How to get all of Geral'ts secret passive abilities

This guide will show you all missable passive abilities of the game. There's a lot of these things hidden throught the game, like a ability to improve your weight capacity. You can start getting these right in the prologue. This guide DOES NOT CONTAIN SPOILES. Every spoiler will be inside a spoiler tag like this and be related to the current chapter.

Prologue

In order to unlock some of these abilities, you MUST begin these tasks in prologue, or you will lose the chance to get them forever. A few of them are obtainable in later chapters, but are harder to do, like finding 12 trainning dummies.

Experienced

+10% Experience points earned.

Destroy over a dozen training dummies. There are 5 dummies in foltest's camp right at the prologue. This can help you get the rest of the dummies faster in chapter 1. Dummies location:

• Two dummies in Flotsam's gate near the Craftsmen District / Non-human Quarter. (Two near the northern exit and another two near the southern exit)
  
  
• Two dummies are in Flotsam's guardhouse (consider saving the game before you draw your sword since the guards can cause you trouble).
  
  
• Two posts are in Loredo's Garden, but you need to side with Roche in Death to the Traitor to use weapons in that area.
  
  
• Two dummies are in the Temerian Quarter in Loc-Muinne.
  
  
• The Order of the Rose has two dummies in their camp outside Loc-Muinne.

Pyromaniac

+20% to current percentage of Incineration

*MS-DOS said that you only need to do this 1 time.
Incur the "Burning" status effect more than a dozen times.
You can do it in every campfire of the game, but there's one right at Foltest's camp near a health regen buff.
Use queen to cut the burning status

Sapper

50% chance to avoid damage from traps and bombs

*MS-DOS said that you only need to do this 1 time.
Interrupt Geralt's animation multiple times while he is disarming a trap. You just need to use your medallion while desarming a trap.

You start the game with a fire trap, just put on the floor and keep desarming and using medallion before Geralt disarm it

Assassin

+25% Damage when attacking an enemy's back.

During the assault on La Valette Castle, after the ballista cutscene, you can find a dead white-robed assassin (Easter egg from Assassin's Creed" in the courtyard near a messy pile of hay in the yard's corner. Inspecting the corpse will earn this ability.

Strong Back

+50 Total capacity.

Spare Aryan La Valette and help him escape the La Valette's dungeon.
Some people say you can get this ability by losing a fistfight

Batter

20% Chance to instantly kill a shooter with a deflected arrow.

Kill a dozen (or more) archers by redirecting their arrows back to them. Simply hold block and wait for them to shoot. This ability requires the expenditure of two talent points in the "redirect arrows" Witcher Training skill tree. (i personally don't like it)

Executioner

+1% Chance to inflict an Instant Kill

WARNING: SPOILERS Condemn to death or personally kill three major or side characters (Aryan La Valette may be your first victim) . For Roche's side on Chapter 2: add Adam Pangratt and King Henselt to Aryan's corpse . For Iorveth's side: add Adam Pangratt and Prince Stennis.
OBS: I don't recommend trying to unlock this ability, you have to do a lot of choices that are not worth it. Just play your game, do it on NG+

Riposte

10% Chance to inflict an automatic Riposte after blocking an attack.

Earned by landing a successful riposte a few dozen times. Requires expending at least one Talent point in the Riposte ability on the Swordsmanship skill tree in order to use Riposte.

Toxic Blood

30% Chance to poison enemies who attack you.

Get poisoned more than a dozen times. You can achieve this by using Devil's Puffball bomb. Use quen to stop poisoning

Chapter 1

Cover
+10% Damage Reduction

Remain under Triss' protective forcefield all the time during Rough Landing in Chapter 1.

Thrower
Damage dealt by throwing knives: +5.

Defeat Ves in a knife throwing contest during the party at the Blue Stripes hangout in Chapter I. It's the building next to the inn/brothel; the task is available after the event where Geralt meets Sile the sorceress on the docks.

