For a game about the last bastion of humanity’s struggle to combat an invisible demonic threat, Astral Chain is surprisingly goofy. From the police’s giant, cartoon dog mascot to cardboard boxes you can wear on your head (definitely not standard-issue), Astral Chain has a significant amount of strange characters and collectibles, including some cat headgear and a series of cats hidden in each level. This guide will cover everything you need to know to complete the Astral Chain Feline Friends orders, including all Astral Chain cat locations. You may need to replay levels to find each cat, so make sure you learn how to use the Astral Chain File replay function.
Astral Chain cats | All Feline Friend locations
Below, you’ll find the location of each of Astral Chain‘s cats, followed by two screenshots to help you find them. Read to the end of this guide to learn about the sweet goodies you’ll unlock for finding all 15 cat locations.
Astral Chain File 01 cat location
This one is by far the simplest to find. Start up the “Forecast” section (Chapter 2) of File 01, “Startup.” Once you’re on foot, walk forward to the area where you drop off the injured civilian for helicopter pickup. Turn to your left and walk around to this white car. You’ll find the File 01 cat there.
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Astral Chain File 02 cat location
This cat required the Arm Legion, so make sure you check out our Arm Legion unlock guide if you don’t have it yet. Once you’re ready, head to the “Sortie” section (Chapter 2) of File 02, “Awake.” Follow along with the plot until you get to a fight with a bunch of Aberrations and a few Chimeras outside a coffee shop. Once the fight is over, you’re put into a cutscene and told to head down the alley ahead of you to look for survivors. Don’t do this. If you enter the alley, you’ll be locked in and forced to redo the whole level again. Instead, turn around and head to this other alley on the right side of the coffee shop. There, you’ll find a need to use the Arm Legion to lift up a dumpster marked with a bright yellow recycling symbol. You’ll find the File 02 cat underneath it.
Astral Chain File 03 cat location
For this cat, head to the “Assault” section (Chapter 4) of File 03, “Link.” You’ll spawn in onto an outdoor area between two buildings. After you’ve defeated the enemies here, Head to the back right corner of the area. You’ll find a walkway that extends off the building there. Head down the stairway, defeat the Aberration, and claim the File 03 cat.
Astral Chain File 04 cat location
Head to the “Infiltration section” (Chapter 5) of File 04, “Siege,” and proceed into the Ark Mall. You’ll be hit with a few cutscenes, after which you’ll find yourself on the second floor, just in front of a spiral staircase. Immediately head back down and around the bottom of the stairs toward this pile of rubble. You’ll find the File 04 cat behind it. (A Slime Chimera will also spawn as soon as you get to the bottom of the steps, which will earn you a Legion color scheme if you can beat it.)
Astral Chain File 05 cat location
Load the “Uproar” section (Chapter 3) of File 05, “Accord.” Head down into the subway station and follow along with Alicia down to the first area you’ll be able to explore. You’ll have to rescue two civilians before proceeding. This can take a while, so make sure you use your Arrow Legion to shoot the door panel behind the Shaken Woman before assisting her to make escorting her to safety a little quicker. Once you’ve done this, you can head farther into the subway. Past the group of police officers, you’ll see a series of subway cars full of lasers to your right. Head down these and exit onto the floor below. The File 05 cat can be found beneath one of the benches down here.
Astral Chain File 06 cat location
This cat is found in the “Chaos” section (Chapter 8) of File 06, “Complicit.” The chapter begins with a cutscene, after which you’ll have to get through a fight and begin chasing down an NPC using security camera footage. After ascending a ladder and fighting a couple Aberrations, you’ll exit onto a rooftop. Past the dumpsters and around the corner, you’ll see the opening to a shed-like structure. Inside, the File 06 cat is sitting among some garbage bags.
Astral Chain File 07 cat location
To find this cat, load the “Warfare” section (Chapter 4) of File 07, “Wild.” You’ll find yourself on the roof of a building, right before the File’s climactic boss battle with a Homunculus. Head past the police officers ahead of you, following the left side of the roof’s pathway until you come to a hanging ladder. Shoot the ladder down by hitting the red panel with your Arrow Legion’s aimed shot. Next, climb onto the roof and look to the right. You’ll see a raised area in front of you with File 07’s black cat lounging on top. Use your Legion to chain jump over there and adopt the little dude.
