What is with the weird Minthara attraction?

[アンジェル]

Seeing a thread of a player which complained that the new update did not helped to make Minthara for them recruitable after long rest - I am certain they did it wrong - kinda makes my eye twitch.

Everyone knows that she is supposed to be "an evil path character" exclusive to you attacking with her the Emerald Grove, losing Halsin, Wyll and Karlach as part of the story that way.

And that she is only recruitable in a good playthrough due to an "official prolonged bug".

Yet seemingly so many want to make use of that bug by all means rather than playing the story how it is supposed to be without making use of that loophole.

What reason could there be for first timer to do such a weird workaround?

After all you would not know about the loophole if you would not know already. There is not a single point in the script which indicates such.

Also, if anyone reading this is struggling with the loophole - this is tested and (still) works
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3110543554
Just remember: if you want to make use of "new updated additions" in the story, you need to regenerate the story. Ironically mods users should know that better than anyone else, but to write it out for everyone once and for all: you. need. to. start. a. new. game.
Otherwise you cannot expect for story updates to be applied correctly via an update. Think of it as fixed timelines ~

[Tax evasion]

What reason could there be for first timer to do such a weird workaround?

1. woman
2. alive (optional)

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by Tax evasion:

What reason could there be for first timer to do such a weird workaround?

1. woman
2. alive (optional)

I am a tad speechless because that did not even cross my mind.

[Beast of War]

I just want to have all available playable characters, so i can chose who to bring on a mission.

I think it is a flawed development decision when you want to have an evil playthrough where you cause civil war in the Grove or raid the Grove you will have to do without 2 characters from then on. The entirety of the game.

With proper development they should be replaced with 2 evil characters you dont get to have on a good playthrough.

I guess they somewhat filled that gap with mindless hirelings, controlled by Withers.

But Minthara evil ? What about the rest of the killers in your team ? Half of them have also tortured in the past as they say themselves in dialog. No matter the reason. I would say among that Minthara is just a tough no-nonsense character.

[ShadowDark3]

I reckon it's less weird than the people who want to romance goblins, but to each their own.

[Jaeleth]

Originally posted by アンジェル:

What reason could there be for first timer to do such a weird workaround?

I would dare answer that with "because she's the only romanceable character that gives you a BJ and also being very sexy"

[Occasum_Solis]

Originally posted by アンジェル:

Seeing a thread of a player which complained that the new update did not helped to make Minthara for them recruitable after long rest - I am certain they did it wrong - kinda makes my eye twitch.

Everyone knows that she is supposed to be "an evil path character" exclusive to you attacking with her the Emerald Grove, losing Halsin, Wyll and Karlach as part of the story that way.

And that she is only recruitable in a good playthrough due to an "official prolonged bug".

Yet seemingly so many want to make use of that bug by all means rather than playing the story how it is supposed to be without making use of that loophole.

What reason could there be for first timer to do such a weird workaround?

After all you would not know about the loophole if you would not know already. There is not a single point in the script which indicates such.

Also, if anyone reading this is struggling with the loophole - this is tested and (still) works
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3110543554
Just remember: if you want to make use of "new updated additions" in the story, you need to regenerate the story. Ironically mods users should know that better than anyone else, but to write it out for everyone once and for all: you. need. to. start. a. new. game.
Otherwise you cannot expect for story updates to be applied correctly via an update. Think of it as fixed timelines ~

Because there is no evil playtrough - an evil playtrough indicates there is a second storyline to experience, new companions, quest and stuff to see and or to unlock. But its not worth, even tho i am a huge Minthara Simp.

But recruiting ONE (!) Character and in exchange loosing around 40 % of content of the WHOLE GAME is just too much for a character that hasnt even go a fully fleshed out romance, background story, ending etc.

Thats why (some) ppl are going for that "exploit"..

[Nandina]

I think it's because of her romance scene

[seeker1]

Ironically, if you recruit her the so-called "good" way, you won't get her Act 1 sex scene, because that requires going to the goblin celebration party after wiping out the Grove.

Look, I have sort of a Pokemon attitude toward CRPGs. If there are collectible companions, I am going to collect them all. But then, on the other hand, if one of them is locked behind something I refuse to do (slaughtering innocents) -- well as Meatloaf said, "I will do anything for love, but I won't do THAT". Oddly, I knew of ways to get her with mods before Patch 5, but those required Script extender, which I can't run. (and actually I do know how to do it without SE now, but didn't back then.)

I also want to see how all the romances play out, and while Minthara's appears to still be minimalistic and bugged, well, I had to see it. Besides that? She's the only paladin in the game, and as I've said I like Drow lore, though ironically I find their culture extremely f**ked up, I mean, as Minthara will tell you, her own mother tried to murder her several times.

I agree Larian made an initial decision to have her "locked to evil run" and made her the best romance option originally for an unrepentant Durge, and exclusive to having Halsin. Well, who cares how they did it, in Patch 5, they switched this up. I know it was based on legitimating an exploit. Well, I'm the kind of player that knows about those exploits, and went for her in Patch 5. Things didn't go exactly as I expected, but anyway, I got her eventually.

I don't like playing evil but I do like Minthara. And as I've said many times, when you get right down to it, it's my game, who cares how things were 'supposed' to be initially, this is how I choose to play it.

