The Hag Boss Battle – Baldur’s Gate 3

You made your way through the Putirid Bog and discovered that Auntie Ethel wasn’t who she appeared to be. Now you want to complete the quest to Save Mayrina – or maybe you just want some good loot and rewards. Either way, you’re here to defeat the Hag, and this guide will help you do just that!

How to Defeat Auntie Ethel

Entering the Ancient Abode deep within the hag’s lair, you’ll see Mayrina hanging from a cage in the center of the cavern. When you try to get closer, Auntie Ethel will appear and taunt you. She’ll set Mayrina’s cage on fire, and you’ll enter combat.

You only have 5 turns to save Mayrina before she dies. You can put out the fire with the Create Water spell or by throwing a jug of Water from your inventory. You can also use the Control Orb to lower the cage. Saving Mayrina first will take some of the pressure off and allow you to focus on the Hag. Once she’s out of the cage, Mayrina will simply stand there cowering for the rest of the fight. Be careful not to accidentally hit her with any area of effect spells.

Auntie Ethel will summon mirror images of herself on the first round and periodically throughout the fight. She may also turn herself invisible. The mirror images can cast all the same spells that she can, but they will die from any damage, even if it’s just one point. You can use Magic Missiles to hit all of the Auntie Ethels and it will destroy the fakes. You can also keep track of which one is the real Auntie Ethel by putting Bane, Hex, or some other debuff on her. When she goes invisible, you can attack the position where she disappeared. Auntie Ethel and her mirror images can cast Vicious Mockery and Hold Person, and she has a melee attack called Claws. She can also throw bombs from her inventory.

At any time you can Shove or Thunderwave Auntie Ethel into the chasm in the middle of the room, killing her and ending the fight. However, you won’t be able to get any of her loot or rewards this way.

At a certain point in the fight, Auntie Ethel will cast Damsel in Distress, teleporting Mayrina and transforming into a copy of her. The real Mayrina will have fewer hit points than the fake one and will continue cowering on her turn while the fake will attack you. Any damage to the fake Mayrina will transform her back into the hag.

Auntie Ethel’s Deal

When Auntie Ethel’s health gets low, she will interrupt the combat and you’ll enter into another dialogue where she will offer to make a deal. Don’t kill her outright if you want to do this, just get her health down and wait for it to be her turn. She’ll automatically speak with the closest party member to her, so you may be forced to use one of your companions in this dialogue. You’ll have four options:

• Get her to give up Mayrina and leave. You won’t get anything else from doing this, but you’ll save Mayrina.
• Accept her deal and let her leave with Mayrina. She’ll give you an item that grants +1 to an Ability score of your choice.
• Demand that she give up both Mayrina and the power. This will require a successful skill check. On a success, you’ll get the +1 Ability score reward and you’ll save Mayrina.
• Continue fighting and kill the hag. You’ll get her loot and save Mayrina, but miss out on the +1 Ability score reward.

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Sunlit Wetlands & Putrid Bog