[Morgeruat]

actually if you want to roleplay minsc as more of a ranger than a generic tank you could do what i did, give him bracers of ac3 (aerie had ac4 bracers and vecna's robe anyway), until you can get some of the good low ac studded leather.
I dual wielded him, he never touched bows (too much trouble to unequip them and re-equip them), or his 2 handed weapon slots after the first dungeon, and yes your Thac0 sux until you put a third slot into it and spec w/ long swords (yes it takes a few lvls, but well worth the effort), to get his strength onus added to each attack, it was much more fun and he was more useful to me than valygar, plus since most people tend to forget he actually has a decent chance to HS, and MS. he was scouting with yoshimo, and generally stayed hidden longer, until... spellhold, but he made an excellent scout, and has the hp's to take the damage from stepping on a trap (ok so some of the later traps would fry him, but that's beside the point).