Baldur’s Gate 3 – How To Romance Karlach

Baldur’s Gate 3 has several companions that offer unique romance options. One of these is Karlach, a Tiefling who has battled her way out of the depths of hell. From the fires of Avernus, you might be able to rekindle that fiery passion through your deeds. Our guide discusses how you can romance Karlach in Baldur’s Gate 3 by looking for Infernal Iron and related items. Likewise, please be reminded that this guide contains spoilers.

How to Romance Karlach in Baldur’s Gate 3

The Baldur’s Gate 3 Karlach romance involves finding Infernal Iron so her Infernal Engine can be repaired. It’s also related to her companion quest arcs: Our Fiery Friend and The Hellion’s Heart. Here’s a quick summary:

• Upon reaching the Risen Road in Act 1, make sure you have a spot in your party so Karlach can join in the fight against Anders. You can refer to our companion recruitment guide for more info.
• Continue adventuring with Karlach and increase her approval through good deeds and heroic actions. She might come to blows with Wyll, but you should break up the fight through dialogue.
• You’ll learn of her Infernal Engine, her heart, which causes searing pain to people who try to touch her.
• You must save the Tiefling refugees. Do not side with Minthara and the Goblins. If you pick the latter, she’ll be disgusted with your actions, and she’ll permanently leave the party.

Act 1: Dammon and Your First Infernal Iron

For the Baldur’s Gate 3 Karlach romance, you need to find a Tiefling who knows a bit about engineering. Make your way to the Tiefling refugee camp in Druid Grove and look for an NPC named Dammon. He’s able to help, but you need to bring Infernal Iron. There are a couple of places where you can find it in Act 1:

• Goblin Camp/Shattered Sanctum: Dror Ragzlin – Defeat Dror Ragzlin to obtain his key, or lockpick the treasure hoard room behind his throne.
• Grymforge: Stonemason Kith – You need to travel to the Underdark and reach Grymforge from there. Look for a Duergar NPC named Stonemason Kith:
  • If you pass all three skill checks for History, Investigation, and Perception, he’ll give you the Infernal Alloy for free. If you fail, then you have to buy it from him.
  • If you’ve already freed True Soul Nere, you can side with the Duergar since Stonemason Kith is with them. You can buy the Infernal Iron after the fight while he’s still in the chamber. If you fast travel out of the area, Stonemason Kith might not be there when you return.

Karlach First Kiss and How to Cool Her Off

Return to Dammon and give the Infernal Iron. Karlach will be able to touch someone, but only for a short while. You can go ahead and test this by going for a kiss, which causes an abrupt spark.

Back in your camp, talk to Karlach and say that you know of a way to cool her off. She’ll simply reply with “I’m waiting” and her dialogue will not change. To fix this, you can either throw water at her, cast a water or ice spell, or shoot an ice arrow. This will advance her dialogue in the meantime.

Act 2: Other Infernal Iron, Infernal Alloy, and Infernal Metal Sources

Your next objective, as Dammon says, is to visit him in Baldur’s Gate. However, before you could even reach the city, you’d have to venture into the Shadow-Cursed Lands. There, you’ll find Last Light Inn, which is also where you’ll meet Jaheira for the first time. Dammon is also there in the stables, which means he’ll want additional Infernal stuff.

We were able to find two Infernal Iron sources, both of which were in the Gauntlet of Shar dungeon:

• To the left of the waypoint, you’ll reach a chamber which has the necromancer Balthazar. There’s a large room with a locked door to the north. You can lockpick that to find three ornate chests, one of which has Infernal Iron.
• To the right of the main area, you’ll encounter a demon by the name of Yurgir (who also happens to be a part of Astarion’s companion quest). Killing him is tough, since he and his demonic cohorts are on an elevated area. However, you can convince him to off himself by succeeding in several hard dialogue checks. You can then loot Infernal Metal from his ashes.

Karlach Love Scene

Now that you have another Infernal item and it’s already the game’s second act, you can bring it to Dammon in Last Light Inn. He does give you a warning (more on this later). For now, though, you can push through with the Baldur’s Gate 3 Karlach romance. Simply return to your camp and talk to Karlach at night. Choose the appropriate responses and lean in for a kiss.

Potential Problems

Your Baldur’s Gate 3 Karlach romance won’t go off without a hitch. That’s because there might be a few problems down the line:

• Dammon claims that Karlach’s Infernal Engine will continue to overheat, and she’ll eventually die. There might be a cure, but we’ve yet to discover one in the campaign.
• There might be a way to use Soul Coins, due to their description that states how they power up Infernal Engines.
• We advise you to keep Dammon alive at all costs. Otherwise, his death could mean losing an opportunity to romance Karlach. This can occur during specific decisions made as the Dark Urge and when you’re interacting with the Nightsong.
• As far as we can tell, the love scenes/sex scenes will lock you out of potential romances with other companions. In our experience, we tried to woo Karlach and Shadowheart at the same time. After the Karlach sex scene, Shadowheart simply remarked that she’s happy for our character.

This is all we know about how to romance Karlach in Baldur’s Gate 3. We’ll update our guide soon, so stay tuned.