Minsc Build - The Stone Berserker - Baldur's Gate 3 (BG3)

Minsc Build - The Stone Berserker

The companion from Baldur's Gate 2 is returning, albeit quite late into the game - Act 3. His bravado and straightforwardness do offer a sense of warmth that I don't think other companions have. He is Jaheira's friend and carries a hamster companion, which is as cute as it gets.

We go with the default subclass - Hunter, which is extremely powerful, thanks to the Whirlwind Attack being able to hit an unlimited number of foes in range. This easily multiplies your damage and truly reflects Minsc's power in combat. Ranger also comes with nice stuff like Colossus Slayer, a few spells and nice passives like Wasteland Wanderer: Fire, Urban Tracker, etc.

One important aspect is that we will multiclass into Barbarian. This does reflect his rage, and being a Berserker. His usual approach - jumping into battle and losing his sense of self or logic. Rage is a perfect reflection of that; it's cheap to activate, gives nice bonuses to resist incoming damage, and gives Minsc tankiness.

Hope you like the idea of the build, and enjoy reading it!

Class Contribution

This shows the class contribution of the build

11 Hunter Ranger

So this is the core of the build that you will use the most:

• Minor features, and spin on roleplay via Favoured Enemy and Natural Explorer selections
• Selection of Fighting styles - Defence, Archery, etc.
• Spell slots for casting spells - Ensnaring Strike, Spike Growth, etc. Decent spells for progressing through the game. However, as the build uses Rage, there won't be many instances where this is useful.
• Hunter's Prey features, where the main one for progression is Horde Breaker, followed by Colossus Slayer​ for the late-game damage boost.
• Defensive Tactics gives an option to select one of three defensive features
• Better movement on Difficult Terrain​ with Land's Stride: Difficult Terrain.
• Can become invisible with Hide in Plain Sight, albeit the effect only works if you don't move.
• The core feature - Whirlwind Attack, allowing to hit multiple targets with full damage and no compromises.

1 Barbarian

• The main feature - Rage, giving resistance to physical damage, and a slight damage boost.

Build Variations

Here are a few options if you want to try out slightly different setups:

Setup	Description
12 Hunter Ranger	This forgoes Rage from Barbarian, but unlocks a third feat. This does compromise on roleplay, but does offer slight customizations. For example, you could take Ability Improvement, Alert, Sentinel, etc.

Build Overview

Here is a concise table with all the main picks during your leveling progression. For more detailed reasoning, I go further in the article. Also, do not forget to check the recommended gear as it is crucial

Level	Class	Selection
1	Ranger 1	Favoured Enemy: Bounty Hunter
		Natural Explorer: Urban Tracker
		Abilities: STR - 16 (14+2), DEX - 16 (15+1), CON - 10, INT - 8, WIS - 15, CHA - 8
		Skills: Athletics, Perception
2	Ranger 2	Spells: Ensnaring Strike, Longstrider
		Fighting Style: Defence
3	Ranger 3	Spells: Enhance Leap
		Subclass: Hunter
		Hunter's Prey: Colossus Slayer
4	Ranger 4	Feat: Savage Attacker
5	Ranger 5	Spells: Spike Growth
6	Ranger 6	Favoured Enemy: Keeper of the Veil
		Natural Explorer: Wasteland Wanderer: Fire
7	Ranger 7	Spells: Pass Without Trace
		Defensive Tactics: Escape the Horde
8	Ranger 8	Feat: Great Weapon Master: All In or Ability Improvement - +2 Dexterity
9	Ranger 9	Spells: Hunter's Mark
		Feat: Ability Improvement - +2 Dexterity, Magic Initiate: Sorcerer with Booming Blade and Shield
10	Ranger 10	Favoured Enemy: any
		Natural Explorer: Wasteland Wanderer: Cold
11	Ranger 11	Spells: Daylight
12	Respec Character: Barbarian - 1 Ranger - 11	-

Synergy with other builds

This section will give a few ideas on how to utilize other builds to maximize the combat potential of the group. There are usually various synergies that make the group play more enjoyable. However, this should not be the main factor. With full game knowledge, any party composition will work freely.

