Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Do not use the word "cure" for Karlach (spoilers)

Here is a quick feedback/suggestion I have:

In a certain scene, Dammon tells Karlach that "there is a cure" for her engine.

As someone with a chronic disease, I feel that the word CURE is disingenuous and misleading. As the game stands now, there is NO cure for Karlach. Going back to Avernus in order to stop her engine from burning up is akin to a person like myself having to change my lifestyle and/or location (to a different climate, or even having to move into a facility where my disease can be controlled, for example).

Karlach's circumstances come across as quite similar to that. Her "disease" is still there, her heart is still an unstable infernal engine that puts her life at risk UNLESS she constrains herself to being in Avernus for the rest of her life. That is NOT a cure. It is suppression of a chronic condition to avoid death. The engine/disease is still there, so calling it a cure is just wrong.

I understand I might be more sensitive towards it because of my own experience being chronically ill, but the way Dammon phrases it (with the specific word CURE) felt very misleading and cruel, even.

I suggest that instead of him saying "there is a cure", he should say something along the lines of "there is a way around it/to control it/suppress it".

Just don't say "cure" when that is not true.

That's all!

Karlach is a special case, she doesn't have a disease, her heart has been replaced with an infernal engine making her akin to a fish out of water.

The only way to save the fish is return it to the water.

Actually Larian very likey actively wants to mislead the player in this regard.

After all how to fix Karlach shouldnt be easy and straightforward.

This statement is also not inconsistent with the character who speaks this line. People usually dont weight every word with gold. People making unprecise statements is very common.

Fixing the condition is simply casting the right spell. Regeneration is a good start at level 7

This is probably why I would hate to be a writer right now.

^why?

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While I agree with most of what OP said, I feel the need to ask this. How is


not a cure?

Side effects are worse than the disease.

That or killing her, give her a heart surgery and casting true resurrectionon her.

If this were actual dnd, raise dead would "fix" a great many of our problems, including our tadpole one. It's one of the reasons why I have such an issue with not-Jergal-honest's budget resurrections.

I thought so too, that it was purposefully misleading.

Though the way things go with her, it just adds insult to injury.


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Regarding all others, I am not discussing her ending (there's the huge thread about that already). I just wanted to register a suggestion in regards to wording. The game felt very mindful of minorities and the portrayal of several types of struggles and I've read that Karlach's could be a reference to terminal illness. If so, I feel there is even more need to avoid the word cure.

However, if it's the writer actually trying to mislead the player into thinking that, well. What can I do. Felt there should be a bit of a follow through with that, in this case.

I think this is leftover from the originally planned content that has not made it into the game. As if originally the engine was meant to be fixed either
I would see this as an oversight rather than a true effort to be misleading or that Dammon did not weigh his words.
I know it is nitpicky, but I also think this is a good thing to bring up especially as larian is listening and implementing changes each update. Cure is definitely not the word to use.