Minthara was once one of the least popular companions in Baldur’s Gate 3 because you needed to commit to an evil playthrough to recruit her. Patch 5 added more options to bring this companion into the party, however. In Patch 5, Larian Studios made it so you can recruit Minthara without killing Tiefling refugees or being complicit in their slaughter in Act 1. You also now don’t have to perform a laborious workaround to keep Minthara in your group of prospective companions. Here’s what you need to know to recruit Minthara in BG3 without giving in to darkness.
How To Recruit Minthara Without Killing the Grove
Though there are several new ways of recruiting Minthara, this particular recruitment method is for a “good” playthrough. It’s intended for campaigns where you don’t kill the Tiefling refugees in Druid Grove. If you’re sticking to an evil playthrough instead, you can simply kill the Tieflings and then recruit Minthara. It’s not noble, but at least it’s straightforward. The key to recruiting Minthara while playing a good guy, meanwhile, is knocking her out.
To recruit Minthara while still maintaining a good playthrough and keeping the Tiefling refugees alive, pick one of the following methods:
- Turn on non-lethal mode in the character control panel. Afterward, attack Minthara right away in the Goblin Camp without talking to her. Of course, don’t kill her once she’s knocked out. She will then spawn in Moonrise Tower in Act 2, ready to be recruited.
- While in the Goblin Camp, you can steal something in front of Minthara to turn her temporarily hostile. Afterward, you will still have to fight her and knock her out in non-lethal mode.
- You can also talk to Minthara in the Goblin Camp and tell her to head to the Tiefling Camp. There, you can knock her out in non-lethal mode. This way, you can still avoid alerting the whole Goblin Camp. Again, don’t kill her once knocked out.
All good playthrough recruitment methods involve incapacitating Minthara and leaving her unconscious. This way, she can show up again in Act 2. If you want the safest method, you can just perform the steal trigger described in Method 2 above. Or simply attack her to get this stage of the recruitment process over with faster, because you might mess up the interaction if you talk her into joining the Tiefling Camp assault.
Keep in mind that Polymorphing Minthara into a sheep and throwing her into the chasm in her Goblin Camp office counts as killing her. While resorting to cheesy tactics like pushing her into the chasm is a popular way of defeating her quickly, they’re not an option here. You have to knock her out on the ground instead. That way you can be a good Tav and still have the Drow girlfriend of your dreams.
