Baldur’s Gate 3 best ways to outsmart the Hag before her Act 1 fight

Fighting the Hag during Act 1 of Baldur’s Gate 3 isn’t an easy feat, but there are some methods you can use to swiftly deal with her.

The Hag’s first fight can quickly become one of the trickiest to get through when playing Baldur’s Gate 3. It happens during Act 1 when players are just leveling up their party, and it can turn sideways if they don’t time their attacks right and let Mayrina die.

By now, you’ll know that you’ll first encounter the Hag in the form of Auntie Ethel in Emerald Grove, where she’ll promptly invite you to her teahouse. Once you get there, you’ll trigger a scene where she reveals her true nature, and takes a woman named Mayrina as a hostage.

Typically, you can follow the Hag around her lair until you’ll need to fight her off before Mayrina gets killed. However, players have found a couple of ways to truly enrage the monster and avoid the big fight.

A user described in Baldur’s Gate 3 subbredit that they sneaked past the illusion in Ethel’s fireplace and managed to explore the Overgrown Tunnel without being spotted. Just after rescuing Mayrina, the game triggered a dialogue where a furious Hag insults them and swiftly starts the battle.

You can also distract the Hag by using the Arcane Lock spell on the cave entrance before she escapes. The Hag will try incessantly to open the entrance, giving you time to attack. While this is the main go-to method to deal with Ethel in any Honor mode run, players have said that it doesn’t always work.

Some fans also pointed out that the best way to mock Auntie Ethel is by killing her directly in her living room before she reveals her true nature. If users manage to deal enough damage but don’t defeat her, she’ll quickly escape leaving Mayrina behind.

Baldur’s Gate 3 has multiple alternatives for you to approach some of its biggest fights. If you’re interested in knowing some alternatives, you can check how to convince Yurgir to fight alongside you when facing Raphael, or how to get the Displacer Beast to betray her master in Act 2.