Karlach/romance

Overview

Approval

Banter

Romance

Karlach can be romanced.

Companion

• Her first scene can be during Chapter One. If the player character has Medium approval^{[Needs Verification]} they can drum up the courage to tell her how much they like her during the camp celebration after finishing Save the Refugees. This will lead to Karlach meeting the player character, once they have gone to bed and everybody else is asleep. Alternatively, if the player character has High approval^{[Needs Verification]}, Karlach will do this on her own. Since it is not possible to continue with The Hellion's Heart past the first step in Act One, the player character will not be able to touch her. Howerver, she can be convinced to kiss - which the player character can either end sooner or embrace the moment, only to burn their lips.
• After reciprocating her feelings, it's possible to tell her how much they would love to touch her. As well as figuring a way to cool her down with water or frost magic for a quick embrace, going into a discussion of letting them have fun with others while she's unavailable due to the engine.
• 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 sleep with her.
• During Chapter Three, Karlach will ask to have a "first date" at her favorite restaurant in Baldur's Gate, where she pretends to only just be meeting the player character. Afterwards is a sex scene if nudity is enabled, and a kissing scene if nudity is disabled.
• Another romance may be started with Halsin in Act Three with an option to check with Karlach first. When approached, Karlach will say that she is not ready. Although, she agrees to let the player character have both romances if pushed.
• It is possible to have an intercourse with Mizora. The player character will be caught by Karlach at the end of it and asked to explain. She will be deeply hurt, but will not end the relationship.

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, Karlachs's relationship progression can be divided into specific stages: friendly, flirting, partnered, and ex-partnered:

1. Friendly: The friendly stage begins at medium approval, and is the default stage for non-romanced companions.
2. Flirting: Once the player character repairs the first part of Karlachs Infernal Engine, they will enter the flirting stage
3. Partnered: In Act 2 with high enough approval, if the player character is not in the partnered stage with any other companion and her Infernal Engine is repaired, they are able to partner with Karlach. This stage comes with unique party/camp interactions.
4. Ex-Partnered: Once partnered with Karlach, the player character can break up with her anytime by selecting the appropriate dialogue option.

Unique dialogue

Greetings

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

• Flirting:

• TBD

• Partnered:

• "Darling."
• "Hey!"
• "Soldier?"

If broken up with (ex-partnered), Karlachs's greetings return to her regular, friendly greetings.

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.")

Origin

While playing as the Karlach Origin, Karlach's personal story has a number of different effects on which specific romantic interactions are available at different parts of the game. A list of known effects on other romance storylines is contained below, but may be incomplete.

Act One

Astarion's scene where he usually initiates sex has unique dialogue when playing as Karlach; he will become frustrated and confused that he can't touch Karlach, and it is possible to suggest to just lay near each other instead, which is a novel concept for him. Karlach still appears naked in the morning.

Prior to Hotfix #16, Karlach was able to accept Lae'zel's proposition. Lae'zel's sex scene proceeded as normal, as if Karlach were not literally too hot to touch. This was fixed in said hotfix, and origin Karlach can no longer initiate this scene.

Karlach is not prevented from romancing Wyll, and pursuing this option does have a handful of unique lines acknowledging Wyll's prior objective of hunting Karlach down.

Dammon's interactions with an Origin Karlach character seem to be generally more flirtatious than when talking to other characters.

After the celebration in camp with the goblins following the raid on the Emerald Grove, Karlach mentions her condition to Minthara and refuses her offer for sex, which is met with disappointment. Afterwards, Minthara will attempt to kill Karlach in her sleep but will be caught and conversed with, which can lead to an invitation to Moonrise Towers.

Act Two

After delivering a second piece of Infernal Iron to Dammon at the Last Light Inn, Origin Karlach is given additional unique options for how to respond. In addition to simply saying "Thank you", these are:

• Pause. Is he flirting with you?
• Take your leave - you have someone you really want to touch.

Neither one of these options appear have immediate consequences, but after wrapping up conversations from this scene, Origin Karlach is able to fully engage in usual romantic interactions with other characters.