Witchfire News & Patch Notes

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Witchfire News & Patch Notes | SteamScope

Pedro Hectopascalsteam_community_announcementspatchnotesmod_reviewedModAct_1607812438_1783441274_0ModAct_1434573178_1783467887_4mod_require_rereview

21d ago

PATCH 0.9.4 (74146)

(2026.07.07) This is - most likely - the final patch for Revelations, and quite an important one, as version 0.9.4 will represent Witchfire until 1.0 lands. (unless a hotfix or a rollback of some features is needed, that is) 0.9.4 doesn’t just bring the usual swathe of fixes and improvements, but introduces a very meaningful change to the way weapons feel as we have tinkered with the damage fall-off. It was well-received among the testers, but we want to hear the thoughts of the wider audience as well, so please don't hesitate to let us know what you think. We added an option to launch the game in Safe mode on Steam. Using this feature deactivates the module responsible for super sampling - it has been known to cause crashes on hardware that does not support it.

Damage drop-off rebalance:

The distance over which all weapons lose full effectiveness has been doubled (base ranges have not been changed). For example, a gun that dealt full damage at 10m range, and then steadily lost all effectiveness over the 10-14m range, now will do so over 10-18m range.
Base pellet spread of shotguns has been tightened.
Pellet spread reduction on aiming down sights and crouching has been reduced.
Recoil reduction on aiming down sights and crouching for Machine Pistols have been reduced
Maximum range gains from Arsenal have been slightly reduced across the board (10 to 15%, depending on the weapon type).

Designer notes: sharp damage drop-off with range has been a pain point for many new players as long as Witchfire has been playable. It has been implemented for multiple reasons, but as time went on, it became increasingly clear: while most people didn't mind it, people who disliked it really hated it. As with all common quality of life issues, we decided to examine it, and see if it could be resolved without compromising the core vision of the game. We experimented and playtested a version that was less punishing, and after more deliberation and additional playtesting over our Beta branch, we decided to go forward with the rebalance. We believe this change has a positive influence on gameplay, and added an interesting strategic layer to the game. The rest of the changes in that paragraph have been introduced to keep the effectiveness of specific weapon classes relatively the same - this is meant to be mostly a quality of life/game feel change, not a difficulty change. Keep in mind that the reasons why we initially implemented such a short damage drop off range are still there, and prolonged playtesting might prove that the tradeoffs are too severe, and we roll back the changes.

Early game levelling:

Reduced the amount of witchfire it takes to Ascend before the player hits level 30.
Increased witchfire gains multiplier on the Island of the Damned and Scarlet Coast.

Designer notes: we're balancing the levelling experience not around retention time, but player satisfaction. Level-ups are meant to be rare enough to feel earned and valuable, without feeling grindy. It seems that right now the balance is slightly off, so we'll be looking at witchfire acquisition rate through the game before 1.0. That, however, will be quite a lengthy process, so for now we decided to focus on the early game experience. This is when players have the least objectives to work towards, so gathering witchfire is in the spotlight, and early game buildcrafting opportunities don't really open up until you get a few levels under your belt.

Melee weapons:

Added a Zweihander melee weapon to the game. It has to be found to be unlocked.
Changed Sacring Bell charged attack animation - it has intentionally longer windup, to balance out the Bell's powerful Special attack.

Changes to spells:

Burning Stake:

Reduced base duration from 30 to 25 seconds

Miasma:

Increased base decay tick from 4 to 6.
Decay damage now increases every 2.5 seconds instead of every 3 seconds
Increased base duration from 20 to 30 seconds.

Changes to weapons:

Increased Nemesis ammo reserves from 65 to 88.

Traps and events:

Flytraps and Festers can now spawn in the Marshland.
Removed numerous events and traps that could spawn underwater in the Marshland.
The Mine Attractor event reward treasures are no longer cursed.

Enemies:

Lament:

Fixed Lament crying triggering at too long distance from the player.
Laments will now stop crying if they get too far from the player for too long.
Laments will only cry if they are targeting the player now.
Laments' deafening cry effect will now scale with distance from the player. Cry effect intensity is now proportionate to the distance to the player:
- Upon going out of range, the ability will be interrupted.
- Ability will not be used against foes other than the Preyer.

Spore-head:

Reduced bombardment total area and lowered the randomization of target locations.
Reduced projectiles lifetime post landing to 10s at maximum.
Fixed a bug that caused the projectiles destroyed by the player to damage the player.
Projectile explosions no longer push the player upwards.
Fixed a bug that was preventing the enemy from using melee attacks.

Concelebrant:

Concelebrants chase logic tweaked - it is now easier to avoid the skirmish.

Changes to World Corruption:

Stone Golem:

Drastically reduced the chance for Stone Golem to spawn due to World Corruption, as it was never intended to be a guaranteed encounter (in World Corruption).

Unstable rifts:

Reworked the way unstable rifts spawn; all portals should feel less crowded, rifts will spawn mostly in empty areas, with only a few reinforcing the remaining dangerous areas.
Total amount of rifts has been slightly increased.
Decreased the number of stronger unstable rifts spawning at higher World Corruption.

Spires:

Spires gained a new physical mesh, they feel way more "shootable" now.

Madness orbs:

Madness orbs have been limited to fewer arenas, in order to make room, but also to eliminate spaces where they were the sole obstacle. In the current iteration, they should have more of an additional area modifier feel, instead of disrupting the flow of play across the whole maps.

World corruption - known issues:

World Corruption Spawn Particles can sometimes show in unintended areas - we’re investigating this issue.

UI:

Letters Screen improvements:

Better layout on 16:10 screens.
Added animation when sending a letter.
The thread automatically scrolls to the bottom after sending a letter.
Added information about thread status, making it clear whether the current thread is finished or we're currently awaiting a reply from the Vatican.
Threads on the left side of the screen now display icons depicting their status.
Finished threads are now displayed at the bottom of the list. This isn't very noticeable right now, but will be more useful when more correspondence is added to the game.
Tweaked Letters appearance in the Workshop screen.

Other:

Added support for in-text icons in popups which let us display better key binding conflict message in controls settings.
Improved threads appearance on the left side of the Letters screen.
Dossier: fixed an issue with quest name overlapping other UI elements in some languages.

Audio:

Designed new sounds for the Sacring Bell.
Restored the volume slider for Dialogues in the audio settings.

Other improvements and changes:

Captain's log and scout note on Marshland got a unique camera placement, they should now look nicer.
Tweaked animation timing for Grenadier Kick ability.
Husk and Cultist overhead melee animation timing adjustments.
Performance tweaks for Iron Cross and Cursed Bell spells (backend tweaks for these spells to be less resource-hungry).
Added trail VFX to indicate Fallen Preyers' teleport location after quest ambushes
Temptations should now disappear from map instantly after being picked up.
Story texts/VO updates & corrections.
Changed the turret activation cost to 1000 Witchfire + 1 Divine essence.
Tears of whispering god has a new prompt: open instead of disarm.
Corrupted turrets HP lowered.
A new, surprise addition to World Corruption: Madness heads, which - upon detecting the player - slightly rise the Calamity meter.
Marshland mini-boss difficulty tweaks.
Turret corruption distance tweaks.
Madness orbs balancing.
Removed multiple Proximity Mine spawn points that were too close to the entry portals on Marshlands
Performance optimizations for Miasma and Frost Cone (backend improvements).
Increased the Witchfire multiplier for Witch Mountain to 200%.

Bug fixes:

Fixed the timing on the most problematic Swordsman/Buckler/Maceman/Axeman/Wretch melee attack.
Fixed Maceman lightnings possibly stripping the player of all shield charges and dealing damage on top of that, as well as tweaked its tracking.
Fixed missing recoil for weapons when they had their magazine sizes increased.
Fixed range of interaction with garden plants in the Hermitorium.
Fixed a bug that caused the enemy to freeze after killing a frozen enemy with Blessed Fire bead equipped.
Fixed Tainted Coin inventory category.
Fixed "..." interaction prompt bug.
Incense ingredients are now consumed correctly.
Fixed Zweihander consuming two charges.
Fixed Zweihander not taking into account lowered crosshair.
Fixed Soul Eater not showing soul sigils in fall off range.
Fixed a bug that caused Divine Essence to drop from mini-bosses and calamities before World Corruption becomes unlocked.
Fixed all melee weapons being visible in the background of some screens (e.g Gnosis) when the weapon is extended.
Removed the extra mini-boss from Marshland.
Various text fixes.
Fixed an incorrect RoF value displayed on Vulture's inspect screen.
Fixed exploding barrels behaviour, damage and chaining.
Fixed a bug that was causing homing projectiles to not follow Bloaters and Creepers.

Post-Revelations - Questions, Answers & The Future

Pedro Hectopascalsteam_community_announcementsmod_reviewedModAct_1870293249_1782936845_0ModAct_1870293249_1782937472_4mod_require_rereview

27d ago

Preyers! It’s been a short while since Revelations was released and the dust is slowly settling, but we’re not quite done yet as there is at least one more patch coming. Before we talk about what the future holds, let’s take a moment to talk about the update itself - it generated quite a lot of movement, we have seen the highest player count since the Early Access launch with over 4000 of you playing simultaneously, and we already know that the Revelations launch week was one of the strongest we have ever had, sales-wise. We’re not going to reveal numbers, but you can take our word for it - it was a success, and each and every one of the new players is to be thanked for that, so… thank you. We also have to thank you for a torrent of feedback - luckily, it wasn’t as harsh as the feedback we received during the Reckoning days (although, again, the criticism back then was valid), but it was abundant nevertheless. We received over 1100 new reviews in the past 30 days - 86% of them positive, which is very heartwarming, but it also tells us that there is quite a lot of room for improvement, so we got to work. There are core elements of the game which are being criticised quite widely in the aforementioned 14%, and these are not going to change, because, well, they are core to the game: we will not include multiplayer or co-op, we will not remove stamina, and we will not turn it into a game that plays itself. Being challenging is kind of what this game is all about - and we’re creating a game, not a toy. That said, we’re reading you and we’re having another look at some of the most heavily criticised aspects of Witchfire, while simultaneously testing them with some of the most experienced players we know. It’s still too early to say whether the changes we’re testing as I type these words will make it into 0.9.4 - due to be released next week - but if they do, they may prove to be quite a game-changer for the Witchfire's balance. If you're curious, stay tuned and watch our usual space for patch notes - we will surely mention it there. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/66d35da79b2a77f808ef2a89ab91133f4be5e5f0.jpg We're also very aware of your comments about the performance - all the threads reporting performance issues are being read. And I mean all of them. As you may know, Witchfire is Steam Deck Verified, so the game already runs very well on a wide range of hardware and has been tested by literally hundreds of thousands of players. That’s not to say there isn’t still work to do - there absolutely is - but optimisation is something we’ve been treating seriously for a long time and we’ll continue to improve it with every patch. When someone experiences severe performance issues, it often turns out to be something specific to that particular PC - outdated drivers, unstable overclocks, background software eating up resources, hardware instability, and so on. That doesn’t mean we assume every report falls into that category, but it’s always worth checking the basics first. We know what the hardware distribution on Steam looks like (thanks, Steam Hardware Survey), and we also know that the percentage of people rocking GPUs capable of simulating weather patterns over Europe is… rather small. We want everyone with reasonable hardware to be able to enjoy the game. In fact, one of us is on a personal quest to make it playable on a laptop that’s a decade old, and his findings may have an impact on Witchfire. That’s not to say we’re going to lower the system requirements, but it’s just one of the many fronts on which we’re trying to make the game better. Marshland is quite demanding - it has a tonne of foliage, which in itself requires a lot of resources to look as good as it does, and we’re deep in the optimisation process, so the current performance profile is not final by any means. We’re really trying our best here because there is a lot on the table - the more we’re able to squeeze out now, the better your experience will be and the less optimisation work we’ll need to do for the console versions. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/f36e2f6b6cb3955f901c5424f40086ad602d3407.jpg Yes, the console versions - they’re among the most frequently requested things across all the channels where we’re present. Last year, in one of the previous dev diaries, we mentioned that we made a new hire with consoles in mind, and his expertise has proven to be invaluable on more than one occasion. We may have also taken delivery of some devkits, but I won’t spoil anything else or talk about dates and/or target platforms - just be aware that things are very much in motion. Things are, and have been, in motion as well when it comes to 1.0. It’s not like we’re working on patches and putting the finishing touches on 0.9, only to begin work on 1.0 once we’re done - there are a lot of things happening simultaneously. We’re not ready to talk about the launch date just yet, so, for now, “2026” remains the official statement. We know it’s vague, but we’ll give you a more precise time window once we’re ready - giving a date just for the sake of giving one wouldn’t really make sense. In one of the earlier blog posts I wrote that 0.9 is extremely important to us - well, 1.0 trumps it in every possible way and makes it look like peanuts in comparison. It will be the culmination of almost a decade of work - making the game “shippable” is one thing, but we want to release release something that’s as close to perfect as we can. And there is the whole thing of also making sure it lives up to our own expectations is another, so, you know, no internal pressure. We also had a bit of a rethink regarding a demo, but after discussing it we arrived at the same conclusion - it just wouldn’t make sense. We’re too small of a team to maintain one more product, so our stance remains unchanged. One more important thing that comes up every now and then is the question of pricing - some among you were curious whether the current $40 price point (actually $32 at the moment, as we’re part of the Steam Summer Sale) will change, and the honest answer is that it remains to be seen. We may change it, we may keep it as it is and prepare some sort of special edition alongside the base game - there are some bits and bobs of extra content which neither you nor the dataminers (we’re much more cautious after the Marshland map leak) have seen yet, and it deserves to be seen, so… We will see (pun intended) how we decide to share it with you. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/c12edf150429b357e7775800040411f9b79146b5.jpg There’s also some controversy surrounding the fact that we may need to wipe your saves for 1.0, so let’s make things clear. We will recommend starting anew for the best experience, but we will not force anyone to do it unless there is a technical reason for it. Some of you asked what “the best experience” means, and… Witchfire is a game which is not meant to be easy (at least not from the get-go) - you’re playing as a reformed sinner who is fuelled with aether and on a mission to kill a Witch who decimated armies before you. Waltzing onto the Island of the Damned with a level 541 character and blowing everyone to smithereens hardly spells challenge. We managed to shield you from the need to wipe saves thus far and - hopefully - we will be able to do so again with 1.0, but there’s no guarantee of that. Development is an iterative and dynamic process - we may need (or feel the need) to redesign something so deep in the back end that your saves stop working. Such is the charm of Early Access titles: things may change. Admittedly, we’re in the Late Early Access, but it can still happen. You know what I mean. We will share more about the future of Witchfire when the time comes. We also remain active on our social media, Steam forums, Reddit and - of course - our Discord. Feel free to pop in and chat with us and our growing community. And since the community has been mentioned…

Hermitorium Archives

Quite a lot has been happening in the past two weeks - you have been very active and generated about this much (I am stretching my hands as wide as I can) content, so there is no hope in hell we can have a look at it all, but let’s have a look at a small selection of stuff.

Makes a designer smile.

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/8a1235eaa190b0944754e17c74fab457a872e0dd.jpg Original Steam thread {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/39135fae9adc0e0d04f5978855dcf085f55835ff.jpg Original Reddit thread The Outskirts Vault was supposed to be included in the Reckoning Update, but we decided to delay it to make it extra polished and give it a bit of TLC on a whole new level. That’s not to say that we didn’t care about the previous ones, but we wanted this one to feel even more special (specialer?). Seems that it paid off, and that placing a puzzle (even if it is a bit crude) at the entrance was a bullseye. It was fantastic to read about your investigations and the challenge the vault itself posed. I won’t say “expect more”, but we can certainly draw conclusions from our previous experiences…

I cast Iron Cross.

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/f7db8ae7cd79143adbcab6ed38e24b4df1a76e71.jpg Original Reddit thread There are certain spells in the game which get used far more than others. While Winter Nail has become one of my personal favourites, Iron Cross is firmly planted in the S-tier, and this post perfectly illustrates why. Warning system - the early days. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/09fb49889520ef5fe9f9ab2e3835ca711b5e6f6f.jpg Original Steam thread. Since the game is still in Early Access, there is a chance that we’ll get the warning system onto the workbench and tweak it sometime between now and 1.0 (or maybe even beyond that point), but I wanted to use this post as a pretext to show you something from the very early days of development. Here’s how it looked before all the fancy arrows and cues became a thing. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/f5d1ab16eee8d9461e05fc10edd3d9c5aec41619.jpg Isn’t it marvellous? Very old-school arcade racer, all that is (or rather was) missing is the enemy range indicator a'la the one from Most Wanted Anno Domini 2005. So, people who are still demanding Witchfire Karting - watch out, we may have already had some assets prepared before you were even aware of our game existence.

Look how they massacr… Oh, hang on, it’s a work in progress.

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/fbec805c32c0d101e3ccd2844f164d9ec7c0789e.jpg Original Steam thread. The post is quite harsh, but the first comment is absolutely right and we’re working on bringing more life to the creature. The animations are being crafted and while they may not make it into the upcoming patch (all will be revealed here once the update drops), we recognise their absence as an immersion breaker and it won’t stay that way forever. Also, please be kind to her - she is very lost and is trying to help.

World Corruption is also a work in progress.

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/84a0610ec2fd9aed9289a8c7a4fee4d7823d8cfa.jpg Original Reddit thread. While we don’t exactly agree with the “buggy mess” part, we know that it requires work - maybe not “again” so much as continuously. We have already outlined the plan in the patch notes for 0.9.3, so stay tuned - it’s still evolving.

Probably the shortest Hermitorium Archives segment ever.

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/ee9e308d843582991350d8d08906fdd2264ae790.jpg Original Reddit thread.

The New Key Art

Some of you already expressed your appreciation for the new key art and we have posted it to Twitter and Reddit a while ago, but we know that not everyone frequents these parts of the internet, so we’re also uploading it here for your convenience and viewing pleasure, since Dave Rapoza has done a fantastic job. We’re also adding the artwork that graced the cover of PC Gamer, because why not. Enjoy! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/3136397ad6774c1c0b95259a6143e916cb5e1424.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/74e38e74071efd6513f3e46f1a95524d924fa983.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/90e4b149b54ef81a3299c06a6f77e3e0df4d2953.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/9fb07fedc2eff303d114e4422c133da263b32193.jpg That’s it for now - we will surely be back with more behind the scenes and news from the Witchfire world soon. Cheers!

Witchfire 0.9.3 is now available.

Pedro Hectopascalsteam_community_announcementspatchnotesmod_reviewedModAct_1751692459_1782418469_0ModAct_1426387032_1782424615_4mod_require_rereview

33d ago

EDIT: HOTFIX 0.9.3 (73812)
(2026.06.25)

Fixed a critical visual bug on the Marshland. Some of you spotted and reported a visual bug that made the Cathedral in the Marshland look like it had turned into an art installation - or was in the middle of becoming The Marshland Museum of Contemporary Art. We’ve just (22:45 CET) deployed a hotfix that restores it to its proper (and much less... avant-garde) state. Thanks for reporting it! ---------------------------- Original post: PATCH 0.9.3 (73811)
(2026.06.25)

Changes to Weapons, Spells and Gear:

Changed Corpse Eater and Heart Eater ammo reserves to be in line with other hand cannons.

Heart Eater:

Reduced weakspot lifetime to 5 seconds.

Increased weakspot damage by 15%.

Increased Mysterium III charged shot damage by 20%.

Increased the power of Mysterium III lightning strike.

**Changes to The Velmorne Welcome:**

Initial Velmorne map seed has been changed, dangerous arenas are further from the start now.

Watch Commander now spawns in different place, and patrols a slightly bigger area, slightly slower. It’s possible now to miss/avoid him completely instead of having to fight him at the start every time.

Changes to Marshland:

Fixed Carrier launching at the player instantly upon spawning, before the materialization is fully complete.

Nerfed Marshland arena tier mods by 200 HP.

Changed default seed to a one which fits the Marshland mood better.

Nerfed blank resistance on Marshland enemies, they should be way less bullet-spongy now.

Adjusted HP cost and physical resistances of all new non-flying enemies to compensate for the above.

Wings are now critical zones on the Marrowfly, making it far more vulnerable to shotguns.

Slightly reduced HP on both the Marrowfly and the Bloater.

Added Stag-head and Spore-head back to the default level enemy pool.

Lowered several damage abilities across Marshland enemies - from values that multiplied to a clean 100 down to uneven numbers, so players are left with a sliver of health more often.

Rebuilt preset costs in the Director to accommodate these changes, so dangerous areas will have a slightly different feel than before.

Added mushroom spawn points to Marshland.

Added Torch Turrets to Marshlands.

Removed Spriggans and Mercenaries from Marshlands enemy pool.

Increased the number of proximity mines that spawn on Marshlands.

Fixed the prompts for Marshland quest objects (they should now should fade in nicely, while player approaches and be invisible during dialogues).

Fixed a bug that could prevent traps from spawning on Marshland.

Ongoing Marshlands level polish and optimizations.

Fixed a bug that was causing Concelebrant not to re-emerge correctly in some cases.

Fixed Concelebrant health bar disappearing and boss fight music stopping in wrong moments.

Fixed Marrowfly, Stag-head and Bloater movement logic.

Bloater attack should now only trigger attack warning notifications if it poses real danger to the player.

Fixed a bug that caused a huge amount of enemies to spawn in the Marshland Cathedral.

Fixed post processes on Marshland sometimes causing it to be extremely green or black and white.

Changes to World Corruption:

While investigating why Unstable Rifts weren’t appearing at Irongate Castle, we discovered a broader issue with the World Corruption system. Until now, each run randomly selected five World Corruptions that would scale throughout the expedition, with the selection tied to the map seed. Unfortunately, that seed binding was broken - regardless of the map seed, the World Corruption seed was always identical. As a result, the same set of World Corruptions was selected every time.

