Cat School Gear Guide: The Witcher 3

This Cat School Gear guide will walk you through how to obtain the first set of diagrams and items for the Feline Witcher Gear set. This set is perfect for those who prefer a fast attack style of combat and enjoy a playstyle with high mobility. The Cat School Witcher Gear is a set of light armour that consists of chest armour, trousers, gauntlets, boots, a crossbow and a silver and steel sword. Before you can wear any of it though, you need to first locate a series of crafting diagrams.

Cat School Gear Guide: Upgrade Levels

Cat School Gear begins as basic feline gear and can be upgraded nine times, up to Grandmaster Legendary Level. This does not include the crossbow. Cat School Gear is upgraded as follows:

1. Feline gear (basic) 
2. Enhanced Feline gear 
3. Superior Feline gear
4. Mastercrafted Feline gear
5. Grandmaster Feline gear (Blood and Wine DLC)
6. Legendary Feline gear (With New Game+)
7. Enhanced Legendary Feline gear (With New Game+)
8. Superior Legendary Feline gear (With New Game+)
9. Mastercrafted Legendary Feline gear (With New Game+)
10. Grandmaster Legendary Feline gear (With New Game+)

Cat School Gear Guide: Finding The Diagrams

The initial Cat School Gear Diagrams can be found in different locations in and around Velen and Novigrad. To start the quest, it’s easiest to head to Blackbough in northern Velen and find the village blacksmith, as well as the merchant who stands near the Fast Travel post. You’ll need to buy two maps from these sellers, namely Adalbert Kermith’s First Map and Adalbert Kermith’s Second Map.

To get started with the first part of the Cat School Gear Guide means you’ll need to track down some maps.

While you’re in Velen, travel next to Crow’s Perch, where you’ll find the quartermaster near the Baron’s castle. From him, you can purchase Adalbert Kermith’s Third Map. To complete the set you’ll need to head east to the village of Lindenvale, where you can pick up Adalbert Kermit’s Fourth Map from the blacksmith to complete your set. These maps will kick off the Scavenger Hunt: Cat School Gear questline.

Feline Sword Diagrams

For the base level Cat School Gear swords, you’ll need to visit the ruins of Est Tayiar in eastern Velen and also Drahim Castle, which is located to the south of Novigrad.

Cat School Gear Guide: make your way to the ruins at Est Tayiar.

Feline Silver Sword: Est Tayiar

Est Tayiar can be found to the northeast of the Temerian Partisan Camp and is easy to fast travel to once discovered. It’s also where the first quest to find Philippa Eilhart takes place, so you might have been there already. Once there, head towards the crumbled hole in the floor of the ruins and drop down into it.

Cat School Gear Guide: drop down this hole in the tiles to find some tunnels beneath the ruins.

Switch on your Witcher senses and you’ll see a weakened wall to your right. Blast it down with Aard and inside you’ll find the skeletal body of Professor Sigismund Gloger. Loot the body to find the Feline Silver Sword diagram and the Professor’s notes. You’ll need to read these to identify the next sword diagram location of Drahim Castle.

Feline Steel Sword: Drahim Castle

Drahim Castle is a ruined castle building located in the wilds to the south of Novigrad’s Glory Gate. On finding it, you’ll discover a wooden door that can again be blasted through using Aard. Once inside, climb down the ladders right to the bottom. Here you’ll find a chest containing the Feline Steel Sword diagram, as well as Prince Adrien’s journal. Reading the journal will direct you to Est Tayiar and also to the location of the Flying Stag, a shipwreck located near a small island to the southwest of Novigrad.

Feline Crossbow Diagram

The Feline crossbow can be found amidst the wreckage of the Flying Stag. You can sail to it by nabbing a boat from Novigrad’s harbour or by travelling to either of the two small boats docked to the northwest of Ursten.

Cat School Gear Guide: map location for the Flying Stag shipwreck.

