Baldur’s Gate 3 is full of interesting side quests that tell their own unique stories, including the Auntie Ethel and Mayrina quest. In this quest, the party will find themselves confronting a Hag in the forest to save a woman named Mayrina from her clutches. However, this is a long, complicated quest due to all the illusions and trickery Auntie Ethel throws your way.
How to Find Auntie Ethel in BG3?
Head south of the eastern entrance to the Blighted Village and climb down the rocks to find two men hassling an old woman. This is Auntie Ethel, and the two men claim that she is a Hag who has kidnapped their sister, Mayrina. You can intervene here by siding with either the men or Ethel, but in my experience, neither outcome works out well for the men, so the choice is yours.
Auntie Ethel will disappear and head back to her house. Continue to follow the path and you’ll arrive in an illusory swamp and eventually reach Ethel’s home. Head inside and you’ll see her trying to force-feed Mayrina.
Ethel will recognize your mind flayer parasite problem and offer to deal with it for you in exchange for one of your eyes. You can choose what you like but be aware that taking her deal will give you a disadvantage in the upcoming fight. Bear in mind that she also does not remove the parasite either way. After this conversation in Baldur’s Gate 3, Ethel will teleport Mayrina away, and possibly teleport herself away too.
How to Find Mayrina in Auntie Ethel’s House in BG3?
In order to find where Auntie Ethel has taken Mayrina, approach the fireplace. Your party will perform Investigation checks and realize something is odd about it. Interact with the fireplace to turn it off, then walk through the wall behind it.
You’ll find yourself in an underground cave full of Ethel’s previous victims. If she hasn’t already done so, she’ll reveal her true form to you here before disappearing again. You can inspect the various victims here, but your main target is the Gnarled Door to the south. Approach it and you can have a psychic conversation with the door where you can try and convince it to open. However, the door is an illusion, so simply attempt to walk beyond it after this and you’ll pass straight through.
There are four enemies beyond the door, but they aren’t too difficult to fight. Alternatively, you can use turn-based mode to sneak past them. Whether you take them out or sneak, head to the waterfall to the west and jump the gap to enter the next area.
In this area, make good use of your Jump ability to find gaps in the toxic areas. You may also need Feather Fall, so check if you have a Spell Scroll or if one of your casters has it prepared. At the bottom of this area is Auntie Ethel’s lair.
How Do You Beat Auntie Ethel in BG3?
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- Screenshot by Siliconera
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- Screenshot by Siliconera
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- Screenshot by Siliconera
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- Screenshot by Siliconera
The Auntie Ethel fight can be a tough one, but there are some strategies you can use to turn the fight in your favor. For starters, don’t walk straight into her lair. Sneak down into the lower area and split the party in this area. By approaching the fight in stealth, you can avoid a potential failed save that puts party members in the Surprised state. Use one party member to approach the Control Orb and Auntie Ethel will appear and set Mayrina’s cage on fire.
She will start the fight by creating three duplicates who each act independently and will attack your party. It’s hard to tell which are the duplicates, but it’s worth getting rid of them all to reduce her damage-dealing capability. Use each of your party members to target a different Ethel clone to cover them all quickly. Thankfully, each clone can be destroyed with a single attack. You may also get fortunate enough for a clone or two to wander into a trap to the southeast.
To save Mayrina in the fight, use the Control Orb to lower the cage. This is why I recommend sneaking close to it ahead of the fight. Alternatively, casting Create Water or throwing a Water bottle at the cage will put out the fire and remove the time limit.
If Mayrina is freed from the cage, Auntie Ethel will eventually turn herself into a clone of Mayrina. However, she will always switch places with her when that happens, so if you remember where Mayrina previously was, target that version of her.
While you can fight this battle normally, you can also use Shove to send Auntie Ethel tumbling into the chasm in the center of the room. If you don’t take this option, Ethel will stop the fight at low health and try and offer you “power” in another questionable deal. If you’re looking to save Mayrina, you can either convince Ethel to give you both, reject the deal outright, or kill her.
How Do You Help Mayrina After Freeing Her?
The quest isn’t quite over after dealing with Ethel. Enter the wooden door in her lair and you’ll find assorted magical trinkets and potions. Pick up the wand labeled Bitter Divorce and then use the Fairy Ring at the back of the room to teleport back to the swamp.
In this Baldur’s Gate 3 swamp, you’ll meet up with Mayrina. She is mourning her husband. She wanted to make a deal with Ethel to bring him back to life, which is now off thanks to your intervention. You can now resolve the quest by either using the Bitter Divorce wand to bring her husband to life or breaking it.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is available for PC and PlayStation 5.
