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On looks alone, a Karlach build in BG3 should involve her starter Barbarian class. Our towering Tiefling friend makes quite the initial impression. With her imposing, fiery look, it’s easy to assume she’s the evil devil many are claiming her to be. However, after a few conversations, you quickly learn that Karlach is more joyful and kind. Still, she is a Barbarian. And such an unrelenting, powerful class deserves the best builds. In her case, you can go two ways. We’ll tackle each Barbarian build we enjoy for Karlach in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Best Karlach Build in BG3 – Barbarian Class
As a Baldur’s Gate 3 companion, Karlach is full of entertainment on a friendship path or romantic one. You’ll find Karlach around The Risen Road. Luckily for you, she’s always in one place. Once you’ve gone by the Gnome tied to the windmill, you know you’re headed in the right direction. If you need a little assistance, you can always recruit Wyll first as his Companion Quest will tie directly into Karlach and lead you to her instead. The two of them have quite a surprising connection.
When you do have Karlach in Baldur’s Gate 3, it pays to keep her as a Barbarian. She’s ruthless in battle. Barbarian simply plays well into both her background and her overall fighting style. So, our favorite BG3 builds require Karlach to keep her usual style.
Her base features include the following:
- Stats
- STR: 17
- DEX: 13
- CON: 15
- INT: 8
- WIS: 12
- CHA: 10
- Proficiencies
- Athletics
- Perception
- Survival
- Intimidation
For our two favorite Karlach builds in BG3, we will focus on the subclasses of Berserker and Wildheart.
Berserker Subclass Karlach Build
The Berserker Barbarian is our favorite build for Karlach in BG3. It fully embraces the brutality of the Barbarian class. On this progression path, you will gain some much-needed traits.
By Level 3, you get Frenzy. It comes with the following:
- Frenzied Strike: A bonus action that lets Karlach attack with her melee weapon
- Enraged Throw: Hurl a creature or item at a target for Bludgeoning and Prone damage
The Berserker Karlach build in BG3 further benefits on Level 6 when you access Mindless Rage. It allows your Rage to repel outside influence. Plus, when you’re Frenzied, you won’t be Frightened or Charmed. Also, Calm Emotion won’t kill your Rage.
By Level 10, you’ll unlock Intimidating Presence, a perfect skill for a Berserker Barbarian like Karlach. It can instill Fear in an enemy target at a range, which is helpful when you need a breather against stronger enemies.
Wildheart Subclass Karlach Build
The Wildheart subclass is a strong second of our favorite Karlach setups. It allows the Barbarian to get in touch with their more primal nature. It is the best Karlach build in BG3 if you want a reliable melee tank.
In Level 3, you’ll access Speak to Animals, but what we’re really here for is the Bestial Heart selection. If we want Karlach to withstand punishment, Bear Heart is the route you want to take. It grants you the following features:
- Rage: Bear Heart: You enter a Rage to stand up to any punishment. Additionally, you’ll use Unrelenting Ferocity and resist any damage that’s not psychic-based.
- Unrelenting Ferocity: You can use your stamina to heal yourself.
At Level 6 of our Wildheart Karlach build in BG3, she’ll aspect Animal Aspect. You can only pick one, but you’ll get another chance at a second Animal Aspect later.
For now, we can go with either of these choices. The one you don’t select, you can choose at a later time:
- Aspect of the Beast: Bear: Gives an advantage on Strength checks and doubles your carrying capacity
- Aspect of the Beast: Elk: Gives you and your allies a +1.5m movement speed bonus
Level 8 gives Karlach the helpful feature of Land’s Stride: Difficult Terrain. It’s mainly useful when exploring as Karlach becomes a terrain expert.
Finally, at Level 10, you can choose your other Animal Aspect. Feel free to select from the two we listed above.
Best Feats for Karlach
You only have a handful of times to choose an area of expertise for Karlach in Baldur’s Gate 3. There are no additional Feats in the subclasses. Instead, you’ll rely on the leveling progression in the base Barbarian class. The Barbarian can select a Feat at Levels 4, 8, and 12.
Regardless of which of our Karlach BG3 builds you go with, we strongly encourage you to take one of those Feat opportunities to improve her stats with the Ability Improvement. Focus on Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution.
Otherwise, we recommend any of the following Feats for Karlach:
- Great Weapon Master: Score a crit hit or kill a target with a melee weapon. You can make another attack with a bonus action. A high risk but higher reward for Karlach if she attacks with a Heavy Weapon she’s proficient with. Attack rolls take a -5 penalty, but damage increases by 10.
- Tough: Your HP increases by 2 with each level you gain.
- Athlete: Increases Strength or Dexterity by 1 to a max of 20. If you’re Prone, standing uses less movement.
