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Baldur's Gate 3

How to Recruit Karlach in Baldur's Gate 3 - Hunt the Devil Walkthrough

By
Nathan Garvin

Despite common misconceptions, the struggle between good and evil - heaven and hell - isn’t the largest conflict in the Dungeons and Dragons cosmology, but rather the feud between the various axiomatic and anarchic factions in hells. Known as the Blood War, nigh infinite armies of loosely aligned demonic warlords wage war against the feudal legions of devil lords, who ostensibly fight under the Asmodeus’s banner. In this struggle, tieflings are perhaps in the worst predicament; being both mortal and infernal, they’re viewed as currency and fodder, and it should be no wonder that certain enterprising individuals should seize the opportunity to escape when it presents itself. This page will provide a walkthrough for the side quest "Hunt the Devil" iconHunt the Devil Baldur’s Gate 3, including details for recruiting "Karlach" iconKarlach, keeping the peace between her and Wyll, and dealing with the Paladins of Tyr at the Toll House, as well as information about acquiring the Sword of Justice.

(1 of 2) You’ll find Karlach south of the Toll House.

Where to Find Karlach in Baldur’s Gate 3

Unlike the rest of the game’s origin characters, Karlach takes a bit of work to reach - she’s still early enough to be an origin character, but far enough afield that she’s not properly one of the starting five. To find her you’ll need to head north from the "Nautiloid" iconNautiloid crash site to find the Emerald Grove Environs waypoint, just outside the druid grove. From here, head west and cross a bridge to reach the goblinoid-infested "Blighted Village" iconBlighted Village. Exit to the north and cross another bridge (jump across the gap), then at the fork turn east. You’ll have to dispatch some hyenas (and possibly gnolls if you can’t stop their transformation), but eventually you should spot a bridge to the northeast. Across this bridge is the Toll House, which isn’t where Karlach is, but it’s both close and related, and you’ll be coming back here.

From the Toll House, Karlach is just a stone’s throw away - due south, in fact. You can even find a ladder leading down to the path that’ll take you to her. Just follow the blood. You’ll find her across a log, at around (x=110, y=500).

(1 of 2) If you bring Wyll along, he’ll complicate matters,

If you bring Wyll along, he’ll complicate matters, (left), but you can easily convince him to stand down due to the influence of the tadpoles. (right)

How to Recruit Karlach in Baldur’s Gate 3

Recruiting Karlach is pretty easy, although there’s one complication - Wyll is hunting her. This encounter will play out differently if he’s in your party or not. For this bit, we’ll assume he’s not - we’ll cover the encounter with Wyll in your party under the header How to Keep Wyll and Karlach in Your Party in Baldur’s Gate 3, below.

Getting on Karlach’s good side is surprisingly easy - the bottom-most options are typically hostile, and if you pick a fight, you’ll get one. If you don’t, she’s only too eager to make friends. Your mutual goodwill and understanding is helped along by the intervention of the parasites you share, which helps shed light of Karlach’s character and motivations. If that’s not enough, she’ll tell you about some false paladins up at the Toll House, exposing them for what they truly are and encouraging you to help her kill them. Agree and she’ll join you, if your party isn’t full, or head to camp, if it is. This starts the quest Hunt the Devil.

(1 of 4) If you talk to Anders - the leaders of the paladins at the Toll House - he’ll implore you to kill Karlach for them.

How to Keep Wyll and Karlach in Your Party in Baldur’s Gate 3

Wyll is hunting a devil named Karlach, and while this might seem like it’d preclude the two of them coexisting, that’s not actually the case. If you bring Wyll with you when you meet Karlach, he’ll confront her and their drama will take center stage, but you don’t have to go along with Wyll’s violent impulses. Before any decisions are made the tadpole will interrupt again, and in an odd twist of fate the mental connection helps make Karlach’s case for her. You need only encourage Wyll to believe what he saw and he’ll capitulate without a check (you’ll automatically make a [Perception 10] check, but this just exposes Wyll’s uncertainty in the matter, and doesn’t affect the outcome).. Even better, convincing Wyll to stand down (pick either “Gods, you’re stubborn. Karlach’s not a devil, and you know it.” or “You saw her thoughts. She poses no danger to the Sword Coast.”) is universally approved of among your party members - a true rarity.

