Auntie Ethel in BG3 Captures Mayrina and Hides Behind Her Minions
Baldur’s Gate 3’s Auntie Ethel summons masked minions, duplicates, and Mayrina as a hostage. In her Ancient Abode, she keeps you on edge with traps like Noxious Fumes. After fighting her, things get crazy, leading to a challenging boss battle. We’ll explain how to defeat the Hag Auntie Ethel, save Mayrina, and what to do.
Baldur’s Gate 3: How to Beat the Hag
If you remember a few things, you can defeat Hag Auntie Ethel in Baldur’s Gate 3. You’ll need at least level 4 to fight her. Since you’re not supposed to be there, the battle will probably begin below her house in the Ancient Abode. Here’s how it works:
- You must save Mayrina. As Auntie Ethel throws a firebomb on Mayrina’s first turn, her cage is set ablaze. To save her, either lower and open the Control Orb (the glowing, lantern-like ball) or put out the fire. The flames will be put out by Create Water, or if your characters have a water bottle in their inventory, you can throw one at the cage!
- Attackers wearing masks appear. When Auntie Ethel summons her masked minions, they attempt to resist her control, but if they fail, they attack you. If you kill the Hag before slaying them, they will calm down.
- A copy of Auntie Ethel is summoned. Auntie Ethel duplicates can cast the same spells as the original, but when you hit them with Faerie Fire before summoning them, you can see through. If you keep concentration, as explained in our guide to Baldur’s Gate 3 spells, the effect will linger on her no matter what she does. Magic Missile pops all illusionary hags at once because they vanish after any amount of damage.
- Things can end with a deadly shove. Keep in mind that Auntie Ethel is one of the routes to Baldur’s Gate 3 Underdark, so keep that in mind as well. She will die instantly if shoved into Mayrina’s cage.
- A ranged tank, Auntie Ethel. You won’t have much luck chasing Auntie Ethel if you rely on melee attacks. Shadowheart and Gale can help here. She has a lot of health, respectable AC, and Saving Throws.
How to Deal With Hag Auntie Ethel
You should not take Auntie Ethel’s offer to cure your parasite. She simply takes your eye, which permanently lowers your stats.
Leaving her with Mayrina will permanently boost your stat by +1, but you can convince her to leave Mayrina behind if you can pass some dialogue skill checks. Unless you kill her, the items on her body won’t be available:
- With the “Spellthief” magic longbow, you can regain a Level 1 Spell Slot once per short rest.
- “Corellon’s Grace” magic quarterstaff adds +1d4 to saving throws for sorcerers, wizards, monks, and barbarians.
- For melee fighters and bosses, the Potion of Hill Giant’s Strength (x3) increases strength to 21 (+5) for one minute/ten rounds.
Mayrina gave up her unborn child to Auntie Ethel after her husband died. The Hag can bring back dead characters, and the story would probably twist in a horrendous way – judging by the cursed figures in Ethel’s Gallery, everyone involved would probably regret the deal.
If you play Spellthief or Corellon’s Grace, this deal might be the best option for you. You want to save Mayrina no matter what – she might not be grateful, but keeping a hag alive is never easy.