Baldur’s Gate 3: Get Auntie Ethel’s Hair and Save Mayrina
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Make the bargain possible
Fight Auntie Ethel in the Overgrown Tunnel, after she has retreated from the Riverside Teahouse. The reward is not a drop from her body. Reduce her below 20% of her health, then let her take a turn. She can stop the fight and offer a single piece of Auntie Ethel’s Hair.
Do not Silence or knock her out when you want this outcome. Either condition stops the bargain. Killing her at the teahouse also skips it. Keep Mayrina’s cage in view and save before the finishing stretch if you want to compare the dialogue branches.
Choose the outcome you actually want
The basic deal gives you the hair but lets Ethel keep Mayrina. A separate dialogue route can demand both the hair and Mayrina’s freedom. The standard demand for both is a DC 20 Deception or Intimidation check. Fighters and Barbarians receive a DC 15 Intimidation option with Advantage. If that attempt fails, the other hair-and-Mayrina check is no longer available, leaving the simple deal, Mayrina’s freedom without the hair, or killing Ethel.
The surrender dialogue starts on Ethel’s turn; check which party member is speaking before choosing a roll. Do not use a last-hit effect that kills Ethel before she gets a turn, and do not decide the ability score until you know who will consume the item.
Spend the +1 well
Select the ability when accepting the reward, then give that version of the hair to its intended user. Consuming it permanently adds +1 to that ability score. It can push a normal score beyond the usual cap, so it is most useful when it completes an odd score: 17 to 18, or 19 to 20. Give it to a character who will keep that stat after a respec rather than treating it as a temporary combat buff.
It does not improve a stat currently set to a fixed number by gear or consumables. Gloves of Dexterity and an Elixir of Hill Giant Strength are examples: the hair can still exist on the character, but the fixed value wins while that effect is active. Taking a deal can break a Paladin’s Oath; factor that consequence into the reward choice.
Related: Act One route and Withers’ respec service.