You’ve probably heard about Auntie Ethel in Baldur’s Gate 3, she’s a creepy hag who’s made herself quite comfortable in a place called the Gnarled Teahouse in the Overgrown Ruins. Auntie Ethel is central to the side quest called Save Mayrina. Your mission is to rescue a woman named Mayrina, who’s caught in a cage by this boss. But there’s more, Ethel also appears in the Find a Cure quest and she claims she can cure your tadpole infection – all it’ll cost you is an eye. If you take her deal, she’ll use your eye to spy on you and mess with you using her magic. In this guide, we will guide you on how to defeat Auntie Ethel in BG3 and save her victims.
How to Find Auntie Ethel in Baldur’s Gate 3
Alright, let’s talk about tracking down Auntie Ethel. There are two main ways to find her:
- The “Save Mayrina” Quest: This starts when you bump into a guy named Benryn near Druid Grove. He’s greatly worried about his wife Mayrina, who Ethel kidnapped. Benryn will hand you a Whispering Mask, which is your golden ticket to enter the Gnarled Teahouse. It’s hidden, but with this mask, you can sneak in through a secret passage in the Overgrown Tunnel.
- The “Find a Cure” Quest: If you’re following this route, you’ll meet Nettie, the Druid Grove’s healer. She’ll drop a hint about a hag (Auntie Ethel) who supposedly has the cure for your tadpole trouble. In exchange for this intel, she hands you a Hag’s Eye. This little trinket also lets you slip into the Gnarled Teahouse through that same secret passage as the first route.
How to Prepare for the Fight
Before you enter the Gnarled Teahouse to have an encounter with BG3’s Auntie Ethel, there are some things you should do to prepare for the fight:
- Do not drink from the well near the entrance of the Overgrown Tunnel. It will give you a temporary buff, but it will turn into a nasty debuff once the combat starts.
- Do not accept Auntie Ethel’s offer to cure your tadpole infection. It will make you more susceptible to her magic and reduce your chances of saving Mayrina.
- Have some spells or scrolls that can deal fire or thunder damage, such as Fire Bolt or Thunderwave. They will be useful to destroy Ethel’s mirror images and deal extra damage to her.
- Have some spells or scrolls that can create or throw water, such as Create Water or Water Bottle. They will be useful to prevent Auntie Ethel from igniting Mayrina’s cage and to remove the burning status from your allies.
- Have some spells or scrolls that can inflict long-lasting debuffs on Auntie Ethel, such as Bane or Blindness. They will reduce her accuracy and effectiveness in the showdown.
- Have some disposable and inexpensive items in your inventory, such as food or junk. They will be useful to distract Auntie Ethel’s redcaps, which are small creatures that will join the fight if it lasts too long.
- Have a low-damage grenade in your inventory, such as a Smokepowder Bomb or a Flashbang. It will be useful to reveal her location if she turns invisible or disguises herself as Mayrina.
- Kill the redcaps that are outside the Gnarled Teahouse as they will not join the fight if they are already dead.
How to Start the Auntie Ethel Encounter in BG3?
There are a couple of ways you can kick off the battle with Auntie Ethel:
- Direct Approach: If you’re feeling bold, go ahead and attack her right then and there. What happens next is pretty dramatic – she zaps herself to her lair in a flash and slams the door shut. Now you’ll have to put on your detective hat and find another way into her lair.
- The Sneaky Way: Maybe you’re more into playing it cool. In that case, sneak around and find Mayrina in Ethel’s lair. She’s the one you’re trying to save, once you find her and start chatting, Auntie Ethel comes, and the fight will start right away – just a heads-up, getting to Mayrina involves some clever moves to dodge traps and follow clues.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Auntie Ethel Boss Fight
The fight with Auntie Ethel in BG3 includes two phases:
Phase 1
Auntie Ethel will summon four mirror images of herself and teleport to a high ground near a torch. She will mostly use melee attacks in this stage of the combat alongside casting a few spells, such as Ray of Frost or Ray of Sickness. She will also try to ignite Mayrina’s cage, which will deal damage to her every turn. Here’s what you should do to win this phase:
- Position your party near the torch, where you can have a clear line of sight and range to Auntie Ethel and her mirror images. You can do this by hiding and sneaking before the fight starts.
