Hogwarts Legacy walkthrough: How to complete 'Mer-ky' Depths side quest

Hogwarts Legacy is packed to the brim with side content. Interacting with professors, students, and other characters can lead to side stories. One such side mission is Mer-ky Depths. Players can initiate this quest by heading to the boathouse. One can interact with a student named Nerida Roberts, who triggers the mission to retrieve an artifact for her.

She requests the protagonist's help due to her inability to swim. The artifact is located in a cave in the vicinity of the boathouse. Players will have to swim to get to the desired location and acquire the artifact for Nerida Roberts. This quest will be available after completing Percival Rackham's Trial primary mission.

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Completing the Mer-ky Depths side mission in Hogwarts Legacy

The world of Hogwarts Legacy is brimming with life, wherein you can frequently indulge in missions requested by fellow students. You can fast travel to the Boathouse Floo Flame to find Nerida Roberts. She will be sitting by the docks all by herself. Interacting with her will initiate a side mission called Mer-ky Depths.

Objective: To get a Mermish artifact for Nerida Roberts from a nearby cave.

Quest Description: Nerida Roberts wishes to retrieve a gift from the merpeople. It lies in a place called Leaky Caves near the boathouse. You must swim towards the area and explore the cave to find the Mermish artifact.

Rewards: Mermish Liason Uniform and 180 experience (XP).

Boathouse Floo Flame is located in the south (Image via WB Games)

You can jump into the water and swim north of the boathouse. There will be an opening between the two hills, so keep heading straight. You will find a swirl in the water as you reach the opening. Interacting with it by holding the square button (on PlayStation 5) will lead you to a cave. You can reach the door by following the quest marker.

You must solve a puzzle to unlock the door. Walk around the cave and notice three cavities in the wall. Each of them has large butterflies. Leading the butterflies to the door is the solution to this puzzle.

Lead Butterflies to this door (Image via WB Games)

Two of these cavities are covered by cobwebs. Cast Incendio to burn the cobwebs. This is only the first part of the puzzle. You must lead the butterflies one by one to the door. You can cast Lumos spell to do so. Refer to this guide to find out when you can unlock Lumos in Hogwarts Legacy.

As soon as you bring the butterflies near the door and undo Lumos, they automatically fly into the slots. The door opens up after you are done leading them to it. You will find a chest here in a small room lit with candles. Retrieve the Mermish artifact from this chest by interacting with it.

Claim the artifact by interacting with the chest (Image via WB Games)

Return to the boathouse by diving back into the swirling water you popped out of in the cave. You will spawn right in front of the docks. A short swim will have you back at the boathouse with Nerida Roberts. Speak to her and hand over the Mermish artifact. This concludes the Mer-ky Depths side mission. You will be rewarded with a Mermish Liaison uniform and 180 XP.

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Hogwarts Legacy allows players to level up their skills in the form of talents like Core, Spell, Dark Arts, Stealth, and Room of Requirement. The game has cohesive gameplay mechanics that present a thematic experience to the players.

One can sink hours in Hogwarts Legacy by personalizing the Room of Requirement, which can be used to set up Potions stations, Potting tables, and other utility items.

Hogwarts Legacy is filled with diverse characters that players can interact with and learn from their backstories. From taming magical beasts to fighting enemies in the vast open world, Potterheads have a significant amount of content to get their money's worth. The positive reviews are always reassuring.