Temporary changes:

To address this while we continue working on a permanent solution:

World Corruption is no longer tied to the map seed. Even if the map seed is locked, the selected corruptions will now vary between runs.

In future updates, we plan to restore deterministic World Corruption generation while maintaining a varied and consistent difficulty progression.

We are also considering removing the current limit of five World Corruptions per run.

We’ll continue adding new World Corruptions over time and increasing the presence of existing ones as the World Corruption percentage rises.

Randomness will primarily affect where World Corruptions appear, rather than which ones appear.

World Corruption Spire changes:

We’ve also continued refining the World Corruption Spire event:

The total number of Spires has been restored to five.

They now arrive in three waves (+1, +2, +2) instead of five individual waves.

Each Spire fires a single salvo by default, gaining one additional shot for every 20% increase in World Corruption.

Their maximum firing range has been reduced to 350 meters (roughly 1-2.5 combat arenas). Previously, they could target the player from anywhere on the map.

Their accuracy has been reduced by half, doubling the area in which their shots can land around the player.

The interval between salvos has increased from 30 seconds to 120 seconds. This interval gradually decreases as World Corruption rises. Spires will also fire in tighter groups, creating longer periods of relative safety between bombardments.

All Spires now spawn within the same area to reduce unnecessary traversal.

A new tremor effect, along with a log message 10 seconds before impact, now warns you of an incoming salvo.

Approaching a Spire now causes it to summon three weak Witchfire Wretches to defend it, making destroying them a more engaging encounter.

Ammo-related changes:

Fixed a bug that caused patrols to drop twice the ammo they were supposed to.  Designer notes: this threw off playtesting of new weapon maximum reserves, so these will be adjusted in the near future  

Instead of always dropping ammo, Hunt enemies now have a chance to drop it, but each drop grants more ammunition. Major enemies have increased drop chance. Providence now can trigger on these drops. 

The resulting re-balance should result in around 25% decrease of ammunition granted by the Hunt. Designer notes: Hunt ammo pickups were introducing too much noise on the battlefield, and picking up all these tiny drops of ammo was more of a chore than a satisfying looting experience. Moreover, ammunition economy was always meant to be a real concern in Witchfire, but slowly that aspect of planning disappeared as time went on. That change is a step towards making it once again something you have to think about during expeditions.

Non-level/gear-specific fixes and balance changes:

Dialogue subtitles corrections & fixes.

Moved Mesel a little bit backwards, so that she won't block player's path before Sefer's judgement.

You can now open the Profane Study at Gnosis III, instead of Gnosis V. All Torments now require at least Gnosis V to start.

Fixed an issue with Drowned Captain not spawning on Gnosis 0-3.

Fixed Statue of the Priest objective display if the player died after restoring it with the Scepter.

Fixed extra elixir slots granted by Temptation.

Electro obelisks now correctly take damage from Tribunal.

Fixed Elias’ sometimes not vanishing after picking up the Healer's Cloth in the Velmorne Vault.

Nerfed Cleansing Bell budgets (equivalent of 2 swordsmen per wave).

Fixed an issue where ship log ambush triggered every time (even if finished or when player is not there).

Fixed friendly characters (i.e. Rotten Fiend) attacking Cleansing Bells and friendly turrets.

Spire tremor added - it notifies that a spire assault is coming.

Fixed an issue which caused the inspect body objective on Marshland to autocomplete.

Added new effects to better visualize Concelebrant bossfight mechanics.

Fixed the hitbox of Buckler projectile - it will now be easier to hit.

Added a patrol spawn timeout - to fix an issue where backlog of scheduled patrols would cause a seemingly never-ending battle near itinerant portal. Now spawn of a patrol wave grants you a guaranteed 60 sec grace period until next one spawns

Fixed some gameplay events - e.g. spires and skull traps - firing during cinematics and dialogues.

Fixed Scaring Bell pickup being visible through walls in some scenarios.

Improved performance of some environment lighting transitions.

Fixed weapon swapping when using CTRL as the Crouch key.

Optimized Burning Stake spell (backend, performance tweak - does not impact its effectiveness in-game).

Fixed incorrect inventory category for garden-related items.

Patch 0.9.1 is out now.

Pedro Hectopascalsteam_community_announcementspatchnotesmod_reviewedModAct_1751692459_1781906997_0mod_require_rereview

39d ago

PATCH 0.9.1 (73613)

2026.06.19 The first patch with various fixes and balancing changes for Revelations.

Changes to Weapons, Spells and Gear

Cricket:

Increased magazine size from 20 to 30.

Designer notes: while magazine size isn't that important for Cricket due to its Mysteria, its viability as Slayer's starting gun got hit pretty hard by the decision to lock Soul Sigils behind Gnosis I. This should make it more viable, while not impacting its overall usefulness too much. Heart Eater:

Reduced ammo reserves from 90 to 60.

Corpse Eater:

Reduced the amount of Mysterium I activations needed to reach Mysterium II from 150 to 100.
Reduced the amount of Mysterium II activations needed to reach Mysterium III from 200 to 100.

Iron Cross:

Increased base duration by 4 seconds.

Changes to patrols on Marshland

Slightly reduced the enemy budgets for marshland dangerous areas (equivalent to 1-2 less swordsmen per each).
Removed holy sister from patrol enemy list on marsh (no random majors spamming extra larvas).
Patrol strength also slightly lowered on marshland (equivalent to 1-2 less swordsmen per patrol wave).

Various fixes and balance changes

Fixed trimmed VO lines in Cain's quests.
Fixed an issue with Concelebrant's health bar being hidden for too long.
Fixed Shieldbearer health bar appearing in the Hermitorium.
Fixed Workshop mirror animation triggering twice.
Fixed Mesel invisible during dialogue when player starts the Collector's questline with Mesel absent.
Slightly increased probability of Mesel's absence.
Fixed Fallen Preyers speaking simultaneously on approach in the "Judge..." quest step.
Added missing keyboard icons to binding menu.
Changes the Stag-head lightning VFX location.
Reduced the Carrier plunge activation distance.
Reduced the Spore-head mine's health by 33%.
Increased the Spore-head mine's projectiles' activation range by 40% (to allow escaping them post-activation, as their damage radius remains the same).
Lowered the frequency of Concelebrant hiding underground.
Reduced Concelebrant's direct projectile attack speed by 25%.
Fixed a bug that caused Concelebrants tracking attack to behave incorrectly.
Added padding between Concelebrant different attacks.
Added missing torment modifiers to the random pool.
Fixed an issue with interaction prompts producing screen shake and continuous sound being played.
Fixed Sacring Bell's shockwave not working through the walls - it now does.
Fixed Koschei quest item pickup - grants the note correctly.
Visual tweaks and bugfix in the Cathedral and Belltower zones on Marshland.
Fixed text typos in item descriptions.
Updated credits.

Witchfire Revelations Update is out!

Pedro Hectopascalsteam_community_announcementsmod_reviewedModAct_1827889981_1781800778_0mod_require_rereview

40d ago

UPDATE 0.9.0 – The Revelations Update (73567)

2026.06.18 We’ve reached the next milestone on our way to 1.0 - Revelations is the last major content update before we focus on the final release, and it’s aptly packed. The key features of the 0.9 are:

Marshland - a brand new, giant level - the ruins of a sunken cathedral surrounded by a bog etched with forest, hiding new dangers, enemies, and secrets.
Support for 14 new languages.
Outskirts Vault - a brand new dungeon containing dangers and rewards.
Garden - a new area of the Hermitorium, in which you can relax and grow resources required for incenses.
Dialogue system - a new way to interact with NPCs, laying groundwork and narrative foundation for the full story reveal in version 1.0.
Fallen Preyers (3.0) rework - story quests revealing their past, leading to you deciding their future.
World Corruption 2.0 - a rework of the mechanic, the more bold and brash you are, the harsher the world around you becomes.
Seven new enemies.
Four new weapons.
Two new spells.
Thirteen new Rosary Beads.
Two new torments.

Gameplay

Story Content, 1st batch:

The Collector: narrative introduction to the mysterious Hermitorium trader.
The Severance: narrative introduction to Fallen Preyers.
The Fallen Preyers: interact with them, fight alongside them, learn their unique stories, and decide their fate.
and yet another quest, introducing a new character.

Class Selection update:

All players start with the same class; class selection happens a bit later in the game.
Class selection is preceded by an additional event.
All class loadouts now also include Hunger.

World Corruption:

Carried out a rework of the mechanic
Added one more event, with several other being worked - to be included in the future updates.

World Corruption balancing changes (not final yet):

Altered the spawning rates for most World Corruption events to make them more consistent/interesting/fun across runs.
Madness orbs, madness influence range halved.
New type of interactable torch and other turrets are now present across the maps.
New cleansing bell event.
Temptations - new mechanic available from Gnosis III.
Locked chests can be forced open without a supply key - available from Gnosis III.
Divine intervention on cursed treasures has been dialled down.

Changes to weapons, spells and gear

Buckler:

Quickened shield lowering and parry animation.
Lowered blocking/parry cost for more powerful hits.
Increased parry stun damage and damage.
Added a small stamina cost to blocking.

Twinshade:

Rework of all mysteria:

Mysterium I: Summon the Sword when enemy is below X health (Sword deals increased damage, and always kills its target when summoned by Mysterium I)
Mysterium II: Summon the Sword and deal double damage when the enemy is stunned
Mysterium III: If the spell kills an enemy, part of the charge is refunded

Additional changes:

Lowered charge count from 3 to 2.
Shortened casting time and weapon drop speed.

Kirfane:

Added short Shock status effect to the initial lightning bolt target

Echo: Designer notes: Echo has been a performance outlier among Witchfire weapons for a while, while also not requiring you to engage with its Mysteria to get the most bang for your buck. We tried reining its effectiveness in a bit, especially against Familiars and Faithfuls, and making it more desirable to trigger its Mysteria.

Base stun damage lowered by 20%%
Base damage: lowered by 15%
Mysterium I: Pellet explosions now deal Physical damage instead of Fire damage.
Mysterium II: greatly increased range, significantly buffed damage and stun damage. Damage type changed from Physical to Fire.

Judgement:

Charge time lowered by 0,3 sec
Charging up your shots now also increased stun damage

Tribunal:

Increased base stun damage
Increased base damage (from 135 to 160)
Increased power of the summoned lightning by 25%

Nemesis:

Improved stability (it was always meant to be an easier to use bolt action rifle)
Increased clip size from 6 to 8 bullets

Martyr:

Added new effect to Mysterium III: "Ripping out nails damages the enemy they are stuck in."

Whisper:

Lowered ammo reserves (bugfix)

Bittersweet Nightshade:

Shockwave now triggers on all damage. Mysterium III stun still only triggers below 40% health

Baleworth:

Healing orbs now drop regardless of health, but the drop chance and healing power increases the lower your health is.

Philosopher's Stone:

Instead of healing, now grants a healing elixir.
Lowered the use requirements from 3 to 2 treasures.
Increased inventory cap from 1 to 2.
Lowered Collector price from 5000 to 3000 witchfire.

Alchemy:

Recipes for new, more powerful, but also much costlier versions of existing Incenses added to the game.
Lowered the effectiveness of some of the basic Incenses.
Rebalanced recipe costs, including what and how many resources are needed.
Lowered drop chances of Charred Bone.
Charged melee attacks no longer spawn Charred Bones.
Lowered spawn chances of Angelica and Eryngium by 20%.

Other:

Streamlined the quest obtained from statues near the tower entrance on the Island of the Damned.
Added a new Gnosis level.
Added a Marshland quest.

UI

Dialogue Screen

Designed and implemented completely new Dialogue Screen.
Modified text layout logic in order to accomplish hanging indent in Dialogue Screens.
Added two different button styles for Absolve and Condemn buttons.

Letters

Designed and implemented completely new Letters Screen.
Letters in the Workshop screen are now clickable and open the new aforementioned screen.
When there's at least one unread letter, the Workshop now displays sealed letter image.
When all the letters are read, the Workshop now displays the beginning of the last received letter contents.

Workshop

Enabled last research category -- it's called Examination and lets you send some items to Vatican for analysis.

Dossier

Designed and implemented completely new Dossier Screen.
Dossier allows you to inspect items related to quests.

Active Quests

You're now able to set any quest in Dossier as 'tracked' -- it will be then shown in Active Quests window.
Active Quests are now automatically displayed for a few seconds at the beginning of each expedition.

HUD Notifications

Reworked gameplay notifications system. They are now queued and support different types of notifications to be displayed.
Designed and implemented new types of notifications: New Quest, Quest Updated, Dossier Updated, Quest Completed.
When a new objective is added at the top-left corner of the screen, it plays a highlight animation, making it easier to spot.
Notifications visibility can now be controlled by a separate group in Gameplay -> User Interface Settings ("Gameplay & Quest Notifications").

Rosary Screen

Added transition animation when opening Rosary screen.
Added proper UI support for multiline bead descriptions.
Active beads list now correctly adjusts its size in all cases (beads with multiline descriptions, all gnosis levels, all text sizes). Resizing is smoothly animated. The cross adjusts its position as well. If cross ends up being too low, it starts to fade out from the bottom using smooth gradient.

Stats Screen

Added transition animation when opening Stats screen.

Map Screen

Added new Marshland map.
Added World Corruption meter to the Map Screen.
Added info about active Torment when World Corruption meter is displayed (Torments modify World Corruption value).
Made 'likely spoils' icons wrap into multiple lines if necessary.

Level Select ('Start New Expedition' screen)

Added Outskirts to Level Select, you no longer need to go back to the rope in order to go to Outskirts.
Added Marshland to Level Select.
Level Select's navigation bar: indicating on which levels there are some quests active (displaying quest icon under level's name).

Inspect Screen

Long properties descriptions of Spells, Relics, Fetishes, and Rings are now properly wrapped into multiple lines.
Reworked Inspect Screens to enable scrolling when the content overflows designated area.

Gnosis Screen

Set up new Gnosis level support in Gnosis Screen.
Disabled cursor when 'Gnosis increased' animation is played.

Game Intro

Removed Class Selection from Game Intro.
Disabled cursor during Game Intro.

Tutorial Popups

Tutorial popups now play their own, distinct sound on open.
Tutorial popups don't show cursor (until it's moved). This should fix the issue with distracting moving cursor in Prologue when playing the game using gamepad.

Credits

Updated credits.
Changed italics font for consistency.
Disabled cursor in credits screen.

Localization

Fixed inconsistencies in used fonts across the whole game.
Added Cyrillic font support, for both Russian and Ukrainian languages.
Set up fallback fonts to be used in Chinese, Korean and Japanese languages.
Added Turkish "i" support for correctly displaying both dotted and dotless "i" in Turkish.
Made texts in startup loading screen (i.e. Bible quotes) to be localizable.
Changed transform policy of various texts across the board to be correctly displayed in all languages, especially German.
Reworked all two-line headers used in multiple windows for consistency and proper localization support.
Increased line spacing in a few places when language is set to Chinese, Korean, or Japanese, in order to increase readability.
Removed 'More to come after Early Access' text under language setting. They have arrived now.
Fixed multiple texts which were previously not set up properly in localization system.
LOTS of changes, tweaks, and fixes (in virtually EVERY UI screen and window) of texts not fitting on the screen, being truncated, overlapping each other, or overflowing a designated space, in languages other than English.

Other

Menu tabs are now hidden until unlocked. This should make new players be less overwhelmed - tabs such as Workshop, Stats, or Rosary are not displayed at the beginning of the game.
Arcana Screen: long Charismata descriptions are now properly wrapped into multiple lines.
Changed Loading Screen layout on ultrawide screens.
Fixed an issue with Gunroom's equipment list being incorrectly positioned on ultra-wide screens.
Tweaked Vestal Flame screen behavior when changing Text Size.
Added icons support to Interaction Widget. Costs in witchfire or Divine Essence are now nicely displayed as icons
Multiple interaction prompts are now laid out horizontally.
Fixed Player having two icons on the Mini-Map.

Audio

Improvements:

Polished the sounds for the Iron Cross spell.
Polished the sounds of the Firebreath spell.
Designed new sounds for the Vestal Flame and all the interactions associated with it.
Added a custom sound that plays when you pick up gold.
Polished the sonic aspect of some in-game transitions (when traveling from the Hermitorium to the Outskirts and from the Hermitorium to the Class Selection screen, on the 1st playthrough).
Polished the sounds for some of the World Corruption elements.
Designed new sounds for some of the Tutorial's pop-ups.

Others:

Implemented the audio portals' system in Velmorne.
Added alternative footstep sounds when the Preyer moves on water (this feature is in very early stages of development).
Imported some additional new enemy voices.
Implemented new music tracks by Mikołaj Stroiński.
Implemented new voice lines for many NPCs.

Fixes:

Solved an issue that could prevent the Mission Complete stinger from triggering.
Fixed an edge case in which in-game sounds remained audible while browsing game menus.
Removed an artifact from one of the reload assets for Midas.
Made portal sounds a bit more present in the game's mix.
Made the UI sound for "action unavailable" more prominent in the mix.

Designed sounds for the following content additions:

New available areas: Marshland, the Hermitorium's garden, and the Outskirt's Vault.
New enemies.
New weapons and spells.
New UI elements (correspondence and dialogue screens, etc.).
New gameplay elements (associated to World Corruption, the new Vault, etc.).

Bugfixes and QoL changes

Fixed some weapon pickups being visible through walls when weapon flattening was in effect.
Fixed cinematic props sometimes not being visible.
Fixed Echo third mysterium activating when stamina is exhausted.
Martyr's nails now also deal damage to enemy from which the nails are being torn out of.
Improved gameplay pausing systems when cinematics and dialogues are active.
Modified "Skip" prompt on cinematics to hide and reappear when anything is pressed.
Fixed soul sigils being possible to appear on dead enemies.
Fixed sniper rifles scopes visuals being cut off on wide screens.
Fixed sniper rifles sometimes having black scopes.
Fixed Stormball not shooting thunder strikes at non-character damageables.
Stormball spell now deals damage not only to enemies, but also to damageable objects.
Picking up 7 manifestations is not required to mark level as fully completed, clearing 7 arenas and spawning those manifestations will suffice.
Added a few safeguards in low-level gameplay systems which should prevent some (rare) crashes.
Fixed incorrect item offerings in interaction prompts on Irongate Castle.
Fixed Velmorne's mirage and vault gate requiring payment each time.
Opening menu while standing within an interaction no longer enables the player to cast spells and interact at the same time.
Fixed interaction and progression saving for tunnel mirage on Scarlet Cost.
Fixed interaction and progression saving for vault entry gate on Irongate Castle.
Fixed Irongate Castle Vault gates that were not interactable.
Killing Anointer now correctly counts towards "Irongate Castle: Kill a Faithful" Gnosis objective.
Kirfane no longer triggers from Echo's bullet explosions.
Various prompts, such as "You need higher Gnosis to see it clearly", will now be displayed in red to make them more visible.
Decay damage over time can no longer critical.
Fixed starting ammo for weapons while having ammo-modifying beads equipped.
Reduced Calamity Vortex Stabilizer health by 40%.

Strictly technical:

Added support for UI global invalidation - this should lower the base frame cost by a couple percent for everyone.
Disabled FPP flattening for the duration of cinematics.
Optimized spawning of clothing actors.
Fixed landscape LOD issue present when field of view value is set at more than 90.
Improved game assets packing - patches should be smaller and apply quicker.
Game should now pause on focus lost and when gamepad is disconnected.
Game should now start (for the first ever start on the system) in user detected language. It should also inform returning player that their system detected language is available.
Fixed graphics preset displaying in the options menu.
Fixed water disappearing when changing graphics presets too quickly.
Several improvements in binding options.
Added subtitles setting.

Road to Revelations - A Guide to the 0.9 Update

Pedro Hectopascalsteam_community_announcementsmod_reviewedModAct_1691520782_1781721357_0mod_require_rereview

41d ago

Preyers! The arrival of the Revelations Update is nearly upon us - we’re planning to release it at 6 PM CET on the 18th of June, so if you’re reading this on the day of the blog post publication, it’s tomorrow. The work doesn’t stop until the very last minute, so while we’re polishing the build and making our final pre-flight checks, here’s a bite-sized summary of everything you’ll be able to experience very soon.

Marshland

The map selection screen is about to have no placeholders left - the destination on the far left is yours to explore, as soon as - as usual - you find the chart for it and reach the required Gnosis level. If you meet these conditions, you’re welcome to dip your toes in the bog, venture through the bushes and trees surrounding the ruins of a Cathedral, and try to solve the mystery of a place considered one of the Vatican’s failures. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/b566ad35757a754f44b0eb176c12a15f92deedfc.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/08fd5be015a76a57299fdf541721c86782280e97.jpg Strange new creatures roam these lands, accompanied by monsters you already know. Your old foe, the Gravedigger, loves to hang around, as Marshland is the final resting place of many. Marrowflies, Carriers, Laments, and Bloaters are - on the other hand - nothing but words to you for now, but that will change very soon. And those of you who happen upon the new Familiar (who some players have already identified) will hopefully live to tell the tale. Bonus: Outskirts region is now available from the map selection portal, too.

Narrative Foundations

We’re setting the stage for the story reveal in 1.0, and new pieces of the puzzle are falling into place. You’ll finally be able to interact with NPCs via the newly introduced dialogue system. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/620c239a728fa4aab3d50f2e7f93809cd68ec29c.jpg We love old-school RPGs and took our time crafting this feature, but we believe the result is an easy-to-use, comprehensive, and readable solution that pays homage to some of our favourites, such as Baldur’s Gate 1 & 2, Disco Elysium, and Planescape: Torment. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/f689cebc84ec300df818fb32caadc367b0a9bcfd.jpg It’s obviously for you to judge, but bear in mind that we will continue developing it, and the characters you encounter in Revelations are far from the full roster. We’re still keeping plenty of things in reserve for 1.0.

