Special Red Mutagens are incredibly useful for players in the Witcher 3. Each of these Mutagens will provide a +5% bonus to Attack power and a +5% for each Red Mutagen connected for a max of +20%. That’s a very nice bonus to damage output making them valuable to melee centric characters.
There are a number of different monsters to hunt down to obtain these Mutagens. While there is no fundamental difference between Mutagens, the player could identify which monsters would be easier to grind to get Special Red Mutagen to drop.
9 Alghoul Mutagen
These Mutagens will drop from the Alghoul, a strong Necrophage that’s more dangerous than a common Ghoul. Alghouls can sometimes be found in large battlefields where multiple bodies are found. Guranteed Alghouls will appear in the Contracts Woodland Beast and The Mystery of the Byways Murders.
Necrophage Oil will help when hunting these creatures and they’re particularly susceptible to Axii signs. Even then they can be tricky to fight and are hard to take down in a crowd of Ghouls.
8 Archgriffin Mutagen
There are three Archgriffins in the game that have the possibility of dropping the Archgriffin Mutagen. There is an Archgriffin on Snidhall Isle which is north of Ard Skellig, the toughest creature in the base game.
There’s another one that can be encountered during the Contract: The Griffin from the Highlands. There is also Opinicus that’s part of the Contract: The Creature from Oxenfurt Forest but it’s quite the monster. In general this is a hard Special Mutagen to obtain.
7 Doppler Mutagen
Dopplers are capable of dropping the Doppler Special Red Mutagen. The problem is that the game is slightly bugged and only one of the two Dopplers in the game will drop one. The Doppler in the quest Skellige’s Most Wanted will not drop one.
That means the player can only obtain one in the entire game from the Doppler in An Elusive Thief. Relict Oil is highly recommended when getting in a fight with a Doppler. They’re very difficult creatures to fight, counters and performing parries can give the player openings to take advantage of.
6 Katakan Mutagen
Katakans are a great monster to grind for Special Red Mutagens as there are a number to be encountered in the game. The quests Now or Never, Carnal Sins, Contract: The Oxenfurt Drunk, A Tome Entombed, La Cage au Fou, and The Night of Long Fangs all have guaranteed Katakans.
Hunting them during the day is highly recommended as they have stronger regeneration at night. The Yrden sign is very effective against them. Moon Dust, Devil’s Puffball, Black Blood, Vampire Oil, and Igni sign can all make the fight much easier. Interestingly they can also drop Lesser Blue Mutagens.
5 Nekker Warrior Mutagen
Nekker Warriors are another great monster to farm for Special Red Mutagens as they are respawnable. The only downside is that the drop rate is a bit lower when compared to other monsters. They can be found throughout No Man’s Land.
A single Nekker Warrior isn’t much of a threat and even a group isn’t too much of an issue. Players can carefully farm groups using Ogroid Oil. They’re also great to farm for Monsters Essence, Lesser Blue Mutagens, and Lesser Green Mutagens.
4 Succubus Mutagen
There are only two Succubi in the game that players can kill for the Succubus Mutagen. One is Salma who is encountered during the quest Deadly Delights. The other is found in Ard Skelling during the quest Practicum in Advanced Alchemy.
Having Hybrid Oil can make the fights much easier. Quen is also highly recommended to keep a Succubus from using their powers to control the fight with their spells and fire. Both kills are optional in the game and have drawbacks, but it’s the only way to get the Succubus Special Red Mutagen.
3 Water Hag Mutagen
Water Hags are another fine source for Special Red Mutagens. They can appear in Velen, White Orchard, and Skellige in different variations. Guaranteed sources of Water Hags are the quests A Bard’s Beloved, A Towerful of Mice, and Ladies of the Wood. There is also the Contract Muire D’yaeblen which has the player go after Abaya, though she’s much more dangerous than the standard variants.
Water Hags can be a bit tricky to fight thanks to their mud slinging and swimming abilities. Necrophage Oil helps a lot. Using Northern Wind to freeze her in place along with Quen and Igni can also do wonders. Water Hags are also a source of other materials and ingredients that makes farming them in general for Special Red Mutagens an efficient act.
2 Werewolf Mutagen
Werewolves are a source of Special Red Mutagens. Werewolves are very fast and capable of leaping large distances. Fighting them can be very challenging and having a silver weapon is all but mandatory. The health regeneration is also a significant problem and necessitate using either fire, bleed, or poison to keep it in check is highly recommended.
There are a number of these monsters encountered in the game. Once can be found during The Whispering Hillock quest, but the best source to farm Werewolf Mutagen is Morkvarg found in the quest Wolf’s Clothing. Because of the curse placed on Morkvarg he will constantly resurrect in the garden creating an infinite supply of the Special Red Mutagen. This makes him the single best source of the Mutagens in the game, assuming of course the player can manage to take him down effectively enough.
1 Wyvern Mutagen
The final monster that will drop Special Red Mutagens are Wyverns and the variant Royal Wyverns. One Wyvern can be found during the Contract Patrol Gone Missing. They can also be encountered randomly in the wild, but those have lower drop rates. By far the easiest way to get a Wyvern Mutagen is the one found in The Most Truest of Basilisks. This creature is already injured and the player has backup to take it down.
Wyverns can be tricky to fight given their powerful poisons and swooping aerial attacks. Golden Oriole helps negate the worst of the poison and Grapeshot can drop these beasts from the sky. Hunting Wyverns is a lucrative activity given the abundance of materials and ingredients that drop from them.
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