That’s really it, just convince Wyll not to attack. The tadpoles do most of the work, which we should be suspicious of, but for now, their intervention prevented bloodshed, and that’s a good thing. Good job, tadpoles.

In any event, the quest Hunt the Devil should be started, and to finish it you either need to kill Karlach and bring her head to the paladins at the Toll House, or kill the aforementioned paladins, with or without Karlach in your party. Both routes will be covered below.

Hunt the Devil Quest Walkthrough - How to Kill Karlach

By far the easier of the two routes, you can kill Karlach just by talking to her and picking a fight. Or by attacking her when you’re not in combat if you want to get a cheap shot in. Her level should roughly scale with your own, so expect her to have 30 Hit Points or so. She hits like a truck, but her Armor Class is quite low. If the Initiative roll goes your way Karlach probably won’t even get a turn - ideally two characters can take her down. Once she’s dead, loot her for Karlach’s Head, which you can present to Anders in the Toll House to complete the quest and earn your promised reward - the Sword of Justice.

Alternatively, you can recruit Karlach and bring her to the Toll House, then side with the !Paladins. This will make an easy fight even easier, as you’ll have the three !paladins as well as your party (well, sans Karlach) facing off against one already squishy enemy. You’ll still get the Sword of Justice for doing this.

(1 of 4) If you confront the paladins at the Toll House with Karlach, you can perform some checks to determine who is telling the truth.

Hunt the Devil Quest Walkthrough - How to Kill the Paladins in the Toll House

Siding with Karlach is more difficult, as the paladins in the Toll House are more dangerous foes. You can pick a fight with them at any time, before you start Hunt the Devil, with or without Karlach, and if you needed any further proof about Karlach’s claims, you can pick a [!Paladin] class option to prove they’re lying. Alternatively you can pass an [Insight 10] check to pick up on behavior that indicates Anders is lying, or use ["Detect Thoughts" iconDetect Thoughts 11] to catch him red-handed… or red-minded, as the case may be. In any event, your goal here is to pick a fight, anything else is just justification.

Ander is a 5th-level warrior who gets two attacks a round and boasts a healthy store of Hit Points (44 on the default difficulty), and due to his high Charisma (18) all his nearby allies will gain a +4 bonus on their Saving Throws due to his Aura of Protection ability. He’s joined by a halfling archer named Trynn, who is keen to use Arrows of Lightning and "Hunter's Mark" iconHunter’s Mark to open the fight, a potentially painful combination. Finally, in a nearby room to the south is Cyrel, who is fond of using debuffs like "Hold Person" iconHold Person to begin the battle. Suffice to say, this isn’t a fight to fight conservatively, as the enemy certainly won’t.

If you know you’re going to pick a fight and don’t care to fight fair, you can alway surprise attack your enemies - Cyrel should be the easiest to pick off and doing so will get rid of her annoying debuffs, but if you can manage it, picking off Anders in the first round might be the best play, assuming initiative rolls are on your side. He’s got a lot of Hit Points, but it’s a bad idea to let him get his hits in. Use weapon actions, spells (preferably ones that deal direct damage without giving him a save) and attempt to take him out quickly. Tryna’s abilities can hurt and she should be your next target, and while Cyrel is a nuisance with her debuffs, you only need to get lucky with a save - either by not falling victim to her debuffs, or by hitting her and breaking her concentration.

If Karlach is with you, talk to her after the fight and she’ll go berserk, smashing objects in the area and leaving a trail of fire in her wake. For your safety, exit the building to the west and wait for her to tire herself out, then talk to her to complete the quest. Be sure to loot the Sword of Justice off Anders and whatever other trinkets the false paladins may have.

Once the paladins in the Toll House are dead, Karlach will be pleased, and the quest Hunt the Devil will end.

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Guide Information
  • Publisher
    Larian Studios
  • Platforms,
    Mac, PC, PS5, XB X|S
  • Genre
    Adventure, RPG
  • Guide Release
    6 April 2023
  • Last Updated
    26 March 2024
    Version History
  • Guide Author

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Baldur’s Gate 3 is an immersive roleplaying game set in the Dungeons & Dragons universe. It features a rich story with multiple outcomes for almost every encounter, and plenty of character customization features including more races, classes, subclasses and party combinations than you are ever likely to explore. The seemingly endless possibilities and numerous choices that you can make throughout your journey make a helping hand always welcome, and that’s where we come in! This guide features the following:

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