How to Get the Necromancy of Thay Book in Baldur’s Gate 3

Baldur’s Gate 3 presents players with many puzzles right from the start. A few hours into the game, you’ll find a certain book that will lead you on a somewhat long quest to open it. This is great as this title quickly starts to shine with its quests and secrets. If you’ve encountered the Necromancy of Thay book in Baldur’s Gate 3, we’ll tell you how to open it using the Dark Amethyst item hidden behind one of the game’s first challenging enemies.

To get the Necromancy of Thay book in Baldur’s Gate 3, you’ll need to do a bit of exploring in certain areas of the game. Here, we’ll list all the steps you need to follow to find the book:

1. Head to the Blighted Village (follow the corpses along the bridge next to Edwin and his crew, east of the Druid Grove).
2. Head to the second building on the left, the Apothecary’s House; there’s a book on a counter that will begin the “Search the Cellar” quest.
3. The hatch to the cellar is behind the counter; enter it, and you’ll reach the cellar.
4. Stick to the left wall of the cellar, and after passing an Ability Check, you’ll see a hidden lever.
5. Pull the lever to open the bookcase, leading you to a secret passage full of coffins and a mirror on the right wall.
6. If you search the coffin, prepare for a fight against several skeletons.
7. After defeating them, go to the mirror on the right wall and talk to it. You can convince it you’re a friend of the Apothecary or pass an Intimidation Check to get it to open.
8. When the mirror opens, you’ll see a closed gate that can’t be lockpicked. Walk across from the locked gate to find the rusty key on the shelves of the other room.
9. Bring back the rusty key to open the gate. Be sure to do this with someone who can disarm traps, as there are many once you open the gate.
10. Grab the book and keep it for yourself or give it to one of your companions.

If you want to follow the dark path and learn useful Necromancy Spells instead of destroying the book, you’ll need to unlock it first. To unlock the Necromancy of Thay book in Baldur’s Gate 3, you’ll need the Dark Amethyst. This item can be quite challenging to get, especially if you’re level 2 or 3 and playing on Balanced difficulty or above. Yet, if you want to get it, we’ll list how you can do it.

How To Find the Dark Amethyst in Baldur’s Gate 3

To find the Dark Amethyst in Baldur’s Gate 3, you’ll visit another place inside the Blighted Village. This time, though, instead of visiting a house, you’ll be visiting the Whispering Depths. Here’s how to access this area and retrieve the Dark Amethyst:

1. Head to the well of the Blighted Village and enter the Whispering Depths. (Alternatively, you can reach the Whispering Depths via the hidden walls inside the Blacksmith’s House, which is the building across from the Apothecary’s House).
2. Once inside the Whispering Depths, fight the first wave of phase spiders. 
3. Move to the nest of the Phase Spider Matriarch, which is next to where you fought the first wave of spiders.
4. The Dark Amethyst gem is below the nest next to a pillar. You can identify it from afar by pressing Left-ALT to highlight the object.
5. You can sneak your way to the item or beat the Phase Spider Matriarch by following our guide on how to beat the boss.

Who Should Get the Necromancy of Thay Book?

There are many ways to use the Necromancy of Thay once you have unlocked it with Dark Amethyst in Baldur’s Gate 3. Here are your options:

• Give it to Gale to help his “condition.”
• Give it to Astarion to progress his story.
• Destroy it with Radiant Damage (Clerics and Paladins have spells with this effect).
• Read it to obtain the Speak with the Dead Spell (must pass several Wisdom Saving Throws).

Gale and Astarion are the recommended characters to receive the Necromancy of Thay book. Both have interesting dialogues, but if you give it to one, the other character will disapprove. So, give it to your favorite one so you can build rapport.

The Necromancy of Thay book in Baldur’s Gate 3 is great if you want an extra spell or to see how your companions react. Whatever you do, remember everything has consequences, and you should be careful about it. Yet, in the end, this game’s all about experimenting, so don’t be afraid to try all the different outcomes of this quest.