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

Important note from the datamines is that people found new kiss nodes for Gale (not ingame yet but may mean more characters than Halsin and Karlach will get new anims soon) as well as hug nodes and dialogue for Shadowheart (implying that everyone's wishes for hug your partners/good reputation companions are about to be applied).

Pre patch 4, there's been datamined stuff about a photomode as well being posted about reddit. So I have a feeling that the "smaller" stuff is being oushed out first along with hundreds of fixes, and the big stuff is still being worked on bit by bit. We know epilogies are being worked on too, since patch 2.

So I'll keep inhaling my daily copium and go as far as think that it'd be insanely stupid if the devs did everything mentioned here (biggest wishes for quite some time, mind) and just ignored Karlach. I just think it will take quite some time to implement that. We need to stay patient but HEY GUYS THE NEW KISS ANIMATION, AM I RIGHT???

I know this is preaching to the choir, but it’s seriously frustrating how none of this was an option. Seriously, the Descent into Avernus module for the tabletop game has so much detail about infernal engines, plus the city of Baldur’s Gate also has dwarves. Like…Dammon is a great fellow, but I don’t think his skills would measure up to that of any dwarf smith with experience in the Hells.

But…you know what, everybody?

Idea time…

What about a stop-gap epilogue in the next patch wherein, for the time being, we can get Karlach surviving with simply no ending?

Hear me out:

We all know about the cut content in the upper city, and we all know how the newer, imperfect epilogue required Samantha Beart to go back into the recording studio. Plus, the new epilogue had to be animated. It was a lot of work.

How would we all feel with simply an open ending for our dear red lady, wherein she doesn’t die, her engine doesn’t overheat, and she’s sort of just standing there with the other companions on the docks?

Not great, but it would leave open the option of her getting fixed later, give us some emotional closure, and wouldn’t require more work on Larian’s part. I mean…come on, her engine overheats exactly at the moment when the world is saved, and not a moment, an hour, a day, a week later? Exactly at that moment, Larian? Come on. I’m seriously still emotionally distraught about this, as I’m sure others are.

While i appcriate your idea in this, id say that ship has kind of sailed. With the new avernus ending cinematic she recieved.
If given the choice between that or yours where *the engine will eventually fail but lets live best we can for now* ending. Id have picked yours in a heart beat.

But the fact is larian alrdy put alot if work into that cinematic and got it out asap to try and get ahead of the outcry.

So i personally dont want them to try and create different *for now* endings. Id rather they focus their attention to a truly epic happy/fixed engine ending. Complete with beefed up questline.

But thats me personally.

With patch 4 i may try replaying a new playthrough durge as ive not had a durge play and as ive not experienced the new avernus scene or the new kiss animation.

The Dark Urge playthrough is really fun, I started it a few days ago! It adds some fun content. Of course you have to play as a resisting urge to romance Karlach, I’m sure.

And I’m so happy to see that there might be some hug animations in the future! That kind of made my day. (Embarrassingly.) I was soooo ready to see hug animations like, forever ago. That would be so cool. I’m looking forward to patch 5, for sure. And if the new Karlach kiss animation is a harbinger of future kiss and hug animations, I think that we will be very pleased. Or at least, I will. Larian seemed to put a lot of love and care into it.

For me, patch 4 has played really well so far, certainly better than patch 3, so I’m excited to see what Larian will accomplish by Christmas-time and in the new year.

just here to say to everybody here keep fighting the good fight so we may get that karlach happy ending.


#JusticeForKarlach

There's nothing quite like locking horns after a passionate kiss.

It is a really sweet animation that did manage to make me smile.

