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Discover the ancient secrets for the Necromancy of Thay book in Act 1 of Baldur’s Gate 3 and how to unlock its power!
This guide has been updated for the Patch 7 version of Baldur’s Gate 3.
How to Unlock the Necromancy of Thay in Baldur’s Gate 3
To unlock the Necromancy of Thay book in Baldur’s Gate 3, obtain it from the Apothecary’s Cellar in the Blighted Village, then insert a Dark Amethyst found by slaying the Phase Spider Matriarch. Once completed, you can decide on one of three options with implications in Act 3. Let us explore how to unlock the Necromancy of Thay book in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Steps to unlocking the Necromancy of Thay Book in Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3):
- Locate the Apothecary underneath the Blighted Village
- Bypass the Ornate Mirror with Intimidation or Strength check
- Find the rusted key, disarm traps, and pick up the Necromancy of Thay book
- Select the option “Tuck the book into your pack”
- Now, locate the Dark Amythest to insert into the book found in the Whisper Depths
- Enter the Whisper Depths through the Blighted Village Well
- Kill the Spider Matriarch boss, obtain the Dark Amethyst
- Insert the Dark Amethyst into the book, and select read
- Pass three consecutive wisdom checks, DC 10, 15, and 20
- Obtain Speak with Dead by passing one, and Forbidden Knowledge by passing all 3
That is the basics behind How to Unlock the Necromancy of Thay in Baldur’s Gate 3. Now, we will move on to a detailed explanation of the process with pictures.
How to Get the Necromancy of Thay
To get the Necromancy of Thay in Baldur’s Gate 3 you must find the Apothecary, located beneath a Wooden Hatch in the Blighted Village. The easiest way to access the Apothecary is go to around to the side entrance on the south. Sneak as you come around the corner and you can attack the two goblins outside. Then as you enter, sneak again and attack the three goblins milling around just inside. The building they are standing in front of is the Apothecary. You can go up the stairs and inside without running into the ambush attack from the other goblins.
Once in the basement, look to a perception check to discover a lever. Interact with this lever to unlock a secret location you must pass through to find the Necromany book.
The Ornate Mirror in Baldur’s Gate 3
Next, you will need to bypass an Ornate mirror to access a further section in the basement. While in the initial area, look to grab Shovel, a permanent summon unlock. The simplest way to bypass the Ornate Mirror is through either a 15 DC Intimidation check or a strength check. Additionally, you can read the Dark Journal located in the Apothecary’s Cellar at coordinates X: -667 Y: -318. Use this information to trick the mirror and pass a 15 DC Persuasion check. If you fail these checks, the Ornate Mirror will have a series of questions you must answer correctly.
- Question 1: What th-ink you of the zulkir know as Szass Tam?
- Answer 1: Szass Tam is a foul, wretched creature.
- Question 2: T-tell me, why might one use balsam ointment?
- Answer 2: Answer either of these
- I read a doctor’s journal – he used balsam to clean a wound.
- I use it to clean wounds out in the wilds.
- Balsam disinfects wounds. Surely everyone knows that?
- To clean a wound?
- Question 3:…if you could see an-ything in me, what w-ould it be?
- Answer 3: Answer either of these
- I’d look for whatever spell will rid me of this worm in my head.
- I’d see how to safely keep the powers this mind flayer’s worm has given me.
- Class-specific answers might popup, those are safe as well [BARD]
Location of the Necromancy of Thay
Once past the mirror, you want to locate a Rusted Key and another lever at coordinates X:-686 Y:-361. This will be west on your compass. Move through the door and towards another door with a trap at coordinates X:-648 Y:-362. Here, you can pass a perception check which reveals a platform trap. Disarm the trap, and open the door. You will then discover the book Necromancy of Thay alongside another trap. This must again be disarmed, which allows you to pick up and take the book. Additionally, make sure to obtain the powerful Bracers of Defence.
Interact with the book and select the option “tuck the book into your pack.” You need one more piece to unlock the Necromancy of Thay book and that’s the Dark Amethyst!
Should you Read or Destroy the Necromancy of Thay?
When you first discover the Necromancy of Thay the dialogue options will give you a choice to keep the book to unlock and read later, or to destroy the tome forever. We highly recommend reading the Necromancy of Thay because if your character can successfully pass a couple of dice rolls then you will earn two permanent bonuses. Moreover, you can use the Necromany of Thay again in Act 3 to unlock a brand new spell. The full details on how to accomplish these tasks are explained further on in this guide.
