The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine Mutation Character Builds

What are the best The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Blood and Wine character builds? CD Projekt RED's huge expansion allows you to transform Geralt into an almost unstoppable force with the right combinations of mutations and skills. Only available via the huge Blood and Wine expansion, mutations are acquired through a quest that you can take on relatively early during your time in Toussaint. Once you've gained access, you'll soon come to find that, although specific in their use, mutations can greatly enhance the effectiveness of the grizzled Witcher.

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

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

As mentioned, you need to complete a certain quest in order to gain access to the new mutation menu. The secondary quest in, er, question is named "Turn and Face the Strange", and you're sure to stumble across it at one point or another. While travelling around Toussaint, you'll encounter a messenger boy 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 - although it is reasonably lengthy - and by the end of it, you'll be able to make use of mutations.

However, it's worth pointing out that the game doesn't actually tell you that you've gained access to mutations once the quest is over - the mutation menu simply appears as part the character tab. You can view it 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 fresh system is something that you'll need to wrap your head around. Mutations work on top of existing skills and abilities - the ones that 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) mutations, blue (signs) mutations, green (alchemy) mutations, and yellow (general) mutations. Depending on which mutation you have equipped at any one time, you'll be able to equip up to four extra skills or abilities of that same colour.

However, actually unlocking each mutation is a pretty expensive endeavour. You'll need a lot of greater mutagens, and a lot of unused skill points to unlock everything, but, as hinted, mutations can be incredibly powerful tools, so ultimately, they're well worth the effort.

You may just be after one specific mutation, but it's worth unlocking as many as you can. In order to unlock the four extra skill slots which we mentioned earlier, you'll need to have unlocked specific amounts of mutations. Put simply, the first extra skill slot is unlocked when you've 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

Deadly Counter

Description

Humans and monsters that 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 isn't immune to counterattacks, a successful counter will automatically kill them if their health is less than 25%.

Our thoughts

25% extra damage to enemies that can't be countered is a pretty big bonus, and the ability to finish off weakened foes with one well timed counterattack could be very useful - especially when fighting against groups of humans. Of course, to get the most out of Deadly Counter, you'll need to be skilled at triggering counterattacks in the first place.

Bloodbath

Description

When you kill an enemy with a sword attack, you get guaranteed dismemberment or a finishing animation. What's more, every time a sword attack connects, your attack power is increased by 5%, up to a maximum of 250%. However, if you take damage (excluding damage from toxicity), the attack power increase will disappear.

Our thoughts

Dismemberments and finishers look great when you pull them off, but Bloodbath's guarantee of seeing them is really just the icing on the cake. Ultimately, you're here for the extra sword damage, which stacks every time you connect with the enemy. You can potentially rack up gigantic amounts of damage with this mutation - but you have to make sure that you're not hit. High risk, very high reward.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Blood and Wine Signs Mutations

Magic Sensibilities

Description

Signs can now deal critical hits. The chance of getting a critical hit is increased based on sign intensity. Sign critical hits also make enemies explode if it's a killing blow.

Our thoughts

Magic Sensibilities can make signs like Igni and Aard far more damaging and potentially deadly. You're always going to be taking a chance with regards to a critical hit actually triggering, but if you use signs a lot, it's a mutation that could add some real venom to your fighting style.

Piercing Cold

Description

Aard now has a 25% chance of freezing your enemies, which significantly slows their movement and attacks. If the enemy is knocked down by Aard and frozen at the same time, they die instantly. If they're not knocked down, frozen foes take a large chunk of damage instead.

Our thoughts

While a 25% trigger chance isn't consistently reliable, the effects of Piercing Cold are very deadly indeed. Against groups, the mutation naturally has a much better chance to trigger as you'll be hitting multiple opponents, thus potentially killing some of them outright if they're frozen and knocked over. Aard enthusiasts can't really go wrong.

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

Toxic Blood

Description

Your opponent takes damage every time that they damage you with a melee attack. They take 1.5% of the damage they have dealt for every point of active toxicity, up to 150%.

Our thoughts

Dealing potentially large amounts of damage back to the enemy when you're attacked can really come in handy during tougher fights, but you'll need to be drugged up on potions for the damage to be truly worth it. Combine this mutation with the right potions, however, and your foes will regret ever swinging a claw at you.

Euphoria

Description

Your current toxicity level directly increases your sword attack damage and the intensity of your signs. Each point of toxicity increases the above by 0.75% up to a maximum of 75%.

