Recruiting both Minthara and Halsin appears possible, so you can have the full roster of companions in a single playthrough.
How to Recruit
Not 100% tested yet, but the following steps seem to work:
- Complete the Shadow Druid quest (start by searching Kagha’s room in the grove for a chest behind a bookshelf – the rest is straightforward). Make sure Kagha agrees to stop the ritual.
- Enter the Goblin Camp and free Halsin. Have him wait in the room. Do not talk to Minthara. Do not make the Goblins hostile.
- Leave via the Mountain Pass without completing the goblin raid. The tieflings will be stuck in the camp, but protected thanks to Kagha stopping the ritual.
- Recruit Minthara in Act 2 as usual – she will be in the tower.
- When you find the sleeping guy in the Last Lights Inn in Act 2, go back and talk to Halsin. Help him complete the ritual. He will join your camp at this point.
I tested this, and it’s no longer working.
I did this. After recruiting Minthara into my party I couldn’t talk to her anymore. After killing Ketheric, Minthara left the party and sat down on Keteric’s throne. Still no dialogue. I was able to keep her as a companion into act 4 by having her die in the fight against Ketheric, then having Withers resurrect her right after. Her dialogue stays broken. Can’t even dismiss her.
Checked. It works, but it looks more like a bug.
Let me explain. Your Mintara and Halsin will stand in the camp in the same place, “model in model”, the companions who had to leave when doing the first act for the goblins (I mean Wyll and Karlach) don’t react to her appearance, Mintara herself acts like we know each other, even though I didn’t talk to her in the first act, etc.
Apparently the developers didn’t think that players would ignore the goblins/druids dichotomy and necessarily take sides, so I generally allow for the idea that this might break the game or some quests, keep in mind.
So has it been tested yet?