Minsc .. ok while he lasted ..

Baldgeek

So I'm playing (yeah yeah wayy behind the times) BG for the first time .. gotten through the Nashkel mines and currently adventuring through the country side and managed to beat the Ogre Magi on the coast (sorry can't recall the name.. looked like a huge samurai to me ..) but not without Minsc taking critical hit and dead for good. Wanting as pure a first playthrough I rolled with it and managed to save everyone else (Imoen, Jahira, Dynaheir and Khalid) back in beregost. I realize it's way early in the game .. has onyone else experienced something similiar? and is Minsc even going to be missed? because honestly he died ALOT ...

Dee

I don't recall any of my party members getting "chunked" in BG1 like that. But:

Did you equip Minsc with a helmet? That might help.

Minsc shows up in BG2 as well, but his direct involvement with the story is not as deep as some of the other characters.

I never really felt like I needed him around; I just liked his personality too much to get rid of him.

Quartz

Yeah, people die permanently if they get hit to ... is it -8 or -10 HP? I forget. Anyway, it's clear they're dead for good when they explode into chunks upon death.

Yeah, Minsc dies a lot if he doesn't have good equipment. While he has the bragging right of greatest strength in the game, his Dexterity is fairly bad and his Constitution is too. Not a bad character by any means but I, too, have a hard time keeping him alive at the start of the game.

Epic strength = awesome ability to do damage
Bad Dexterity = getting hit more
Bad Constitution = less ability to deal with taking hits

So, you combine all those and you basically have a guy who is fantastic at *dealing* damage, but pretty mediocre at defending from damage.

Is Minsc even going to be missed ... meh. Perhaps, but there are good replacements. I would try Kivan on for size if I were you, as Khalid is a good front-line fighter, and Jaheira is good at that too if you give her Gauntlets of Dexterity. I assume you have those, as you have clearly been to the Gnoll Stronghold. Kivan is fantastic with a bow and can hold his own in melee combat. He can be found in High Hedge, just to the north of the building.

Anyway, sounds like you are having a good time. First time playing and you are playing it pretty legit! Props for that. Enjoy yourself.

Awong124

I wouldn't bother with Minsc. I find him annoying anyway.

Tetraploid

Minsc is entertaining, and he can be a good front line fighter, but if you aren't too devoted to having the canon party he is pretty easily replaced. Try some of the other NPCs out and I'm sure you'll find one who works for you

sandmanCCL

You can only get chunked by melee. Arrows can't do it. I believe there are some spells that can chunk you, too, but I forget which ones they are.

But, yeah, Minsc should never die to a critical hit. Rangers can use helmets which means that a nat 20 against them just means it hits, not that it does crits. His AC is kind of bad, but after the Gnoll stronghold you get have the gauntlets of Dexterity and he should be utilizing those.

You still have Khalid to tank for you, thankfully. I recommend picking up Ajantis now to replace Minsc as they fill a similar role in battle.

Quartz

sandmanCCL said:

I recommend picking up Ajantis now to replace Minsc as they fill a similar role in battle.

Very true Ajantis is a good fit. He's north of the Friendly Arm Inn. That map will rape you though if you don't tread carefully. P:

Awong124

It's funny because I usually try to chunk Minsc myself. When I first meet him, I'll hide a thief in stealth mode behind him. I'll then talk to him and tell him to go screw himself on his quest to rescue Dynaheir, which causes him to attack me, and I tell my thief to backstab him.

Zraenian

All of the above + he has 1 less quickslot to fill cause of that damn hamster!

Felix

Minsc rocks! If you have him in BG2 you will be rolling with laughter but if he is dead there are many to replace him.

Dragonfolk2000

Characters have a percent chance to die permamently based on their Constitution score, the higher it is the less likely it will happen. This does make your case one of those rare ones though.

BG1 has the issue of low level characters meaning low hit points. Damage starts off pretty strong in BG1 so you are likely going to either lose characters or need to reload throughout BG1 (mostly in the beginning). My brother outright refuses to play this game because he hates taking so long to level (which translates out to 'I'm sick of stiff winds knocking my mages over').

Awong124

Felix said:

Minsc rocks! If you have him in BG2 you will be rolling with laughter but if he is dead there are many to replace him.

I told him to go away in Irenicus' dungeon, then I hunted him down in the Copper Coronet and murdered him, along with Anomen and Korgan.

HaHaCharade

sandmanCCL said:

You can only get chunked by melee. Arrows can't do it. I believe there are some spells that can chunk you, too, but I forget which ones they are.

But, yeah, Minsc should never die to a critical hit. Rangers can use helmets which means that a nat 20 against them just means it hits, not that it does crits. His AC is kind of bad, but after the Gnoll stronghold you get have the gauntlets of Dexterity and he should be utilizing those.

You still have Khalid to tank for you, thankfully. I recommend picking up Ajantis now to replace Minsc as they fill a similar role in battle.

Sloth loves Chunk

Paladin

You just need to at least experience Minsc's companionship once. He is the signature character of the saga, I would say. Or, at the very least, he is certainly one of the most memorable companions. For me, it does not feel like a go of Baldur's Gate without the addled Ranger's company. I have tried doing runs without him and it's okay, but I find it hard for me to not bring Minsc along. He is just so likeable.

