Ratcatchers

Ratcatchers is a quest in which you help various people with rat-related problems, training your cat and gaining access to the Rat Pits.

Starting out
Talk with Gertrude in her house west of Varrock, and request her assistance with your cat. She will tell you to speak to Phingspet and Grimesquit; two old women found just inside the Varrock Sewers, accessed via the manhole on the other side of palace wall (east of the tree patch). They agree to show you tricks for your "fuzzy", but only if you can catch 8 rats with it.

''Note: This stage takes much longer if using a kitten. Be patient, as it can take up to 40 minutes to catch the 8 rats. Hell-rats do count for this.''

To catch a rat, simply right click on your cat while it's not in your inventory, select "Interact" and then "Chase-Vermin". It should be noted that wearing a catspeak amulet during this part causes an extra conversation to commence each time you order them to chase vermin. Thus taking it off will speed this part up considerably.

After the eight rats have been killed, return to the sisters. They will reveal that they can teach you little in the sewers, give you a rat pole, and redirect you to a wealthy business man in Ardougne, named Jimmy Dazzler.

Just the Ticket
Jimmy Dazzler can be found in a house west of the Flying Horse Inn, between the Inn and the Ardougne wall in western East Ardougne. He appears to be in a predicament, as he needs a house cleared of all rats; however, it has to be done in an unofficial capacity, so as not to tarnish his client's reputation. To do this, you will need to sneak around the house unnoticed, whilst avoiding guards, as they think you're an intruder. As the aforementioned house is located in dense woods, he gives you directions, so you don't get lost. Click the directions to proceed to to the garden of the house.

Breaking In
You will need to make sure you don't draw the guard's attention. Keeping run on is advised, and much patience will help greatly. Note that guards will not notice your cat. It is advised, however, to have your cat in your inventory at this point, as this negates the risk of having it get stuck on walls & objects, requiring you to backtrack.

There are three checkpoints; upon reaching these points, any guards who see you will send you back to these points, rather than sending you back to the beginning.

From the start: If your cat gets stuck in the wrong room, you can use the 'Call' button from the summoning menu to get it back into the same room with you.
 * 1) While facing North, wait until the western guards are next to each other at the bridge. From there, run along the south side of the hedges directly to the west. Then run north and hide at the hedges directly west of the mansion.
 * 2) Run to the North-west corner when the guard is behind the hedges.
 * 3) Then run to the hedges directly north of the mansion.
 * 4) From here, run to a nearby trellis and climb up.
 * 5) While on the balcony, move as close as possible to a potted plant on the west and wait for the guards to move away.
 * 6) Ratcatchers hidingspot.png inside the north western bedroom to find the first rat and have your cat kill it.
 * 7) Find your way into the opposite bedroom across the hall and wait (or wait for one guard to be on the balcony and the second have its back appropriately turned to dash to the next room).
 * 8) Be patient, and when one guard disappears from sight walking on the balcony and the other has his back turned, enter the big room (south east with a ladder) with two rats and have your cat kill them.
 * 9) Catching rats.png down the ladder in that room. You will find yourself in a sleeping quarter with two rats. Directly north there is a kitchen with one more rat. You have a little chat with your cat when you've caught all of the rats so don't leave before that.

Once you've caught all 6 rats, return to Jimmy Dazzler. He will praise you for doing his small favour, and will reveal the Ardougne Rat Pits in return. Your player will ask about training larger cats, and will be redirected to Hooknose Jack.

Hooknosed Jack
Hooknosed Jack can be found in the fenced-in area South-east of the Varrock East bank. He will tell you about the rat infestation in a warehouse nearby. You offer to help, to which he accepts, but only because his own kitten is trapped in the building. You now need rat poison; this can be obtained by giving him a vial, clean kwuarm & some red spider eggs. Use the rat poison on four pieces of cheese to create poisoned cheese. Proceed to the warehouse located south of the Dancing Donkey Inn. Go inside and climb to the top. Use your poisoned cheese on the four ratholes (pictured right) to poison them. Make sure you USE the cheese. If you mis-click, however, it will have no penalty, as your character refuses to eat it. Once you have placed the poisoned cheese, return to Jack.

Jack will tell you that his cat, Pox, ate some of the poisoned rats. Go to the Varrock apothecary. He will ask for a cleaned marrentill herb, a unicorn horn dust, and a bucket of milk to make a special cat antipoison. Make sure you click through all the dialogue when he returns it to you, or you will need to make another dose. Then return to Jack to cure Pox.

Hooknosed Jack will then tell you that there is still one big and evil rat left. Return to the top of the warehouse. You'll see the King rat inside a room, but you will quickly find out you cannot reach him.

Pick up your cat and use it on the hole in wall (southern wall of the King rat's room two squares east of the ladder; lower part of the wall) to challenge the King rat. If your cat and the rat are located on the same square, run a bit north to un-trap it.

Heal your cat by using the raw food on the hole in the wall (not the cat itself). Your cat can die in this fight if you do not do so, and you will have to get a new one from Gertrude.

If you happen to lose your cat by going down the ladder whilst your cat or kitten is fighting the king rat, logging out and logging back in should return him to you.

After the King rat is dead, return to Jack. Once again, your character will inquire about larger cats, to which he will redirect you to a dwarf.

