Mutations (Blood and Wine)

Mutations are introduced in the for  and includes 12 new skills.

Unlocking
To first unlock mutations, the secondary quest, Turn and Face the Strange, must be completed which will then alter the character panel to include a central circular icon between the active abilities. Click on it to open the mutations panel.

Like Geralt's abilities, to unlock mutations you'll need to use ability points but, unlike abilities, they'll also require greater red, blue, and/or green mutagens. Furthermore, you'll notice they're set up in a 3 tier style. This means you'll have to unlock certain mutations to unlock a connected one. For example, if you want Mutated Skin, you'll need to unlock Toxic Blood and Euphoria first. Likewise, for mutations not directly connected to the 3 central ones (like Cat Eyes) you'll need to unlock the connecting ones (Bloodbath and Euphoria) to access it.

If you wish to reclaim the ability points used here, you can do so with a Potion of Restoration. However, it will not return any mutagens you used.

Using
While 12 mutations are available, you can only have one active at a time. To do so, after you've researched it, you can then select the one you want to activate and hit enter to make it active. It will then have a solid white border around it, signifying it's active. To deactivate it, simply select it and hit enter again.

It's important to note that mutations are color coded to a particular skill: green for alchemy, blue for magic, and red for combat. This will determine what abilities you can place in the 4 middle slots. There's an additional color, orange, which is a combination of all three and will let you place any ability type in it.

Strengthened Synapses
This is a unique mutation that will allow the player to unlock additional ability slots on the character panel. It requires a certain number of unlocked mutations before it can be upgraded itself.