Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Book of Thay

Not sure if this is supposed to work this way but let me give you the two scenarios. Both assume book of thay and amethyst is found and assembled.

1) put the book away , no delving into the secrets. Gale accepts it and ingests it.

2) read the book until you cant read it anymore(aka the book slams shut). Cant give the book to gale then.(BTW, if you go back then and try to open the book, it says you cant)

With two , my warlock did not get any new spells, wasnt hitting any harder than normal.

Is this correct or should i bug this? Not sure what to make of this book.


Thanks in advance

If I remember correctly...if you successfully read the book to the end, you should have a new spell ability. If you already had that spell, then I think it would appear that nothing has changed.

Someone correct me though if I'm misremembering.

Yes, search your hotbar properly. Sometimes you have to drag it to the left so you can see the hidden spells when the hotbar is already full. The hotbar can be quite tricky sometimes.... I once had the problem that I had " Speak with Dead" from the amulet. Then I got it additionally from the Book of Necromancy by Thay. When I used it, the spell granted from the book was always grayed out to me because it is only available once per LR. The spell from the amulet is permanently available. I confused the two because only one source was displayed to me.... I thought it was a bug at first, until I had to search a bit in the hotbar UI.... I hope this helps.

That helps , thanks. So i am guessing if you read the book, it is no longer of any use to anyone, especially Gale?

Yes, I believe so. If you give the book to Astarion, it at least used to stay in his inventory so you can take control of him and read it so he gets the Speak with Dead spell, though I’ve not tried this for at least a couple of patches. If you give the book to Gale in dialogue, I believe, you can’t see it in his inventory so won’t get a chance to have him read it before he consumes it next time at camp (though the status of his personal quest probably could change that).

About Astarion, you don't need to manually have him learn the spell. "Just" wait for the cutscene where he reads it. In my case, it usually triggers after exiting the building and doing a long rest.

Ah! Good to know. Thanks.

I wonder if the "Speak with Dead" Spell is the only spell we will get from this book. It would make sense to give players two opportunities to learn this spell, in case every party member misses the perception check for the crypt button to find the amulet.

I always give the book to Astarion (Gale already gets the other magical items, loot distribution has to be fair), because I think he has a legitimate interest in it.

When he wonders if it could maybe bring the dead back to life, I thought of the True Ressurection spell.

Could this work for Astarion? He mentions that he became a vampire spawn nearly 200 years ago, so the time limit could be met. I know he is undead, not dead, but he did die nearly 200 years ago. Would we have to kill him first for this spell to work?

I am by no means a rules expert, but could this be one way to free Astarion from Cazador's control, so he does not need to keep the tadpole to achieve this?

(By the way, I love the cutscene when Astarion is reading the book- or arguing with it. And we also have a prove that he does not intent to kill us, it's clearly meant as a joke when he adds "Maybe Shadowheart" (or Gale etc.) 😉)

Im hoping that the book can move the story arcs forward differently for different characters.
Maybe it will unlock new abilities for Astarion and help us engage with Cazador, for example.