Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Let's make Minthara Great Again

Something along those lines would work well too. Or if one wanted a more ultra Dex based mode just enchant the hell out of the leather. I have no prob with a Stat boost to make that work. I just don't want her all squishy and looking goofy.

Also the rationale provided on the previous page for those numbers was more for versatility, instead of building her stats around her equipment, just giving her something potent that works in a lot of different ways. Just so she doesn't have to be all set in stone from the outset. Companions that can be built out to serve more what the PC is interested in are always popular. If she's Lvl 4 or higher at the time of recruitment, maybe the player can choose which extra Attribute stat to juice as a bonus from the Absolute? That would be another cool touch.

The nice thing about this NPC companion is that the same kinds of justifications about the Absolute granting a boon to her Attributes (beyond what the PC could achieve via point buy) works for whatever spread we need. It's consistent with her narrative.

This is the sort of thing the DM can do, giving us a companion who's a bit ahead of the curve. You wouldn't hear me complaining if they gave her Plate Armor at all. Provided it's Drow looking and cool aesthetically. She should be a wrecker!

And again the point about using Her as the reward for the Villainous path. Not necessarily just her gear, but Her, as a companion hehe. Team Evil needs something. Many people have griped about how there is no payoff really for the Goblin path. The Minthara companion would be the payoff! I'd dig that so much. Plus her makeup looks great once again, finally! lol

I'd love for Minthara to come along for the ride. I was pretty disappointed with our selection of Origins companions if trying to build out a villainous crew. Sure there are plenty of people to "use" as a means to our ends. But I'm talking reliable villainy. Shadowheart is set off Lae'zel in a way that's entertaining, but also starts to wear thin the further along it goes. She works as a dissembling type Cleric of Shar, but she's not really a cutthroat, and probably not even a villain in the end. Gale and Wyll aren't really villains at all, or at least they don't come off that way in terms of their approval and such. They keep pushing the PC to do good. Astarion doesn't seem to care much about what's happening as long as it doesn't impact him, so it's basically Astarion and Lae'zel, and then we're missing our dedicated bloodthirsty caster.

We lose Wyll if playing the Goblin path, so I'd like Minthara to take his place.

The game would play so much better if we could recruit some of these NPCs into the Party. It would be such a breath of fresh air compared to the fab 5 over and over and over in each playthrough. The set up is perfect. They've already done the work. She doesn't need a whole insane gang of new cutscenes, because she's already had them. She just needs a bark set. Though honestly I'd love a few more interludes along the way. As we get closer to figuring out what the Absolute is, she can be the character who provides additional insights with a running commentary there.

It's Jenifer Hale too!
Like Legendary!!!

Of course I want her in my party! lol

Screw Minsc or whatever other Origin companion they want to drop in on us just randomly waiting by side of the road, with no set up from the story. Minthara has so much build up already, and her own fan club. I think it would be a huge miss not to include Minthara as an option to recruit. My two other favs for a villainous team are Sazza and Kagha, depending on what the player is trying to achieve with their party and which path they pursue along the way. Not every companion needs to be an Origin character. They should flesh it out with more options, or this game will bore me to tears by the time of the full release.

Minthara is like Boba Fett. No one expected Boba Fett to be a favorite, but he was.

They have to make her awesome with sweet gear, or she'll just fall flat and us super fans of hers will strongly and not so secretly hate them for it.

Haha exactly!!!

Like such a perfect comparison!

I think the best thing they could do would be to lean into. Act 1 serves as a near perfect recruiting ground test case. We've all played it to death, and there are strong calls coming from all quarters about which NPCs players would love to have tagging along.

To me this would be more engaging than a Merc system (though that would still be nice for Custom companions that have no real story in, beyond the players imagination.) The Origins are fine, I will come around completely for that concept of one of the Fab 5 as an MC, for players who are new and just trying to get a feel, or if they have some special attachment or simply want to see how that plays. But the real trick is to allow NPC recruitment into the party.

Seriously, everyone at this point should all be viable. Why not? Just try it. They should each have motivations and a personal price to be paid (not necessarily in coin, but maybe that too.) To persuade them to tag along. Any named character we've seen in EA. How hard would it be? Gather the metrics, who was chosen, what happened then? So many possibilities. Practically infinite.

It would be so much fun. Just convince someone to join and try them. If they die no biggie, try to recruit someone else. Unless they're really specifically not a possible potential adventurer, like the kids or merchants say, but just about everyone else.Not just for the villains but everyone. Want to try the game with some B team Druid from the grove roll for Persuasion or whatever, and try to persuade them it's their duty to drop everything and join this quest right now!!! And then they hop on the team.

Such a blast, Million dollar concept for you right there lol. Watch your whole player base cry out in pure joy, as Larian tried to do something super cool that really has never been done yet. And it would be goofy and comedic on so many levels at the same time. An absolute perfect fit for the game in its current EA states.

