The Witcher 3: How to Unlock Enchanting Through the Runewright

Enchanting is the crafting system added by the Hearts of Stone expansion for The Witcher 3, and it lets you stamp a single powerful effect onto a sword or chest armor in place of ordinary runes. Everything runs through the Runewright, an Ofieri mage who needs both a completed side quest and a heavy pile of crowns before he opens his workshop.

Quick answer: Own Hearts of Stone, meet the Runewright at Upper Mill, pay 5,000 crowns and deliver Jade for Level 1, then pay 10,000 and 15,000 crowns for Levels 2 and 3.

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What you need before you start

The Hearts of Stone expansion installed.
To reach the Runewright in his tent, head to Upper Mill in the map’s northeast corner.
A total of 30,000 crowns to fully unlock all three tiers.
A sword or chest armor with three upgrade slots to actually apply an enchantment.

Unlock the Runewright at Upper Mill

The whole system is gated behind the quest Enchanting: Start-up Costs. You can pick it up from the notice board at the Seven Cats Inn, or simply travel straight to the Runewright, which is where the quest sends you anyway.

Head to the Upper Mill camp and enter the tent just to the left of the shopkeeper Dulla kh’Amanni. Speak with the Runewright to begin Enchanting: Start-up Costs.

Front his workshop with 5,000 crowns as starting capital. He then asks you to bring him a chunk of high-quality Jade, which starts the follow-up quest Enchanting: Quality Has Its Price.

Take the Pickaxe from the wooden barn beside the camp and head to the Bloodrot Pit cave shown on your map. Defeat the Arachnomorphs inside, then mine the Jade vein at the base of a pillar in the opening chamber. Witcher Senses will reveal the vein.

Return to the Runewright and hand over the Jade. This unlocks Level 1 enchantments and lets you use his enchanting menu on eligible gear.

A corpse in Bloodrot Pit holds a letter and a Bent Key that start the treasure hunt The Drakenborg Redemption, which pays out a pile of crowns deeper in the cave.

Enchanting tier costs

Level 1 is only the beginning. Each higher tier requires a further payment to the Runewright before those enchantments appear in his menu.

Tier	Requirement
Level 1	5,000 crowns + Jade delivery
Level 2	Additional 10,000 crowns
Level 3	Additional 15,000 crowns

How you know it worked: after you deliver the Jade, the quest updates and the Runewright’s enchanting interface becomes available. Each time you pay a tier fee, the enchantments for that level appear in his list and can be applied to qualifying equipment.

How enchanting slots work

Runewords go on swords; Glyphwords go on chest armor. Both need at least three upgrade slots.
The Runewright charges a fee to fit swords and chest armor with as many as three slots; most other gear can receive two, while many gauntlets allow only one.
A Runeword is only active while that specific sword is drawn. Apply it to both swords if you want it on both. Preservation is the exception.
Upgrading enchanted Witcher gear to a higher tier destroys the enchantment and frees the slots.

Applying a Runeword or Glyphword destroys any regular runes or glyphs already socketed in that item and fills all of its slots, blocking new runes. Any removed regular runes are cleared automatically at no extra charge.

All Runewords for weapons

Runeword	Level	Effect
Dumplings	1	Consuming food regenerates 400% more Vitality.
Placation	1	At maximum Adrenaline, points decline to 0 while Vitality and Stamina regen speed up and Toxicity drops faster.
Preservation	1	The bonuses from an Armorer’s Table and Grindstone last indefinitely.
Elation	2	Fatal sword blows generate 0.1–0.25 Adrenaline Points.
Rejuvenation	2	A fatal blow replenishes 25% of your Stamina.
Severance	2	Whirl’s reach grows by 1.1 yards, while Rend’s increases by 1.9 yards.
Invigoration	3	At maximum Vitality, regeneration becomes bonus damage on your next strike (up to +50%).
Prolongation	3	Every attack that lands without being blocked extends potion duration by 0.5s.
Replenishment	3	Casting a Sign consumes an Adrenaline Point and charges your next sword attack with that Sign.

Higher-level Runewords consume runestones as ingredients. For example, Dumplings needs one Pyerog and one Tvarog runestone, Severance uses one each of Zoria, Veles, and Perun, and Level 3 words such as Invigoration call for Greater Devana, Greater Zoria, and Greater Perun runestones.

All Glyphwords for armor

Glyphword	Level	Effect
Deflection	1	Armor deflects arrows.
Depletion	1	Aard strikes drain enemies’ Stamina completely (100%).
Heft	1	Your worn armor counts as Heavy Armor.
Ignition	1	Igni-burned enemies always ignite others in a 2-yard radius.
Usurpation	1	When an Axii-controlled foe dies, its effect jumps to a nearby enemy.
Balance	2	Your worn armor counts as Medium Armor.
Beguilement	2	Axii-affected enemies stay affected 2 seconds longer per blow they land.
Entanglement	2	Enemies caught in a Yrden trap are held in place.
Protection	2	Entering combat grants a Quen shield without using Stamina.
Rotation	2	Igni’s standard attack hits every enemy around you within 360 degrees.
Eruption	3	Enemies burned by Igni explode on death and ignite nearby foes.
Levity	3	Your worn armor counts as Light Armor.
Possession	3	When an Axii-affected enemy dies, the effect transfers and extends 2 seconds per blow the target lands.
Retribution	3	There is a 30% chance that some damage will rebound onto the attacker.

The 30,000-crown total is a serious money sink, but once the Runewright is fully unlocked the payoff is real. Runewords reshape combat around Vitality, Adrenaline, and attack range, while Glyphwords change how your Signs and armor behave, giving long-term gear a single defining effect that ordinary runes cannot match.