Baldur’s Gate 3 – How to Cool Down Karlach

Image: Larian Studios

Human Made

Penned by Justin Moniquette

Justin's foray into gaming started with classic Resident Evil 3 and has only expanded since then. He graduated from RIT in 2021 and aspires to have his name in the credits of a video game one day.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Hsu

Larian Studios made sure to surround the player with a cast of fun and interesting characters in Baldur’s Gate 3. Each companion is unique with their own crazy personalities and problems to solve. Whether it’s weaseling out of a devil contract or proving themselves to their god-queen. This is no different for Karlach, whose heart threatens to burn her from the inside unless you can find a way to cool her down.

If you’ve grown fond of Karlach’s sunny disposition, or want to take it a step further and enter into a romance with her, then have no fear. In this guide, we’ll be going over how to cool down Karlach and get her Infernal Engine under control in Baldur’s Gate 3.

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Where to Find Infernal Iron

The good news about getting Karlach’s Engine under control is that it is directly tied to her companion quest. The bad news is that there are some ways you can lock yourself out of completing the quest with some decisions. We’ll go over all of that later, but let’s start at the beginning.

Karlach’s companion quest begins immediately after recruiting her into your party and dealing with the Paladins of Tyr. Once that’s dealt with, you’ll be led to Dammon, a Tiefling blacksmith set up in the Emerald Grove and the only person who can cool down Karlach. Talk to him and you’ll be told you need some Infernal Iron to help Karlach’s condition.

He gives you a general location to find some, but multiple pieces of Infernal Iron can be found throughout Act 1. This is fortunate, as you’re going to need at least 2 pieces to save our Barbarian friend. That being said, you’ll want to get your hands on all the pieces, as you can exchange the extra pieces for some nice heavy armor later on.

1. Blight Village – Blacksmith’s Workshop

The first and easiest piece of Infernal Iron can be found inside the Blacksmith’s Workshop in the goblin-infested village that’s just a short trip away from the Grove. There are several ways you can make your way into the workshop, but Astarion or any Rogue should be able to lockpick the door without a problem. 

Once you’re in, find the locked chest located up a ladder and you’ve got it. At this point, you can technically return to Dammon and move on to the next part of the quest.

However, you’ll need more than one piece of Infernal Iron to completely cool down Karlach and save her from her Engine, so keep reading on for the rest of the pieces.

2. Waukeen’s Rest – Zhentarim Hideout

If you’ve stumbled onto the Zhentarim Hideout or were sent here by Rugen for saving his life, you can find some more Infernal Iron here. Deal with the Zhent however you see fit and make your way to the back of the cave.

If you fought your way through, then simply unlock the gate and the subsequent chests. If you decided to play it cool, then you’ll need to steal it. Jump into Turn-Based Mode and send your stealthiest person in. One of the chests should have the Infernal Iron in it, but be careful since both chests are trapped.

3. Shattered Sanctum – Dror Ragzlin’s Stash

If you make it to where the goblins are amassing, you can score another piece of Infernal Iron. Travel to the back of the Sanctum behind the Hobgoblin Dror Ragzlin, and you’ll find his stash of loot. Among that loot, you’ll find a piece of Infernal Iron.

If you plan on wiping out the Goblins, then simply kill Dror and take the key off his body. If not, then you can lockpick your way in or pickpocket the key from the Hobgoblin himself.

4. Grymforge – Stonemason Kith

The next piece of Infernal Iron can be found in the Underdark, specifically the Gyrmforge section of it. While you should have completed the first part of Karlach’s companion quest long before this point, we still need more Infernal Iron to actually cool her off.

For this piece, you need to speak to one of the Duergar named Stonemason Kith. If you speak to him and pass a couple of checks, he should give you the iron with no hassle. Simply use someone with Perception and History and you should be fine.

If you happen to fail the checks, no worries. You can still buy the Infernal Iron off of him… or just kill him and take it.

Cooling Down Karlach

Once you get at least one piece of Infernal Iron you can make your way back to Dammon. After doing so, he’ll install a new upgrade for Karlach, but it’s only a partial fix.

Dammon will explain that Karlach is still dangerous to touch, but given some time, he can come up with a better solution. After this, he will accept no more Infernal Iron until you see him again in Act 2.

Ensure Dammon Survives

However, Dammon needs to actually survive until Act 2 to truly cool down Karlach. That means the Tieflings must survive, so no attacking the Grove or getting them expelled from it.

Under normal circumstances, Karlach will leave the party regardless if you attack the Tieflings, so that wasn’t really an option to begin with.

Once you reach Act 2 through whatever means, make your way to the Last Light Inn – the last bastion for those not aligned with the Absolute in the Shadow-Cursed Lands. Assuming the Tieflings survived, you’ll find Dammon here happily hammering away at his new blacksmith stall.

Speak to him with another piece of Infernal Iron in your position, and he’ll once again give Karlach an upgrade for her Engine. However, this time it will stabilize her and allow her to touch other people without burning them to a crisp.

We strongly recommend doing all of this BEFORE you go talk to Isobel. If you fail to protect her in the fight that follows immediately (or choose to betray/kill her yourself), it will result in nearly every NPC at the Last Light Inn dying. This includes Dammon, which will lock you out of cooling down Karlach if you haven’t done so already.

If some reason you proceed the quest too far and don’t get a chance to give Dammon the Infernal Iron in Act 2, you can meet him again later in Baldur’s Gate during Act 3 to cool down Karlach. He’ll be at the Forge of the Nine (next to the elf tavern), assuming he’s still alive.

With that, you have successfully cooled down Karlach and her Engine. You’ll get some other news that I won’t spoil here, but you’ve successfully completed this companion quest. For those who want to romance Karlach, now is when it can really begin, so don’t waste the opportunity.

Additionally, if you have any extra pieces of Infernal Iron, Dammon will trade you some nice heavy armor for them as well.

Join the High Ground

And that’s our guide on how to cool down Karlach in Baldur’s Gate 3. Did you save Karlach from her own heart? Is she a permanent part of your party? Tell us in the comments below, and don’t forget to subscribe for more content like this in the future.

Happy adventuring!