Assaulting the grove and recruiting minthara are different things though. Taking the goblins' side equals peeling the first layer of the onion. The night you celebrate she just tries to kill you, which can lead to her death a second time. In act 2 there is also no clear indication of her being reqruitable unless the rather specific game and dialogue sequence is followed. Compare this to "I think we should travel together" during the first hours of the game with any other companion. I imagine if we get stats on Minsc - it would be as dire as Minthara. Those characters are just locked behind too many doors in order to be popular. Your discontent with her level of polish as a character is legit, thats for sure. Maybe they hid her that well for that exact reason, hope she gets some more love in the upcoming patch.
