Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian has issued an official ‘Looking to the Future’ blog post that outlines a raft of changes coming to the game with the imminent Patch 2, including an update to the ending for everyone’s favourite Tiefling Barbarian.
In the blog post, Larian said Patch 2 adds “better closure” to the story’s final act in the form of a more fleshed-out ending for Karlach, something “many of you have been asking for”.
Karlach is one of the most-popular companions and romance options in Baldur’s Gate 3 (check out IGN’s Karlach Companion Guide for more). But some players expressed dissatisfaction with her ending.
Brief Baldur’s Gate 3 Karlach spoilers ahead.
Karlach is slowly dying from an infernal engine, which is housed in her chest. At the end of the game, she can either return to the hellish realm of Avernus to prevent her from burning to a crisp, turn into a Mind Flayer, or give up the ghost entirely and die. In either case, Karlach is pretty hard done by.
Patch 2 adds a new optional ending with Karlach, Larian said. “It’s fiery, poignant, and gives her the ending she deserves”.
In an interview with IGN in which Larian boss Swen Vincke discussed the restoration of access to Minthara's content, he also teased this new Karlach epilogue, saying that if you see a cigar you'll know that you've found the new content, and that it will "make a lot of people happy”.
Thinking of all the actors we’re going to call back to the studio https://t.co/3hTBdNl9IJ
— Swen Vincke @where? (@LarAtLarian) August 30, 2023
In the same blog post, Larian promised improved performance after criticism of Act 3 in particular. “The city of Baldur’s Gate itself is ambitious,” Larian said. “Technically, narratively, and in scope. One of the biggest issues with creating games is that technology is always trying to keep up with your ambition, and here we’ve been hit pretty hard by some setbacks.
“We know that Act 3’s performance isn’t as good as the first two acts, but the good news is that Patch 2 is bringing major performance improvements to the entire game, but more specifically to Act 3 where you’ll feel it the most. We’ll also be working throughout September to improve performance in Act 3 further with new technology that’s been taking a bit longer to release than we expected.”
Baldur's Gate 3 is set to launch on PlayStation 5 on September 6, with the Xbox Series X|S version due out later this year. You can find our list of the most rewarding romances in Baldur's Gate 3 right here.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
