Mutations Guide | Witcher 3 Blood and Wine

Mutations are part of a new skill system in The Witcher 3: Blood & Wine. They are passive skills that can be unlocked separately from the old skills and abilities. You’ll need to research them first, and investing in them will unlock new ability slots. This guide will show you how Witcher 3 mutations work, how to research them and unlock new skill slots.

If some other stuff in the game is giving you headaches, we strongly recommend browsing through our Witcher 3 Blood and Wine Walkthrough & Guides.

Blood & Wine Mutations

Mutations are divided into three groups – combat, alchemy and magic, although some are hybrids. When you go into the menu, you’ll see only three available at the beginning. You’ll need to invest skill points and mutagens to research them. They’ll become available once you finish a side quest called Turn and Face the Strange.

The mutations tree is like a web – you’ll need to unlock the lower level ones to get to the better ones. You can only have one active at a time, so you’ll have to chose the one that fits your play style best.

The mutation you begin with, Strengthened Synapses, will improve as you research other ones. As it gets stronger, you’ll unlock additional ability slots. The mutation you choose will act as a lock for skills in those slots. For example, a blue mutation will allow you to equip only magic skills in those slots, while a hybrid of red and green will let you use combat and alchemy skills there.

Mutations List

Here’s a list of all mutations in Blood & Wine, along with their research costs.

Name/Allowed skills	Description	Cost
Strengthened Synapses	Unlocks additional ability slots as you research more mutations.	/
Magic Sensibilities Sign	Signs can deal critical hits. Sign crit chance and damage scale with intensity. Enemies killed by sign crits explode.	2 Skill Points 2 Greater Blue Mutagens
Piercing Cold Sign	Aard freezes enemies. Enemies that are frozen and knocked down at the same time die.	3 Skill Points 3 Greater Blue Mutagens
Conductors of Magic Sign & combat	Sign damage increases if you have a magic, unique or witcher sword drawn.	???
Deadly Counter Combat	Swords do +25% damage to enemies immune to counterattacks. If enemy is at less than 25% health, a counterattack triggers a finisher.	2 Skill Points 2 Greater Red Mutagens
Bloodbath Combat	Each weapon blow gives +5% attack power until end of combat. Bonus is lost if you take damage.	???
Adrenaline Rush Combat & sign	Increases attack power and sign intensity by 30% for every enemy you face (for 30 seconds). After the buff expires, decreases them by 10% for every enemy, for another 30 seconds.	???
Second Life Combat, signs & alchemy	When you’re at 0 health, you become invulnerable for a short time and regenerate all your health. Can be triggered once every 3 minutes.	???
Toxic Blood Alchemy	When you’re injured, the attacker receives 1.5% of that amount of damage for every point of your Toxicity level.	2 Skill Points 2 Greater Green Mutagens
Euphoria Alchemy	Each point of toxicity increases sword damage and sign intensity by 1%.	???
Mutated Skin Combat & alchemy	Each adrenaline point decreases damage received by 15%.	???
Cat Eyes Combat & alchemy	Crossbow damage increases by 116, crit chance by 20%. Bolts pierce, knock down or stun. If enemies are at full health, they lose 30% from bolt shot.	???
Metamorphosis Combat, sign & alchemy	Applying critical effects to opponents activates a random decoction for 2 minutes with no toxicity (up to 3 at a time.)	???