Witcher 3 Remastered · Guide
The new skill tree: every change, old vs new
The Witcher 3 Remastered came out on September 29, 2026 as a free upgrade, and the character screen is one of its biggest changes. We recorded the original 2015 skill panel before the update and the same screens in the remaster, then went through every tooltip. Here is what changed, what got stronger, what got weaker, and the full remastered skill list.
Watch: every branch, side by side
A DeepPurps website exclusive. All four branches, original on the left and remastered on the right, with the key changes called out. About 2.5 minutes.
The short version
| Original (2015) | Remastered | |
|---|---|---|
| Layout | A grid: 5 columns per branch, in rows | A branching tree of connected skills |
| Unlocking | Deeper rows open after a set number of points in that branch (the locks show 6, 12 and 18) | A skill opens once you own the skills that lead to it |
| Ranks | Varied: many skills had 3 levels, some 2, some only 1 | Every skill has 3 ranks |
| Skill effects | Original values | Rebalanced: some buffs, some nerfs, new skills and a few renames |
| Existing saves | n/a | Your skill points are refunded when you load an old save |
The biggest changes
Every row below comes from the in-game tooltips in our own footage of both versions (rank 1 values).
| Skill | Original (2015) | Remastered | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Combat | |||
| Muscle Memory | +10% Fast Attack damage | After a dodge or roll, your next Fast Attack deals +30% damage | Changed |
| Strength Training | +10% Strong Attack damage | Fast Attacks raise the next Strong Attack's damage by 15% | Changed |
| Three Strikes | Not in the original | The third Fast or Strong Attack has a 20% chance to power up the next one of the same type | New |
| Deadly Precision | Each Adrenaline point adds 1% instant-kill chance (max once every 15s) | Any attack can set up an instant-kill Strong Attack; immune enemies give 0.1 Adrenaline instead | Changed |
| Sunder Armor | Reduces enemy damage resistance by 10% | Strong Attacks sunder Armor, reducing damage resistance by 10% (stacks once) | Changed |
| Arrow Deflection | Deflect arrows while parrying | A perfectly timed parry fires arrows back, with a 15% instant-kill chance | Buff |
| Undying | At 0 Vitality, Adrenaline is spent to restore Vitality. It already had a 30-second cooldown, but the tooltip never said so | 10% Vitality per Adrenaline point. The 30-second cooldown is now written in the tooltip | Same |
| Flood of Anger | 3 Adrenaline casts a Sign at max level, +100% Sign intensity | Same idea, but +50% Sign intensity | Nerf |
| Whirl | Spinning attack; holding it drains Stamina and Adrenaline | Unchanged in the tooltip | Same |
| Signs | |||
| Melt Armor | Igni permanently weakens Armor, up to 25% (scales with Sign intensity) | Armor reduction scales with skill rank, plus +10% Burn chance | Changed |
| Sustained Glyphs | +5s duration; 7 alternate-mode charges, 1 trap | +5s duration and +10% area; +2 alternate charges and +1 trap | Buff |
| Exploding Shield | Quen pushes enemies back when it breaks | Same, push-back grows with rank | Same |
| Delusion | Target can't close in while you cast Axii; better Axii in dialogue | Unchanged | Same |
| Alchemy | |||
| Acquired Tolerance | Each known level 1 formula: +0.5 max Toxicity | Each learned recipe: +1 max Toxicity | Buff |
| Frenzy | Toxicity above 0: time slows before an enemy counterattack | Needs Toxicity above 1; time slows by 5% | Changed |
| Adaptation | +33% mutagen decoction duration | Renamed Adaptability, same +33% | Renamed |
| General | |||
| Rage Management | Cast Signs with Adrenaline when Stamina is too low | Renamed Anger Management; costs 2 Adrenaline per cast when Stamina is empty | Renamed |
| Adrenaline Burst | +5% Adrenaline generation; Signs generate Adrenaline | +2% per rank (3 ranks); Signs still generate Adrenaline | Changed |
| Cat School Techniques | Per light armor piece: +25% crit damage, +5% Fast Attack damage (1 level) | Per piece: +8% crit damage, +2% Fast Attack damage, per rank (3 ranks) | Changed |
| Wolf, Manticore, Viper School Techniques | Not skills in the original tree | New school-technique skills alongside Cat, Bear and Griffin | New |
| Sun and Stars | Day: +10 Vitality/s out of combat. Night: +1 Stamina/s in combat | Unchanged | Same |
Correction (thanks to a viewer): Undying always had a 30-second cooldown. The remaster just lists it in the tooltip now. On Death March it saves you once per fight at best, so don't build around it.
