Who is Minsc in Baldur’s Gate 3? Minsc is a human Ranger who adventured with you during the events of the previous Baldur’s Gate games. Known for his hamster companion, which he claims is a ‘miniature giant space hamster’, Minsc became a fan favorite. Because he was turned into a stone statue, he is still alive 100 years after the events of Baldur’s Gate 2. As a Ranger with great strength and prowess, he is both a great battering ram and a long-range threat.
Party composition is of the utmost importance in Baldur’s Gate 3, so for more information on whether or not a Ranger will be a good fit for your party, check out our overview of all playable classes. Minsc is also another human companion, so you might want to read our article on all the races available in the game to make sure you don’t end up with a boring party without a Tiefling or Dragonborn. If not, read on to see how Minsc will benefit your party’s adventures across Faerûn.
How to recruit Minsc
It is currently unknown how to recruit Minsc. Jaheria’s voiceover in the official launch month trailer reveals that he has been captured by cultists and feels sorry for them. He hopes to rescue you or help you get revenge.
Minsc skills, starting equipment and abilities
In previous Baldur’s Gate games, Minsc came with great strength, dexterity, and constitution at the cost of his intelligence, wisdom, and charisma. His ability scores in Baldur’s Gate 3 are currently unknown, and since it’s been a long time, we would expect his ability scores to be quite high.
Here are Minsc’s stats based on previous games:
- Strength: 18
- Dexterity: 15
- Constitution: 15
- Intelligence: 8
- Wisdom: 6
- Charisma: 9
Here is the initial team of Minsc:
It is currently unknown what starting equipment he will have. Previously, he came equipped with two-handed swords.
These are Minsc’s abilities:
It is unknown what abilities Minsc will have as there is no frame of reference from previous games to go by. Given his familiarity with animals, he will probably master the Nature skill.
How to complete the Minsc Companion Quest
There is no information on the Minsc side mission at this time. After being petrified for over 70 years, you may have some unfinished business to take care of. It is also possible that the search for him will center on his pet hamster, Boo. At least we hope so.
How to raise the approval rating of the Minsc
It is not known how to raise the approval of Minsc, but how he has a simple black and white vision of life. Committing heroics, or letting him commit heroics, will likely improve his opinion of your player character. Also, his love for animals can come into play.
How Minsc is inspired
Inspiration Points can be earned by both your own character and your companions based on your background. These points can be used to repeat skill checks during key moments.
It is not clear what background Minsc will have. If we had to guess, we’d assume Folk Hero, as he’s become a legend since the original games.
Best Minsc Compilation
Please note that this build predates any information available on Minsc. We will update when we know details.
However, we know that rangers have a lot of versatility in Baldur’s Gate 3. Rangers select a Favorite Enemy and Natural Scout trait at level 1, and we expect Minsc to have unique options available to it. Currently, none of the options fit his personality. In previous games, he came equipped with the berserk ability, which gave him a temporary buff to strength and dexterity. We expect this mechanic to return and feature prominently in Minsc builds.
Rangers have many options from level 2 and beyond. Select Ensnaring Strike and Longstrider spells to make sure Minsc can get close to enemies.
Rangers have three subclasses to select from at level 3: Hunter, Beast Master, and Gloom Stalker. We sincerely hope that Beast Master will allow Minsc to summon Boo the hamster into battle; regardless, selecting the Beast Master subclass will give Minsc more utility over the Hunter subclass, which has more limited use.
Choosing a feat at 4th level will depend on what Minsc’s stats are: reinforcing Wisdom, for example, will help him make saving throws against blight effects. However, as he is quite proficient with two-handed weapons, we currently recommend Grandmaster of Weapons to improve his damage output with heavy weapons.
At level 5, we recommend taking the Spike Growth spell to further hinder your enemies. As the Rangers get an extra attack at this level, Minsc will turn into a wrecking ball at close range.
Ahead of the full game’s release, here’s the best we’ve got for Minsc in Baldur’s Gate 3. Fans of the series will no doubt be excited to see him and Boo return, and if this is your first time venturing into Faerûn, we’re sure you’ll come to love the big lug like the rest of us.
For more on Baldur’s Gate 3, check out our other companion guides for characters like Gale the Wizard and Laezel the Fighter. And if all this talk about strength, intelligence and wisdom has you confused, fear not, you can change your class.