Baldur’s Gate 3’s Karlach is getting a bit of an overhaul, as RPG game maker Larian has outlined a slew of massive changes and updates coming to the DnD game with the massive patch 2. With many of the Baldur’s Gate 3 companions getting a happy ending in the Forgotten Realms, everyone’s favorite fiery tiefling was left on the wayside, but it now looks like she’s getting some love in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Minor spoilers for Karlach’s endings in Baldur’s Gate 3 will follow.
Now that BG3 has been out in the wild for about a month, and the Steam player count is staying strong, many players have been getting to the end of the game, and finding that Karlach’s multiple epilogues all seem to be, well, bad. I specifically mean bad for the character, to be clear, as I’m a firm believer that in a game all about choice, seeing your actions lead to negative consequences is in fact a good thing, but having no good consequences is a bummer.
Many players ended up echoing the same sentiment though, asking why doesn’t Karlach have a positive ending. There’s some setup throughout acts 1 and 2 that seem to point to one possibility, but when you finish the game there’s only one ending for her that is remotely positive, and it doesn’t build off the legwork you can put in earlier on. A new ending wasn’t present in Baldur’s Gate 3 patch 1, but it’s coming in the follow-up.
A new Karlach ending is something Larian has heard about loud and clear, as the team is “adding better closure to the story’s final act in the form of a more fleshed-out ending for Karlach – something many of you have been asking for.
“We’ve started expanding the epilogues and you’ll see the first results of that in Patch 2 with the addition of a new optional ending with Karlach,” the developer says. “It’s fiery, poignant, and gives her the ending she deserves.”
While I think seeing your choices lead to bad endings is good, like many of us I’ve been quite shocked that you can’t actually give Karlach a good ending. Other companions get one, so it’s great to see Larian keeping an eye on player sentiment and adding a new ending into the game. Samantha Béart puts in such a good performance as Karlach, so seeing even more of her work will definitely be a treat.
There’s also been talk that Karlach had a better ending planned already, with many players finding an array of epilogue cut content, but Larian has addressed this, too.
“What’s been datamined is not really cut content but content that we didn’t want to release because we didn’t think it worked,” Larian says. “We’re pretty strict with ourselves and our ideas. If it isn’t good – if it isn’t fun to play – it doesn’t make it into the game.
“One of the reasons why we trimmed the epilogue is because we were afraid the ending cinematics were becoming too long and would detract from the epicness of the experience. But clearly, not everyone agrees with us! So we’re going to do something about it.”
Larian clearly wanted to avoid a Return of the King scenario then, with multiple endings happening back to back (which I actually like on something of this scale), but no one can argue with more, free, content.
If you’re deep in BG3 and need some help, we’ve got absolutely everything you need to know about each of the Baldur’s Gate 3 classes, alongside all of the Baldur’s Gate 3 quests too, to help keep you on track. We also have the best Baldur’s Gate 3 settings on PC for you as well, to make sure your rig gets the most out of the game.
