Blindingly Obvious Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Quest
Suggested level: 28
Group: Main Quests
Location: Novigrad
You have to finish this quest to accomplish one of the objectives of the "Final Preparations" quest. To start this quest, talk to Triss, who you will find in one of the rooms on the first floor of the tavern.
You'll find out from her that Zoltan's parrot is actually Philippa. Unfortunately Zoltan has recently lost her in a game of gwent and now you have to use hydromancy to find out where she is now.
Triss returned to Novigrad after leaving Kaer Morhen with one goal - to find Philippa Eilhart. Soon after she made a shocking discovery - Philippa had been right under our very noses the whole time! Turned into an owl by some malicious spell, she then wound up in the hands of Zoltan, who, ignorant of his new pet's true identity, strived to make of her a replacement for his former foul-mouthed parrot companion, Field Marshal Duda.
Quest stages of Blindingly Obvious
1. Go to the fountain near the Passiflora.
You can go there right away with Triss or join her a little later. You will find her next to the fountain at the back of the brothel.
Triss will start the ritual and after a while you will find out that Philippa is currently in the baths managed by Dijkstra.
Triss was not the only one to uncover Philippa's whereabouts, however. Coming to that conclusion slightly before her was Dijkstra, who shared with Philippa with the strongest bond possible - love turned to seething hate. The one-time spy and current mafia boss had captured Philippa and imprisoned her in his bathhouse. Triss and Geralt knew they must hurry - it was clear Dijkstra had not gone through all this trouble to chat with Philippa about old times. Vengeance was more likely on his agenda, vengeance for breaking his heart and daring to plot against him.
2. Go to the bathhouse with Triss. / Look for Philippa in the bathhouse.
When you get to the bathhouse, you'll hear an explosion. When you go inside, you will see that Philippa has freed herself, hid in the back of the bathhouse and doesn't allow anyone to come closer.
3. Catch Philippa Eilhart. / Sneak up on Philippa without making too much noise.
Follow Philippa into the bathhouse. The sorceress has taken control of the minds of three Dijksta's henchmen (26) so you will have to defeat them.
Then, through a hole in the floor of one of the baths, go down to the sewers, which you have already visited once by doing the "Count Reuven's Treasure" quest. There you will come across another two opponents over which Philippa has taken control and finally you will reach Bart (27). You can just kill the troll, but you can also convince him that you want to help the sorceress, and then he'll let you move on without fighting him.
Going further, you will finally reach the room where Philippa is located, and then she will bring up another obstacle in your path to her - the fire elemental. When fighting it, use the Aard sign to remove the aura from the elemental that causes you to take damage when you come closer to it.
When the elemental is down, climb up to the catwalk around the room and walk towards Philippa. When you get to her, Geralt will overpower her and then calm her down, and you'll return to the bathhouse together. Then Dijkstra will come your way. He will want to stop Philippa and you will have to convince him to let you leave the bathhouse. You can do this in two ways. You can offer him information about what Emhyr's plans are or use violence and break his leg again.
If you have completed "A Deadly Plot" quest, and you tell Dijkstra about the Emperor's plans, he will want to meet you in private and you will receive the "Reason of State" quest.
Then Triss will join you and teleport herself and Philippa out, then the quest will be over.
It is frightening to think how this story might have ended had Triss and Geralt not arrived at the bathhouse in the nick of time. A dimeritium collar had kept Philippa trapped in owl form, but somehow she had managed to free herself from it, revert to her true self, overcome her guards and start tearing the bathhouse apart. Dodging her furious blasts, Geralt was finally able to corner her and convince her he and Triss did not want to harm her - in fact, they needed her help. Though Dijkstra was vehemently opposed to letting the sorceress go, he ultimately realized resistance was futile in the face of Geralt's ironclad logic. And so Philippa Eilhart regained her freedom and joined the offensive against Eredin and his Red Riders.
After completing Blindingly Obvious you will get or will be able to get Reason of State (1 of 4).