Avenge the Hag Survivors – Baldur’s Gate 3

Avenge the Hag Survivors is the third quest within the hag and auntie Ethel’s questline in Baldur’s Gate III (BG3). The fourth if you also include Save Mayrina.

However, this quest is mostly connected to the Save Vanra quest and can only be activated after the Help the Hag Survivors. You can begin this quest at act 3.

UnlockING the AVENGE THE HAG SURVIVORS QUEST

This quest will only unlock after doing the Help the Hag Survivors quest. That quest also gives you something important to be able to Save Vanra. Once you have done that quest you will have the avenging quest in your journal after disposing of the spy called Jalto.

Pick Up Save Vanra

You’ll want to make sure you pick up the Save Vanra quest before making too much headway in this one. This will maximise the amount of rewards you will get when you finally take down the Hag. Anyway start by heading to the Basilisk Gate Barracks and talk to the angry woman attempting to get help in tracking down her missing daughter.

After a confusing conversation you can take on the job to look for her daughter yourself and she’ll tell you that she was last seen in the Blushing Mermaid.

Captain Grizzly IN AVENGE THE HAG SURVIVORS

In the South-west of the Lower City you’ll find The Blushing Mermaid. Head into the back and talk to Captain Grizzly. Do not believe a word the pirate says and definitely don’t take the handsome amount of gold she offers for the distressed mother’s head. If you refuse her enough, she’ll reveal her true form as the hag you have been searching for, Auntie Ethel. She’ll retreat and you’ll have to deal with combat with some pirates.

You can skip this combat if you want by telling her you’ll think about her job for killing the mother. It’s a bit meta gamey to do it this way but if you know she is already Ethel then there’s no need to push her into revealing herself. Just tell her you’ll think about it and prepare for the coming boss fight.

Hags Bane

So, when I mentioned you get something important from the Help the Hag survivors quest this is it. In the safe that Mayrina tells you to look at you will find an ingredient and the recipe for the potion Hag’s Bane. By the description it will cause Ethel to throw up the child in her stomach. This will leave you free to kill her.

Mix the ingredients you got from the safe with any Essence you have to create Hags Bane and keep it ready in your inventory.

Enter Her Lair IN AVENGE THE HAG SURVIVORS

Once your Hag’s bane is secured, you’ll be able to go back to The Blushing Mermaid and head into the basement.

Jump up onto a platform above the barrels and through the fake wall. Look behind you for a treasure chest before picking your way into the main basement. There will be a combat encounter in the next room. Three pirates plus the real Captain Grizzly enthralled by Ethel.

Go into sneak mode and head to a platform on the left. You should be able to get some big spells in a surprise round before combat starts.

Once it’s done be sure to rest up ready for Ethel herself.

Auntie Boss Fight

Ethel can be a challenging fight. The key to beating her is to stop her regeneration and destroy the three mushrooms around the room. Another is that the fight doesn’t actually start until she spots you.

Go into sneak mode before entering the room. Split your party. Take one to the east and leap over to the mushroom. One to the north-west and have one headed to the north-east. Make optimal use of misty step and jump. Should your stealth fail at any point you should be in a good position to take out the mushrooms within turn 1.

Once Auntie spots you and you have a bit of prefight banter. She will immediately use mirror image. Once you are done with the mushrooms. You should take out the fakes, once you are sure you are aiming at the real Ethel throw the Hag’s Bane.

A cutscene will start where she will throw up Vanra and the child will run away. After which you will be free to liberate her of her HP points and health.

Rewards

Loot the room and Ethel before heading back to Mayrina. She’ll realise that Ethel is gone but her lover will not be back to normal, sadly. You can use a Persuasion check if you want to help her realise that he is not coming back at this point. Once you have, she will give you the Fey Semblance Amulet. The Amulet gives you advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom and Chrisma saving throws. This now completes the Avenge the Hag Survivors side quest.