Recruited both Halsin and Minthara... bug?

[Paps()]

Okay so - I am about 70 hours through my first play-through - I'm pacing myself and being meticulous as to not miss things, so I am pretty slow at the game.
I love to recruit companions and try to keep as many npcs/companions alive and happy as possible within my camp and party.
It kinda reminds me of Mass Effect 2 on the Normandy or Kotor on the Ebon Hawk.
I'd seen an article about companion guides where you could recruit Minthara if you knocked her out in act 1 passively, so I went to the effort of doing this.
Then I read somewhere that if you side with her or join her or something you would lose Wyll, Karlach and Halsin... it didn't seem like a worthy trade.
I gave up on the idea of recruiting Minthara. It was all a bit confusing - as if Larion made a bit of a muddled up web of consequences and problems which just became a mess within each patch.
Today, in Act 2, I just did the Halsin recruitment quest with that forest spirit kid Thaniel or whatever so Halsin joined my party officially - I used him once or twice and left him at camp.
Then I went to Moonrise Towers and saw Minthara getting grilled by Ketheric Thorm. Snuck into the dungeon to find her being tortured so I saved her, snuck her out of Moonrise under the pretence she was my new maid... which somehow convinced the guards and she asked for my camp location.
I was given the option to give her the camp's location or to just tell her to go away.
I knew the relic was keeping her intact so I thought, camp? Camp makes sense.
So I go to the camp, thinking - I haven't actually recruited her have I?
Anticipating anarchy, I show up, and shes there... except no one cares, even Halsin.
In fact, Halsin and her are standing side by side at the same tent. I talk to Minthara, and she has all her voice lines, she is annoyed about Thorm, she gives me her opinion on every companion, except Halsin and she has the option to join my party.
Okay... this is weird. I talk to Halsin, he seems none the wiser. I then test this, by moving everyone out of my party. Making my Tav character, Halsin and Minthara the only members in it. I level Minthara up to 8 and walk around a bit.
Its working... they are fine... and functional. Was all that stuff I read about them not being recruitable in the same play-through nonsense?
So I google this. People on forums talking about patches cancelling having them, other forums about working around it so you can have both. Other people saying its a bug. Some people saying they modded it. (I did not use any mods all Vanilla babyyy). Some people were saying its a going to have consequences like Alfira the bard will die between act 2 and 3. Some people say that some cutscene was meant to trigger, which didn't... maybe due to the order I did things? I just don't know and now I am afraid to progress.

The truth is I want to know if this is intentional, or not by Larion? Or is it going to mess up the rest of the game for me? Or is it going to be fine? I don't know how essential some of these characters are or what their roles will be in the final act.
I am also the kind of shallow and easily annoyed player that if something like this scorns me, or a bug messes up a save file in irreversible way I am quitting that game and boycotting that company just to vent my frustration, lol. But would be nice to get some clarification, should I load an earlier save and not save Minthara? I just don't know. Is this intended D&D randomness?

[Ellie]

Did you actively resolve the Grove/Goblin situation, or did you go to the creche before all of that was sorted out? What was the state of things when you left the first area?

[Pyromaiden]

The "proper" way to recruit Minthara is to side with the goblins and attack the Grove. This leads to Wyll and Karlach leaving your party permanently and Halsin being unrecruitable.

The "cheese" way to recruit Minthara - introduced by Larian in a patch because she was a popular companion who players wanted without having to raid the Grove - is to knock her unconscious while she's Temporarily Hostile so you can recruit in Act 2. This is the only way to get all companions in a single play.

However Minthara is very bugged, and even though she has lines acknowledging Wyll and Karlach they also have some lines referencing her which you can't normally hear. Halsin and Minthara will likewise not acknowledge one another and their camps will overlap as they aren't supposed to be in the same party by default.

[Ellie]

Originally posted by Pyromania™:

The "cheese" way to recruit Minthara - introduced by Larian in a patch because she was a popular companion who players wanted without having to raid the Grove - is to knock her unconscious while she's Temporarily Hostile so you can recruit in Act 2. This is the only way to get all companions in a single play.

