How to find smokepowder and clear the rocks to free Nere in Baldur’s Gate 3

Nere is a True Soul that has a hand in plenty of cookie jars in Baldur’s Gate 3. He’s wanted dead by the Sovereign, owes money to the inhabitants of the Grymforge, and has an army of gnome slaves that do his bidding.

No matter how you first stumble upon Nere, you will likely find him trapped behind a cave-in and dying due to poison gas. You will also find that no shortage of people wants him dead, which makes getting him out all the more important. In order to do that, you need to find some form of smokepowder to blow the cave-in wide open in Baldur’s Gate 3.

Smokepowder is not an item that many players will have on them, at least in its pure form. I know I didn’t when I was told to blow a hole in the cave-in. Luckily, there are some simple ways of acquiring the powder right near your location in the Grymforge.

Finding smokepowder to free Nere in Baldur’s Gate 3

First and foremost, you don’t necessarily need to have smokepowder to blow the cave-in open. I was able to throw a few bombs at the cave-in and Nere was freed.

However, if you throw a bomb with the slaves still axing away at the rocks, then everyone around you will become hostile, including the freed Nere. You want to drop the bomb near the rocks, and this should trigger the slaves to back away, allowing you to throw another bomb or shoot the bomb with an arrow, spell, etc.

If you want to be more efficient, you can drop and shoot a smokepowder bomb. I had four of these in my inventory when I went to look, so all I did was drop one on the ground near the rocks and then threw another at the rocks after the slaves backed away. This caused both bombs to blow up and Nere was freed.

Related: How long does it take to beat Baldur’s Gate 3? Baldur’s Gate 3 average playtime

For those of you who want to use real smokepowder, you can find a whole barrel of it in the Grymforge. Although, it’s not in an easy-to-reach location. You need to make your way to the northeast of the Grymforge waypoint. Along the lower docks on the water, you will find two workers with bloodied bodies around them.

Right near here, there is a large door across from the water. You can lockpick the door and make your way through the winding paths to eventually reach a character named Philomeen. She is past two jelly enemies and you can find her on the map as seen in the screenshot below.

Upon seeing Philomeen, you will be forced into a dialogue check to ensure her that you are not a real True Soul. I recommend saving before doing the ability check, as if you fail, Philomeen will blow herself up using a barrel of smokepowder. If you pass the check, you can go loot the smokepowder from the barrel and then make your way back to Nere’s cave-in.

Here, interact with the cave-in using the smokepowder, then shoot at it with some fire. This will destroy the rocks and free Nere. What you do from there is up to you.