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Of all the equipment available to Geralt of Rivia, Witcher Gear sits in a league of its own. Generally considered some of the most coveted items in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the diagrams needed to craft these powerful collections of weapons and armor are spread throughout the game world, just waiting for Geralt to unearth them.
Cat School Gear, which acts as the de facto uniform for the infamous School of the Cat, is one of four sets of Witcher Gear available in the base version of The Witcher 3. The design of this set is based heavily on the game lore, which describes the School of the Cat as focused on speed and precision over power. As such, the armor they use is not heavily fortified, focusing instead on the need for maximum flexibility and range.
The base version of the Cat School gear, as well as all upgrades, can be acquired by completing a series of quests known as Scavenger Hunts. Once discovered, these missions are located in the Treasure Hunts section of the Quests screen. Each Scavenger Hunt will provide Geralt with the diagrams for the following Witcher Gear upgrade paths:
- Base Version
- Enhanced Version
- Superior Version
- Mastercrafted Version
Though not a part of the Scavenger Hunt missions, it is important to note that the Blood & Wine expansion brought with it the new Grandmaster Gear upgrade tier.
Remember! Geralt must possess the Eye of Nehaleni to complete this quest. It is given to Geralt by Keira Metz during the main quest, "Wandering in the Dark."
How To Start Scavenger Hunt: Cat School Gear
There are two methods by which Geralt can initiate the mission to locate the Cat School Witcher Gear:
- Purchase the various maps from merchants
- Stumble upon any single piece while exploring or completing missions
While it is very easy to simply stumble across a piece of Witcher Gear, the best method for quickly accessing the Scavenger Hunt mission is to purchse the corresponding maps from specific merchants throughout the world.
Where to purchase Cat School maps:
Base: This map is available to purchase from the merchant in the small village of Blackbough, located west of Crow's Perch.
Enhanced: This map can be found in Blackbough as well, in the inventory of the blacksmith.
Superior: This map can be purchased from the Quartermaster at Crow's Perch.
The Quartermaster's stall can be found directly across from the armorer Fergus.
Mastercrafted: This map is acquired from the blacksmith in Lindenvale, directly east of Crow's Perch.
Once Geralt has acquired one or all of the maps, locating and reading them in the 'quest items' sections of his inventory will initate the "Scavenger Hunt: Cat School Gear" missions.
Scavenger Hunt: Cat School Gear
Armor Diagrams:
Each piece of the base Cat School armor can be found under the Temple Isle section of Novigrad. Locating the chamber where they are kept is something of a quest in itself, requiring Geralt to follow several steps.
First, Geralt must locate the hidden path that leads to a massive cave system under Temple Isle. Entering the cave requires the Eye of Nehaleni to dispel the illusion that hides it.
Follow the path here.
Geralt must get right up to the cave entrance before it is visible, it is here the Eye of Nehaleni will be used. Once he has entered the cave, he will notice three possible areas of exploration. Watch out for the golem that activates when approaching the center of the chamber. The door straight ahead is where the diagrams are located, unfortunately it is locked upon arrival. The path to the right contains an interesting lore item, but does not need to be explored to complete this mission. The area to the left of the main door is where Geralt must go.
At the end of the path Geralt will find several statues standing in a circle. Some of the statues will be facing away from the center and some will be facing towards it. To solve the puzzle, use the lever next to each statue that is looking away from the center and turn them facing in. Once this is complete, pull the main lever near the opening and watch as the center area is revealed to be a small pool. Dive to the bottom of the pool, but watch out for the drowners. At the bottom of the pool rests the key to the main door.
Return to the main chamber and open the center door. Inside the laboratory waits Mad Kiyan. The former member of the School of the Cat was held captive and experimented upon, turning him into the deranged being Geralt finds. He is capable of using witcher signs, but shouldn't present too much of a challenge. Once he is dead, Geralt can loot the full armor set from his body.
Crossbow:
The Feline Crossbow diagram is located on a partially sunken ship off the western coast of Novigrad/Velen. Go below deck to find the chest.
There is a small island that Geralt can either swim to or reach by boat.
Steel Sword:
The Feline Steel Sword can be found on the very bottom floor of Drahim Castle.
Take the two ladders down and find the chest in the corner of the bottom room.
Silver Sword:
The Feline Silver Sword can be found in the ruins of Est Tayiar
Enter the crack in the ground and drop into the main chamber of the ruins. To the right of where Geralt enters there is a weak spot in the wall that can be opened with Aard. The diagram can be found in this hidden room.
Cat School Gear Upgrades - Part 1
The upgrade paths are technically separate missions found in the Treasure Hunt section of the Quests page. See the opening section for details on obtaining the maps that are required to initiate these quests.
Part 1 Contains:
- Enhanced Feline Armor
- Enhanced Feline Boots
- Enhanced Feline Silver Sword
Enhanced Chest Armor:
The Enhanced Feline Armor is located on the top floor of Aeramas' Abandoned Manor.
Take the stairs to the very top and find the diagram in the brown chest.
