Hub 5: Traductus' Tomb

Traductus' Tomb is one of the three stops you have to make in Hexen, in Hub 5: Necropolis.

Traductus, Grand Patriarch of the Church, stands ready to smite with unholy retribution he who divines the correct path.

Getting There
To get to the Tomb, you must enter the small building at the northern end of Necropolis. Once you clear out the Ettins inside, you will see several raised floor sections. In the upper-right corner, there will be one section with a different color - step on it, and it will bring you down to a small chamber with a switch. Activate the switch and ride back up to find an open doorway in the northern wall. Inside, another switch will send the elevator down into a cavern area full of Brown Chaos Serpents. The floor will be rugged, so you have to be careful not to miss any enemies. There is also a raised window section from which the serpents can shoot at you. On the right hand side, there is a passage which has a switch to lower the elevator near the entrance. The passage leads up to the window area, where you will find Boots of Speed and a switch at the far end. After activating it and coming back down, you will see the opened portal on your left. Before you go, look around for Crystal Vials and Mana if you need them.

The Tomb
Once in the Tomb, you will be in a cavern passage with a fork in the road ahead. The left takes you to the exit portal, and the right takes you to a room full of Brown Chaos Serpents. You will be on a raised section with most of the serpents below you. Be careful, as there is an alcove on the lower right with more serpents lying in wait. A passageway set in an iron-girded wall leads to the Tomb structure itself, and Dark Bishops will be coming out. Going down the hallway, there will be two sets of side alcoves with stained glass windows, each with more Dark Bishops. The second stained glass window on the left is a false wall, and Dark Bishops will come from behind it. You can walk through to find a room with Quartz Flasks. Before you move on, you can find a secret room in the first alcove on the right. The wall on the left of the stained glass window can be opened to reveal a small room with two Dark Bishops and Quartz Flasks.

At the very end of the hallway, an elevator will come down when you step on it, which will not take you back up for now. The two corridors ahead will be filled with numerous Dark Bishops. Fighting through them, you will find that the corridors form a large triangle. At the other end of the triangle, there will be a central wooden door. Behind it will be Dark Bishops and three switches. The left and right switches will open extra rooms on the sides of the triangle where stained glass windows are now. These sections are not necessary, but they do have helpful items - albeit with a number of enemies. If you wish to fight Traductus right away, skip the next two paragraphs.

The left switch opens the western area, which is a large shadowy circular room with a curving staircase. Fighting through the Dark Bishops, you will reach a Falcon Shield at the top of the steps. Once you take it, three chambers will open in the wall full of Dark Bishops, and a wall will come up forcing you to go back down the steps. Fight your way past them carefully so you don't get surrounded. The first chamber will have Discs of Repulsion, the second Quartz Flasks, and the third Crystal Vials.

The right switch opens the eastern area, where a large staircase will descend. You will enter a room with more of the typical Dark Bishops, along with Crystal Vials. The passage ahead contains Ettins - after killing them, you'll loop back to the first room and see another open passage. Here you will find two chambers guarded by Ettins - one with an Icon of the Defender, another with Fléchettes, leading you back to the staircase.

Battle with Traductus
The center switch opens up the main triangle. One of the walls will open directly opposite the switches. Enter and prepare to do battle with Traductus, the Cleric boss, who will rise up in the center. He will use the Wraithverge, firing ghosts that do lots of damage. The best strategy is to use Discs of Repulsion to repel the ghosts, which will then attack Traductus. You can also use an Icon of the Defender and attack him - the Mage has the special advantage here of being able to reflect ghosts with an active Icon of the Defender.

Once Traductus has been defeated, you can take the Holy Relic, one of the three artifacts you need to enter the final level, Dark Crucible. The elevator you came down on, at the southern point of the triangle, will now be activated. From here you can make your way back to the cavern - if you can't jump up to the raised area, you can go up a narrow set of stairs at the far right end. From here, go down the passage to the exit portal.