Guide: The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine Mutation Character Builds

What are the best character builds in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Blood and Wine? CD Projekt RED's huge expansion lets you turn Geralt into a nigh-unstoppable force with the right combinations of mutations and skills. Only available through the massive Blood and Wine expansion, Mutations are acquired through a quest you can take on relatively early during your time in Toussaint. Once you gain access to them, you'll soon discover that, while specific in their use, mutations can greatly enhance the effectiveness of the grizzled Witcher.

As such, we've put together this guide on how best to combine these new mutations with existing skills and abilities - hopefully it'll help you create character builds that will be extremely useful during your adventures. adventures. But first, we need to cover some of the basics.

How to unlock mutations in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine?

As mentioned, you need to complete a certain quest in order to access the new mutation menu. The side quest in, uh, the question is named "Turn and Face the Strange", and you're sure to come across it at some point. As you travel through Toussaint, you will encounter a messenger who has a letter for you. This triggers a cutscene which, in turn, triggers the quest. Once you're on the trail, the quest itself isn't too difficult - though it's reasonably long - and upon completion you'll be able to use Mutations.

However, it's worth pointing out that the game doesn't actually tell you that you've accessed Mutations after completing the quest - the Mutations menu just appears as part of the character tab. You can see this by pressing triangle on the skill screen.

How do mutations work in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Blood and Wine?

Mutations add a whole new layer to Geralt's development, so the new system is something you'll need to wrap your head around. Mutations add to existing skills and abilities – the ones you buy with skill points when you level up. There are 12 mutations in all.

You can only have one mutation active at a time, and like existing skills and abilities, each mutation belongs to a different skill category: there are red (combat), blue (signs), green (alchemy ) and yellow (general) mutations. Depending on the mutation you have equipped at any given time, you will be able to equip up to four additional skills or abilities of the same color.

However, unlocking each mutation is quite an expensive undertaking. You'll need a lot more mutagens and plenty of unused skill points to unlock everything, but, as noted, mutations can be incredibly powerful tools, so in the end, they're well worth the effort.

You may just be after a specific mutation, but it's worth unlocking as many as you can. In order to unlock the four additional skill slots we mentioned earlier, you will need to have unlocked specific amounts of Mutations. Simply put, the first extra skill slot is unlocked when you have acquired 2 mutations, the second is unlocked when you have 4, the third is unlocked when you have 8, and the fourth is unlocked when you have all 12.

With that out of the way, let's take a look at the mutations themselves.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine Combat Mutations

Mortal Meter

• The description: Humans and monsters who are immune to counterattacks (pressing L2 just as an attack is about to hit Geralt) take 25% more damage from your sword attacks. If your opponent is not safe from counterattacks, a successful counter will automatically kill them if their health is below 25%.

• Our thoughts: 25% more damage to enemies that can't be countered is a pretty big bonus, and the ability to finish off weakened enemies with a well-timed counterattack could come in very handy - especially when fighting groups of enemies. humans. Of course, to get the most out of Deadly Counter, you'll first need to be skilled at unleashing counterattacks.

Bloodbath

• The description: When you kill an enemy with a sword attack, you get a guaranteed dismember or finish animation. Additionally, each time a sword attack connects, your attack power is increased by 5%, up to a maximum of 250%. However, if you take damage (excluding toxicity damage), the attack power boost will wear off.

• Our thoughts: Dismemberments and finishers look great when you take them out, but Bloodbath's guarantee of seeing them is really just icing on the cake. Ultimately, you're here for the bonus sword damage, which stacks every time you connect with the enemy. You can potentially rack up huge amounts of damage with this mutation - but you have to make sure you don't get hit. High risk, very high reward.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine Sign Mutations

Magical Sensitivities

• The description: Signs can now critically hit. The chances of getting a critical hit are increased depending on the intensity of the signs. Landing critical hits also causes enemies to explode if it's a killing hit.