The battle rages on each day but the resolve to endure is stronger

So from what I've gathered the past few days, it seems like quite a few major feedback requests from the fandom are datamined as up-and-coming. We're talking casual/romantic hugs, photomode, a goody recruitment option for Minthara (with the twist that her and Halsin will be at odds with one another and you'll have to pick one of them to keep in camp), and by the amounts of bugs and fixes they push out with each patch (hotfixes not included) it only proves that Larian keeps on going and will for some time. I don't know, maybe I'm high on copium but I genuinely want to believe that the fact that they changed up Karlach's kiss animation to the best, most fanfic-dreamy way it could've been, without us even asking for it, just kind of makes me hope that they won't abandon this thread and all the talking across all SM's and do something about it in the end.

Edit: A new Honor-mode achievement popped up on GOG so it seems like people asking for a more difficult/permadeath/ultra hard mode are also getting some!

Great News for all of Yu..
Know yu will able to enjoy the Game even more at the cost of all other companions Urray!
Viva la Karlach and Halsin !

(i Wish they just Keep Broken the Game even more just to Please all of yu Guys becouse thats the Right Thing to do! xD)

As I said in the other thread, please don't blame groups of fans (who are perfectly entitled to say what they want to see) for any issues with the game. That's two threads I've just seen you do that in Thorvic, so please let's not see it again.

So it seems like they'll give us a choice between Halsin and Minthara? That's great news if true, I won't have to lose Dammon for Karlach's story progress or losing both her and Wyll for Minthy and i'd love to have her because i'm really curious what Karlach and Wyll especially have to say about her and the banter.
Might also have to replay another Karlach origin to romance Minthy now that I won't have to skip the grove to get her which would result in Dammon dying (because damn, the vid that was posted a while ago on what Minthy told Karlach was so beautiful)

Great news on the honor mode, too!

That is so exciting, I’m pumped for patch 5, or like, whenever we get an addition that lets us hug everybody. Larian seems to be hitting their stride with the animations, too. I’m sure all of the folks here are going to have a field day with endless hugs for Karlach, haha.

It is really encouraging that they’re still adding meaningful additions to the game and listening to the fanbase. Thanks for keeping us up to date on what the dataminers are finding!

I’m super hopeful that Karlach is going to go the way of Beast or Fane and get some serious fleshing out even after the game has been officially released. There’s a precedent for it. So why not be hopeful?

And like…. isn’t Karlach a way more popular character than Beast ever was, anyway? All the more reason that it’s important and necessary for her questline, etc., to be revisited. If the devs felt compelled to do more with Beast, I’m hopeful that they’ll have a similar thought process with Karlach.

Once I get the option to hug, I'll hug everyone lmao.

Trust me, you don't want Karlach going the way of Beast, and definitely not the way Fane. The former simply had their existing story padded out, while the latter had all bad endings and nothing changed.

Oh lordy, permadeath mode sounds rough as hell but would be neat. But I agree! Larian is doing some really good work in these patches and seemingly laying the groundwork for some bigger stuff down the line. I too hope moving karlachs engine dialogue into act 2 and these new animations are signs of good things to come for us regarding our fiery friend!

From what I've seen about the Halsin-Minthara-dialogue it seems like a new "neutral" version, so it might not change anything about the grove itself. Simply because Halsin does reference "Kaghas foolishness", and it seems to me like that means she went through with the rite. So it might be the grove itself is saved, but the tieflings are not. But we shall see, hopefully I am wrong - after all, the mod to recruit Minthara on a good run is very popular.

I'm looking forward to the hug option, however, it honestly felt odd that we never got that in the first place - especially not for Karlach, who had been talking about missing those all the time before being able to touch people. I'll definitely use that a lot.

There is still reason to hope for them to give us a better Karlach ending, especially with how much it has been requested. So far they've shown that they listen to the players.

I think this is what keeps many of us here. There’s a strong belief in the company. Let’s all keep that hope alive!

yea i keep coming here and commenting just to show larian theres still alot of demand for a happy karlach ending

#JusticeForKarlach

Just started up a new playthrough, loving the new animations in camp. Just got karlach her first upgrade, and alrdy feeling the tinge to put the game down cause I am again reminded theres no fix for her yet, wish me strength as I continue to act 2 to see this new kiss animation!

#JusticeforKarlach