In Baldur’s Gate 3, Auntie Ethel’s lair is filled with many traps and tricks to throw your party off her trail and chip away at your health, including the Gnarled Door. If you’re stuck trying to unlock and get through this door, then don’t worry; we’ve got you covered with all the information you’ll need, so follow along below for a breakdown of every method you can use to bypass the blockade of the Gnarled Door in BG3’s Overgrown Tunnel.
Baldur’s Gate 3 – How to Get Through the Gnarled Door, Explained
Upon visiting the Riverside Teahouse and following the Hag known as Auntie Ethel through the illusionary fireplace door, you will enter Auntie Ethel’s lair, otherwise known as the Overgrown Tunnel dungeon. Upon following the path down into the first room, Auntie Ethel will warn you, before passing through a large wooded doorway labeled the Gnarled Door, suggesting that you need to find a way to follow her through to the other side. There are two different ways in which you can progress through this Gnarled door, so we’ve explained each method in detail below.
The first method you should try is simply walking up to the door and initiate a conversation. As you question the door, it will reveal itself to be sentient and will show you flashes of what happens when people attempt to enter (Auntie Ethel kills them – but this isn’t much of a surprise), as well as images of all the people who have lost their lives attempting to get inside.
During this conversation, your character will roll an Arcana Check. If you’re successful in this check, you’ll find out that the door is a mere illusion, similar to the fireplace in the Riverside Teahouse and that you can simply pass on through as if it isn’t there. However, If you fail this Arcana Check, you will, unfortunately, be unable to pass through this door, as your party will still believe it to be a solid object. This means that you’re forced into using the second method to get through the Gnarled Door, which is much more dangerous.
The second way to get through the Gnarled Door in Baldur’s Gate 3 is by equipping one of the Whispering Masks from the table on the right-hand side of where the door is located. However, you’ll need to be extremely quick when using this method, as these masks enable Auntie Ethel to take control of your party members if they’re left equipped for too long.
- Note: I highly recommend saving your game before equipping any masks, as if you’re too slow in getting through the door, Auntie Ethel will take control of any allies with masks equipped, forcing combat against one another. This will result in character deaths, or potentially, a game over.
You’ll want to equip the mask to one character, immediately run through the door, and equip the mask as fast as you can, before repeating this method for each of your party members. If you mess up and initiate combat with those who equip the masks, you can simply revert to the save that you made earlier, and retry until you get the timing correct. After succeeding in making your way through the Gnarled Door, you can progress further into the Overgrown Tunnel, where you will have a chance at saving Mayrina and defeating Auntie Ethel.
Now that you know everything you need you need to bypass the Gnarled Door in Baldur’s Gate 3, why not check out the rest of our BG3 content here on Twinfinite? We have plenty more topics to help you throughout your adventure, such as how to Investigate the Ruins and clear the Dank Crypt Sarcophagus traps.
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