Karlach’s old “30 approval → she visits you at night before the party” scene is bugged and no longer triggers in an unmodded game. The tiefling refugee celebration is therefore the current practical romance start. Start the romance at the tiefling refugee celebration instead of waiting for the old night visit.
Current-version warning: old pre-party Karlach guides are stale
You can flirt before the celebration — especially after Dammon’s first repair — and those choices can raise approval, but they do not by themselves move the relationship into Dating on the current unmodded route.
Act 1 flirting still matters for approval and tone, but the current unmodded romance start is the tiefling celebration.
Route roadmap
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| Act | Required step | Failure risk |
|---|---|---|
Act 1 | Recruit Karlach; keep Grove/Dammon alive; perform first Infernal Engine repair; start romance at tiefling celebration | Raiding the Grove makes Karlach leave and removes Dammon. Missing the celebration start leaves no normal current restart. |
Act 2 | At Last Light, Dammon performs the second engine repair; then Long Rest until Karlach’s commitment/intimacy scene plays | Partnering someone else first ends Karlach route; leaving Act 2 / progressing past The Chosen of Shar before the scene makes it too late. |
Act 3 | Enter Lower City and accept the Singing Lute “first date” | This is payoff for an existing relationship, not a new romance start. |
Act 1: recruit Karlach, preserve Dammon, repair the engine once
Recruit Karlach on the Risen Road and resolve the Paladins of Tyr conflict. Dammon at the Emerald Grove can use Infernal Iron for the first engine upgrade. After the repair, the dialogue where the player says they still cannot touch Karlach and admits they want to is a large approval/romance-flavoured beat, but the route is not formally Dating until the current celebration start fires.
Do not raid the Emerald Grove. Karlach leaves permanently and Dammon’s route is destroyed.
Keep Dammon alive. He is required for the engine progression used by the romance.
Collect Infernal Iron before you need it. Only two engine upgrades are required for the romance progression; “find a third mandatory repair” is old/misread advice.
Dammon is the mechanical gate for Karlach’s Infernal Engine progression and must survive into Act 2.
Start the romance at the tiefling celebration
At the celebration, speak to Karlach and choose the romantic response. Current celebration scripting lets the player tell her how much they like her; if selected for the night, she visits after everyone sleeps. The engine is still too hot for normal contact, so the scene is built around wanting intimacy without being able to touch safely yet.
Do not keep waiting for the old standalone night-visit scene. That standalone visit is bugged; the celebration starts the romance without mods.
Act 1 Karlach intimacy is constrained by the engine; the relationship can start before safe physical contact becomes possible.
Act 2: the second repair is only half the lock-in
At Last Light Inn, give Dammon another Infernal Iron for the second upgrade. Karlach can finally touch others safely. The critical next step is to Long Rest until her evening romance event actually plays. If higher-priority camp events are queued, it may not be the first rest. Keep resting rather than interpreting silence as a broken route.
This scene is the Partnered transition. Partnering with another companion before it fires ends Karlach’s relationship; a bug can prevent Karlach from giving the normal “choose me or them” confrontation, so the player may not get a recovery choice.
After the second engine repair, Karlach’s Act 2 camp scene is the real relationship lock-in; repair alone is not enough.
Hard lockout: do not enter the Act 2 finale while the scene is still queued
If Karlach’s Act 2 evening scene has not happened before leaving Act 2, she ends the relationship when Act 3 begins. After The Chosen of Shar is completed or progression goes too far, the solidifying event can no longer trigger. Treat “second repair + camp scene” as a checklist item before the Shadowfell/Act 2 point of no return, not something to clean up later.
Last Light is the safe place to complete Karlach’s second engine upgrade and then clear the camp-event queue before the Act 2 finale.
Act 3: the Singing Lute date is intentionally ordinary
After entering the Lower City, Karlach asks for a real first date at the Singing Lute. Dinner is a role-play scene rather than a mechanical test: the two characters pretend to be meeting for the first time, ask questions, talk about love and the future, and Karlach eventually professes her commitment. She rents a room upstairs; the player can choose sexual or non-sexual intimacy without ending the relationship.
The Lower City date is the Act 3 payoff: dinner, commitment and optional private intimacy rather than another repair quest.
Other relationship interactions
Safe workflow
Encounter | Effect / warning
Halsin | Karlach can consent to a concurrent Halsin romance when asked through the correct dialogue.
Drow twins | Karlach declines the foursome setup; reactions to individual one-off encounters are different.
Mizora | Triggers a serious confrontation. The relationship can survive or end depending on the response; do not treat the encounter as consequence-free.
Emperor / other one-offs | Check the specific companion reaction; one-off intimacy is not the same system as a second full romance.
1. Recruit Karlach and resolve the Paladins of Tyr.
2. Keep the Grove and Dammon alive.
3. Use Infernal Iron for the first repair.
4. Start the romance at the tiefling celebration.
5. In Act 2, reach Last Light and complete the second repair.
6. Long rest until Karlach’s commitment/intimacy scene actually plays.
7. Only then proceed through the Act 2 point of no return.
8. In the Lower City, accept the Singing Lute date.
Common failure points / FAQ
Waiting forever for the bugged pre-party 30-approval night visit.
Raiding the Grove or losing Dammon.
Doing the second repair but not the following camp scene.; Partnering another companion before Karlach’s Act 2 lock-in.
Entering Shadowfell / finishing Act 2 while Karlach’s event is still queued.
Assuming the Act 3 date can restart a romance that never began.
Can Karlach romance start before the tiefling party now? The old pre-party night scene is bugged in an unmodded game; use the celebration.; How many Infernal Iron upgrades are needed? Two engine upgrades for the romance progression.
When is the relationship locked? The Act 2 long-rest scene after the second Dammon upgrade.
Can I wait until Act 3? No. Missing the Act 2 scene closes the route.
Can Karlach share with Halsin? Yes, through the consent dialogue.; Do I have to choose sex on the Act 3 date? No. Non-sexual intimacy can preserve the relationship.