Choosing to destroy the Necromancy of Thay will mean that these bonuses and new spell cannot be unlocked. Furthermore, its destruction will earn you disapproval from Astarion. However, you will receive approval from Lae’zel, Karlach, and Wyll. Finally, upon destroying the book it will spawn three hostile Shadows that you will have to fight.
How to Destroy Necromancy of Thay in BG3?
The Necromancy of Thay can only be destroyed by Radiant Damage in Baldur’s Gate 3. There are several sources of Radiant damage in the game, the easiest of which to use is probably the Guiding Bolt spell. Any Cleric, particularly Shadowheart, will have this Level 1 spell available. Additionally, there are some weapons that deal Radiant damage as well, including The Blood of Lathander.
Furthermore, you can choose to destroy the Necromancy of Thay any time up until you have turned the third page. Once all three pages of the book have been turned, you can no longer open it. Moreover, it cannot be removed from your character inventory. Consequently, this means you cannot throw it on the ground to destroy it.
How to Find the Dark Amethyst in Baldur’s Gate 3
To find the Dark Amethyst used to unlock the Necromancy of Thay, enter the Whispering Depths and kill the Spider Matrach guarding the jewel. There are two entrances to the Whisper Depths located in the center of the Blighted Village; Well and Basement. The well takes you directly to the area you need to destroy the Spider Matriarch. However, she can be a tough fight solo or in Honour mode so be prepared.
Unlock the Necromancy of Thay with the Dark Amethyst
To unlock the Necromancy of Thay and receive its permanent bonus, you need to insert the Dark Amethyst within the book. There are three total outcomes on how to deal with the Necroamncy of Thay book:
- Give to Companion: Both Gale and Astarion want the book, and once given to one of them, it cannot be traded with another character.
- Destroy the Book: You can use Raidant damage to destroy the book and gain approval from Karlach, Lae’zel, and Wyll, but disapproval from Astarion and Gale.
- Read the Book: Pass 3 progressively harder Wisdom check saving throws and unlock speak with dead if you pass at least one, and Forbidden Knowledge if you pass 3.
The logical choice is to read the book to obtain two permanent bonuses. You will need to pass 3 consecutive DC checks starting at 10, 15, and 20. You may want to save to “save scrum” and reload this. Moreover, look to a Cleric or Druid with high Wisdom and proficiency to pass these checks. If you pass all three checks, by turning pages, you will be granted Forbidden Knowledge: +1 Wisdom Saving Throws and Ability checks permanently.
Necromancy of Thay and The Tharchiate Codex in Act 3
During Act 3, you can unlock the full potential of the Necromancy of Thay with The Tharchiate Codex found in the Sorcerous Sundries Vault. To find the Tharchiate Codex, do the following:
- Enter Sorcerous Sundries in Lower Baldur’s Gate
- Move upstairs to Ramazith’s Tower, interact with the Lorroakan projection
- This unlocks four portals, take the blue portal to your left
- Move down the furniture to the left of the portal
- Find the weave button “Vault” and press it
- Move forward to the Restricted Area of the vault which contains 3 doors, Elminster, Silverhand, Karsus
- Move South through the Silverhand door
- Next, move East through the Evocation door
- Now, behind you the Wish door
- Flip the switch, to unlock the vault at the beginning of the restricted area
- Exit the Wish room, and enter the Invulnerability door to return to start
- Enter Elminster Vault and collect the Tharchiate Codex
How to Unlock the Danse Macabre Necromancy Spell
From this point, you can now re-read the Necromancy of that which triggers a DC 20 Wisdom check to unlock its full potential. We suggest using a College of Lore Bard with improved Bardic Inspiration along with Guidance from a Cleric. Once completed, the character who read the book will unlock Danse Macabre level 5 Necromancy Spell permanently.
Once per long rest, you can summon 4 Ghouls to fight for you. Each Ghoul has a chance to Paralyse the target on hit (DC 5 Constitution Save). As you can imagine, this is an ultra-powerful permanent bonus that aids to your builds and power, especially in Act 3.
The Tharchiate Codex: Blessing
Lastly, you gain another bonus called The Tharchiate Codex: Blessing. This is a passive feature that allows you to automatically gain 20 temporary Hit Points after each long rest. That is the final bonus for one of the most powerful items in BG3!
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