Baldur's Gate 3 Player Discovers New Way to Cheese Hag Fight

gamerant.com:

One Baldur's Gate 3 player has found a new way to cheese the hag fight in Act 1 by trapping the slippery boss in her starting area, thus making her unable to retreat to a more advantageous position. The discovery adds to the list of tricks for making short work of the game's many tough enemies, such as the ingenious morningstar strategy that can one-shot the final boss of Baldur's Gate 3 Act 2.

Warning! Baldur's Gate 3 Act 1 spoilers ahead.While she is possible to miss, most Baldur's Gate 3 players will meet Auntie Ethel early on during the game's campaign. Anyone who does so should soon learn that the nice old lady is actually a hag, one of the many monstrosities from Dungeons and Dragons lore wielding magic that's equal parts foul and powerful. Soon thereafter, players will get their first chance to defeat the creature, although doing so is easier said than done, as the Auntie Ethel boss fight in Baldur's Gate 3 can be rather challenging for a low-level party.

A lot of that challenge stems from the fact that the hag will retreat underground shortly after the Baldur's Gate 3 party confronts her at Auntie Ethel's Teahouse, forcing them to go through a rather deadly area before fighting her from a disadvantaged position. However, as Reddit user Disgaealikerasap recently learned from their dad, it is actually possible to trap the creature in her house, consequently skipping the whole underground chase. To do so, the player merely needs to cast the Arcane Lock spell on the passageway masquerading as a fireplace near the back of the teahouse, which will cut off the hag's scripted escape route.

Arcane Lock is a level 2 spell from the Abjuration school of magic, making it well within reach of all Wizard characters during the first act of Baldur's Gate 3. Players are still advised not to take on Auntie Ethel until their party is at least level 5; although trapping her upstairs certainly makes her easier to handle, she will still hit hard and be annoying to pin down due to her