I just visited auntie Ethels teahouse and tried to help the young girl, which prompted the nice old lady to turn into a hag (what is it with nice old ladies being monsters in video games?) and send her lackeys after me. I've battled the lackeys and the fours 'masks' in the underground lair - now my question is: my party is level 3 and auntie looked pretty powerful. Should I wait until level 4 to finish that fight? I still have to go fight the goblins and free the druid, Halsin. Maybe I should come back after that? I did have some trouble with the masks, but that was mostly because of bugs.
"We are all stories in the end. Just make it a good one."
A lot of people have trouble with that fight, unless you're really good with the game mechanics and your characters are well geared you'd probably best wait til 4.
Yeah, I though so. I'm getting better, but I'm still struggling with some mechanics. I'm in the goblin camp right now, freed Halsin and am now about to kill the three leaders. After that, I might to try auntie Ethel
"We are all stories in the end. Just make it a good one."
There are a couple of options that are pretty much hag-killers:
If you don't mind losing all of Ethyl's items:
Sneak up (if possible) or just maneuver and push her into the pit. It's an insta-kill, but you lose some closing dialog with her and all of her items.
If you want to just kill her:
There are two ways to get wyvern venom (a 7d6 poison). If you let Nettie poison you and then manage to convince Nettie to provide an antidote, she will offer the venom. Or complete the rescue the druid storyline - there's another dose in the treasure room they open up for you. Two attacks with wyvern venom will 1) take away 2/3 of her hitpoints if she succeeds in both saves; 2) bring her down under 20 if she succeeds on one but not another (this also generates an interesting offer from her); or 3) flat out kill her if she fails both saves. Note that you can sneak up with Astarion and get both attacks in a single sneak attack round.
Start outside the gate to the druid grove. Face away from it. Go right (towards Blighted Village). Shortly down the road, on the left, are some terraces. You have to jump to get to the first one, but after that, you can climb. Keep going up. The very top has a Harper outpost that has some nice views and two important items. The first is on the skeleton - an amulet with Guidance. When you get close to some rocks near the edge of the top terrace, you will get a Perception roll to help you find a hidden item. Get it (takes a successful skill roll, which you can use your new amulet on) and experiment.
Also, on the other side of the road from the Harper outpost is a hidden doorway (Perception roll) which leads to a small area with some useful stuff.