How many Barks does a temp companion truly need? 1? Maybe some generic sounds based on gender, like grunts or Curb your enthusiasms. They could do!
They totally could.

Oh Oh and picture this!

When the player recruits an NPC into the party, they get that text exchange like "What will it take for you to join this most important of Quests!" And the NPC gives you the goal. Larian can use this vehicle to suggest to the player stuff that might be tried, or that they want to show off in EA. Every NPC with their unique price/quest to recruit, clues the player in.

Once completed, the NPC joins the group, but when that happens, let us (the EA player) respec the Character. As if in the Char Creator for attributes and abilities, class background etc. This would be the data gold mine.

It would tell Larian, who is being chosen, who people like, what impression they had of that character such that they felt X, Y, Z should be their stat spread and features. Then use information gathered to inform future builds. Their Stats and abilities as Hostile Enemies or for looting could be whatever is needed for tactical intrigue and overall game balance in the actual campaign as NPCs, but once recruited into the Party/Camp they become like normal PCs that we can build out ourselves and respec according to sensible PC parameters, within a mini char creation display to tweak their attributes or class or whatever makes sense.

No further VO lines are even really required for the NPCs that already exist with cutscenes. They could start doing it right now, or as soon as they get the char creation prompt and recruitment quests tied in. Create a VO bark from something they've already recorded. Or add a few generic lines that fit with getting hit or healed or whatever. Do it in simple text for story-ish quest material would be easy. Let them play like PCs.

The systems are in place, the characters are already there. All that's needed is a key to the char screen door, and there would be every reason to explore the EA again with different people. You want Abdirak? I'm sure he's got a score to settle somewhere, or a pain he wants to know. Some rando goblin in it for the gold or the fear. Some Tiefling you thought looked cool. Maybe one druid want's another humiliated. Etc. You click the NPC and after the "cinematic" one liner, you get that extra check reveal called "Recruitment." Basically anyone not hostile or who could conceivably be recruited.

They become like EA Action Figures that way!

How fun would that be? I mean just to see who people chose and what they built out of them. That would be so rad!

I'd pick Minthara up for sure!
Mint condition!

Collect em all! lol

Basically any of these, the NPCs who have some kind of cutscene already:
Action Figure Companion NPCs: EA Wave 1

Here are my top picks for a first wave! But maybe yours are different right? So lets let everyone choose from everyone! heheh


Ps. This would answer the Origins dilemma, the idea that the game does not have enough companions, and the fear of act 1 party locks. Instead what happens is that EA Act 1 is the player's opportunity to recruit all these peeps to respec. It would work brilliantly with a split XP option, because with an EA lvl cap in place, the Player could still recruit and build out NPC companions to continue progressing in some way. Say later NPCs in Act 2 which is the Full Release, any old NPC could not be respec'd in the same way, but the ones in Act 1 EA could, if we can keep them alive long enough to make it through the playthrough. It would probably become my favorite game overnight if they did that. Keep us busy all through Christmas. Especially if they could make some updates to UI or party movement around the same time. Add in the little text convo lines to recruit with the price/quest, and the tools we'd need are there already from the existing Char creator. Sure none of those NPCs would be as fully reactive as the 5 origins, but that's ok.

The idea is just to make a fun and engaging presentation that indulges that Boba Fett concept. Like they can learn who is everyone's favorite action figure. Especially maybe even adding a custom bio option, where the player can type what they thought the NPC's deal might be, or give an "after-action" biography of what actually happened on this playthrough with this NPC at the close of Act 1 lol. Little touches like that to personalize it. That would make the EA a really worthwhile and enduring experience. Let us keep like 4-8 at camp at once. Throw a salon in there for the hair and the makeup etc, and I would say they did it up right! Least it would be a fun idea for continued EA engagement.

Then we get Minthara, but also so much more! Something to do!!!

Lol. Funny thing is, I thought of the same thing. Every character literally has stats, so why not make everyone recruitable? Want Alfira? Help her with her song. Want Nadira the telescope tiefling, save her from the bugbear. Want Kagha? Spare her and offer to give her a new purpose if she's booted from her position.

I personally would want Minthara for either good or evil playthrough, but definitely evil. And I like Karlach too and Halsin.

I mean right! hehe I bet everyone one of us has had the same thought, or secret wish to swoop whoever into the fold. I think the cool part is that half the characters people like most are the one who already have a little quest set up to their presentation, so they'd be the ones to work on first. Just do em in waves of 4 or 8, while the material is built out. Trying to give a little love to all the paths, a couple villains and a couple heroes, and a couple goofs like Aradin lol. It would be hella entertaining. I can't see how anyone would balk, cause they really wouldn't be eclipsing the Origins, but it would give them another lease on life. Like they don't just disappear into nowhere. If one goes through the effort of saving Karlach or Sazza and doing all the little things, they should get to have them tag along into the Underdark to fool around and make the EA more entertaining.