Fallen Preyers

But since Fallen Preyers have been mentioned - until now, they haven’t played as large a role as we’d hoped. They’ve been available as help during battles, but we know many players haven’t paid them much attention. To be honest, we mentioned in one of the earlier diaries that they are among the most underutilised features in the game. The most hardcore crowd sometimes forgets they even have a demonic weapon equipped, so a handful of characters running around isn’t exactly what they remember in the heat of battle. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/489a6fe8cfa88404ea4e6ce0c7fee65201a8aa42.png We hope you’ll become more invested in them now that you’ll be interacting with them directly - not only collecting fragments of their masks, but also learning their stories, why they perished, what their sins were, and ultimately rendering judgement over them. Will you condemn them or absolve them? Each choice will have consequences, so tread lightly.

Support for 14 New Languages

The barrier to entry has been quite high until now. While we’re crafting a difficult but fair gameplay experience, we know that one of the biggest obstacles stems from the so-called Babel Incident, after which humans found it much harder to communicate. We recognise the efforts of the community and the various language mods created during Witchfire’s long period as an English-only game, but that changes with Revelations. We’re adding support for 14 new languages, and we’re hoping this will broaden the game’s accessibility and appeal. We hired experts, asked for your help testing the localisation, and we’re hopeful that this expansion will bring new people to the game. The full list of newly added languages can be found in the handy image below. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/c85754f59b64b97147c3a15d53d1edffc74479b8.jpg

New Vault

Last year we promised to bring you two new vaults. One of them has been available since December - you can enter it via the gate atop Velmorne. The second one has been MIA, but not for much longer. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/fdf92d534d994d090037778d980ff18084eb40af.jpg The Outskirts Vault is about to open, but you won't be buying your way in. Reaching the door is a puzzle in itself, and the Vault gives up nothing to those who haven't earned the way through. Solve it, and there's plenty of shooting on the other side, with a prize that should make it worth the trouble. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/93c46a71e1155ea00bc205505ad84fb6e57384d7.jpg The challenge has already been put through its paces by some players invited to the Revelations closed beta, and they seem to agree that it’s one of the best Witch Vaults in the game. We’re waiting to hear from more of you, so don’t hesitate to share your thoughts if you manage to conquer the dungeon.

World Corruption 2.0

This feature was supposed to be one of the main attractions of the previous update, Reckoning. Sadly, we dialled the difficulty up a bit too much and turned the game into a festival of pain. While that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for some of you, the lion’s share of the feedback was rather damning: we had gone too far and made the game feel unfair. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/b5445b461d09248cb6c2e53fbfcf2567b857ad03.jpg Even before the release of Reckoning, we started redesigning the system, but we needed more time - and that’s exactly what we got between the previous and upcoming major patch. We’re handing the steering wheel back to you. You decide whether you want to engage with it and enter the fight, rather than having it forced upon you. But you still need to be wary. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/837198a6c0151bde33ceb18b81dcae44d874d296.jpg Your choices will shape the world around you. The more brash and loud you are, the more corruption will spread around you. Force open locked chests, pick up cursed treasures, give in to too many Temptations scattered throughout the map, or commit the final offence and get your hands on the Latent Orb, and the world will not watch idly. We’re sure many of you will do it on purpose (much like causing Calamities or riding tornadoes in the original version of World Corruption), but this time it’s your choice.

Garden

And when it’s finally time to retreat to the safe walls of the Hermitorium, we’re giving you a chance to wind down in a new area - one that some members of our community have already correctly guessed lies behind the gate marked with the Early Access stamp. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/1d0b168502bd81dd8c560e64698e12204d3e3ed5.jpg The Garden has been built so that you may grow resources required for incenses on your own terms, rather than collecting them between expeditions. You’ll need to plant each resource in its dedicated spot and wait for it to grow, but you now have an alternative that doesn’t require you to traverse the maps. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/371258003c2187cd6059fa57c1d1b8150ca4303b.jpg We’ve also placed a wooden bench there for those moments when you feel like admiring the vista of the bay, with the sinister Witch Mountain visible in the distance. From the Hermitorium it looks peaceful and tranquil - a polar opposite to what lies beneath it, as those of you who’ve already been there know.

New Gearpack

To round out Revelations, we have a new set of toys for you: three new revolvers, a raygun, and two new spells. We’ve already covered them in greater detail in this post (revolvers and spells) and this post (Tempest), so if you’d like to learn more before getting your hands on them, follow the links. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/6451d1e462f720f4c4305137a373a4549b573c8d.jpg We also mentioned new melee weapons. We currently have three working prototypes (well, four if you count the pan), but as of this moment only one has been deemed polished enough to be worthy of inclusion in the game. To the disappointment of some of you (sorry!), it won’t be the zweihander making its debut in Revelations, but something entirely different: a cursed bell. Where to find it and how it works is for you to discover. And don’t worry - the other two (yes, t-w-o) are still coming. We’ll do our best to include them in future Revelations patches. You may already know the drill: we release huge updates, then go back into our caves to continue crafting, experimenting, and building things away from your eyes. That won’t happen immediately. First, we’ll be watching closely, reading your feedback, patching, tweaking, and improving things until we’re confident that what we’re leaving you with is worthy of your time. Then we’ll set sail toward 1.0. We’ve accomplished a lot, but there’s still much more to do. The future is bright, but it’s not quite here yet. For now, enjoy Revelations. Explore the new map, investigate and judge the Fallen Preyers, conquer new challenges, fight new enemies, and tell us all about it. Tomorrow, the next chapter begins. Buckle up and have fun! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/e1651ccdac2a8e20e51f1f6567bb3e389c427178.jpg

Road to Revelations - new corners of the Witchfire world

Pedro Hectopascalsteam_community_announcements

48d ago

Preyers! Time has come to reveal more about Revelations - this week we're putting Marshland in the limelight and letting you behind the gates of the wetlands you will be traversing while killing monsters and (what remains of) men.

Piercing the veil

Let's begin by using the old cliché, that this map is the biggest and most complex in the game - something you would expect from the final addition to the early access roster of maps, but The Witch Mountain is still evolving behind the scenes and may prove to be even more impressive. That's for another (more 1.0-ish) time though, so let's focus on what will be in your hands soon. While discussing Marshland with me, our Art Director Adam shared some thoughts about the creation process, and they offer a glimpse into how we approach building new regions. The image that emerges is… perhaps a bit too daydreamy and whimsical for some, but if you have a certain kind of sensitivity, I am sure you will understand exactly where we're coming from. For us, just like for you, every new region we unveil is a big source of excitement. It never is just another area that adds more territory and makes the game bigger, but a meticulously sculpted space that reveals another piece of Witchfire's lore and enriches the world. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/9c51b75948cf789ac8f5fbce24bb64a03a2e9da5.jpg We craft levels piece by piece, avoiding repetition and refusing to follow the same schemes, so each place can feel unique, special in its own way, while the world around it stays believable and grounded enough for you to dive in and lose yourself in its depths. Maybe that sounds too romantic, but this is the actual work done not only by the art team: months of references, decisions, revisions, and tens of thousands of assets planned, placed by hand, and optimized. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/cc6d5275fefac1837707412d7c03259986c43f08.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/90ea27de64301a7c2547c6f54d7535ae67338b0a.jpg And as beautiful as Marshland is, we are not here just for art contemplation, are we? On the other side of this equation lies gameplay - to provide the finest and most versatile experience that we can deliver, and we constantly try to balance between a believable world and a playable space. We approach every location from a different angle - sometimes through risky endeavors, just to push the envelope a little further, sometimes by finally adding things we always wanted to put in the game - things that simply make Witchfire more fun. Or a greater challenge. Throughout development we have been trying to bring you places that feel truly diversified and cover the whole spectrum. From the welcoming warm-up of the outskirts, through the narrow spaces of the town that are more demanding with their close-up structures, to a compact stronghold to conquer from the bottom all the way up to the king’s chamber in the castle. And now it is time for something misty and convoluted, yet open and vast - a place of definitely not welcoming nature with all the mysteries that it hides between trees, bushes, roots, muddy caves, and ruins of a forgotten monastery. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/114c420a670ece7692556c4ecf087ae857d2428c.jpg A beautiful but hostile wetland where the path disappears into reeds, fog, and old religious failure. At first glance, it may seem like there is nothing interesting waiting there - far from the Witch’s main influence, this pilgrimage site has long been forgotten, erased from history and wiped from the maps. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/cc5b5743a328aa30b0f324bb7c9dff93bcc86ae8.jpg But this next piece of the Witchfire world hides more than marsh veiled by rotten silence. It holds the secrets of the Cathedral of Saint Aurelian, revealing one of the Vatican’s failures and pointing toward the mystery of another Fallen Preyer. It is a place inhabited by abominations both already known to you and unseen in other lands - creatures that seem perfectly at home while you remain the invader, struggling to survive against impossible odds. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/93d080e72e2fd65cf4324470f4bb3376a4e19ea4.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/08fd5be015a76a57299fdf541721c86782280e97.jpg What lies between the vegetation is yours to discover. We have been teasing Marshland for a while now, showing you screenshots from the whole level, but they won’t really make sense until you piece it together by experiencing it on your own. And beating a new familiar who, by the way, is in one of the screenshots - can you spot it? The wait won't be much longer.

Revelations is going live next Thursday, on the 18th of June 2026.

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/7b619672005f53cfcaa4e2a9febd1c5d4d40c3f5.jpg Be prepared.

Call for saves

We also want to be prepared, and we’d like to make sure that the saves you have are compatible with the new update. We have a sizeable repository of our own saves, but the more we test, the more confident we are that everything works well. If you’d like to share your saves with us and give us a bigger pool of files to test, please use the form linked below to upload the files - thank you! Witchfire Revelations save submission form And like we said already, we will not force a wipe upon you unless it's absolutely necessary for technical reasons. I am just reiterating it because I saw yet another thread about it on Steam and we wanted to make it abundantly clear what our stance is. Early Access titles are often rough around the edges - we’re not using the label as an excuse, but as a tool to get you involved and craft a game that reflects not only our vision but also your feedback. It comes with certain risks you have to be aware of when you sign up for it; keep it in mind.

Hermitorium Archives

Witchfire Levelmaxxing experience

It’s an age-old rule that the higher you set the bar, the more determined some people are to reach it - level 541 was reported for the first time mere 10 days after the Early Access launch, and while that was an absolutely astounding pace, all those who clawed their way to the top deserve to be recognised. A couple of days ago a new topic appeared on our subreddit, in which No_Idea_2852 shared their experience of the climb - give it a read if you’d like to know what it was like. We did, and we will be thinking about how to improve the tall-end experience in the future. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/dd97c412e8837c571caed29dfbb4d8046d38527a.png Click here to visit the original thread.

Picture perfect

With 0.9 just around the corner, we’re slowly focusing our gaze on 1.0 and the (Witch) mountain of stuff we keep in our backlog. There is a separate channel on our internal communicator which is bursting at the seams because we would like to throw in so much stuff into the game - two of the features listed there were recently mentioned among you on reddit and Steam. Given that they are something we have been thinking about, let’s address them publicly. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/084be6858199fc05359ecd0890c3db79fb8ce0d5.png Click here to visit the original thread. What we already have in the game is technically an inspection screen, it’s just a bit static - meaning you cannot freely rotate the items and look at them from every angle. We understand that what the OP is requesting is for the Preyer to be able to inspect the weapons during gameplay - a bit like a camera slowly panning across various surfaces of cars in racing games, only with weapons instead of cars. We take it as a huge compliment and we’re proud that you like the design so much you’d like to have a closer look, but this one is rather unlikely to happen. We may add rotation to the current inspection screen (if time and resources allow), but looking at the gear while mid-run… Not so sure about that. It could destroy the immersion, but we cannot deny the appeal - time will tell, but for now you will have to do with “it’s not a definitive no”. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/e6c17b7d7df2b1f6c8ecc25455f9ae0e7853d3c9.jpg Click here to visit the original thread. The second name-dropped feature from your wishlist is a dedicated photo mode - I already answered in the thread, but given how many people actively read every single one of them (I’d hazard a guess it’s not many), we’re talking about it now, too. Photo modes are a bit of a tricky subject - on one hand, they seem to be quite simple, just free the camera and call it a day, but there are so many underlying systems that would need to be temporarily paused or culled altogether, it becomes a more complex task. Doing it right (and making it feature-rich enough to deserve a photo mode moniker) is a huge undertaking - one we’d like to have a go at if and when there is time, but it’s not now - there are far more pressing issues and another “seemingly simple, yet complex at second glance” thing is currently being worked on: vibrations. We mentioned it before and we implemented a simple system a while ago, but to build an immersive and comprehensive rumble - one that doesn’t just make the controller go brrr when you press a trigger, but rather incorporates feedback from explosions and other environmental phenomena - is no small feat. One we’re working on, and we’re quite excited to tell you more, but… not just yet.

This is not an official merch announcement

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/803551e6f1fba1e73db2ed226d4b9c1a43ba9a7d.jpg Click here to visit the original thread. … but we’re already making some moves behind the scenes and after your reaction to the Witch, and... let’s call it enthusiasm for the visuals, I am going to suggest we make a body pillow. Maybe not just with The Witch, hell, if you can already purchase a body pillow featuring a certain dextro-amino-acid specimen of a space-faring race from another game, what’s stopping us from launching a “collect them all” campaign with body pillows showcasing seven Fallen Preyers? For legal reasons, I have to state that this is just a tortured joke. And as someone who has some experience in creating dating sims, I dread to think what the mod mentioned in the reddit thread would be, but I have been to the internet far too many times…

Garden hose spraying acid

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/5a824b7f266baafcd110ada55e5f260f77327fa7.png Click here to visit the original thread. Now, this one is a bit less recent, but it’s worthy of attention - about a month ago, Lomgjumping-ease3579 created a thread about Rotweaver and asked whether it is the best weapon, trying to prove the point by attaching a video of Dimacher melting in front of the said gun. It’s a bit funny, but it appears that every weapon is the best weapon in Witchfire, provided you know how to use it - typing “best weapon” into our reddit returns 408 results and taking a stroll through them shows just that. Which is a bit of a testament to how versatile the current weapon system is, so we’re excited to see what you will make of the new weapons and how they will disturb your current playstyles (spoiler alert: given how popular the Tempest has already proven, it may be a hit). Save for Striga, because it’s the best weapon in the game. Personal opinion, not a statement from the whole dev team. Also, don’t change my mind. That's it for now, we will be back next week with a summary, but we know that exciting times are coming, and we cannot wait to see what your take on all the new stuff is. Cheers! Spajk

Road to Revelations - Conversations, Narratives, Tools

Pedro Hectopascalsteam_community_announcements

55d ago

Preyers! We’re back with yet another chapter of revealing what’s coming to Witchfire in Revelations - this week, we’re taking a closer look at the way you will begin interacting with people and creatures in the game, and giving you a quick tour of the toys you will play with once the new update drops. So, let’s not shilly-shally and begin with…

Dialogue system

It’s good to talk - and now we’re finally giving you a chance to interact with the entities you meet along the way. Granted, the roster has not been too impressive up to this point, but we’re about to change that - not all in one go, but the seven Fallen Preyers are not our Last Word in that regard; more is coming, but that’s something you will have to discover on your own. Over the past months, we have been conceptualising, prototyping, and building until we arrived at something we feel is modern, while paying homage to classics such as Baldur’s Gate 1 & 2, Planescape: Torment, Disco Elysium, and other old-school RPGs. We want you to feel at home while immersing you in Witchfire’s somewhat alien alternative world. It may not seem too impressive yet, but it’s a solid base for multi-threaded dialogues and making choices that will impact your gameplay and story. Judgement of the Fallen Preyers, which we announced last week, is just one of these choices. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/f689cebc84ec300df818fb32caadc367b0a9bcfd.jpg You won’t just talk to the characters you meet in the Hermitorium - you will also have a chance to converse with NPCs met during expeditions. They will be fully voiced in English - it’s a bit too soon to give you a taste of what’s coming, but it won't be much longer before you will hear them with your own ears. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/620c239a728fa4aab3d50f2e7f93809cd68ec29c.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/9b425098c60ae2f804879c11219fd2d00f9438cc.jpg The narrative angle is - and has been for a while - in development, too: starting with Revelations, you will begin seeing cutscenes sprinkling the gameplay, and the very first one will welcome new players as soon as they acquire the key to the Cathedral. Those of you who already had a go at the game will likely encounter them at different places, but all in all, we’re working on them. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/2f7c02f5d237406154159f448519ef035076dc56.jpg

New Gearpack

Gearpacks are an essential item on the agenda of every major update, and Revelations is no different. You have already seen the Raygun - which, after careful consideration, has been renamed Tempest - and now it’s time to show you some other new toys. Hunger, Hangfire, and Duelist are quite popular among our players, and there have been calls for us to add another hand cannon. Naturally, we ignored those requests. We added three. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/8ca7e684c9672857ce94599147583bf3e14da4f6.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/9def47a1867a826ce9c9b9d109c588901e8296d5.jpg Heart Eater revolves (pardon the pun) around weak spots, and how skilfully hitting them in succession brings additional lightning damage. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/52a284657c5ac5d0e3b3bdcf3b1284f2bc71eaf1.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/ee38eed47068ce7557d3987e73c5e6e8a9f6f38c.jpg Corpse Eater uses Decay to increase damage - in more than one way - and can apply elemental effects to more than one enemy. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/c7cbe6fa4a252cfeac66a1765beb526a73df25c2.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/ca16ee7b4738110c845c06ad898737c4ca2d29ae.jpg Soul Eater - yet another new demonic weapon - allows you to see the soul sigil of every enemy around you, and enables you to stun them on demand. Besides that, we’re adding two spells. Pyre Skull, a light spell which - to put it simply - summons a skull that attacks enemies with fire damage: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/b396b3078b60f6b8e71570bf0c5d17af1adb54df.jpg And Winter Nail, a heavy spell conjuring massive icicles ready to fall from the sky to crush and freeze enemies unfortunate enough to stand where you aim: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/3ad5deb0dc48b300ef6a6311088a342a3d74b29d.jpg A while ago, we also teased one of the new melee weapons: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/deb384028f96aa18f2d561b5b53eaf417ec9c624.jpg Click here to watch the video. But, truth be told, we have our fingers in so many pies, we’re not sure if they are going to make it into Revelations - we'll confirm it at a later date. But even if they are not included in 0.9, they are not going to wait forever, and we may even release them in the Revelations patch-window, before 1.0. Stay tuned!

Hermitorium Archives:

Witch reaction corner

It’s been a while since we have shown you the witch, both in one of the dev diaries and in a separate post on our social media, so… What’s the reaction been like? Well, the sentiment can be roughly described in just four words: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/84d748456dc204dd243d7911faabf9d8f2d0c943.png First of all, no, you can’t. Second of all, there was a brief moment during which we considered a dating sim spin-off with the Witch, but it was a joke, and it still is just that, a joke. We’re not going to do that. In all seriousness, we enjoyed reading your takes on her - there is a lot more to learn and a lot more to see, and we’re thoroughly impressed by some of your ideas, but whether they are accurate is a completely different matter. One that will unfold with time.

