, it is still possible for a romanced Ascended Astarion to accompany Karlach to Avernus. Defeating the final boss after ascension but before long resting will preserve their relationship and its romance wrap-up scene, where Astarion will demand she return to Avernus to live and offers to go with her. Accepting his offer proceeds to Karlach’s Avernus ending as normal. Epilogue dialogue implies they are still a couple and, like other Avernus partners, are searching for a way to fix Karlach’s engine.

Wyll

Karlach is able to romance Wyll in her own origin, and pursuing this option adds a handful of unique lines acknowledging Wyll's prior objective of hunting her down.

Even if Karlach’s engine is not repaired, Wyll insists on dancing with her in his Act 2 romance scene. If Karlach protests, Wyll claims he won’t be burnt as long as her emotions are kept under control. (Karlach can even choose to do "a calm twirl" when dancing.) Karlach will be unable to kiss Wyll after their dance; despite his subdued reaction to this, however, he will still become partnered to her afterward.

Wyll heavily encourages Karlach to return to Avernus in their romance wrap-up scene and will go with her, whether it’s to ensure she survives or, if he broke his pact, as part of hunting down Mizora. If Wyll becomes Grand Duke, however, his commitments to Baldur’s Gate render him unable to join her, and their relationship becomes long distance if she goes to Avernus alone.

Lae'zel

Prior to Hotfix #16, Karlach was able to accept Lae'zel's camp party proposition. Lae'zel's sex scene proceeded as normal, as if Karlach were not literally too hot to touch. The camp party dialogue now properly addresses her engine, and Lae’zel complains that she’ll have to find relief elsewhere.

Halsin

If Karlach is partnered to Halsin, he will not offer to go to Avernus with her, due to his duty to help heal the former shadowcursed lands.

Minthara

Karlach is not given the option to sleep with Minthara after completing  Raid the Emerald Grove; however, the latter can be romanced upon recruiting her to the party and upgrading Karlach's engine. In her romance wrap-up scene, Minthara demands to go to Avernus together and make Zariel sorry for ever hurting her, and accepting proceeds to Karlach’s Avernus ending as normal. Otherwise, if the player refuses, Minthara breaks down and says that she doesn't accept Karlach's choice but will stay with her until she is gone; it is implied that Minthara travels to Avernus anyway to avenge her.

Dammon

Dammon is necessary to complete  Forging a Heart, allowing Karlach to fully engage in romancing her companions. While he cannot be romanced in any playthrough, his dialogue is more flirtatious when speaking to Origin Karlach. When obtaining the second engine upgrade, Karlach can even (internally) comment on this with 'Pause. Is he flirting with you?'.

Karlach can fantasize about kissing Dammon as an alternative to her threesome fantasy during a long rest alone on the Ravaged Beach, although this is not possible in normal gameplay as this scene becomes unavailable after entering the Emerald Grove.

Finding Dammon in Act 3 after having already received both engine upgrades has him lamenting his inability to stabilize her engine. He remarks that there is something he would’ve liked to do "in another life", but doesn’t finish the thought.

Mizora

Despite her hatred of all things Zariel, Karlach can accept Mizora's one-night stand – unhappily so, especially if you choose to 'Smile the rictus grin of the damned.' when accepting. As Mizora is a cambion, she is an available sex partner for Karlach even if she has not repaired her engine. (She may say only she can bear the "fire of Avernus" within Karlach.) In their sex scene, Karlach has more demanding dialogue choices available to her. If she backs out at any time, Mizora is disappointed, saying she had hoped Karlach was ready to come home.

Haarlep

Like Mizora, Haarlep is of the Hells, so they can be a sex partner for Karlach even when her engine is not fully upgraded.