Our thoughts

Raw damage and sign intensity boosts can make Geralt very dangerous indeed, but obviously, you need to be chugging a lot of potions to make the most of this. If you're always making use of potions in combat, Euphoria is a very simple and easy way to gain additional power.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Blood and Wine Combat + Signs Mutations

Conductors of Magic

Description

With a magic, unique, or witcher sword in hand, damage dealt by your signs increases by 50% of the equipped sword's own damage.

Our thoughts

Got a powerful sword? If so, then Conductors of Magic can add a pretty significant kick to signs that deal damage. A relatively simple mutation that's easy to make use of.

Adrenaline Rush

Description

Your sword attack power and sign intensity is increased by 30% for 30 seconds for every opponent (after the first) that you're up against in combat when a fight is initiated. When the 30 seconds are up, sword attack power and sign intensity drop by 10% for every enemy that's still alive in the same fight, but can't drop lower than 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 every opponent within the first 30 seconds.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Blood and Wine Combat + Alchemy Mutations

Cat Eyes

Description

Large increase in crossbow damage across the board, and the chance of triggering a critical hit with a crossbow is increased by 50%. Crossbow attacks also either stun or knock down enemies, and foes who have full health immediately lose 15% of it when they're hit by a bolt.

Our thoughts

Cat Eyes makes crossbows a far more viable option in standard combat, increasing their damage by a considerable amount and giving them some very useful perks. If you've always wanted your crossbow to be almost as deadly as your blades, then this is the mutation for you.

Mutated Skin

Description

Each adrenaline point decreases the damage that you take by 15%, to a maximum of 45%.

Our thoughts

Effectively giving you free damage resistance, Mutated Skin is a solid mutation that works well with any kind of character build that's quick to gain adrenaline points in battle.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Blood and Wine Combat + Signs + Alchemy Mutations

Second Life

Description

When you're killed, your health is completely restored, and you become temporarily invulnerable. However, this can trigger once every 180 seconds.

Our thoughts

The benefits of this mutation are obvious, and honestly, three minutes isn't as long as you may think. If you're a defensive, patient fighter, Second Life could be the cherry on top for your build.

Metamorphosis

Description

When you succeed in applying a critical effect to an opponent (bleeding, burning, etc), a random decoction is activated at no toxicity cost for 120 seconds. Up to three decoctions can be activated via this mutation. As an added extra, Metamorphosis also allows you to see better in dark locations 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. Metamorphosis can potentially transform Geralt into an alchemical nightmare for enemies, especially if you happen to activate decoctions that work well with one another.

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

Right, now it's time to get really nerdy. Below, we've come up a base character build for every new mutation that's found in Blood and Wine. These builds aren't definitive by any means, but we've tried our best to pair up each mutation with skills and abilities that benefit it. Heck, we've even come up with kind-of-cool names for each build.

• The Witcher 3: Best Skills and Which Skills to Unlock

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

Deadly Counter Mutation Build - Geralt the Swordmaster

Mutation: Deadly Counter (combat)

What's this build about?

Deadly counter is an easy mutation to make use of. It's quite basic in its effect, and for the purposes of this build, we'll be focussing on the raw damage increase that it gives to sword attacks. The 25% increase is quite the boost when you combine it with skills that already enhance the damage that you deal with your blades. Counterattacking also comes into the equation for enemies that have less than 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 strong attacks.

• Sunder Armor (combat)
  Sunder Armor weakens your enemy's damage resistance with each strong blow. 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 fast attacks are your thing, and you have a full set of light armour, 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 armour, Bear School Techniques increases the base damage of your strong attacks.

Bloodbath Mutation Build - Geralt the Butcher

Mutation: Bloodbath (combat)

What's this build about?

Bloodbath steadily increases your damage output every time that you strike 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 complement it, gives you the ability to do big damage if you can keep up your combo.

Skills that work well with Bloodbath:

• Whirl (combat)
  Whirl 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 the damage resistance of your foes with every strong attack that connects, which is going to help you do more and more damage when combined with Bloodbath.

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

• Active Shield (signs)
  Quen is this build's go-to sign, 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 magical barrier when the going gets tough and you think that you may end up losing your damage bonus.

• Quen Intensity (signs)
  The more damage that Quen can soak up before dissipating, the better.

• Axii Intensity (signs)
  Axii is perfect for opening up your opponent so that you can get slash happy.