Pretty sure that doesn't work anymore. I tried this once and it said "permanently knocked out" when I knocked her, and she didn't show up again.

[Paps()]

Originally posted by Lizzy:

Did you actively resolve the Grove/Goblin situation, or did you go to the creche before all of that was sorted out? What was the state of things when you left the first area?

Okay so, I wiped out the goblins in the camp, apart from Minthara, I have every companion from that area. Kagha or whatever was mad at me, the grove was protected. I can't really remember much else that was key... I have that Quasit on Gale? Idk. Everyone wants to sleep with me... What else really matters? Lol. I did the stuff in the underdark. I kicked Auntie Ethel's ass. Idk.

I killed the Gith who were by that bridge in Act 1 - they attacked me even though I let Lazel talk, I went to the Creshe and killed the inquisitor and made an enemy of Vlaakith already.
I wiped the Creshe out.

Did all this before I even entered the dark place.

[seeker1]

No, it works, but you have to follow a guide for doing it right. The key is to make sure she's knocked out while "temporarily hostile". You can't threaten her or make the camp hostile, you have to approach her while still "yellow/neutral," aggro her by stealing a map or an object, THEN KO her. Oh, and there's even more. (Why you need a guide). But if you follow all the steps, it works. Unless a mod blocks it. But I digress.

I'm in the "I hope Larian fixes all this kludge for acquiring her in Patch 6 or if not in it then soon" camp.

Anyway, OP, long and short of things - and as noted above: up until Patch 5 it was impossible to recruit both Halsin and Minthara. After Patch 5, it became possible. HOWEVER, as it's still in a kind of kludge state, they have to share a tent, and don't seem to know the other one exists even though they overlap in space. (Given their history, you should imagine they wouldn't WANT to share a tent.)

[Ellie]

Originally posted by Paps():

Originally posted by Lizzy:

Did you actively resolve the Grove/Goblin situation, or did you go to the creche before all of that was sorted out? What was the state of things when you left the first area?

Okay so, I wiped out the goblins in the camp, apart from Minthara, I have every companion from that area. Kagha or whatever was mad at me, the grove was protected. I can't really remember much else that was key... I have that Quasit on Gale? Idk. Everyone wants to sleep with me... What else really matters? Lol. I did the stuff in the underdark. I kicked Auntie Ethel's ass. Idk.

I killed the Gith who were by that bridge in Act 1 - they attacked me even though I let Lazel talk, I went to the Creshe and killed the inquisitor and made an enemy of Vlaakith already.
I wiped the Creshe out.

Did all this before I even entered the dark place.

The quest to protect the grove requires you to kill the three goblin leaders, which is the goblin witchdoctor, the orc with sunburn, and Minthara.

Are you sure the quest was marked as done?

Because its possible that by letting Minthara live, the game considers this as "didn't take a side." That'd be the way to recruit Minthara alongside the good companions. (Should also mean that most of the Tieflings are dead.)

[Paps()]

Originally posted by seeker1:

No, it works, but you have to follow a guide for doing it right. The key is to make sure she's knocked out while "temporarily hostile". You can't threaten her or make the camp hostile, you have to approach her while still "yellow/neutral," aggro her by stealing a map or an object, THEN KO her. Oh, and there's even more. (Why you need a guide). But if you follow all the steps, it works. Unless a mod blocks it. But I digress.

I'm in the "I hope Larian fixes all this kludge for acquiring her in Patch 6 or if not in it then soon" camp.

Are you telling me I somehow accidentally exploited a bug to keep an extra companion?
Tbh... She didn't even get far enough to attack the grove... all she did was plot it. Halsin should just learn to forgive and forget and team up to fight a greater evil.

Hell, Piccolo and Vegeta used to be bad guys in Dragonball... now they are bffs with the main cast.

