BG3: What Are the Effects of Auntie Ethel's Potions? (2024)

Baldur's Gate 3 has one magnificent quest that involves a merchant, , a damsel in distress, a sinister bog of eternal stench, a witch's lair with masked slaves, and a veritable treasure trove of mysterious loot. A significant part of this loot is an intriguing selection of unique potions brewed by old Auntie Ethel herself. Bottled in handmade clay flasks and tagged with names and descriptions as enticing as they are sinister, it's tempting to begin consuming them to find out what each of them does.

True adventurers might be itching to try Auntie Ethel's concoctions -- or at the very least, to drop them on their enemies. However, going through ten bottles might be too much, even for the thirstiest of characters. Not all of Auntie Ethel's potions are safe and beneficial to consume. Some are designed to not just harm, but permanently maim the consumer, which could mean anything from making the skin crawl to suffering a curse strong enough to reduce important character stats. Despite Baldur's Gate 3 encouraging players to explore, there are some things that are best reserved for the party's enemies.

Updated on January 25, 2024 by Jennifer Melzer: Depending on how a player's interactions go in the Druid Grove in Act 1 of Baldur's Gate 3, Auntie Ethel can be easily missed. Though she presents herself as a sweet, little old lady out plying her wares and overly concerned about the player's affliction, under her cunning exterior lurks a sinister danger even the most experienced adventurers try to avoid. As a powerful Hag, Auntie Ethel is definitely up to no good. Players who choose to stand against her and save the human girl Mayrina from her own folly will first have to find her, and following Auntie Ethel into her lair is a dangerous quest to take on. Fortunately, the greater the risk, the more handsome the reward, and the potions uncovered in the hag's lair are definitely worth it.

Auntie Ethel Presents As A Harmless Old Healer

There Is Something Sinister Lurking Behind Her Innocent Appearance

Auntie Ethel's Stat Block

Auntie Ethel is a powerful NPC merchant and possible boss the player character can encounter first in the druid enclave in the Emerald Grove, and then later in the Sunlit Wetlands. Upon meeting her in the Emerald Grove, she presents herself as a concerned, elderly auntie figure. After noticing something is wrong with the player character, and taking a quick look, she offers to help get rid of their parasite if they come back with her to her home.

Players with high perception can sense almost immediately that there is something strange about the little old healer, but not acting on those suspicions is recommended to gain access to her potion stocks for trade. This is a great opportunity to gain access to potions like Corelion's Grace, Hill Giant Strength, Healing and more early in the game. Since communication with her in the Druid Grove is generally convivial, take advantage of the opportunity to trade, and follow up by meeting her at her home in the swamps.

Journeying toward her home leads to an interaction between Auntie Ethel and two male characters who accuse her of taking their sister, Mayrina. Defending her against the brothers is easy enough, and it earns an open invitation to her home, the Riverside Teahouse. Continuing the journey to her home provides plenty of opportunities to recognize that there is something sinister going on, which is further confirmed upon meeting the aforementioned Mayrina in her home.

Provoking a battle with Auntie Ethel in an effort to save Mayrina reveals her true nature as a Green Hag of the Feywild. Following the hag into her into her dangerous lair leads to some incredible rewards, including a collection of highly useful potions that come in handy as the party journeys into Acts 2 and 3. If rising to the challenge of a boss encounter with her in the Overgrown Tunnel, take heed: Auntie Ethel has plenty of tricks up her sleeve, so be wary of crossing her.

Where to Find Auntie Ethel's Potion Stash

All of Auntie Ethel's Potions

Upon first meeting Auntie Ethel in the Druid Grove, she makes it clear that she doesn't have any of her most powerful potions with her. This prompts an invite back to her home, but even there she won't have the good stock on offer when trading with her. The truly potent elixirs are hidden away, and won't be discovered until after venturing through her terrifying lair and defeating her.

Coming upon her Hag Lair at the back of her dismal tunnels, players will find a virtual treasure trove of goodies that include the Bitter Divorce Wand, the Staff of Crones and a collection of potions that offer a myriad of effects. Some of them are safe for consumption, while others could very well curse or permanently debuff whoever guzzles them down.

Which of Auntie Ethel's Potions Are Safe to Consume?

It's Never Wise To Drink A Potion With Unknown Effects

A Mother's Loathing

This potion grants the drinker the gift of Bite. Bite is a powerful, rechargeable attack that does 2d4 piercing damage and can be used once per turn. The effects last until the next long rest. Although it's a fun extra for players who want to pretend that they are vampires, it works best stacked with Astarion's more powerful Vampiric Bite, which is only usable once per long rest. Since this is a one use only potion, saving it for later in the game is important.

Heart of Stone

This is powerful little potion that prevents Poison Damage until the next rest. Curiously, one of the ingredients is malachite, a mineral that can be easily found in Early Access, which is described as an amulet that parents give children to ward them from nightmares. While it may not longer be as significant in the full-release, this potion's ingredients seem to suggest that nightmares may just be poison.