Branch by branch: screenshots
Combat
Strength Training shows the change best. In the original it simply raised strong attack damage by 10% per level. In the remaster it rewards mixing attacks: fast attacks increase the damage of your next strong attack by 15%. The branch now splits into paths instead of stacking rows.
Signs
The old Signs grid had one column per Sign (Aard, Igni, Yrden, Quen, Axii). The remastered tree keeps the five Signs across the top and branches down from them, and some upgrades are new: Exploding Shield now pushes enemies back when your Quen shield breaks.
Alchemy
Alchemy follows the same pattern. Pyrotechnics, for example, now makes all bombs (even ones that normally do no damage) deal 50 extra damage, and also raises potion duration and bomb damage.
General
The General branch used to be a loose grid of single-level perks like Survival Instinct (+15% Vitality). In the remaster it is a proper tree too, and every skill now has 3 ranks. We also spotted witcher school technique skills, such as Manticore School Techniques, in this branch.
Every remastered skill
The full remastered trees, skill by skill, as the tooltips read at rank 1. Tap a branch to open it.
Combat (16 skills)
| Skill | What rank 1 does |
|---|---|
| Muscle Memory | After a successful dodge or roll, your next Fast Attack deals 30% more damage. |
| Strength Training | Fast Attacks raise the next Strong Attack's damage by 15%. |
| Three Strikes | The third Fast or Strong Attack has a 20% chance to make the next attack stronger, if it is the same type. |
| Razor Focus | Gain 1 Adrenaline point when combat starts. +10% Adrenaline from weapon strikes. |
| Crushing Blow | A Strong Attack has a 20% chance to raise the damage of the next 2 Strong Attacks by 50%. |
| Sunder Armor | Strong Attacks sunder enemy Armor: -10% damage resistance, stacks once. |
| Deadly Precision | Any attack can make the next Strong Attack an instant kill. Immune enemies give 0.1 Adrenaline instead. |
| Whirl | Spinning attack that hits everyone around you. Holding it drains Stamina and Adrenaline. |
| Fleet-Footed | Take 33% less damage while dodging. |
| Undying | At 0 Vitality, spends Adrenaline to restore 10% Vitality per point. Once every 30 seconds. |
| Arrow Deflection | Parry arrows. A perfect parry sends them back, with a 15% instant-kill chance. |
| Resolve | Lose 33% less Adrenaline when you take damage. |
| Cold Blood | Every bolt that hits generates 0.3 Adrenaline. |
| Lightning Reflexes | Time slows an extra 30% while aiming the crossbow. Headshots +250% damage, 5% instant-kill chance. |
| Anatomical Knowledge | Crossbow damage +10% of your current silver sword damage. |
| Flood of Anger | Casting a Sign spends 3 Adrenaline to cast it at its highest level, +50% Sign intensity. |
Signs (19 skills)
| Skill | What rank 1 does |
|---|---|
| Far-Reaching Aard | Aard range +1 yard. |
| Aard Sweep | Alternate mode: Aard hits everyone in a radius (knockdown chance -21%). |
| Melt Armor | Igni damage also reduces Armor, more with each rank. +10% Burn chance. |
| Firestream | Alternate mode: a continuous stream of fire. |
| Sustained Glyphs | Sign duration +5s, area +10%. +2 alternate-mode charges, +1 standard trap. |
| Magic Trap | Alternate Yrden: a magic discharge that damages and slows enemies in a 14-yard radius. |
| Supercharged Glyphs | Enemies inside Yrden lose 10 Vitality or Essence per second (scales with level and Sign intensity). |
| Exploding Shield | When Quen breaks, it pushes enemies back. |
| Active Shield | Alternate Quen: hold to block; absorbed damage restores Vitality. |
| Delusion | Enemies can't close in while you cast Axii. Stronger Axii in dialogue. |
| Puppetmaster | A targeted enemy briefly fights for you with +20% damage. |
| Shockwave | Aard damage +1% of your current Vitality. |
| Catalyst | Aard and Igni intensity +30% against enemies inside Yrden. |
| Domination | Axii hits two targets at once, 50% weaker. |
| Fortify Signs | Yrden, Quen and Axii last 20% longer. |
| Chain Reaction | Each Sign raises the next different Sign's intensity by 5% (stacks to 5). |
| Focus | Each Adrenaline point raises Sign intensity by 10%. |