The Chronicles of Witchfire

The game has been in development for quite a while now - apparently, for so long that chr_isso, one of the more prominent members of our community, decided to immortalise the past of Witchfire in a short docu-series, going through the major iterations of the game. He released a new episode just a week ago, this time taking a closer look at version 0.3; give it a watch below if you’re interested in how much the game has evolved over the past months and years. https://youtu.be/h_3IJkynugA

Walking on sunshine

They are taking stupid walks for their stupid mental health. Please don’t self-care-shame them. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/d35ad4254c7b4b882490fbb9673a6094a0733463.jpg Click here to visit the thread/

Achievements

Some of you noticed that a fresh batch of achievements appeared on Steam, heralding the imminent arrival of new content: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/670c7fa7286fc675c93f9e58e7ecf55fac2c2a63.jpg Visit the thread here It’s just one more sign that Revelations is quite close, but not quite here yet - we will let you know when all the new and exciting things become available to you next week in the next post, which will also be all about the new playground/danger zone, depending on your experience and your play style. Marshland spotlight and the launch date of the new update - we hope that’s something worth looking forward to. And just to give you an additional teaser, here is a new screenshot from the map in question: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/b66edfe6c3a39543687594421d23373829bbc25d.jpg That's it for this week. Cheers! Spajk

Road to Revelations - Assistants, Plants, Strong Currents

Pedro Hectopascalsteam_community_announcements

61d ago

Preyers! Last week we begun the dev diary cycle leading up to the release of the Revelations Update and we’re really excited to see how many of you gave it a read. We also wanted to thank you for all the discussions and reactions to the post; it’s great to see your support and hear your thoughts. Let's now move on to revealing the next pieces of the upcoming update, starting with… Fallen Preyers (3.0) This is what we teased last week - the overlooked part of the game getting a serious overhaul. We know the Fallen Preyers have been the quietest part of Witchfire. They work, and you use them, but they've never quite belonged to the world the way the rest of the game does. Revelations fixes that. Mask shard collection stays the same - twenty one shards for a full roster - but that's the entry point now, not the whole point. A refresher in case you skipped the lore: every Fallen Preyer once served the Pope on a mission that ended badly on the slopes of the Witch Mountain, and the Witch's magic locked them out of resurrection. They're bound instead to the Vestal Flame in the Hermitorium, and that's where you'll deal with them. After Revelations, they stop being interchangeable. Through field encounters, micro-quests, and a correspondence with the Vatican, you'll uncover who each of them was, what they did, and how they died. When one of them appears on an expedition, ignoring them means missing pieces of the puzzle - they won't just be a green dot on your radar anymore. Furthermore, upon seeing the full picture you will be asked to render judgement over them - a choice that will have real gameplay consequences. As of this moment it may not seem like a big deal, but we have been working on making them a lot more useful and their absence - if you decide to banish any one of them - should be a lot more perceptible. (A note from Adrian, the Creative Director: Fallen Preyers used to be a gameplay mechanic with a thin lore wrapper. After Revelations, they're a central part of the story. The protagonist of Witchfire — whose name we'll reveal with the update — isn't only a killer. He's a detective and an exorcist too, and you'll use both skills to decide whether each Preyer deserves absolution or condemnation, after uncovering their past and reading their current state of mind.) Another puzzle piece regarding interactions will be unveiled next week - stay tuned. Before we move on to the Hermitorium Archives, there are two more things to reveal - and both of them have been in some capacity guessed by members of our Discord community. Well, one of them has been guessed-guessed, the other one was a lucky shot two days ago, but I am getting ahead of myself. Garden This was guessed with 100% accuracy - not only that it’s coming, but also where it’s going to be, so either we have a leak, Alexij has a backdoor into our systems, or he has some sort of an AstroMindset and thinks the way we do. Or it was just that obvious. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/99a7c58b2aae2b4cea40d3d1d366513b325e5204.jpg Doesn’t really matter - Hermitorium is getting yet another expansion (after the shooting range and the Profane Study full of Torments), this time giving you a place where you can just…relax. The work of a preyer is a life of violence, but there is a little bit of the piechart, a hair-like one, which says “chill”. Or at least it will be there once Revelations drop. Right now, if you follow down the stairs next to entrance to the Profane Study, you can spot a locked gate with a stylised EA symbol (which got us a message from the members of a Freemasons organisation, no joke) and that’s about it. Starting with 0.9 you will be able to proceed beyond the said gate, to the part of the Hermitorium which has been thus far visited only by members of the devteam and a couple of unruly members of the community, who don’t care much about the silly bounds we’re setting up while developing the game. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/1d0b168502bd81dd8c560e64698e12204d3e3ed5.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/e81c2cb9a087dcabf9602618f24137766ecafff4.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/371258003c2187cd6059fa57c1d1b8150ca4303b.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/f36f7e3d3a734b2a733d6077295397dc98bc231c.jpg You will be able to not only visit the garden and relax while sitting on the bench, but also use it to grow resources required for incenses. Some of you are able to gather them in the heat of the battle or after you’re done sending the enemies back to hell, but some players just don’t have the instinct to pick up every plant and bit of low-value loot that lies on the ground. From 0.9 onward, you will be required to gather one basic item per resource, and you will be able to have them at your disposal in your base. You will need to take care of the garden, but if you do - it’s going to bear more fruit and reward you with more resources. Plus, you will be able to enjoy the view, but that’s just a bonus. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/0f49b08e86ffb4faf4e6542ee5b126e4abdadf42.jpg Proton it’s not, but close enough. Now, about that guess I mentioned… There was a brief discussion about weapons that happened on our Discord and one of the users posted this. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/6d208880853cb92ce97103ba91b72f34ddba11ac.jpg As it turns out, we have had something very similar in the works - it’s a new Demonic Weapon, we’re calling it the “Raygun” - as that’s what people in the world of Witchfire would call it. It’s still a work in progress, so some things (effects, recoil, etc) may still be fine-tuned and altered, but we’re pretty certain that it will be included in the Revelations Update Gearpack, so let me show you a little something: https://youtu.be/6xHh43aOHp8 It is not the only weapon that’s coming to the game in the few weeks time. We’re bringing some other new toys, too, and we are going to reveal what joins the arsenal next week. Stay tuned. A (second) call to test Oh, and more more thing - the language QA form is still open, so if you want to throw your name into the hat, do not hesitate to do so. We're extremely happy that quite a lot of you responded, but more entries are always welcome, so if you'd like to help us out, please hit these standing-out letters and send us a form. Thank you!

HERMITORIUM ARCHIVES

Can I copy your homework? 'Yeah, just change it up a bit, so it doesn’t look obvious you copied' 'Ok!' Meanwhile: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/304d2c4df905c8a66a5fd823e3795881448f7e96.jpg Click here to visit the original thread. Launch Crashgate Over the past few weeks we have been observing quite a lot of crashes that seem to disappear after rolling back drivers to one of the previous versions. We’re taking these very seriously and while there have been a lot of reports, we didn’t really get any data - neither from our crash reporter tool (it doesn’t reach that deep into your systems), nor from you, the players. Granted, crashes are extremely annoying and we get that asking you to send us additional data is yet another chore on top of the injury and inconvenience, but we really need your files to know what’s going on and be able to eradicate it. Maybe reaching out to you over DM or responses is not enough, so it’s a public appeal: if you suffer (or suffered) crash caused by driver issues, please let us know. We created a dedicated google form to which you can upload your crash reports - please use it, we will be grateful and it may just give us what we need to get to the bottom of this. Click here to visit the form and submit the files Story time The full story of Witchfire will be revealed in 1.0 - there are tidbits that we will be pre-seeding and integrating into the game in the upcoming update, but the lion’s share is yet to come. A while ago we announced who is the lead writer, but while we are working on the game, some of you are unleashing their own creativity and enriching the world of Witchfire on your own. Here is one of more awesome creations we have seen in the recent months, we strongly recommend you give it a read. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/976875a120cbd87964824b5f76f6252ca1aa296b.jpg Click here to visit the original thread. Negative on that altitude reading. I believe that this has already been mentioned in one of the previous Hermitorium Archives, but it’s a good idea to say once more that it’s on our to-do list. Mind you, the list is probably long enough to wrap around the world when printed, but we will get there. Truth be told, I also hate the lack of layering of the radar/map and I remember how much confusion it sparked when I was beginning my Witchfire journey. Have I spent far too much time thinking that Dimacher’s chambers have secret stash and untold treasures high above the ground, somewhere on the beams under the roof? The answer is not “no”. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/ef49c48e856b587736f1bfd4ac3f746ed9197472.jpg Click here to visit the original thread. Quote for the box At this point I have a special folder named “Box quotes” which contains creme de la creme of one-liners from your posts and reviews, or even entire reviews. This one made the list. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/fb70d8c29e73eff155f97ca2bea16a241c37ae52.jpg Click here to visit the review. Only the most observant will get the joke. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/516531e0430e5b6071261755885293d9acae88f8.jpg Click here to visit the original thread. That would be all this week - we will be back again next week with more news - stay tuned. Cheers! Spajk

Road to Revelations - Challenge, Corruption, Tongues

Pedro Hectopascalsteam_community_announcementsmod_reviewedModAct_1691520782_1779375023_0mod_require_rereview

68d ago

Preyers! This post marks the beginning of a very exciting and important period. A while ago, while replying in one of the threads, I mentioned that we don’t do shadowdrops and we won’t suddenly release update 0.9 - The Revelations Update - out of the blue. Instead, there will be a series of posts leading up to it. Well, this is the one that kicks things off. Over the next few weeks we’re going to discuss everything coming to Witchfire and give you a look at what we’ve been working on. We’ve seen your eagerness to get your hands on new content and, while there’s a lot to talk about, this week we’re starting with something that isn’t entirely new - at least not in concept. It was promised before, then put on hold, dialled back, and shuffled around a bit. But now it’s finally happening.

THE BIGGEST VAULT YET

This one was promised a long time ago, and we’re finally going to make good on that promise: a new vault is about to arrive in the game. Now, I know saying “it’s going to be the biggest challenge yet” sounds like the most predictable thing imaginable when introducing a new endgame space for hardcore players, but this one really is a bit different from the others. Getting inside will not be as simple as slapping some witchfire on the gate and shooting everything that moves. Before you breach the entrance, there is a test you’ll have to pass first. The location itself may not be what you expect - while it would be perfectly reasonable to assume this is the Marshland vault, this one is actually hidden somewhere in the Outskirts. Where exactly, that’s for you to figure out, but I can already tell you that it isn't nearly as obvious as the one in Velmorne. And is much more... airy. Let me show you a little something, a bit of food for thought, something that may spark your curiosity and cause some of you to zoom in a bit more than usual. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/fdf92d534d994d090037778d980ff18084eb40af.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/e19ab11963ec2721350de5b8a47115dd237e2f9e.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/93c46a71e1155ea00bc205505ad84fb6e57384d7.jpg Enough teasing for now - the Outskirts Vault will debut in a short while and you will be able to test your might against whatever lies inside. If you can even get inside, that is.

World Corruption 2.0

This one may feel like a bit of déjà vu. World Corruption was originally supposed to be the headliner of the previous update, but the balance leaned a little too hard into no-mercy territory. We went back to the drawing board and used the opportunity to rethink the system altogether. Game design is iterative by nature - new ideas appear while you’re already working on previous ones. That was exactly the case here. The blueprint for the new iteration started taking shape while we were putting the finishing touches on The Reckoning. We simply didn’t have enough time to implement it in its 2.0 form back then (we didn't have enough time to balance the whole thing, frankly), but the plan was already there. Now we’re finally bringing it to life. In the previous version, you didn’t really have much to say in the matter - you were the infection, and the world was trying to get rid of you, with corruption acting as the fever. This time, it’s more of a choice - the less discreet you are, the less subtle the corruption becomes. You may finish an expedition without seeing much of it at all - or you can make things significantly worse for yourself. Prying chests open (yes, it's an option now), collecting cursed treasures, giving in to newly added Temptations for more power... All of it leaves traces. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/a6aaf41d93ad020bf8c694d58a05c28fa148e3cf.jpg As your presence becomes more obvious, the world will react. Unnatural events and out-of-place objects will start appearing, making expeditions increasingly difficult. You will be able to use cleansing stations to partially restore the previous state of the world, but doing so will test your skill - and failing will trigger an extra Calamity. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/11a28270d2210fdf272ec854217e21b54c3412af.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/b5445b461d09248cb6c2e53fbfcf2567b857ad03.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/d9ddcc3a661662d8cb20ea5550ae66420dc597ba.jpg I won’t spoil it any further, but the world of Witchfire will be much less static than before. Some of you are going to embrace it and enjoy the chaos and hell breaking loose, some will meticulously cleanse the corruption. We’re eagerly waiting for your testimonies.

Translations

This is a big one. Honestly, one of the biggest announcements we’ve made so far. A couple of months ago we announced that Witchfire would be localised into several languages, but we deliberately kept quiet about the specifics. That changes today. We’re happy to announce that Witchfire will soon support the following languages (in alphabetical order):

Chinese (Traditional)
Chinese (Simplified)
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Polish
Portuguese (Brazil)
Russian
Spanish
Spanish (Latin America)
Turkish
Ukrainian

We’re excited to share this news with you and we’re happy that so many more people will be able to experience Witchfire in a more approachable way. There are two important things worth mentioning here. First and foremost, the list of supported languages may still change in the future. We’re not drawing a line in the sand and saying “that’s it forever”, additional languages may come later. The limiting factor here isn’t willingness - it’s economics. We’re not a gigantic organisation with infinite money cheat enabled; we’re a relatively small independent studio and localisation is expensive, so we had to make choices and prioritise carefully, and we would absolutely love to expand the list further in the future. Secondly, we hired professionals and worked with world-class localisation specialists, but they are still human, or rather - in the age of AI - reassuringly human. Mistakes can happen, and while - obviously - LQA is part of the process, the more eyes we have on the translations, the better the final result will be. Especially if gamers themselves take a look. That’s why we’d like to ask for your help: the link below leads to a Google Form where we ask about your languages and your experience with Witchfire. If you’d like to help us out, please fill it in and we may contact some of you in the coming days. The translations are happening regardless - we’re not going to suddenly pull a 180 because we didn’t receive enough submissions or anything like that. We simply want the translations to be as good as they possibly can be within the timeframe we have. So, you in?

Click here to view the form.

Your first look at the Witch

Now, before we proceed to the Hermitorium Archives, there is one more thing - something that has just rolled off the printing press. PC Gamer recently sat down with various members of our team and Witchfire landed on the cover of the magazine’s newest issue. It’s an honour to be featured and, while we obviously cannot spoil the interview itself, we can show you the cover - featuring the Preyer in a rather close encounter with the big baddie herself: the Witch. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/83ff48aee954d133f27da7f1a7a99bef3936a065.jpg It’s only a single angle, but it’s still your first look at her. And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming...

Hermitorium archives:

We're not planning to call for the cleanup crew.

It’s been a while since this one was asked and answered, and with 1.0 fast approaching, the question is more valid than ever: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/d1ef8baa7a54fe7f7919b691dd5d979ba0c9a7a5.png Click here to visit the thread Let me assure you that nothing has changed in this regard and we’re sticking to our guns (pun fully intended): we’re going to do everything in our power to avoid forcing anybody to wipe their progress. There is still a slim technical possibility of it happening, but we will do everything we can to leave that choice in your hands. Starting fresh when 1.0 launches will most likely be recommended for the best experience, but we do not want it to become mandatory.

An age old question of... age.

As the world gets older, so do we. A while ago this appeared on Steam: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/e3226e6551eef8f7cbd483dfd8347574759e2acd.png Click here to visit the thread It’s far from the first time somebody in their silver fox era has asked a question like this, and we were genuinely curious to see what their experience would be like. Witchfire is still in Early Access (albeit not for much longer) and we’re continuously adding things we believe the game needs - including a whole suite of accessibility features currently in development. We’re considering solutions for all kinds of impairments and limitations because we want as many people as possible to be able to experience Witchfire. Now, I know this immediately raises questions about difficulty, but difficulty is part of the experience. We’re doing everything we can to make the game fair and provide multiple ways of approaching its challenges, no matter whether you’re old or young, experienced or a complete nugget - we believe players are smart and resourceful. What we don’t want are unnecessary handicaps standing in your way. The challenge itself, however, has to remain.

Where do we even begin?

The topic of selecting a class pops up every now and then, this being one of the more recent threads about the matter: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/4b5fd9d92ed4dbd65e85377527e8c82678d5e877.png Click here to visit the thread Revelations Update will bring some changes to this system. The major overhaul is planned for 1.0, but even now we’re restructuring parts of the prologue and changing the point at which you select your class. For now it’s mostly cosmetic, but more changes will follow later.

They upgraded, it's an air intake.

A certain series of books about a certain teenage wizard (who would absolutely be smoked by the Preyer, by the way) featured a certain ghostly individual who nearly lost his head. We have Devotees who never leave a job half-assed, so that’s 1:0 for Witchfire. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/ad5805ef503a22b7efb411c23de2ee651a44cc36.jpg Click here to visit the thread Seriously though, bugs happen - some of them are hilarious, some are not, but I’m going to use this opportunity to assure you that we’re taking all of them very seriously. We may still be in Early Access, but the more bug-free we are now, the less fixing we will have to do in the future. Plus, it’s just so damn nice when things just work. We’re doing everything we can to get rid of these happenings and you’re helping us immensely, so thanks for all the reports.

Once and for all...

We’ve been absolutely inundated with requests for co-op and, more recently, a PvP mode as well, but we’re not going to budge on this one: Witchfire is - and will most likely remain - a single-player-only game. We’re approaching the end of Early Access, v0.9 is around the corner, and changing direction now would simply make no sense. It would add months, if not years, to development. That does not mean we’re opposed to multiplayer concepts in future projects, whatever those projects may end up being, but let’s put this one to bed once and for all: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/e8774719c71e4b0a784bb42e6f84fc2ecd802ebc.png I hope that makes things crystal clear. There’s a lot more coming, and next week we’ll continue revealing what The Revelations Update has in store. We’re expanding the list of activities and giving one of the more overlooked parts of the game a serious overhaul. Hazard a guess what we’re talking about - and see whether you were right next week. Cheers! Spajk

The Bog Remains Undisturbed For Now

Pedro Hectopascalsteam_community_announcements

132d ago

Preyers! It has been a while - and it’s great to finally type these words again. Before we begin, though, let me manage your expectations: Update 0.9 is very much in development, but we’re not ready to start sharing more details of it just yet, so consider this post a sign of life and a teaser. We know it’s been a while, and it’s going to be a while longer, because this one is a whopper - an update that lays a lot of groundwork for the arrival of 1.0 later this year. The Reckoning update was a bit of a trial for us (and, fittingly, a reckoning), and we learned our lesson. What we can announce now is that there will be a closed beta test for selected members of the community. We did it before and it worked like a charm, helping us detect and squash bugs while balancing content, so with how much is changing in 0.9, we want to repeat that process. When and how the beta will be handled is still up in the air and depends on how the work progresses - the new map is already playable internally and we’ve been frequenting it for a while, but it’s also a very significant chunk of the Witchfire world, so it needs to be done right. Additionally, as we’re working on the Marshland, we’re boring some new tunnels in older levels, while other places are getting a makeover and major re-modelling; it’s all part of the road towards 1.0. We’re working on several things in parallel, preparing the world of Witchfire for its full reveal, and we hope that you are going to love the results. It’s all a bit ominous, so let me deploy some pocket sand and woo you with a teaser image from the Marshland: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/f5a4650172dffdbe984af28f00d9668348fb8529.jpg Both 0.9 and 1.0 are beyond important. Back in December, we celebrated the 500,000 sales milestone, and we’re hugely thankful for your support. The fact that the game has already reached half a million of you while still in Early Access is a testament to its potential - potential we cannot afford to waste, which is why the next milestone is, well, of paramount importance. Not to mention that 1.0 will be the culmination of almost a decade of work for our team, but for now we’re focused on delivering 0.9. As mentioned before - both in the roadmap and across our posts - the headliners are a brand new map and support for more languages. While we are doing our best to keep the cards close to our chest, we know that some of you have already gone down the datamining rabbit hole and seen the new… map. Level. You know what I mean. I can confirm that what you found was genuine - at least at the time. These things change quite dynamically, so it may already be looking different, and besides, it’s one thing to see a bird’s-eye view of a level, and another to explore it from a first-person perspective, so don’t assume you’ve already figured it all out. Localization is also an ongoing process - we understand that you may be impatient, especially since the mods providing unofficial language packs are fickle beasts, but this is - again - something we need to get right, not quickly. We’re working with world-class translators because we need the game to be localized, not just translated - and there is a huge difference between the two. It’s a complex process that requires a lot of changes in the game (we have to make sure everything works with different character sets, string lengths, and all the language-specific caveats), but we’ll do everything we can to have it ready for the 0.9 launch. We’re also hoping to reintroduce World Corruption in its full form, and enrich the game with more events and enemies, among other things, but all of that takes time. “Late is temporary, bad is forever” may be hard to attribute, but we stand firmly behind it. And with that, let’s put a lid on this part - not quite an update, yet somehow still one.

The Importance Of Being Heard

Hermitorium Archives are a regular part of these devlogs, but before we move on to them, we have something extra - a behind-the-scenes look at how the sound of Witchfire is created. We’re super proud of the game’s sound design, and it’s been great seeing your reactions (including a shoutout from Hugo Martin during one of his streams), but it has remained somewhat in the shadows until now, so it’s high time to change that. You may have noticed that, over the past few updates, we’ve been sneaking more and more vocal sounds for the Witch’s minions. All that work is possible thanks to our collaboration with The Monster Factory, a voice talent agency specializing in extreme vocal techniques. Here, we show you how we begin the creative process of the horrific voices that populate the soundscape of Witchfire, and how they are - albeit a bit disfigured - a labor of love. https://www.youtube.com/embed/Mmy0ct_Rj8w Now you know that there are real people behind the soundbites marking the life (and, more often, death) of enemies. We’re working on more BTS videos, so consider this a taste of what’s to come later. Oh, and it appears that the next stop is…

THE HERMITORIUM ARCHIVES

As I already mentioned in the intro, it’s been a while - but the Witchfire community remains active, so let’s have a look at a selection of topics and comments created by you.

The (un)popularity Contest

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/1539af4c9c0cea5e84239b2e5cecc47b4a7652e9.png What is your most hated enemy? - Reddit Marshland is going to be a home to some new enemies, so this ranking may get a shake-up, especially since you’re telling us which ones you find most annoying or hardest to beat. How that balance will shift is another matter, but we’re grateful for the insight - while that may sound a bit sinister, don’t worry. Our goal is to make a game that is hard, but fair, so we’re not going to weaponize your feedback in a dumb way.

She Really Just Wants a Hug

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/d1dff07c0463db747ca6da4dec4e91bf2a861e09.jpg This chick just about gave me a heart attack - Reddit One of the newer additions to the enemy roster is clearly making an impression. The humble Townswoman has been a menace since she appeared in Velmorne, and that one corridor in the Velmorne Vault is definitely haunting some of you - I know that it haunts me.

Walking Sim?

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/7abe8e16145ddc098bfdce191a2522c72adbdf65.png Holy sh*t Same devs that made The Vanishing of Ethan Carter - Reddit It’s funny - and a bit comforting - to see that some of you can clearly spot the studio’s DNA. The praise is appreciated, but I’m featuring this because it’s great to see you picking up on those patterns. And yes, there have been accusations that Witchfire is a walking sim - I’d still like to see one that can make you…

Fight of/for Your Life

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/2e743fc297862f30ce51ee6f2fe90da0d276ce29.jpg Just an intense moment in Witchfire - Reddit 34 seconds of fantastic gameplay - Assassins Calamity, taking damage twice, Master Sentinel looming just out of frame… No notes. Clips like this show how intense things can get, and how Preyers can handle themselves in those situations.

A Bit of a Helping Hand

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/be85e61b7474888bd84a2424bd37daf903e30c11.png Need help starting out - Reddit There are many yardsticks by which one can gauge a community, but I am overjoyed when the “git gud” mentality starts fading and support takes its place. It’s been a month since this thread was created, there is a lot of helpful advice in it, and I hope that OP was able to take a deeper dive into the game, enjoying their time in the Witchfire world. Thanks to everyone who stepped in to help.

