Baldur's Gate 3 player uses 'barrelmancy' to explosively murder an Act 3 boss and avenge Karlach

Lord Enver Gortash stands before you, smirking. — (Image credit: Larian)

Barrelmancy, they're calling it. This is how one Reddit user discovered a way to get back at sweet, sweet Karlach's mortal enemy in Baldur's Gate 3. How terribly she was wronged, and how explosive her revenge will be. Here's how they did it.

In case it wasn't clear, this article is going to talk about Karlach's backstory, so here be spoilers.

Somewhere down the line, toward the end of Act 2, you'll run into the Bane-worshipping politician Lord Enver Gortash. He and Karlach really don't get on, and understandably so, since he's the one who sold her to a devil.

If you've any compassion for your heart-achey Tiefling barbarian companion, you will resolve to destroy Gortash at all costs. You won't get to do that until you reach Baldur's Gate in Act 3, however, as he's one of the final act's main bosses. Even if you're not a Karlach stan (what's wrong with you?) you'll need to deal with him.

Looking down his list of features, Gortash is pretty lethal. He's a highly intelligent, highly dexterous enemy, with Dark Devotion, which gives him advantage on Charmed and Frightened saving throws. He has advantage against spells and other magical effects. You cannot disarm him. You cannot frighten him. And attempting to fight him in a room full of his Steel Watchers and other goons is generally considered a death wish.

But there's nothing here to say he's explosion proof.

Having collected a stash of several thousand pounds of smokepowder, and more vials of Alchemist's Fire than you could shake a pitchfork at, Reddit user carpanaut posted their conclusion to the matter on the Baldur's Gate 3 subreddit.

All they did was stack the explosive barrels up around the brute, Lord Gortash himself, scatter the Alchemist's Fire around on the ground leading up to his little barrel enclosure—as well as the locations of a few main enemies dotted around—and set off domino effect with an arrow from the safety of the buffet area.

I love imagining them setting all this up in canon "Sorry, excuse me. Don't mind us. Also be careful not to step on these please, it's for the fireworks show later. Thanks."

In the comments section, the original poster says "As I was experimenting around, I wished I had picked up more wine and oil barrels. I couldn't test with oil, but you can break wine barrels to coat the floor in alcohol without making anyone hostile. Until you set it on fire that is."

All that remained after the ensuing explosions was a few guards—most of whom were either prone, on fire, or on the verge of death. Not so difficult to defeat now, huh? So there you have it, an early revenge for our good friend and, as the post title says, "everyone's favorite barbarian", Karlach.

Having been obsessed with game mechanics, computers and graphics for three decades, Katie took Game Art and Design up to Masters level at uni and has been writing about digital games, tabletop games and gaming technology for over five years since. She can be found facilitating board game design workshops and optimising everything in her path.