[Fred the Undead]

Minthara is popular because she has a sweet side under a fortress-worth of defences, much like Lae'zel. She is genuinely thankful for breaking the hold the Absolute had over her mind, and her quest for revenge on the one who put her in the situation gives her more direct motivation more achievable than "Kill God". Romanced, she has every intention to love you with almost frightening intensity.

In her culture, for which she very much is still an adherent of, a male is normally not worth much as an individual; Minthara treating you as well as she does, especially as a romantic partner (ESPECIALLY if male) shows the actual depth of her devotion. To rule alongside you as an equal (once her plan to topple the houses of Menzoberranzan succeeds) is to be appreciated and cherished.

What's NOT clear is the reason why anyone would spare her without metagame knowledge as her status as a potential recruit if you use the oft-forgotten non-lethal attacks. After you kill her, she drops all of her stuff, and perhaps you may notice her drops are similar to a party member's default equipment, including underclothing and leisurewear. There's no reason one would know to spare her for a scene setting her up to be saved from the dungeons in a WHOLE DIFFERENT ACT. She lays on the floor of some temple to Shar filled with the corpses of Goblins for god knows how long, limps to Moonrise in her skivvies and gets dunked on in the trial. Who in their right mind figured this would be obvious?

People lament Karlach's missing act 3 sidequests, but Minthara doesn't even get a real companion tent let alone any real character development. She awkwardly shares a tent with Halsin until Act 3's more lavish accommodations And besides some asides here and there, she's a mute purple golem. It's amateurish. What a waste of a great character. NOT TO MENTION THE CURRENT LOW-APPROVAL BUG RUINING HER ACT 3 DURGE SCENES.

[Taifun_Vash]

No idea, outside of the one time I romanced her, as a lothsworn female drow, I just spared her for fun, even abandoning her in the shadowlands once already. The only exception are if I had already killed Lae'zel and wanted something like a new tank while not changing any of the classes of the others.

[Zeel Ara]

There's a lot of very compelling arguments and explanations. And I'm sure that at least a few of them would still be made if she was a fat male dwarf.

But most of them wouldn't.

[SoundsOfNight]

Bc she sounds like a dude that's how ppl roll nowadays

[EricHVela]

I used the now-officially-sanctioned glitch just once to find out what the fuss was.

It was glitchy and jarring. It doesn't expect both Halsin and Minthara together at camp or in the active party. The schism in attitudes that they tolerate made zero sense.

Everything she does suggests that she wouldn't accept her mission being foiled by the player character, putting her in the position of being tortured and being soulkilled into a husk of a person. At most, she'd thank the player character for saving her and leave with a threat to not return the favor if met again. At worst, she'd attack.

It must be some kind of personal preference I don't understand. Story is tantamount. All kinds of little things in the game whittle it down, but Minthara-good-run knocks out a huge chunk all at once. I couldn't do it for a good run.

[seeker1]

Listen up foks, the major VAs have been mentioned in many other threads, but here most of them are on one page.

https://www.voquent.com/blog/baldurs-gate-3-voice-actors/

Minthara was voiced by Emma Gregory. It's your problem if all women don't sound like one narrow range of pitch and timbre. I don't think she "sounds like a dude".

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0339802/

As you can see, Emma has voice credits in a bunch of other games, like both D:OSes, Harry Potter, and Star Wars: Battlefront II.

[seeker1]

Originally posted by EricHVela:

It was glitchy and jarring. It doesn't expect both Halsin and Minthara together. The schism in attitudes that they tolerate made zero sense.

I personally agree it doesn't make sense neither acknowledge each other's existence. A repentant Minthara might accept Halsin is in the camp, recognizing abducting him and keeping him in the prison was a mistake. I'm not sure Halsin would be so forgiving of what Minthara did along with the other two camp leaders. Although if maybe he understood she was being controlled against her will, he might be able to forgive.

Everything she does suggests that she wouldn't accept her mission being foiled by the player character, putting her in the position of being tortured and being soulkilled into a husk of a person. At most, she'd thank the player character for saving her and leave with a threat to not return the favor if met again. At worst, she'd attack.

So: two things. It would make no sense for a good player to spare her life, at least based on in-game available cues and context. It absolutely requires meta knowledge to do so. But that includes the fact that on your first playthrough, you kill her and discover that she's the only enemy you've killed that has a camp supplies section in her inventory. Hmm, isn't that normally only on companions (or potential ones)? But... though they haven't written this out, they COULD: you both have tadpoles ... why doesn't your tadpole WiFi activate when you first meet her, cueing you into something I will mention next?

Spoilers?

You will discover if you recruit her that yes she's still an (ex) lolth-sworn drow and not exactly lawful good. Probably neutral evil. But, she will tell you that everything the Absolute made her do was the result of being brainwashed and mind controlling her. This makes her exactly (in this sense) like Duke Ravengard, being forced to coronate Gortash. The stuff she did to Halsin, the stuff she ordered and supervised at the goblin camp, it was the Absolute forcing her to do this against her will. She didn't REALLY want to slaughter all the druids and tieflings, the Absolute was forcing her to do this.

And now she wants vengeance. Against Orin most of all, because you will find out that beeyotch was the one who tadpoled her. Now, if you are Durge, you realize Orin was also the one who tadpoled you. This kind of gives you a common mission of vengeance against Orin.