I would always prefer an option to be able to recruit everyone in a single play than be locked out of some. If you have some characters unable to interact it just seems like there is less content rather than more.

[Paps()]

Originally posted by Lizzy:

Originally posted by Paps():

Okay so, I wiped out the goblins in the camp, apart from Minthara, I have every companion from that area. Kagha or whatever was mad at me, the grove was protected. I can't really remember much else that was key... I have that Quasit on Gale? Idk. Everyone wants to sleep with me... What else really matters? Lol. I did the stuff in the underdark. I kicked Auntie Ethel's ass. Idk.

I killed the Gith who were by that bridge in Act 1 - they attacked me even though I let Lazel talk, I went to the Creshe and killed the inquisitor and made an enemy of Vlaakith already.
I wiped the Creshe out.

Did all this before I even entered the dark place.

The quest to protect the grove requires you to kill the three goblin leaders, which is the goblin witchdoctor, the orc with sunburn, and Minthara.

Are you sure the quest was marked as done?

Because its possible that by letting Minthara live, the game considers this as "didn't take a side." That'd be the way to recruit Minthara alongside the good companions.

Yeah dude, I mean I koed Minthara using the passive attack toggle because I thought that was the "Good Karma" way to recruit Minthara.
But when I killed all 3 goblin leaders, (and Halsin was with me during this quest). He got up and was like, "Yeah Boyeeee, we kicked those leader's asses, I'm going back to the Grove to sort shiz out and smack Kagha's booty."

[Paps()]

Originally posted by Lizzy:

Originally posted by Paps():

Okay so, I wiped out the goblins in the camp, apart from Minthara, I have every companion from that area. Kagha or whatever was mad at me, the grove was protected. I can't really remember much else that was key... I have that Quasit on Gale? Idk. Everyone wants to sleep with me... What else really matters? Lol. I did the stuff in the underdark. I kicked Auntie Ethel's ass. Idk.

I killed the Gith who were by that bridge in Act 1 - they attacked me even though I let Lazel talk, I went to the Creshe and killed the inquisitor and made an enemy of Vlaakith already.
I wiped the Creshe out.

Did all this before I even entered the dark place.

The quest to protect the grove requires you to kill the three goblin leaders, which is the goblin witchdoctor, the orc with sunburn, and Minthara.

Are you sure the quest was marked as done?

Because its possible that by letting Minthara live, the game considers this as "didn't take a side." That'd be the way to recruit Minthara alongside the good companions. (Should also mean that most of the Tieflings are dead.)

Also, she was being totally told off by Ketheric Thorm and put in the dungeon to get erased because she 'failed him'.

[seeker1]

Well, again, as I said, developer intent was originally to make the two characters mutually exclusive. They SAID so. You were not MEANT to be able to acquire both Halsin and Minthara and up until Patch 5 it wasn't possible. You could not get Minthara on a so-called "good run" where Halsin and the grove survive unlocked.

Patch 5 led to a switcheroo, but the thing is, I don't think they've fully written out the switcheroo they enabled ... which is why I'm curious what Patch 6 will do. If anything. The reason they enabled the "KO method" for acquiring Minthara is that people were already using it as part of a "hack" to get her called "sheepthara".

[RhiTheWitch]

Originally posted by Paps():

Originally posted by seeker1:

No, it works, but you have to follow a guide for doing it right. The key is to make sure she's knocked out while "temporarily hostile". You can't threaten her or make the camp hostile, you have to approach her while still "yellow/neutral," aggro her by stealing a map or an object, THEN KO her. Oh, and there's even more. (Why you need a guide). But if you follow all the steps, it works. Unless a mod blocks it. But I digress.

I'm in the "I hope Larian fixes all this kludge for acquiring her in Patch 6 or if not in it then soon" camp.

Are you telling me I somehow accidentally exploited a bug to keep an extra companion?
Tbh... She didn't even get far enough to attack the grove... all she did was plot it. Halsin should just learn to forgive and forget and team up to fight a greater evil.