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

Magic Sensibilities Mutation Build - Geralt the Spellslinger

Mutation: Magic Sensibilities (signs)

What's this build about?

With this build, your offensive signs become far more deadly. Magic Sensibilities applies a critical chance to your signs, and the chance can be increased by bolstering your sign intensity. As such, this build focusses on skills that boost the effectiveness of your signs and heighten their intensity.

Skills that work well with Magic Sensibilities:

• Flood of Anger (combat)
  Flood of Anger gives your sign a large power boost as long as you have the adrenaline points to activate it. It also boosts that sign's intensity by 25%, which is a great fit for this build.

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

• Shock Wave (signs)
  Allows Aard to do damage upon impact, which will be increased if you get a critical hit.

• Firestream (signs)
  Igni's most damaging form if you can keep the stream up. Another obvious choice that can dish out some real pain via critical hits.

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

• Magic Trap (signs)
  Magic trap can deal out some surprisingly good damage under the right circumstances.

• Yrden Intensity (signs)
  Sweet, sweet intensity.

• Griffin School Techniques (general)
  Medium armour is a must for this build - Griffin School Techniques ensures that your sign intensity is maximised.

• Rage Management (general)
  Rage management allows you to keep throwing out signs even when you don't have any stamina.

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

• Focus (general)
  The more adrenaline points you have, the more your sign intensity increases. A must.

Piercing Cold Mutation Build - Geralt of the White Frost

Mutation: Piercing Cold (signs)

What's this build about?

This build focusses on Piercing Cold's fantastically useful freezing capabilities. As such, it's all about bolstering Geralt's Aard sign. It seems rather basic, but this build can easily be expanded upon to suit your own fighting style while arguably turning Aard into your most formidable weapon.

Skills that work well with Piercing Cold:

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

• Aard Sweep (signs)
  Aard Sweep is great against groups of foes who have you surrounded, and although it doesn't have as good a chance to knock down your enemies, it can still deal some great damage with Piercing Cold.

• Aard Intensity (signs)
  Almost too obvious. More intensity means more knock downs, and more knock downs means more instant death.

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

• Griffin School Techniques (general)
  Not necessarily a must, but Griffin School Techniques offers more sign intensity all the same.

• Adrenaline Burst (general)
  Aard now gives you adrenaline points, too.

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

Toxic Blood Mutation Build - Geralt the Vengeful

Mutation: Toxic Blood (alchemy)

What's this build about?

This build is all about making sure Geralt has a high, but safe toxicity level as often as possible so that he can damage his foes even when they're laying 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 that you can develop based on your fighting style. Harming your enemies with your own blood is a nice bonus to have, but you certaily shouldn't be relying on it as your main way of doing damage.

Skills that work well with Toxic Blood:

• Heightened Tolerance (alchemy)
  A simple start, a heightened toxicity threshold means you can consume more potions while remaining safe.

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

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

• Endure Pain (alchemy)
  More health when you're 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's this build about?

Much like the above Toxic Blood build, this one's all about keeping yourself (safely) topped up with potions. Only this time, you're keeping your toxicity high in order to maximise your damage and sign intensity. As such, you may also want to invest in skills that contribute to raising your damage output across the board.

Skills that work well with Euphoria:

• Heightened Tolerance (alchemy)
  An obvious one to start with, Heightened Tolerance allows you to build up more toxicity.

• Acquired Tolerance (alchemy)
  More toxicity tolerance for you, sir.

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

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

• Endure Pain (alchemy)
  Again, you may as well make the most of your toxicity level with increased vitality.

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

• Metabolic Control (general)
  Yet more toxicity tolerance.

Conductors of Magic Mutation Build - Geralt the Spellsword

Mutation: Conductors of Magic (combat + signs)

What's this build about?

Conductors of Magic is an easy mutation to make use of, as numerous skills can tie into it. The main factors here are your equipped blades: gear up with some swords that boast a high attack power, and watch your sign damage shoot up. With that in mind, it's probably best to focus on damage dealing signs for this build.

Skills that work well with Conductors of Magic:

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

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

• Aard Intensity (signs)
  Obvious reasons.

• Shock Wave (signs)
  Allows Aard to do damage, which will be bolstered by Conductors of Magic.

• Firestream (signs)
  One of Geralt's best ways of dealing damage with signs.

• Igni Intensity (signs)
  Obvious reasons.

• Pyromaniac (signs)
  A better chance to set your foes aflame fits well with increased sign damage.

• Magic Trap (signs)
  Yrden's damage-dealing alternative skill is a good choice for this build.

