If you’ve played any of the previous Baldur’s Gates games, one of your favorite characters was most likely Minsc and his faithful sidekick, Boo. Well, the good news is, he’s back for Baldur’s Gate 3, but the bad news is, he won’t be available until Act 3. Minsc has been a fan favorite for decades now, and for good reason as he brings some much-needed humor to the game. Read below to find out how to recruit the Stonelord, Minsc in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Minsc doing Minsc stuff.
Finding Minsc¶
Recruiting Minsc is tied in with Jaheira’s companion quest who you find near the start of Act 2 in the Last Light Inn. Read our How to Recruit Jaheira page if you haven’t as you’ll need her if you want to get Minsc. Progress Jaheira’s companion quest until you finish the battle with the Harper doppelgangers in the basement of Danthelon’s Dancing Axe, and speak to Geraldus after it.
Once you’re done talking to him, speak to Jaheira, and she’ll tell you how she’s always been looking for Minsc as well as how the two became separated from each other. Another thing you will find out is that because the Harpers are compromised, they cannot be trusted, so you will have to find another source of information, and who better than that than a Guild leader in the underbelly of the city? Unfortunately, this means you’ll be taking a long walk through the pungent Baldur’s Gate sewers.
How to Find the Sewers in the Lower City¶
The sewers cover most of the Lower City, so it would only make sense that there are quite a few entrances to it, some harder to find than others. Regardless of what method you take to enter the sewers, you’ll most likely get an encounter or two, so it doesn’t matter too much which entrance you take, but we suggest going through the Elfsong Tavern as there are a couple of quests you can complete along the way.
From the 
Basilisk Gate waypoint, head west into the Elfsong Tavern. Make your way to the kitchen, and speak to Chef Roveer to warn him about the threat on his life, and he’ll ask you to defeat the rats in the basement which is good, as you’ll be going down there anyway. As you enter the basement, there will be a ton of rats, either attack the Firewine Barrels with some form of fire, or use an area-of-effect attack to take them out. Once you’re done with that, you can head back up to turn the quest in for a paltry reward then head back to the basement.
(1 of 3) From the Basilisk Gate, head west to Elfsong Tavern.
Proceed through the leftmost northern door, and press the button on the right wall to open the keg in the adjacent room. Go into the rightmost northern door, and head through the secret entrance into the door at the end of the stairs. This will take you to the Knights of the Shield Hideout, which is where your dream friend once stayed. Here depending on previous choices, a difficult battle with the Githyaki will ensue.
Once they’re dealt with, you can search around the room and get information about various stuff related to your dream friend and the related quest. When you’re ready, continue north, and press the button behind the statue to the right to open another secret room. This is where the dream friend spent most of its time in Baldur’s Gate. Interact with the various objects to find out more about your friend, and don’t forget to pick up the 
Sword of the Emperor before heading down the hatch in the west.
(1 of 3) In the wine room, press the button to open the hidden keg door.
Guildhall Location¶
Phew, now you’ve reached the sewers, you only have a little further to go before you find the Guildhall where Nine-Fingers Keene can be found. Anyway, head west through the door, and you’ll enter a room full of toxic gas. Use a ranged attack on the lever that is situated on the left wall then jump through the hole in the wall to the south. Depending on your athletics, you may have to use Enhance Jump, 
Fly, 
Gaseous Form, or a Potion of Glorious Vaulting to reach it. Head across the rubble to the southwest and follow the stairs to the top. Welcome to the Guildhall.
(1 of 3) From the Knights of the Shield Hideout entrance, head west and shoot the lever.
Talk to Nine-Fingers Keene - Stonelord or Guild¶
Although the door has a no-entry sign, ignore it, and enter the Guildhall. This will bring you behind the bar, and next to Nine-Fingers Keene’s room. Head through the doors straight in front of you to find her, and you’ll get a scene between Uktar and her regarding the Stonelord. After the scene ends, talk to her for some information then talk to Jaheria who will mention that you should speak to the Guildhall members to see if they know where Minsc aka Stonelord can be found.
Talk to Uktar¶
If you recall the scene you just saw, it’s obvious that Uktar isn’t too happy with how things are being handled, so head over to him to see if he has anything to say. Head down the stairs in front of Keene’s office, and you’ll find Uktar there. Tell him that the quicker you deal with the Stonelord, the quicker the Guild can get back to its business. He’ll tell you that the ambush is going to happen beneath the 
Counting House, and then he’ll give you the option to trade keys with him. You can use these keys on the vaults yourself, so it’s up to you if you want to give them to him, we didn’t. Before you head for the Counting House, head west of the Guildhall to get the City Sewers waypoint as you’ll need it later.