• Our thoughts: Magical sensitivities can make signs like Igni and Aard much more damaging and potentially deadly. You're still going to take your chances when it comes to landing a critical hit, but if you're using a lot of signs, this is a mutation that could add some real venom to your fighting style.

Piercing Cold

• The description: Aard now has a 25% chance to freeze your enemies, greatly slowing their movement and attacks. If the enemy is knocked down by Aard and frozen at the same time, they die instantly. If not knocked down, frozen enemies instead take a large portion of the damage.

• Our thoughts: While a 25% proc chance isn't always reliable, the effects of Piercing Cold are very lethal indeed. Against groups, the mutation naturally has a much better chance of triggering as you will hit multiple opponents, potentially killing some of them if frozen and knocked down. Aard lovers can't really go wrong.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine Alchemy Mutations

toxic blood

• The description: Your opponent takes damage each time they inflict melee damage on you. They take 1,5% of the damage they dealt for each point of active toxicity, up to 150%.

• Our thoughts: Dealing potentially high damage to the enemy when attacked can really come in handy in tougher fights, but you'll need to be drugged with potions to make the damage really worth it. Combine this mutation with the right potions, however, and your enemies will regret ever scratching your claw.

euphoria

• The description: Your current toxicity level directly increases your sword attack damage and sign intensity. Each point of toxicity increases the above by 0,75% up to a maximum of 75%.

• Our thoughts: The raw damage and Sign Intensity boosts can make Geralt very dangerous, but obviously you need to pick up a lot of potions to get the most out of it. If you always use potions in battle, Euphoria is a very simple and easy way to get some extra power.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Combat Sang et Vin + Signes Mutations

conductors of magic

• The description: With a magic, unique, or witcher sword in hand, damage done by your signs increases the damage of the equipped sword by 50%.

• Our thoughts: Got a mighty sword? If so, then Conductors of Magic can add a pretty big kick to signs that deal damage. A relatively simple and easy to use mutation.

Adrenaline Rush

• The description: Your sword attack power and sign intensity are increased by 30% for 30 seconds for each opponent (after the first) you face in battle when a fight is initiated. When the 30 seconds are up, Saber Attack Power and Sign Intensity drops by 10% for each enemy still alive in the same fight, but cannot drop below 70%.

• Our thoughts: A very high risk, high reward mutation. Adrenaline Rush lets you ravage large groups – but only if you're quick enough to finish off all opponents within the first 30 seconds.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine Fight + Alchemy Mutations

Cat eyes

• The description: Significantly increased Crossbow damage across the board and the chance to land a critical hit with a Crossbow is increased by 50%. Crossbow attacks also stun or down enemies, and enemies with full health immediately lose 15% when hit by a bolt.

• Our thoughts: Cat Eyes makes crossbows a much more viable option in standard combat, greatly increasing their damage and giving them some very useful perks. If you've ever wanted your crossbow to be almost as deadly as your blades, then this is the mutation for you.

mutated skin

• The description: Each adrenaline point decreases the damage you take by 15%, up to a maximum of 45%.

• Our thoughts: Giving you free damage resistance, Mutated Skin is a solid mutation that works well with any type of character build that quickly gains adrenaline in combat.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine Fight + Signs + Alchemy Mutations

Second life

• The description: When you are killed, your health is fully restored and you become temporarily invulnerable. However, it can trigger every 180 seconds.

• Our thoughts: The benefits of this mutation are obvious and honestly, three minutes isn't as long as you might think. If you're a defensive and patient fighter, Second Life could be the icing on the cake for your build.

Metamorphosis

• The description: When you successfully apply a critical effect to an opponent (bleed, burn, etc.), a random decoction is activated at no toxicity cost for 120 seconds. Up to three decoctions can be activated via this mutation. Additionally, Transfiguration also allows you to see better in dark places when using Witcher Senses.

