Editing Auntie Ethel/Combat
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
The edit can be undone. Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then publish the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
Latest revision | Your text | ||
Line 5: | Line 5: | ||
| image = Auntie Ethel.jpg | | image = Auntie Ethel.jpg | ||
}} | }} | ||
{{spoiler warning|act=1}} | |||
{{Combat tab}} | {{Combat tab}} | ||
{{Infobox | {{Infobox statistics | ||
| name = Auntie Ethel | | name = Auntie Ethel | ||
| image = | | image = Auntie-Ethel-Hag.webp | ||
Auntie-Ethel-Hag.webp | | imagecaption = | ||
| size = Medium | | size = Medium | ||
| type = Fey | | type = Fey | ||
| race = | | race = Fey | ||
| | | armour_class = 17 | ||
| | | hit_points = 112 | ||
| | | hit_points_tactician = 145 | ||
| | | movement_speed_meters = 9 | ||
| | | movement_speed_feet = 30 | ||
| | | weight_kg = 75 | ||
| weight_lb = 150 | |||
| level = 5 | | level = 5 | ||
| str = 18 | | str = 18 | ||
Line 29: | Line 28: | ||
| wis = 14 | | wis = 14 | ||
| cha = 18 | | cha = 18 | ||
| | | str_save_proficiency = yes | ||
| | | wis_save_proficiency = yes | ||
| | | cha_save_proficiency = yes | ||
| | | initiative = +7 | ||
| | |||
| | | feature1_name = Alert | ||
| | | feature1_description = +5 to initiative and cannot be surprised. | ||
| feature2_name = Darkvision | |||
| feature2_description = Can see in the dark up to 12m. | |||
| feature3_name = Opportunity Attack | |||
| feature3_description = Automatically attack an enemy moving out of your reach. | |||
| feature4_name = Fey Life | |||
| feature4_description = Makes it easier for the wearer to succeed on death saving throws. | |||
| feature4_item = Tarnished Charm | |||
}} | }} | ||
__NOTOC__ | __NOTOC__ | ||
This page focuses on '''Auntie Ethel'''<nowiki/>'s behavior during her combat encounter, and tactics for overcoming her. She can be fought as a boss in the [[Riverside Teahouse]] in the [[Sunlit Wetlands]] if | This page focuses on '''Auntie Ethel'''<nowiki/>'s behavior during her combat encounter, and tactics for overcoming her. She can be fought as a boss in the [[Riverside Teahouse]] in the [[Sunlit Wetlands]] if you choose to meddle in her affairs. | ||
Auntie Ethel can | {{SpoilerBlur|Auntie Ethel can be encountered again as a boss in [[Act 3]] within [[The Blushing Mermaid]].}} | ||
== Attacks and abilities == | == Attacks and abilities == | ||
{{Feature box|Auntie's Trickery | {{Feature box|name=Auntie's Trickery|image name=Generic Summon.webp|* This action creates five illusory copies of Auntie Ethel and shuffles them - and the original - around the arena. | ||
{{ | {{Recharge|Per Battle}} | ||
{{Feature box| | {{Action|bonus}}}}{{Feature box|name=A Coven of Hags|image name=Generic Summon.webp|* This action creates between two and five copies of Auntie Ethel and randomizes their positions - including the original - around the arena. | ||
* The real Auntie Ethel gains {{cond|Invisible}}. | |||
{{ | {{Recharge|Per Battle}} | ||
{{Feature box| | {{Action}}}}{{Feature box|name=Damsel in Distress|image name=Generic Summon.webp|* An illusion that confuses friend with foe, disguising Auntie Ethel as Mayrina and teleports them both to new spots around the arena. | ||
{{ | {{Recharge|Per Battle}} | ||
{{Feature box| | {{Action}}}}{{Feature box|name=Ray of Sickness|{{DamageInfo|3d8|Poison}} | ||
{{ | {{Cond|Poisoned}} 2 turns | ||
*{{Saving throw|dc=13}} to avoid | |||
{{ | {{Attack roll}} | ||
{{ | {{Range|m=18|ft=60}} | ||
== | {{Action}}}}{{Feature box|name=Throw|* {{RarityItem|Poisonous Slime Bomb}} and {{RarityItem|Flammable Slime Bomb}}}}{{Feature box|name=Vicious Mockery|image name=Vicious Mockery.webp|link=Vicious Mockery (Auntie Ethel)|{{DamageInfo|2d4|Psychic}} | ||
= | {{Saving throw|WIS|dc=13}} to negate. | ||
{{Cond|Vicious Mockery}} 1 turn | |||
{{Range|m=26|ft=87}} | |||
=== | {{Action|bonus}}|alias=}}{{Feature box|name=Claws|link=Claws (Class Action)|image name=Generic Physical.webp|{{DamageInfo|2d4+4|Slashing}} | ||