(1 of 2) Uktar can be found at the bottom of the stairs near Keene’s office.
Uktar can be found at the bottom of the stairs near Keene’s office. (left), Talk to him to find out where the Stonelord ambush will happen. (right)
Head to the Counting House¶
The Counting House can be found in the southwest of the Lower City, with the nearest waypoint being either the Heapside Strand or the Lower City Wall. If you take the former waypoint head west then south, if you take the latter, then head south until you reach Old Garlow’s Place then go west and south. When you enter the Counting House, speak to Head Clerk Meadhoney to the right of the fence gate. After Jaheira finds out about the Stonelord going down to the vault below, you’ll need to “convince” Meadhoney to let you down there too. This comes in the form of three choices, Intimidation, Persuasion, and Deception, all of which require a Charisma check to pass. If you have a Paladin or Bard you should have no problem, otherwise, you may need to do a bit of save-scumming or use an inspiration point to try again.
Whatever way you used to get it, you’ll now have the temporary Bank Pass. Head through the fence gate next to Meadhoney, and follow the stairs down. You can steal a bunch of potions/scrolls and whatnot from the area to the east as you’re relatively alone down here, but when you’re ready, continue down the stairs and through the doors in the west. In the next area, continue north, and head through the gate to the east. There are traps on the door, but if you have the pass, they won’t trigger. Follow the stairs to the bottom, and go through the Vault.
(1 of 3) The Counting House can be found in the southwestern portion of the Lower City.
Counting House Vaults¶
Down here, you’re pretty free to steal whatever you want with little repercussion provided you have the skill and tools to open them up. When you’re ready, head through the eastern door and follow the hallway. About halfway down, you’ll have a couple of doors on either side with lootable vaults, but the vaults in the southern room will be behind an impenetrable fence unless you have one of the teleport (
Misty Step, 
Dimension Door, etc.) spells. If you do choose to do this, make sure you have a way of getting back, otherwise, you’ll have to carry on a member down, or use a waypoint and make your way back. In the northern room, there are two large teleport traps that will send you to the front of the room, so you’ll have to make use of Jump to reach the vaults.
(1 of 2) There’s a lot of loot to be found down here, and you’re free to get it. Use a teleport-like spell similar to Misty Step to bypass the fence.
There’s a lot of loot to be found down here, and you’re free to get it. Use a teleport-like spell similar to Misty Step to bypass the fence. (left), In this room, you’ll be teleported back if you hit the trap. Simply, jump over to each vault to avoid the traps. (right)
Counting House Vault Puzzle¶
Once you’re done with your larceny, continue east along the hallway to reach a room with a locked vault. You need to go through here, but you’ll have a pressure-plate puzzle to figure out first. There are two ways of doing this, the easy way or the hard way. If you want the easy way, throw a bottle of water over the floor, or create some by using an Ice spell followed by a Fire spell before throwing a lightning spell on the floor. This will short-circuit the locking mechanism, and open the door.
The hard way requires you to speak to Meadhoney about it, then separate the party and get each one to stand on the following numbers: 1, 3, 5, 6. Due to the numbers having an unusual font, place each party member on the following tiles: Top-left (1), Top-right (3), Center (5), and Right of the Center (6). Whatever method you chose, the vault door will open, make a quick save, and go down the “passageway”.
You could do the puzzle normally…or…you could throw water over the floor then follow it up with some lightning to short-circuit it.
Meet Minsc - Bhaal Cultists Encounter¶
When you approach the balcony in the following area, you’ll get a scene with Minsc. Regardless of the option you select, Jaheira will shout out to him anyway, or at least try to until she sees…Jaheira?! If you didn’t know any better, that would have to be one of Orrin’s doppelgangers, but before you can do anything, they retreat into the vault and disappear.
Once the scene has ended, you’ll have a battle on your hands. Fortunately, you’ll have some help from the Counting House staff who were ambushed. This battle isn’t too difficult, but some enemies are invisible, especially by the bookshelves/desks on the left and right platforms, and they have an adequate amount of crowd control. When the battle begins, you can wait near the balcony and take out the two who ambush you there. When you’ve dealt with them, split the party in two, head down both of the stairs on either side of the balcony, and slowly take them out as you make your way down.
If you can, try to keep Rakath Glitterbeard alive as he will give you a quest involving returning the stolen gold. For the rest of them, they’ll only have a couple of lines to speak, so it doesn’t matter too much if they survive. After speaking to Rakath, you can use your Counting House Vault Keys down here, this includes Lorroakan, and Cazador’s Key. Finally, don’t waste your time with Vault no9 as Rakath will give you the key for completing his quest.
