In Baldur’s Gate 3’s Lower City, there are a number of things you expect to see: a series of crime lords all vying for control of the city’s underworld? Check. An incredibly powerful sorcerer trying to control arcane concepts he can’t possibly begin to understand? Yes, of course! The annoying Hag you (probably) killed earlier in the game coming back to life just to spite you? I guess!
Yep — that’s right! Remember Auntie Ethel? The seemingly innocent character who turned out to be an evil Hag who feasted on human flesh? I sure hope you didn’t expect her to stay dead, because a quest you receive by visiting the Basilisk Gate Barracks called Save Vanra, which leads into other quests called Help the Hag Survivors and Avenge the Hag Survivors, brings Ethel back into the rogue’s gallery of recurring villains in Baldur’s Gate 3.
I don’t really want to talk about the step-by-step for this series of quests — instead, let’s discuss how to put Ethel into the ground for good. If you’re playing as a morally upright character, you might feel an obligation to save Vanra from becoming the next Hag, and the game seems to suggest the only means of doing so is using the Hag’s Bane grenade. I, for one, went through the trouble of crafting the Hag’s Bane and I am here to tell you it’s wholly unnecessary.
If you’d like to simply go straight to Ethel’s lair and put her out of her misery — for good, this time — just make sure you toggle non-lethal damage and stick to using mostly melee attacks. If you can knock her out instead of killing her, you’ll have saved Vanra and earned the respect of her mother. If you’re feeling extra petty, feel free to toggle non-lethal damage off once Vanra has run off and deliver one final melee attack to end the Hag once and for all.
At least until she finds a means to return a second time, at which point I break my PS5.
