Apart from the usual abilities, The Witcher 2 has mutagens that allow players to upgrade or add a new perk to the existing skill. As you start the game, you may unconsciously collect the Mutagens and might have noticed them without understanding their use or purpose.
Let’s make this easier and guide you on Mutagens, including what they are and how to use them.
How do the Mutagens Work in The Witcher 2?
To understand how the Mutagens work, you must ensure you have them. Open your inventory after going to rest. You’ll find a list of Mutagens with their potency and name here. The best ones are greater while the others are below it, so you should aim to get them to use.
Next, go to the Character option and look at the skills and talents tree. Find the abilities with the small gray circle on top of the original circle. If you hover over them, you’ll get the option to mutate. Press this, and it will open the list of mutagens you have. Select the one you want to add, and you’re done. The circle would now turn green after the Mutagen is added.
Here is the list of all the mutagens you can get as loot or craft in The Witcher 2.
| Name | Potency | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Enhancement | Lesser | Increases adrenaline generation |
| Enhancement | Basic | Increases adrenaline generation |
| Enhancement | Greater | Increases adrenaline generation |
| Critical effects | Lesser | Increases the chance of causing critical effects |
| Critical effects | Basic | Increases the chance of causing critical effects |
| Critical effects | Greater | Increases the range of the Aard, Igni, and Axii Signs |
| Madness | Basic | Increases Armor and Vitality |
| Power | Lesser | Increases sword damage in The Witcher 2 |
| Power | Basic | Increases sword damage |
| Power | Greater | Increases sword damage |
| Strength | Lesser | Increases damage reduction |
| Strength | Basic | Increases damage reduction |
| Strength | Greater | Increases damage reduction |
| Vitality | Lesser | Increases vitality |
| Vitality | Basic | Increases vitality |
| Vitality | Greater | Increases vitality |
| Concentration | Basic | Increases Sign damage |
| Range | Lesser | Increases the range of the Aard, Igni, and Axii Signs |
| Range | Basic | Increases the range of the Aard, Igni, and Axii Signs |
It is recommended always to use the Greater mutagens as they have much more benefit than struggling to find an additional skill.
How to get Greater Mutagens?
If you are having trouble getting the Greater Mutagens in The Witcher 2 naturally after defeating enemies and looting, the only way you can have a little control is by using Alchemy. After getting 2 points in the Alchemy Tree, Side Effects, you can get Mutagens as an additional mutation product with other crafts with the 2 percent chance.
If you want to try more, get the Side Effects Skill to level 2 and boost your chance to 10 percent. If you don’t want to spend your skill points, stick to the 2 percent and try your luck.
It’s better to make objects that require fewer items a lot. Don’t make them in large amounts, and stick to lower numbers. Try again and again and wait for mutation in The Witcher 2. After several tries, there is a chance that you’ll produce a Greater mutagen as a byproduct.
There is a chance you won’t succeed with 2 or 10 percent, so it’s best to save and keep crafting until you get the Greater Mutagen. Reload the game whenever you feel like you are not getting any. After a few tries, you’ll surely get the one you want.
Which abilities can accept Mutagens?
In total, 13 Skill slots out of 51 allow it to be mutated by attaching mutagens. These are unlocked along the way as you progress through the story. If you want to unlock all of them as soon as possible, you can do that at level 35 with a build that would work wonders when using potent mutagens like Madness mutagen, Greater power mutagen, or Greater critical effects Mutagen.
Nevertheless, you can also play slowly and earn skills to add mutagens slowly as you unlock more slots in The Witcher 2. Following is the complete list of all the skills that can have Mutagen attached.
Training tree
- Arrow Redirection
- Fortitude
Swordsmanship tree
- Invincible
- Combat Acumen
- Whirlwind
Magic tree
- Enhanced Yrden Sign
- Sense of Magic
- Control over the Power
Alchemy tree
- Condensation
- Metathesis
- Berserker
- Mutant
- Amplification
