Blindingly Obvious – Witcher 3 Quest

This guide is a walkthrough of a main quest of the Witcher 3 endgame. The guide is composed of a map, map legend, and walkthrough to show readers exactly where to go and what to do to complete the quest.

Map Legend

1 – Chameleon
2 – Hierarch Square
3 – Passiflora
4 – Bart
5 – Phillipa

Exits

1. Bathhouse entrance.
2. Cellar entrance.

Background

You’ll trigger this quest when you talk to Triss at the Chameleon in Novigrad (#1) during the quest Final Preparations.

Walkthrough

Triss will tell you that she’s been searching for the sorceress Philippa Eilhart, and she’ll give you a summary of what she’s learned — that Philippa transformed into an owl, was captured by a mage, was acquired by Zoltan, and then was lost in a card game to a stranger who subsequently disappeared. However, Triss will have one of Philippa’s feathers, which will allow her to divine where the sorceress was taken. So Triss will ask you to meet her at the fountain behind the Passiflora, where she’ll be able to cast the spell.

Note: During your conversation with Triss, you’ll learn the fate of Keira Metz. She’ll either be in a relationship with Lambert, dead by your hands, or dead by Randovid’s hands. For the latter case, you’ll trigger the short quest “A Final Kindness,” where you’ll need to go to Hierarch Square (#2) and take Kiera down from the stake she was impaled on so Triss can bury her. This service will earn you 200 xp.

When you go to the Passiflora fountain (#3), Triss will cast her spell, and you’ll see that Philippa was taken to Sigi Dijkstra’s bathhouse, where Dijkstra probably plans to take revenge against her. If you’re in a relationship with Triss, then you’ll also see a house in Kovir where Triss would like to live with you. No matter how you respond to this invitation, you’ll more or less agree to share the house with her.

When you approach the bathhouse (Exit A), you’ll hear booming noises coming from it, and you’ll see people fleeing away. Then when you go inside, you’ll discover that Philippa has changed back into her human form, and that she’s tossing fireballs around. However, she’ll soon tire of this attack style, and she’ll take control of some of Dijkstra’s henchmen, who will proceed to attack you. Dijkstra will force Triss to stay at the entrance, so you’ll be on your own for the fight. Luckily, it shouldn’t take too much effort to defeat the henchmen.

Phillipa won’t wait around to see how the battle turns out; she’ll flee into Dijkstra’s cellar (Exit B), where she’ll convince the troll Bart (#4) to stop you. If you tell Bart, “I need her,” then you’ll have to fight him. But if you say, “I want to help her,” then you’ll convince him to let you pass.

Either way, eventually you’ll catch up to Philippa (#5). She won’t believe that you’re trying to recruit her, and so she’ll do two things: she’ll summon a fire elemental to attack you, and she’ll start flinging lightning bolts your way. The lightning bolts won’t do a lot of damage, and the game will show you where they’re going to land, so focus on the elemental first and then race up the stairs to confront Philippa. When you reach her, you’ll finally make her see reason, and you’ll lead her out of the cellar.

However, when you get back to the bathhouse, Dijkstra will stop you. He’ll still want to take his revenge against Philippa, so he won’t want you to leave with her. You’ll have two ways to deal with him: you can push him down and break his leg, or you can tell him about Emhyr’s plans for Ciri, which will change his mind and trigger the quest Reason of State. Either way, Triss will show up right afterwards and teleport herself and Philippa away. This will earn you 500 xp.