From a combat perspective, he is top-notch, too. I find he is always one of my best front-liners. Kagain is perhaps a bit better (he has the super-human constitution) but he doesn't hit as hard as Minsc and Boo.

ekster

I'd say Boo is the signature character. Minsc is just the drone.

But yeah, I would definitely suggest to have at least one play through with him just for the character interactions. He might not be the best when it comes to stats and fighting, but he can be very interesting to play with.

fighter_mage_thief

Ogre Mages are among the strongest units in the game because they hit very hard, have multiple attacks, good thaco, and can cast spells to boot.

It also sounds like you didn't level Minsc up much, and didn't have him equipped with a helmet, or decent armor for that matter. With his massive strength, he can wear full plate armor with ease, which more than makes up for his low dexterity.

In addition to having epic strength, he also decimates gnolls with +4 to hit and damage against them.

I think he's a great character, but hey, there's always next time. This game has replayability.

Quartz

fighter_mage_thief said:

It also sounds like you didn't level Minsc up much, and didn't have him equipped with a helmet, or decent armor for that matter. With his massive strength, he can wear full plate armor with ease, which more than makes up for his low dexterity.

Yes, because this guy totally had the ability to acquire full plate that early.

And no, I'm not going to count the hidden Ankheg Armor. Justify it all you want but it's cheap.

Don't get me wrong I agree Minsc is great but he takes hits pretty frequently. You have to babysit him for a while until he gets some levels and HP under his belt.

fighter_mage_thief

Quartz said:

fighter_mage_thief said:

It also sounds like you didn't level Minsc up much, and didn't have him equipped with a helmet, or decent armor for that matter. With his massive strength, he can wear full plate armor with ease, which more than makes up for his low dexterity.

Yes, because this guy totally had the ability to acquire full plate that early.

And no, I'm not going to count the hidden Ankheg Armor. Justify it all you want but it's cheap.

Don't get me wrong I agree Minsc is great but he takes hits pretty frequently. You have to babysit him for a while until he gets some levels and HP under his belt.

I know what you mean, I never get that secret stash with the Ankheg Armor or the Ring of Wizardry.

To me, it's the equivalent to getting the Helm of Vhailor or the Robe of Vecna in SoA. They're all cheap.

But as for what you're saying, if Minsc got chunked on a critical hit, never mind the full plate mail, a helmet could have been picked up for him for 1 gold piece! LOL

Brude

Quartz said:

Don't get me wrong I agree Minsc is great but he takes hits pretty frequently. You have to babysit him for a while until he gets some levels and HP under his belt.

Minsc is fine as long as he gets the Gauntlets of DEX. Before that .. Not so much. But that's not any different than Ajantis or Kagain either, both of whom have lower base DEX than Minsc.

I also tend to run front liners with the best shields I can get for the added AC, plus Rings of Protection etc.

Quartz

Brude said:

Quartz said:

Don't get me wrong I agree Minsc is great but he takes hits pretty frequently. You have to babysit him for a while until he gets some levels and HP under his belt.

Minsc is fine as long as he gets the Gauntlets of DEX. Before that .. Not so much. But that's not any different than Ajantis or Kagain either, both of whom have lower base DEX than Minsc.

I also tend to run front liners with the best shields I can get for the added AC, plus Rings of Protection etc.

Yeah I know what you mean.

15 Dexterity bothers me. I never want to put those Gauntlets on them, because I would rather put them on someone with a 14 or lower, you know. I'm OCD like that. But yes, I have put them on Minsc and indeed that's what you gotta do.

Still ... while you're on that topic ... Kagain is better ;D Of course, from my experiences I would argue Kagain is *the best.* You can't beat 20 Constitution. You just can't.

Communard

Quartz said:

Brude said:

Quartz said:

Don't get me wrong I agree Minsc is great but he takes hits pretty frequently. You have to babysit him for a while until he gets some levels and HP under his belt.

Minsc is fine as long as he gets the Gauntlets of DEX. Before that .. Not so much. But that's not any different than Ajantis or Kagain either, both of whom have lower base DEX than Minsc.

I also tend to run front liners with the best shields I can get for the added AC, plus Rings of Protection etc.

Yeah I know what you mean.

15 Dexterity bothers me. I never want to put those Gauntlets on them, because I would rather put them on someone with a 14 or lower, you know. I'm OCD like that. But yes, I have put them on Minsc and indeed that's what you gotta do.

Still ... while you're on that topic ... Kagain is better ;D Of course, from my experiences I would argue Kagain is *the best.* You can't beat 20 Constitution. You just can't.

The only thing better than Kagain is Kagain after a Manual of Bodily Health...

Quartz

Communard said:

The only thing better than Kagain is Kagain after a Manual of Bodily Health...

I actually laughed out loud; well played.

And on a serious note, YES. +6 HP/level at that point, and he regenerates faster? I've done it, it's amazing!

Brude

Quartz said:

Still ... while you're on that topic ... Kagain is better ;D Of course, from my experiences I would argue Kagain is *the best.* You can't beat 20 Constitution. You just can't.