{{Attack roll}} | |||
{{Range|melee}} | |||
{{Action}}}}{{Feature box|name=Hold Person|Cast as a Level 2 spell. | |||
= | {{Cond|Hold Person}}, {{Saving throw|WIS|dc=13}} | ||
{{Action}}}}{{Feature box|name=Break Illusion|image name=Mending.webp|Used once to reveal a secret passage. | |||
{{Action}}}} | |||
== Tactics == | == Tactics == | ||
Ethel | === Fight in the Teahouse === | ||
Ethel can be attacked in her human form in the Riverside Teahouse, though she will try to make this encounter as brief as possible. +7 Initiative gives her a high turn priority and prevents preemptive strikes. She will priotitize fleeing through her fireplace using Break Illusion in the first few turns. Sometimes, attempting to destroy her here requires bringing her hit points to zero before she can take a single action – all while hostile Redcaps are coming through her front door. | |||
She may further attempt to evade aggression by drinking a [[Potion of Invisibility]]; this can be thwarted by pickpocketing or purchasing it from her in conversation. Ethel may use [[scrolls]] in this phase, if they are part of her trader inventory. The player can greatly delay her flight and trap her upstairs by casting [[Arcane Lock]] on the staircase into her lair. | |||
=== Fight in the Overgrown Tunnel === | |||
The first turns of the Auntie Ethel fight are deterministic. Unless the player launches a preemptive strike while hidden, Auntie Ethel will initiate combat through dialogue when approaching in her lair. Her first turn in combat, when started this way, will always be throwing a flammable slime bomb on [[Mayrina|Mayrina's]] suspended cage. | |||
If the player had previously killed or incapacitated her Mask servants (i.e. [[Mask of Regret]]), she spends a turn summoning them to her side as allies. If they were already dealt with, she casts Auntie's Trickery instead. Following these opening moves, the midgame of the fight begins. | |||
= | ==== Midgame tactics ==== | ||
Each clone of Auntie Ethel functions as a duplicate of the hag, having all of her magical abilities but lacking the bombs in her inventory and capable of being dispelled in a single blow. Necessarily, they also cannot summon additional clones of themselves. If they are all defeated, Ethel can refresh their supply with [[A Coven of Hags]] - this time, however, the original hag will be invisible rather than in the mix of illusions, and the number of illusions summoned can vary. | |||
Next on the smorgasbord of trickery is [[Damsel in Distress]], a wily illusion where she teleports Mayrina into her proximity and adopts her appearance. Distinguishing between the two requires a careful examination of the two's statistics, looking for key differences that reveal the true victim. | |||
When not playing mind games, she barrages the party with poison damage via Ray of Sickness and her limited supply of poisonous slime bombs. She mixes in melee attacks and Vicious Mockery - two attacks she falls back on when out of grenades and spell slots. | |||
{{ | ==== Endgame ==== | ||
When brought down to 30 health or lower, when she takes her next turn, Auntie Ethel will bargain for her life in exchange for a piece of [[Auntie Ethel's Hair]].{{Note|This will only occur if fought in the depths of her lair, not in the teahouse.}} She will not do anything else on this turn; if the party declines her offer or fails a conversation ability check, the turn will immediately pass to the next character, allowing the hag to be rapidly dispatched. Any surviving Masks become docile on her death. | |||
=== Honour mode === | |||
Auntie Ethel gains [[Legendary Action: Weird Magic Surge]] on [[Honour mode]], punishing the player for casting spells by multiplying Ethel's presence with more illusory copies. | |||
=== Silence === | |||