Piercing Damage

Synergetic Builds	Enabler	Description
Bardadin Shadow Monk Two-Handed Eldritch Knight Archer Builds Others	Bhaalist Armour for the Aura Of Murder	For the late game, you can use Bhaalist Armour to apply easy piercing vulnerability - Aura Of Murder. This is a very powerful buff that makes it easy to deal very high damage in Act 3. Use weapons like Shar's Spear of Evening, Nyrulna, etc. to get a huge damage boost.

Control Spells

Synergetic Builds	Enabler	Description
Lore Bard Swords Bard Fire Sorcerer Hexblade Others	Hold Person or Hold Monster	Enables you to easily deal critical hits, which maximize possible damage, and disables key foes. The easiest way to apply is with caster or gish-type builds.

Darkness Setup

With Eversight Ring, Steel Watcher Helmet you can easily see inside the Darkness, so the build definitely can work in this.

Synergetic Builds	Enabler	Description
Beast Master Ranger (level 11)	Dire Raven Companion	From level 11, when using Fly, the raven will create Darkness fields for free.
Shadow Magic Sorcerer	Eyes of the Dark: Darkness	The Sorcerer has an easy way of creating Darkness fields, and seeing inside of it thanks to Eyes of the Dark
Sorlock	Devil's Sight Darkness	Sorlock can create and also see inside the Darkness thanks to the Devil's Sight

Grouping

One technique that you can use is to group enemies. This is pretty easy to do, and a very powerful technique if you have spells or attacks that hit multiple enemies

Synergetic Builds	Enabler	Description
Warlock builds	Eldritch Blast + Repelling Blast	The Repelling Blast allows you to control the positions of the enemies and push them together. This makes Eldritch Blast a perfect tool for that
Caster Builds like: Bards Druids Sorcerers Wizards	Thunderwave	Using Thunderwave is a cheap and easy way to push enemies together. For example, you have two groups of two. So getting them together, and then letting you hit with a strong AOE attack, technically doubles total damage.
-	Void Bulb	These consumables are plentiful from Omeluum in Act 1. They can be either thrown or destroyed with an archer or another AOE attack to pull enemies together.
Bards Sorcerers Wizards Warlocks Eldritch Knight Arcane Trickster Shadow Monk	Minor Illusion	One of the most accessible cantrips in the game. You can use it to pull enemies together before combat. Once they are in place, use an attack to hit them all, or engage in combat so that they don't run away.
-	Black Hole	Accessible in Act 3, once you unlock Astral-Touched Tadpole. Black Hole is one of the strongest grouping tools once you have it. It is simple to use, has a wide area of effect, and does not affect allies.

Starting the Build - Level 1

This section covers the creation screen and what would go into the best Races, Abilities, and Skills for the Minsc build. Some of these choices are impactful as you cannot respec them.

How to Unlock Minsc?

Minsc is only unlockable in Act 3, and requires you to have Jaheira as a companion.

Origins and Characters

Here are the Origin and character picks that have a slight advantage with this build:

Origin	Features	Description
Minsc	Civil Militia Human Versatility	Minsc is a human, comes with increased carry weight, and bonus proficiencies. Overall, no major features.

Class

Overview
Ranger
Rangers are unrivaled scouts and trackers, honing a deep connection with nature in order to hunt their favoured prey.

Favoured Enemy

This is a set of abilities unique to the Ranger class. Based on your selection, you can get new spells or unique effects against specific enemy types. Generally, anything works here based on your role-playing choices. I would choose:

Passive Feature	Description
Bounty Hunter​	Ensnaring Strike​ is a decent early-game spell, and this helps land it easier.

Natural Explorer

You also get these nature-related boons for the Ranger. These are based on the class experience in nature and how it can survive in different conditions.

Feature	Description
Urban Tracker​	A free Sleight of Hand proficiency, helping to cover more skill options.

Abilities

Now, let's take a look at the abilities of the Minsc build. Correct allocation will allow you to maximise the early gameplay and get good modifier bonuses.

