Most guides to the Necromancy of Thay end the moment you finish page three — read it, get cursed or don’t, move on. That’s half the book. The other half doesn’t unlock until Act 3, in a vault most players never connect back to that trapped altar in the Blighted Village, and it’s the part that actually decides whether the risk was worth taking. This walkthrough covers both halves: where to find the book, exactly what each Wisdom save costs you, who in your party should be the one turning the pages, and the Act 3 payoff that makes the whole detour worth it.
Verified against Baldur’s Gate 3 patch 4.1.1.7209685 (Hotfix #36, March 2026). The book’s mechanics haven’t changed since launch, but always check in-game tooltips if a future patch touches necromancy spells.
Quick Start: Get and Open the Book in 5 Steps
- Travel to the Blighted Village waypoint, enter the Apothecary (first house on your left) and drop into the cellar hatch behind the counter.
- Grab the Rusted Key from the shelf near the exit lever in the lab’s westernmost room.
- Unlock the barred door, then either disarm the book trap and both gargoyle-statue traps, or cast Mage Hand and pull the book through the bars to skip the traps entirely.
- Head to the Whispering Depths (via the well or the blacksmith’s basement), beat the Phase Spider Matriarch, and take the Dark Amethyst from beyond the hole in the wall.
- Insert the Dark Amethyst into the book from your inventory and select “Open the book” — then decide whether you’re the one turning the pages.
Common mistake: some players assume a failed Wisdom save ruins the book. It doesn’t — a failed page doesn’t end the sequence, and even a cursed reader still keeps Speak with Dead and stays on track for the Act 3 payoff.
Where to Find It: The Blighted Village Cellar
The Necromancy of Thay sits on a trapped altar inside a necromancer’s lab beneath the Blighted Village Apothecary, behind a locked iron gate [1]. You can’t just walk up and grab it — the book itself is trapped, and so is every gargoyle statue flanking the room [1][2].
The Rusted Key that opens the gate isn’t on the book’s altar — it’s on a shelf in the lab’s westernmost room, past the shortcut lever [2]. Once you’re inside, you have two options. Disarm the book’s trap and both statue traps individually (a Perception check each), or skip the risk entirely: cast Mage Hand, reach through the bars, and pull the book out without touching a single trigger [1][2]. For a party without a spare spell slot, swapping in any other book of similar weight before lifting the real one also defuses the pressure plate [1].
Unlocking the Book: The Dark Amethyst
Getting the book into your inventory doesn’t mean you can read it — it’s locked, and the key is a specific gem, not a mechanism you pick. The Dark Amethyst is guarded by a Phase Spider Matriarch in the Whispering Depths, the flooded cave system underneath the Blighted Village, reachable through the village well or a hole in the blacksmith’s basement [1][2]. Clear the matriarch and her brood, cross the large hole in the wall, and the glowing purple amethyst is sitting in plain sight [2].
Bring it back, drop it into the book’s cover slot from your inventory, and select “Open the book.” That’s the moment the real decision starts — because opening it doesn’t mean reading it, and reading it isn’t free.
The Reading Mechanic: Every DC, Every Curse
Turning each page forces a Wisdom saving throw, and the DC climbs with every page. Fail, and you don’t just lose the reward — you pick up a curse that outlasts the encounter [1][3].
| Page | DC | On Success | On Failure |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | Speak with Dead (ritual, no spell slot) | Whispers of Madness — temporary, clears after your next long rest |
| 2 | 15 | No reward, just survival | Baleful Knowledge — permanent disadvantage on Wisdom checks until Remove Curse |
| 3 | 20 | Forbidden Knowledge — permanent +1 to Wisdom checks and saves | Baleful Knowledge (same as above) |
Both curses do the same thing mechanically — disadvantage on Wisdom checks — but only the first failure is forgiving. Fail a second time and you’re carrying it until someone casts Remove Curse on you, which is a cheap, common Abjuration spell most clerics and wizards pick up early [1][3].
Four classes get to substitute a different ability score instead of gambling on raw Wisdom, which most competing guides don’t break out as its own table [1]:
| Class | Substitute Check | DCs |
|---|---|---|
| Bard | Performance | 5 / 10 / 15 |
| Sorcerer | Charisma | 5 / 10 / 15 |
| Warlock | Charisma (page 1 only) | 5 |
| Wizard | Intelligence (page 1 only) | 5 |
| Evil-aligned Cleric | Wisdom (page 3 only) | 10 |
Notice the gap: a Bard or Sorcerer clears every page at DC 5-15 on their strongest stat, while everyone else is stuck rolling a straight Wisdom save that peaks at DC 20. If your Wisdom modifier is mediocre, hand the book to whichever party member owns one of these substitutions before you gamble your own saving throws.
Who Should Read It: A Decision Table, Not One Answer
“Just read it” is the advice you’ll find everywhere, but the right call depends on what you’re optimizing for.
| Player Type | Best Move | Why |
|---|---|---|
| New player, unsure build | Give it to Astarion | Zero save-fail risk, he stashes it permanently, +5 approval, no curse chance for your main character |
| Roleplay / companion-focused | Give it to Astarion (keep playing toward Act 3) | He can later learn the truth about his scars by reading both this book and the Tharchiate Codex — without needing Raphael’s help, a payoff tied to his own romance and companion questline [5] |
| Optimizer chasing Danse Macabre | Read it yourself on a Bard, Sorcerer, or Wizard | Cheapest DCs via ability substitution, guarantees the Act 3 payoff stays available on your strongest caster |
| No-necromancy roleplay | Destroy it | Forfeits every reward, but it’s a clean answer if your character wouldn’t touch a corpse-bound grimoire |
Destroying it isn’t as simple as smashing a prop, either — the book only takes radiant damage, and the act itself summons three hostile Shadows you have to fight on the spot [1][4]. Karlach, Lae’zel, and Wyll each approve of burning it; Astarion and Gale disapprove either way [1]. Reading it yourself carries almost no companion friction — Gale only disapproves if you read purely “for the secrets” rather than committing to the risk [1].
