Baldur's Gate 3: How To Save Mayrina & Defeat Auntie Ethel

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Save Mayrina | Quest Guide
Auntie Ethel Encounter

The diabolical hag Auntie Ethel controls the creepy southern edge of the map in Baldur’s Gate 3. This disgusting witch preys on the weak and vulnerable, luring you into her illusory world before ambushing you with disguised minions. Her lair is a series of difficult encounters that will test your cleverness — some of the traps and battles can be subverted or altered to make them easier. And the fight against Auntie Ethel herself seems (at first) overwhelming difficult. If you want to save Mayrina and put an end to Auntie Ethel, this is what you need to do.

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Save Mayrina | Quest Guide

Travel south from the Blighted Village in Act 1 to begin the quest ‘Save Mayrina‘ near the Sunlit Wetlands area. You’ll encounter two men questioning an old woman.

During this encounter, two men will accuse Auntie Ethel or kidnapping their sister. You can side with them or side with Auntie Ethel. Either way, all three will progress deeper into the swamp.

As you enter the Sunlit Wetlands you’ll get a (DC:20) Perception check. If you pass, you’ll reveal the true form of the wetlands. The area is a fetid, trap-laden swamp. If you don’t pass, you’ll see the swamp as a bright and colorful forest. Either way, approach Auntie Ethel’s home at the Riverside Teahouse.

At the Riverside Teahouse waypoint, you’ll find two dead bodies. Demir and Johl, the two men from earlier, are dead.
Use Speak With Dead to talk to the fresh bodies. They’ll warn you that this place isn’t what it seems. The sheep are dangerous and the food is rotten.
Loot the bodies and collect the Tattered Letter and read it.
To confront Auntie Ethel, enter the witch’s house. You’ll find Mayrina inside.

Ethel will offer to help with your Tadpole — but this is a lie. She can’t help. At this point, she’ll attack or you can ambush her. If you talk and haven’t discovered the truth of the swamp, Red Caps will appear behind you. Defeat the Red Caps and Auntie Ethel will escape.

How To Pursue Auntie Ethel: Enter her Teahouse and go to the fireplace. Turn off the fire, then enter to find a passage into the Overgrown Tunnel.

Down below in the tunnels, you’ll find a gallery of her previous victims. She’ll demand you leave. Progress further and reach the Gnarled Door. Pass a through by clicking past it. This is an illusory door. Be prepared, the Hag is within her lair.

Hag’s Pawn Encounter: Four Hag’s Pawns will appear ahead. You can kill them, or you can non-lethally defeat them and remove the masks to rescue them.
To make this battle easier, you can wear one of the masks on the table. Alternatively, target the people in the gallery. Smash the mirror, remove the head, kill the trapped elf, and use a Basilisk Potion on the stone dwarf.

Past the pawns, jump through the waterfall to reach a gauntlet of noxious fumes and explosive traps. Place a crate or any object on the vents to block the acid gas. Or you can run through them. Watch out for the flowers — they’re actually explosive traps. You can also jump to avoid the fumes.

Auntie Ethel Encounter

At the bottom of the lair, you’ll encounter Auntie Ethel. She will immediately summon copies of herself and burn Mayrina’s cage.

How To Fight Auntie Ethel: Use a wizard or any attack that can target multiple enemies at the same time. Magic Missile is very useful here — it has 100% accuracy. Each copy only has 1 HP and will disappear after taking a hit.
Auntie Ethel can be extremely powerful with poison and hexes. Her copies have the same abilities as her, but they’re weak. Target them first. Destroy the three clones to make this fight much easier.

Auntie Ethel will also attempt to kill Mayrina. To save her, you have to act fast. She’ll die quickly from her cage burning.

How To Save Mayrina: Activate the Control Orb on the opposite side of the arena to lower her cage and free her.
Use Misty Step to port across the chamber or summon Magic Hand to activate the switch. An arrow will NOT activate the orb.

After defeating Ethel, she’ll let you choose between saving Mayrina or rewarding you with an item that will increase any skill by +1. If you pass an Intimidation or Deception check (DC:10) she’ll give you Mayrina and the +1 Skill.

Enter her lair through the wooden door to find a secret portal to the Underdark and two magic items. You can also find an item to help Mayrina inside the Acrid Workshop. You can also return to the lair and search for a method to revive Mayrina’s husband to complete the quest.