There’s a change buried in Baldur’s Gate 3’s latest patch that makes it easier than ever to recruit both of its mutually exclusive companions⁠—without breaking the game

Deep in Baldur’s Gate 3’s mammoth patch notes for its fifth main update is a whammy of a line: “Minthara will still appear in Moonrise Towers if she was knocked out in Act 1.” That’s right⁠, it’s now easier than ever to recruit Baldur’s Gate 3’s “evil” companion without committing to an evil playthrough. Spoilers for Act 1 below.

About halfway through BG3’s first act, you can side with either Silvanus’ Grove or a marauding goblin tribe, with the former eventually netting you hunky druid Halsin as a companion, and the latter resulting in the friendship of Drow hardass Minthara. The goblin path is pretty heinous, so a lot of players (myself included) have missed out on Minthara’s unique character arc and romance subplot⁠—she placed dead last in our ranking of Baldur’s Gate 3 companions for just this reason.