How to get past the Noxious Fumes in Baldur's Gate 3

Baldur's Gate 3 hag
(Image credit: Larian Studios)

The Baldur's Gate 3 Noxious Fumes in the Auntie Ethel's lair are a poison gas trap that can also become a fiery peril if exposed to flame and the strange flowers blowing up. They're hard to get around, but there is a method if you know what to do, a safe way to get down to the Baldur's Gate 3 hag without hurting yourself before the mother of all boss fights - or rather, the auntie of all boss fights. If you want to get through unscathed, here's how to get past the Noxious Fumes in Baldur's Gate 3.

How to get past the Noxious Fumes in Baldur's Gate 3

Clearing the Noxious Fumes in Baldur's Gate 3

(Image credit: Larian Studios)

The Noxious Fumes in Baldur's Gate 3 leading down to Ethel's lair are a difficult trap - how they work is that there are vents expelling those noxious fumes, and not only does the gas poison you, but special flowers within the gas will ignite it, causing a damaging explosion. 

Here's how to deal with the Noxious Fumes in Baldur's Gate 3:

  1. Approach the fume cloud but don't go into it.
  2. Your character's perception will hopefully reveal the vent that expels the gas, and the flowers that ignite it.
  3. Back away and use any ranged attack to set off the flowers and explode them.
  4. Wait for the flames to subside.
  5. The gas will come back, but the flowers won't.
  6. Throw any item whatsoever at the vent to block it.
  7. The gas will now vanish. Pass through the affected area and repeat until you reach the end.

At this point you should be at the Hag's lair, where you'll discover Mayrina in a cage and Auntie Ethel prowling about. Things can go very differently here depending on the approach taken next by the player - but what doesn't that apply to in Baldur's Gate 3? Still, if you're feeling a little unprepared, then take a refresher course with our guide on Baldur's Gate 3 combat.

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Joel Franey
Guides Writer

Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and raconteur with a Masters from Sussex University, none of which has actually equipped him for anything in real life. As a result he chooses to spend most of his time playing video games, reading old books and ingesting chemically-risky levels of caffeine. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at USgamer, Gfinity, Eurogamer and more besides.