Aunty Ethel is one of the most evil characters you’ll come across inBaldur’s Gate 3. When she’s notgoing on a racist tirade, she’ll try tolure you in with her flirtatious charm. She’s a vile hag (literally) that takes advantage of people in their most desperate moments, and is also a tough fight when you decide to put an end to her.
The encounter against Ethel takes a lot, and she may even escape into the game’s second act. However, it seems that you may make the fight against her much easier with a little preparation. The first encounter with her is especially frustrating as she goes invisible. It seems you can stop her from doing so by simply buying or picpocketing her Potion of Invisibility from the Emerald Grove.
Can’t Go Invisible If You’ve Got No Potion
Even a hag needs to get paid, so you’ll find Aunty Ethel in her old lady form at the Emerald Grove, selling potions and sundries. It turns out that the inventory she has for sale is also what she uses in the fight. So, as highlighted byFlipsktr230on Reddit, if you simply buy or pickpocket the Potion of Invisibility, she’ll stay visible when you decide to fight her later.
Most of us probably thought that the hag turns invisible because it’s one of her abilities. It turns out that she simply swigs the potion. Pinching it will ensure that she stays visible, making the encounter a bit easier. Considering how universally hated she is, taking away her advantage in a fight will feel pretty satisfying.
It seems this strategy applies throughout the game. “This also works with Balthazar and his speed potion,” said one of the comments. If you steal it from him before the fight he can’t use it." That’s another annoying character, whose fight can end up becoming a little tedious.
However, it seems that the strategy works both ways. “Also note that she can use whatever you sell her too,” said another comment. “I’ve seen horror stories about Ethel chucking smokepowder bombs at people.” As to why someone would sell smokepowder bombs, I cannot say, but I’m surely going to buy out Ethel’s entire inventory in my next run.
