Skyrim:Potema's Catacombs

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Barrow: Potema's Catacombs (view on map)
# of Zones	3
Dungeon	Yes
Respawn Time	Never (storage is safe)
Level	Min: 6
Occupants
Vampires,Draugr
Console Location Code(s)
PotemasCatacombs01, PotemasCatacombs02, PotemasCatacombs03
Region
Haafingar
Location
Beneath the Temple of the Divines
Special Features
# of Alchemy Labs	1
# of Grindstones	1
# of Cooking Pots/Spits	1

Potema's Catacombs is a series of catacombs designed specifically for the quest The Wolf Queen Awakened, containing the spirit of Queen Potema, a few, powerful, vampire casters, and her many Draugr minions.

Quick Walkthrough

Enter the place, watch for the vampire casters and the sneaky undead, and make your way through the mostly linear dungeon. Watch for traps, especially some fired floor tiles and a pressure pad, both early on. Solve the two puzzles, avoid the stone traps, and make your way through the boss' minions. Behind the boss chambers lie some treasure, a few more undead, and a door to the open world.

Detailed Walkthrough

Preparation

Due to the presence of many casters, it would be a good idea to come in with either sufficient ranged damage, some magical resistance, or a fast gap closer. Having all three levels of Unrelenting Force is very advantageous. Some shock resistance for the final battle is also recommended.

First Zone - Potema's Catacombs

You will enter, and Potema will talk to you, trying to kill you and raise you as a zombie. The first zone has a few traps in it, starting with a fired floor tile. You'll encounter some draugr ahead, but none too hard. You'll come across a vampire pretty soon, and all vampires in this dungeon are casters. When you hit a watery portion of the area, some draugr will pop out from the water to attack you. Exiting this area is a pressure-plate trap with a swing door. You'll find another vampire caster before reaching a puzzle. Just pull the lever to get the disk rotating, and when the doorway appears and the gate opens, pull the lever again. You will make your way through to the end.

Second Zone - Potema's Refuge

Kill some more draugr and vampires, and when you get to the second puzzle, treat it the same as the last. There are three disks this time, all already rotating, and you simply need to pull the right lever at the right time to open all of them. If you feel these are lined up correctly and still can't get through, shout at them (even a disarm will do) and walk through. After that, are two fire pedestal traps side-by-side, so take em out with some arrows. Head on through, finally reaching a very large room with a grate in the middle. There is a draugr deathlord and a vampire waiting for you. Kill them both, looting the third zone's key from either the vampire or from the right throne, and head through to the final zone.

Final Zone - Potema's Sanctum

Pretty short here, but when you get to a room filled with draugr corpses, Potema will again speak to you. After she's done, she will raise some of the bodies and attack you. You can't hurt them while being resurrected, so just wait to kill them all. As you make you way to the boss room, which has an iron door in front of it, watch your right for some draugr alcoves, and in one of them, some resist shock potions. If you don't already have some shock resistance, these would be good. Head on in, where a big, glowy, electricy, thing will be waiting for you.

Boss

Here, you can't hurt Potema at all. Instead, when you reach the center, she will speak to you and then send the entire room full of draugr at you. At the same time, the glowing mass will shoot electricity at you (thus, the need for shock resistance) that won't directly target you, but will target large swaths of the room with a beam. Getting caught in one of them will, of course, drain your magicka quickly, and as the fight drags on through three rounds of draugr, can build up damage. Kill the draugr as fast as possible, using the terrain to avoid the lightning, and when you have killed everything, the lightning will stop and the door to Potema herself will open. Head on through and kill her ghost, much less threatening than her minions, taking her remains as you leave.

End

There are still a few draugr left towards the exit, as well as some loot. Don't forget to grab the chest of stuff. You'll reach a door that leads to the open world. Upon exiting the door to Skyrim turn around and notice a chest on the ground on your right and a weapon leaning on the wall to the left.

Related Quests

• Culling the Beast^DG: Kill the thin-blooded vampires. (radiant)
• The Wolf Queen Awakened: Potema must be stopped.

Maps

• 

  Potema's Catacombs or Seclude Chamber map

• 

  Potema's Refuge map

• 

  Potema's Sanctum map

Notes

• Characters with sufficient sneak, archery, and conjuration abilities may enter the room enough to get Potema to speak to them, then retreat to past the entrance (beyond where the lightning reaches). A summoned creature (or companion, for that matter) will attract the attention of the Draugr directly in the middle of the chamber, allowing the player to snipe all the Draugr, some multiple times in succession. After the door to Potema's Remains opens, the player can take a few steps into the room, and execute a ranged sneak attack on the remains (use of Aura Whisper is recommended).