In The Witcher 3 Remastered, the developers have significantly reworked Geralt's progression. The skill tree is no longer supposed to force you to spend dozens of hours moving down a single branch just to reach the genuinely interesting abilities. Some options have been moved closer to the beginning, old skills have been reworked, and completely new ones have been added as well.Because of this, old progression routes from the original Wild Hunt can no longer simply be copied over. This is especially important if you are loading a save that is, say, ten years old. After switching to Remastered, your allocated skill points are automatically reset, allowing you to redistribute them immediately.One thing to make clear right away: we are not building a complete endgame build here. Instead, we'll go over which directions are genuinely useful during the first few hours, what you should avoid spending points on too early, and how to get more points for experimentation as quickly as possible.
How the Skill Tree Changed in The Witcher 3 Remastered
In Remastered, CD PROJEKT RED did more than simply move a few icons around. The progression system has been reworked as a whole: some familiar skills have new effects, additional abilities have appeared, and the tree itself offers much more freedom. The main goal of these changes is to let players experiment with different parts of the combat system much earlier. In the original game, interesting alchemy options, advanced Signs, and powerful sword techniques often only opened up after dozens of levels. In Remastered, the developers specifically tried to address that problem.Image unavailableThat is why we do not recommend choosing one branch from the very beginning and mindlessly pouring every point into it. Early on, it is more useful to pick up a small set of versatile abilities, get a feel for the updated combat, and only decide what you really prefer after reaching Velen.
What Happens to an Old Character's Skills?
If you are continuing an old playthrough, you do not need to create a new character. Saves are compatible with Remastered, and your inventory and story progress remain intact. Your allocated skills, however, will be reset. This is not a bug or a free Potion of Clearance that Geralt somehow drank by accident. The developers deliberately refund the spent points because of the redesigned tree, preventing an old character from loading with a skill setup that no longer exists in the same form.Image unavailableSo before your first serious fight on an old save, make sure to open the Character menu. If you load up a level 50 Geralt and immediately go hunting a monster, you may quickly discover that several dozen skill points are sitting there completely unspent.
How to Get More Skill Points Early in the Game
The easiest way to strengthen Geralt early on is definitely not to kill hundreds of thousands of Drowners. Instead, simply explore Places of Power. The first time you draw from each stone, Geralt receives one additional Ability Point. White Orchard contains six Places of Power, so thoroughly exploring the starting area can give you a respectable pool of extra points before you even begin your proper journey through Velen.We would not recommend leaving White Orchard immediately after the griffin sequence. Check the remaining question marks and collect the stones first. Six early points are especially valuable now because the new tree lets you reach interesting abilities much faster. The Sign associated with a particular Place of Power does not matter for the Ability Point itself. An Aard Place of Power does not force you to spend the reward on Aard, so use it wherever you want.
What Should You Upgrade First?
If this is your first playthrough or you are returning after several years away, do not try to build the perfect witcher for the next hundred hours right away. Pick skills that help in practically every other fight.Image unavailable
The most useful early directions are Fast Attacks, Quen, and one additional tool such as Axii or Igni. After that, look at what your own playstyle is actually missing.
Muscle Memory — for Regular Fast Attacks
If you use Fast Attacks most of the time, start with Muscle Memory. The reason is boring but practical: Geralt uses fast strikes constantly. Against Drowners, wolves, humans, Nekkers, and most ordinary enemies, a short combo lets you attack quickly and still get out of the way before the counterattack. This choice feels particularly useful during the first few hours, when you do not yet have powerful potions, a complete witcher gear set, or a proper build made up of a dozen different skills.If you prefer slower Strong Attacks right from the start, look toward Strength Training instead. We do not recommend maxing both directions at once early on. You will quickly figure out which attack type you actually use more often.
Exploding Shield — a Simple Way to Improve Quen
Quen remains one of the most useful Signs for a new playthrough. It forgives mistakes, lets you survive a heavy hit, and is especially useful while you are getting used to the updated animations and monster behavior. That is why an early upgrade through Exploding Shield is almost never wasted. When the shield breaks, it becomes harder for the enemy to immediately continue its attack chain.Image unavailable Just please do not turn Quen into an excuse to stand still and absorb everything. The shield is there to cover a mistake, not replace dodging.
