The Witcher 3’s Blood and Wine expansion has a lot more quests than a typical DLC. And one of the most useful to complete is named “Turn and Face the Strange.” This is because it grants you access to Mutation abilities, which make Geralt even more powerful.
It’s triggered at some point after “Blood Run” when a little boy approaches and hands you a letter from either Yennefer or Triss, depending on who you romanced (if neither, it’ll be from the former). The Sorceress’s message sends you on a journey to find Professor Moreau’s work on Mutations.
It’s not a simple adventure, though, as there are multiple obstacles you have to overcome to complete the quest. This guide will help you get past them all.
Step One: Investigate Moreau’s Grave
Your first objective is to head to the cemetery near Lebioda’s Gate - identified by the objective marker. Once there, search for Moreau’s grave. It’s the partially opened one near the large tree. Examine the tombstone to make sure it’s correct, then examine the grave. Geralt will realize that the journal filled with the Professor’s work is gone. But the Witcher doesn’t give up easily, so you’ll need to find the thief.
Using your Witcher senses, you can follow a set of footprints coming from Moreau’s remains. At the end of the short trail, examine the last print. After that, do the same to the Professor’s body in the grave to get a new objective.
Now, look at the ‘Old Map of Toussaint’ that’s within your inventory under quest items. This will help Geralt figure out the location of Moreau’s lab. The game will then place a new objective marker on the map.
Step Two: Find The Underwater Portal
When you get to the new marker situated North of Francollarts, you’ll be at a body of water. To get to the place you desire, you need to go swimming. Unfortunately, multiple creatures will be underwater waiting to attack you. Several crossbow bolts should put them down for good.
Also, underwater you’ll see the remains of a large platform that has stairs on both sides. Swim around to the back of it to find a portal that you must enter.
Step Three: Avoid The Spike Traps And Fight The Guardians
On the other side of the portal will be an infrastructure that you need to make your way through. Mostly you’ll have to follow the path that’s laid out in front of you. Although, at one point, you’ll come across some spike traps. Anyone who’s played the Tomb Raider games will be very familiar with them. Simply run over them when the spikes have just gone down.
After that, you continue making your way through the area until you’re ambushed by some guardians. They’re two ferocious panthers who’ve just come to life. They’re not the most dangerous enemies in the game, but they can do some harm if you’re not careful. Just use Quen to protect against their quick attacks and strike them with your sword.
Step Four: Finding Professor Moreau’s Diary
After the brawl, go up the stairs that the objective is marking. At the top, look to your right to see a hole in the floor. Drop down it, and make your way through the cave. It won’t be long before you get to a crossroads. At this point, you have the option of going right to examine a clue about the robbers, but it’s not integral to the quest. Otherwise, head left and climb over a large stone step.
You’ll soon end up at another split path; this time, head right to find Professor Moreau’s diary on the floor. Pick it up and read it to find out how to unlock a door you’ll shortly encounter. Afterward, use the boulder in front of you to climb up to the next level. You’ll then need to fight another panther. Once again, Quen is your friend here.
Step Five: Solve The Stone Puzzle
Proceed into the next room, where you’ll find the door that the diary warned you about earlier. To open it, you’ll need to hit the four protruding stones around you with crossbow bolts. Here’s where they all are:
- One of them is in the middle of the right-hand wall as you enter the room. The next is on the ruins that are hanging above the giant pit to the left. Another is on the back wall to the right of the door that you’re looking to go through. The last is hidden in the shadows on the other side of the door.
Once you’ve hit them all, go through the exit that opens up.
Step Six: Solve The Portal Puzzle
The preceding area is filled with inactive gargoyles. Examine the pedestal right in front of the entrance to activate one of the stone enemies. Your next task is to kill the thing. Dimeritium Bombs and Elementa Oil can significantly help you take the monster down.
Once it’s dead, loot the body to receive a hand. Put the body part on the pedestal to turn on several portals. Geralt is famously not a fan of teleportation devices, and this next puzzle doesn’t help as it can be difficult.
The trick is to always go through the portal that the central statue is directly facing. This is the exact order:
- The first to walk through is the one on the left. Then you’ll need to drop down to the first floor, run across to the other side, and climb back up to the second to enter the portal right in front of you. For the last, you must head left and run past the first two portals. At this point, you’ll have a small gap to get past. Drop into it, and climb out the other side. The next portal on that same path will be the one you need to enter.
Step Seven: Activate The Megascope
At this point, you’ll have finally made it into the lab. The place is filled with things to examine, including a megascope. To activate it, you must find the two missing crystals. One is on the desk in the middle of the room. The other is atop a bench between a cell and all of the big machinery.
Place them both into the megascope and watch each entry to learn about the Professor’s experiments. Afterward, Geralt summarizes that to enhance his abilities, he needs giant centipedes.
Step Eight: Find Centipede Albumen
Leave the lab using the hole in the cell wall that’s indicated by the objective marker. This will lead to a cave containing pale widows. Fighting them isn’t very easy, but using Yrden slows their ability to burrow, allowing you to land more strikes at a time. Once you’ve killed the first ones, climb over a large step to get into the second part of the cave.
Right as you get into this new area, there’s a little place to the right that contains eggs you can loot for the centipede albumen. Although, you might need to defeat another pale widow to get to them. With the albumen in hand, you can keep following the cave to get to a breakable wall, which you can blow away with Aard. The simple act of destruction creates a way for you to re-enter the lab.
Step Nine: Unlock Mutations
Once you’re back in the laboratory, insert the albumen into the Iron Maiden-looking device (it’s shaped like a person). Then unequip all of your gear and weapons before stepping inside the thing.
When Geralt comes back out, he’ll have access to the Mutation abilities. To finish the quest, enter the newly-formed portal at the back of the room.
NEXT: The Witcher 3: Complete Guide And Walkthrough
