Karlach is the Barbarian companion of Baldur’s Gate 3 and serves as one of the game’s best melee characters. Fueled by her rage and the infernal engine that resides in her chest, Karlach can decimate entire groups of enemies with little issue. Create a good build for her, and Karlach can dish out more damage than most casters.
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While she plays her cards close to her chest, Shadowheart makes for a trustworthy companion on Baldur’s Gate 3’s battlefield.
Today, we’ll be looking at two powerful builds that turn Karlach into the ultimate Barbarian. Both builds are easy to create, are fun to play, and offer some jaw-dropping damage with the right gear. Eliminate foes with a flurry of melee attacks, or turn every item around Karlach into a lethal weapon.
Updated November 18, 2025 by Ryan Thompson-Bamsey: We’ve tweaked the ranged build in this guide to add some thievery (and more throwing!) to the mix.
Karlach Overview
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Karlach |
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Race |
Zariel Tiefling |
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Starting Class |
Barbarian |
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Background |
Outlander |
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Proficiencies |
Athletics, Intimidation, Perception, Survival |
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Ability Scores |
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Strength |
17 |
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Dexterity |
13 |
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Constitution |
15 |
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Intelligence |
8 |
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Wisdom |
12 |
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Charisma |
10 |
Found during Act 1, Karlach is a Zariel Tiefling that excels in melee combat. Her high Strength is perfect for wielding heavy two-handed weapons or throwing environmental objects as improvised weapons, perfect for a raging Barbarian. You can make Karlach viable at ranged combat by scaling her improvised weapon damage through feats like Tavern Brawler, although her expertise tends to be cleaving enemies in half with a giant sword. Give her a strong weapon, support her attacks with spells like Haste, and nothing will stand in your party’s way.
As a bonus action, Karlach may consume a Soul Coin to empower her infernal engine, lasting until your next Long Rest. While this buff is active, Karlach’s melee attacks will deal an extra 1-4 fire damage while raging. This added damage does not scale with character level.
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Best Melee Build For Karlach
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Pros |
Cons |
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This build is an 8/4 split between Barbarian and Fighter, taking the best elements of both classes to create the ultimate melee character. While we do multiclass with this build, leveling it is incredibly easy and doesn’t fall behind other classes. Karlach will increase her Barbarian levels throughout most of Act 1, dipping a few levels into Fighter during Act 2 to gain access to Action Surge, allowing you to take an additional action during your turn once per Short Rest. You can attack up to four times in a single round this way, increased to six if you are buffed with Haste.
We further scale our damage by maxing our Strength stat and grabbing the Great Weapon Master feat, adding a +10 damage modifier to every attack. Paired with a good melee weapon, Karlach can single-handedly slay a couple of enemies every turn, even in Act 3. It’s easy to play, deals great damage, and scales well through an entire playthrough.
Leveling The Build
Recommended Items
The items recommended are for an endgame character in Act 3. No items listed below are required for the build to function.
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Helmet |
Cape |
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Gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls against injured targets. Additionally, melee attacks deal +2 Necrotic damage if your HP isn’t full. |
Cloak Of Displacement Enemy attacks targeting you suffer from Disadvantage, lasting until you’re hit. Resets at the start of your turn. |
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Armor |
Amulet |
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11 AC Clothing. Shield of Faith also buffs saving throws. |
Gain Advantage of all Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws. |
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Gloves |
Ring #1 |
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Your Strength is set to 23. Strength saving throws gain a +1 modifier. |
Once per long rest, killing an enemy causes your next attack to critically hit. |
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Boots |
Ring #2 |
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Disintegrating Night Walkers Can’t be Enwebbed, Entangled, or Ensnared and can’t slip on grease or ice. Grants Misty Step. |
During combat, when you start your turn with 50% HP or less, gain Momentum for 1 turn. |
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Main-Hand Weapon (Endgame) |
Main-Hand Weapon (Early Game) |
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+3 Greatsword. On hit, double the damage from your Strength modifier. Gain Advantage against Large, Huge, or Gargantuan creatures. |
Sold by most vendors; a Githyanki variant drops from the Githyanki patrol encounter. |
Horns of the Berserker
Viconia’s Priestess Robe
Fey Semblance Amulet
Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength
Killer’s Sweetheart
Spurred Band
Balduran’s Giantslayer
Greatsword +1Return to Quick Links
Best Ranged Build For Karlach
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Pros |
Cons |
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Barbarians aren’t known for killing foes from a distance, but this build turns Karlach into a terrifying ranged combatant. We’ll be using the Tavern Brawler feat to make improvised weapons deal substantially more damage. Paired with the Berserker subclass, we can turn virtually anything into an improvised weapon, including our enemies. Pick up a nearby threat, throw them off a cliff, and throw a few weapons their way for good measure. It deals great damage, is fun to play, and is surprisingly simple to level.
The true maximum damage for this build is achieved by trading some of the later Barbarian levels for Rogue (Thief) levels. By taking four levels in Rogue and choosing the Thief subclass, Karlach gains the Fast Hands feature. Since Frenzied Throw (from Berserker) uses a Bonus Action, Fast Hands allows Karlach to make two Frenzied Throws per turn instead of one, maximizing the damage potential of this build’s gimmick. The 5/4/3 split ensures you get the essential Extra Attack, two Bonus Actions, and Action Surge
Leveling The Build
Recommended Items
The items recommended are for an Act 1 character. Endgame recommendations are the same as our previous build, minus the main-hand weapons listed.
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