- Throw or Create Water on Mayrina’s cage before the fight starts as this will prevent Auntie Ethel from igniting it and save Mayrina from getting hurt.
- Destroy the mirror images as soon as possible, they can cast spells on your party and deal damage to you. You can use fire or thunder spells or scrolls to destroy them in one hit, as they are vulnerable to these elements.
- Debuff Auntie Ethel with scrolls that can reduce her accuracy and strength, such as Bane or Blindness. This will make her miss more often and deal less damage to you.
- Attack Auntie Ethel with your strongest attacks and spells. She has high resistance to physical damage, but she is vulnerable to fire and thunder damage. You can also use spells that can knock her down from the high ground like Shove or Gust.
- Heal your party members and remove any negative status effects from them. Auntie Ethel can inflict poison, disease, or cold on your party, which can hamper your performance in combat. You can use spells or potions that can cure these conditions like Lesser Restoration or Antitoxin.
Phase 2
Auntie Ethel will free Mayrina from the cage and shapeshift into her and she will also call four redcaps to aid her in combat. She will use more powerful spells in this phase, such as Fireball or Cloudkill. She will also sometimes use a Potion of Invisibility to hide from your sight. You can defeat Auntie Ethel by following these tips:
- Identify the real Auntie Ethel from the fake Mayrinas, the real will be the one that is farthest from your party and has a different health bar from the others. You can also use a low-damage grenade to reveal her location if she turns invisible or disguises herself as Mayrina.
- Focus your attacks on the real Auntie Ethel and ignore the fake Mayrinas, those will not attack you and will disappear once you defeat the real Auntie Ethel. You can also use non-lethal attacks to incapacitate them if you are unsure which one is which.
- Distract the redcaps with disposable and inexpensive items, they will chase after any item that you throw near them and ignore your party. You can use this to your advantage and lure them away from the fight.
- Avoid the area of effect spells that Auntie Ethel cast as these spells can deal massive damage and inflict negative status effects on your group, such as Fireball or Cloudkill. You can use spells or abilities that can increase your mobility and evasion including Dash or Jump, to escape from these spells.
- Finish off Auntie Ethel with your strongest attacks and spells; she has no resistance to any damage type in this phase, so you can use any weapon or spell that you have. You can also use abilities that can stun or disable her, such as Hold Person or Sleep, to prevent her from casting spells.
What are the Consequences of Killing or Sparing Auntie Ethel?
Once you’ve finally taken down Auntie Ethel, you’ve got a big decision to make: do you finish her off, or let her live? Let’s break down what happens with each choice.
If You Decide to Kill Auntie Ethel:
- First off, you hit the jackpot in terms of loot containing gold, potions, scrolls, a good weapon, and some equipment.
- You also obtain a Hag’s Eye, which lets you spy on other hags in the game.
- You become a hero to Mayrina and her family as you break the curse that’s been haunting them, and they’ll be very thankful.
- But, other hags in the game won’t be too thrilled with you; if you bump into them later, expect them to be pretty hostile.
If You Choose to Spare Her:
- You won’t get any loot, Auntie Ethel gets to keep all her goodies and makes a clean getaway.
- The really tough part? Mayrina and her family remain cursed and it’s a very grim outcome for them.
- On the upside, sparing her means you’re on good terms with other hags you might meet. They’ll be more friendly towards you, which could be a big advantage depending on how you play the game.
So, what’s it gonna be? Each choice has its pros and cons. It’s one of those classic RPG dilemmas – do you go for the immediate rewards, or think about the bigger picture? Your call.
Read Next:
