How To Recruit Minsc In Baldur's Gate 3

Do you want to recruit Minsc as a companion in Baldur's Gate 3? We got you covered!

Although the last recruitable character in Baldur's Gate 3, Minsc is certainly not the least in any sense. A lovable, huggable berry with giant muscles and a bigger heart, you'll want this hopeless hero in your camp. If not for the fists, then at least do it for the feels.

RELATED: Baldur's Gate 3: How To Recruit Every Companion

However, getting Minsc of Rashemen is no small task. Easily the ally with the most complicated story for recruitment, it's all too easy to miss his quest entirely or accidentally and permanently put him out of your reach. We'll tell you all you need to know to save Minsc and his little buddy.

To begin Minsc's questline, you need to have found the secret Harper's Hideout in Wyrm's Crossing. We recommend having Jaheira in your party for this and for the rest of this guide, though she is not necessary and her life or death has no impact on the rest of the guide.

Venture to Wyrm's crossing and, facing north, enter the last house on the left side of the row (past Fragyo's Flophouse).

After a brief exchange with the merchant at the front door, head down the nearby ladder.

There will be an exchange downstairs where you'll be ambushed by a few doppelgangers. Take them out while saving the young Harper, if you can, and speak with Jaheira after to begin Minsc's quest.

Under the city, the Guild (a thieving company known for the shiftier happenings of Baldur's Gate) is your next destination. You can reach them easily by entering the underground via the sewer grate just left of the Basilisk Gate Waypoint.

After climbing down, destroy the nearby breakable wall with a Bludgeoning tool or Thunder spell. On the other side, cross the room and lockpick a door that is labeled "No Entry - No Exit."

You'll enter the Guildhall, an area complete with a tavern and multiple thieves. Walk in and enter the room on the northwest side to find Nine Fingers' Office.

With Jaheira in your party, speak with Nine Fingers and talk about the Stone Lord. What you say here doesn't matter so long as you don't choose to attack Nine Fingers.

After parting ways with Nine Fingers, you'll need to talk with the nearby members of the Guild for more information. We recommend speaking with Uktar, a masked man you can make a deal with to gain information.

The Counting House is on the far west side of the city, near the lowest part of the Lower City. It's south of the Steel Watch Foundry and can be found easily by following the road downward from the Wine Festival.

It's an unmistakable building, one of the largest in the Lower City. A large bridge leads to it, and the dome atop it can be seen from any high point in Baldur's Gate.

Enter the Counting House and speak with the Head Clerk, Meadhoney, to the right of the guarded door. Tell him you're a friend of the Stone Lord.

After Meadhoney gives you a pass, speak with the guards at the door and, when it has opened, step through to descend.

Follow the main path to the lower vaults, passing through a second set of doors after you show your pass to the guards again. Take a right when the path splits (there's nothing for you to the left) and go straight through the hallway of vaults.

At the end of the path, you'll be met with a large, locked vault door with a set of strange tiles in front of it. You'll need to step on these to unlock the door.

For purposes of simplifying this code, pretend that these numbers are those that you would find on a standard phone dial:

After unlocking the vault door, step through.

After a brief (and frankly epic) cutscene with Minsc, the beloved hero will disappear and leave a slew of enemies in the Counting House. These enemies are mostly the stealthy assassins from the Cult of Bhaal.

Help the Counting House guards and the Guild members deal with these enemies quickly. After, speak to the Counting House financial chairman, Rakath Glitterbeard.

Enter the main vault that has been ransacked by Minsc and the Bhaal worshippers. You'll find some clues that will lead you to the Lower City sewers once more.

In the Lower City sewers, progress northward until you reach a large chamber with several lootable stones on the ground and a set of stairs. This room can be found just south of the Ancient Sigil Waypoint.

Your destination is a large set of wooden doors on the west side (Coordinates: X:-146, Y:878).

If you're having problems finding this room, we recommend checking out our guide to enter the Bhaal Temple for its helpful video on navigating the sewers.

