In the first act of Baldur’s Gate 3, you are tasked with killing a dangerous devil. However, this devil is not really a devil, but a popular companion who wants to join you on your journey – whether with a head or not. Here you can find out how it works.
Which character is being talked about? It is the tiefling barbarian Karlach, one of the most popular characters from Baldur’s Gate 3, who many players have quickly grown fond of. In the game, you get the task to kill her from Wyll, who considers her a devil, or from the paladins of Tyr, who are on a mission from Zariel. You can either follow through with this or ally with Karlach instead.
Players have discovered that there is a way to somehow fulfill both at the same time. Killing her and taking her head as proof does not necessarily mean you have to give up Karlach as a team member. She can definitely fight by your side… just unfortunately without a head.
Here you see an animated short film about Baldur’s Gate 3, featuring Karlach – but here she still has her head:
Even a headless Karlach is a strong Karlach
How can you recruit the headless Karlach? If you want to gain the benefits and rewards from killing Karlach without giving her up, you can achieve that with the right approach. Player Klondy shares on Reddit how it worked:
- You need to have recruited Wyll and spoken with the paladins of Tyr to get the option to behead Karlach.
- All players must be near Karlach, but not too close to trigger the cutscene.
- You should kill her with a move before she notices or can react. Klondy did this invisibly hidden with a smoke barrel and a fireball.
- Now send a companion (not your own player character) to Karlach to get the option to sever her head as proof. But beware! This should not be done! You should only initiate the conversation.
- Now send another companion who is good at sneaking and stealing behind Karlach without her seeing him.
- A third character must now resurrect Karlach with a scroll. This immediately triggers a scene that pulls the other characters into a conversation with Karlach. The hidden character should not be in this conversation, otherwise the trick will not work.
- The hidden character can now steal Karlach’s head from her inventory, completing the trick. Now you can recruit a headless Karlach, who is actually not angry that you took her head.
How does this affect the rest of the game? Although Karlach no longer has a head, you can still talk to her. Larian even made sure that she still has some sort of speaking animation, as the hole at the severed part of the neck moves accordingly to her dialogue.
If you want to continue Wyll’s quest as if you had killed Karlach, you should talk to him before resurrecting Karlach. This way, you might also retain Wyll’s “normal” appearance if you take a long rest here, but this is just a hypothesis, as Klondy has not tested it.
Furthermore, you can collect the reward from the paladins when you show them Karlach’s head. However, Klondy killed the paladins right after receiving the reward to get Karlach’s head back. “It’s super funny that Karlach throws her own head at people.” (Klondy via Reddit)
The player Voronov1 asked Klondy if Karlach can wear a helmet without a head. He received a screenshot from the game as proof, showing a floating hat over Karlach’s body.
Another player, Roger_The_Cat_, asked if the illusion spell “Disguise Self” remains headless as well. The disguised illusion has a head again, but once the spell is over, it disappears again.
More reactions under the Reddit post include many players wanting to test what a romance with a headless Karlach would look like. To build a relationship with Karlach, you must gain her trust. If you need some tutoring on that, you can find out more here on MeinMMO. Here we show you how to win over the tiefling: Baldur’s Gate 3: Karlach Romance Guide – How to find and woo the hot tiefling girlfriend
