Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion [END SPOILS WARNING] Addressing Karlach (PLEASE PUT SPOILERS IN TAGS)

If we could talk to the Gondians and try something else, or have the option to strike a deal with someone that's offering, then even if those options fail, at least we truly did all we could for Karlach.

Talking to an apprentice twice and then calling it quits is not doing "all we could" by any stretch of the imagination.

We already know that her engine is an unstable prototype and she needs the newer version that the Steel Watch has. We don't know if replacing her engine would kill her -- because we're never allowed to even get to that point. The Gondians can make it with the enriched infernal iron that drops (which has no other purpose in-game). There couldn't be a more obvious hint that this was her path to a fix.

As for "dragging" her back to Avernus, nobody's dragging anyone. She made that choice along with us. Going back to Avernus means that she's ready to face her fears because she's not alone anymore. That's about as poetic as dying free on the surface.

It seems like all you want to do is railroad us even more into one particular ending you deem fit. Last I checked, this wasn't a visual novel. It's a game about choices weaving different fates, yet the only choice you would have for us was for her to die or become a squid. On the flip side, what we want is to have more options, so that more people can enjoy the story that they craft.

Edit: Also, this idea that each character has one narrative theme is 100% wrong. Lae'zel can break free from Vlaakith, or she can choose to stay loyal to her. That is an option that you have in the game. Gale can overcome all odds, or he can lust for power and pay the price for it. Astarion can overcome the trauma but he can also become the abuser himself. Wyll can break free from the pact, or he can choose to continue serving.

Similarly, Karlach can give up trying and die free on the surface or go back to Avernus to face her fears and try to win her life back. If her engine was never meant to be fixed, however, then that needs to be made clear in the story by allowing us to try and fail more than just once.

Karlach is one of the most popular characters on social media, coming only after Astarion and Shadowheart, so you and Thorvic are completely off the deep end on that one.

Also, you keep saying the devs said this and that but when we asked you for a source, you went all quiet.

The crux of this is that whether you are okay with the "tragedy" or not, they straight up didn't finish developing her questline. There's no questioning that. They can absolutely stick to their guns and keep it tragic, but they need to finish the questline, allow us to explore those options that were OBVIOUSLY meant to be explored for her missing Act 3 quest, and earn that tragedy. As-is the tragedy is exactly what people have said throughout the thread: that you're not allowed to even try.

It still wouldn't feel great because True Resurrection is in the game but as is the current theme of the state of Karlach we're not allowed to try with it, but at least if the questline lets us TRY and still fail it would be a lot more meaningful. They weren't writing themselves into a corner but due to her late addition and moving the game up a full month they CREATED a corner for her writing to be stuck in.

I already explained why for me (and basically everyone I met so far outside this thread) her engine was obviously never meant to be fixed. And you said it yourself, Lae'Zel can break free from Vlaakkith or remain loyal, Gale can save himself or be consumed by power. Karlach can also accept her death, go back to avernus or even sacrifice herself and become mindflayer on top of that, so what's the problem here?


Correct me if i'm wrong, didn't devs add new lines in patch 2 to point out that her situation is hopeless? They also stated many times in the interviews that they are happy with the state of the game and they don't plan on creating DLCs and expansions

Well said! Most of us here would reluctantly accept a fleshed-out questline that lets us earn her fate, rather than watch on the sidelines as we do now.

They could do just that in a potential definitive edition, just like they did before. But until they remove the enriched infernal iron from the game, there's still hope for a different path.

It would be one of the first interviews, idk exactly which one, but there was definetely a quote that was something like "it's the hope that kills you" Well if you somehow can convince me it's not about Karlach then go on. But as it is now it seems they had it planned

Also no she's nowhere near as popular as you claim, 4th most popular at best

Perhaps in your circle that may be the popular opinion, but it's not at all the case in any open forum space. The problem here is that you're not allowed to try. For every other companion, their fate was earned. Ours was not. I don't want to play a visual novel when I play with Karlach. I want to play the choose-your-own-adventure that I was promised.


Here's Swen on DLCs.

The devs did add a few lines about Karlach despairing about her fate. All of that is to flesh out her existing plotline because prior to that it felt bare-bones on that front. However, an alternative pathway would have different lines.

I don't think they have any intention of releasing a Definitive Edition or any separate purchasable DLC or expansions, however they've been very open that whatever their roadmap for patching the game is, they will be implementing feedback for changes into them. They weren't specific about how wide a net they're casting with that, and given how quickly they changed one of her ending cutscenes to take some of the edge off of the dissatisfaction it's clear they're at least open to this sort of content change. They've also said they'll work on implementing content they at least started to make and decided not to use for the type of post-ending sequence most CRPG players expect so new content isn't out of the question, they just won't be selling it separately and we shouldn't expect anything like a $30 expansion-sized addition I think is what they mean.

Are you one of those conspiracy theorists who claim her content was cut? Pretty sure dataminers have found nothing

Absolutely not. Seems like you haven't been on Twitter or YouTube. Try searching for her content there, and then for the others and see what you find.

Absolutely yes, sure cool that artists can get something from this but in game stats say otherwise and that's what important to devs

Dammon's voice actor admitted to having recorded lines about finding a fix for her, so that's no longer a hypothesis. It's a fact.

And the fact is it's not in the game and I can't imagine adding one line being impossible, so if it's not in the game that means they made a concious decision to remove it. That's a fact

Sure, if in-game stats is what you want, here you go: https://twitter.com/larianstudios/status/1690016466454577152/photo/2


So it's cut content. Glad we came to an agreement.

And the contect is cut for a reason, it's not some game breaking hellhole, it's literally a quote from something that looks like a fetch quest, so if they removed it clearly they didn't wanted it, not because they had to. Also please explain how some chart from august, that shows Karlach is second most picked origin character proves anything? Frankly how does info from august proves anything?

Do you have any more recent data? I would love to see it.

Why they removed it is anyone's guess. Could be they had no time to finish up that questline. Could be that they didn't want it. No use in pretending like you know.

My bet is still on it wasn't removed. They left everything they developed for it and pivoted away from finishing it because of looming deadlines. There's TONS of cut content left in the files so in Karlach's case it's more likely the content was never finished and implemented in a way that needed to be cut. Which is all the more reason they should finish developing it.

Can try to look up something maybe they don't release it anymore. Last time I saw it it would be a september if I rember correctly, and she wasn't doing nearly half as well as you would suspect given all the controversy that was going on back then. Hell Gale of all people was ahead of her and by much so once again - she isn't nearly as popular as you claim her to be

But there were never any plans for "alternative" patch. This is just your opinion (shared by maybe 3 more people here) literally everyone everywhere have different opinion about her questline. Hate to break it out to you guys but you're the minority and now even particularly loud one. The other one corrects him that this is what's already in the game, he clearly meant the scene in act 2 where Dammon makes it so Karlach's touch doesn't burn people.

You really want to compare yourself to some twitter weirdos that complain about literally everything and do it for the sake of complaining? They always find problems and reasons to be mad, don't go this way