Once at the shipwreck, climb aboard and then follow the stairs down to the partially submerged lower deck.

There’s a chest on the left-hand side of the deck, which contains the Feline Crossbow diagram and a Mage’s notes document. Read the Mage’s notes to discover the location of the Temple Isle tunnels and also the Est Tayiar location.

Feline Armor Diagrams

These are a bit more straightforward in that they’re all bundled together in the tunnels under Temple Isle. However, you’ll need to go on a bit of a trek to find them, as well as take out a fair few enemies. First, you’ll need to locate the entryway to the tunnels. This can be a bit tricky as it’s hidden inside the cliff-face on the western side of Temple Isle, where it’s really easy to fall off the edge.

Make your way to the last house on the western edge of the island (make sure you’re on the lowest level of houses) and go around the outside edge. There, you should see a rocky ledge that you can drop down from, onto a grass path below. Follow the path (carefully) as far around as you can and you should come to an opening in the cliff face. Head inside and use your Witcher senses to identify the illusion of a walled-up entrance. Interact with this using the Eye of Nehaleni and you’ll uncover the rest of the tunnels.

Once inside, you can use your Witcher senses to find a weakened wall to your right that you can blast down with Aard. You don’t need to go through here to find the diagrams, but if you want to explore this area, you can do. In the main area of the underground tunnels is a golem that you’ll need to defeat.

You can try and bypass it and head off to the tunnel to the far right of the chamber first, or just kill it straight away so you don’t have to finish it off later. Either way, it’s got to go.

Cat School Gear Guide: clearing the Golem is only half the battle, you’ll need to unlock this door next.

Behind the golem, at the end of the main area and up a small set of steps is the doorway you need to get through. However, you’ll need to find the key first, as it’s locked. Head back to the tunnel that branches off to the right of the main area and follow it. You’ll need to climb up a few rocky ledges until you reach a medium-sized chamber that has a puzzle clue carved into a rock at its entrance.

Inside, you’ll see some creepy-looking statues surrounding a tiled floor area. Each of these statues has a lever next to it. All you need to do to solve this puzzle is flip each lever so that all the statues face inwards. There are some extra items around the edges of this room you can collect if you want to, but they’re not needed for finding the diagrams.

Once the statues are all facing inwards, the tiled floor will open up, revealing a pool of water. Guess where you’re going next? That’s right. Be careful though, because there are three drowners swimming about in there. Kill them and then dive all the way to the bottom, where you can loot the key that will unlock the door back inside the main area of the tunnels. Once you’ve looted this, swim up and head back the way you came until you reach the main area again.

Cat School Gear Guide: enter the laboratory and get ready for a fight.

Now you can unlock the door. Inside, you’ll discover that you’re in a laboratory that has an illuminated panther statue at the end of the far wall. Also there, worshipping in front of it is Mad Kiyan. He’s the Cat School Witcher from the Mage’s notes, who after being kidnapped, tortured and experimented on, has understandably turned into an aggressive, crazed creature who you’re going to have to put down. Really, it’s for the best.

After killing Kiyan, you can loot the Feline armour diagrams from his body. He will drop the Feline armour diagram, the Feline trousers diagram, the Feline boots diagram and the Feline gauntlets diagram. Additionally, you can loot a Moonblade sword from him and the Laboratory notebook document. Reading this will identify the location of the Flying Stag shipwreck.

Cat School Gear: Crafting And Upgrading

You’ll now be able to head to a blacksmith and armourer and have yourself some slinky new Cat School gear made. These diagrams will allow you to craft the base level Feline gear. For the next level up, the Enhanced Feline Gear, you’ll need to make sure you picked up Adalbert Kermith’s First Map and Adalbert Kermith’s Second Map, as they unlock the next stages of the Cat School Gear questline, Scavenger Hunt: Cat School Gear Upgrade Diagrams – Part 1 and Part 2.

Check out the next section of the Cat School Gear Guide to uncover the Enhanced Feline gear diagrams.