Crafting the Ultimate Karlach Build in Baldur‘s Gate 3

As one of the first companions you meet early on in Baldur‘s Gate 3, Karlach brings noteworthy muscle to your adventuring party. I‘ve traveled many miles of Faerun with her across various playthroughs, meticulously refining the best ways to push her abilities to their limit.

In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll share extensive tips on skills, subclasses, equipment, teammates and more to transform Karlach into an unstoppable force feared across the realms. Let‘s dive in!

Getting to Know Karlach In-Depth

Before we can fully optimize Karlach‘s talents, we need to analyze her intrinsic strengths and role. As a fierce Zariel Tiefling warrior fueled by unhinged rage, her capabilities lean towards overwhelming adversaries in close melee brawls.

Karlach‘s Race, Class, Background and Default Stats

Here‘s a granular overview of Karlach‘s starting character profile:

Race: Zariel Tiefling

• Innate Hellish Rebuke Spell Deter Attackers
• Darkvision to Spot Enemies in Dim Light
• Fire Resistance

Class: Barbarian

• Rage for Increased Damage Output
• Unarmored Defense to Withstand Blows
• Reckless Attacks for Advantage

Background: Outlander

• Wanderer Skills
• Foraging to Save Gold on Rations

Proficiencies: Athletics, Intimidation, Perception, Survival

Ability Scores: Strength 17, Dexterity 13, Constitution 15, Intelligence 8, Wisdom 12, Charisma 10

As shown above, Karlach‘s toolset of racial spells, core class features and backstory paint a picture of a self-sufficient wandering warrior built for separating enemies from their limbs.

Her ability score inclination towards high strength, constitution and dexterity further confirms she‘s optimized for absorbing and dishing out loads of punishment at close quarters right from character creation.

Karlach‘s Ominous Storyline

Potential minor early storyline spoilers ahead

My first encounter with Karlach occurred just outside the ransacked ruins of a chapel where she was battering a group of tieflings without mercy in an attempt to retrieve her greatsword.

As we adventured together, I slowly learned Karlach is hunting tiefling relics to fuel an ancient contraption known as an "infernal engine." She insists this mysterious device can lift a devilish curse afflicting her village.

However, Karlach‘s methods are ruthlessly efficient, and she kills anyone standing between her and the next infernal engine fuel source. I faced difficult decisions on whether to intervene as her body count grew…

So in addition to maximizing Karlach‘s combat skills, her backstory provides helpful context on dialogue choices and whether to upgrade equipment reinforcing evil tendencies. Now, onto the good stuff: molding Karlach into a steel hurricane of destruction!

Skill Selection For Improved Performance

While Karlach begins with a solid skill foundation, choosing complementary abilities as she levels up can make her even more lethal:

Athletics: Increases jump height/distance and grappling efficacy to swiftly engage enemies. With higher athletics, Karlach can pull off running power jumps to close distance on ranged casters attempting to kite her.

Intimidation: Perfect for Karlach‘s imposing presence as a towering infernal warrior. Intimidating enemies can trigger paralyzing fear, granting Karlach a tactical advantage.

Perception: Boosts Karlach‘s environmental awareness to pinpoint lurking threats. This also allows preemptively maneuvering into optimal positions before combat begins.

My preference is leaning hard into athletics first for maneuverability, followed by intimidation and perception. As the battlemap gameplay footage below demonstrates, distance-closing mobility is critical to prevent getting swarmed by mobs of enemies pelting you with spells and arrows:

Higher athletics directly complements Karlach‘s role as an unstoppable frontline juggernaut who charges headfirst into the thick of fights. Intimidation and perception further enhance her strengths.

Leveling Priorities For Karlach

As Karlach reaps XP rewards from quests and felling foes, optimally allocating attribute points, feats and subclass selections is critical for success. Here‘s how I level her up for peak devastation:

Levels 1-4: Pump Strength, Extra Attack, Great Weapon Master

Right off the bat at Levels 1, 3 and 4 I assign every ability score increase into Strength so Karlach‘s greataxe strikes harder immediately. By Level 4 with 18 Strength, she deals eye-watering damage.

I also grab the vital Extra Attack Barbarian feature at Level 2 allowing additional attack rolls each turn, compounding her elevated strength into more frequent hits.

At Level 4, the Great Weapon Master feat is mandatory. This grants Karlach a staggering +10 damage per swing at the cost of reduced attack accuracy. Combined with Extra Attack and high strength, she effortlessly cleaves through low-level mobs.

Levels 5-8: Reckless Strikes, More Strength, Toughness

Continuing to pump Strength should take priority from Levels 5-7 for skyrocketing melee destruction. Here‘s a practical example:

• Level 5 Karlach Strength: 18 (+4 modifier)
• Great Weapon Master: +10 damage per attack
• Hits Bandit With Greataxe While Raging: 1d12 slashing + 1d6 fire + 4 strength + 10 Great Weapon Master (+2 rage) = 27 damage avg

And that‘s just one single attack out of a possible two per turn thanks to Extra Attack! You can see how strength aligned with multiplication tactics like Extra Attack and Great Weapon Master combine into exponentially greater destruction.

At Level 5 Karlach also unlocks Reckless Attack gaining attack advantage at the cost of also allowing enemies advantage. It‘s an excellent risk/reward tradeoff playing into Karlach‘s brash battling style to land devastating critical blows.

By Level 8 I spec into Tough increasing Karlach‘s health pool to enable absorbing extra punishment while she relies on reckless attack and closes distance.