The Payoff Most Guides Never Reach: Act 3 and the Tharchiate Codex
This is where almost every walkthrough stops — at the curse table, or at “read or destroy.” But the book you find in Act 1 isn’t finished with you. Once you’ve turned all three pages, it locks and refuses to open again until Act 3, when a companion piece called the Tharchiate Codex becomes available [1].
The Codex is in the Sorcerous Vault beneath Sorcerous Sundries in the Lower City, reachable through Ramazith’s Tower [5][7]. Reading it lets you reopen the Necromancy of Thay and attempt one more Wisdom save, DC 20, for Danse Macabre — a level 5 necromancy spell that raises four ghouls to fight alongside you, recharging on a long rest, and needs no corpse to cast [5][6]. Worth flagging: one guide site lists this payoff differently — DC 30, six ghouls, recharging on a short rest [7]. bg3.wiki’s spell page and item page agree independently on DC 20 / four ghouls / long rest, and we’re treating that as the more reliable figure since it’s internally consistent across two separate pages rather than a single outlier listing [5][6][7]. Four ghouls that don’t need a corpse to summon and come back every long rest is a real action-economy swing in a fight your party is already struggling with — it’s a genuine payoff for a build committed to necromancy, not just flavor text. If you’re leaning into the school specifically, it’s worth pairing with a dedicated School of Necromancy Wizard build, which stacks its own free-minion subclass feature on top of Danse Macabre’s four ghouls.
Whoever reads the Tharchiate Codex first takes Tharchiate Withering — a curse that drops Constitution by 5 while it’s active [7]. Cast Remove Curse or Greater Restoration on it and the debuff flips into Tharchiate Vigour, a permanent 20 temporary hit points after every long rest [4][5][7]. That’s a real trade: a scary-looking curse that resolves into a genuinely strong passive the moment you have access to a level 5 Abjuration spell, which most parties do by Act 3.
And if you gave the original book to Astarion back in Act 1, this is the payoff for that choice too — reading both books together lets him finally learn what his scars actually mean, without ever having to go through Raphael [5].
FAQ
Should I read the Necromancy of Thay or destroy it?
Read it, unless you’re committed to a no-necromancy roleplay. The downside of a failed save is a curse that a single Remove Curse spell erases; the downside of destroying it is permanent — you lose Speak with Dead, the +1 Wisdom bonus, and the entire Act 3 Danse Macabre line for good just to avoid a fight you’d win against three Shadows anyway.
Who’s the best character to read it?
Gale, specifically. As a Wizard he substitutes Intelligence for every check, and his base Wisdom of 10 is exactly the stat that benefits most from Forbidden Knowledge’s permanent +1. A Bard or Sorcerer works almost as well through their own substitution, but neither gets Gale’s build synergy with the Act 3 necromancy spells — see our full Gale build guide for how Danse Macabre slots into his spell list once you reach Sorcerous Sundries.
What happens if I fail all three saves?
You don’t get locked out of finishing the book — you just stack curses. The first failure gives you the temporary Whispers of Madness, any failure after that gives you the permanent Baleful Knowledge, and both clear with Remove Curse. Nothing about failing stops you from reaching page three.
Do I need to still have the book in Act 3 to get Danse Macabre?
Yes. The Necromancy of Thay stays in your inventory once fully read — it doesn’t get consumed or removed. Hang onto it through Acts 2 and 3, find the Tharchiate Codex in the Sorcerous Vault, and you can reopen it for the final save.
Conclusion
The Necromancy of Thay isn’t a one-scene curiosity — it’s a three-act commitment that starts with a trapped altar in the Blighted Village and ends with a level 5 necromancy spell in the Lower City. Retrieve it carefully, read it on whichever party member owns the cheapest saving throw, and don’t forget it in your inventory once Act 1 ends — the Tharchiate Codex is the only way to cash in the investment. If you want a real-world souvenir of the choice, Penguin Random House released an officially licensed Necromancy of Thay notebook on July 21, 2026 — a $25, 272-page replica with the same amethyst-and-skull cover, built for taking your own campaign notes rather than casting Danse Macabre [8].
Sources
- bg3.wiki — Necromancy of Thay
- TheGamer — How To Find And Open The Ancient Tome
- Game Rant — Effects of the Necromancy of Thay on Different Characters
- ScreenRant — Necromancy of Thay Guide (Read or Destroy?)
- bg3.wiki — The Tharchiate Codex
- bg3.wiki — Danse Macabre
- Game8 — How to Get the Tharchiate Codex
- ScreenRant — Baldur’s Gate 3: The Necromancy of Thay Officially Releases On July 21
For the rest of Act 1, see our BG3 Act 1 guide, and for the full quest hub, check our Baldur’s Gate 3 beginner’s guide.
I've been playing video games for over 20 years, spanning everything from early PC titles to modern open-world games. I started Switchblade Gaming to publish the kind of accurate, well-researched guides I always wanted to find — built on primary sources, tested in-game, and kept up to date after patches. I currently focus on Minecraft and Pokémon GO.