Enhanced Boots:
The Enhanced Feline Boots diagram is located in a large cave system near the edge of Velen, east of the village of Toderas. Make sure to follow the map to the right cave entrance as there are several in the area. The correct cave will have a symbol for the School of the Cat carved into the right side of the entrance.
Examining the symbol will reveal the location not far into the cave.
Enhanced Silver Sword:
The Enhanced Feline Silver Sword diagram is located directly inside the Oxenfurt Gate on the eastern edge of Novigrad.
After entering the gate, Geralt can find a ladder hidden behind a bush. Take this ladder up and enter the door it leads to.
Take the stairs to the top floor of the building where Geralt can find the diagram.
The Enhanced Feline Silver Sword diagram marks the end of the first upgrade mission.
Cat School Gear Upgrades - Part 2
Part 2 Contains:
- Enhanced Feline Gauntlets
- Enhanced Feline Trousers
- Enhanced Feline Steel Sword
Enhanced Gauntlets:
The Enhanced Feline Gauntlets diagram is located in the back of the cave at Codger's Quarry east of Oxenfurt. If Geralt has not unlocked the fast travel post, the next nearest is likely Hanged Man's Tree.
The cave is not deep, so it is very hard to miss the chest.
Enhanced Trousers:
The Enhanced Feline Trousers diagram is found in the city of Oxenfurt.
Just behind the blacksmith station on the western edge of the city sits a building Geralt can enter. Walk down the hill past the blacksmith and turn right around the corner.
Geralt can use a secret ladder inside the building to descend into the sewers. Once he's made it down, it is apparent that one of the walls is highlighted when witcher senses are used. Aard won't do the trick here. Look for a single brick highlighted red. Examining this will cause the chamber to open, revealing the chest that holds the diagram.
Enhanced Steel Sword:
The Enhanced Feline Steel Sword is located in a cave northeast of Reardon Manor in eastern Velen.
Once Geralt gets deep enough in the cave he will find Elven ruins. The chest can be found near the spot the ground changes from dirt and rock to tile.
The Enhanced Feline Steel Sword diagram marks the end of Part 2.
Cat School Gear Upgrades - Part 3
Part 3 Contains:
- Superior Feline Armor (Complete)
- Superior Feline Silver Sword
- Superior Feline Steel Sword
Superior Feline Armor (Complete):
The diagrams for the complete Superior Feline Armor set are located at an ancient site near central Velen. Closest fast-travel site appears to be Dragonslayer's Grotto. Look out for the Earth Elemental upon arrival, it will attack when Geralt goes for the chest.
The walls of an old building still stand in the middle of the site. The chest can be found resting in the corner.
Superior Steel Sword:
The diagram for the Enhanced Feline Steel Sword is located in a coastal cave just north of Novigrad. The closet fast-travel marker is Cavern.
Swimming into the cavern reveals that a golem is angrily roaming around inside, apparently waiting for some random witcher to pick a bad time to look for loot. Once Geralt has slayed the monster, look for a large cache of barrels and packages. A brown chest containing the diagram can be found mixed in with everything else.
Superior Silver Sword:
This diagram is located in a monster den just north of the Border Post fast-travel marker.
Once Geralt hs entered the cave, keep going until he reaches a set of wooden steps. Descend these and then turn right. Activate Geralt's witcher senses and a big wall of breakable rocks should be highlighted yellow. Use Aard to blast them away and then retrieve the diagram from the chest.
Cat School Gear Upgrades - Part 4
The Mastercrafted tiers take Geralt to the windy isles of Skellige. Luckily, these represent the final upgrade tiers for the base version of The Witcher 3.
Mastercrafted Silver Sword:
This diagram is located in a monster den just east of Harviken on the isle of Faroe.
Heading east from the village, Geralt will notice a massive hill. If he heads staight up the hill, following the mark on his map, he will discover a cave near the top. Inside the cave will be two breakable walls. The wall on the left contains a small amount of loot, while the wall striaght ahead contains two chests. The diagram can be found in the chest on the right.
Mastercrafted Steel Sword:
The Mastercrafted Feline Steel Sword diagram is located in the ruins of Kaer Gelen on the main isle of Skellige.
Look for the staircase in the ruins and start ascending slowly. Geralt will come across a small section that has been cut out of the wall. This is easy to miss if it's not approached carefully. The chest that contains the diagram can be found here.
Cat School Gear Upgrades - Part 5
Part 5 Contains:
- Mastercrafted Feline Armor (Complete)
Mastercrafted Armor:
The Mastercrafted Feline Armor is kept in a complete set on the isle of Faroe. Like the Superior set, Geralt only has to visit one chest to collect all four pieces of the set. The chest is located in a cave on the southeastern side of the isle.
Once Geralt reaches the two statues that sit in the middle of the cave, he must turn left and activate his witcher senses. The chest is sitting right at the base of a natural stone pillar.
The Mastercrafted Feline Armor set is the final item in the quest chain. As a fully upgraded collection of Witcher Gear, it has a solid chance in the running for the best gear in The Witcher 3. With this completed, Geralt only has to scour the continent three more times to find the Bear, Griffin, and Wolf sets. Oh, joy!
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is currently available for PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC. The next-gen update is coming December 14th for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.