(1 of 2) When you meet Minsc for the first time, you’ll get an encounter, but not with him, instead you’ll have some Cultists to fight.
When you meet Minsc for the first time, you’ll get an encounter, but not with him, instead you’ll have some Cultists to fight. (left), Make sure you keep Rakath alive, so you can pick up his quest. (right)
How to Find Minsc in the Abandoned Cistern¶
If you search for one of the Cultists you’ve defeated, you’ll find a note containing information on the hideout, and it can be found in the Abandoned Cistern which is situated in the sewers. Note: If you didn’t find a note on one, there may still be a cultist that is still invisible and hasn’t attacked you yet. Once you’ve found the clue, teleport out of the area to Undercity Ruins’ waypoint in the sewers. If you don’t have the waypoint, take the City Sewers waypoint instead, and head north, then west.
From the Undercity Ruins waypoint, head south into the next room with lootable loose stones then take the first door on your west to find the Abandoned Cistern. This room will have a large pipe you can jump on that’ll lead to a puzzle involving some valves. If you haven’t been here before, you may get attacked by some Guildhall castaways, but feel free to murder them if you hate to because Nine-Fingers won’t care. Once they’re dealt with, continue forwards to find a closed Sluice Gate and some valves.
Minsc can be found in the Abandoned Cistern area in the sewers. Follow the path from the Undercity Ruins waypoint to find it.
How to Complete the Abandoned Cistern Sluice Gate Puzzle¶
At the west side of the room, you’ll have four valves which are: Sluice Valve, !Water Valve, Temperature Valve, and the Emergency Release Valve. The first valve is “stuck” and requires someone with a high athletics score to turn. If you can turn this, you bypass the puzzle. For the !Water and Temperature valves, you’ll need to set both at the “Perfect !Water Level” and “Perfect Warmth” which appears as a condition. Finally, you’ll have the Emergency Release valve which will reset the valves should you mess up.
Turn the Sluice valve if you can, if not, interact with the !Water Valve first. Rotate the valve, and you’ll see a small green arrow appear saying “!Water Level Rising”. Wait until the turns pass, and you’ll see the condition “Low !Water Level”. Don’t turn the valve again, as it’ll just turn it off, instead, wait until it fills up again, and you’ll get “Perfect !Water Level”. Now quickly head to the Temperature valve, and do the same until it reaches “Perfect Warmth”. When both say perfect, the gate will open. If the water level floods, rotate the Emergency Release valve to make it go down again. Once the gate is open, make a quick save and head through the tunnel into the next room.
(1 of 3) Turn the “Water Level Valve” and at first you’ll see “Low Water Level”.
Minsc Fight¶
Here, you’ll have a scene followed by an encounter with “fake” Jaheira, Minsc, and Roah Moonglow. There may be some cultists too, but we came here before the Minsc fight and only had to fight the three of them. The best way to handle this fight is to immediately 
Hold Person on Minsc, and keep it on him for the whole fight, then rush Jaheira and Roah. They should go down pretty quickly, and when they do, click on the passives tab and turn on Non-Lethal Attacks. Now go to town on Minsc and knock him out. When he’s knocked out, you’ll get a scene.
(1 of 3) At the start of the battle, use Hold Person on Minsc, and keep him that way while you deal with the other enemies.
Jaheira will scream at you to use your tadpole to calm Minsc down, but it won’t agree to it. Here, you’ll have some choices to make. Select either option 2 or 3, and the tadpole will reluctantly agree to it. You’ll finally subdue Minsc, and he’ll ask you why you helped him. After you answer his question, he’ll head off again, looking for something. If you have 
Karlach in the party at this point, you can speak to her for a short scene as she is a huge fan girl of Minsc.
Find Minsc…Again¶
(1 of 2) Head through the hole in the wall that Minsc created to find him, and a familiar friend.
Head through the hole in the wall that Minsc created to find him, and a familiar friend. (left), You didn’t think you’d get Minsc, without Boo, did you? (right)
Nearly there, just head through the hole in the wall that Minsc created, and you’ll find him to your left, head over and interact with him for another scene. It appears he’s found what he’s looking for, his hamster, Boo! When the scene ends, you can send Minsc back to your camp unless you have a free spot in your party. If you are full, head back to camp, kick someone out of your party, and add Minsc to it. Minsc’s base class is a Ranger, the same as he was in the previous games, but you can change him to any class you want if that’s not to your liking. Now, all you need to do is level him up, have fun!
Sign up
No Comments