Stone statue guy is Misc from the original games, who is an obnoxious character but great in melee combat. Hopefully they will make him a barbarian as that was the intention in the original, but he was technically a ranger because 2e didn't have barbarian as a class. That being said he was a Berserker from a Berserker lodge in the north whose signature ability was rage, so I hope that he is a Berserker. I expect that he won't join till Act 3 in Baldur's Gate given the way he is introduced.
Minsc being a Berserker is also a reason that I think Karlach may be a ranger. Ranger was the only class available in the first patch that wasn't assigned to an origin companion, and I think they originally intended Karlach to be available right away during early access but pulled her out and subbed Mizora into the art around the release instead.
I agree with what you say of the history of his class, but I don’t think I’d approve of not making Minsc a (strength based) ranger now, given all the precedent … and Boo. Though hopefully Larian will find a way to give a beserker flavour to him, nevertheless.
