How to find & defeat Auntie Ethel in Baldur's Gate 3
If you’re still exploring Act 1 of Baldur’s Gate 3, you may stumble across a swamp with an interesting character named Auntie Ethel in it - but if you haven't come across her yet, here's a rundown of her location in the game and how to defeat her.
She has a lot of tricks up her sleeve, so be prepared for a journey when you encounter her. What's more, she also offers you a game-changing decision, so make sure to keep reading for more info about Auntie Ethel in BG3.
SPOILER WARNING: This guide may contain story spoilers, so be sure to proceed at your own risk to ensure details in the game remain a surprise.
Where to find Auntie Ethel in Baldur’s Gate 3
Click to enlargeIf you’ve found the Blighted Village in BG3, you’re on the right track to finding the Swamp that Auntie Ethel resides in. Head southwest of the Blighted Village and there you will stumble across a hut in the middle of the swamp, with some dead bodies around it. This is the Riverside Teahouse.
When you first arrive at the Riverside Teahouse, you’ll see her forcing Mayrina to eat more pie, and this is where she notices you and realises you have a Mind Flayer parasite, offering to remove it for you.
What comes next is a game-changing decision. You can have her try to remove your parasite, but in doing so she will have to remove one of your eyes. If she does this, she will transform into a Hag. Then, she will realise she can’t remove it as it’s an Illithid parasite. In this time, she has teleported Mayrina away behind a hidden wall.
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Going further into Riverside Teahouse in Baldur’s Gate 3
After your conversation has ended with Auntie Ethel, you can explore the Teahouse where you find things aren’t quite right and that the fireplace is a secret entrance further down into her lair. It’s rather haunting when you go further into the lair, but you can skip straight to speaking with the Gnarled Door.
The door is terrified, and you can just walk straight through the door after you’ve spoken to it, as you don’t need permission to traverse further.
- Once you’ve delved further in, there’ll be some enemies for you to defeat, who are trying to resist Ethel’s powers as they don’t want to fight
- Then, when you have completed this, you will be able to jump over a small gap by the waterfall, which will be your route to Auntie Ethel
- There will be gas vents that you need to shut off as they are explosive, and to do that, you have to throw something on top of them, such as a rock
- Lastly, make sure that the other members of your party also don’t walk into the gas, as this can commonly happen if you aren’t controlling them
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How to beat Auntie Ethel in BG3
Click to enlargeOnce you’ve reached the bottom, you’ll find Auntie Ethel in her Hag form and Mayrina in a cage over a chasm, and will need to defeat her.
If you want to be evil, you can shoot Mayrina’s cage and she will drop into the chasm and die. However, if you want to save her, you need to find a way to put out the fire that Auntie Ethel has thrown into the cage. You can do this in a variety of ways.
- Hit the Control Orb
- Throw a water barrel at the cage
- Throw water bottles and flasks at her cage
- Use the spell 'Create Water'
During the fight, Ethel will clone herself three times, which can make it difficult to know which is the real one. Any amount of damage done to the clone will make them disappear. If you hit the right one, she’ll give you praise for finding her.
Depending on if you keep Mayrina alive, she also has the ability to teleport Mayrina out of the cage and then clone herself as Mayrina. If you hit the real Mayrina, she’ll tell you she isn’t Auntie Ethel, which allows you to then move on to the other clones.
If you get Auntie Ethel to ten health, she will plead for her life where you have the option to kill her or let her go free. She will try and persuade you by offering you power in exchange for Mayrina. If you have good luck, you can roll Persuasion or Intimidation and get both power and Mayrina.
That’s everything you need to know about how to find and deal with Auntie Ethel in Baldur’s Gate 3.
For more guides on Baldur’s Gate 3, keep reading GGRecon. Check out our best Druid build guide if you need help building the perfect Druid.
