Ability points are the scarcest currency in The Witcher 3 — you earn one per level, and that is nearly it. The exception is the Places of Power: 30 standing stones scattered across the world, and the first time you draw from each one, you gain a permanent +1 ability point, plus a temporary boost to one of your five Signs. Six of them sit in White Orchard, the prologue region, where a new player can collect them inside the first few hours. This guide explains how the stones work, lists all 30 by region, and then walks the White Orchard six as a single route — with one warning saved for later: exactly one stone in the game can be missed forever.
At a glance
Total: 30 Places of Power — 25 across the base game's regions, plus 5 in Toussaint (Blood and Wine)
Reward: First draw from a stone = +1 ability point, permanently; every draw also grants a 30-minute buff to that stone's Sign (classic-edition figure)
Split: White Orchard 6
· Velen 6
· Novigrad 2
· Skellige 9
· Kaer Morhen 1
· The otherworld 1
· Toussaint 5
Best early move: Sweep all six White Orchard stones before you leave the region — six points is roughly six levels' worth, handed to you in your first hours
The one missable stone: The Aard stone inside the main quest Through Time and Space — that world is visited exactly once
About the locations: Positions below are classic-edition documentation — CD PROJEKT RED has not published a 5.0 location table, and the Remastered does not move the world around (see the note in section 2)
1. How Places of Power work
A Place of Power is a moss-covered standing stone, often ringed by smaller stones, humming with energy. Each one is attuned to a single Sign, and you can read which from its glow: Aard burns blue, Igni orange, Quen yellow, Axii green and Yrden purple. They hide in forests, caves, hilltops and ruins; as you explore nearby they appear on your map as "?" points of interest, and when you get close you can hear them — a low, distinctive hum under the ambient sound.
Walk up and hold the interact prompt. Geralt kneels and draws for several seconds, completely defenceless — so whatever is guarding the stone gets dealt with first (many stones have a guardian; the White Orchard route in section 3 names them all). Two rewards follow:
The first draw from each stone grants +1 ability point. Permanent, and the main reason this guide exists: across a full playthrough the stones are worth 30 extra points on top of your level-ups.
Every draw grants a buff to that stone's Sign intensity, lasting 30 minutes (the classic-edition duration). You can re-draw from a stone you have already emptied whenever you want to refresh its buff — the point is once-only, the buff is not.
Buffs from different Signs run simultaneously, so drawing several stones in a row stacks your magic up before a hard fight. Hold all five Sign buffs at once and you also earn the Power Overwhelming achievement — White Orchard, where five different Signs sit minutes apart, is the classic place to do it (see the tip in section 3).
2. All 30 Places of Power, region by region
One honest note before the table. Every position below comes from classic-edition documentation — the location lists maintained since 2015 and cross-checked across several guides — because CD PROJEKT RED has not republished a location table for the Remastered. Nothing in the official 5.0 changes moves the world layout, so the stones stand where they have always stood. Read the table as classic data on an unchanged map, not as a list of 5.0 discoveries.
White Orchard — 6
Aard — Northern woods, in the forest north of the Mill — Ghouls around a monster nest beside the stone
Igni — White Orchard Cemetery, just north of the Mill — A wraith guards it — the toughest of the six guardians this early
Axii — Forest clearing southeast of the Nilfgaardian Garrison, northeast of the Sawmill — Classic guides note a wraith in the trees
Quen — South of the Broken Bridge, among the trees at the map's southern edge — Classic guides report a wraith spawning nearby
Yrden — Woods east of the Abandoned Village, off the road — A bear holds this ground
Quen — Far northeast, past Cackler Bridge, at the edge of the battlefield — Ghouls and a second monster nest — and yes, White Orchard really has two Quen stones
Velen — 6
Yrden — Underground, in the elven ruins you cross during the main quest Wandering in the Dark — Missed it? A cave entrance south of the marker, beside the water, leads back in
Aard — Amid the swamps at the southern edge of the map
Quen — Near the summit of Bald Mountain — You gain access during the main quest Bald Mountain — take it while you are up there
Igni — Beside the Ancient Oak, next to a cave entrance
Yrden — Atop the mountain northwest of Downwarren
Quen — Lornruk, on the west coast, down by the water
Novigrad — 2
Axii — East of the city, atop a small cliff between Alness and the Vegelbud Residence
Igni — Temple Isle: head north from Electors' Square and through the door into the Temple of the Eternal Fire grounds; the stone stands at the cliff edge beside the main building
Skellige — 9
Quen — The far-northeast island, atop Yngvar's Fang
Igni — The northwest island, north of Svorlag village — A house blocks the path — climb the rocks to the left of its entrance
Quen — A secret passage off Kaer Trolde's wine cellar — Only during The King's Gambit, and only on Cerys's path — the most gated stone in the game
Igni — A cave east of Kaer Trolde; the entrance is a little northeast, by the Ancient Crypt signpost — You gain access during The Sunstone
Axii — Centre of the main island, southwest of Crossroads, standing in the water among shipwrecks
Yrden — East side of the main island, in the trees just above the Druids' Camp
Aard — East coast of the main island, inside the cave where a cyclops guards a hidden treasure — Climb to the cave's upper level
Axii — Southwest of the main island, beside the path as it climbs the mountain
Yrden — The southeast island, on a large hill west of Harviken
Kaer Morhen — 1
Igni — North of the keep: from the Lakeside Hut, head past the lake to the northern cave, go through it and out the far side — Something large lives in that cave — go in ready
The otherworld — 1
Aard — The poisoned valley — the second world visited during the main quest Through Time and Space — One chance, ever. That world is visited exactly once; see the warning in section 4
Toussaint (Blood and Wine) — 5
Axii — Inside a monster den northwest of Beauclair Palace
Aard — The southern part of the map, on a rock overlooking the water
Quen — Termes Palace Ruins in the east: enter the cave behind the waterfall, then Aard down a wall inside
Igni — Further north in the east, in a cave in the cliff face
Yrden — The far north, beyond the Hanse base — Dangerous creatures around it
The count: 6 + 6 + 2 + 9 + 1 + 1 + 5 = 30 stones, 30 ability points.