Smokin' Joe
Go to Keldagrim. Information on travelling there can be found here. Locate Smokin' Joe in East Keldagrim, east of the pickaxe shop. He will tell you about a nearby rat problem. The only way to get the rats out is to smoke them out, but Smokin' Joe can't do it because he smoked too much smoke.[sic]

Offer to help. Use your weeds on your pot to make a pot of weeds, then light it and use the resulting Smouldering pot on the rat hole to the right of him. Rats will come out the other side, and quickly go back in. (if you have forgotten your pot, you can find one in the upper floor of the nearby bar to the south-west)

Try it again with your cat out (be sure you are wearing the catspeak amulet), and in the third attempt, it will offer to help you, stating you're doing it wrong. Accept and do it again. During a cutscene, your cat will catch the rats. Afterwards, talk to Smokin' Joe again and he will give you access to Keldagrim's rat pits and tell you about The Face.

(NOTE: If your cat disappears after the cutscene is over, logging out and logging back in will again return it to you.) 

The Face and the Felkrash


You can find The Face in Port Sarim, roaming around the manhole (directly north from the fishing shop). She will tell you to talk to Felkrash in the rat pits. Go down the manhole and find Felkrash. Your character will inquire about teaching your cat, but she states that she will only help if you are able to kill all of the rats in Port Sarim at once, like she (claims she) did. Return to The Face. She will tell you that Felkrash's story has more to it then she says, and to proceed to Ali the Snake Charmer, located in Pollnivneach.

Go to Pollnivneach in the desert south of Al Kharid, past the Shantay Pass. To save time, you can take a magic carpet ride directly there for 200 coins (100 with a ring of charos (a), or 1,000 by choosing the "fast-travel" option). Other quick ways to get to there are to use a slayer ring to get to Sumona or use a Broomstick to get close to the Shantay Pass, or, if you have completed the Love Story Quest, you can use a Pollnivneach teleport tablet. Alternatively, players may use the Bandit Camp lodestone after completion of Desert Treasure, then run east to Pollnivneach.

You will find the Ali the Snake Charmer to the South of the bar. Use one coin on his money pot to get his attention. Ask him about charming other animals and he will go on to tell you that he and Felkrash had a falling-out because of Felkrash's killing of animals. Try to persuade him with the wealth option - "What if I offered you some money?". He will offer to give you directions to kill the rats for exactly one more coin than you are carrying. Refuse to give him that much by choosing "Forget about it. I don't care", then select: "Walk away slowly" followed by "Stop". He will reluctantly give you a music scroll and snake charm for 100 coins. You can charm him with the ring of charos to lower his price to 50gp.

Get your snake charm from the bank if you do not already have it with you. Back in Port Sarim, stand outside the manhole & read the music. Note that there are 8 notes (or positionings on the flute). Each note starting from the left corresponds to 1 page on the flute. You will only play one note per page. Jot down these notes if need be. Now pick up the flute. Go to page 1 and select the matching note from the music. Then do page 2, etc.

Note that sometimes the "<" symbol is used to indicate a higher octave option (usually page 5). Select that icon when appropriate while playing.

You can go back to any pages you want to ensure you have them all correctly chosen (remember to move up an octave for the 5th note). When you are sure they are all correct (8 pages - 8 notes), click on the word "PLAY". If correct, you will be taken to a cutscene of you playing the flute and the rats jumping off the dock. Talk to Felkrash to complete the quest.

Rewards

 * 2 quest points
 * Rat pole
 * Able to train Overgrown Cats into Wily and Lazy cats
 * The ability to name a lazy or wily cat (up to 6 letters long)
 * Access to the Rat Pits
 * Access to the Rat Pits

Music unlocked

 * The Noble Rodent, while fighting the King Rat.
 * Rat Hunt, inside of the mansion.
 * Bubble and Squeak (Keldagrim Rat Pits)
 * Sarim's Vermin (Port Sarim Rat Pits)
 * Rat a Tat Tat (Varrock Rat Pits)
 * Catch Me If You Can (Ardougne Rat Pits)

Required for completing
Completion of Ratcatchers is required for the following:
 * Varrock Tasks: (You just need to start the quest and acquire a Rat pole)
 * Medium: "With a Ten-foot Pole"
 * Falador Tasks:
 * Medium: "Fun For the Whole Family"

Trivia

 * During the Smoking Joe section of the quest your cat screams "Exterminate! Exterminate!"; this is a reference to the Daleks, one of the most infamous enemies from the long-running British television series Doctor Who.
 * While conversing with Felkrash, she will mention that she needs "just one task," to which the character will reply "experience has taught me to expect as much," referring to the quest "One" Small Favour.
 * During the conversation with Ali the Snake Charmer he mentions his break up with Felkrash saying "It used to be about making love not war". This could be a reference to the acrimonious breakup of The Beatles and the subsequent John Lennon/Yoko Ono song, "Make Love Not War".
 * There is currently a glitch where if you climb the western trellis with a rat pole equipped, part of your body will be invisible from certain angles.
 * The last part of the quest could be a reference to the German legend Pied Piper of Hamelin, a man who uses a flute to drown rats to rid the town of Hamelin of the rat infestation.
 * While in the Jimmy Dazzler part of the quest, one of the guards will say "sigh, I miss Billy and Bob." Which is a reference to a cutscene in the quest Garden of Tranquillity.
 * The dwarf's name 'Smokin' Joe' is likely a reference to boxing legend Joe Frazier, whose nickname was 'Smokin' Joe' Frazier.
 * For a while after Evolution of Combat, the wall with the hole in it appeared solid. This was patched on 17 February 2014.

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