Auntie Ethel/Combat: Difference between revisions

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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.

{{SpoilerBlur|Auntie Ethel can be encountered again as a boss in [[Act 3]] within [[The Blushing Mermaid]].}}

{{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}}

{{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}}

{{Action}}}}{{Feature box|name=Ray of Sickness|{{DamageInfo|3d8|Poison}}

{{Cond|Poisoned}} 2 turns

{{Attack roll}}

{{Range|m=18|ft=60}}

{{Action}}}}{{Feature box|name=Throw|* {{RarityItem|Poisonous Slime Bomb}} and {{RarityItem|Flammable Slime Bomb}}}}{{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}}

{{Action}}}}{{Feature box|name=Vicious Mockery|image name=Vicious Mockery.webp|link=Vicious Mockery (Auntie Ethel)|{{DamageInfo|2d4|Psychic}}

{{Saving throw|WIS|dc=15}} to negate.

{{Range|m=26|ft=87}}

{{Action|bonus}}|alias=}}{{Feature box|name=Hold Person|{{Cond|Hold Person}}

{{Saving throw|WIS|dc=15}} to negate

{{Action}}}}{{Feature box|name=Claws|link=Claws (Class Action)|image name=Generic Physical.webp|{{DamageInfo|2d4+4|Slashing}}

{{Range|melee}}

{{Action}}}}

<u>If aggroed in the teahouse</u>

Ethel can be attacked in her human form in the [[Riverside Teahouse]], though she will try to make this encounter as brief as possible. [[Alert]] gives her a high chance of going first and prevents preemptive strikes, and she will flee through her fireplace using [[Break Illusion]] in the first two turns; if out of range, she will defend herself with [[Protection from Evil and Good]] and [[Vicious Mockery]]. Attempting to destroy her here, then, requires bringing her hit points to zero often before she can take a single action – all while hostile [[Redcap|Redcaps]] are coming through her front door.  

=== Fight in the Overgrown Tunnel ===

The first turns of the Auntie Ethel fight are deterministic. Unless the player launches a preemptive strike from {{Sai|Hide|Hiding}}, Auntie Ethel will initiate combat through dialogue when approaching in her lair. Her first turn in combat, when started this way, will always be {{Sai|Throw|Throwing}} a {{RarityItem|Flammable Slime Bomb}} on [[Mayrina|Mayrina's]] suspended cage.

Each clone of Auntie Ethel summoned by {{Sai|Auntie's Trickery}} 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 {{Sai|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 {{Sai|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 {{Sai|Ray of Sickness}} and her limited supply of {{RarityItem|Poisonous Slime Bomb|alias=Poisonous Slime Bombs}}. She mixes in melee {{Sai|Claws (Class Action)|Claws}} and the cantrip {{Sai|Vicious Mockery (Auntie Ethel)|Vicious Mockery}} - two attacks she falls back on when out of grenades and spell slots.

==== Endgame ====

When brought down to 10% health or lower, when she takes her next turn, Auntie Ethel will bargain for her life in exchange for a piece of {{RarityItem|Auntie Ethel's Hair}}. 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 {{SAI|Legendary Action: Weird Magic Surge}} on [[Honour mode]], punishing the player for casting spells by multiplying Ethel's presence with more illusory copies.

== Act Three ==