• Our thoughts: Many decoctions have powerful effects, and gaining the ability to activate up to three of them at no toxicity cost is not to be sniffed at. Polymorph can potentially turn Geralt into an alchemical nightmare for enemies, especially if you happen to activate concoctions that work well with each other.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine Mutation Character Builds

Alright, now it's time to get really corny. Below, we've created a base character build for each new mutation found in Blood and Wine. These builds are by no means definitive, but we've done our best to match each mutation with the skills and abilities that benefit from it. Heck, we even came up with some pretty cool names for each build.

• You can click here to read our guide to all the skills available in The Witcher 3

So, without further ado, let's get stuck in.

Deadly Counter-mutation Build - Geralt the Swordmaster

Mutation: Death Meter (combat)

What is it about?

The Death Counter is an easy to use mutation. Its effect is pretty basic, and for the purposes of this build, we'll be focusing on increasing the raw damage it gives to sword attacks. The 25% increase is quite a boost when you combine it with skills that already improve the damage you do to your blades. Counterattack also enters the equation for enemies that are below 25% health.

In short, if you want to be as deadly as possible with your swords, then Deadly Counter is a great fit that's relatively easy to bolster with various skills.

Skills that work well with Deadly Counter:

• Muscle memory (combat)
  An obvious choice, Muscle Memory increases the base damage of your fast attacks.

• Strength training (combat)
  Another obvious choice, Strength Training increases the base damage of your Power Attacks.

• Sunder Armor (combat)
  Sunder Armor weakens your enemy's damage resistance with each powerful hit. Perfect for doing more and more damage with your swords.

• Counterattack (combat)
  Allowing you to deal more damage after a successful counter, Counterattack goes hand in hand with the Deadly Counter mutation, giving you even more reason to counter when you can.

• Cat school techniques (general)
  If you prefer fast attacks and have a full set of light armor, Cat School Techniques increases the base damage of your fast attacks.

• Bear School Techniques (General)
  If strong attacks are more your thing and you have a full set of heavy armor, Bear School Techniques increases the base damage of your strong attacks.

Bloodbath Mutation Build - Geralt the Butcher

Mutation: Bloodbath (combat)

Whatis this build on?

Bloodbath steadily increases your damage output each time you hit an enemy, so this build is all about building momentum and not taking damage. Against enemies with large health bars, this mutation, combined with skills that compliment it, gives you the ability to do big damage if you can keep up your combo.

Skills that work well with Bloodbath:

• Whirlwind (combat)
  Whirlwind allows Geralt to perform a spinning special move that hits multiple times, which is perfect for Bloodbath since you can start racking up that extra damage.

• Sunder Armor (combat)
  Sunder Armor reduces your enemies' damage resistance with each powerful attack that connects, which will help you deal more and more damage when combined with Bloodbath.

• Razor Focus (combat)
  Razor Focus allows you to rack up adrenaline points at a faster rate when attacking with your blades. These points can then be used to activate Whirlwind (above) and can be saved to activate your attacks via Focus (below).

• Shield active (signs)
  Quen is the go-to sign for this build, as it can shield Geralt from damage, allowing Bloodbath to remain active even if you get hit. Active Shield allows you to hide behind the magic barrier when the going gets tough and you think you might end up losing your damage bonus.

• Quen intensity (signs)
  The more damage Quen can absorb before dissipating, the better.

• Axii intensity (signs)
  Axii is perfect for opening up your opponent so you can rejoice.

• Focus (general)
  Your saved adrenaline points will further increase the damage of your sword attacks with Focus.

Magical Sensitivities Mutation Build - Geralt the Caster

Mutation: Magical sensitivities (signs)

What is this build about?

With this build, your offensive signs become much deadlier. Magical Sensitivity applies a critical chance to your signs, and the chance can be increased by boosting your sign's intensity. As such, this build focuses on skills that improve the effectiveness of your signs and increase their intensity.

Skills that work well with Magic Sensitivities:

• Storm of Wrath (combat)
  Flood of Anger gives your sign a significant power boost as long as you have the adrenaline points to activate it. It also increases the intensity of this sign by 25%, which suits this build perfectly.

