Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion PSA - Recruiting Minthara In A Good Playthrough

lolkek
so u just took away the only unique thing from ur so-called "evil" (i would rather call it chaotic moron cuz u still havent brought any proper dialogue AND motivation to do so) path
prior to p5 it was almost only cut content
now its literally only cut content and a totally neutral narrator totally not trying to ashame ur decisions
gj mr larian

Quick question to see if anyone knows.

I somehow feel like the intention behind the patch change wasn't to make her recruitable on a good playthrough. If it was then it is at least very poorly implemented. My money is on unintentional, otherwise they would have included this massive change in the highlights section of the patch notes along with a line like "so you can recruit her later."

I am so excited to recruit Minthara! She is the only companion I've never had! I need to finish my current playthrough, but I'm definitely going back to recruit her. I'll check out your guide video later. What crime shall I commit, hmm. I don't want to romance her, so getting her in Act 2 is perfect for me! ^_^

Are you going to do Act 3 now?

You can just destroy the drum in front of her - that makes her temporary hostile and they can't call reinforcments.

I recruited Minthatara the old fashioned (evil) way and am now far in ACT 3, but since ACT 1 when I ask her to talk about something privately, she says 'then speak" and then I only get one line :" Actully never mind"
I just hope they added some substance to the dialogues with her.

But the thread is about recruiting her while a *good* player, so ...?

I was wondering, does this force the scene where you have to choose between her and Halsin in your camp (the one that was datamined)? Also, I noticed that if you rescue Halsin and bring him with you when you start the attack on the camp, she becomes temporarily hostile. Can I knock her out then instead of committing a crime in font of her?

Yes? You can play a good character that will want to recruit Minthara and she will fit your playstyle. Sure, she probably won't be your best friend, but if you want to play as someone who is a good character but dips into the gray area a bit, she can work on your team. Hence why I pointed out that there are playstyles other than pure hero who does nothing but good things and murderhobo evil. A morally good hero type might not want her, but an overall good character with some shades of gray? Sure why not. It's a matter of how you rp your character and what they'll put up with.

Of course we might also be defining "good" differently here. I look at it being more of a "didn't raid the Grove" thing here -- which I'm sure we can all agree fits more in an actually evil playthrough than anything -- than "play the entire game as a morally good hero". So yes now you can be a good character and still have her on your team. As to why you'd want her... well she maybe a war criminal, but she's also in the same boat as you and willing to join you, and she's skilled. If you're more pragmatic good, you could see that she'll have her uses without wanting to make her your new bestie.

I completely agree on your overall point, but I don't think that "good" aka "Hero" players would not want Astarion or Lae'zel in the party.
Imho their "redemption" plot is fantastic, especially for good characters.
From what I heard that might also be true for Minthara.

Just tried it now after update. Nope, still nothing substantial when you ask to talk about private matters;

Minthara doesn't have a redemption plot, she's just got very compelling writing. For how little they gave her compared to the Origin characters, the quality is just as high as any of them. If only the same could be said of Act 3 Halsin.


More toward the general question of why would a good Tav bother, there's also just a TON of evidence in Act 1 that could reasonably lead any Tav, even the most extreme Lawful Good Tav, toward wanting to investigate her as the leader of the absolute's forces in the region instead of just killing her. If the ultimatum between keeping her or Halsin that made the rounds the last couple weeks made it in, that also poses a VERY fun dilemma for such an extreme Lawful Good roleplay.

As I've made clear in other discussions here, I would play only exclusively as a true good hero "Tav" PC. I would be okay with recruiting and having in my camp companions who don't fit my PC's mold if they seem to be useful for the overall cause. But I would not cut them any slack. And any redemption arc for them would depend on what they'd done in the past, because for me, some actions/behaviors make people absolutely non-redeemable. For me, redemption is something that first must be *deserved*, and even then earned. It is not something I would simply give out to any and every one. So, given all of this, I don't yet know where Minthara falls here, whether she deserves redemption or not. I suspect not.

If it comes down to have to decide between her and Halsin, I would keep her, since she would die without our help - or become a thrall again. Halsin can just go home and live his life. So in that case, the morally good decision would be to help her and hope, that you can help her see the errors of her way, I guess.
Metagaming would be me trying to get rid of Halsin. If I don't like Minthara after she is freed from the Absolute, she can become the new Orin bait.

