Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion Give Minsc some spinach

Because for whatever reason Larian did not give the companions hand made attributes, but all of them use the default attribut disribution for their class (including setting their +2/+1 based on class and not race).

Some results if that is Halsin and Jaheira having the same stats even though Halsin arms being as thick as Jaheiras whole body and that Minsc who is nearly as famous for his strength than he is for Boo having a strength score of 12.

Thats not the most pressing matter because if all the cur content but still disappointing.

Agreed, the problem is that the 27 point buy doesn't allow for rounding out characters without a heavy cost to their effectiveness, but they stick strictly to it. Plus with the new saving throw system and skills every stat is useful for everyone - in BG 1 and 2 they could just give martial characters whatever mental attributes fit them, since it had relatively little impact.

That being said, a str ranger works ok in 5e, so the Minsc decision in particular is just... weird. As is his wisdom of 15.

Given you get Minsc so close to the end of the game, there's really no reason he shouldn't be a wrecking ball with 'accurate' stats.

On the other hand it'd be really annoying to keep his pre-recruitment stats. I can't remember them of the top of my head but I believe it was something like 3 int and 6 wis. From a role-playing perspective I agree with OP, but looking at it from a gameplay perspective he'd be a major liability if he kept his pre-companion
stats.

On a side-note, I always used Minsc in BG2 and he was always killed by Mindflayer INT drain and charmed by anyone and their mother (obviously building around it to reduce the risk, keeping him raging etc. but that illustrates the gameplay issues you'd experience with more role play-friendly stat allocation)

A similar thing/issue would be Jaheira. She's companion level when you first see her in action but is heavily nerfed in the Moonrise fight. At least if she joins your team and becomes your "minion". It sure breaks the immersion a bit, but I understand it form a balance perspective.

Minsc is a ranger, but he was never set up like a ranger, he is a barbarian who just happens to be a ranger, it's weird how he is speced in game to ignore that he is big man who uses big sword, not finesse archer.

By the time I got him, I was already at level 12 and had 2 awesome maces going spare (not including the one shadowheart had), one of which increases strength to 18.

So I made him a ranger knight hunter, with two weapon specialist and duel weld feat for two maces (the 18 strength one in his off hand), heavy armour, etc. With various other ranger bonus and assorted equipment, he made for a pretty respectable front line tank who could get 3 decent attacks per turn (and also decent with bows).

That might not have been an optimal ranger build, and not quite up to Lae’zel’s endgame standards for melee, but it worked well enough and seemed to suit the character, without respecing him into something else.

Rangers and Druids got majorly shafted. Like 95% of the magic gear is divided between monk, fighter/barbarian, wizard/sorc/warlock, and to a lesser extent rogue.

Meanwhile, no really good hide armor competitive with scale and plate armor in effects, and the worst part is druid wildshapes turn off all magic item bonuses, so your gear is useless as a moon druid. There are like 2 pieces in the entire game that work in wildshape.

I don't think I've found a single decent piece for a beastmaster ranger, let alone gearing that supports a two handed ranger like Minsc despite his awful stat distribution.

It's crazy how Monk gear just rains up the butt in this game, literally every vendor and every other rare gear drop is some manner of monk gear, while others classes get absolutely nothing.

I guess because all the other classes are getting weapon drops so monks get armour?

There was no Barbarian class in BG1 when Minsc first appeared, so making him a barbarian wasnt an option back then.

AD&D and D&D5 are in many ways extremely different rulesystems, so what Minsc was in BG1 and BG2 could never translate well to BG3 anyway.

I dont really get the fuss about Minsc anyway. You literally only get him towards the end of the game.

CharacterBuild > Gameplay
I am here for telling Stories where the values fit the character and not the other way around.
I have a similar problem with my Sorcerer from the dragon bloodline. I gave my Blár body shape 2 and he looks like a wardrobe, but if he had been useless as a Sorcerer at the beginning of the game, I wouldn't have skilled him like a Sorcerer. So he had Strength -8 (to get better Values for Sorc-Attributes) and I increased it to 10 with a talent bonus to at least remove the deductions on attribute rolls.
I feel similarly about Minsc. He is a ranger who is built like a wardrobe, which makes him individual as a ranger. Give him the stats he needs to be the character he is. Also, Jaheira and Minsc are characters who have had multiple "level ups" several times in the narrative. Their character sheets in BG3 should reflect that as well.

I don't get it. I mean there are a number of things for certain *races*, but a Two-Handed Ranger uses the same stuff a two-handed fighter would?
I made Minsc a Berserker 4 / Champion 6 / Ranger 2. I think it suits him perfectly that way. Is that the *best*? No. A party of four Tempest/Storm Sorcs would be 'better'

Many powerful items enhance class features like raging, smiteing or ki strikes/unarmed combat so are doubly beneficial for barbarians, paladins or monks.

The amount of gear that enhances ranger features is a bit lacking in comparison.

BUt what skill like that does a ranger *have*?

Speak with Animals?

Understatement of the year. Ranger armor is virtually nonexistent. There is not a single item in the game that enhances animal companions. The only thing there is for a ranger are 2 Act 3 bows and a nice Act 2 bow that gives fire and cold resist, but that's about it.

Luckily, with the Gloves of Giant Strength from House of Hope you can still build a 2H Ranger with 23 STR to support 2H use, but that's basically the very end of the game, even later than when you recruit Minsc.

There are exactly 3 endgame armors that work for druid mechanics, zero legendaries, and like maybe two armors that are workable for ranger but don't really enhance any part of their kit, just give them AC and resistances, while there's a single legendary bow.

The game is virtually like 90% monk/fighter/barb/cleric/paladin items, then like 5% caster, 2% rogue, 2% ranger, 1% druid items.

Yeah, again, I don't get it.
If I want a 2H ranger, I give him Heavy Armor, and otherwise build that exactly like I would a fighter, item wise. There's no weapon better represented than the 2H sword, between Sarevok, Wyrm, Voss and all teh early ones; you can get a Flaming Greatsword on the bloody Nautiloid. Rangers barely if ever benefit from WIS for casting, and Minsc isn't wise anyway, so dump that and give him 20 STR for a free glove slot.

I'll grant you that Minsc will never be as good a fighter as Lae'Zel if you want him to have ranger levels, but he'd use the same stuff.

Yeah, it's disappointing as his average STR/high WIS seem very out of character.

BG1/2 understood that you could and should break a few rules when designing the companions. Like giving Minsc the unique Berserk ability and dumping his WIS far below the minimum requirement for a ranger. Was it optimal from a powergame perspective? No, but it made him feel really unique, and his personality synergized with the stats he was assigned in a really flavourful way. That was unfortunately erased in BG3.