Haggling
-20% to Shop Items

Convince the merchant to double the fee by using the Axii sign during The Kayran: A Matter of Price quest in Chapter I. You get the ability after defeating the kayran and picking up payment from the merchant

Resistance to Magic
+20% Damage reduction against magic attacks

I don't recommend doing this, you'll lose one of the best part of the game, i'll write here but just don't read, the bonus isn't enough. During The Rose of Remembrance, refrain from seducing Triss in the Elven Baths and use the Aard Sign on the weakened wall to free yourselves.

Strong Stomach
+10% to current level of poison resistance.

Create the Mongoose potion and drink it so it takes effect during the battle with the kayran (i heard that if you drink anytime before the battle, you'll get the bonus too)

Summer's Crown
Quen Sign: +10% chance to Incinerate enemies who strike while Quen is in effect.

Awarded when visiting a shrine in Chapter 1 in the swamp outside Lobinden.


Use the shrine (there is a corpse with a book nearby, the book contains an easter egg about this ability)

Chapter 2 (iorveth path)

Anatomy Lesson

Damage against humans: +10%.

Examine the body in the catacombs during "With Flickering Heart" quest in Chapter II.
Remember to buy surgical tools from Felicia Cori in Rhundurin

Birdman

Damage against harpies: +10%.

Complete The Harpy Contract quest during Chapter II (Iorveth's path).

Child of the Night

Vitality regeneration at night: +2.

Sneak through the camp undetected during the "Where is Triss Merigold? quest, near the end of Chapter II. Read the name of the quest only if you are near the end of chapter 2 but don't worry, you'll probably know which camp is it.

Chapter 2 (Roche's path)

David

Damage dealt to opponents much bigger than Geralt: +10%

Slay two golems. Keep in mind that there are more than 2 golems hidden through chapter 2.


Golem location are probably spoilers, I'd recommend reading It only after beating the game to preserve your experience. In any case:

• in the sea cave under the Kaedweni Camp;
  
• in the Kingslayer's cave;
  
• and during the Siege of Vergen.

Exorcist

Chapter 3

Winter's Shroud
Changes Aard Sign into the freezing Ice Aard, which adds a 20% chance of freezing opponents hit with the Sign.

Awarded when visiting a shrine in Chapter 3 outside of Loc Muinne.

Roche's path

you need to go to the tunnel near 2 guards







Thanks to Sgt. Killdrax for the screenshots

Iorveth's path

Go right

Use your medallion (you'll get an achievment too)

Arcane Knowledge
Intensity of all Signs: +0.5.

Earned by completing The Gargoyle Contract in Chapter III.

Credits

Most of the content is found in http://witcher.wikia.com and in http://www.ign.com/wikis/witcher-2/Abilities. This guide was made to simplify it and cleary show how to get all of the abilities. Also, these sites are intended for people who already have beaten the game, because it does not hide spoilers. Some of the spoilers, i have hiden in a way that it'll not ruin your "choices experience", so you can play the way you want without having the experience ruined.

[adrianhahn]

Anyone else can't poison themselves with devils puffball?

[DzieX]

There were also some bugged abilites and some of them are available after install the patch:
https://forums.nexusmods.com/topic/3652060-broken-story-abilities-half-pirouette-etc-fixing/page/2/

[7Mad About You]

Is abilities still there after ng+ ? I want play new game with different path, but keep the old abilities. It is possible?

[!Devaizter]

If you destroy the 5 training dummies at the prologue at the camp and then save the game and load your save file the training dummies reappear and you can repeat this process. Will it count for the ability Experienced?

[Sanctus Hospitalier]

On pc I didn’t find it, but on xbox when you play Iorveth’s path and approach the Nilfgaardian camp if you try to use axii on the black one to pass, you will get some passive ability which gives you + some bonus for signs(probably sign damage: +7)

[Lord DiCampo]

About the Experienced skill, for those still playing. Dummies seem to respawn in Flotsum. I got the skill without destroying the ones at Loredo's place. I'll try to level up the skill like this but I doubt it can be done. I play the latest Steam version, no mods.

[gurunoble]

Very helpful thank you!

[Rodrick]

i fuckin love this game omg

[defendingfaithx]

Followed the tips for “Executioner”, and the ability still didn’t unlock. Epic fail.

[adrianhahn]

I love you