Auntie Ethel is very vulnerable to being [[Silenced (Condition)|silenced]], limiting her moveset to just melee attacks and grenades when under its effect. Striking her with silencing weapons, like the [[Sussur Dagger]], is the best way to inflict this condition, preferable to the spell [[Silence]], which she can rather easily walk away from. Preemptively attacking her in the teahouse flips the equation, as the much smaller arena gives the hag little room to manoeuvre. Of note, she will not bargain for her life when silenced. | |||
== | == Act Three == | ||
{{Infobox statistics | |||
| name = Act Three differences | |||
| weight_kg = 90 | |||
| weight_lb = 180 | |||
| level = 11 | |||
| proficiency_bonus = +4 | |||
| initiative = +7 | |||
== | | condition1_name = Lair Magic | ||
| condition1_description = While in their lair, the hag and her doubles have [[Magic Resistance]]. | |||
| condition2_name = Fungal Resistance | |||
| condition2_description = +5 bonus to Saving Throws for each nearby Pearlspore Bell. | |||
| condition3_name = Hag Pregnancy | |||
| condition3_description = The hag has eaten the child. Killing the hag will lead to the child's death. | |||
| condition4_name = Legendary Action: Weird Magic Surge | |||
| condition4_description = Ethel can use her legendary action Magic Surge. | |||
| condition4_mode = Honour | |||
| feature1_name = Alert | |||
| feature1_description = +5 to initiative and cannot be surprised. | |||
| feature2_name = Darkvision | |||
| feature2_description = Can see in the dark up to 12m. | |||
| feature3_name = Opportunity Attack | |||
| feature3_description = Automatically attack an enemy moving out of your reach. | |||
| feature4_name = Fey Life | |||
| feature4_description = Makes it easier for the wearer to succeed on death saving throws. | |||
| feature4_item = Tarnished Charm | |||
| feature5_name = Legendary Action: Weird Magic Surge | |||
| feature5_description = Use a legendary action to create illusory duplicates when hit. | |||
| feature5_mode = Honour | |||
}} | |||
Auntie Ethel is encountered once more in [[Act Three]]. She can be fought upstairs in [[The Blushing Mermaid]], where she is disguised as [[Captain Grisly]], or in [[The Blushing Mermaid - Basement|her lair in the bar's basement]]. | |||
Her abilities and tactics are much the same, simply scaled-up with the levels, with two major twists: three [[Pearlspore Bell|Pearlspore Bells]] provide significant defensive buffs, and she is pregnant. They player is encouraged to avoid killing her outright to spare the child temporarily living in her belly. | |||
=== Hag Pregnancy === | === Hag Pregnancy === | ||
{{Hatnote|For full details, see [[Save Vanra]]}} | {{Hatnote|For full details, see [[Save Vanra]]}} | ||
Ethel has eaten [[Vanra]], hoping to transform the girl into a hag to grow her coven. Killing Ethel kills Vanra as well, locking the | Ethel has eaten [[Vanra]], hoping to transform the girl into a hag to grow her coven. Killing Ethel kills Vanra as well, locking the player out of any quest rewards later on. To avoid this, players can enable [[Toggle Non-Lethal Attacks|non-lethal attacks]] when dealing the killing blow, prompting instead a cutscene where Vanra is manually freed from an unconscious Ethel's belly. Alternatively, progressing through [[Help the Hag Survivors]] can provide players with {{RarityItem|Hag's Bane}}, which when [[thrown]] will force Ethel to vomit the kid. | ||
=== | Being pregnant does not imbue any inherent combat bonuses, other than the tension of potential quest failure. | ||
=== Pearlspore Bells === | |||
In order to truly kill Ethel, players need to destroy her Pearlspore Bells. These lustrous mushroom clumps will revive the hag each time she is felled, if left unchecked. | |||
The Pearlspores will automatically heal to full at the end of each round, requiring them to either be burst down with massive damage or for the player to employ heal prevention, e.g. [[Arrow of Ilmater|Arrows of Ilmater]]. | |||
== Footnotes == | == Footnotes == | ||
{{Notebegin}}{{Reflist|note}} | {{Notebegin}}{{Reflist|note}} | ||
{{Noteend}} | {{Noteend}} |