Chasing Auntie Ethel into the Overgrown Tunnel depths is an exercise in party management frustration. Between the suffocating poison fog and hair trigger explosive flowers, the way down to the hag’s basement has probably wiped out more squads than Ethel herself. If you run into noxious fumes in the tunnels and become annoyed by them, this BG3 guide explains how to get rid of this threat that might even get your whole party killed and safely travel through it in Baldur’s Gate 3.
How to Get Past Noxious Fumes in BG3
Not all green gas in Faerûn is the same thing. Normal poison clouds are usually an inconvenience since they inflict the Poisoned condition, saddling your characters with disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks, though they are just an annoyance in combat, rarely deadly during exploration and a simple cast of Gust of Wind blows them away.
Noxious fumes, on the other hand, are far more dangerous. They deal direct damage on contact alongside an active poison tick every round, and they are intensely combustible. To make matters worse, Ethel has seeded her tunnel clouds with Peculiar Flowers that act as proximity sensors. Step near one, and the flower triggers an ignition, detonating the gas pocket in a massive fireball.
The first rule of surviving this dangerous Auntie Ethel’s lair is to decouple your party and leave three companions back on dry ground. Taking everyone into this maze usually ends up bad because one wrong move can set off the flowers and trigger death saving throws for the whole team.
Send one companion with high Perception (Astarion or Shadowheart will do) to the edge of the gas. With a Perception check passed, two hazards will be outlined: the Peculiar Flowers along the ledge and the Ruptured Stone vent releasing noxious fumes in the center.
- Shoot the flowers with an arrow or a thrown dagger, or cast the Fire Bolt spell to explode them. The spark will then turn the poison gas into an inferno.
- Back away and wait for the fire to burn out. The blast will destroy the flowers, though the vent will keep spewing poison into the clearing.
- To permanently get rid of the noxious fumes in BG3, you will need to plug the vent hole. Throw any junk item from your inventory like a crate, heavy stone, helmet, empty bucket, or a spare pair of boots onto the vent to block it.
- After the object falls on the stone, the fumes will stop being released, and you can walk past safely.
If your inventory is out of garbage, you can find stones on the ground and dead thralls near the waterfall just before the first gas pocket. You can leave the tossed item behind or pick it up again after your party has crossed the fumes area.
