Blindingly Obvious is Triss’s part of Final Preparations in The Witcher 3. The Lodge of Sorceresses needs Philippa Eilhart, and Philippa has spent a long time stuck as an owl. Getting her back means a trip to an old acquaintance who is not keen to give her up.
How to start Blindingly Obvious
Find Triss upstairs at the Chameleon, Dandelion’s inn, during Final Preparations. It is a level 28 quest worth 500 XP.
The owl
Triss is first angry with Geralt for putting Ciri in danger. If you are romancing her, he kisses her once that is settled. Then she explains Philippa’s fate: an ex-lover tricked her into turning into an owl and put a dimeritium ring on her leg so she could not change back. The owl ended up as Zoltan’s pet, sitting downstairs in the Rosemary and Thyme the whole time, until he lost it in a card game. Triss uses one of Philippa’s feathers and a fountain behind the Passiflora to track her down. The trail leads to Dijkstra.
Chaos at the bathhouse
As Geralt and Triss reach the bathhouse, there is an explosion: Philippa has been freed and is out of control. She has Dijkstra’s men under her spell. Geralt knocks them out rather than killing them, or you can just run past them. Even Bart the troll is enchanted. Talk him down or fight him, though he drops nothing. Philippa then summons a fire elemental while blasting at you. Her attacks hit hard but are easy to read, so dodge and focus on the elemental.
Dijkstra blocks the way
Climb the stairs and get behind Philippa to calm her down. On the way out, Dijkstra stands in the doorway. You can fight your way past him, or talk him round by revealing what the emperor is after. For the talking route, pick “I need her” and then “Tell you what the emperor’s after if you let us go”. That starts Reason of State, one of the quests that shapes the ending in the North. Triss then teleports away with Philippa.
Tips
- If you are romancing Triss, the hydromancy also shows an image of a house in Pont Vanis. Triss has been offered a post as adviser to the king of Kovir.
- Geralt may draw his steel sword for the elemental fight. Switch to silver.
- Do not start The Nobleman Statuette or The Soldier Statuette in the middle of this quest, or Triss can get stuck in her old hideout.
- New loot appears in crates where you fight the elemental, even if you have been there before.