3. The White Orchard route: all six in your first hours
White Orchard is a tutorial-sized region, and its six stones form one clean clockwise sweep from the village. Run it on horseback once you have Roach and the signposts open — under an hour, including the fights — and you leave the prologue six ability points richer, at a stage of the game where a single point changes what your build can do.
Igni — the cemetery, north of the Mill. Start north from the village. A wraith hovers at this stone: drop an Yrden circle to make it solid, keep Quen up, and it goes down like anything else. First point banked.
Aard — the northern forest. Continue north from the cemetery into the trees. Ghouls nest around this stone; kill them, and destroy the monster nest too if you are carrying a bomb, so the ride back stays quiet.
Quen — past Cackler Bridge. Ride east to the map's far northeast corner, to the edge of the battlefield. More ghouls and a second monster nest guard White Orchard's other Quen stone — two Quen stones in one region confuses many players; both pay out a point.
Axii — the forest clearing. Swing back southwest into the woods between the Nilfgaardian Garrison and the Sawmill. Classic guides flag a wraith in these trees; after the cemetery, you know the drill.
Quen — south of the Broken Bridge. Down to the map's southern edge, in the trees below the Broken Bridge. Classic guides report a wraith spawning in the area, so draw with your guard up.
Yrden — east of the Abandoned Village. Finish in the southeast woods. A bear holds this stone — dodge its pounce, strike from behind, and use Igni; bears dislike fire. Sixth point, route complete.
4. When to detour, and when to let the story carry you
White Orchard is the exception. Its region stays on your world map all game, so none of its six can be missed — but their value is front-loaded, which is why the route above is worth an early hour. Everywhere else, use this rule: if a stone is a short ride from your current quest marker, detour now; if it is region- or quest-gated, let the story take you there. Only one stone in the game punishes patience.
The gated ones, so you recognise them when the story arrives: Velen's underground Yrden is passed during Wandering in the Dark (and can be re-entered later through the cave by the water, so it is forgiving); Bald Mountain's Quen opens during its quest — grab it on the summit rather than planning a return; Kaer Morhen does not exist on your map until late in the main quest, and its single Igni stone is an errand for that visit. In Skellige, the wine-cellar Quen is locked behind a choice: it is reachable only during The King's Gambit and only if you side with Cerys — back Hjalmar instead, and that stone waits for another playthrough. Toussaint's five belong to Blood and Wine, recommended for level 34 and up: endgame errands, not detours.
5. Spending the points
Thirty stones means up to 30 extra ability points across a full run — 25 of them before you ever reach Toussaint — in a game that otherwise pays out one point per level. Early, that is transformative: White Orchard's six points arrive when most players have earned two or three from levels.
Spend them with the 5.0 tree in mind. The Remastered replaced the old tier system with prerequisite chains: points buy your way along a path, so a point spent drifting between four trees buys far less than a point that pushes your main chain toward the skill you actually want. Decide your first chain early — the collection's skill-tree guide walks the new layout and the strongest first purchases, including the Axii upgrade that lets Geralt talk his way out of trouble in dialogue — and let the stones fund it. The buffs, meanwhile, are free forever: re-draw at a convenient stone before contracts and boss fights for the rest of the game.
FAQ
Can I draw from the same stone twice? The ability point is once per stone, ever. The Sign buff is unlimited — re-draw whenever you want it refreshed, before a hard fight or a long ride.
Do the buffs stack? Buffs from different Signs run at the same time; drawing a second stone of the same Sign simply refreshes that one. All five Signs active together also earns the Power Overwhelming achievement — White Orchard's route is the classic way to do it.
I missed the stone in Through Time and Space. Can I go back? No. That world is visited once, during the quest, and there is no route back afterwards. A pre-quest save or a future New Game+ run are the only ways to collect it.
Are any of the White Orchard stones missable? No — the region stays on your world map and you can fast-travel back at any point in the game. Do them early anyway: six points at level 3 reshape your build; at level 30 they are a rounding error.
Did the Remastered move any stones, or add new ones? No changes have been announced, and CD PROJEKT RED has not published a 5.0 location table — the positions in this guide are classic-edition documentation applied to a world layout the update does not alter. The 2027 expansion Songs of the Past is separate, future content; whether it adds stones of its own is unknown.
How do I find stones without a guide? Ride the "?" markers — undiscovered points of interest appear as you explore near them, and Places of Power are among them. When you are close, listen: the stones hum, and the hum cuts through the ambient sound before the stone itself is visible.
Related guides
The Witcher 3 Remastered Beginner's Guide: Difficulty, Bard's Ballad, Settings and Your First Hours
The Witcher 3 Remastered New Skill Tree Explained: Prerequisite Chains and Your First Skill Points
The Witcher 3 Remastered: All 5 Signs Explained — Igni, Aard, Quen, Yrden and Axii for Beginners
The Witcher 3 Remastered: What's New and Different vs the Original and Next-Gen Versions
The Witcher 3 Remastered: Mutations Explained and the 78-Achievement Roadmap