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Karlach is the Barbarian companion ofBaldur’s Gate 3and 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.
Related:Baldur’s Gate 3: Where To Find Karlach
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.
17
13
15
8
12
Charisma
10
Found during Act 1, Karlach is a Zariel Tiefling thatexcels 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 may 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.
Infernal Fury
As a bonus action, Karlach mayconsume a Soul Cointo 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.
This build is an8/4 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 toAction 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 theGreat 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. The only downside is the limited utility and AoE damage Karlach brings to the table, but this is easily fixed byadding a spellcaster to your party composition.
Subclass Features, Feats, and ASI
We keep Karlach’s Barbarian class and starting attributes for this build, although we do recommend respeccing her stats in the endgame once you obtain the Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength.For Act 1, focus on reaching level five.Your second level will unlock Reckless Attack, allowing you to gain Advantage on attacks as a reaction.For your third level, pick the Wildheart subclassto buff your Rage ability.Bear grants DR to all non-psychic sources, while Eagle adds a powerful dive attack and lets you Dash as a bonus action.Bestial buffs can be changed with each Barbarian level, so feel free to experiment.
At level four, you’ll gain an ability score improvement (ASI).For your first ASI, grab the Great Weapon Master feat.The automatic Advantage granted by Reckless Attack mitigates this penalty,making this a great featfor two-handed melee Barbarians. Level five will unlock an extra attack, letting you hit twice per turn. Spellcasters will also unlock Haste at this point.Buffing Karlach with Haste will let her attack four times per turn.
During Act 2, you’ll want to multiclass as a Fighter.This is so we can gainAction Surge,a class feature that lets you take an extra action once per short rest. Activate this and Haste to attack six times in a single turn. Very few enemies can survive that degree of punishment. GrabBattle Master or Championas your subclass at level nine. Battle Master gives Karlach some new attacks, allowing her to disarm targets or frighten them. If you don’t care for busy ability bars, however, take Champion to double your critical chance—perfect for any build that attacks this often. After your fourth Fighter level, spec back into Barbarian until you reach the level cap.
Recommended Items
The items recommended are for an endgame character in Act 3. No items listed below are required for the build to function.
Cape
Horns of the Berserker
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.
Gain Advantage of all Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws.
Ring #1
Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength
Your Strength is set to 23. Strength saving throws gain a +1 modifier.
Killer’s Sweetheart
Once per long rest, killing an enemy causes your next attack to critically hit.
Ring #2
Disintegrating Night Walkers
Can’t be Enwebbed, Entangled, or Ensnared and can’t slip on grease or ice. Grants Misty Step.
Spurred Band
During combat, when you start your turn with 50% HP or less, gain Momentum for 1 turn.
Main-Hand Weapon (Early Game)
Balduran’s Giantslayer
+3 Greatsword. On hit, double the damage from your Strength modifier. Gain Advantage against Large, Huge, or Gargantuan creatures.
Greatsword +1
Sold by most vendors; a Githyanki variant drops from theGithyanki patrol encounter.
Karlach doesn’t need anything beyond a good two-handed weapon for most of the game, but it doesn’t hurt to give her some good items.Get Karlach a +1 two-handed weapon as soon as possibleto increase her damage. Most merchants in Act 1 will sell +1 items for a moderate fee, notably the Goblins in the Goblin Camp. You’ll also want to get your hands on theBracers of Defensefrom the Blighted Village. This will grant +2 AC while Karlach isn’t wearing light, medium, or heavy armor.
Once you reach Act 3, you’ll want to complete the House of Hope questline to acquire theGauntlets of Hill Giant Strength. This sets your Strength stat to 23, allowing you to respec Karlach’s base Strength score into Dexterity to increase her AC and initiative rolls. You’ll also find some powerful weapons throughout this Act. The strongest option for Karlach isBalduran’s Giantslayer, a +3 Greatsword that doubles your Strength modifier when rolling damage. The rest of your items should focus on adding damage to melee attacks, increasing Karlach’s AC, or improving her saving throws.
Barbarians aren’t known for killing foes from a distance, but this build turns Karlach into a terrifying ranged combatant. We’ll be using theTavern Brawlerfeat to make improvised weapons deal substantially more damage. Paired with theBerserkersubclass, 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.
We recommend respeccing Karlach’s base ability scores for this build. Switch the +1 bonus from Constitution to Dexterity, giving you 14 in both stats. This will maximize the AC bonus provided by medium armor.
Our leveling progression is identical to our melee build with one major difference:take the Tavern Brawler feat at level four.This will increase your Strength and cause your Strength modifier to double-dip on Throw attacks. Tavern Brawler is the main reason this build deals so much damage and should be taken as soon as possible.
Beyond that, we spec this build the same as our melee configuration.Multiclass as a Fighter between levels 6-10to gain access to Action Surge and the Champion’s increased critical chance. Spend your last three levels as a Barbarian. Unlike our melee build, we’ll be takingBerserkeras our subclass. This lets you use Improvised Weapon as a bonus action while Raging, letting you throw three items per turn at level five—increased to five items if Haste is active.
The items recommended are for an Act 1 character. Endgame recommendations are the same as our previous build, minus the main-hand weapons listed.
+1 to AC and saving throws.
16 AC medium armor; immune to critical hits
Use any amulet
Throw attacks deal an extra 1d4 damage.
Javelins
Scales well with Strength. Grab every Javelin you find.
This build comes online as early as Act 1.The only items you need are spare Javelins.Pick up any Javelin you find and put it in your inventory. Whenever combat begins, climb to the highest vantage point on the map, then throw down a storm of Javelins to annihilate your foes. TheReturning Pikeis especially useful since it automatically returns to you after it’s thrown. Any items that buff your Throw action or movement speed work best here, notably theHaste HelmandGloves of Uninhibited Kushigo.
We’ll want a way to scale Karlach’s AC, so we’ll be using medium armor with this build. TheAdamantine Scale Mailfrom Act 1’s Gyrmforge will serve you well into Act 2 and the start of Act 3. Be sure you have 14 Dexterity to maximize your AC bonus, and you should be able to safely throw as many Javelins as you desire. Fight above your foes whenever possible to maximize your damage bonus. Anything that gives Misty Step—such as theDisintegrating Night Walkerboots—will make repositioning quite easy.
