Minthara, the enigmatic drow paladin, offers a unique opportunity for players in Baldur’s Gate 3 to explore her complex abilities and dark charisma. As a character who can be both ally and adversary, Minthara’s potential shines when customized with the right build, as any potential paladin would.
Her natural affinity for combat, oath-based abilities, and roleplaying flexibility make her an excellent choice for various playstyles. In this guide, we’ll cover the best builds for Minthara, focusing on her subclass choices, feats, and optimal strategies to make the most of her strengths in and out of combat.
Minthara Overview
Minthara is a drow paladin and one of the first antagonists you’ll meet in Baldur’s Gate 3, at least if you’re doing a regular good-aligned playthrough. She leads the goblins against the Druid Grove, all at the behest of Ketheric Thorm, one of the three chosen of the Absolute.
|
Strength |
Dexterity |
Constitution |
Intelligence |
Wisdom |
Charisma |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
17 |
12 |
13 |
8 |
10 |
15 |
As a paladin, her default subclass is the oath of vengeance. While you can change her class as you see fit, we will focus on her most lore-friendly version, focusing on her devotion to her oath and conviction to her cause, as well as seeing paladins as entities without a deity.
Regardless of her class, Minthara has the skill Soul Branding, a bonus action that adds fire damage to her or an ally’s next attack. She also comes with the Brand of the Absolute, allowing her to reap the benefit of certain items obtained mostly during Act 1.
Unlocking Minthara
You can unlock Minthara in Act 2, once you reach the Moonrise Towers, but only if she survives Act 1. If you are fighting against her during Act 1, then be sure to knock her out instead of killing her. Otherwise, you’ll be locked out of adding her to your roster.
Once you make it to Moonrise Towers, you’ll have to head to the basement where the prisoners are held. Minthara isn’t with the regular prisoners, but in a side room, where her mind is about to be wiped-out; interrupt the ceremony, and you’ll have a chance to free her from the tadpole’s control.
Oath Of Vengeance Paladin Build
Paladins are a class that can deal a lot of damage with basic attacks, spells, and smites, but they also have a hard time recovering resources unless they take a long rest. This is where Minthara’s Soul Branding comes in handy, letting her still keep up the pressure even when all her spell slots are consumed.
Instead of saving her spell slots and playing suboptimally, you are better off using every single ability at her disposal and then switching her for a different companion. Even if you didn’t recruit everyone possible during Act 1, you are still likely to have more characters in reserve than you can take with you, so swap them around every now and again.
We will recommend spells to prepare at certain levels, but you always have access to the entire paladin spell list.
|
Level |
Build |
|---|---|
|
2 |
Pick the Defense fighting style for the added Armor Class.
Ignore |
|
3 |
Minthara gains |
|
4 |
Pick the Ability Score Improvement option, having your Strength raise to 18 and your Charisma to 16. |
|
5 |
Minthara gains Darkness and level 2 spells. Ignore |
|
8 |
Raise Strength to 20. |
|
9 |
Gain access to level 3 spells, Daylight being a stand out for the difficult vampiric fights of Act 3. |
|
12 |
Pick the Mage Slayer feat if you plan to take Minthara with you on the final fights. |
Searing Smite
Faerie Fire
Branding SmiteYou might not want to use the tadpoles you find during your adventures, but Minthara already comes with a few Illithid powers unlocked from the get-go: Charm, Concentrated Blast, Favourable Beginnings and Psionic Backlash. Concentrated Blast, in particular, is a great way to stop concentrating on support spells like Bless for added damage.
The Best Equipment For Minthara
Minthara, as a paladin, benefits greatly from heavy armor and shields that allow her to remain in the front lines. As someone with the Brand of the Absolute, she can also use the branded items, although not all of them are useful to her if she stays on her Oath of Vengeance path.
- Absolute’s Protector is a great shield that combines offense with defense. With the Brand of the Absolute, Minthara would also reduce all damage from spells by one.
- Adamantine Splint Armour reduces all incoming damage by two, while also preventing critical hits on the wearer.
- Reaper’s Embrace also reduces all incoming damage by two, but also gives the wearer the Howl of the Dead skill, stunning nearby enemies.
- Blood of Lathander is a great weapon for any paladin, since other more damaging weapons are better used by other classes. This mace will allow you to withstand plenty of damage, while also being a true bane for the undead, the most common enemy you’ll face in Act 2.
While these items would work for many character classes, paladins like Minthara can make the most out of them. The Adamantine Splint Armour and the Blood of Lathander are from Act 1, but as long as you don’t finish the Gauntlet of Shar in Act 2, you can go back and get them.
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