Baldur's Gate 3: How to open the Sluice Gate vault in BG3
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Slogging your way through the sewers underneath the Lower City in Baldur’s Gate 3 is not an easy job, but it’s a worthwhile endeavor. The sewers offer many unique locations, encounters, and items that you can find in addition to all of the content on the streets. However, many players’ sewer dreams are stopped short when they encounter the Sluice Gate.

This obstacle is found in the far western area of the sewers. The Sluice Gate is a large door that leads into a sewage pipe, and the only way to open it is to interact with a few different valves on a platform above the ground. If you have been struggling with solving this puzzle, then don’t worry, as I have you covered.

Opening the Sluice Gate in Baldur’s Gate 3

If you go up to the platform above the Sluice Gate, you will see a note attached to one of the pipes. This note says that you need to get the water and temperature valves to their optimal levels at the same exact time for the Sluice Gate to open. The two valves in the middle, water on the left and temperature on the right, are used to accomplish this goal.

Get into the Sluice Gate in Baldur's Gate 3
Screenshot via Upcomer

Next to the valves, you will see a gauge will two different colors, blue/red and green. The optimal level for each valve happens when the gauges have the pointer in the middle of the green space.

Below, I’ll explain the easiest way to get both valves to their optimal levels:

  • Start with one character and click the water valve a single time. You will see the gauge start to rise and the valve will now have a timer with a number on it
  • Wait a few seconds and then slide your character over to the temperature valve. Click it once and watch the gauge rise.
  • Because the temperature gauge rises faster than the water gauge, the timing should work out to where both reach their optimal levels at the same time.
  • This might take a few tries to get the timing correct. You also want to watch out for both valves, as if they reach the end of their gauges, they will begin to shoot out water/fire that will damage your characters.
  • You can reset the gauges by interacting with the reset valve on the far right of the platform.

Related: Baldur’s Gate 3: How to get the full Helldusk Armor Set in BG3

After some time, you should be able to luck out and get the water and temperature gauges to get into the green level at the same time. Once this happens, the Sluice Gate will open and you can walk through. Be careful, though, as there are enemies waiting on the other side. Also, this leads to the area where you can recruit Minsc. You can read my previous guide on recruiting Minsc to find out more information about that process.


Joey Carr is a full-time writer for multiple esports and gaming websites. He has 7+ years of experience covering esports and traditional sporting events, including DreamHack Atlanta, Call of Duty Championships 2017, and Super Bowl 53.


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