How to Beat Auntie Ethel (The Hag) In Baldur’s Gate 3

While playing through Baldur’s Gate 3, players will have a variety of choices to make that affect their game, and one of those choices involves choosing to help out dear old Auntie Ethel. When the party first encounters Auntie Ethel, she’ll be in the midst of a fight with a couple of men looking for their sister, Mayrina.

During this conversation, players may choose to aid the boys in searching for their sister or deal with them for poor Auntie Ethel. The best course of action here is to knock the boys out by using non-lethal attacks. Once this situation is handled, Auntie Ethel will encourage the party to come and visit her at her cottage so she can properly thank you.

Related: Should You Help Auntie Ethel In Baldur’s Gate 3?

How To Prepare For Auntie Ethel

Before heading to her cottage, there are several things players should do first to prepare for this fight. First and foremost, one of the party’s members must ensure they have either water on hand ready to be thrown or, preferably, the Create Water spell. Additionally, outside the cottage, there will be some enemies hanging around, which should be taken out quickly and quietly so they don’t join the fight later. Finally, it’s best practice to perform a long rest in Baldur’s Gate 3 before heading into a dangerous boss fight, and this is no exception. The party needs to be fully stocked before heading into this fight.

The Gnarled Teahouse – Phase One

Auntie Ethel (The Hag)

Upon entering the cottage, speak with Auntie Ethel, who will eventually reveal her true form, a Hag. As it turns out, she does know Mayrina, despite what she claimed previously, but will attempt to convince you the girl is there of her own free will. At this point, the party may ask the Hag for help curing themselves or begin the fight. Even if you accept help, she cannot fix anything, as the magic is beyond what she is willing to tamper with. Additionally, one player will lose an eye if taking this route and, therefore, may not have the option at all if players choose to let Volo remove one of their eyes earlier in Baldur’s Gate 3.

Once the conversation ends and the fight begins, things will go smoothly for this first round. Assuming all the enemies outside the cottage were taken care of prior, the Hag should be the only enemy in the initiative. There won’t be much to do here as she will only allow the party to knock her down to half health, so try not to use anything crazy right out the gate and save higher damaging attacks for later. Once she’s down to half health, she will disappear into the fireplace, which is an illusion. Follow her through the doorway to continue.

The Overgrown Tunnel – Phase Two

The Hag’s Masked Victims

Technically, the second phase of this fight in Baldur’s Gate 3 is not directly with the Hag but is instead with some of her victims, who are now masked and compelled to attack the party. To reach the room, proceed through the first area and speak with the Gnarled Door, the large tree root face. This is another of the Hag’s victims acting as an illusion to pass through. Simply head on through him like any other door. However, note that the Hag will likely set him aflame if you do this. The only way to save him is to quickly equip a Whispering Mask, head through, and then immediately un-equip.

Once in this room, the party will be met with a handful of the Hag’s other victims. Each one of them is masked and trying desperately to fight against the control over them. This means they will not always attack during their turn in the initiative. Occasionally, they will overpower the Hag and choose not to engage in the fight. To get past them and into the next room, the party can kill them or use non-lethal attacks to take them down. Unfortunately, there is no way to save them as removing the mask will kill them, including if looted from their body while down.

While players may sneak past them and proceed into the next room, this is not necessarily advised. Firstly, it can be challenging to get the entire party past every enemy, and even if successful, they may be pulled into the initiative when facing the Hag in the next room, making that fight significantly more difficult. So whether lethal or not, take them down now.

The Ancient Abode – Phase 3

The Hag

Once the masked victims are downed, head through the waterfall on the far side, which will lead into the next area. Here, the party will find a path blocked by noxious gas. There’s a perception check here that will reveal some helpful clues for players, but it can still be solved without it. There’s a vent letting the gas through, and to close it, players will need to cover the vent. To do so, use the Fire Bolt cantrip to light the gas and give a moment of clarity. During this, locate the Ruptured Stone and throw an item onto it. The item can be a useless item that won’t be missed.

With that, the gases will be stopped. However, some explosive flowers are lying around, and their location is revealed through the aforementioned perception check, so tread carefully. Once, the Hag can be seen with Mayrina hanging in a cage in the middle of the room. If she has not yet seen you, the party does have the option of going into stealth mode and sneaking around the far right of the room.

Save your progress in Baldur’s Gate 3, then head towards the back right corner, where there is a door leading to a room. Here, the party will find several items, but they will also find a way out. Go through this exit, and there will be a fast travel waypoint revealed right nearby. The benefit of doing this method is that now, the party may perform a long rest, if needed, and then head back through this same entrance, and they will be able to go back through the room and be right at the start of the fight with the Hag, at full health.

However, this is entirely optional, and if there is no need for a long rest, simply approach the Hag, and a cutscene will begin to initiate the fight. It will ultimately be revealed that Mayrina was there by choice and intended to trade her unborn baby to the Hag in exchange for bringing her husband back to life. She still needs to be rescued, however, and winning this Baldur’s Gate 3 fight is the only way to do so. The first part of this fight will require dousing Mayrina in water with the Create Water spell or throwing an item, as the Hag will immediately attempt to set her on fire.

As for the fight, the Hag will have a habit of splitting herself into clones. This is where the debuff from earlier comes in handy. Luckily, the clones do not take on all statuses, so only the real Hag will have the debuff. This can save time and energy as the clones can be defeated quickly with minimal effort, or the party can focus on the real Hag. Once she’s down a bit of health, she will clone herself to look like Mayrina. This is where it gets tricky, as you don’t want to accidentally kill the real Mayrina.

If she does not still have this status effect, just use low-damaging moves to avoid killing her. The Hag will also use the Hold Person spell frequently, so be ready to do some heavy damage to her and have plenty of healing items on hand to make it through this fight. Once she is defeated, go ahead and loot her, as she has some pretty nice items on her, and then be sure to loot her back room as well.

There will be some more conversations with Mayrina in which players can help her bring her husband back as a Baldur’s Gate 3 zombie, but that’s completely optional.