Auntie Ethel's Temporary Debuff Potions Are Safe to Consume

These Potions Are Best Used When Thrown at Enemies

Wilted Dreams

In theory, Wilted Dreams does 3d6 of Psychic Damage during the player's next long rest, but in practice the effects have not been implemented yet. However, its name suggests that it might interact with the player's tadpole character (the Dream Lover). Those who have little faith in their Dream Lover might get a kick out of drinking this potion, and one can't help wondering if it wouldn't be enough to potentially prevent the Dark Urge player character from murderously lashing out in their sleep.

Lost Time

Depending on the player's class, the effects of Lost Time might be devastating during the next combat. Lost time slows the character down, reducing their armor class by two, and prohibiting their ability to take reactions during combat for the duration of 50 turns. That may seem like a long time, but it's really only five minutes. In combat, ten rounds of fighting last for approximately one minute. Instead of drinking it, toss it into the fray to stop an enemy in their tracks. This potion is an incredibly valuable asset in big battles, like facing off against those nasty shadows while guarding Halsin's portal to the Shadowrealm in Act 2, or taking out Astarion's vampire master in Act 3.

Faltering Will

Whatever the player does, they should avoid drinking "Faltering Will" before facing any enemies that may target Wisdom during combat. Drinking this potion gives a disadvantage on Wisdom Saving Throws until the next rest. The beauty in this is that magic users who rely on Wisdom to cast their spells, like clerics, will have advantage on attack rolls against creatures suffering from this effect. That makes Faltering Will another great potion to hold onto until going up against an enemy who needs their Wisdom to survive.

Butterflies In The Stomach

Despite sounding like something fun and peaceful, Butterflies in the Stomach is an incredibly destructive poison. Concocted to make the drinker hemorrhage for four turns and suffer 1d6 piercing damage at the end of each turn, it might be okay for a barbarian, but it shouldn't really be necessary unless they're raging too far from combat. Since staying alive is the end goal, this potion is best kept for enemies. Perhaps it could make Orin the Red slightly less intimidating for a few rounds of combat, but only lob it at her if there are no allies in range.

Insanity's Kiss

Another Auntie Ethel classic, this potion acts like a short-term mask, making the drinker turn extremely hostile to all other creatures in the vicinity. Lasting five rounds, the highly destructive player could potentially take out their entire party without actually meaning to. Throwing it into combat from a distance could be beneficial, but the targeted enemy becomes hostile to all creatures in its vicinity. It's best to chuck this into a horde of enemies that aren't currently surrounded by allies.

Missing Pets

This potion causes one of the mildest debuffs, but the thought of it alone is enough to make the skin crawl. As illusory spiders climb over the drinker's body, the character gains disadvantage on ability checks and attack rolls for three turns. This is a great way to put a damper on those enemies that have multi-attacks, at least for a little while.

These Auntie Ethel Potions Curse the Drinker, So Beware

Broken Promises

Broken Promises is a deceptive potion: upon drinking it, the character will immediately gain two Strength, which will last until their next long rest. For characters with little strength, this might seem like a blessing, until they take a long rest. After a long rest, the STR score decreases indefinitely by 1, which is a huge problem in a game where so many fights can be won by throwing your enemies off a cliff.

On the other hand, caster characters who don't usually rely on STR can more safely experiment with this potion to improve their odds for a day. If losing that one extra STR point proves to be too much of a loss, this curse can be negated by the Level 3 Abjuration spell: Remove Curse.

Lover's Avarice

While it's said this potion smells sweet like roses and honey, there is an underlying stench of rot that's impossible to miss. For those who do miss the subtle aroma of decay, this is one potion that shouldn't be consumed under any circ*mstances. Lover's Avarice will permanently decrease the character's Wisdom by one. As with Faltering Will, one should not drink this right before confronting enemies that target Wisdom, or if a character uses Wisdom to cast their attacks.

This potion can also be thrown to create a harmful effect on an enemy. Rather than guzzling it down to see what happens, maybe toss it at someone who really deserves it, like Ketheric Thorm. The effects of Lover's Avarice are a curse, so they can be removed with the aforementioned Abjuration spell, but until someone in the party has access to Remove Curse, it should probably be avoided.

Baldur's Gate 3

Baldur's Gate 3 is arole-playing video gamedeveloped and published by Larian Studios. It is the third main installment in the Baldur's Gate series.

Platform(s)

Windows , PlayStation 5 , macOS , Xbox Series S/X

Released

August 3, 2023

Developer(s)

Larian Studios

Publisher(s)

Larian Studios

Genre(s)

RPG

Multiplayer

Online Multiplayer

Engine

Divinity 4.0

ESRB

Mature 17+

How Long To Beat

55.5 hours-100 hours

Prequel(s)

Baldur's Gate 2