World of Warcraft: How to Get The Lich’s Spellbook for The Lich’s Identity

The Lich’s Identity is a low-level Horde quest in World of Warcraft Classic that sends you to steal a book from a lich who really does not want visitors. The catch is that the objective is not a kill, a drop, or a rare spawn. It is a clickable pile of books sitting in plain sight on an island in Brightwater Lake, and most players walk past it while fighting mobs they never needed to touch.

Quick answer: Swim to Gunther’s Retreat, the larger island in Brightwater Lake, and click Gunther’s Books on the table next to Gunther Arcanus at roughly 67, 42 in Tirisfal Glades.

The Lich’s Identity requirements and rewards

This is Horde-only content, and it no longer exists in the modern game. It was removed in patch 4.0.3a and now lives exclusively in World of Warcraft Classic and its re-releases.

Detail	Value
Quest level	8 (requires level 5)
Start and end NPC	Bethor Iceshard, Undercity
Objective	The Lich’s Spellbook (1)
Money reward	1 silver 75 copper
Experience	525 (735 on Season of Mastery)
Reputation	+75 Undercity (+150 in Burning Crusade Classic)
Sharable	Yes

The quest is sharable, so one party member can pick it up from Bethor and push it to everyone else before the trip out to the lake.

Where The Lich’s Spellbook is located in Tirisfal Glades

Brightwater Lake is the only large body of water in Tirisfal Glades. It sits northeast of Undercity and east of Brill, southwest of the Scarlet Monastery. The lake holds two islands, and you want the bigger northern one, marked on the map as Gunther’s Retreat.

On that island, a small camp with a campfire sits near a very large tree. Gunther Arcanus, the lich himself, stands beside the fire. The spellbook is on the wooden table right next to him, on his right-hand side, which is your left if you are facing him. Player-reported coordinates land between 67, 42 and 68, 42, so anything in that range puts you on top of it.

Quest Overview — The Tirisfal Glades map showing Brightwater Lake above Brill and Undercity. Shown at 00:09 in PazarGamingGuides’s video. Image: Blizzard Entertainment

How to get The Lich’s Spellbook and turn the quest in

Pick up The Lich’s Identity from Bethor Iceshard in the Magic Quarter of Undercity, at roughly 84, 17. You need The Prodigal Lich finished first, since it is the quest directly before this one.

Leave Undercity and travel northeast to Brightwater Lake. Coming from Brill, head east until the shoreline opens up in front of you.

Swim across to the larger island. Hungering Dead and Shambling Horrors patrol the shore and the slope up to the camp, and they are around level 6 to 8, so they are manageable at quest level but can chain-pull if you linger.

Swimming Across Brightwater Lake — Swimming across Brightwater Lake toward the island, with Hungering Dead and Shambling Horror mobs along the bank. Shown at 00:26 in PazarGamingGuides’s video. Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Run up into Gunther’s Retreat toward the campfire. Nothing here has to die for the quest, so you can simply outrun the undead if you would rather not fight them.

Find Gunther Arcanus at the fire and look at the wooden table beside him, under the big tree. Gunther is a high-level lich, but he does not attack you when you walk up, and he does nothing when you take his book.

Gunther Arcanus' Camp — Gunther Arcanus at his campfire, with the crate holding Gunther's Books next to him. Shown at 00:57 in PazarGamingGuides’s video. Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Right-click the stack of books to open Gunther’s Books and loot The Lich’s Spellbook. Move your cursor slowly over the pile, because the clickable area is small and it highlights only when you are directly on it.

Head back to Undercity and hand the book to Bethor Iceshard in the Magic Quarter. It is a plain round trip with no shortcut, so plan on the run back.

Map and Turn-In Location — The Undercity map marking the turn-in spot for Bethor Iceshard. Shown at 01:27 in PazarGamingGuides’s video. Image: Blizzard Entertainment

The run out and back is the slowest part of the chain, so pair it with other Tirisfal Glades quests rather than doing this one on its own.

How to confirm the quest completed

The moment the loot goes through, the objective tracker ticks over to show The Lich’s Spellbook as acquired, and the unique quest item appears in your bags. If the tracker does not update, you clicked something else in the camp.

On turn-in, Bethor opens the book, reads the glowing pages, and names the lich as Gunther Arcanus, a necromancer he fought alongside before the Plague. You get 1 silver 75 copper, the experience, and the Undercity reputation at the same time.

To check the quest is flagged as done on your character, paste this into chat:

/run print(C_QuestLog.IsQuestFlaggedCompleted(357))

Where The Lich’s Identity sits in the quest chain

The Prodigal Lich (level 8)
The Lich’s Identity (level 8)
Return the Book (level 8)
Proving Allegiance (level 12), alongside Candles of Beckoning and The Dormant Shade (level 10)
The Prodigal Lich Returns (level 12)

Bethor hands you Return the Book straight after, which sends you back to the same island to give the spellbook to Gunther in person. If you are already out at Brightwater Lake and expect to be doing the whole chain, it is worth knowing that second trip is coming.