If you found the Necromancy of Thay in Baldur’s Gate 3, you’ll also find Astarion and Gale clamoring like hungry dogs to take a look at the evil book’s pages. But should you give the Necromancy of Thay to Astarion or Gale?
How to Find the Necromancy of Thay
If you haven’t yet found the evil book dubbed the Necromancy of Thay Astarion and Gale so greedily want, You can find it tucked away within the crevices of the Blighted Village. Specifically, you’ll need to go through the shabby wooden doors right next to the Blighted Village waypoint.
The Blight Village is a challenging combat experience that many players will encounter early on in Baldur’s Gate 3. This town acts as a hub for various quest lines and is filled with hidden treasures. To get there, head West from the Emerald Grove until you come across a bridge. Once you reach the bridge, simply cross over it, and you’ll be in the Blight Village.
Inside and to the right is a bar where you’ll find a wooden hatch behind a rack of bottles. Use the hatch and you’ll find yourself in an apothecary’s basement.
Straight ahead from the basement ladder you descended from are three crates stacked against a wall. Behind those crates is a lever, which you’ll need to pass a perception check to notice. Pull the lever and the adjacent bookcase will slide back to reveal a hidden pathway.
Follow the hidden path and it will take you to an enclave filled with caskets. If you disturb the caskets, you’ll end up in a battle against some undead, which you may want to engage with for some unique treasure. But for now, head up the wooden steps to the right of the entrance and approach an Ornate Mirror.
“Open” the Ornate Mirror and a face will appear telling you to speak your name. You’ll want to answer the mirror using the following dialogue options:
The wording in your dialogue options may slightly differ depending on your character and if you read a book or two in the previous room, but the correct dialogue choices will all convey the same sentiment and information. You can also attempt to use Intimidation to force the mirror open.
- “Tell it your name.”
- “Yes, an ally! I’m an ally of your master’s.”
- “A foul lich. May he die a thousand more deaths.”
- “To clean a wound.”
- “I’d look for whatever spell will rid me of this worm in my head.”
If you answered all of the mirror’s questions correctly, it will swing open to allow entry into a laboratory. On the wall to the left of the descending stone steps from the entryway, you’ll see an iron gate. The Necromancy of Thay is behind the gate.
In front of the iron gate is a trap on the floor you’ll want to first disarm by succeeding a DC10 Sleight of Hand check. You can then picklock the gate open by succeeding a DC15 Sleight of Hand check, or grab a Rusted Key lying on a shelf in a room on the opposite end of the iron gate to unlock it.
You can now approach the Necromancy of Thay, but you’ll first want to disarm the trap marble plate it’s lying on by succeeding a DC10 Sleight of Hand check. Alternatively, you can skip all the traps and picklocking by using Mage Hand to simply grab the Necromancy of Thay through the gate’s bars.
But note that the Necromancy of Thay won’t open without it’s key: the Dark Amethyst. You’ll find the Dark Amethyst not too far from where you are in the Blighted Village. Head over to the well in the center of the village, and use it to descend down into the Whispering Depths. The Dark Amethyst will be in the back of the cave below the Matriarch Phase Spider. Good luck with that.
Should You Give Astarion or Gale the Necromancy of Thay in Baldur’s Gate 3 – Consequences and Benefits
So, getting the Necromancy of Thay is no easy task. But, once you slap that Dark Amethyst in that gaping maw, you’ll get the chance to open the tome and receive two benefits… or a permanent skill reduction. You can open the Necromancy of Thay yourself and receive its benefits, or you can give the Necromancy of Thay to Astarion or Gale and let them reap the rewards.
Giving the Necromancy of Thay to Astarion in Baldur’s Gate 3
If you opt to give Astarion the Necromancy of Thay when you first obtain it, you’ll gain Astarion approval points. If Gale is in your party while you do this, Gale will disapprove.
If you’re trying to romance Astarion, giving the tome to him will also help you in your quest for pale elf seduction.
After giving the Necromancy of Thay to Astarion, Astarion will flip through a few pages before closing the book and putting it in his back pocket. Later, you’ll find Astarion shouting at the book in a camp cutscene. Turns out the book is full of spirits, and they’re endlessly whispering to Astarion. But Astarion can’t fully solve the book himself.
Astarion only receives the best benefits from the tome if he reads it through direct player control. To have Astarion read it, open his inventory then double click on the Necromancy of Thay.
Once Astarion begins reading the Necromancy of Thay, you’ll need to pass three skill checks to receive the best benefits.
Those benefits are the passive feature “Forbidden Knowledge” which will give the possessor (Astarion) a +1 bonus to Wisdom Saving Throws and Ability Checks. The second benefit, which can only be obtained through the Sorcerous Sundries Vault in Act 3, is the ability to cast Danse Macabre. This spell allows Astarion to summon five undead each long rest. It’s a very good summon spell.
However, if he fails any of the saving throws, he’ll get a permanent -1 to his Wisdom. So, maybe stock up on Inspiration Points before turning those pages.
Otherwise, there are no significant benefits or changes to having Astarion read the Necromancy of Thay. There is one line of unique dialogue, which has Astarion “drink in the darkness.” But each of the characters that read it (Tav, Gale, Astarion) have their own unique lines.
Tav by far has the most lines.
Giving Gale the Necromancy of Thay in Baldur’s Gate 3
Gale, we believe, takes the least priority when it comes to the Necromancy of Thay, at least in terms of the narrative. If you have both Astarion and Gale in your party, he won’t even mention it. You won’t even know he’s upset until you or Astarion read the tome.
But like Astarion, he can read it and receive the benefits. Those benefits are the passive feature, “Forbidden Knowledge” which will give the possessor a +1 bonus to Wisdom Saving Throws and Ability Checks. The second benefit, which can only be obtained in Act 3, is the ability to cast Danse Macabre. This spell allows Gale to summon five undead each long rest.
However, failing any of the three saving throws will have Gale take a permanent -1 to his Wisdom. It’s a high price to pay.
Beyond this, Gale doesn’t see any other unique interactions beyond a single line, which comments on how he feels about the Weave.
You can also choose to have Gale consume the Necromancy of Thay as a magical item to satisfy his nuclear ailment. This will destroy the book outright, and you won’t receive any benefits from it. However, you will gain quite a bit of approval from Gale.
Who Should Read the Necromancy of Thay in Baldur’s Gate 3
You should give the Necromancy of Thay to whatever character best benefits from it, and the character you feel confident will be part of the majority of your Act 3 gameplay. For example, if you know you’ll be romancing Astarion, having Danse Macabre on him isn’t a bad idea. And he’ll be much more easily seduced.
We’re Tav-centric and do all the dialogue options, so we opted to have our Tav read the tome. Forbidden Knowledge is surprisingly helpful. And while you won’t get Danse Macabre until you find the wizard Lorroakan and his vault, it’s a very good spell for the end game. And if you want to terrorize random civilians.
Necromancy of Thay Quest Rewards
Spoilers ahead. If you successfully manage to complete the Necromancy of Thay quest all the way to Act III, you will be rewarded handsomely with the Danse Macabre spell. This spell allows you to summon four ghouls in battle per long rest. This is an incredibly powerful summoning spell and can make the rest of the game a cakewalk.
You will need to read The Tharchiate Codex in the basement of Sorcerous Sundries. Afterward, you need to read the Necromancy of Thay once more and pass a 20 Wisdom skill check. Once that is done, the spell is yours.
So will you give the Necromancy of Thay to Astarion? Or will you give the Necromancy of Thay to Gale? Or perhaps you’ll just read it yourself. Either way, make sure you eventually deal with the wizard Lorroakan to make full use of the tome.
