Baldur's Gate 3 player devises way to recruit evil companion on a good playthrough by turning her into a sheep

eurogamer.net:

If you've been playing Baldur's Gate 3, you're likely to have missed out on a companion or two — as making certain decisions can affect who's available. Heavy spoilers for Baldur's Gate 3 are included in this article.

One of the most missable companions is Minthara, who appears in Act 1 of the game. In normal circumstances, recruiting her means siding with the goblins and attacking Emerald Grove along with the refugee Tieflings that are staying there.

However, this comes with some significant consequences — Halsin will refuse to help you later on in the game, and Karlach will be unavailable as a companion. Unless you're Taiwanese player pao870111, who came up with a way to recruit Minthara in a morally good playthrough without the use of mods.

The strategy was translated by ZookeepergameDeep360 and shared to the Baldur's Gate 3 subreddit over the weekend, and it's gained traction for the sheer determination of players who want the evil companion without having to actually be evil.

First off, if you plan on attempting to recruit Minthara like this, you'll need the Level 4 Transmutation spell Polymorph and the Level 4 Enchantment spell Dominate Beast in your party down the line (learnt at level 7).

In Act 1, side with the Grove and agree to kill the goblin leaders. Instead of killing Minthara, she must be turned temporarily hostile and then non-lethally knocked out. Continue the rest of the quest as normal and kill the other goblin leaders.

Then, once you've reached Moonrise Towers and activated the fast travel waypoint, return to the goblin camp. Cast Polymorph on Minthara to turn her into a sheep, then use Dominate Beast so she'll fight alongside you. Then, control sheep-Minthara and teleport to Moonrise Towers via the