In the game Baldur’s Gate 3, there’s a spooky book called The Necromancy of Thay. You have a choice: read it, use its dark power, or get rid of it. But before you make that choice, you must find a special key for the book. This key is a Dark Amethyst, a type of gem. It’s hidden in a place called the Whispering Depths and guarded by a big spider boss named Phase Spider Matriarch. This spider is really scary and you have to defeat it in a tough battle.
We’re here to help you understand all about the Necromancy of Thay in Baldur’s Gate 3. We’ll tell you where to get the key, and we’ll also help you decide whether you should read the book or get rid of it. We’ll even guide you on how to understand the book better by finding another special book at a place called Sorcerous Sundries in the Lower City of Baldur’s Gate.
How to get the key for the Necromancy of Thay in Baldur’s Gate 3
To open the Necromancy of Thay book in Baldur’s Gate 3, you need a key called the Dark Amethyst. This key is like a cursed gemstone, and you have to put it into the book’s mouth to unlock it. The Necromancy book itself is under the Blighted Village in Baldur’s Gate 3, in a place called a cellar. But the Dark Amethyst key is somewhere else, not too far away. To find it, you have to do the following:
- Go back up to the surface and return to the center of the Blighted Village.
- Approach the old well in the town square. Keep interacting with it until you can choose to climb down into it.
- You will go down into a place called the Whispering Depths. It’s a really scary set of caves, full of monsters known as Phase Spiders.
- You can try to sneak past the spiders or fight them – it’s up to you. Your goal is to get to the lowest and farthest point in the Depths. There, you’ll come across a boss called the Phase Spider Matriarch.
- You can either defeat the boss in a fight or try to sneak past it. If it has smaller spider minions, you’ll need to deal with them too. On the western side of the big hole where the Matriarch moves around, you’ll find some bones. And in those bones, you’ll see the Dark Amethyst – it will be shining in a purple glow.
Once you have both the Dark Amethyst and the Necromancy of Thay in your possession, you can try to open the book again. To do this, select the old tome and choose “Read (Your Character’s Name)” from the menu. But here’s the big question: should you actually do it?
Should you read the Necromancy of Thay, or should you destroy it?
At this point, you have two options. You can open the book and read what’s inside, or you can find a way to get rid of it. Right now, our suggestion is to read it. Destroying it doesn’t really give you much of a reward, at least as of the time of writing. However, please note that this advice might change when the full game is released. Now, let’s talk about what happens with each choice.
Reading the Necromancy of Thay
When you open the book and start reading, you’ll face some challenges. You’ll need to make Wisdom Saving Throws that get harder as you read on. The toughest challenge requires you to beat a difficulty level called DC 20. If you manage to beat this challenge, the book will “bless” you. This blessing lets you use the Speak With Dead spell without using up one of your spell slots. Speak With Dead is a cool spell in Baldur’s Gate 3 that lets you talk to dead people. But don’t worry, you can also get this spell in other ways in the game, like finding an amulet in the Dank Crypt that lets you use the spell on dead bodies.
If you care about the relationships in Baldur’s Gate 3, here’s something to note: Astarion will be happy if you try to read the book, but Gale won’t like it. However, Gale’s opinion can change if you manage to succeed in all the Wisdom Saving Throws.
After you’re done reading, the book will close and you won’t be able to open it again. But some hints in the text and conversations suggest that there might be more hidden in the book. We’re still exploring to figure out what happens next. Considering the lore of Dungeons & Dragons, where characters can become powerful undead called Liches, there might be some big and serious consequences to your choice.
Destroying the Necromancy of Thay
If you don’t want to keep such a dark and evil thing around, you can try to destroy the Necromancy of Thay. But let me tell you, it’s not as simple as just smashing it. When you look closely at the book, you’ll see that it can’t be damaged by regular attacks – only Radiant attacks can hurt it, and those are not very common.
Here’s the best way to go about it: Get a character who can use Radiant attacks, like Shadowheart (or any cleric). Have them use a spell called Guiding Bolt in the book. You can’t use a spell called Sacred Flame because that one doesn’t work on objects that aren’t alive or moving. So, drop the book from your inventory and have the character cast the spell on it. This will completely destroy the book forever and you’ll earn a bit of experience for your group. This choice will also make Lae’zel, one of your companions, happy and approve of your decision, which is pretty rare.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Necromancy of Thay: Tharciate Codex
If you want to keep reading about the Necromancy of Thay, you need to find a special book called the Tharchiate Codex. It’s in a place called Sorcerous Sundries in the Lower City of Baldur’s Gate. To get it, you have to go through a portal and explore Elminster’s vault beneath the librarian’s office.
Reading the Tharchiate Codex will curse you at first – your constitution will be debuffed. But here’s the cool part: if one of your companions knows a spell called Remove Curse, they can trade the curse for a nice bonus. This bonus is called Tharchiate Vigor, and it gives the character 20 extra hit points every time they rest for a long period.
After you read the last pages of the Necromancy of Thay while having the Tharchiate Codex, you’ll gain a new ability. This ability is called Danse Macabre, and it lets you bring back 6 ghouls to life after every short rest. This is a really powerful addition to your group and can give you an edge in battles.
