How to find and use Dark Amethyst in Baldur’s Gate 3 – guide

While playing In Baldur’s Gate 3 you’ll encounter a variety of items, from weapons and armor to mysterious artifacts and even curiosities used in alchemy. Among them is the strange and sinister Dark Amethyst, which can be obtained during the first act of the game. In this guide we will tell you where and how to find it.

In Baldur’s Gate 3 Dark Amethyst can be obtained during the first act of the game and plays an important role in the quest “Search the Cellar”. To start the quest you have to go to Whispering depths – an underground cave, which you can reach by going down a pit or through a hole in the blacksmith’s house, both in Extinct village.

Once in the Whispering Depths you will find the skeleton at approximately “X:-493, Y:-367”. This skeleton has a journal that you can read to start the quest “Necromancy of Thay”.

However, before you start looking for the basement mentioned in this journal entry, you will need Dark Amethyst. This item is available from an electrical outlet Phase Spider Matriarch – a boss who lives in the Whispering Depths. To find it, you need to go to the approximate coordinates “X:-553 Y:-356”.

Remark: note the web the boss crawls on. If you destroy it in time, the matriarch will fall and lose a lot of HP.

If you are in the right place, the Dark Amethyst will be on the ground under the nest. You can obtain this item by killing the Phase Spider Matriarch in battle or by using a character with a high “Agility”like a Rogue, to sneak around and steal an item while avoiding a boss fight.

By the way, fighting will most likely turn out to be the most profitable option, because after defeating the Phase Spider Matriarch you can get “Poisoner’s Cloak” – clothing that can increase the power of spells that deal poison damage. True, if you do not plan to equip it on yourself or one of your companions, defeating the boss is still a useful option: for this you will gain valuable experience at the beginning of the game.

Dark Amethyst is a key to the book “Necromancy of Thay” and a quest item for the task “Search the Basement”. This creepy book is hidden in the basement beneath… basement of the pharmacist’s house behind the teleportation point in the extinct village (X:-647 Y:-364).

If you insert the Dark Amethyst into the hole on the cover of the book, you can read the contents of “Necromancy of Thay”. Please note that to complete the book you must pass three Wisdom checks of increasing difficulty, with the final check being a 20. To successfully pass these checks, you’ll need a companion who can cast a spell “Instruction”, which automatically gives you +1d4 to the check if you cast it on yourself. Shadow Heart will help you with this.

If you pass all three checks, you receive a permanent buff that allows you to cast a spell “Talking to the Dead” without using a spell slot. We have described how it works in a separate manual.

It is important to note that reading The Necromancy of Thay did not end there. You return to him again in the third act of Gale’s questline, when you reach Baldur’s Gate Ramazit Towers.