Auntie Ethel is one of the most deceptive and frustrating bosses in Baldur’s Gate 3, she’s a creepy hag who has made herself quite comfortable in the Gnarled Teahouse in the Overgrown Ruins. At first, she plays the part of a sweet old lady, but don’t let that fool you—she’s a manipulative, spell-slinging hag with a bag of dirty tricks up her sleeve. Being a tough boss, she is also at the center of the BG3’s most morally gray decisions. To save Mayrina, during the Find a Cure quest, claim powerful loot, or make sure the hag gets what’s coming to her, this guide explains how to defeat Auntie Ethel in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Where to Find Auntie Ethel in Baldur’s Gate 3
You’ll first encounter Auntie Ethel in Druid Grove in Act 1, where she poses as a kindly healer. If you follow her to the Gnarled Teahouse in the Sunlit Wetlands, you’ll see her true nature. She’s a hag who preys on the desperate, offering “miracle cures” that have horrifying consequences.
Your main objective when you encounter her first is when completing the “Save Mayrina” quest, which involves rescuing a young woman who’s fallen into Auntie Ethel’s clutches. Along the way, you’ll have a few big decisions to make—whether to take Ethel’s deal, whether to kill her, and what to do with Mayrina afterward.
There are two main scenarios where you encounter her:
- Save Mayrina Quest: This starts when you meet Benryn near Druid Grove. He is greatly worried about his wife Mayrina, whom Auntie Ethel kidnapped. Benryn will hand you a Whispering Mask, which allows you to enter the Gnarled Teahouse. It’s hidden, but with this mask, you can sneak in through a secret passage in the Overgrown Tunnel.
- Find a Cure Quest: 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. It also lets you slip into the Gnarled Teahouse through the same secret passage as the first route.
If you confront Auntie Ethel here, she won’t bother keeping up the act any longer. She reveals her true form, a wicked green-skinned hag, and her lair turns into a deathtrap of illusions, poison clouds, and mind-controlled minions. Once inside, you will be in her territory, and getting out won’t be easy until you deal with her however you want, as we discuss next.
Preparing for the Auntie Ethel Boss Fight
First things first, it’s not a fight you want to go into unprepared. Auntie Ethel is a trickster who loves illusions, teleportation, and mind games. If you don’t come in with a plan, she will make your life miserable.
- Fire Bolt and Thunderwave are crucial to carry in this fight. Auntie Ethel begins the attack by creating four clones of herself, so these spells wipe them out fast.
- Don’t drink from the well. Near her lair, there’s a well near the entrance of the Overgrown Tunnel that gives you a buff, but it turns into a debuff during combat, so avoid it.
- 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.
- Auntie Ethel will set Mayrina’s cage on fire, which damages her every turn. If you have Create Water or a spare water bottle, you can douse the flames on time to save Mayrina.
- Cast any Silence spell if you have, as this shuts down Ethel’s spellcasting, making her less of a threat.
- Bane or Blindness debuffs lower her attack accuracy and stops her from landing nasty hits on your team.
- Ethel turns invisible many times in the arena. If you don’t want to waste turns trying to find her, use See Invisibility or Faerie Fire.
- Kill the redcaps first because if you leave them alive, she’ll summon them mid-fight. So take care of them beforehand to avoid a tougher battle.
- 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.
- Ethel drops some of the best loot in Act 1. Sell your junk before the combat so you have space to carry it all.
- This isn’t a battle to fight half-prepared. Make sure your spell slots, health, and resources are fully restored before you join the combat.
Furthermore, positioning your party before the fight will give you a good chance to land surprise attacks before she begins showing her strength. If Ethel is near an edge, a proper Shove or Thunderwave can end the fight instantly. You won’t get her loot, but it’s another easy deal with a deadly enemy.
How to Defeat Auntie Ethel in Baldur’s Gate 3
One way is to go and attack her instantly, but then prepare for her counter attacks. She zaps herself to her lair in a flash and slams the door shut. Now you’ll have to find another way into her lair. The other way is to sneak around without confronting Ethel and find Mayrina in her lair. Talking to Mayrina triggers Auntie Ethel to come, and the fight will start right away.
Phase 1
As soon as combat starts, Auntie Ethel summons four mirror images of herself. These clones can cast spells like her, so if you don’t deal with them quickly, you’ll be getting blasted from all directions. She will mostly use melee attacks in this phase, along with casting a few spells, such as Ray of Frost or Ray of Sickness.
Use AoE (Area of Effect) attacks like Magic Missile or Thunderwave. The clones vanish instantly when hit, so even a low-damage spell will take them out. If you have Faerie Fire, use it before she clones herself. It marks the real Auntie Ethel, so even when she duplicates, you’ll know the real boss. Keep near Mayrina’s cage and throw water on it before combat starts. Auntie Ethel will ignite the cage as her first move, so if it’s already wet, the firebomb won’t do anything.
Stay spread out. She loves using Ray of Sickness and other area attacks, so don’t clump together. Once you destroy the clones and get her to about 50% health, she’ll teleport further into her lair. Time to chase her down for round two.
Phase 2
In the second phase, Auntie Ethel gets even sneakier. She’ll summon Redcaps (masked minions) if you didn’t kill them earlier. These masked creatures hit hard, so if they show up, take them out fast, or it’s better if you don’t leave them alive to appear here. She frees Mayrina and disguises herself as her. She will hide herself among the fake Mayrinas, leaving you in a hard situation to first verify to whom you should attack.
The real one will be farthest from your party with a different health bar from the others. She goes invisible or teleports away, tries to make herself impossible to hit while chipping away at your team. You can also use a low-damage grenade to reveal her location if she turns invisible or disguises herself as Mayrina. Further, she throw poison bombs and cast Hold Person. If she locks down one of your party members, they’re easy pickings.
Throw a low-damage grenade (like a Smokepowder Bomb) at the Mayrinas. The real Auntie Ethel will take damage, while the fakes will disappear. If she turns invisible, use See Invisibility or Faerie Fire to reveal her. Debuff her with Bane or Blindness – once she can’t hit you, she is no more dangerous. Perform all attacks on the real hag and don’t waste time on illusions or distractions—just hit her with everything you have up your sleeves. At this point, she’s running out of tricks. Once you drain her health down to the last sliver, Auntie Ethel will beg for mercy and offer you a deal.
Should You Kill Auntie Ethel or Spare Her?
With Auntie Ethel on her knees, you have two choices:
- Kill her – You get all her loot, including Spellthief (a magic longbow), Corellon’s Grace (a quarterstaff), Potion of Hill Giant’s Strength, and a Hag’s Hair (a permanent +1 to any stat). Mayrina is freed, though she’s not thrilled about losing her last shot at bringing her dead husband back. But better than her becoming a hag-in-training.
- Spare her – Auntie Ethel is a hag, which means lying is her ability. But if you let her live, she’ll offer you a permanent +1 to any stat in exchange for her freedom. Pass a dialogue check to get the boost, and save Mayrina. You won’t get any loot as Auntie keeps all her goodies and makes a clean getaway. You can’t ask to hand over her items when she is alive, you only get a chance to loot everything from her dead body.
If you kill her, Mayrina is free, but she won’t be happy. If you spare her, Auntie Ethel returns in Act 3—stronger, nastier, and up to no good again with the same bad tricks. I will say the same I did and prefer, killing Ethel is the better choice because it prevents future problems. But if you enjoy high-risk, high-reward deals, sparing her and taking the stat boost can be tempting. Either way, there’s no “perfect” choice here, but what fits your playstyle or which way you want to go in Baldur’s Gate 3.
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