@Quartz haha absolutely agreed. Funny you should mention him. Back in the day, I never ran with Kagain. Since returning to the game in the last month, I've had him in two groups. He is flat out amazing, and far and away my favorite tank-type character. You really can't do better than that 20 CON. Never having to heal the only guy who is taking hits makes the game much smoother.

I tend to run with only a single melee character, and if that character is Minsc then I figure the Gauntlets will do him more good than anyone else.

Edit: CON, not DEX! Sheesh!

fighter_mage_thief

I would like to add something.

There is no Minsc, there is only Boo.

Quartz

Brude said:

Quartz said:

Still ... while you're on that topic ... Kagain is better ;D Of course, from my experiences I would argue Kagain is *the best.* You can't beat 20 Constitution. You just can't.

@Quartz haha absolutely agreed. Funny you should mention him. Back in the day, I never ran with Kagain. Since returning to the game in the last month, I've had him in two groups. He is flat out amazing, and far and away my favorite tank-type character. You really can't do better than that 20 CON. Never having to heal the only guy who is taking hits makes the game much smoother.

I tend to run with only a single melee character, and if that character is Minsc then I figure the Gauntlets will do him more good than anyone else.

Edit: CON, not DEX! Sheesh!

Haha yeah I know what you mean about having characters you didn't run, and then come back to the game recently and run them. For me, it's Coran. Coran is kind of surprisingly good for only having two good stats, so long as you have another thief in your group who is good at finding traps. Like Montaron, he and Drizzt's armor go together like milk and cookies. Montaron makes for a stabby fighter/thief and Coran makes for a ranged fighter/thief.

And yes, the whole thing about not having to heal Kagain ... amazingly helpful indeed I find myself having to rest due to health loss + lack of healing spells barely ever. I usually rest due to running out of Arcane spells or hitting Fatigue instead.

And yeah you're right, that was how I managed to justify putting gauntlets on Minsc, too. It really was a test of will for me ... haha I'm such a dork.

bigdogchris

Minsc is definitely the most creative character in BG but I never felt like I needed him either.

When BG:EE comes out I plan to play through with NPC's as the past few playthrough's I've made my own party in multiplayer.

I plan on using

CHARNAME - Fighter/Mage
Minsc
Dynaheir
Coran
Branwen
Rasaad

Kitteh_On_A_Cloud

@Awong124: Geez, it almost sounds like you got a personal issue with Minsc. If you hate him that much, you can always, like, ignore him and pick up other characters instead. >_>

Quartz

Kitteh_On_A_Cloud said:

@Awong124: Geez, it almost sounds like you got a personal issue with Minsc. If you hate him that much, you can always, like, ignore him and pick up other characters instead. >_>

Kitteh, I agree that it's rude for people to be so hostile against a character, when of course other people love them. However 1. People thought his comment was funny, regardless of whether they liked Minsc or not. That's a sign of a good joke.
2. How often do I see you "ignore" something you don't like? On this forum I often see you take a basically harmless post, get offended, and spark controversy.
I know that's awfully up-front and blunt, and I'm sorry. I don't mean to be rude, although I'm sure you're gonna be mad at me after that, and I don't blame you, I would be too. But before removing the speck of sawdust from the eye of another, first remove the plank in your own.
Peace.

@bigdogchris That sounds like a pretty devastating party! Well, except Dynaheir, she sucks to put it lightly. Coran and Minsc will go together like milk and cookies; one ranged fighter and one melee fighter. I'm sure your Fighter/Mage will fill in any other gap left ... nice.

bigdogchris

I don't like Xan and there are not really many choice for good casters. Plus, I'm not too worried anymore about stats as I just take default rolls now days.

Quartz

bigdogchris said:

I don't like Xan and there are not really many choice for good casters. Plus, I'm not too worried anymore about stats as I just take default rolls now days.

You could always Dual Imoen to a Conjurer.
And actually, the stats argument is not what I'm referring to. Dynaheir has pretty good stats but Invoker is just bad 'cuz they have two opposition schools.
But, I don't mean to sound imposing. Go ahead and take Dynaheir if ya wish.

Jaxx86

Baldgeek said:

So I'm playing (yeah yeah wayy behind the times) BG for the first time .. gotten through the Nashkel mines and currently adventuring through the country side and managed to beat the Ogre Magi on the coast (sorry can't recall the name.. looked like a huge samurai to me ..) but not without Minsc taking critical hit and dead for good. Wanting as pure a first playthrough I rolled with it and managed to save everyone else (Imoen, Jahira, Dynaheir and Khalid) back in beregost. I realize it's way early in the game .. has onyone else experienced something similiar? and is Minsc even going to be missed? because honestly he died ALOT ...

I liked reading the sincerity of your enjoyment for the game. I wish I had the resolve to stick with a tough decision like that in my first playthrough. Whenever Minsc died in my party the first thing I did was load. That being said, Ajantis is a good substitute for Minsc. In any case, with Minsc out of the way its time to take a good hard look in the mirror and say... I want to be evil. Its time for Edwin.