| Sidestep | After a successful dodge or roll, your next Sign costs 20% less Stamina. |
| Resonance | After a Sign, your next 3 melee hits deal extra damage equal to 10% Sign intensity. |
Alchemy (18 skills)
| Skill | What rank 1 does |
|---|---|
| Refreshment | Each potion dose heals 10% Vitality. |
| Adaptability | Mutagen decoctions last 33% longer. |
| Pyrotechnics | Every bomb, even non-damaging ones, deals 50 extra damage. |
| Protective Coating | +5% protection against the monster type your oil targets. |
| Efficiency | +1 bomb in each slot. |
| Hunter Instinct | At max Adrenaline, +20% crit damage against the oiled enemy type. |
| Acquired Tolerance | Every learned recipe raises max Toxicity by 1. |
| Tissue Transmutation | Decoctions raise max Vitality by 300 while active. |
| Frenzy | With Toxicity above 1, time slows 5% when an enemy is about to counterattack. |
| Endure Pain | +10% max Vitality while Toxicity is above the safety threshold. |
| Poisoned Blades | Oiled blades have a 5% chance to poison. |
| Toxic Shock | A Strong Attack on a poisoned enemy bursts the poison for 25% of the attack's damage (every 5s). |
| Debilitating Poison | Poisoned targets deal 5% less damage. |
| Potent Sting | Poisoned weapons deal +5% damage (+10% against poison-immune targets). |
| High Tolerance | At 80%+ Toxicity you take 150% damage, but crit damage rises by 33% of your Toxicity. |
| Delayed Recovery | Above 70% Toxicity, each potion extends your active potions by 5 seconds. |
| Cluster Bombs | Bombs split into 2 fragments that each deal 40% of the damage. |
| Side Effects | 33% chance a potion also triggers another random potion, with no extra Toxicity. |
General (17 skills)
| Skill | What rank 1 does |
|---|---|
| Cat School Techniques | Per light armor piece: +8% crit damage, +2% Fast Attack damage. |
| Wolf School Techniques | Per medium armor piece: +2% weapon damage, +2% Sign intensity. |
| Bear School Techniques | Per heavy armor piece: +2% max Vitality, +2% Strong Attack damage. |
| Griffin School Techniques | Per medium armor piece: +2% Sign intensity and extra Stamina regeneration. |
| Viper School Techniques | Per medium armor piece: +2% max Vitality, +2% poison damage. |
| Manticore School Techniques | Per medium armor piece: +2% sword damage, +2% bomb damage. |
| Adrenaline Burst | +2% Adrenaline generation, and Signs generate Adrenaline. |
| Survival Instinct | +8% max Vitality. |
| Synergy | Mutagen slot bonuses +10%. |
| Anger Management | With Stamina empty, cast Signs using 2 Adrenaline points. |
| Sun and Stars | Day: +10 Vitality/s out of combat. Night: +1 Stamina/s in combat. |
| Attack Is the Best Defense | Successful defensive moves generate Adrenaline. |
| Gourmand | Food regenerates Vitality for 5 minutes. |
| Battle Frenzy | +3% crit chance per Adrenaline point. |
| Strong Back | +20 max inventory weight. |
| Elemental Attunement | +3% fire, frost, force, magic and poison damage. |
| Advanced Pyrotechnics | Thrown bombs have a 10% chance not to be used up, and you are immune to your own bomb damage. |
What it means for you
- Coming back with an old save? Your skill points are refunded when you load it, so plan a build before you spend them.
- Starting fresh? Pick one branch and follow a path down it. Prerequisites matter more than raw point totals now.
- Sign builds: the Yrden path (Sustained Glyphs, Supercharged Glyphs, Catalyst) plus Melt Armor and Resonance works well together. Flood of Anger is weaker than it was.
- Mutagen and slot panel: in our footage the equip slots on the right look the same as before. The big change is the tree itself.
Values are from the tooltips in our PS5 footage (remaster launch version, rank 1) and can change with patches. A few tooltips we did not capture clearly are left out rather than guessed.
Watch more
▶ What actually changed (Short) ▶ Old vs new (Short) DeepPurps on YouTube
Sources
- Our own PS5 recordings of both versions (Sept 28, 29 and 30, 2026).
- GamesRadar: The Witcher 3 Remaster overhauls skill trees (patch notes)
- KeenGamer: Witcher 3 Remastered patch notes, skill reset and major changes