We conducted an investigation into the polarized absorption and emission spectra, the absorption for unpolarized pump light, and the continuous-wave (cw) laser properties of the Yb:KLu(WO4)2 crystal. The low symmetry of the crystal leads to strong anisotropy in the crystal spectroscopy; the strongest absorption and emission occur in the polarization direction parallel to the Nm principal axis. The Ng-cut crystal has highest absorption efficiency for unpolarized pump light and largest potential for generating laser output power. With 11 W of cw output power produced by using a 2 mm thick crystal, the optical-to-optical conversion and slope efficiencies amount to 68% and 80%, respectively, with respect to the absorbed pump power.