Skills and Expertise

Overall, the skills should be impacted by your roleplaying and background decisions. However, you would still want those that will give you the best benefits. My recommendation would be to go for these, most relevant to the theme of the build or where you have high ability modifiers:

• Athletics
• Perception
• Any other

Leveling Progression 2-12

Here is the detailed progression for Minsc to get you started. You can use it as a guideline because early games can be daunting and overwhelming. Later on, once you get a feel for the class, you can start picking your options

Levels 2-6

Level 2

Spells

Spell	Description
Ensnaring Strike​	Together with Bounty Hunter, this gives a very high chance of succeeding and provides an easy way for Advantage.
Longstrider	At least one party member should have this buff, as it's free to use and greatly improves the party mobility.

Fighting Style

Style	Description
Defence	My recommended pick, improves survivability by helping avoid enemy attacks.

Level 3

The ranger obtains a subclass and more spell options

Spells

Spell	Description
Enhance Leap	Can be a pretty good choice if cast before combat, for huge mobility boost.

Subclass

Overview
Hunter

For the Hunter's Prey

Hunter's Prey	Description
Colossus Slayer	Technically, Horde Breaker is better, but as the build will be at the end game once you get Minsc, it will be substituted by Whirlwind Attack. For this reason, the extra 1d8 is a solid damage boost.

Level 4

This level is important for picking a feat; here are my recommendations:

Feat	Description
Savage Attacker​	A straightforward feat that gives a significant boost to each damage roll that you do, including damage riders.

Level 5

The level gives an important feature for a melee build:

Feature	Description
Extra Attack	Can make an additional free attack after making a hit with your main action point.

For the spells:

Spell	Description
Spike Growth​	A very powerful spell, that covers a large area. It can inflict significant damage and greatly slow down enemies.

Level 6

A few passive features are unlocked:

Favoured Enemy, to be fair, any option works here, as they have a minor impact:

Favoured Enemy	Description
Keeper of the Veil	Recommending as one of the alternatives

Natural Explorer

Natural Explorer	Description
Wasteland Wanderer: Fire​	Gain fire resistance, which is the most widely used element.

Levels 7-10

Generally, this covers the Act 2 part of the game. This unlocks items that give a slight boost to a few builds, and you uncover a really interesting part of the story.

Level 7

Hunter gets a subclass feature that opens up a few defensive buffs

First take spells:

Spells	Description
Pass Without Trace​	This spell can be very useful in certain situations where you need to boost stealth.
Lesser Restoration​	Although not mandatory, there as situations where it is easier to remove the debuff than go for a long rest.

Defensive Tactics

Feature	Description
Multiattack Defence​	I think this is the most relevant pick out of three.
Escape the Horde	This can also be a nice addition, to easier avoid enemy attacks when moving around the battlefield, or trying position yourself for Whirlwind Attack

Level 8 

Feature	Description
Land's Stride: Difficult Terrain​	Makes it easier to move on Difficult Terrain. Sadly, this does not disable ice or other surface effects.

A second feat can be picked. This will be the last choice, as level 12 will be used for multiclassing:

Feat	Description
Great Weapon Master: All In	It gives a bonus attack using a bonus action if you kill an enemy or land a critical hit. On top of it, it also adds a flat +10 damage to our strikes at the expense of -5 penalty to attack rolls. I recommend checking the guide on Attack Roll Increase, to get ideas on how to easily overcome this penalty.
Ability Improvement - +2 Dexterity	If you are going for a dual-wielding setup, this is a perfect pick.

Level 9

Although we unlock level 3 spells, they are not a game-changer for this build, as you will still mostly utilize melee attacks and later Whirlwind Attack

Spells

Spells	Description
Hunter's Mark	Can significantly boost single-target damage, especially when doing critical hits on vulnerable targets.

Level 10

Feature	Description
Hide in Plain Sight​	Although invisibility is good, this only works while you are not moving, so I would just better utilize Potion of Invisibility.

Favoured Enemy

Natural Explorer

Natural Explorer	Description
Wasteland Wanderer: Cold	Taking as one of the alternatives

Levels 11-12

This is where you will spend most of the time in Act 3. There will be an immense amount of content, and you can finish your builds and unlock extremely powerful gear.

