Opening the Baldur's Gate 3 Gnarled Door in Auntie Ethel's entrance gallery is a lot easier than it seems, as you're misled about what you're actually dealing with. The Baldur's Gate 3 Hag has stolen the girl Mayrina and following through the teahouse means coming up against this particular obstacle, which begs the question: how do you get past the Gnarled Door in BG3, especially if you fail the initial arcana check to understand how it works? The answers are laid out below...
Opening the Gnarled Door in Baldur's Gate 3
The easiest way to get past the Gnarled Door in BG3 is to pass an arcana check while investigating it. Save your game before starting your "conversation" with the Gnarled Door, since at some point during the chat, you will roll an arcana saving throw. Failing this means you'll have to move on to the second Gnarled Door entry option outlined below, but succeeding means your character will notice that the door is actually an illusion that you can simply walk through. Feel free to reload your save if you fail the check, but the alternative option is not too difficult if you act fast.
Open the Baldur's Gate 3 Gnarled Door with a Whispering Mask
If you fail the arcana check while "talking" to the Gnarled Door, pick up a Whispering Mask from the table on your right and simply walk through it. As soon as you cross the threshold, remove the mask immediately.
The Whispering Mask in Baldur's Gate 3 is enchanted by Ethel to make you do her bidding, with whoever wearing it doing constant Wisdom rolls to avoid possession. So pick a high wisdom character and make sure you quickly put it on and take it off again as soon as all your Baldur's Gate 3 party members have walked through the Gnarled Door! Failing to do so means you risk being controlled by Auntie Ethel and turning against your companions, which you really do not want to happen before such a big fight.
Whichever method you choose, you'll now have to fight four enemies: the Mask of Vengeance, Mask of Servitude, Mask of Terror, and Mask of Regret. They use a lot of Fear spells to disable your attacks , so while these foes don't have masses of HP, try to wipe them out as fast as possible.
To avoid getting attacked by the three Mask enemies, try having Shadowheart enter the Gnarled Door wearing the mask instead of any other companion. Her high Wisdom means she will pass each of the wisdom saving throws that will happen once per turn as you pass through the cabin, giving you basically a full workaround for the Hag's mask trap.
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