If you want to beat Auntie Ethel in Baldur’s Gate 3, you need to have a strategy. She makes for a tough boss battle with several tricks up her sleeve that could block you from great rewards. However, with the right preparation, you can walk away with all the hag has to offer.
What You Need to Beat Auntie Ethel
The most important thing for beating Auntie Ethel is walking in with the right team, or at least the right supplies to replace them. Of course, this will vary greatly depending on what class you play for your Tav or Origin character. In general, however, you’ll want:
- A spell caster or two, preferably with Magic Missile or Scorching Ray
- A long-ranged attacker
- Your character with the highest Charisma
- Someone who can disable traps
- The Create Water spell or a bottle or barrel of water to throw
- Some objects you don’t mind throwing away
Alternatively, you can forgo a spell caster in favor of spell scrolls with either Magic Missile or Scorching Ray. Whatever the case, you want to be able to hit multiple targets in one round once you get to the big battle. You may want to stock up on potions for health and arcane recovery, just in case. You’ll be in a long stretch where you can’t take long rests easily.
Where to Find Auntie Ethel’s Teahouse in BG3
Players can meet Auntie Ethel for the first time in The Hollow in the Emerald Grove. There, she works as a peddler selling various potions, though she’ll also offer to help you with the tadpole. Agreeing to meet at her home gives you a mark on the map indicating Auntie Ethel’s Teahouse location in the Sunlit Wetlands. This isn’t a necessary encounter, but it makes finding her later much easier.
When you first arrive at the swamp, you’ll likely encounter brothers Demir and Johl confronting Auntie Ethel in her human form. They reveal that she has done something with their sister, Mayrina, but Auntie Ethel denies all wrongdoing. If you side with the brothers, Auntie Ethel gives you a warning before disappearing. Whatever you do, Demir and Johl will run off to find their sister and kill the hag. This interaction triggers the Save Mayrina quest. As you enter the swamp, an automatic Perception check will determine whether you see a lovely area with sheep around or if the false image falls away to show the rotting and dangerous swamp.
If you succeed on the Perception check, you’ll notice several Redcaps as you make your way to Auntie Ethel’s teahouse. In talking to them, it’s revealed they think they’re disguised as sheep (and will appear as sheep on failed Perception checks) as they baa at you. When you approach the teahouse, you’ll find the bodies of Demir and Johl. Just past here, you’ll find a Waypoint and the Teahouse. You’ll also see a well. Do not drink from it; the result is a rather horrible debuff when the battle starts inside the hut.
Beating Auntie Ethel Phase 1
When you enter her hut, you’ll find Auntie Ethel forcing Mayrina to eat, citing her pregnancy. You get a few options with Auntie Ethel here: You can agree to let her take your eye in trying to remove the tadpole, which results in the Paid the Price condition, or you can instigate a fight. The rewards for defeating her far outweigh the buff, so I’d recommend battle.
As soon as the battle commences, Auntie Ethel turns invisible. Meanwhile, four Redcaps start dashing toward the hut. My favorite tactic here is to throw a bottle of grease or have Gale use Grease between the spot she disappeared in and the fireplace, then use Fire Bolt to ignite it. This will make her take damage and hurry through the fireplace illusion to a set of stairs beyond. From here, it’s fairly easy to take out the Redcaps. Bottleneck them at the doorway and stairs leading up to the hut, then use area spells to strike at them all.
With the Redcaps done, I highly recommend taking a long rest. You’ll need as many spell slots as you can get before facing Auntie Ethel, and you have another battle ahead beforehand. You also can’t take a long rest in the next location, so if you really need that recovery, you’ll have to come back to the hut later.
Finding Auntie Ethel
Downstairs, you’ll find a room with several of Auntie Ethel’s previous victims. She’ll appear again, warning you not to follow before disappearing. Here, you’ll find the locked Gnarled Door and a table with four Whispering Masks beside it. While the masks can get you through, they can mind control you. There’s a much easier and less risky way of doing it.
Interacting with the door reveals that he is another of Auntie Ethel’s victims and fears her retribution should he let you through. A successful Perception check here reveals that the doorway is also an illusion, which you can pass through by turning your camera around until you’re facing your party and clicking on a spot in the dark on the other side for your character to go.
Once through, you’ll encounter three people possessed by the masks. Each turn, they try to succeed on a Wisdom saving throw to fight off Auntie Ethel’s influence. Since they seem innocent, I generally toggle on nonlethal damage while fighting them. If you don’t fight them, they’ll jump in to help Auntie Ethel during the boss fight, so it’s best to take them out here. The muddy terrain makes it a bit of a pain, but Magic Missile and your long-range attacks can make quick work of them. To the right, you’ll find a waterfall you can jump through to reach the other side.
On the other side, you’ll find several clouds of Noxious Fumes. Many people say they can get rid of the fumes with fire, but I’ve never had success with that for some reason. Personally, I just sneak up as close to them as I can and walk around until a Perception check picks up on a Ruptured Stone. You can throw a useless item onto the stone to block the fumes. Under the fumes, you’ll find Peculiar Flowers that blow up when stepped on. You can “disable” the trap by plucking them.
How to Beat Auntie Ethel in BG3
After you pass this section, you’ll find a large cave with a cage containing Mayrina hanging above a cavern in the center. Auntie Ethel appears when you approach the cage. After a brief cutscene, battle commences, and Auntie Ethel quickly sets Mayrina’s cage on fire. You’ll want to cast Create Water or throw water at the cage as soon as you can to prevent Mayrina’s death.
From here, Auntie Ethel will use illusions of herself to throw you off. Use Magic Missile or Scorching Ray to hit all Auntie Ethels; the illusions will disappear, letting you focus on the true hag. Eventually, if you saved Mayrina, Auntie Ethel will disguise herself to look like her. The easiest way to tell which is Auntie Ethel is that Mayrina will be wet still after you doused the flames of her cage.
As Auntie Ethel gets low on health, try to keep your character with the highest Charisma close to her. Eventually, as she gets very low, a cutscene should start with Auntie Ethel offering a deal to save her life. She’ll offer you some of her hair to permanently increase one of your stats by one. With a successful Intimidation check, you can make Auntie Ethel give up Mayrina and give you her hair. However, Paladins be warned; if you Intimidate her into giving you both, you break your oath.
After that, Auntie Ethel leaves. Talk to Mayrina, and she reveals she agreed to give Ethel her unborn baby in exchange for reviving her husband. You can check Auntie Ethel’s room off the cave to find several magical items, including Bitter Divorce. Go to the magic circle in the room, which transports you outside to where Mayrina weeps by her husband’s coffin. Using Bitter Divorce on him revives him as an undead. Giving Mayrina the wand leads to her heading toward Baldur’s Gate in search of a cure. This concludes the Save Mayrina quest.