Instead of saying "see you in Menzo, I'm out!" Minthara would say something more like "You've proven yourself worthy! Now I, by the grace of the Absolute, will follow you into the depths!"

So the player is stoked and feels like, "yeah! now lets press on and keep playing the EA for a few more hours, cause I want to see her hit lvl 4 or 5!'' if they ever include lvl 5 hehe. And we'd have all the class and background combinations to really make our parties feel unique each time, while still bringing a fav origin probably too for story. It'd be awesome in camp to see the NPC companion corner where they just hang out showing off, not talking much but looking cool. Such good times. They should do it at X mas, people would flip I bet lol

Lets gather in strength off the success of Minthara's greatness and extend the idea to the entire troop of NPC possibilities haha

Here I added 2 more to the pic... Just for the Nadira and Karlach fans! (Now Karlach I guess is like a gray Boba Fett in this example, with the cut horn preview lol) but you get the idea! Obviously we'd need a Dwarf and a Halfling and a Gnome too. We've got em already! Just let us recruit the ones we vibe on from the available NPCs! Perfect fit

We can call it the BG3 Early Bird Special!!!


Get everyone excited for the Holidays! Not just the Minthara fans, but the whole gang. Feel free to add to the pic with your favs! It would be a lot of fun and seems like maybe not even that complicated to implement? Most of the systems and content is already in place right. Only needs the will to make it an EA reality! hehe

Ok now I have to take this idea to the General section, so as not to overburden this thread.

FOR THE ABSOLUTE!

So, just to be clear, you can't get Minthara as a companion? Sniff. Even in Patch 6? Sniff. I was really hoping. Got my evil Drow sorcerer working towards that. No way at all, huh? Sniff. We tried everything?

Yeah either that ...
Or give her +3AC buff named "favor of the Absolute"

//Edit:
I mean statbuff is cool but as far as i know Dexterity is often used for spell saving throw ...
So that would cause yet another inballance.

//Edit 2:
And ot would even make sence from story perspective that she would lost it in the future as our companion ...
Since Absolute wanted our death ... and she failed to deliver. 😋

Minthara is incredible now in appearance. 15 Ac total with shield? Yeah, no. Not good. But she looks absolutely superb now.

I must have her in my evil party. PLEASE

I agree. She looks great. The armor looks perfect. (And that voice acting is amazing, bravo, seriously.)

But the armor stats need improvement.

I took a bunch of pics of her. This one has to be my favorite:

[img]https://blogger.googleusercontent.c...-MLyqdH7ufCuSOVFhC3WuYmWqEZ-bIBcTQ=s1920[/img]

The new appearance looks great thank you Larian.

The 15 AC is killing me, though. To truly make her great, she needs that armor to keep its appearance but become Drow Leather of the Absolute, offering AC 15+ Dex. Then add Shield + 1 to that to boost AC to 18 + Dex. With her Dex being +3, I believe, that puts her at 21 AC. Ah! Now we're talking a true tank. Gonna require some Bless and Magic Missile and some +1 weaponry to kill her, and maybe some spells that weaken her, and some nasty tricks like Alchemist Fire, and grease and maybe tripping her and such.

But that's how it should be. She will never be truly great if they don't increase her AC.

I wonder; It seems like they listened to us!? that's kind of amazing!; not many companies do that; I can't help but think that our critique had a bearing on Minthara's new patch 6 appearance; maybe not?; It's just sort of amazing that every issue that we've raised in the forums about color contrast, hair, eyebrows, facial expressions, and armor has been fixed and Minthara looks better than ever; maybe I'm too easily impressed but I feel really satisfied now; all that flak we received for scrutinizing the patch 5 appearance was worth it.

I agree. I can put up with the stat being lower. It doesn't make sense, but I get it.

I'd still prefer her to be actually tougher AC, though. Then the armor is awesome and a great reward for good playthrough.

Now you really pushing it ...

This can be imbalanced considering she has a 90% chance of joining the party in act 2. I think you can get more interesting armor for Minthara during the game, just like that armor from the official art with ShadowHeart

Fingers crossed.

(Even if when she does join though, I don't think it would hurt if she had a higher AC. I imagine there'll be better armor all around in Act 2 ... and hopefully some more in Act 1 with future updates!)

Why is her having higher AC so intimidating to you all? If Tav can have AC 18 with Scale + 1 or Half Plate, and then a shield to boost to 20, same with Lae'zel and Shadowheart, why is it acceptable for a boss bad guy to be 15 WITH shield? She should at least match the PCs in stats since she is 1 person against 4.

And yes, she has minions, but that's how boss fights work. Seriously, do you guys play video games even? This is not just a tabletop thing. At AC 15, she's one of the weakest enemies in EA so far.