• Aard intensity (signs)
  An obvious choice, you'll want Aard to be as intense as possible so you can land those critical hits.

• Shock wave (signs)
  Allows Aard to deal damage on impact, which will be increased if you land a critical hit.

• Firestream (signes)
  The most damaging form of Igni if ​​you can sustain the current. Another obvious choice that can dull real pain via critical hits.

• Igni intensity (signs)
  More intensity means more critical hit chance.

• Magic trap (signs)
  The magic trap can deal surprisingly good damage under the right circumstances.

• Yrden intensity (signs)
  Sweet, sweet intensity.

• Griffin School Techniques (General)
  Medium armor is a must for this build – Griffin School Techniques ensures that your sign intensity is maxed out.

• Rabies management (general)
  Rage management allows you to continue casting signs even if you have no stamina.

• Adrenaline Rush (General)
  Works well with Rage Management (above) as it gives you the ability to generate adrenaline points with signs - and you already use a lot of them with this build.

• Focus (general)
  The more adrenaline points you have, the more the intensity of your sign increases. An essential.

Piercing Cold Mutation Build – Frost Frost Geralt

Mutation: Piercing Cold (signs)

What is it about?

This build focuses on Piercing Cold's incredibly useful freezing abilities. As such, this is to reinforce Geralt's Aard sign. Sounds pretty basic, but this build can easily be expanded to suit your own fighting style while still making Aard arguably your most formidable weapon.

Skills that work well with Piercing Cold:

• Aard Reaching (signs)
  More range on Aard couldn't hurt, not when it's as deadly as this.

• Aard Sweep (panels)
  Aard Sweep is great against groups of enemies around you, and while it doesn't have as much of a chance to down your enemies, it can still deal big damage with Piercing Cold.

• Aard intensity (signs)
  Almost too obvious. More intensity means more knockdowns and more knockdowns means more instant kills.

• Shock wave (signs)
  A little extra damage couldn't hurt since you'll be using so much Aard.

• Griffin School Techniques (General)
  Not necessarily a must, but Griffin School Techniques still offers more sign intensity.

• Adrenaline Rush (general)
  Aard now also gives you adrenaline points.

• Focus (general)
  Adrenaline points now boost the intensity of your sign. Works well with Adrenaline Burst (above).

Toxic Blood Mutation Build - Geralt the Avenger

Mutation: Toxic Blood (Alchemy)

What is it about?

This build is all about making sure Geralt has a high but safe toxicity level as often as possible so he can damage his enemies even when they lay into him. That said, you don't want to get hit by your opponents in the first place, so think of this build as another you can develop depending on your fighting style. Damaging enemies with your own blood is a nice bonus to have, but you definitely shouldn't rely on it as your primary means of dealing damage.

Skills that work well with Toxic Blood:

• Increased tolerance (alchemy)
  A simple start, high toxicity threshold means you can consume more potions while staying safe.

• Refreshment (Alchemy)
  A skill that works well with this build, Refresh allows you to regain health by drinking any potion, which, naturally, will also increase your toxicity level.

• Learned Tolerance (Alchemy)
  More room for toxicity can't be a bad thing with this build.

• Endure Pain (Alchemy)
  More health when drunk on potions will always come in handy.

• Metabolic control (general)
  A base increase to maximum toxicity. A safe bet.

Euphoria Mutation Build - Geralt the Toxic Avenger

Mutation: Euphoria (alchemy)

What is it about?

Much like the Toxic Blood build above, this one is all about keeping you (safely) replenished with potions. Only this time you keep your toxicity high to maximize your damage and sign intensity. As such, you may also want to invest in skills that help increase your damage output across the board.

Skills that work well with Euphoria:

• Increased tolerance (alchemy)
  For starters, increased tolerance allows you to develop more toxicity.