It’s All in the Details

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/b8c27b02c3ab378172b839dcd627037523344a91.png Reloading a chambered weapon still triggers a cocking animation - Reddit Let’s be blunt: it’s a bug. It should not be this way, and our weapon designer (you can read more about his approach here) is well aware of it - to the point that he spent a month trying to wrap his head around fixing it, but to no avail. That’s not to say it’s not fixable - it very much is - but we’re a small team and other things take priority, at least for now. Perhaps one day a patch will address this issue, and each reload will no longer be marked with a curse word being uttered somewhere in the south of Poland.

Bootleg

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/c4e3d3fb09573f0fc40ffb4ea2843fff57c81ef4.jpg Bless all the things - Reddit/url] This is unofficial, bootleg - or possibly leaked - merchandise, and if it starts appearing more often, we will take legal action. The audacity… It’s a joke, obviously - but we’re not sure whether to be impressed or slightly concerned that some of you are spotting Witchfire connections in your surroundings. Also… why would anyone have a flask of holy water at hand...? Wish You Were Here {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/03223c41b74afd2895854468faf3ea89a9ef43ca.png Scarlet Coast Premium Estates may just become the subject of a collab between us and some sort of city builder in the future - thanks for the idea. That’s it for now - we should be back with more information about what's coming to Witchfire in a not too distant future, so stay tuned. We know you’d like to hear more, and all will be revealed when the time comes. Cheers!

World Corruption is dead, long live World Corruption

Pedro Hectopascalsteam_community_announcements

195d ago

We thought the first incarnation of World Corruption had one issue. We were wrong. It had two. The first issue: we broke the fundamental rule of Witchfire, which is: play at your own pace. The longer you lingered in a region, the more corrupted it became. To “heal” itself, the map tried to push you out or kill you. Some games thrive on this kind of pressure - like Risk of Rain - but it doesn't fit Witchfire. We are about isolation, exploration, planning, and most of all, autonomy. From that angle, World Corruption didn't quite work - even if it did provide some unforgettable action moments. We reacted quickly, releasing a patch that fixed a lot of World Corruption issues just a few days after the big update. Looking back, I think that patch did not weaken the feature enough… but we've also realized that tweaking numbers isn't the real solution anyway. Why? This is where the second issue manifests. It's one thing to make a cool feature; it's another to make a cool feature that you want to replay over and over again. World Corruption, even for those who truly enjoyed it, became exhausting after a while. That is a red flag for us. We have players who spent hundreds of hours in the “old” Witchfire without burning out. I doubt they would dedicate the same amount of time to the game if we kept World Corruption in its current form. I don’t have to guess why. “I like to get on the expedition, conquer the challenges, clean up the level, wrap it all up nicely, and then come back to the Hermitorium to level up,” said Michał, one of The Astronauts. With the current implementation of World Corruption, that satisfaction is impossible. You can never achieve a clean map. That kind of chaos is fun once in a while, but not always. Not for every single expedition. I could go on, but the short of it is: World Corruption requires a redesign. For what it's worth, I've already done it - on paper. I have written a proposal for World Corruption 2.0 that changes it drastically. Hopefully, it will satisfy both the players who enjoy the craziness, and the ones who live by the rule of playing at their own pace. Here is the plan.

We said we were done with patches until the next big update. But after returning from the holiday break, we decided to spend one more week on the current build. So, with today's patch, World Corruption is nerfed hard. Basically, before you pick up the Latent Orb chest, you will barely experience it. There might be a rift or two, maybe a Golem will appear, but these events will be rare - a spice rather than a main ingredient. However, if you enjoy the World Corruption rush, you now have three specific ways to trigger it:

Pick up the Latent Orb
Do Torments: they now have World Corruption attached to them
Check The Collector for a cool new item: Corrupt Stimulant

We are now moving on to the next big update for real, and of course, World Corruption 2.0 will be a part of it. I am genuinely excited about this new version, and I hope you will be too. TLDR: World Corruption is nerfed. If you want it, pick up the Latent Orb, do Torments, or buy the Corrupt Stimulant from The Collector. World Corruption 2.0, a completely redesigned version, is coming in the next big update. I think today’s patch is a good compromise. The “old” Witchfire is back, just with a little friction here and there to keep you awake. But those who want the chaos can easily unleash it. This solution is much closer to our design philosophy. Enjoy the current incarnation while it lasts - it’s going to be replaced entirely soon. Signed, The Overseer (known in secular circles as Adrian) {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/94c78f925d1795b1943cdaeaeab543c0f2315b15.jpg

Interviews

You may have seen that the Reckoning Update had a bit of a media buzz surrounding it - various outlets have been interviewing Adrian on subjects related to the game and the overall condition of the industry. Here are a few highlights:

A different angle:

Witchfire, in a way, is a heist game. Like there's the witch, and she set up all these defenses. It's sort of like if you think about trying to rob a bank, there would be patrols, patrolmen, and infrared cameras. So imagine all of that just in a dark fantasy theme. From DualShockers Interview.

On replayability:

I think a lot of people believe they are replaying these games because the shooting part is fun, which is obviously true, but I think a significant part of the experience is the mood and the world. From PCGamesN (I).

On the importance of Early Access:

It’s a good example of why Early Access works, because only at that scale are we able to understand what doesn’t work. From GamingBible.

On Steam and Steam Deck:

Steam is not really a shop. Steam is a community. And so we wanted to make sure that that community is basically served… but what we’ve learned, which was kind of surprising, is that making your game compatible, like Steam Deck Verified, actually makes your game better. From FRVR. If you want to read more, interviews are available at these links: Gaming Bible, The Gamer, Mein MMO (German), IGN Italy (Italian), TechRaptor, eTeknix, PC Games N (II), PC Games N (III), PCGamesN (IV). (A note from Adrian: The recent wave of interviews covered three topics: Witchfire, the state of the industry - mostly the AAA vs indie dynamic - and AI. In case you missed the discussion on that last point, here is the short version: Witchfire does not and will not feature a single asset that was not created 100% by a human. This isn't virtue signaling -- this game started as a project of human passion, and we see value in keeping it that way until the end.)

Hermitorium Archives

Before we begin this episode of Hermitorium Archives, I’d like to take a moment to repeat something I already included in various places - a few words of thanks. The release of The Reckoning and its aftermath was a textbook example of why having a passionate community matters. Your feedback is and always has been priceless, but the absolute torrent of thoughts and comments we received all around the web once the update dropped was on another level, and it allowed us to course-correct when it turned out that World Corruption had dialled things not just to 11, but all the way to 15. After we published 0.8.1, the first patch for the update containing a slew of balance changes, Arian released a statement - and one of the (late) comments under it requires addressing, to my mind at least: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/6bc56154a2d05122573ddf2b19e71dab25a9f4fc.jpg It was not for the sake of experimentation. And yes, we really test our games - the last few days before an update drops are usually nothing but playtesting and bugfixing. The thing is, we’re all pretty hardcore - most of us just grit our teeth and soldier on, even if it gets properly hard, so we can sometimes lose perspective and tune the game to our own tastes. Which is fine 99% of the time, but sometimes we miss the mark and make it too hardcore - as was the case with The Reckoning. To quote Pablo Francisco pretending to be Keanu Reeves: “we went too far”. But we’re still in Early Access, and such blunders should happen during this period, if ever. That said - as Adrian mentioned it earlier - the latest patch for the game, 0.8.4, which has just dropped, tames World Corruption a bit more. It’s a temporary stop-gap solution for now, while we’re having a rethink. The concept will return - it’s far too potent to be left rotting on the shelf. Or underground. You get the idea. Anyway, let’s dive in.

They are doing what to the tornadoes?!

We knew that these were coming. Hell, we were doing the same thing when we were testing the update prior to release - back then, the tornadoes did not disappear after you made contact with them, so they were much more annoying, but you could also use every single one a few times. Until you found yourself between three of them, but I digress. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/3d93151c29c62a2f9a83d641b0cca58c6ec4a5de.jpg Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Witchfire/comments/1pstmld/unavoidable_tornado_riding/ Anyway, upon seeing this topic, my reaction was a bit different and a meme was born, so I think it’s best to let it do the talking. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/a82c6de6d456e53d32ccaaac0478f72c9cacd5a9.jpg

I don’t feel so good, Mr Preyer.

There are a couple of things that have to remain constant, and the sport of Dimacher-bashing is definitely one of them. No matter what content is released and how hard we work on bringing new stuff to you, there is always someone who decides it’s time to have a go at one of the familiars. In this issue, we have a new kind of curse - all the ailments at once. It was always in the realm of possibility and it had to happen sooner or later, but it’s still glorious. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/166857cf91d766a5f6cea3ec69bf9cfc3489e142.jpg Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Witchfire/comments/1q3gtho/giving_dimacher_every_disease_at_once/

That’s a DAMAGE TICK.

Speaking of Dimacher, the battle with him has been an absolute cornucopia – and it seems that while some people struggle, others have made this skirmish their playground. FilthMasterRich is one of the few who are often having a whale of a time – you can now use his experience, as he recently provided an important lesson in buildcrafting, showing everyone just how dramatically you can change your experience by mixing up the loadout. In the linked post, we have a full-fledged walkthrough of how to create a build that produces damage ticks capable of bringing almost anybody down, and I bet that includes the iron-clad familiar of the Witch. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/20f154fe734ecd41d82bd65843b60d382dde20b1.jpg Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Witchfire/comments/1puczya/big_tick_damage_build/ Magnificent job.

I didn’t see any posters.

… And yet, the disco is here. I am going to start a campaign to have something like this in the game as an easter egg. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/e8bcdbe5bdd28b8b566754b7877167da83570dbb.jpg Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Witchfire/comments/1ptkobo/what_a_strange_easter_egg/

Certified nerd-out

We don’t really have a gun culture in Poland, save for some rather unwise hunters who regularly confuse people with boars and cause tragedies, so this is quite exotic to us - a person who actually knows what they are talking about, and their analysis of the weapons in the game. It’s fascinating to see how many details you’re able to find and learn about the genesis of various elements and components. That said, there is one thing we’re painfully aware of and we’ve yet to fix, but it hasn’t been mentioned in the post. Can you guess what we got wrong with one of the bigger weapons? {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/805a7da1174101bc74c29746b213b0177d062bed.png Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Witchfire/comments/1q95xmh/gun_nerd_observations/

It’s not a walk in the park, it’s a sprint through hell

While assessing your feedback, there were numerous times when some of you called the game a walking simulator. The game plays as it usually does in most cases, but we know there are times when something doesn’t go according to plan and the whole map is empty. You can truly have a walking sim in the castle or on the coast, but this… This is the opposite end of the spectrum. This is what happens when you’re really trying to extract and everything is thrown at you to stop you. The full clip is four minutes of fighting for your life, and it’s absolutely brilliant. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/a9bc8cdb11ff7f1f91717e989af35b872367c1e5.jpg Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Witchfire/comments/1prqi8y/okay_now_that_was_a_tense_escape_sequence/

Sneaking in (to the Vault)

The subject of alternative paths has been mentioned quite a few times in posts on Steam/Reddit/social media, and in our own posts - it’s always a choice and not something accidental. It was the same when it came to the Velmorne Vault: we discussed the option to bypass the gate and not pay the entry fee, and we decided to leave this loophole open. There is one more hack (which is actually more of a bug that we will eventually fix) connected to the Velmorne Vault gate, but it appears that it hasn’t been discovered yet - which kind of reaffirms my belief in our playerbase and their honesty. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/3d53c878b43fab1ddec3173db8071d201a0caf95.png Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Witchfire/comments/1q8w3om/bypass_a_locked_gnosis_3_gate_in_velmorne/

Cure worse than the illness

Well, the arachnophobia filter was supposed to eliminate spiders, not the fear of the creatures attacking you. Posts such as this one are a great indicator that the job is well done. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/2af2f0475f8302e2000ebdccf1574e000c343b5e.jpg That’s it for now - this is likely our final post for a while, as we’re retreating to the depths of the Workshop to work on crafting the next stage of our road towards 1.0. One more update in Early Access, bumping the version number to 0.9, and then 1.0 in all its glory and content. Including… Oh, no spoilers, right. Cheers!

Witchfire 0.8.4 patch is now out

Pedro Hectopascalsteam_community_announcementspatchnotes

195d ago

PATCH 0.8.4 (68353)

(2026.01.14) Upon reading more feedback and having a bit of a rethink, we decided to release one more patch for The Reckoning before we return to work on the new update.

Changes to Weapons and Spells

Midas

Decreased Overheated damage debuff from 50% to 70%.
Tweaks to heat generation: Max heat per bullet in a burst lowered by 15%. Max heat generated per bullet while Heated lowered by 20%.

Designer Note: While it should take around the same time to get from 0 to 100 Heat, it should be easier now to stay in the Heated sweet spot with the right trigger discipline.

All-Seeing Eye:

Mysterium I now also triggers below 25% enemy health.
This change also affects Mysterium III triggers. Designer note: while in capable hands ASE was always a powerful weapon, many players were unhappy how its mysteria seemingly worked against each other (M1 needed enemies to be healthy, while M2 and M3 chipped away at their health). This change should alliviate that, while at the same time making M1 and M3 feel more impactful.
Ice Stiletto
- Max charges increased from 1 to 2.
- Freeze duration reduced by 30%.
- Cooldown time increased by 20%..
Designer Note: While Ice Stiletto was quite powerful at Mysterium III, it was performing much worse than other light spells before it was fully upgraded. Adding another charge aims to alleviate that problem, while also compensating for lowered freeze time when fully upgraded (which was a bit over-tuned when doubled by Mysterium III).
Changes to Torments
- Torments now start with varying World Corruption levels.
- The Collector can now sell Corrupt Stimulant (Gnosis IV, costs 2500 WF & 5 Gold).
Changes to Codex Maleficarum debuffs
- Xochitl, the Last Empress to 1.
Designer Note: This should help endgame players transform excess gold into Witchfire. This might be changed in the future, if future changes make gold more relevant in the endgame.
Summoning Station
- Lowered many requirements for summoning enemies in the Summoning Station to better align with their actual rarity in the game.
Various
- Moved the Watch Commander spawn and location to the chapel in the burning city on Velmorne.
- Limited Flamer's flamethrower attack range and slightly adjusted their projectile speed to allow for easier dodging.
- Collector has a new item available: Corrupt Stimulant.
- Designed a custom interaction sound that plays when using stimulants.
- Divine Chest icon is now white.
- Chest number in summary screen should now be calculated properly.
Bugfixes and Improvements
- Fixed a bug that caused dead enemy frozen weapon meshes to collide with the player, causing them to get stuck.
- Fixed a bug that caused Warrior Priest to become invincible if stunned at a particular moment during its teleport.
- Fallen Preyer Barachiel spawn fixes.
- Gatekeeper's objectives should now be completed correctly when Gatekeeper is destroyed by Fallen Preyer Sefer.
- Fixed Stone Golem's map icon position not refreshing.
- Fixed Profane Study key dropping when already acquired.
- Added VFX to make Golem's heart more visible and readable.
Performance / Technical Improvements
On top of all these gameplay changes, we also took this opportunity to improve a couple of things under the hood. We smoothened streaming times to reduce traversal stutters, improved particle system loading schedules, optimized the warning system, streamlined the game director’s refresh cycle, and removed unused, redundant scenarios for each level. These changes should improve your experience across all maps, with Velmorne benefiting the most - the baseline performance is not going to change, but the amount of hitches should be reduced.

Witchfire Update 0.8.2 is now live!

Pedro Hectopascalsteam_community_announcements

222d ago

PATCH 0.8.2 (68206)

(2025.12.18)

Changes to weapons, spells and gear:

Fatum:

Increased the cumulative bonus chance to land (3x Element) after each (2x Element) roll.
Decreased the chance to trigger elemental status effects on each bullet from 25% to 15%.
Increased the duration of (3x Electro) and (3x Fire) buffs from 7 seconds to 10 seconds.
Fixed counting non-enemy targets (e.g. traps) as kills.
Fixed incorrect M1 visuals.

Martyr:

Fixed Martyr nails throwing all physics bodies with power over 9000.

Buckler:

Buckler can now be lowered down faster.
Successful parries now restore stamina.
Parried melee attacks now deal more stun damage.
Lowered block and parry charge costs for weaker attacks, while slightly increasing costs for stronger attacks.

Ice Sphere:

Fixed Ice Sphere heavy spell failing to freeze enemies that teleported inside the bubble.
Fixed Ice Sphere freezing enemies only temporarily (some enemies, such as bosses, may still resist being frozen).

Tweaks to Rosary beads: Requirements for several beads have been altered to provide more early-to-mid game build variety:

Light Spell Charge Bead: Blood 20 -> 15
Ammo Preservation Bead: Arsenal 20 -> 15
Melee Recharge Bead: Flesh 20 -> 15
Healing Bead: Mind 20 -> 15
Sanity Bead: Mind 20 -> 15
Stamina Bead: Blood 20 -> 15
Spell Recharge Bead: Witchery 20 -> 15
Blessed Aim Bead: Faith 25 -> 20
Adrenaline Bead: Blood 25 -> 20

Tweaks to Incenses:

Restoration Incense: health threshold increased from 30% to 40%. Healing speed increased by 150%. Added a 7-second delay between receiving damage and healing starting.
Bloodthirst Incense: increased trigger chance for weapons with larger magazines.
Patience Incense: increased bonus healing from +30% to +100%. Increased healing duration from x4 to x8.
Conjurer Incense: increased healing on light spell from 5 to 8, and on heavy spell from 8 to 13.
Resilience Incense: increased damage resistance from -50% to -70%. Increased healing duration from x2 to x3.

Changes to world, events, traps and enemies:

World Corruption:

Triggering a World Corruption Rift no longer spawns a Calamity.
Island of the Damned: World Corruption builds up faster on Gnosis 3, 4 and 5.
Torments now allow for faster and higher World Corruption buildup.
Torment Alpha allows full World Corruption buildup without picking up the Latent Orb, and doubles the quantity of patrol spawns.
World Corruption now progresses faster and further while a Torment is active.
Torment Alpha now progresses World Corruption much faster and doubles the intensity of the Hunt.
Picking up the Latent Orb now strongly reinforces the Hunt.
Stone Golem critical spot should now be easier to hit while it is disassembled.
World Corruption events now stagger in time instead of spawning all at once.
Fixed a bug that caused World Corruption events to spawn in the Irongate Castle Vault and at the entrance to the Velmourne Vault.
Raising World Corruption to the maximum level now affects the atmosphere and triggers its own music.
Balanced World Corruption sound cue volume based on its current level.
Divine Essence: all sources not related to World Corruption are now worth much more. Costs in the Tower and Witch Mountain have been adjusted accordingly.
Changed Madness Orb explosion range from 500 m to 40 m.
Divine Essence can now drop from Cursed Chest events.

Torments:

Swapped gold for Volatile Witchfire in the Torment reward pool. Increased rewards for repeating already completed Torments and Torment Alpha.
Fixed target acquisition of the Torment effect "Killed enemies explode with three homing Decay bombs".
Torment Alpha effects should now be correctly applied during expeditions to affected regions.
Torment effects dealing damage only to distant or close targets now affect enemies only.
Torment effect "Only Critical Hits inflict damage" now only affects damage dealt to enemies.

Freezing Crystal Trap (Totem of Clots):

Lowered its HP so it can be destroyed with a default charged punch.
Fixed a bug that caused an incorrect name to be displayed.

Warrior Priest:

Fixed a bug causing Warrior Priest projectiles not to deal damage.
Fixed a bug causing Warrior Priest projectiles to float endlessly in the air.
Adjusted projectile tracking to make them easier to dodge, and slowed them down by an additional 16% to slightly lengthen the dodge window.
Fixed a bug causing Warrior Priest melee projections to appear choppy in certain circumstances.
Increased the shared cooldown on the Warrior Priest respawn ability.

Various enemy fixes:

Warden: fixed a bug causing the entity to spawn Elite Ascended Elite enemies.
Grenadier: removed self-damage from all area-of-effect attacks, also fixing cases where a summoned Rotten Fiend could damage the player.

Various world fixes:

Fixed a Divine Chest position in Velmourne so it is no longer inside the Vault area.
Fixed a chest position on the Scarlet Coast so it will no longer float.
Fixed all inactive gates in Velmourne.
A Codex Maleficum page could previously be found both on the Scarlet Coast and inside a Latent Orb. The Scarlet Coast version has been replaced with a different page that was previously a random Veiled Chest drop. As a result, some players may now find a second page on the Scarlet Coast.

Changes to SFX:

Fixed a bug that made the rattling of the "Mirror Lock" event totems inaudible.
Added a sound alert when the Gravedigger steals player remains.
Objective Complete sound now triggers when fully charging a Latent Orb.
Reworked some Surge-related audio notifications.
Added new sounds that trigger when equipping melee weapons.
Fixed small inconsistencies in Cricket's shooting sounds.
Slightly lowered the loudness of Martyr nail base impact sounds.
Fixed a remaining infinite sound loop after picking up a Surge.

Changes to UI:

Replaced the old italics font with the new one in remaining UI elements.
Fixed Torment descriptions in the Inventory using inconsistent text styles.
Inventory item details now better support longer descriptions and lore, especially when text size is set to Large or Extra Large.
Inventory item details now better support longer item names.
Arcana details screen now better supports longer Arcana names.
Melee weapons now display the number of kills in their inspect screens.
Gnosis screen now displays a scroll indicator when text size is set to Large or Extra Large.
Witch Portraits Collection now shows yellow diamonds indicating newly unlocked portraits.
Fixed incorrect opacity of the Surge Display when activating a new Surge while the previous one was blinking.
Removed the Latent Orbs counter from the HUD, as it is no longer necessary.
Latent Orbs are now correctly assigned to Bound and Unbound categories in the Inventory.
Added a map corruption animation when opening the map.
Added a Latent Orb HUD objective.