• Yrden Intensity (signs)
  Obvious reasons.

• Supercharged Glyphs (signs)
  Much like Pyromaniac (above), the promise of gradual damage works well with a sign based build.

• Griffin School Techniques (general)
  More sign intensity can't hurt.

Adrenaline Rush Mutation Build - Geralt the Berserker

Mutation: Adrenaline Rush (combat + signs)

What's this build 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 big damage as quickly as possible, before the mutation's negative effects kick in after 30 seconds. Brave or stupid? Probably a bit of both.

Skills that work well with Adrenaline Rush:

• Whirl (combat)
  A perfect technique for groups of foes.

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

• Rend (combat)
  Rend can be an exceedingly powerful attack. Used wisely, you can finish off an opponent very quickly indeed.

• Razor Focus (combat)
  Gaining an immediate adrenaline point when entering combat is a good bonus to have, and faster generation means more Whirl and Rend.

• Adrenaline Burst (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's this build about?

Mutated Skin can turn Geralt into a something of a walking tank as long as you can efficiently generate adrenaline points. This build concentrates on survivability coupled with skills that help you rack up adrenaline points so that you're always taking minimal damage.

Skills that work well with Mutated Skin:

• Fleet Footed (combat)
  Already a nice way to lessen incoming damage, Fleet Footed stacks well with Mutated Skin.

• Resolve (combat)
  Losing fewer adrenaline points when you're attacked can't be a bad thing for this build.

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

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

• Active Shield (signs)
  Great for getting lost health back and increasing Geralt's survivability.

• Survival Instinct (general)
  More health is always going to be a benefit to this build.

• Bear School Techniques (general)
  With a full suit of heavy armour, Bear School Techniques grants quite a bit of extra health.

• Adrenaline Burst (general)
  Yet more adrenaline points for you to stock up on.

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

Cat Eyes Mutation Build - Geralt the Sharpshooter

Mutation: Cat Eyes (combat + alchemy)

What's this build about?

Cat Eyes essentially makes the crossbow a viable option of doing extra damage in combat, while also granting it a couple of very useful perks. This build concentrates on maximising the crossbow further, turning Geralt into a dangerous long range attacker.

• Lightning Reflexes (combat)
  Slowing time further can really help when you need to pick off an opponent with a headshot.

• Anatomical Knowledge (combat)
  Better criticals for your now useful long range armament.

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

• Steady Shot (general)
  Increased damage across the board 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's this build about?

It's going to be difficult trying to build an entire playstyle around a mutation which allows Geralt to come back to life once every 180 seconds, but it's definitely a perk that syncs up well with skills which concentrate on survivability. Again, this is another build that you can quite easily adapt into various forms depending on how you play. Whatever you decide, though, there's no doubt that having at least one extra life is pretty swell.

Skills that work well with Second Life:

• Undying (combat)
  The more lives the merrier, right? Get killed while Second Life is still on coolown and you may be able to use adrenaline points to resurrect instead.

• Active Shield (signs)
  Active Shield is always going to make Geralt harder to kill.

• Quen Intensity (signs)
  Allow Quen to soak up more damage, saving chunks of your health bar in the process.

• Puppet (signs)
  If you're waiting for Second Life's 180 second cooldown to end, then Puppet can buy 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've got a full suit of heavy armour, then Bear School Techniques should grant you a decent amount of bonus health.

Metamorphosis Mutation Build - Geralt Veinface

Mutation: Metamorphosis (combat + signs + alchemy)

What's this build about?

Metamorphosis 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've potentially got three of them flowing at once. The toxicity-free 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 perhaps even poison them. As such, this build is all about making use of skills that apply thse effects.

Skills that work well with Metamorphosis:

• 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're going to activate a decoction with every successful strike.

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

• Firestream (signs)
  Utilising Igni's Firestream gives the sign a good chance of setting your foes aflame.

• Igni Intensity (signs)
  Igni inflicts burns when it's intense enough.

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

• Poisoned Blades (alchemy)
  A chance to poison your enemies with each blow when you have an oil applied to your blade? Potentially easy decoction activation.

• Cat School Techniques (general)
  If you're going to be using a lot of fast sword attacks due to Crippling Strikes, this skill lets you do some decent extra damage, assuming that you have a good set of light armour.

What are your favourite Mutation Character Builds in The Witcher 3? Check out our other The Witcher 3 guides and then try not to add too much toxicity in the comments section below.