After 500 Hours in Baldur's Gate 3, Here Are My Favorite Uses For The Iron Flask

The Iron Flask is a delightful little item that players can obtain fairly early in Act 1 of Baldur’s Gate 3. It’s located in a chest in the Risen Road Stronghold, as cargo that Zhentarim agents are attempting to deliver to Baldur’s Gate. While you can give the Flask back to the Zhentarim, there are many more fun ways of dealing with its unique contents. As someone who strives to make each Baldur’s Gate 3 run different in some way, how I use the Iron Flask varies pretty consistently from run to run.

If you’re new to Baldur’s Gate 3, you might be tempted to immediately open the Iron Flask, thinking it contains treasure. However, your best bet is to hold on to it — what’s actually inside the Flask is an extremely powerful Spectator monster, a variant on Dungeons and Dragons’ iconic Beholder. Upon release, it will attack your enemies, but it will also attack you and your party. You have to be very careful about how you use it to avoid your own allies getting taken out. Here are a few of my favorites.

To Take Out The Zhentarim

The Zhentarim were the ones transporting the Iron Flask in the first place, so it makes sense to give them a taste of their own medicine. In Act 3, the Zhentarim launch an attack on Baldur’s Gate’s Thieves Guild, attempting to take it over for themselves. While you can side with either faction, supporting the Thieves’ Guild is generally more beneficial, as it earns Guildmaster Nine-Fingers Keene as an ally in the final battle. The free-for-all against the Zhentarim takes place inside a two-level warehouse, so you can toss the Flask down from the top level and keep your own units safely away. Just make sure there aren’t any Thieves’ Guild allied NPCs in your way.

To Fight Its Own Kind

I love delicious irony, and that’s why I love to see a Spectator take down other Spectators. There are three instances of Spectator fights in Baldur’s Gate 3:

Let the Iron Flask go in either of those locations and your new Spectator friend will happily turn hostile against its own kind. Guess those Spectators just couldn’t see eye-to-eye, huh?

To Get The Silver Sword Early

The Silver Sword of the Astral Plane is a powerful sword that is one of the best weapons for companion Lae’zel. You normally acquire it in Act 3 after either allying with or killing the githyanki warrior Kith’rak Voss. However, with a little bit of strategy, you can actually acquire this legendary sword as early as Act 1.

Players will encounter Kith’rak Voss in the Mountain Pass when he comes to speak to Lae’zel. He is immune to damage during this scene — but only damage dealt by players and player-summoned creatures — which the Spectator notably does not count as. Chuck the Flask at Voss, and you’ll have several turns to attempt to steal his Silver Sword (or make him drop it using spells) while he’s engaged in combat with the Spectator.

For A Good Old-Fashioned Ambush

There are several places in Baldur’s Gate 3 where you can cause chaos by sneaking up on foes and tossing the Iron Flask in their direction. Some examples include the goblin scout encampment in the Shadow-Cursed Lands, the nest of Shambling Mounds, and certain areas of Act 1’s Goblin Camp.

Have a sneaky character toss the Flask and sit back and watch the carnage. Just make sure that the character who throws the Flask is strong enough to toss it far enough — one time I tried to drop it on some goblins only for Astarion’s pitiful stats to result in him dropping the Flask right next to himself and immediately becoming a vampire-flavored Spectator snack.