Hell, Piccolo and Vegeta used to be bad guys in Dragonball... now they are bffs with the main cast.

I would always prefer an option to be able to recruit everyone in a single play than be locked out of some. If you have some characters unable to interact it just seems like there is less content rather than more.

It was a bug that got popular online through work arounds, Larian implemented a slightly difficult way to recruit her (without having to turn her into a sheep) and included it in a recent patch. You maybe accidentally discovered the pathway they allowed to recruit her in a "good" pt, but it *was* formerly a bug

[Ellie]

Originally posted by Paps():

Originally posted by Lizzy:

The quest to protect the grove requires you to kill the three goblin leaders, which is the goblin witchdoctor, the orc with sunburn, and Minthara.

Are you sure the quest was marked as done?

Because its possible that by letting Minthara live, the game considers this as "didn't take a side." That'd be the way to recruit Minthara alongside the good companions.

Yeah dude, I mean I koed Minthara using the passive attack toggle because I thought that was the "Good Karma" way to recruit Minthara.
But when I killed all 3 goblin leaders, (and Halsin was with me during this quest). He got up and was like, "Yeah Boyeeee, we kicked those leader's asses, I'm going back to the Grove to sort shiz out and smack Kagha's booty."

Yeah that means you stumbled into the work-around; I wouldn't call it a bug, it makes sense canonically, and you reasoned your way there, so, all good.

Congrats on running a scenario that a tiny tiny tiny fraction of players will get organically. :3

[Paps()]

Originally posted by RhiTheWitch:

Originally posted by Paps():

Are you telling me I somehow accidentally exploited a bug to keep an extra companion?
Tbh... She didn't even get far enough to attack the grove... all she did was plot it. Halsin should just learn to forgive and forget and team up to fight a greater evil.

Hell, Piccolo and Vegeta used to be bad guys in Dragonball... now they are bffs with the main cast.

I would always prefer an option to be able to recruit everyone in a single play than be locked out of some. If you have some characters unable to interact it just seems like there is less content rather than more.

It was a bug that got popular online through work arounds, Larian implemented a slightly difficult way to recruit her (without having to turn her into a sheep) and included it in a recent patch. You maybe accidentally discovered the pathway they allowed to recruit her in a "good" pt, but it *was* formerly a bug

So, it could be a legit way to have them both, but Larion just needs to give her her own little camp and a couple of dialogue lines where she apologises to Halsin for the error of her ways and we are all good?

LARION, YOU READING THIS?

[Paps()]

Originally posted by seeker1:

Well, again, as I said, developer intent was originally to make the two characters mutually exclusive. They SAID so. You were not MEANT to be able to acquire both Halsin and Minthara and up until Patch 5 it wasn't possible. You could not get Minthara on a so-called "good run" where Halsin and the grove survive unlocked.

Patch 5 led to a switcheroo, but the thing is, I don't think they've fully written out the switcheroo they enabled ... which is why I'm curious what Patch 6 will do. If anything. The reason they enabled the "KO method" for acquiring Minthara is that people were already using it as part of a "hack" to get her called "sheepthara".

So, what you are telling me is... let me get this right, that I now have another companion who will definitely try to sleep with me... all by accident?.... ~~~~~~~~~~oooooh nooooo~~~~~~~~~ "Flirty eyes".

[Paps()]

Originally posted by seeker1:

Well, again, as I said, developer intent was originally to make the two characters mutually exclusive. They SAID so. You were not MEANT to be able to acquire both Halsin and Minthara and up until Patch 5 it wasn't possible. You could not get Minthara on a so-called "good run" where Halsin and the grove survive unlocked.

Patch 5 led to a switcheroo, but the thing is, I don't think they've fully written out the switcheroo they enabled ... which is why I'm curious what Patch 6 will do. If anything. The reason they enabled the "KO method" for acquiring Minthara is that people were already using it as part of a "hack" to get her called "sheepthara".

OMG, did I just read this patch is 21gb on consoles but 150gb on steam? WTFFFFF