Miscellaneous fixes:

Fixed a bug preventing Arsenal from influencing some parameters of new weapons.
Explosive Package: Exploding Head is no longer triggered by player movement.
Fixed visual issues with player weapon projectiles in some scenarios (e.g. shooting Striga while looking down).
Fixed the marker position on the Wishing Table.
Patrols no longer drop Divine Essence before Gnosis 3.
Fixed stun soul behavior for spiders.
Optimized turrets.
Mid-flight crossbow bolts no longer trigger danger indicators.
Fixed Arcana power scaling with different Omen effects.
Fixed Hypnosis zoom-in and zoom-out stutters after each shot.
Fixed navigation issues affecting flying enemies and projectiles in areas with stacked navigation planes (e.g. Irongate Castle bridge and the river below).
Increased repeatable rewards for Latent Orbs across the board.
Fixed T-posing monk ghosts on the island after collecting the Scepter.

Witchfire Patch 0.8.1 has gone live

Pedro Hectopascalsteam_community_announcements

225d ago

Preyers, before we get to the actual list of changes, here are some words from Adrian, out Creative Director: We've counted. You wrote one thousand comments about the World Corruption feature in the latest update corrupting your experience. The comments were of all kinds: the good, the bad, and the ugly. I’ll take that any day of the week over indifference. I’m happy people feel strong enough about the game to sacrifice their time to give feedback. But also, you’re simply right. World Corruption was not just imbalanced. It made the game switch genres. The gameplay philosophy of Witchfire is escalation, but only due to player mistakes. In other words, the player dictates the pacing as long as they’re in control. Inevitably, mistakes happen, and then chaos ensues. Think of the opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark. As long as Indy controlled the situation, pointing out and disabling traps, things were fine. One mistake swapping the idol for sand, and then all hell broke loose. World Corruption changed that dynamic. No matter your skill, no matter how smart you played - sooner or later the game interfered with your actions. You were unable to control the pacing. That works for some really great games, but that’s not Witchfire. How did we miss it? Well, things obvious now weren’t that obvious yesterday. Also, Witchfire is still an Early Access game. There is no better time to experiment than now. There is something really cool about World Corruption, so we will keep the feature… but in a new form. You can see the new approach in today’s patch. Until you pick up a Latent Orb, World Corruption is more of a spice than a dish. Just like patrols or minibosses before - something to mess with your plans just a bit. The true hell unleashes only if you pick up the Latent Orb (which no longer slows you down). And Latent Orbs are optional; you do not need them to finish the game, even if they do offer some of the coolest rewards. But now - that is your choice. This is a quick patch to remedy the most painful elements of World Corruption. We hope to have the final version of the feature later this week. Thanks again for the feedback, and never stop being honest with us. It is the only way to make the game we all want to play. Adrian And now the all important change list:

PATCH 0.8.1 (67992)

(2025.12.15)

Changes to World Corruption:

Rifts are now much bigger, have lowered trigger range.
Rifts' idle sound is louder and can be heard from further away.
Disabled Corruption fog as it was causing visibility issues in many places.
World Corruption now builds up slower with lower Gnosis and faster with higher.
World Corruption now caps at a lower intensity depending on your Gnosis level.
Witchfire Whirlwinds should now stay out of enclosed spaces and dissipate if they somehow make it into one.
Reduced the amount of Madness Orbs.
Latent Orb no longer slows the player down, but its pickup ramps up both World Corruption and its cap to the maximum possible value.
World Corruption now affects Hunt intensity at a lower rate.
Hunt now properly caps its spawns. Increasing World Corruption increases the number of waves, with a very significant increase at the highest possible World Corruption level.
Removed Latent Orb slowdown effect.
Added Latent Orb tutorial.

Additional information: the patrols on World Corruption Tier 5 are now kind of infinite, but they are spaced differently - it's no longer a crazy bomb rush, but if you want to explore every bit of a map during a single run while still having someone to shoot, it is very much possible.

Changes to weapons and gear:

Tribunal:

Increased base damage by 25%.
Decreased base ammo reserves by 20%.
Increased M1 lightning power by 20%.
Increased M3 explosion power from 25 to 50.

Designer note: damage increase helps Tribunal reach many breakpoints, which substantially improves its performance, but also ammo efficiency, which was already pretty good. Martyr:

Lowered nail snap chance while punching into the environment by 50%.
Fixed nails affecting friendly characters.
Reduced nail snap chance on the first two re-applies.
Changed the maximum number of nails existing at the same time from 30 to 15.

Designer note: nail breaking is meant to keep nail damage from piling up in prolonged fights, but its current version punished too heavily for missing the magnetized nail. Katar:

Improved damage by 25%.
Improved charged hit range by 20%.
Improved lunge range by 20%.
Charged attack animation sped up by 30%.
Lunge landing animation sped up by 30%.

Witchfire Crystal Bead

Greatly increased the amount of spell charge gained on crystallised Witchfire pickup across the board.

Dash Immunity Bead

Halved the stamina cost increase (from +50% to +25%).
Reduced the immunity period duration from 0.5 sec to 0.3 sec.

Blessed Fire Bead

Increased the power of the Burn effect applied by the Blessed Fire bead.

Stamina Sigil Bead:

Increased stamina gained on sigil break from 25 to 50.

Acute Ailment Bead

Further decreased ailment duration, from -50% to -70%.

Brawler Bead

Decreased uncharged melee damage bonus from 400% to 300%.
Fixed Brawler bead only working with fists melee.

Summoning grounds:

Summoning Grounds: fixed Blunderbusser not unlocking.
Summoning Grounds: Shieldbearer is now a Faithful (not Familiar).
Summoning Grounds: Stone Golem is now a Major enemy (not Familiar).
Fixed Witchfire Basin not regenerating all ammo.

Miscellaneous fixes:

Lowered the amount of Madness inflicted by the statues in the Island of the Damned Vault.
Inspect screen now displays correct values for new weapons.
Fixed 'Unveil Mysterium' button being too wide.
Fixed Irongate Castle Vault completion blocker.
Fallen Preyer Sefer: improved trap detection.
Updated the 'Calamities' page in the Handbook: it now reflects recent changes and correctly shows 'Madness' instead of 'Sanity'.
Adjusted chest spawns to be better placed in the environment.
Witch-corrupted turrets should now be easily identifiable from player-charged ones.
Fixed an issue that could cause stutters during World Corruption events.
Changed idle sounds for Ammo Shrines in the Witch Mountain.
Fixed disappearing Preyer Mask Shards in Outskirts.
Fixed disappearing Gold pickups in Outskirts.

Give the new patch a try and keep the feedback coming. Cheers!

Witchfire Reckoning Update is Out

Pedro Hectopascalsteam_community_announcements

228d ago

The Reckoning Update has just landed - it’s yet another, and second-to-last Early-Access milestone on our road to release, and we’re excited to share another major building block of our vision for Witchfire. It’s also a great time to jump in: the game is currently on sale, with a 20% discount - our biggest price cut yet, with the most complete version so far. https://youtu.be/khq5gOtoIvY As usual, the full changelist lives in the sticky post on our blog. If you want the complete picture and all the juicy details (including minor spoilers), that’s the place to go. If, however, you’re just looking for a handy overview of what The Reckoning brings to the table, read on. We’ve condensed the recent dev diaries into one compact package, highlighting the most important additions. Starting with…

Melee Weapons

One of the features that got you genuinely excited when we first announced it - though there was a bit of a misunderstanding. This does not mean we’re swapping firearms for longswords and katanas, as tempting as that might be for some of you. Instead, we’re upgrading the melee you already know - the punch is now a proper one-two action, with the second strike being a delightful uppercut. You can also swap it out for a Morgenstern, a Katar, or a Buckler. Each has unique properties and more than one use, but we’ll leave most of that for you to discover. The exception is the ground smash, which we’ve already showcased - because it looks absolutely diabolical and feels just as good. https://youtu.be/ff8nMiV0uzQ

World Corruption (née Extraction 2.0)

The idea behind Extraction 2.0 has been brewing for a long time. As we started working on it in earnest (with some development happening way before the Webgrave release), it evolved into something much bigger. We’ll likely dedicate a separate post to it in the future, because the process deserves a deeper dive, but in short: as you rob the world of witchfire - that unstable ether - the world pushes back. Expect more foes, tougher skirmishes, and even natural phenomena that make expeditions increasingly dangerous, testing your skill and attempting to temper your greed. It sounds ominous, and we don’t want to spoil too much, but trust us - you won’t miss it. The Golem is just one of the new additions, and one of the subtler ones at that. Go on an expedition and see for yourself how the world tries to snuff out your fire. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/9dd80b6af4b26d8757c8cf8aff989dd846d456b0.jpg

Torments

Torments are pages from the Codex Maleficarum, a compendium of known witches lost to time. Some pages are gone forever; others may appear during your expeditions. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/2a6d63157b13d605e2adf86e21e129a01636a66b.jpg Bring them to a new location - the Profane Study - to take a closer look. You will discover that sets of pages unlock optional, very dangerous challenges, but the rewards are definitely worth it… assuming you survive, that is.

Surges

Another mechanic we’ve had our eyes on for a while - and this one isn’t here to crank up the difficulty. It’s here for you to have some wicked fun. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/89b82747c3048873d317a7129521629e9cd9c51b.jpg As you collect orbs - found in the world or dropped by certain enemies - you’ll experience a Surge: a sudden burst of power that temporarily boosts your abilities and gives you a serious edge. There are multiple types of Surges, each with different bonuses, and they’re yours to discover. Explore enough, and you’ll learn all the new flavours of violence.

Velmorne Vault

The original plan (as some of you roadmap-watchers may recall) was for The Reckoning to come with two new vaults. In the end, we had to shelve one so that Velmorne Vault - our biggest and most expansive vault yet - could shine as it deserves. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/b176ad62580bc4679fce5dccb9817d3e2fa458d9.png It’s a serious challenge, you’ll need Gnosis III and a hefty stash of witchfire just to enter. Head toward the upper town limits (where a certain cleaver-wielding miniboss resides), and prepare to face something new. Oh, and the second vault is not shelved forever - it will make an appearance in game, it’s merely a bit delayed.

Shooting Range & Bestiary

The tutorial level introduced in Webgrave was one step toward easing players into Witchfire. The new shooting range is another. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/c9ee4a586f99424bfa5bd519804b7d04fc595fa7.jpg We didn’t just repaint the room where the resident revenant (lovingly dubbed Ron by the community), well, resided. The space has been remodelled entirely; instead of a single opponent, there are now three summoning circles, which you can populate with enemies you’ve encountered - and killed - enough times. Unlocking an enemy for summoning purposes also unlocks its lore entry in the Bestiary, allowing you to learn more about it. Not all entries are ready yet; we’ll be adding them gradually through patches and updates. The summoned enemies are yours to shoot: test weapons, practice techniques, experiment freely - there’s a station nearby that replenishes ammo and spells. Because this is a brand-new system, past kills don’t count - newcomers and veterans alike start from zero with the Reckoning Update, but we’re sure you will be able to put the circles to good use very soon. And no, this isn’t a loophole for effortless weapon levelling, we closed that exploit already. Sorry.

New Fallen Preyers

The Fallen Preyers roster has expanded, three new ones join the crusade and can be selected at the Vestal Flame. The limits remain unchanged, so you’ll need to choose carefully. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/3789125fb763b44709df17b52f4c571f6158d3bf.jpg

Accessibility Options

Over the past months, we’ve received a lot of feedback, and with this update we’re adding three highly requested accessibility features. The first is an arachnophobia filter, which replaces spiders with something… different, but no less unsettling, at least for some minds. The second option allows you to disable screen shake, and the third lets you adjust font size. This last change is also part of what allowed the game to earn…

Steam Deck Verification

That’s right - Witchfire now comes with the green tick. The changes go beyond font scaling: we’ve added a dedicated Steam Deck performance profile, which activates automatically when the game is launched on Valve’s handheld for the first time. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/bd9f3ea1d457594e13a595e948c1ff134cd7c674.jpg

Spider Calamity

We’re also introducing a new Calamity, centered around spiders (yes, the arachnophobia filter will be useful here). It can occur on all maps where calamities are available.

The Gear

Finally, some new hardware - quite literally, as there are no new spells this time, but three new firearms are joining the arsenal: Fatum - A machine pistol with three spinning barrels. If they align, things can get… spicier. In more than one way. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/9cc99a33c69a9514e1d050d8e51b009278a000d6.jpg Martyr - An impaler (we re-christened the class the new weapon shares with Striga) with a homing obsession. It believes in second chances. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/63985e0f5cecd6f27d31ece1c9b632946f8dc348.jpg Tribunal - A three-barrel shotgun that hits like a train; dashes and slides are rewarded with thunderous applause. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/9cbdcada1d6d6594795074284afb38a9696bbae6.jpg These weapons are complemented by two new pieces of gear: Static Ring - Sliding leaves ball lightning in your wake, damaging nearby enemies. M2 and M3 take the effect even further. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/3ce0ce95d10fa4bb255cadc4e5d6b90f3ecc435b.jpg Biting Tongue - A relic that causes barrier (for example, barriers granted by fetish) to shatter in an icy explosion. M2 and M3 further increase the effect and add an additional charge. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/d60b8a65089317bc1b473a708d686a48b6af5226.jpg This post is spoiler-free - if you want to learn what’s hiding inside the Velmorne Vault, and how the world will now rebel against you, you’ll have to give the game a bash. The update is available to all owners of Witchfire on Steam and the Epic Games Store. And if you’re yet to join this band of brothers (/preyers), now is a very good time - as mentioned earlier, the game is currently on sale on both platforms, with the price slashed by 20%. Thank you for all the positive reactions to the dev diaries - it means the world to us to be creating something you’re waiting for so eagerly. And thank you as well for your understanding regarding the slight delay with which the update went live. We’ve been working tirelessly over the past weeks, with the dial turned all the way up to 11 in the final days and hours. What you’re receiving with this update is very hot and very new, and it will surely require further balancing - but that’s exactly what Early Access is for. Bug squashing and gameplay tweaks will follow as soon as possible. Keep the feedback coming. Whether it’s on our Discord server, subreddit, or Steam forums, we’re present on all three and we’re reading your posts and comments. The Reckoning is here. Face it.

The Reckoning Dev Diary: Release Date, Torments, Surges

Pedro Hectopascalsteam_community_announcements

230d ago

My preyers, Adrian here with even more news about the content of our next big update, The Reckoning. Let’s talk about Torments, Surges, a couple of smaller things and a big one: the release date. New Look Let’s start with one of these “smaller things” – see something different about the Preyer Menu screen in the Gunroom? {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/1c141886b307dab66111615ccac137a043c0633c.jpg A redesign was needed because of the Melee Weapons. A good opportunity to make things a bit clearer, too. And now for the juiciest parts of this post… Codex Maleficarum and Torments Centuries ago, the Church commissioned a book called the Codex Maleficarum: a compendium of known witches. The pages are heavy, smelling of dust and old blood. On one side of each page is a hand-painted portrait of a witch. On the other, a list of her sins against God, and a lesson to be learned. The artist and writer was Brother Ignatius, a man the Church considered a saintly scholar. Ignatius spent his life hunting the truth, believing he was cataloging the enemy to aid in their destruction. He thought he was doing the Lord’s work. He was wrong. The witches whispered through his ink, guiding his hand to create not a record, but a ritual. With The Reckoning update, you can now perform that ritual. The Profane Study When you find the key and your Gnosis reaches the right threshold, you will be able to unlock a new room in the Hermitorium: the Profane Study. It’s a dedicated chamber for the Codex Maleficarum. The book, however, is incomplete. Most of its pages are lost forever, but some have survived, scattered across the Witch’s lands — torn out, misplaced, or perhaps deliberately hidden by those who realized the truth too late. As you explore, you can recover these lost pages and bring them back to the Study for further examination. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/2a6d63157b13d605e2adf86e21e129a01636a66b.jpg Torments You will discover that certain sets of pages form a Torment. A Torment is a hard, intense gameplay challenge that tests your mastery of the mechanics and arsenal. It is the witches’ attempt to crush the challenger with the very trap Ignatius built. But if you survive the trial, then the prize will be more than worth the pain. Beware, though. By collecting the pages of the Codex and accepting the Torments, you are reassembling a ritual and opening a door that quite possibly should have stayed locked. This feature is designed for those who have mastered the basic loop and are hungry for a spike in difficulty. It’s optional, it’s dangerous, and it’s the only way to earn some of the most potent rewards we’ve added to the game.. Surges If you follow the lore of our game, you know that witchfire isn’t just a currency. It’s a substance. It’s the corrupt ether, the fuel of magic, the binding agent of reality. The Witch’s minions are vessels for this power. But like any cheap vessel, they can be overfilled. With The Reckoning update, you will start encountering enemies saturated with witchfire. These aren’t necessarily elites or bosses, they are simply overflowing with volatile magic. When you kill them, that extra energy drops to the ground as a Surge. Think of a Surge as a raw, unstable battery. Or, in mechanical terms, a power-up not unlike Quake’s Quad Damage. The effect is immediate and violent. You briefly transcend your already inhuman limits and break the rules of the game in your favor. We’re talking infinite Stamina, accelerated spell cooldowns that let you spam heavy magic, or weapons that suddenly hit like siege artillery. It changes the rhythm of combat instantly. One moment you are backpedaling, counting your bullets, desperately dodging — and the next, you grab a Surge, and suddenly you are the one who knocks. You can find these Surges manifesting in the wild, too… {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/89b82747c3048873d317a7129521629e9cd9c51b.jpg …but usually, you’ll be ripping them out of the Witch’s servants. It’s another layer of “sanctified heresy.” To kill the Witch, you have to be willing to touch the fire. Steam Deck Verification Something a bit more mundane but hopefully just as cool: Witchfire is now Steam Deck Verified. We’ve added the scalable UI and a few other things and voilà: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/3f10be3950aae62f5eeb7a11443c1eb782adc6a1.png Tribunal Last but not least, here’s the third weapon we’re adding to the game with The Reckoning. You wanted a triple-barreled shotgun, and your dark rituals worked. Perhaps not in the way you expected — but isn’t that always the price for dealing in the occult? {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/9cbdcada1d6d6594795074284afb38a9696bbae6.jpg You have Judgment, and now you have Tribunal, too. It’s not about shooting all barrels at the same time, though. It’s about striking more than one target with a single shot. You will be able to taste that power very soon… December 12th. Over to you, Spajk. Hermitorium Archives As Reckoning is around the corner, let’s begin with something formal: FAQ condensed. There are three questions that are being asked on pretty much a daily basis in the Witchfire social media bubble, and I realised that answering them (again) in one of the posts has a greater reach than replying to individual comments/tweets/queries. So, here goes:

Co-op/multiplayer is not really on the table. The game is at a stage of development during which a sudden pivot would not make an ounce of sense. Witchfire has been designed as a single-player game and we’re laser-focused on bringing that vision to life. Moreover, the finish line is in sight.
Localizations are being worked on as much as they can be worked on at this stage - we’re a small team, we don’t have an infinite money cheat enabled. Paying for translation services only for the source material to change at a later stage is just not viable. We’re laying the groundwork, we’ve assembled a team of experts to bring other languages to Witchfire, and the translations are coming - stay tuned for more info.
Consoles - this is the main reason I decided to create the mini-faq: not a post goes by without someone (often multiple people) asking about Witchfire coming to consoles. This year we expanded the team by adding people who are already working on optimizing the game with consoles in mind (PC is already profiting from it), so yes, they are definitely happening. “Which ones?” is a question that has to remain unanswered at this moment - sorry, no spoilers.

Builds! The team has always known that the game has huge potential when it comes to build-crafting (a well-deserved shoutout to witchfire randomizer), but it really brings me joy when I see you swapping ideas and exchanging experiences. Such a topic appeared on our subreddit a few days ago - if you’re struggling and not sure what gear you should pick, give it a read. And don’t be afraid to visit the build forum on our Discord - it is the place to discuss all things build-related. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/5d9eabeddaa31762a470d0080e2b0c02162bfcdc.png Click here to visit the thread. Pet Da Crow This is not a low-key teaser or an announcement of Familiars, I repeat, this is not a low-key teaser or an announcement of Familiars. It’s a mere bug (or Jenny is an in-game reincarnation of Steve Irwin), but we will have to take another look at the birds - they have been… problematic in the past. At one stage they completely disappeared from the game, because they had a mind of their own and defied the laws of physics - they have since returned and are flying high once again. Hopefully, this glitch will be fixed in no time, but until that happens, approach with caution and pet da crow. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/04d497a1df29132c5472b6d3dedcacb0ec8a9a3d.jpg Click here to visit the thread. Something is brewing… We cannot comment on rumours and speculations (Sure you can, you just don’t want to – Adrian), but we can (and will) take a moment to share awesome art with you. This piece has been crafted by Todor and it may be teasing something coming in the future. For now, don’t worry about it too much, just enjoy the picture. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/3973eaa62aa9a43d9f7fd560e22315398ea5e083.jpg One way or another. This is - in a way - an extension of the segment about conquering the Wailing Tower from the previous dev diary, and something that comes back every so often: we design the levels so that there is more than one way to cross them. The method of going around the toll carriage is known to many (but a refresher is always nice). {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/8f604307da2d9901c32e1bc2bd90c27c68f065d7.jpg Click here to visit the thread. Labonski has shown a way of getting to the gate without lowering the bridge some time ago, and these are just examples from Irongate Castle - there are plenty to find in the game. In fact, remarkably, just this week we had a heated debate about entering the Velmorne Vault in a not-so-orthodox way and the jury is still out on whether we’re going to ban it. Guess you will have to try to get your way inside this Friday. Indestructible? There have been concerns that the enemy we announced last week, a handsome fella made of stone, is going to be indestructible. These worries have been popping up here and there, so let me grab a reply published by Adrian on Steam to make it not-so-clear: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/4148c1a9e8f2b9e712aaadd3881b0d9f09fe2512.png Truth is: the Golem can be killed. Numerous games have made the design choice to implement invincible enemies, and while we understand people exercising their right to create whatever they want, it just didn’t sit right with us and with Witchfire. So yeah, the Golem won’t be bugging you forever, you can get rid of him. I dare to predict that another part of World Corruption will make some people write angry posts on discussion groups and subreddits - before you do, allow me to let you in onto a little secret: the were 10x worse when they didn’t just strike once. And on that absolutely shameless teaser, it’s time to end. The Reckoning comes to Witchfire (on Steam and EGS alike) this Friday, the 12th of December. Brace yourselves. Cheers!

