The evil Ethel has kidnapped poor Mayrina in Baldur’s Gate 3, and you must defeat the Hag and rescue Mayrina. This guide explains how to defeat Ethel in her underground lair and free the hostage from her poisonous green clutches.
How to defeat the Hag in Baldurs Gate 3 and Save Mayrina - TLDR:
In the first act of Baldur's Gate 3, south of the destroyed village, you encounter a shape-shifting witch named “Auntie Ethel." Two men accuse the old woman of having kidnapped their sister named Mayrina. Here, you can already decide whom you believe. Regardless of your choice, Ethel retreats to her tea house. It turns out: The old witch has indeed kidnapped Mayrina, and now it's up to you to free the pregnant girl.
You will have to make some decisions, depending on whether your heroic troop will clash with the evil witch. Our guide assumes that you have chosen or will choose war – and explains a good combat strategy against the wicked swamp sorceress.
If you haven’t confronted the creaky human snatcher in her tea house yet, you can find its exact location in the screenshot below. The coordinates of the tea house are:
The Witch's Teahouse is located a bit south of the Blighted Village of Baldur's Gate 3.
However, you should know that Auntie Ethel is one of the strongest boss enemies in the game. In our test, a Level 3 party proved to be too weak, but Level 4 should be sufficient to defeat the witch. The old lady has considerable qualities, including an armor value of 15 points and her health of 112 hit points. Compared to the first act, this is very decent, and the other stats of the nature mage also make third-level characters uncomfortable.
Ethel's status values:
Resistances of the hag:
At first, the hag Auntie Ethel looks quite casual. (Baldur's Gate 3)
Upon arriving at Auntie Ethel's tea house in Baldur's Gate 3, you are presented with the following decisions:
Decisions at Ethel's Tea House
Regardless, if you decide to oppose Ethel, you do so by pressuring her with the topic of Mayrina or, as hinted at, responding to her offer with your weapon. The resulting battle in the tea house doesn't require any special tactics; consider it a warm-up round or a calm before the storm.
The old hag will attack you in the upper teahouse, if you want her to. However, she only turns up the heat in the next location.
If you scratch the enraged Hag enough, she will disappear from the room through a teleport spell. During Early Access, you could still cleverly thwart Ethel's escape with the help of the "Silence" spell, but this is no longer possible in the full version. Therefore, follow the aunt through the fireplace. Behind it is the entrance to Ethel's lair, the Overgrown Tunnel.
Please go through this fireplace. Behind it is a path that leads to the hiding place of the hag in BG3.
The dear Mrs. Swamp Witch doesn't want to fight with your hero troop anymore because now you have to fight your way through the tunnel (literally) until you can confront her again. The showdown takes place near a large cage; in it Ethel has locked up her kidnap victim Mayrina. Dumb: Said cage hangs over a deep abyss. And dumber: Aunty Ethel will set the airy prison on fire during the fight, so Mayrina risks falling into the depths (see picture below).
If you don't have a "Create Water" spell at hand, the green marked control ball is your contact for cage fires.
Defeat the Clones: The battle against Ethel is particularly challenging because she can create three copies of herself using her witchcraft tricks. These clones of the witch have the full combat power of the original, meaning you have to contend with four witches at once. What you need here is the spell "Magic Missile", found, for instance, in Gale's repertoire. When he casts this spell, it fires three projectiles that can hit each clone of the witch. The good thing is that these clones disappear immediately after being hit. At the beginning of the fight, you should focus on this: As soon as Ethel creates clones of herself, eliminate them immediately.
If you implement all the advice given so far, you won't need any special combat tactics against Auntie Ethel. It's only important to consider the formation in which your heroes face the green "lady":
Watch out: Remember that the battle against Aunt Ethel takes place near a cliff. A good hit by the wicked witch can cause one of your heroes to fall off — as happened to us! It's best to position your companions as shown in our screenshot:
Also in the fight against the old hag in Baldurs Gate 3, a classic combat formation is recommended with a resistant fighter as spearhead and damage buffer.
All the while, you have to keep in mind that the fight takes place in the immediate vicinity of a deep pit. If you stand too close to it, a nasty hit from Ethel could send you down to your death. So it's best to line up your fighters as shown in the screenshot above, then the abyss won't cause you any problems.
Once Ethel is defeated and lying on her wicked back, she is beaten. However, she still tempts you with a proposal. According to her offer, she would give you a princely reward if you agree to leave Mayrina in her clutches. This reward is Ethel's hair, which grants you a point in any attribute of your choice.
This choice might be difficult, but you have the option to attempt an intimidation. If you succeed, you receive the reward and can walk out with Mayrina. The catch: You need to roll no less than a 20 for this to work. If you're among the heroes inclined to bend the rules, well – it's possible to save the game before Ethel makes her offer. But you didn't hear that from us!
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