There are some serious consequences to siding with Minthara at the Goblin Camp and raiding the Hollow, the action solidifying the current playthrough as an “evil” one. You won’t be able to recruit her until Act 2, but avoiding saving Halsin and participating in the raid will steer you towards recruitment later. So, to the question: Should you recruit Minthara in Baldur’s Gate 3?
Should You Recruit Minthara in BG3?
Similar to the decision to free Sazza the Goblin or not, recruiting Minthara in Baldur’s Gate 3 means actively working against Emerald Grove and killing everyone within. There’s simply no way around this part since Minthara is working towards her own goals and for the Absolute.
To reiterate, taking steps to recruit Minthara puts you on the evil side of the spectrum, as you have to murder innocents to initially prove yourself to her. She’s a potential love interest later on in the game, and she’s a strong Paladin to add to your ranks. The choice to aid her isn’t one to be taken lightly, however, because of the impacts it will have on your overall playthrough.
After the raid, Minthara will ask to spend the night with you after your first long rest. She can’t be actively recruited until Act 2, at Moonrise Towers.
Positive Consequences of Recruiting Minthara in BG3
The positive consequences here mean things that you gain through recruiting Minthara. Considering this is an immoral choice, you might not gain as much as you want.
- Minthara as a companion and love interest.
- A different approach to key portions of the story in later acts.
Negative Consequences of Recruiting Minthara in BG3
Then, there are the negative consequences, which are the things you lose by recruiting Minthara. As you might suspect, you lose quite a bit with this option.
- You lose Wyll, Karlach, and Halsin as companions. Gale will also try to leave and must be persuaded to stay.
- You may have to face some of the consequences of your actions down the line, other than not being able to vend at Emerald Grove.
Can You Recruit Minthara Without Killing the Grove?
Patch 5 brought a ton of changes and bug fixes, but there are a couple of ways that Larian adjusted pieces of the game that you might’ve previously found workarounds for. In particular, there was a way to recruit Minthara without joining the Goblins, which included knocking her out. Then, you had to polymorph her and drag her across the map with you as a sheep. However, that’s no longer necessary.
How to Recruit Minthara Without Killing Tieflings
Now that Patch 5 is live, you can recruit Minthara while siding with the Grove. It’s similar to the former workaround that I mentioned, but with far fewer steps. All you need to do is turn on Non-Lethal Damage when you fight Minthara.
After defeating her, continue fighting the Goblin leaders, save Halsin, and party with the Tieflings. When you get to Moonrise Towers in Act 2, Minthara properly appears there and you’re able to recruit her.
Prior to this patch, if you decided to recruit Minthara in Baldur’s Gate 3, you’d have to be alright with attacking Emerald Grove, killing the Tieflings and Druids, missing out on three (potentially four) companions, and altering the course of the rest of your playthrough. I didn’t find this a worthwhile trade, so I left Minthara as my enemy and helped the Druids. You can still go down that route, of course. The choice is yours.
That answers the question: Should you recruit Minthara in BG3? Once you decide, you can check out our BG3 guides hub for topics like how to free Nere and where to buy potions.
