If you’ve been playing through Baldur’s Gate 3, you’ll have noticed just how much there is to explore and discover. But this also means that you’ve probably become stuck more than once.
When you first pick up the Necromancy of Thay, you are likely unable to open this priceless tome. What you need is the Dark Amethyst crystal. This guide covers where to find it and what to do once you are able to open the book.
How to Find Dark Amethyst in BG3
Players can begin their search for the Dark Amethyst in two ways, either by investigating the well in the Blighted Village, or by finding the weak wall inside the Forge building. Each path takes you to the eastern side of the Whispering Depths, with the latter gaining you the high ground.
Whichever path you’ve chosen to take, the Amethyst lies to the far west on the lower level and there are challenges ahead. The Whispering Depths are infested with Phase Spiders and their Matriarch who guards the Amethyst’s location.
At lower levels, this fight might prove too much for your party, and if that’s the case, sneaking a character under the nest to steal the Amethyst is the safest option. It’s recommended to enter through the well if you plan on taking this route.
If you choose to fight instead, you’ll be facing several phase spiders who will teleport between locations and attack from range. For this reason, your melee characters may have trouble engaging the enemy.
The best bet is to use them to tank damage while finding a spot to stand that will force the Phase Spiders and the Matriarch to approach closer than they’d like.
The Matriarch will also summon multiple hatches of smaller spiders from the eggs scattered around the map, but you can handle these easily or destroy the egg sacs before this happens.
Once the spiders have been defeated you can safely claim the Amethyst from the area and unlock a waypoint to the south.
Reading the Necromancy of Thay
If you have both the Dark Amethyst and the Necromancy of Thay, you can right-click the book and read with whatever character you’d like to receive the rewards.
It isn’t as simple as that though, and the book features three progressively more difficult Wisdom checks before unlocking its potential. These checks are 10, 15, and 20 so having high Wisdom and proficiencies are a must for succeeding.
A single failure results in the temporary ‘Whispers of Madness’ to Wisdom ability checks. This can be cured using the Level 3 Cleric spell, ‘Remove Curse.’
However, two failures will impose the ‘Baleful Knowledge’ status, causing a permanent disadvantage on all Wisdom checks for that character throughout the game.
For this reason, it is recommended to close the book after you’ve failed once or use inspiration points to reroll if you have them.
If you manage to get through the three checks, you will be granted;
- +1 bonus to Wisdom saving throws and ability checks
- Permanent Speak with Dead spell slot
DO NOT dump the book after this, as it has only been partially deciphered and can gain you further boons in Act 3.
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