The Reckoning Dev Diary: World Corruption, Bestiary, Velmorne Witch Vault

Pedro Hectopascalsteam_community_announcements

237d ago

Preyers, We promised more info on what’s coming to the game, and now we’re delivering. This week Adrian introduces a new vault, explains how the world will react to your deeds, and showcases two updates to Hermitorium – among other things. And all that before we even open the Archives… ------ Witchfire is a corrupt ether – at least that’s what the Church scholars claim. Witches often saturate their land with it, creating magical defenses and traps that deal with any intruders not worth their attention. The land adapts, and in a way becomes a junkie hooked on witchfire. A dependency the preyer knows all too well. When you steal that witchfire, the fabric of the world begins to destabilize. The land reacts violently, twisting matter, memory, and dormant enchantments into hostile forms. Golems of earth and bone, corrupted magic, and echoes of long-buried rituals all emerge as byproducts of this destabilization. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/9dd80b6af4b26d8757c8cf8aff989dd846d456b0.jpg The witch herself does not fully command these manifestations – some are splinters of her research, others remnants of forgotten pagan rites, and many simply the land’s own corrupted immune response. This phenomenon is known as World Corruption. A chaotic rising instability that intensifies the longer the preyer lingers in the expedition. There is an upside, though. The most secret chests of The Order of the Broken Mirror – fortified with locks requiring Divine Essence, a mysterious substance even more powerful than witchfire – can be opened only by the most daring of hunters. Do your thing and escape back to the Hermitorium, or try to survive the chaos of a disintegrating world and reap the benefits. With each Gnosis level, your witchfire gains increase. The tipping point for World Corruption is Gnosis III, and this is when the feature enters the gameplay. From a purely mechanical point of view, here’s what World Corruption is:

Entropy at work: the longer you’re in the expedition, the more chaos ensues. Note: this is mostly based on game time units, not real time.
What does “chaos” mean in practice? For example, unstable rifts will begin to appear – more and more of them – releasing additional enemy packs into the world when triggered. Or perhaps a Golem will rise and start tracking you: slowly, but never stopping.
You will also be able to earn Divine Essence outside of zones like the interior of the Tower. With that resource, you’ll be able to open a Divine Chest for special rewards.
For regular players, the game becomes more dynamic, each run more interesting due to surprises.
The idea behind World Corruption is to add depth to expeditions by increasing the value of planning, boosting the density of fun, and offering new choices without raising difficulty too much. As always, we will be monitoring feedback closely.

World Corruption is separate from Calamities, which are deliberate strikes from the witch when she senses weakness, using different mechanics and a different feel. One way to think about it is… Calamities are localized, “deal with it right here, right now” events. World Corruption cooks the entire world, slowly. Oh, and World Corruption is what we previously called Extraction 2.0. I’m sure we’ll do a separate post on it – the whole journey from one idea to another was fascinating. But once we saw what World Corruption could be, we knew it simply made the game better, deeper – and decided to pursue that direction rather than focusing only on the escape part. Although, to be clear, the feature does affect your extraction strategy in a big way… ------ New update, new Witch Vault. We promised two, but we just couldn’t squeeze them both in at the quality we want and you expect. The second one will have to wait for the next update – sorry about that. The good news is that the one we did finish is the largest yet. I won’t say more not to spoil anything, but it is… special. And it’s in Velmorne, so that giant map just got even bigger (while also being more optimized). {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/86a3802d6b8a46213d7942b4f98b3069c54376ef.jpg ------ A single lonely undead is no longer all that the Hermitorium has to offer. We expanded this feature in a big way.

You can summon three enemies now
You can summon any enemy you’ve killed a sufficient number of times (except bosses)
A nearby Witchfire Basin restores your spells, Stamina, and ammo

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/bccc54d9e8d23b894649af4eaffe58b56728e13a.jpg Three summon circles. each can summon a different enemy And also:

Unlocking an enemy in the summoning circle will also reveal their lore in the Bestiary.

------ Until now, three Fallen Preyers were available to aid you in your quest to kill the Witch. With The Reckoning update, three more join the crusade. Need help with traps, the exit portal, or pure firepower? It’s here. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/3789125fb763b44709df17b52f4c571f6158d3bf.jpg The limit of how many Fallen Preyers the Vestal Flame can support remains, though. So the choice becomes harder – if we did our job right. Also, you can now revive any Fallen Preyer during an expedition …for a price. ------ There are still some big things left to reveal, but we’ll keep those for the next post – the last one before release. For now, let’s end with news of the newest weapon joining your arsenal. Another – after Striga – in the family of painful projectiles, Martyr is all about exotic pain magic from a distant land and the storms that connect the dots. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/63985e0f5cecd6f27d31ece1c9b632946f8dc348.jpg Yours soon, if you can earn it. ------ Hermitorium Archives Cleanup on floor -1. We begin this instalment of the Archives by visiting the Wailing Tower - the descent is always a challenge, and Spudster812 found a way to make the early stages a bit easier on the ammo reserves. The method involves using the parasite to wipe the tower floor clean, and it’s brilliant in its simplicity. We enjoy seeing you mount a challenge in unconventional ways; it’s always a good lesson and a chance to observe your out-of-the-box thinking. This also inspires us when designing new levels and mechanics, so everybody wins in the long run. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/904d0b4aec9270be4b0ef6789b5160f36636224d.png Click the link to visit the thread Disrespecting enemies is always a good show. Over the past months, we have witnessed many cases of turning the tables on supposedly frightening bosses and making them look like village idiots who have no idea what they are doing. Hypnosis Goblin, a preyer whose exploits are at this point legendary, decided to find yet another way of showing the first familiar that size does not always matter. The comedic effect of Galley Slave being repeatedly boinked on the head is – to my mind at least – great, and it proves that even if Twinshade is not among the community’s favourite spells, it does have its uses. Even if they are not strictly in line with the tone of the game. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/a074a03657303fe8492677d5cb4145728a075343.jpg Click the link to visit the thread Slow-play the game. We don’t mind players trying to speedrun the game - in the welcoming post on our Discord we even link to Witchfire’s profile on speedrun.com, although not many people seem to be posting their records, which is not surprising considering the early access nature of the game and its (somewhat) rapidly evolving shape. That said, we’re also observing the other end of the spectrum with curiosity – those who decide, for one reason or another, to take their time, just as u/aimstotheleft did. The post paints a picture of a long road to Gnosis IV and the experience shifting yet again with ascension. We invite you all to take your time and play the game the way you want it to be played. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/60dfe02e5c2199186845645994a6e28faa97315e.png Click the link to visit the thread We’re gonna need one of these in the office.* Now, granted, Halloween may have been a while ago, but we wanted to share this creation nevertheless – u/lighthammerforge posted it on our subreddit and we think it really deserves the shoutout. Most of us in the studio may not have the faintest idea how difficult it is to craft jack-o-lanterns (save for our Senior Environment Artist, Peter, who knows a thing or two), but we’re really happy to see fan creations encroaching into new territories – thanks! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/795b2fed0869931d9e90d117bf7a4849d1bcaae0.png Click the link to visit the thread * - we don’t really work from the office, but you get the idea. Rumble me this. Being in early access (the tail end of it now, but still) gives us the ability to listen to your suggestions and implement them if we find them solid. There is one suggestion – maybe even a request – that holds a lot of water and hasn’t been realised yet: controller vibration. We recognise it’s been a while since we last talked about rumble support, but this time it’s not just talking the talk – we’re prototyping it and exploring our options. Sure, we could probably adopt an off-the-shelf solution and call it a day, but that’s just not how we work. Since we’re not far from the release of The Reckoning, don’t expect it to appear on the changelist soon, but it’s coming. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/38fee3b8061c6e2e7aca533ce1ecd0239f591f35.png Oh, and before we wrap this up – back in the days before Webgrave, there was talk about including a flamethrower in the game. It made us scratch our heads. Now there’s been another request for it, so let's be clear: it’s going to make an appearance. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/1b8a96855bd6b3a6b13a5a30a904ac7c633d0a9e.jpg Okay, I’ll admit it: there is a slight chance a bit of diabolical laughter slipped out while composing the above meme. Stay tuned for another dev diary next week, there is even more in store and we’re excited to share news with you. Cheers!

The Reckoning Dev Diary: Melee Weapons

Pedro Hectopascalsteam_community_announcements

244d ago

Preyers, A storm is gathering over the Witch's land. The Reckoning is near. As we prepare the update for release, we’re launching a series of blog posts breaking down its biggest features, changes, and surprises. Think of it as your field guide to what’s coming. For the first entry, Adrian discusses the meaning behind the update’s name -- and introduces a brand-new way to smash through the Witch’s ranks. ------ People working on the trailer for the Reckoning update asked me a good question: why is it called the Reckoning? Well, first, because we wanted to emphasize that with this update, Witchfire’s gameplay mechanics will be close to done. We’ll still keep a few surprises for 1.0, and some existing features will be expanded and updated -- but the majority of the gameplay work will be behind us. Second, since release, you have been growing in power. Fallen Preyers, Prophecies, Alchemy, the Rosary, and more – an absurd arsenal at your disposal, and you haven’t exactly been shy about using it, slapping the Witch’s hordes around. It’s time for the Witch to slap back. It’s time for the Reckoning. ------ In a future post I’ll explain exactly what I mean, but for now, let’s ...add another tool to your arsenal: melee weapons. Witchfire is not competing with Dead Island or Dying Light. And truth be told, no one ever topped Condemned in that space anyway, fight me. Thus just so we’re clear: we’re not replacing guns with melee weapons. Still, the idea that our hero cannot bash a skull with something heavy felt odd. So we’ve added melee weapons that are, essentially, replacements for your fist. It’s a simple but beautiful thing. You press the Melee button and things happen. Slightly different things depending on the weapon. For example, your fist is fast and powerful. Your Morgenstern is even more powerful …but takes a bit longer to swing. Which do you choose? What fits your playstyle? The real juice, though, is in the Melee Special. Every melee weapon has one, including your fist. Performing certain actions at the right moments will make the weapon sing in a different way. Assuming your Melee is charged, of course. For example, pressing Crouch while jumping will make your Morgenstern go boom: https://youtu.be/ff8nMiV0uzQ With the Reckoning update, you’ll have four melee weapons at your disposal: • Fist (already exists, now with its own Melee Special) • Morgenstern • Katar (punch dagger) • Buckler These weapons won’t just lie around waiting to be picked up. You’ll need to put in some effort to get them. More details soon. ------ Now let’s talk spiders. If you suffer from arachnophobia, good news – we’re adding Spider Calamity! Kidding. We’re adding the Arachnophobia filter. I was against it for a long time. My deep and profound reasoning was basically: “what the hell is this nonsense?” Like any normal person, I mildly fear and strongly dislike spiders, but squishing pixel spiders never felt like a problem. Then I did some actual research and, not exaggerating, was shocked at how real and widespread the issue is. Arachnophobia is one of the most common phobias globally -- up to 6% of people suffer from it -- and the symptoms can be genuinely intense. Even when the spider is virtual. Feel free to read more for yourself. Take your pick: Britannica, Wikipedia, Grokipedia. So I gave the green light for the filter, under one condition: that we’re not softening the game. No spiders? Fine. But replace them with something at least equally unsettling. I think the team did a fine job -- the base is a spider with legs removed and other changes, but we've added some extras, too: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/5cdb8be946cdcc99bf1085ec574aae8144e0dfcc.jpg Filter off {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/f061a6740819d5827b7206a1e52d4ead7968a234.jpg Filter on But also, I lied -- I wasn't kidding when I said we were adding the Spider Calamity. It's happening. No worries though – the Arachnophobia filter works with the Calamity too, of course. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/28cc6502039feaef408f4504bbf5a6c8558ffe78.jpg The filter is just one small step toward a proper Accessibility section in the options. Accessibility matters. We’ll never add an option that makes the game easier, but we will add many that make the game better for people who need them. A good example is another new option: font size. You can now make the text bigger, much bigger, or smaller – whatever works for you. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/39d161e1c970a7758cd93a05e0f497ea83ba053c.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/ae7bfa308c5ade22c74bfca1660cd9e4f9336be3.jpg We’ve also replaced the cursive font with something that’s maybe 5% less atmospheric but 100% more readable. ------ As with every big update, we’re adding new gear to the game. Here’s Fatum, a new machine pistol. Reloading spins the drums, and it’s time to pray they align. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/9cc99a33c69a9514e1d050d8e51b009278a000d6.jpg Now back to Spajk… ------ It’s time to walk down the Alley of Posts, cross the Bridge of Chatter, and run across the Avenue of Discord to arrive in the

Hermitorium Archives

I’d like to begin my section by saying that I’m really thankful for all the understanding and thumbs-up that came our way when we presented the latest roadmap and informed you about the reworked timeline for the game. We have a vision, and we want to do it justice – but it’s great to know that you trust us and that you’re willing to wait a tad longer to have it delivered in a polished form. We know you’ve been waiting for a while now, and we’re really excited to show you more in the coming weeks and months. Thanks for sticking around – the finish line is in sight, and we still have some surprises in store. Stay tuned! “I know what I’m doing” It’s always a pleasure to observe someone who clearly knows how to handle incoming waves of enemies – there’s a certain rhythm and theatre to reducing opponents to nothing, especially in dangerous situations. In past posts, we’ve featured videos showcasing people deleting bosses like they were papier-mâché versions of themselves, but this one’s a bit different. It’s not just a boss fight, but a complete walkthrough – a descent – of the Wailing Tower, one of the levels firmly placed on the tall end of the difficulty scale. youtu.be/c0so1XzEZXo It’s a pleasure to watch an expert at work. Bravo. A new application for existing technology (/magic) Early Access is a fantastic tool. It’s hard to quantify how many bugs we’ve fixed thanks to your input – but no matter how many times we patch something, it seems there’s always another way around it. Quite literally, in this case. The Gnosis barriers guarding some locations have been redone numerous times over the past months, and now it appears yet another way to circumvent them has been discovered: the blighted cyst. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/b8a49fba937e8cd0033bcad78b251de9d2ed0f3b.png Click to visit the thread. We’re, of course, going to fix it in an upcoming update – but if any of you have an itch to go against Dimacher way too soon, here’s yet another way of doing it. Just make sure to record your efforts – these exploits can sometimes bear unexpected fruit and are a real testament to your determination. Speaking of which… No ammo, no problem. I’m mainly showing you this because it’s living proof of how resourceful and stubborn our community can be. Krex found themselves in a bit of a pickle when they ran out of ammo while clashing with the Prophet. While most players would just let it go, Preyers are not like most people. An ingenious (and persistent) use of the Ring of Excreta proved to be the ticket out of a tight spot – and a means to ultimately send the boss into the nether realm. youtu.be/xqWfjcXHdxQ It also triggered a bit of internal discussion regarding ammo economy in late-game situations. Look, ma, I’m a Preyer. There’s been a surge in queries about the 3D models of equipment used in the game lately – people wanting to print their favourite weapon to display on a shelf – but we didn’t quite expect a cosplay to make a return with an update. That’s right: the very first Preyer cosplayer is back, this time rocking a melee weapon. These will be part of the upcoming update, so some might say we have to update the game just to stay up to date with cosplay. What a crazy world we live in. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/19f3c9643839ad70e805866558189444ad4d624f.jpg Click to visit the thread. And while we’re on the subject – we have a lot of ideas for melee weapons, but we’re still very interested in hearing your takes. Don’t hesitate to tell us what you’d like to see! Over the past weeks, we’ve seen several threads popping up – if you feel like sharing your thoughts, jump into the discussion on steam and/or Reddit. And before someone comments "give us a pan", we're prototyping a lot of different weapons and Hafling's Ironcast (name by any means not final) may just make it to the game. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/0fae7bfda8f1f36dda63eb963e759afe4348a7c7.jpg Click to see it in action. Immersion is immersive. A couple of topics resurface regularly, and we’re thinking of inviting them to the party – one of the most discussed being an immersive mode. The idea came up in a recent Reddit thread: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/fe9ac0df7aac1bb1d044eb1c40ad4337254a60fd.png Click to visit the thread. I’m not sure we’ll allow that level of UI customisation, but I’d like to make the case for playing with the UI turned off completely. It takes some getting used to, but it really elevates the intensity – especially when the red tint appears, and you know the end may be nigh. I’d recommend giving it a go if you want to feel more connected to the world and less… computer-game-ey. It works for me – I started doing it while recording gameplay and now it’s my default way to play. And it appears that there are some like-minded people in our community. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/5a869293f8a8c8961e09bd1ece30a61141567521.png Click to visit the thread. It comes with a built-in mushroom atlas. One more topic that resurfaces now and then: mushrooms. The ones you see in the game are representations of real fungi you can find in Central and Eastern Europe. So, this is one element of the world we didn’t make up. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/c670d9852649529b88aa0ea39cdec55f1a8d1ead.png Click to visit the thread. I don’t suggest you go out into the woods and see if your health bar shrinks after consuming one (I strongly advise against it – though if you already see your health bar, it may be too late). I just wanted to note that the flora in Witchfire isn’t entirely fictional. It also gives me the perfect excuse to bring up one of my favorite reviews of the game – one that, frankly, should be quoted on the box if we ever get a physical edition: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/1920d582cc02265d194e202d59823afad6fb4ded.png That’s Witchfire in a nutshell for you. Can confirm. We’ll be back soon with another post and more news from the world of Witchfire. In the meantime, keep an eye on our social media channels (Twitter, Facebook, Bluesky, Instagram) for more content from the game. Cheers!

The Coven of Abnoba

Pedro Hectopascalsteam_community_announcements

270d ago

Did you know that dark fantasy is basically horror fantasy? And thus Halloween is a good opportunity to announce the writer for Witchfire, Nick Adderley. If we were into official press releases, this one would go like this… Nick Adderley is a US-based writer with a particular passion for interactive narratives, born from a lifetime of immersion in tabletop RPGs and gaming series such as BioShock, The Elder Scrolls, and Fallout. This combined with a love of antique literature have led to an artistic voice that seeks rich depth with a sheen of modern polish, expressed in prose, script and even verse. Mr. Adderley has worked remotely on titles such as Fallout: Miami and Ken Levine’s Judas; today, he is honored to announce that he has also been chosen to write with the talented Astronauts for Witchfire. He currently lives in North Carolina, with his beautiful wife and two daughters. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/edeb8ce75180e4841c333d7ed7056145142e695b.jpg But we’re not like that, so let’s just say that Nick is bringing both talent and wisdom to Witchfire. We were looking for someone who can add depth to our world and its story but is also unafraid to reach where creators often fear to reach. You’ll see soon enough. Meanwhile, here’s a Witchfire short story that Nick wrote - one to give you an idea of the kind of world our hero lives in… {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/bb5f5eb0123de20a50905eebf6108a4416a81254.jpg

The Coven of Abnoba

by Nick Adderley The Marcynian Forest, the Black Woods of Germania, had been swallowed for years in an unnatural night. Clouds that had never broken even in a peal of lightning bled over it continually, a freezing, reeking, pestilential rain that soaked into the trees and dripped from their branches like needles. The trunks were narrow black spears that pinned a carpet of thick, curling vapour to the forest floor – an ethereal, tranquil cloudscape, on which, in mad contradiction, the impenetrable woodland rested. As Albrecht marched, his eyes downturned and his hair dripping frigid, stinking rain, even his own feet were hidden by the churning smoke. The troop train entire was bent double – stumbling more than marching, their hands on the back of the man in front, blind with exhaustion. They hacked and coughed, because they were too weary to speak, trying to expel the rancid smoke from their lungs; the man to Albrecht’s left hadn’t stopped wheezing and retching for hours, and now, as he trudged, Albrecht prayed God would give him the strength to kill the man, to shut him up. But the strength didn’t come – he trudged on, and the man kept heaving and coughing. Others in the train would succumb to it, finally falling into blessed silence and keeling over into the mist: off the path if they were on the edge of the column, in the middle if they weren’t. You couldn’t see them through the smoke, after that – you’d only know you’d reached one when your feet struck them, instead of crackling in the hoarfrosty mud. If they were fresh, they’d moan. If they’d been from far up in the column, they wouldn’t. Albrecht silently begged for the man on his left to give up, to breathe the plague-rain deep; he was on the outside edge of the column. He’d roll into the black undergrowth and wouldn’t be a bother to anybody. But there he was, hacking, heaving…still. Someone screamed far ahead in the line. Several someones. The column was too tired to stop. At the end of this train, God only knew how many miles ahead, Folcmar was waiting. Albrecht’s father had been stabbed while thieving plague-corpses, his sister had rotted alive on the other side of her door, whispering to Albrecht not to come in, not to catch it. Ironically, his brother had been saved by the levy: now that Roma Borealis was dead, how much worse could it be, hunting witches with Folcmar? The man to his left coughed and spat. He’d been warned – “Beware the Coven of Abnoba,” they’d whispered, “Old German magic – it’s not like any of the sieges you’ve seen.” Albrecht didn’t care. Being gored on a pike or consumed by pox, either was better with his brother than alone. The man to his left guttered in his throat. The column stirred in front of them, splitting around the center of the path like a stream around a rock. A captain was guiding them, motioning, exhausted. “A pit, there’s a pit in the path, go around, go around.” Albrecht raised his head to look as he approached it. The borders of the pit could only be guessed by the splitting train, but one indicator showed in the center; it rose like the mast of a ship gored on rocks, piercing the fog to show only a few inches: the sharpened point of a beechwood stake, glistening red. He wondered if the ones who’d screamed earlier were the ones who’d fallen in, or the ones who’d watched. Perhaps both…one who’d seen, and realized too late that he was tipping. Albrecht’s imagination was caught morbidly by the idea – the sensation of the mud slipping from under your boots, trying to seize onto your neighbors as the row in front of you vanished, leaving only that red smear. A call came down the line, echoed wearily from mouth to mouth – Halt the column. They bumped into each other, sagging wearily in place. The pit yawned on Albrecht’s right hand. The man to his left gagged as bile welled up in his mouth, and drooled it out over his invisible boots. The reek washed over Albrecht with the breeze. It would be easy, he thought. The rows behind and ahead of him would probably be grateful for the silence. The captain would be too tired to discipline him. The man coughed again, tried to clear a raw throat, and Albrecht grabbed his shoulder. Then he paused. Beyond the path, just where the top of the mist met the brush, there were points of light, like red candle flames. Two of them. Then innumerable points. Piercing the darkness all up and down the woods, in close-set pairs. The undergrowth breathed, a thousand rattling breaths through a thousand rotten lungs, a remembered ritual of the living, aped by the dead. As they rose, they were fat, bloated to bursting with all the fetid diseases of the hell-fog; the armor of the Church Militant hung in fragments from buckles that cut into their morbid flesh, and spears or bayonets rusted in their engorged hands. They closed on the column like wolf jaws, from both sides at once – Albrecht unslung his rifle and butted the man to his left into their charge. Whatever came next, he’d had his revenge. The man stuck on a pike, weighing it to the ground; and the witchspawn dropped the weapon, falling on Albrecht with flailing arms. It was heavy – the weight crushed Albrecht into the mist on the ground, as it snapped for his throat. The graveyard stink watered his eyes, but he twisted in the crackling mud, heaving the grotesque thing into the pit in the middle of the path. It yelled like a man. Albrecht scrambled to his knees, fumbling through the mist as he hacked and spat out black water. At last his fingers closed on his musket and bayonet, and he rose, watching the pit. The column was in ruins. Some fled the path into the black woods, to be slain by reserves of the Coven’s army. There would be no survivors. A scratching and scrabbling came from the pit, and the smoke over it roiled. Still racked with coughing, Albrecht shouldered the musket. He pulled the trigger the second he saw the moldering hand emerge; with a quiet click. The powder was wet. The face reared out of the cloud, and Albrecht froze as he saw it with terrible clarity for the first time. It surged up and caught his arms, hauling him back to the pit. The rifle slipped out of his fingers into the mist, and Albrecht knew his search was at an end, that he wasn’t dying alone. He had found his brother.

