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What Do You Get For Killing the Hag in Baldur’s Gate 3?

Killing Auntie Ethel, the hag in Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3), provides a multifaceted reward structure. You gain experience points, loot from her corpse and lair, and the potential to rescue Mayrina. The specific rewards depend on your choices and the circumstances surrounding the encounter, but you are guaranteed experience for defeating her, access to valuable items, and the opportunity to influence the storyline involving Mayrina and her unborn child. This act can also dramatically alter the narrative for characters like Karlach, offering unique dialogue and character development. Ultimately, whether you choose to kill or negotiate with Ethel, the outcome significantly impacts the overarching story and your party’s progression.

The Tangible Rewards: Loot and Experience

Looting Auntie Ethel’s Corpse and Lair

Upon defeating Auntie Ethel, you can loot her corpse for several notable items. While the exact loot can vary slightly, you can typically expect to find items like:

Auntie Ethel’s Charm: An amulet granting advantage on saving throws against being frightened.
Potions and scrolls: Various consumables that can aid you in combat or exploration.
Gold: A standard currency reward for defeating enemies.
Hag’s Bane: A special grenade that can be used in the boss fight.

Beyond her corpse, exploring her lair thoroughly is crucial. Hidden areas and chests contain additional valuable items:

Bitter Divorce: A powerful staff offering magical enhancements.
Various ingredients and crafting materials: These can be used to create potions, poisons, and other useful items.
Scrolls and spellbooks: Expand your spellcasting abilities by learning new spells.

Experience Points for Defeating the Hag

Defeating Auntie Ethel grants a significant amount of experience points (XP), contributing to your party’s level progression. The exact amount can vary depending on your party level and difficulty setting, but it’s generally a substantial boost. This is a significant incentive, as leveling up unlocks new abilities, spells, and feats, making your party more powerful.

The Intangible Rewards: Story and Character Development

Rescuing Mayrina and Her Unborn Child

The primary narrative reward for confronting Ethel is the potential to rescue Mayrina. She’s held captive by the hag, mourning the loss of her husband. Saving Mayrina offers a morally good outcome and can lead to further quests and interactions. However, the rescue is not always straightforward, as Ethel may have already transformed Mayrina’s unborn child.

The Bitter End: If Ethel successfully uses Mayrina’s child, you can attempt to retrieve it, but the outcome is usually tragic.
Saving Mayrina: If you manage to save Mayrina before she delivers the child, you can guide her towards a better future. This might involve finding a way to undo the hag’s magic or helping her come to terms with her loss.

Impact on Karlach’s Questline

If you have Karlach in your party, defeating Auntie Ethel becomes particularly significant. Ethel possesses information regarding the Infernal Engine powering Karlach’s heart. Killing Ethel allows Karlach to learn more about her condition and potentially find a way to stabilize her engine. This opens up new dialogue options, side quests, and ultimately influences Karlach’s personal story arc. Successfully avenging Karlach against Ethel earns you considerable approval and strengthens your bond.

Moral and Roleplaying Implications

Choosing to kill Auntie Ethel aligns with a morally good path. She is a malevolent being who preys on the vulnerable. Slaying her rids the region of a dangerous threat and protects others from her sinister schemes. This decision can enhance your roleplaying experience if you’re playing a character with strong moral convictions. This action aligns with a heroic archetype.

Alternative Outcomes: Negotiation and Their Consequences

While killing Auntie Ethel is a common choice, alternative paths exist. You can attempt to negotiate with her, but these negotiations often come at a cost.

Ethel’s Offer: She may offer you power in exchange for letting her keep Mayrina or her child. Accepting such an offer has severe consequences, potentially altering your character’s alignment and impacting future interactions.
Negotiation for Power: Ethel might offer a permanent stat bonus in exchange for an eye. This choice presents a difficult dilemma: sacrificing a part of yourself for power.

These alternative outcomes significantly alter the storyline and can lead to vastly different consequences compared to simply killing her. These outcomes are morally ambiguous.

FAQs: Everything You Need to Know About Dealing with Auntie Ethel

Here are 15 frequently asked questions regarding Auntie Ethel and the consequences of your actions:

Can I kill Auntie Ethel before entering her lair? Yes, you can ambush her in the Riverside Teahouse before she reveals her true form. This can simplify the fight, as you catch her off guard.
What happens if I fail to save Mayrina? If Mayrina dies or Ethel successfully uses her child, you may still gain experience and loot, but you miss out on the opportunity to save her and potentially gain her as an ally.
Is it possible to save Mayrina’s unborn child? Yes, if you act quickly and use specific knowledge gained from exploring Ethel’s lair, you can save the child, although the child will be transformed.
Does killing Auntie Ethel affect any other quests in the game? Yes, it can impact quests related to Karlach and Mayrina, and may alter the availability of certain vendors or NPCs in later acts.
What is the best strategy for fighting Auntie Ethel? Use crowd control spells, focus fire, and utilize environmental hazards to your advantage. Hag’s Bane is particularly effective.
Can I use Speak with Animals to gain information from the redcaps? Yes, speaking with the redcaps near Ethel’s lair can reveal valuable information about her weaknesses and plans.
What are the benefits of letting Auntie Ethel escape? Letting her escape has very few benefits. She becomes a recurring minor antagonist later in the game, but you miss out on immediate rewards and the chance to resolve the Mayrina questline.
Does Auntie Ethel’s appearance change after you confront her? Yes, she transforms into her true hag form, becoming much more powerful and menacing.
What happens if I kill Auntie Ethel with a specific weapon or spell? Some weapons and spells may trigger unique dialogue or effects, but generally, the outcome remains the same – she dies, and you gain experience and loot.
Can I respec my character after killing Auntie Ethel? Yes, you can respec your character with Withers at any time after recruiting him, regardless of your actions with Auntie Ethel.
How does killing Auntie Ethel affect my reputation with different factions? It generally improves your reputation with good-aligned factions and might slightly worsen it with evil-aligned ones, though her removal is generally viewed as a positive.
What difficulty level affects the rewards for killing Auntie Ethel? Difficulty level primarily affects the enemy’s health and damage output, but the rewards, such as experience and loot, remain largely consistent.
Can companions disapprove of me killing Auntie Ethel? It is unlikely any companion will disapprove of killing Auntie Ethel. She is generally seen as evil and a threat. Most will approve.
If Mayrina is saved, does she join my camp? No, Mayrina does not join your camp as a permanent companion. She will go on to try to have a normal life, often helped in part by the player if the potion from the cauldron is retrieved.
What happens if I kill Mayrina? Killing Mayrina offers no tangible benefit. It will ruin the chances to save her unborn child and potentially antagonize other NPCs. It’s generally an undesirable outcome.

What do you get for killing the hag bg3?