• Learned Tolerance (Alchemy)
  No more toxicity tolerance for you, sir.

• Adaptation (alchemy)
  Not an absolute must, but adaptation is useful when you've consumed a concoction that has effects you want to last. Additionally, some concoctions have a direct impact on your offensive abilities, so they're a good way to increase the potency of this build.

• Frenzy (alchemy)
  Another skill that isn't strictly necessary, but Frenzy can come in handy during tough fights. Can also make the most of your toxicity.

• Endure Pain (Alchemy)
  Again, you can also make the most of your toxicity level with increased vitality.

• Killing Spree (alchimie)
  When your toxicity is high, you're going to do a lot of bonus damage to start with, so why not take it a step further, will Killing Spree's critical hit chance increase?

• Metabolic control (general)
  Even more tolerance to toxicity.

Magic Mutation Heads Build - Geralt the Sword

Mutation: Conductors of magic (combat + signs)

What is this to construct?

Conductors of Magic is an easy to use mutation, as many skills can be tied to it. The main factors here are your equipped blades: equip yourself with swords that offer high attack power and watch your damage signs go up. With that in mind, it's probably best to focus on signs of damage for this build.

Skills that work well with Conductors of Magic:

• Aard Reaching (signs)
  Make Aard as effective as possible with this skill.

• Aard Sweep (panels)
  For when you're surrounded.

• Aard intensity (signs)
  Obvious reasons.

• Shock wave (signs)
  Allows Aard to deal damage, which will be amplified by conductors of magic.

• Firestream (signes)
  One of Geralt's best ways to deal damage to Signs.

• Igni intensity (signs)
  Obvious reasons.

• Arsonist (signs)
  A better chance to set your enemies on fire pairs well with increased sign damage.

• Magic trap (signs)
  Yrden's alternate damage-dealing skill is a good fit for this build.

• Yrden intensity (signs)
  Obvious reasons.

• Supercharged glyphs (signs)
  Much like Pyromaniac (above), the progressive damage promise works well with a sign-based build.

• Griffin School Techniques (General)
  The higher the intensity of the signs can't hurt.

Adrenaline Rush Mutation Build - Geralt le Berserker

Mutation: Adrenaline Rush (Fight + Signs)

What is it about?

Adrenaline Rush is a risky mutation, but if you know what you're doing, fights can be over in a flash. This build is all about doing heavy damage as quickly as possible, before the negative effects of the mutation kick in after 30 seconds. Brave or stupid? Probably a bit of both.

Skills that work well with Adrenaline Rush:

• Whirlwind (combat)
  A perfect technique for groups of enemies.

• Crippling Strikes (combat)
  Finish fights faster by making your enemies bleed. A wise choice.

• Render (fight)
  Rend can be an extremely powerful attack. Used wisely, you can indeed finish an opponent very quickly.

• Razor Focus (combat)
  Gaining an immediate adrenaline point from entering combat is a nice bonus to have, and faster spawning means more whirlwind and tear.

• Adrenaline Rush (general)
  You'll want to use your signs when you get the chance with this build, so why not have them generate more adrenaline points?

• Focus (general)
  More damage across the board and increased sign intensity when you have adrenaline points.

Mutated Skin Mutation Build - Geralt the Impervious

Mutation: Mutated skin (combat + alchemy)

What is it about?

The mutated skin can turn Geralt into something of a walking tank as long as you can efficiently generate adrenaline points. This build focuses on survivability paired with skills that help you rack up adrenaline so you always take minimal damage.

Skills that work well with Mutated Skin:

• Fleet on foot (combat)
  Already a good way to reduce incoming damage, Fleet Footed pairs well with Mutated Skin.

• Solve (combat)
  Losing less adrenaline points when attacked can't be a bad thing for this build.

• Immortal (combat)
  Requires at least one adrenaline point, but Undying naturally makes Geralt more resilient.

• Razor Focus (combat)
  More adrenaline points, anyone?