Levels 9-12: Ramp Up Strength, Criticals, Savage Strikes

In Karlach‘s later levels, piling on Strength unlocks Brutal Critical allowing more frequent weapon criticals at Levels 9 and 13. This pairs beautifully with savage strikes…

At Level 12 the Savage Attacker feat enables Karlach to reroll 1 damage die per turn. Combined with brutal critical‘s increased threat range, she morphs into a roiling vortex of steel, sinew and sundered bone annihilating everything within reach turn after gory turn.

Subclass – Embrace Karlach‘s Inner Beserker

Upon reaching Level 3, Karlach selects a Barbarian subclass providing extra combat perks. While Wildheart and Totem Warrior offer minor benefits, Berserker synergizes best:

• Frenzy Rage: Bonus action extra attack while raging. More swings compound all damage boosts.
• Mindless Rage: Advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened while raging. Helps prevent disruption.
• Intimidating Presence: At Level 10, terrify nearby enemies as an action. Great for her Intimidation skill.
• Retaliation: Reaction attack against sources of damage while raging. Discourages approaching!

As demonstrated above, the Berserker path doubles down on Karlach‘s crazed aggression and imposing presence. The extra attacks, fear effects and reactive hits perfectly complement her berserk fighting style.

I always choose Berserker for the reasons outlined above without hesitation. Now let‘s cover how to defend Karlach from attacks while she‘s bringing the pain herself!

Outfitting Karlach‘s Arsenal

Selecting the right weapons and protection is crucial for keeping Karlach upright and slaughtering. Here are my top armament recommendations:

Armor Choices

Since Karlach retains Barbarian unarmored defense bonuses while donning light/medium armor meeting strength prerequisites, here are suitable options:

I lean towards Half Plate for max defense since Karlach shouldn‘t worry much about dexterity. But Breastplate is a versatile alternative, and Studded Leather better showcases her Barbarian class if desired.

Essential Weapons

As evidenced earlier, Greataxes enable extremely high damage when strength focused. The bonus critical dice combined with all her damage boosts results in explosive strikes cutting down enemies with just a few clean hits.

For even more devastation, the unique Tiefling greataxe The Redoubt adds substantial fire damage on every attack. Fueling her infernal engine with soul coins boosts this further as shown below:

To offset Karlach‘s melee range limitation, keep a Heavy Crossbow equipped for pulling and finishing fleeing cowards. This also enables retaliation safely out of enemy reach.

Consumables To Further Amplify Karlach‘s Build

While abilities, feats and equipment get Karlach most of the way towards elite status, consumables provide temporary effects that can completely overwhelm opponents when deployed strategically:

• Potion of Giant Strength: Induces superhuman strength for grappling huge enemies.
• Potion of Speed: Extract allies from devastating AoE ground effects.
• Oil of Etherealness: Setup ambushes by attacking from the Ethereal Plane.
• Potion of Resistance: Withstand dragon/elemental breath attacks.

I constantly invest proceeds from selling excess loot into restocking versatile consumables like these that shore up Karlach‘s weaknesses.

For example, a Potion of Storm Giant Strength combined with Great Weapon Master can enable delivering over 100 damage per swing against bosses!

Having belts lined with the most opportune potions gold can buy are mandatory for getting the maximum value out of a fully optimized end game Karlach build.

The Verdict: Crafting the Quintessential Karlach Build

After countless hours playing Baldur‘s Gate 3 across a plethora of campaigns testing wide-ranging Karlach specs, I‘m entirely convinced implementing the following recommendations comprises the objectively best Karlach build possible:

• Singular Focus On Strength, Extra Attacks and Weapon Feats
• Embrace Her Beserker Subclass for Maximum Carnage
• Balance Heavy Armor With Mobility
• Keep Potion Supply Well Stocked

Sticking to this blueprint for directing ability score gains, talent selections, equipment choices and consumable usage transforms Karlach into a relentless metal-clad harbinger of woe feared by friend and foe alike. She can shred through any campaign content without breaking a sweat.

Just be judicious in allowing her openly hostile tendencies towards tieflings to influence unnecessary conflict resolutions! With such power comes great responsibility…

Now let‘s examine ideal teammates that complement Karlach‘s specialization as an unstoppable front line brawler.

Building Around Karlach‘s Role

While Karlach is an absolute monster in melee combat, she lacks ranged capabilities and supporting magic. Tailoring your Baldur‘s Gate 3 party composition to fill those gaps allows her to truly shine:

Based on the strengths and weaknesses in her kit, here are my recommendations on classes that synergize best with Karlach to form a well-rounded wrecking crew:

Rangers & Rogues: Capable of surgically eliminating dangerous casters/archers from afar that Karlach struggles to stick to. Their positioning versatility is also excellent for scouting ahead undetected.

Clerics: Healing magic keeps Karlach upright since she serves as the primary damage sponge. Cleric buffs/debuffs also compensate for Karlach‘s minimal spellcasting ability.

Wizards: Extremely useful for crowd control abilities slowing down hordes of minions swarming Karlach. This provides breathing room for her to focus down the most threatening targets one by one. Portent rolls can also help Karlach land critical hits.

Last Word

I hope this expansive deep dive into fully optimizing Karlach‘s capabilities proves useful for your own adventures through the Forgotten Realms. Let me know if you have any other questions on propelling her to literal barbarian goddess status!

Now get out there and start cleaving fools in twain with the might of this Tiefling titan. The fate of Faerun lies in your hands…