But Minthara is not the sole leader of the absolute in the goblin camp. The first one you hear about is probably Gut, already in the druid grove from listening to Sazza, and she will also be the first one you meet when you infiltrate the camp. The second you hear about will be Razglin, as he's talked about in the courtyard from feasting goblins and even praised by captured Volo.
Minthara is the last one you learn about, and I don't even think she is mentrioned before passing the doors of the temple. So, why single her out to investigate the cult ? Of course for the player, she is a much more interesting person to have around than Gut or Razglin. I have no doubt about that. But the reasoning behind WHY she is the one to save, namely to investigate the absolute, is shaky IMO. Well, unless the PC would be a drow or half-drow.

In Act 2 Minthara's sole responsibility for leading them is made explicit though I suppose that's a little metagame-y. Act 1 does have pretty strong hints toward that on its own, but fair that any given Tav may not interpret it that way (my Gith Tav certainly doesn't see much difference). Ragzlin and Gut not being recruitable in general is its own discussion that I don't think is fair to compare to this situation with Minthara since she already has the companion treatment and they don't. That said, Ragzlin and Gut don't give you the leeway to discuss and find things out the way Minthara briefly does. Trying to explore diplomacy with Gut eventually leads to a fight and Ragzlin isn't interested at all. Only Minthara sees any particular use in delegating with you. Current implementation for recruiting her on a "good path" campaign is understandably clumsy, it was the fastest easiest way to make this possible. But in my eyes I don't see a good way to have even approached anything similar with Gut or Ragzlin, because I don't see them ever being convinced to break away from the goblins/absolute without significant writing changes.

Because she is a kidnapped victim of the cult, not its enforcer. She even mentions herself after being freed that she had no control whatsoever of her actions and relates to Dark Urge the most about this.

So the enemy of my enemy is a friend.


These are naturally the very first raw steps to making her officially available, I have no doubt Larian will improve her recruitment vastly and content so it ties in seamlessly.


Nope, deleted my current 120h playthrough instantly once I confirmed Mimthara is recruitable. Started anew


Tried that in the cut portion of the video, but she didn't even notice it


Oh that's a perfect way to make her temporarily hostile, thanks for mentioning that.

Also I didn't get any scene where her and Halsin argue. It's most likely content that is coming in future updates now that she is officially available, but I know who is getting left behind if it comes to that

But you only know this after you spare her. Before that she is a fanatic leader of the absolute. There is nothing that tells you she will turn against them if you spare her.
She's not different from Viconia. Viconia also investigated and wanted to destroy the cult. But in her case there is no doubt. She really is the enemy of your enemy. So should you give her the prism then ?

I do not see the point of questioning my in-lore reasons, but;

• I knock her out because she is just a victim (which is obvious even in ACT 1).
• I spare her because that's just my way of doing things.
• I recruit her because she is the enemy of my enemy willing to join me.
• And then I find out everything about her.

In any case I never reached ACT 3 so got no clue who Viconia is supposed to be, but lets not spoil parts of the game which are unrelated to Minthara's recruitment.

This isn't entirely correct. Yes we don't know what will happen if we try. But Act 1 gives us plenty of evidence of the general ignorance of True Souls. A morally-inclined Tav would very reasonably be interested in trying to persuade or otherwise save them, if able. For reasons both within and without the game, Gut and Ragzlin cannot be budged. Nere has more nuance but is only a realistic option for an evil Tav to attempt to persuade, and it's ultimately ineffectual (now HE would've been a great candidate for an evil path only companion with the currently existing writing). That leaves Minthara who is the least inclined of any of them to try to kill us for simply existing and talking to her, who could always be saved for whatever your reasons might be, and now no longer nonsensically requires the death of the Tieflings to do so. So a Tav with the condition of the True Souls on their mind has their own personal reasons for fucking around and finding out, and sure it's lucky that it can pay off, but whether she joins the party or not isn't the point of this type of reasoning. The reasoning is to try, to create a chance for any we can create one for, and then we find out what we find out.

The only difference between before and after the patch is that trying NOT to kill her while still confronting the Goblins can actually work (without dragging her around as a Sheep and causing a bunch of unintended effects), albeit the restriction on the conditions of knocking her out are still odd.