Active Shield — If You Are Constantly Running Out of Health
If regular Quen is no longer enough, take a look at Active Shield. This alternate mode lets you maintain the protective barrier instead of using the Sign as a normal short-duration cast. In the classic system, it could also restore health by absorbing attacks, which made it particularly valuable on higher difficulties.Still, we would not take it first just because some ten-year-old guide says "this is the best skill". Try regular Quen first. If you constantly have to heal after every second encounter, then Active Shield is solving a clear problem.
Delusion — One of the Most Useful Skills Outside Combat
Delusion in the Axii branch is valuable for a completely different reason. It unlocks additional dialogue options and lets you resolve some conflicts without fighting, bribing someone, or running around doing extra errands. If this is your first playthrough and you plan to complete side quests, we recommend taking it fairly early. The Witcher 3 regularly checks Axii in conversations, and some alternative solutions are simply unavailable otherwise.Image unavailableAxii is not useless in combat either: you can temporarily remove one enemy from the fight and deal with the others in peace. It is a rare skill that comes in handy both while exploring the world and during battles, which makes it well worth a few of your early points.
Melt Armor — If You Use Igni Often
If half your fights begin with that familiar hand gesture followed by an enemy catching fire, take a look at Melt Armor. The skill improves Igni's practical value against protected targets: after using the Sign, your following attacks become more effective. It is a good option for anyone who already uses fire constantly.However, I would not recommend investing in Igni specifically for the sake of this one skill. If you have not thought about the fire Sign once in the past two hours, your points are better spent on abilities you actually use.
Resolve — Once You Start Using Adrenaline
Resolve becomes useful a little later, once Adrenaline stops being a UI bar you never look at. When Geralt takes damage, he loses some of his accumulated Adrenaline Points. This skill helps preserve that built-up advantage and works well with practically any character who regularly fights with swords.You do not need to rush toward it in White Orchard. But once your main offensive and defensive abilities are already unlocked, it is a solid next step.
Should You Invest in Alchemy Right Away?
Alchemy is extremely powerful in The Witcher 3, but it has one obvious problem at low levels: you simply do not have many recipes, mutagens, decoctions, or good potions yet. That is why we do not recommend pouring all of your starting points into this branch. First, build up a basic collection of oils and potions, learn how Toxicity works, and see how often you actually prepare for fights.Image unavailableOnce you have a decent collection of formulas in your inventory, the value of Acquired Tolerance, Synergy, and other alchemy skills rises sharply. Put simply, learn to use alchemy first, then strengthen it with skills. Doing it the other way around does not make much sense.
Which Signs Should You Upgrade First?
Do not try to improve all five Signs at once. Early points may be easier to come by now, but not so easy that you can scatter them across all five branches without thinking. We recommend choosing Quen first as a universal safety net, then picking your second Sign based on your own habits.Use fire often? Develop Igni. Hate fighting specters? Yrden upgrades make encounters with Noonwraiths and other spirits noticeably easier. Aard works well for crowd control and is now also tied to new Remastered finishers. Axii is primarily useful for players who want more options in dialogue.
In other words, there is no mandatory "blue path until level ten." Improve the tool whose button you actually press most often while playing. It really is that simple.
Which Skills Should You Avoid Taking Too Early?
Highly specialized abilities are the least useful at the beginning of a playthrough. If a skill only matters in one rare situation, requires a developed alchemy setup, or only starts working properly with a particular piece of equipment, leave it for later. Your first points are much better spent on things that help in almost every fight.Image unavailableThe same goes for alternate Sign modes. They can be very powerful, but they require a different combat rhythm. We recommend learning the basic version first, then deciding whether you actually need a continuous Igni stream, Active Shield, or another advanced mode.And do not be afraid to leave a few points unspent. Remastered is specifically trying to move away from the situation where a choice at level five determines the next forty hours.
What Should You Upgrade Before Leaving White Orchard?
If you want a very simple guideline rather than a finished build, try to accomplish three things by the end of White Orchard:
Improve your main way of dealing damage a little, whether that means Fast Attacks or Strong Attacks.
Take a defensive ability you will actually use, usually a Quen upgrade.
Spend a few points on a useful tool such as Delusion or your favorite combat Sign.
We recommend saving the rest until you reach Velen.By that point, you will already know whether you like the new combat system, how often you use Signs, and whether you want to bother with alchemy at all. Only then does it make sense to invest heavily in a specific branch.And remember that your armor stats no longer have to determine how Geralt looks. Remastered includes a separate system for changing equipment appearance. We covered it in more detail in our guide to transmog and reforging armor.
