How to unlock Maria’s Cat and outfit in Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania DLC

Dead Cells’ Return to Castlevania DLC is a lavish love letter to the classic Konami series, packed with cameos, references, and fan-favorite weapons. While many of these are what you’d expect, such as Richter and the Cross weapon, others push the boat out into the waters of the obscure, such as an appearance from Symphony of the Night’s Maria Renard and her cat Byakko. You can unlock Maria’s Cat and outfit in the Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania DLC, but doing so requires you to take on a sidequest of sorts. Read on to learn how to do just that.

Related: How to unlock Richter mode and his outfit in Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania.

Finding Maria and her cat

Maria, and her cat, can be found in the first new biome of the DLC, the Castle’s Outskirts. The biome is roughly divided into three sections: the opening section, where the player moves across a horizontal plane; the tower section, where you use a shaky elevator to ascend to higher floors; and the final stretch, a horizontal section with several underground chambers. It’s in the latter section that you’ll find Maria.

Screenshot by PC Invasion

In one of the underground chambers, most likely the second of the three present, you’ll find a locked door, which requires the ‘Ribboned Key’ to open. While Dead Cells has a habit of hiding keys as far from their locks as possible, in this case the Ribboned Key is close at hand, if not easily accessible. To find it, and progress with your mission to unlock Maria’s Cat and Outfit in Dead Cells‘ Return to Castlevania DLC, you’ll need to make your way over to the third underground chamber, where you’ll see a white cat darting about with incredible speed.

Screenshot by PC Invasion

Getting Maria’s Cat and outfit to use in Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania

The cat is holding the Ribboned Key. In order to get it you need to catch the cat by holding RB or the ‘R key’ when standing right next to it. This is easier said than done, given the cat’s sheer speed. It’s a good idea to clear the area of enemies before you attempt to do so in order to minimize distractions. Once you have, try and get close to the cat, then wait for it to dart about a bit before moving again. The cat tends to dart back to places it darts away from, so if you get close, chances are you’ll be able to catch it when it comes back again.

Screenshot by PC Invasion

Once you’ve caught the cat, and claimed the key, the next step in your quest to unlock Maria’s Cat and outfit in Dead Cells’ Return to Castlevania DLC is to make your way back to the locked door and open it. Inside, Maria will be waiting. Chat with her to get some exposition, and she’ll reward your rescue with the Blueprint for the Maria Renard Outfit.

Screenshot by PC Invasion

Before you leave the room, be sure to interact with her cat on the floor by the door. If you do, Maria’s Cat will join you, taking up one of your secondary item slots, and becoming available as a weapon for your future runs. The Cat is a familiar in the vein of the Great Owl of War, and will wander around near you attacking enemies as it sees fit. Although you can summon it back to your shoulder if need be.

Now that you know how to unlock Maria’s Cat and Outfit in Dead Cells’ Return to Castlevania DLC, you can take on Dracula’s hordes with style.