Should You Side With Karlach or Anders in Baldur’s Gate 3?

Some choices wind up being easier than others in Baldur’s Gate 3. Being a CRPG where your actions have lasting consequences, one comes in the form of hunting a devil for some local paladins. While it might seem like an open and closed case on surface value, the answer requires a bit more digging if you want the best results. If you’re wondering whether you should side with Anders and the Paladins of Tyr, or Karlach who they’re after in Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3) we’ve got the answers!

Hunt the Devil: Should You Side with Karlach or Anders in Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3)?

You should side with Karlach over Anders in Baldur’s Gate 3, hands down. While they sell the quest to you as hunting down a devil, which sounds like a pretty cool monster-hunting mission, you’ll instead find a wounded, mutilated Tiefling with a mechanical heart and a pretty great backstory.

Related: All Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3) Companions: Locations & Classes, Listed

Karlach is a recruitable companion, whose base class is Barbarian, and who explains that the Paladins giving you this quest are agents of a devil, sent to recover her after she escaped.

Why Choosing Karlach is Better

To expand on this, killing Karlach is easier than fighting Anders and his group, and gives an obvious, tangible reward promised by Anders, the Sword of Justice. While it makes a decent melee weapon (or food for Gale) that is all you get, instead of an awesome ally. Plus, if you side with Karlach, you then confront the Paladins where they reveal their true intentions. After killing them, you can get the sword anyway, win-win.

It should also be noted that if you don’t side with Karlach, Shadowheart may resent you forever, given how…taken she is with this sudden new companion. From here, Karlach will set out with your group to help you find a cure for your parasite, and you must also find a mechanic for the infernal engine she has for a heart.

However, it comes at a price: Wyll, another companion you meet on your travels, is opposed to having Karlach on the team, but upon learning she’s not truly a devil, reluctantly allows her in the fold. He is confronted by his devil patron and left with an unfortunate transformation to mark his penance. Additionally, taking down those agents of Zariel posing as Paladins won’t be the end of it for siding with Karlach.