Astral Chain File 08 cat location
File 08’s cat is the first so far that requires an extra step to adopt beyond simply reaching it. You’ll need a Cat Food item, so make sure you’ve got one. For this Feline Friend, head to the “Restoration” section (Chapter 2) of File 08, “Peace.” Once you spawn at Raleigh Plaza, immediately follow the roads to your left and enter the underground garage. Once you pass two Disaster Crew NPCs (one standing and one kneeling, both monitoring water-spewing robot arms), turn right and approach the police officer named Mike behind a pillar in the corner. Mike is trying to get the File 08 cat to come out from under a ruined car. You’ll need to give Mike a spare Cat Food, which he’ll use to coax the cat out so you can bring it to safety.
Astral Chain File 09 cat location
This cat is found in the “Alert” section (Chapter 2) of File 09, “Salvation.” Once you and Akira drop into Harmony Square, immediately turn around and head through the barricades behind you towards a row of trees. You’ll find the File 09 cat wandering around near these trees. If you try to approach it, it will hiss at you and prevent you from picking it up, so you’ll need to distract it. Luckily, it loves Empty Cans, and there are tons lying around. Pick one up (if you don’t have any already), hold X to select it in the item wheel, and press X to toss it toward the cat. The cat should then begin walking toward it, displaying a music note icon above its head. Once it’s doing this, sneak in and stealthily kidnap —er, adopt — it.
Astral Chain File 10 cat location
Head to the “Fugitives” section (Chapter 1) of File 10, “Madness.” Once the opening cutscenes are over, follow Hal’s instructions and head outside the hideout. You’ll see an NPC called “Cat Lover” standing in the area immediately outside. The Cat Lover will task you with finding her cat, and some small green areas will be marked on your map to search (the smaller green area on the minimap in the first photo below). Investigate either one to find an item that will allow you to track the cat’s scent. Once you’ve got it, use your Beast Legion to follow it. A gate will open near the area your Beast leads you to. Enter it, defeat the Chimeras, and rescue the cat. You’ll spawn back at the Cat Lover, who asks if you have safe place for the cat. Say yes, and you’ve got the File 10 cat.
Astral Chain File 11 cat location
This cat can be found in the “Uprising” section (Chapter 1) of File 11, “Reckoning.” Before you speak to Hal after the cutscenes, head outside the hideout and begin following the path forward. Once you come to the first divide in the path, head left towards the brightly lit alley. Near the end of it, you’ll see a ladder up to a balcony area. Head up, and you’ll find the File 11 cat in a cardboard box.
Astral Chain File 12 cat locations
You’ve found lots of cats up to this point in plenty of hard-to-reach locations, but these last four will likely be the most challenging to find so far. Most of them are fairly easily accessible within their particular missions, but it’s unlocking the missions that’s the hard part. When you get to File 12, you’ll be able to speak to Olive at HQ to take on individual missions called cases. These cases contain the toughest combat challenges in the game. You’ll only have access to a limited set of predetermined items (usually with very few healing items available), you’ll only have two AED charges, and you can’t adjust the difficulty if things get too hard, so be prepared to attempt these cases multiple times.
When you begin File 12, only cases R1-1 through R1-5, R1-B1, and R1-A1 through R1-A3 will be unlocked. You’ll have to continue beating available cases until new ones become unlocked. For example, the first cat can’t be found until case R1-6, which will be unlocked after you beat R1-1 through R1-5 and R1-B1.
File 12 Case R1-6 cat location
Once you start up this case, immediately turn around and walk around the corner to your right. A few feet ahead of you, you’ll see the R1-6 cat lying in a cardboard box.
File 12 Case R2-2 cat location
You’ll spawn in a room full of purple crystals. Head straight through the door ahead of you and immediately turn left. The R2-2 cat is hiding behind some computer terminals here.
File 12 Case R2-8 cat location
Near the south end of the rooftops, you’ll find this metal support structure. Head down the ladder within it, drop off the raised area at the bottom, and head left. You’ll see the R2-8 cat beneath a large black barrel.
File 12 Case R2-B2 cat location
Beside a staircase in this area’s maze of tunnels (see the green and white arrow on the map below), you’ll see a dumpster. Use your Arm Legion to move the dumpster out of the way, and you’ll see the final cat of the game hiding behind it.
Astral Chain cats | Rewards
You’ve done it! You’ve completed all 12 Astral Chain Feline Friend orders. What rewards await you after all that work? Why, cat-themed headgear, of course. Finding just File 12’s four cats rewards you with the Cat-Eared Headband, which puts eerily realistic cat ears on your head. The real reward, though, is the Lazy Cat Cap. After you’ve found all 15 cats, speaking to Marie at the HQ will provide you with this head accessory, which puts a cat on your head. Yes, you can wear a live cat on your head. It sticks around even as you flip around during battles, surviving even the most catastrophic enemy attacks.
