Baldur’s Gate 3 trick lets you save Hag’s victims and still get her Hair Boon

In Baldur’s Gate 3, there’s a way to save the Hag’s victims in her teahouse and get her Hair Boon at the same time — which gives you +1 to a stat of your choice.

Auntie Ethel appears to be an innocent and kind grandmother when you first encounter her near the Emerald Grove in Baldur’s Gate 3 Act 1. Claiming that she’s concerned about you, she’ll say she has something at home that can help.

But progress the game enough, and you’ll find out that she’s not as sweet as she seems. Many have already fallen victim to her — and what happened to them was far from pretty.

Despite these past victims having been left to their tragic demise, there’s a way you can save them. “Barring the decapitated girl and the blind lady, which are just corpses, you can pretty much save all the victims from that Hag,” mentioned a player in a Reddit thread. 

Assuming you passed the check to see the secret entrance to her lair, it’s possible to use Arcane Lock to prevent her from leaving and trigger the fight against her victims when you follow her. 

Larian Studios

Auntie Ethel and her true form.

The only problem is, according to some players, you’d miss out on one significant loot when you do this: her Hair. Luckily, there’s a trick for this that lets you save the victims and get her Hair, perfect for those running a good Tav playthrough. Here’s what to do:

1. Avoid killing the masks when you encounter them at the lair’s entrance — use stealth or invisibility to get past instead.
2. Keep one character out of combat while you fight Auntie Ethel.
3. Chip her HP as low as you can without killing her.
4. Pass a check and select the Hair.
5. Switch your character to the one out of combat instead of continuing the dialogue.
6. Kill her stealthily. This has to be pulled off in one shot, or she’ll just break her dialogue and teleport away.

Once Ethel is dead, you’ll get her Hair, which gives you a +1 to a stat of your choice, and save her victims, including Mayrina.

Some players claimed that you can also opt to knock the masked victims unconscious to avoid killing them. However, this only seems to be the case for the one that wants to be saved.

Meanwhile, for the soul trapped in the mirror, breaking the mirror appears to free it — but you’ll get a debuff in return.