Level 11

This is an important level as it unlocks the strongest feature of Hunter:

Feature	Description
Volley​	This is a very powerful action, and what makes the Hunter stand out from other Archer builds. This allows you to hit multiple enemies with full weapon damage, riders, and effects. This can result in very high damage and destroy groups of enemies in a few shots.

For the spell selection

Spells	Description
Daylight​	The spell is a powerful option for a particular Act 3 fight against Cazador. Otherwise, pick another spell.
Plant Growth	A pretty powerful control spell, that does not use Concentration but greatly weakens enemy mobility

Level 12 - Respec into Barbarian Lv 1 and Ranger 11

To fully realize the raging part of Minsc, my recommendation is to multiclass into Barbarian. This will give Rage, providing damage resistance and a slight damage boost

You also should respec into first level as Barbarian, and the rest into 11 Ranger. Why do that?

• For Arcane Synergy we want to maintain Wisdom as the spellcasting stat, to do that, Ranger has to be the last level 1 multiclass (if it's Barbarian, Arcane Synergy uses Charisma).
• To better maintain Concentration for example, with Hunter's Mark, Barbarian gives Consitution Saving Throw proficiency. However, as the build does not concentrate on control and using spells like Confusion, Hold Person, etc, this is optional in my opinion. Moreover Rage does break it.

To multiclass into Barbarian, follow these steps:

So the class to pick is Barbarian:

Overview
Barbarian
Features
Rage​	Unique action to Barbarians that boosts damage and gives physical resistance. Make sure to attack each turn to sustain the bonuses.
Unarmoured Defence​	Gives some utility to Constitution when going with Barbarian. Sadly, the build relies on various armors so this will not be utilized to the full extent.

Equipment Recommendations

Act 3 - Final Build setup

This is where you will unlock the strongest weapons and armors for most of the builds. It is split into two major parts, starting with Rivington and later reaching the huge area - Lower City itself.

Build Mechanics

In this section, I would like to dive deep into how to play the Minsc Build. This will help you utilize it to the fullest and correctly use various actions and spells throughout the game.

Important Mechanics and Combos

Let's go through key mechanics and tips on how to effectively use the build.

Bhaalist Armor and Aura of Murder

The build can get a huge damage boost in Act 3 with Bhaalist Armour. It has a unique effect - Aura Of Murder,​ which doubles piercing damage. This is what makes weapons like Crimson Mischief, Titanstring Bow, etc. especially powerful.

The goal is to stand close to the enemies so that the Aura Of Murder takes effect. Once that happens, both your and ally attacks will inflict double damage. The aura also negates the piercing resistance, so you can do normal damage against enemies that otherwise would receive half of it.

One caveat: if you are a ranged user and have Bhaalist Armour equipped, Aura Of Murder activates in a 3-meter radius. This can be tricky, as you will want to stay a bit further to not get Threatened (which reduces your attack rolls), but close enough that the aura still works. So the positioning can be tricky.

Grouping enemies

The main strength of this build is when enemies are stacked together, and you can use Whirlwind Attack to hit everyone. There are no limitations, so the more there are, the better total damage will be. Here are a few options:

• Void Bulb - It's pretty easy to activate and can be hit with Whirlwind Attack itself, to pull everyone for the next attack
• Another option is Shove that is pretty cheap and easy to activate. Although it targets only one target, that can still be a big damage boost.
• Thunderwave - generally casters have this spell abundantly
• Eldritch Blast + Repelling Blast - can be used to push enemies together, especially at higher levels when you have more rays.
• Minor Illusion - I think this is the simplest and the most accessible option from various casters.