• ActiVe Shield (signes)
  Great for regaining lost health and increasing Geralt's survivability.

• Survival instinct (general)
  More health will always be an advantage for this version.

• Bear School Techniques (General)
  With full armor, Bear School Techniques grants a bit of extra health.

• Adrenaline Rush (general)
  Even more adrenaline points to stock up on.

• Focus (general)
  You're going to generate a lot of adrenaline points with this build, so why not take the extra damage that comes with Focus?

Cat's Eye Mutation Build - Geralt the Sharpshooter

Mutation: Cat's Eyes (combat + alchemy)

What is it about?

Cat Eyes essentially makes the crossbow a viable option for dealing extra damage in combat, while granting it some very useful perks. This build focuses on maxing out the crossbow, turning Geralt into a dangerous long-range attacker.

• Lightning reflexes (combat)
  Slowing down time can really help when you need to take out an opponent with a headshot.

• Anatomical knowledge (combat)
  Better crits for your now useful long range weaponry.

• Stun shot (combat)
  Arguably the most useful crossbow skill, Crippling Shot can stop tough monsters in their tracks.

• Regular shot (general)
  Increased full board damage for crossbows. Certainly can't hurt.

• Trick Shot (General)
  Firing one more bolt before having to reload is a must for this build.

Second Life Mutation Build - Geralt the Eternal

Mutation: Second Life (combat + signs + alchemy)

What is it about?

It's going to be tough trying to build an entire playstyle around a mutation that allows Geralt to revive every 180 seconds, but it's definitely a perk that syncs well with skills that focus on survival. Again, this is another version that you can easily adapt in different forms depending on how you play. Whatever you decide, however, there's no doubt that having at least one extra life is pretty huge.

Skills that work well with Second Life:

• Immortal (combat)
  The longer we live, the merrier, right? Kill yourself while Second Life is still in the cool down phase and you may be able to use adrenaline points to resurrect instead.

• Shield active (signs)
  Active Shield will always make Geralt harder to kill.

• Quen intensity (signs)
  Allow Quen to absorb more damage, saving chunks of your health bar.

• Puppet (signs)
  If you wait out Second Life's 180 second cooldown, Puppet can save you a lot of time, assuming you're fighting more than one enemy.

• Domination (signs)
  Useful for the same reason as Puppet (above), only with this skill you can manipulate more than one enemy.

• Survival instinct (general)
  An instant health boost.

• Bear School Techniques (General)
  If you have full heavy armor, then Bear School Techniques should grant you a good amount of bonus hit points.

Building Mutation by Shapeshifting – Geralt Veinface

Mutation: Metamorphosis (combat + signs + alchemy)

What is it about?

Transfiguration is a bit of a gamble as you don't know which decoction is going to activate, but that shouldn't matter too much when you potentially have three at once. Non-toxic decoctions only activate when you successfully apply a critical effect to an enemy – in other words, you need to make them burn or bleed, or maybe even poison them. As such, this build is all about using skills that apply those effects.

Skills that work well with shapeshifting:

• Crippling Strikes (combat)
  An absolute must for this build, Crippling Strikes applies a bleeding effect to your fast sword attacks. With this, as long as your opponent can bleed, you will activate a decoction with each successful hit.

• Storm of Wrath (combat)
  A decent skill to take for this build. Flood of Anger increases the intensity of signs like Igni, making them more likely to inflict critical effects.

• Firestream (signes)
  Using Igni's Firestream gives Sign a good chance to set your enemies on fire.

• Igni intensity (signs)
  Igni inflicts burns when intense enough.

• Arsonist (signs)
  More chance to burn enemies with Igni - can't go wrong.

• Poisoned Blades (Alchemy)
  A chance to poison your enemies with every hit when you have oil applied to your blade? Potentially easy decoction activation.

• Cat school techniques (general)
  If you're going to use a lot of quick sword attacks because of stun strikes, this skill lets you do decent bonus damage, assuming you have good light armor.