Enter this room to see several enemies on the pipework ahead. You'll need to defeat these enemies to progress.

Take caution during the fight here. They're capable of spawning swarms of annoying crows that use Rend Vision. Additionally, the ground is covered in a damaging, Acid-based Caustic Brine you should avoid touching.

Behind the enemies is a strange contraption with two wheels and meters. This is a mini-puzzle you'll need to solve to open the gate to reach Minsc below.

Turn both wheels once, and let them build up two levels until they reach the perfect temperature and water level. When they do, turn the wheels a second time to shut them off, and the large door below you will open for you to enter.

As you walk through the sluice gate, you'll have another cutscene with Minsc before you're thrown into battle. If Jaheira is with you, she'll plead for you to find another way than killing him, but she won't be able to convince Minsc to calm down.

To calm Minsc down, you'll have to do this the hard way.

Additionally, if you don't want consequences with the Guild later on, we recommend having someone with Misty Step in your party. This will allow you to teleport and catch up to Roah Moonglow.

Defeat all the enemies around Minsc as quickly as possible. Large area spells here, especially Cold or vine spells that leave terrain effects, will work wonders here.

Keep someone at the Sluice Gate to tank the attacks, keeping any squishy units behind them. Any units with Misty Step or Dimension Door can leave and teleport into the wider, open area.

If you want to cut off Roah Moonglow, we recommend using two turns of Misty Step to place yourself at the top of the ladder exit. This will prevent her from retreating while you use the high ground to cast spells on the group.

If you kill Roah Moonglow, you can steal back the ten thousand gold stolen from the Counting House. You may return this gold to the banker in the Lower Vault or keep it for yourself.

Returning it can give you a key to the vault for a special armor, but you can also pickpocket the key or lockpick the vault yourself to keep the gold and get the armor.

Deal damage to Minsc in any way you wish, but to prevent killing him, you'll need to do two things:

The Non-lethal Damage toggle can be added to your hotbar by entering a character's "Spellbook" and going down to "Common Actions." Drag and drop Non-lethal Damage onto your hotbar and press it.

While Non-lethal is turned on, it should appear as a status condition for your party on the left and in the hotbar, as a swirling white indicator. You can turn it back on by pressing the button again.

The final blow against Minsc must not be a magic attack. Attacks like Firebolt will incinerate an enemy, regardless of the toggle, therefore, you must bonk poor Minsc with your non-magic weapons.

Be cautioned that this also applies to weapons with unique magical effects. Weapons like the Joltshooter bow or the Everburn Blade can lethally kill the enemy despite the toggle being on due to their magical properties and additional damage.

When you've killed all other enemies and Minsc is knocked out, speak with Minsc. He'll awake, but he'll be under the control of the parasite in his head.

Convince your Guardian, the Emperor, to extend his protection to Minsc. Although he'll put up an argument against it, be firm in demanding protection and side with Jaheira at every opportunity.

Your dialogue should look something like this:

"Extend your protection to him."

"He's Jaheira's friend. Do it." / "His unpredictability saved the city thusfar. We need him."

"I don't think you want to find out." / "It doesn't matter - help him."

Once Minsc is recovered, he'll run off to find his partner, "Boo." Follow Minsc, going up a set of stairs and through a fresh hole in the wall on the north side of the room.

After a very amusing scene with Minsc and Boo, you'll be able to recruit them so long as you don't choose to outright deny them. Any dialogue option except "I don't need your help," will successfully bring Minsc into your group.

Find him at camp, if your party is full. A new dialogue with Jaheira at camp can be seen, and you can bring Minsc into your party at any level or class you so choose. Enjoy!

NEXT: Baldur's Gate 3: Guide To Hirelings

Alexis is an ex-narrative designer & game developer working freelance in the game journalism industry. Games with engaging stories are her bread & butter, and game journalism is her guilty pleasure and partially an excuse to justify buying more games. She has graduated from Washington University in St. Louis & Oxford University, holds a Bacherlor's in English Creative Writing, and has a minor in GrecoRoman Classics.