Combat Tactics and Rotation

Maximizing the Build - Abilities, Illithid, Consumables

In this section, I would like to dedicate to various optimizations that you can do to further empower your build. Various things like Illithid Powers and consumables can make the build from powerful to totally overpowered, trivializing the hardest game encounters

Maximizing Ability Scores

So, ability scores play an important role in overall build performance. They do help get higher modifiers to attack rolls, Saving Throw, dialogue checks, and others. Let's look at how we can reach maximum values that are relevant to the Minsc Build:

• Act 3 - +2 Strength or Dexterity - Mirror of Loss
• Act 3 - +1 Wisdom - Khalid's Gift

Illithid Powers

This special mechanic in Baldur's Gate 3 allows you to consume tadpoles and unlock special Illithid Powers.

At first, you can only use the base powers. As you move to Act 3, you will be able to unlock the outer ring powers.

Illithid Power	Type	Description
Favourable Beginnings	Base	Beneficial power to take as it does not have any costs and provides only benefits on the first hits.
Luck of the Far Realms​	Base	Guarantees a critical hit, use it on important targets that you want to make sure are killed.
Psionic Overload​	Base	As this is Psychic damage, you will double it to 2d4 thanks to Resonance Stone.
Psionic Backlash	Base	A decent use for reaction to deal some bonus psychic damage.
Ability Drain​	Base	As you will be using Dexterity, this can help you to reduce enemy Armor Class and give an increased hit chance on the next attack.
Cull the Weak​	Base	Can help to kill an enemy faster if it is left with a few HP.
Illithid Expertise​	Elite	As you are not a charisma-based character, these proficiencies help with dialogue checks.
Psionic Dominance​	Elite	Can be used to save yourself from a deadly spell. This is especially relevant as you will have a Disadvantage on mental saving throws.
Freecast​	Elite	Remove the cost of spell slots or charges.

Potions, Elixirs and Consumables

Let's take a look at what consumables you can use to further empower the build.

Potions

These are general consumables, and most of them are activated for a few turns. Potions are separate from Elixirs and can be active together.

Consumable	Description
Potion of Speed	You can chug this potion before combat, or during combat using a bonus action. It gives another action point that gives an additional attack or one more spell cast. Sadly, its duration is only 3 turns.
Potion of Animal Speaking	Although not something powerful, it is worth stocking up and saving a spell slot.
Potion of Invisibility	Can be used to get a perfect position before the encounter starts. It can also help trigger Surprised mechanic, so that enemies skip their turn. In other situations, you can use it to run away if needed.
Terazul	Gives Hastened​ and stacks with other sources of it. This is a late-game consumable.

Coatings

These are applied directly on weapons, and usually have a 10-turn duration:

Consumable	Description
Oil of Accuracy	The attack roll bonus is pretty good, which improves your chances of hitting.
Diluted Oil of Sharpness	Helps with attack and damage rolls.
Crawler Mucus or Karabasan's Poison	This is a very powerful debuff that applies Paralysed on an enemy if they fail a Saving Throw. This then guarantees critical hits.
Drow Poison	Has a chance to put an enemy to Sleeping condition, giving a guaranteed critical hit option.

Elixirs

Be sure to activate them before combat, as otherwise, you will need to use a Bonus Action.

Consumable	Description
Elixir of Bloodlust	The elixir gives an easy option to get an additional action point - just kill a foe. This can then be used to attack one more time or cast a full spell.
Elixir of The Colossus	Provides bonus damage of 1d4 and some other good bonuses. The Advantage of Strength check is great for Shove and making sure enemies fall from cliffs
Elixir of Vigilance	For some encounters, you will want to go first. This elixir will ensure that it overcomes even Surprised​ mechanics.
Elixir of Heroism	Boosts attack rolls by 1d4; this is a good boost to increase the likelihood of landing attacks.
Elixir of Hill Giant Strength	Can be used as an option to dump Strength and maximize other stats. Especially in the early game, 21 Strength with Elixir of Hill Giant Strength is a big upgrade for your hit chance. Later, from level 9 you can buy Elixir of Cloud Giant Strength for a fixed 27 Strength.
Elixir of Cloud Giant Strength

Conclusion and Credits

Thank you for reading the Minsc build - The Stone Berserker for Baldur's Gate 3. Although the character joins you late into the game, it offers a few fun dialogue lines and a great personality. Definitely recommend having him in the party if possible, specifically with this roleplay-friendly build

Cheers!