The Road(map) to Final Release

AdrianChmsteam_community_announcements

321d ago

Preyers,

The new roadmap is here and it’s a bit different this time, as it’s not just focusing on the future, but also the past. We felt that Witchfire’s development process deserves a look back, and showing in one handy image just how much has changed since the game launched into Early Access nearly two years ago.

Seven updates behind us, three more to go — with the third one being 1.0. It’s happening.

The reason the next update is called The Reckoning is that our focus is now on finalizing most gameplay features and mechanics. We specifically highlight Melee Weapons (to clarify, these replace the fist, not the guns) and Banes (extreme optional challenges). However, the update will also include significant upgrades to Alchemy, the Sanity system, Arcana, Prophecies, and much more. All will be revealed in due time.

Extraction 2.0 aims to increase tension at higher Gnosis levels and is currently in the prototyping phase. The paper design is complete, but naturally, we need to experience it in action first.

Of course, there will also be new gear to earn, along with a few other surprises — like S????? — that must remain under wraps until we’re closer to December. First half of it, to be a bit more precise.

Now, here comes the controversial part. I’m sure some of you have noticed that the dates for the final two updates are marked simply as “2026.” The reason is that, for this last stretch, we must be extremely careful with promises. Some team members have shipped over a dozen titles; others have yet to ship their first. And we want 1.0 to be spotless.

Looking at this new roadmap, I see that we’re good (pardon the little brag), but we’re not fast. We need to verify whether The Reckoning update genuinely finalizes most features before fully understanding what remains.

I can tell you, though, that something has shifted in the air. The team is now focused not on making Witchfire, but on finishing Witchfire. It’s scary, but also exciting.

Oh, and the alternate name for The Reckoning update was Blood and Tears. We heard you wanted a challenge?

Hermitorium Archives

I wanted to begin this issue with a small thank-you note. In the previous post Adrian mentioned the spike in review count caused by the release of the Webgrave Update – I wanted to present a different number.

Two weeks ago it was still August, so the numbers weren’t in yet, but they are here now and I can confidently say that last month was the biggest we’ve ever had on our Subreddit. The previous peak of 99,000 unique users & 1.03 million impressions was established in November 2024 – last month you beat it. 110,000 of you visited and it generated 1.25 million impressions.

Our Discord also grew – a thousand of you joined the server in August, effectively doubling the number of new members we welcomed in July. The number of messages skyrocketed as well (circa 24,300 in July, 50,000 (!) in August), as did every other metric. Since this is not a corporate presentation, I won’t bore you with pie charts – I just wanted to thank you for all the engagement.

And I know, “New content increases traffic, what a novel concept, wow.” It’s not that I’m surprised the numbers went up, but rather how much they went up. Thanks for tagging along for the journey and being here with us – it means a lot!

And now, let’s get down to having a look at what you’ve been up to in the past two weeks.

**Consensus Has Not Been Reached**

…and I don’t think it ever will. Over the past few weeks I have been observing what has been brewing in the community and while there were a lot of threads and posts asking for an increase in difficulty, a more granular analysis of comments casts a different light on the subject. Namely, the opposite one. So, I guess, in a way, we reached balance – vocal minorities are expressing their (opposing) opinions, but for the most part people are just playing and managing to get through the minions of the witch just fine.

That said, Gnosis is by no means in a final state, and there is some wiggle room and potential to unlock new challenges.

Knowing the ins and outs pays handsomely

To illustrate what I am on about, we have a couple of new videos posted to our Reddit:

The power of Echo

Gnosis 6 Foul Stimulant Velmorne All Bosses Spells Only, No Guns No Melee

Angelus + Ammo Preservation Bead + Crown of Fire

Not all of these are submissions in the Dimaher-bashing category, but they very clearly show that you’re finding new ways of tailoring the gameplay to your needs and playing your strong cards, which is awesome. It also shows that there is a lot of potential and that a challenge mode is something you would welcome rather happily. Since we have some more time until the release, I’d say the chances have just increased…

Beauty of the Harsh World

The world of Witchfire may not be the most pleasant place, but it does have its moments. I was capturing the calm stillness for the Winding Down posts a while ago, but TinyNuubi decided to show a different shade of the game world. Not necessarily picturesque, but beautiful regardless – it’s a joy to see that people are appreciating the craftsmanship and the effort. Thank you!

Food for thought…

Click to visit the thread displayed on the screenshot above.

There are a lot of things happening behind the scenes, but we’re reading your ideas and weighing them. While we already have quite a firm vision for the game, the benefit of Early Access is that we can always switch things up a bit. Keep these ideas coming – some are shockingly close to what we’ve come up with already (obviously, I cannot tell you which ones), some are very different from our own, but we really enjoy the conversations you’re having and the paths you’re charting.

Well, not all of them… The mention of that thread about the design of the witch made me really concerned for some of you, but I digress.

That’s it for now – since the roadmap has been presented, we may go into a state of slight hibernation and not post every single week, but we’re cordially inviting you to join the conversation on our Discord, Reddit and Steam forum. We’re active there and interacting with you on a regular basis.

Cheers!

Advice for Early Access Games

Pedro Hectopascalsteam_community_announcements

335d ago

Preyers, We’re currently laying down plans for future updates and finalizing the roadmap. It won’t be long before we know exactly what and when we can deliver. In the meantime, Adrian has one more thing to say about Webgrave...

To All Early Access Indies

As Spajk just mentioned, we're still working on the road map update, so meanwhile allow me one more reflection on the Webgrave update - and on game-changing updates in general. If I could turn back time, there's one thing I'd change about Webgrave: how we communicated some of the changes. I thought we did a pretty good job with blog posts and all, but it clearly wasn't enough. Take a look at this, Witchfire Steam reviews since the Webgrave release: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/1858ef0d6e1dedf414242e4750cdac623d3aa521.png What's happening here is that we saw an abnormal percentage of negative reviews during the first few days of the update. Most of these reviews came from veteran players, people who had already spent some time with the game and enjoyed it. However, some of them did not like the changes we made to the core experience. From their point of view, the way they had made the game their own no longer worked. They had invested in certain builds or strategies - and felt we took that away. We didn't, really. But we did make them feel like this for a few hours. I think this post nails it: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/b7338921c3df88e0fa361cc74139111729392a67.png Nothing to add, really. Ultimately, most people do like Stats 2.0 and the Rosary. As I mentioned in the interview with Rogueliker, we've never seen so many players discussing builds before. You can now be more powerful than ever. But the transition was a bit rough for some. To be clear, there's no perfectly smooth way to handle major transitions. But we definitely could have prepared everyone better. Usually, we keep things intentionally vague to leave room for discovery and surprise once an update launches. However, in this particular case, we should have clearly explained what was changing and how to deal with it. Maybe with a detailed explainer video, a Twitch or YouTube preview stream - something along those lines. Someone might say, "What's the problem? Once players get used to the changes or after you address the issues, they'll update their reviews." Unfortunately, that's not how it works. Sure, some people do update their reviews. But many don't. They forget to update them, or even forget they wrote a review in the first place. Sometimes they don't return to the game at all and thus never reconsider their feedback. There are numerous reasons why reviews remain unchanged. The best strategy to avoid negative reviews after major updates isn't to hope players will adjust once the dust settles. It's to properly prepare them ahead of release. There's another interesting aspect to all this. Consider this quote from Evil Empire's studio marketing manager, Matthew Houghton: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/6c564577be5386c0d2bed30f64053875dfddcc7c.png I don't entirely agree with him, but there's certainly truth in the idea that many players view Early Access titles as merely content-incomplete, rather than something that might be fundamentally reshaped midway through development. From their perspective, the game should simply keep improving and expanding. But from a developer's standpoint, sometimes it's necessary to step back and redesign core elements to benefit the final experience. This is guaranteed to happen at some point. And when it does, make sure your communication is loud and clear. And now for something completely different...

Hermitorium Archives

Since the Webgrave update dropped, the community has exploded with activity. Thank you for all the posts and threads - we’re over the moon seeing so many of you gravitate back to Witchfire. The sheer number of discussions and hours you’ve poured into the game is astounding. We’re working hard to give you even more reasons to stay and to welcome more players into the preyer ranks.

Let me tell you a story…

We’ve already featured one radio play a while back, and now another joins the pack. This one is not an original creation, but an awesome audio rendition of a short story written by Adrian a few years ago - hearing it in Daniel’s voice brings new layers to the experience. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/7373bdbc55b65482b55ba18492f9b48f3f8db9ac.jpg Just like in the previous weeks, the embed has a mind if its own - please click the link to watch the video/give it a listen on youtube. Jolly good show.

The other kind of Velmorne experience

Last week I featured a Reddit post in which Key-Post-9750 recounted his moment of realising how mighty his Preyer was. You reacted by upvoting this image to the weekly top of our subreddit, giving many internet points to zbeasley111, so reposting it in the Hermitorium Archives only seemed fair. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/384375fb9b2ad94ff50ceaa48a9e1b4e45dd3031.jpg

Escape velocity has been achieved

Listen, we’re called The Astronauts, but that doesn’t mean you need to break orbit in our games. Still, hats off to redditor FilthmasterRich for pulling off yet another exploit and setting what may be the final Preyer Top Speed Record - the game simply can’t go faster. And so, it seems that Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing still holds the all-time speed crown in unmodded video games. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/6fae96a5a500051b47b475c3ec486fb49c9e42be.png Click to visit the original reddit thread.

An immortal enemy is... dead?

We’ve seen you melt the toughest bosses in no time, and while those feats are impressive, this is something else entirely. An enemy designed to respawn endlessly was somehow bullied into giving up. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/fb53311486af6be4ad6aceee015473b08902c17f.png Click to visit the original reddit thread. How and why - no idea. A moment of silence for the fallen Revenant, affectionately nicknamed Ron. And a slow-clap for Hypnosis Goblin, who somehow sent Ron into the no-respawn zone.

Peak Internet

Thanks to the magic of mods, we recently saw a Haaaaaaangfire appear in-game - you know, a Hangfire which really wanted to be a musket: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/5b284f848246508ee02f61505d0285345d1a2ac6.png {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/7ee57b65486b7f56e1f8a91794fdd7d3a65c654b.png And I am not gonna lie, it made me smile, it even sparked the classic “oh you guys” head tilt. But that was just a warm-up, a mere prelude to something much, much greater. A submeowchine gun - the Catweaver - made an unofficial appearance in the game. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/c1db149dd4f3fc5f037249a14df6cc8d61f3ee3a.png Click to display the post on our website and watch the video. No notes.

Post-webgrave talk with the Rogueliker.

Before we go, there’s one more thing I wanted to share: we recently did a written interview with The Rogueliker, where Adrian talked about some of the design ideas behind Witchfire. He touched on the challenges, the uniqueness of Velmorne, Stats 2.0, Rosary builds, and what’s next on the road to 1.0. If you’d like to dive deeper, you can read the full interview here: The Witchfire Interview: The Astronauts on crafting a challenge built around autonomy and the unknown Anyway, that’s it for now. We’ll be back soon - until then, keep shooting and stay awesome!

The Calm Before the Roadmap

Pedro Hectopascalsteam_community_announcements

342d ago

Velmorne has been on the map selection screen for almost a month now - after opening the city gates, we listened, tweaked, and patched. The final (final-we-are-done-for-real) patch dropped yesterday, and it appears that support for Webgrave has now been concluded. This means there will be no more patches for a while. But that doesn’t mean we’re disappearing off the radar - we’re just switching from support mode to development mode, working on future content for the game. An updated roadmap is currently in the works, and we plan to share it with you in a few days - stay tuned! Before that happens, Adrian has a few words he wanted to say: Today, we're having a big team meeting to discuss the next steps. We can smell 1.0 in the air, but there's still some work to do – like, you know, the story. We'll share the updated roadmap soon -- next week, probably -- but for now, let me wrap up the Webgrave update with some additional data. This time, let's dive into the juicy subject of refunds. You wouldn't know it, but one thing that caused me a few sleepless nights was Witchfire's above-average refund ratio. It felt like living in a bizarre world: on one hand, the game was selling very well and had a high and rising user score of 92%; on the other, we had this unexpectedly high refund rate. This ratio was even more puzzling since typically, the higher the user score, the lower the refunds. Of course, Early Access games usually see a higher refund rate because they're unfinished, and many people buy them just to sample the experience. Still, we knew something was off. We knew we had a good game, but we weren't fully connecting with some players. After analyzing feedback, we identified three key areas that needed attention. One, explaining the features. To us, everything seems obvious. I mean, how can Stamina not be obvious? It's not like we invented the concept. The same goes for spells, dashing, weapon swapping, witchfire as a resource, HP that doesn't auto-regenerate -- and countless other details. Yet, data from players and our playtests clearly showed we got this wrong. Yes, these concepts might be familiar individually, but Witchfire combines them in such a unique way that it simply demands a proper tutorial. Two, the story. Many players are happy with just the atmosphere and gameplay; they either don't need a story or can wait for it. But others want a clear goal from the start, they need to understand the stakes and feel emotionally engaged. As someone who's never made a game without a story, loves immersive sims and narrative-driven games, and dabbles in writing, I understand that need perfectly. Three, the difficulty. The game is simply too challenging for some players. Reasons vary: some feel overwhelmed, others don't want to adapt, and some ignore the tutorials entirely. Whatever the reason, our second most common refund justification is the game's difficulty. Here's what we've decided to do about these issues: For the tutorial, that was a no-brainer. We knew it was long overdue. So we've invested significantly in creating a proper tutorial, including a new map and a special Game Handbook feature. I'm happy to report that this has worked remarkably well: we've cut our excess refunds in half. For the story, well, that's coming soon. We already have bits of it in the game, along with plenty of lore -- but that's nothing compared to what we ultimately envision for Witchfire. Regarding difficulty, we've decided not to change anything from a top-level design perspective. We understand this means Witchfire will never appeal to everyone, and we're okay with that. We hope players will come to see there's more than one way to beat the game, whether through manual skills, strategic thinking, or clever exploits. But we don't plan on adding difficulty levels or reducing the overall challenge. Witchfire was never designed to be punishing; to us, it's "normal difficult" -- but we firmly believe a proper challenge is essential for a satisfying experience. To sum it up: the tutorial and Game Handbook feature have been successful, the story is coming next, but we're standing firm on not adding difficulty levels. And with that, it’s time for the…

Hermitorium Archives

Rotten fiend appreciation corner Original Thread Iron Cross may be the fan-favourite (or at least the go-to spell for a very vocal minority), but recently there’s been a surge of appreciation for a companion raised from six feet under. And I have to say, I absolutely love it. I may be guilty of leaving Rotten Fiend on a shelf in the Hermitorium for far too long, and this post made me feel like it’s time to dust the spell off. Especially since it seems there’s a way to make him Extra Buffed™ - so buffed that I’m afraid we’ll need to have another look at balance, because this feels a bit excessive. Original Thread A lively performance for someone so dead. I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked in here with me. There’s a wide range of ways we see you approach gameplay. It usually begins with a lack of confidence: being very careful, counting bullets, using cover, and taking laboured breaths after each encounter filled with projectiles flying around your Preyer’s hat. Then it gradually evolves into feeling like a god of hellfire - only to level up your gnosis while riding high on another successful expedition, and immediately finding out the difficulty has been bumped up by a considerable margin, so you’re not getting just a slap on the wrist, but rather getting your head kicked in. Eventually, you get used to what the Witch is serving you. You gain enough experience to know what you can do, when to run, and when to push harder. Key-Post-9750 started a thread asking when that moment was for you - and when you were put in your place. Thanks for sharing these moments and what lead to them - we want to make you feel things while playing our game, and while synthesizing what lead to these moments may be difficult, the more data we have, the more reliably we can craft opportunities for them to happen. Original Thread That said, and circling back to what Adrian wrote about the difficulty being too high, there are also plenty of players on the opposite end of the spectrum, daydreaming about scenarios that are… well, borderline concerning. I mean… Original Thread It reminded me of the time I was taking screenshots for the Handbook and… well, I’m impatient. When the console command didn’t work as intended, I hit it again. And again. Until the game froze. Anit suddenly roared back to life. Literally roared, courtesy of the horde. Never have I ever found myself in a situation where the “I’m in danger” meme felt more appropriate. And why do I get a feeling that it's what some of you would like to have in game? Kowalski, Analysis! I think this is the first time someone has made a video thoroughly analyzing Witchfire, and it was a blast to watch. It’s always exciting to see players put so much time and creativity into sharing their perspective - thanks for the thoughtful breakdown and fantastic presentation! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45147727/ca63c41ce653811c6bafd87195d7a2c984d622ff.jpg The youtube embeds are not working again - please follow the link to This requires no comment Original Thread We absolutely love it. And that’s about it for today - we’ll be back soon with a roadmap outlining the future of the game. Please stay tuned, and in the meantime - go explore, hunt the Witch’s minions, and send their souls screaming back to hell. Cheers!

Witchfire news & patch notes

HOTFIX 0.9.6 (74201)

Witchfire news & patch notes

HOTFIX 0.9.6 (74201)

PATCH 0.9.6 (74187)

PATCH 0.9.5 (74161)

PATCH 0.9.4 (74146)

Damage drop-off rebalance:

Early game levelling:

Melee weapons:

Changes to spells:

Burning Stake:

Miasma:

Changes to weapons:

Traps and events:

Enemies:

Lament:

Spore-head:

Concelebrant:

Changes to World Corruption:

Stone Golem:

Unstable rifts:

Spires:

Madness orbs:

World corruption - known issues:

UI:

Letters Screen improvements:

Other:

Audio:

Other improvements and changes:

Bug fixes:

Hermitorium Archives

Makes a designer smile.

I cast Iron Cross.

Look how they massacr… Oh, hang on, it’s a work in progress.

World Corruption is also a work in progress.

Probably the shortest Hermitorium Archives segment ever.

The New Key Art

HOTFIX 0.9.3 (73812)

PATCH 0.9.3 (73811)

Changes to Weapons, Spells and Gear:

Heart Eater:

Changes to The Velmorne Welcome:

Changes to Marshland:

Changes to World Corruption:

Temporary changes:

World Corruption Spire changes:

Ammo-related changes:

Non-level/gear-specific fixes and balance changes:

PATCH 0.9.1 (73613)

Changes to Weapons, Spells and Gear

Changes to patrols on Marshland

Various fixes and balance changes

UPDATE 0.9.0 – The Revelations Update (73567)

Gameplay

Changes to weapons, spells and gear

UI

Audio

Bugfixes and QoL changes

Marshland

Narrative Foundations

Fallen Preyers

Support for 14 New Languages

New Vault

World Corruption 2.0

Garden

New Gearpack

Piercing the veil

Revelations is going live next Thursday, on the 18th of June 2026.

Call for saves

Hermitorium Archives

Witchfire Levelmaxxing experience

Picture perfect

This is not an official merch announcement

Garden hose spraying acid

Dialogue system

New Gearpack

Hermitorium Archives:

Witch reaction corner

The Chronicles of Witchfire

**Changes to The Velmorne Welcome:**