Witchfire News

Witchfire Patch 0.7.3: Achievements, Creeper, and more

[p]Patch 0.7.3 is now live. The penultimate one for the Webgrave Update. Highlights: [/p]

[p]Stats 2.2, including detailed info in tooltips,[/p]
[p]Creeper: a new enemy in Velmorne,[/p]
[p]10 new Achievements,[/p]
[p]Each gun now tracks its own kill count,[/p]
[p]Lots of fixes (FSR, FoV on non-standard screens) and optimizations[/p]

[p]Detailed notes below...[/p][p][/p][p]WEAPONS[/p]

[p]Hangfire – Increased base damage from 35 to 38[/p]
- [p]Designer’s note: while it might seem insignificant, it actually gets rid of numerous frustrating breakpoints, where weak minor enemies were left with a sliver of health. These bad breakpoints were unintended, and a result of previously balancing the weapon only around the shoot & detonate loop.[/p]

[p]Psychopomp – Slowed down firing animation, slightly reduced vertical recoil on subsequent shots, significantly reduced overall horizontal recoil[/p]
- [p]Designer’s note: this leaves Psychopomp’s performance mostly unaffected, but should significantly improve its gamefeel.[/p]

[p]Striga – Removed bonus main target damage from Mysterium I[/p]
- [p]Designer’s note: while we all know Striga needs a nerf, this change is actually implemented because of an unintended interaction. Striga’s fire shockwave was not meant to damage the initial target. Because of that, the intended +25% damage bonus to long range targets ballooned to +52%. Removing the bonus damage brings the balance closer to our original intentions.[/p]
- [p]Fixed multiplied fire damage from Striga’s shockwave, when firing stakes in the same spot[/p]

[p]Nemesis – Mysterium III now sets marked enemies on fire for a while.[/p]
- [p]Designer’s note: While very useful in the right circumstances, Mysterium III did very little in 1v1 duels, which are a significant part of Nemesis usability. Moreover, it was hard to make use of Nemesis fire proficiency when it came to triggering elemental arcana and combos. This addition helps alleviate that problem, and makes damaging marked targets as soon as possible more rewarding – and chasing targets of opportunity is the main intended Nemesis’ “fun factor generator”.[/p]

[p]Koschei – Reworked Mysterium III. Now it says “Killing 6 enemies before unleashing the swarm increases the number of bone shards launched and decay power”. Visual indicators for charges 4 to 6 have been added.[/p]
- [p]Fast Reload Arcana now works with the Koschei[/p]

[p]TRAPS[/p]

[p]Fester (Velmorne)[/p]
- [p]Lowered health from 60 to 15[/p]
- [p]Removed spawnpoints too close to the initial starting area[/p]

[p]Ambush Bells (Velmorne)[/p]
- [p]Ambush bells can no longer trigger in the initial starting area[/p]

[p]Exploding barrels[/p]
- [p]Improved the visibility of barrels overgrown with vines[/p]
- [p]Exploding barrels now also spawn on the Island of the Damned and Velmorne[/p]

[p]STATS 2.2[/p]

[p]A new way to display stats to reduce the clutter and overload of 1XX values. All player stats are now displayed in range 0-100. Health and Stamina are the only stats with actual hard values displayed[/p]
[p]Tooltips over each stat now display more detailed and tangible information about every stat: what parameters a given stat affects, and what are their current boosts[/p]
[p]In the Ascension Shrine, when you hover any player attribute (Flesh etc.), you can now see which stats are influenced by increasing it. The strength of the influence is marked by the number of diamonds (two diamonds => strong influence, one diamond => weak influence)[/p]
[p]Changed the Scavenging icon. Drops affected by Scavenging are now marked by cogwheels icon[/p]

[p]STAT VALUES[/p]

[p]Scavenging – reduced the amount of Healing Elixirs dropped by Antimagic Runes[/p]
[p]Witchery – Decreased spell recharge below 10 Witchery. Slightly slowed down spell recharge gains under 25 Witchery.[/p]
- [p]These changes are meant to make early leveling more impactful and further differentiate the starting classes. Max spell cooldown reduction remains the same.[/p]
[p]Health – Increased health gained per level at low levels (max HP remains the same)[/p]
[p]Stamina – Increased stamina gained per level at low levels (max SP remains the same)[/p]

[p]UI[/p]

[p]Added Consumables tab to the Inventory for the ease of use during expeditions[/p]
[p]Removed Prophecies tab from the Inventory. Collected Prophecies are now displayed only in the Prophecy Study in the Hermitorium[/p]
[p]Changed the way Prophecies are displayed in the Prophecy Study. The ones which are equipped are now marked by the yellow color, making it more clear and easier to manage them[/p]
[p]Removed redundant information about Mysterium from the top bar in the Inspect Screen[/p]
[p]Every weapon now displays its kill count in the Inspect Screen. You can find it in the top bar, next to the weapon’s name[/p]
[p]Changed the screenshots used by ‘Combat’ and ‘Calamities’ pages of the Game Handbook[/p]

[p]ENEMIES[/p]

[p]Creeper added to Velmorne[/p]
[p]Fixed the bug that caused Rotten Fiend to trigger hit sounds on signs and lamps across Velmorne[/p]
[p]Fixed the bug that caused Bonsaire the Illuminated to be inactive[/p]
[p]Fixed the bug that caused the framerate to drop significantly if Calamity was triggered deep in the sewers[/p]
[p]Rebalanced Gravedigger and Sepulcher attack to have lower Damage over Time, compensated it with an initial damage[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug that caused Townswoman to deal damage twice during her teleport attack[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug that caused Spinners to trigger footsteps after death[/p]
[p]Widow melee attack should now deal damage more consistently + added a jump ability to allow here to disengage the player[/p]
[p]Inactive Dimacher now reacts to damage[/p]
[p]Fixed the potential Calamity vortex position near Velmorne marketplace[/p]
[p]Calamity skulls had their health raised to balance things out a bit and make it harder to dispel Calamity by running to the vortex. Its still doable, it just requires more skill now[/p]
[p]Defender Calamity has been reworked slightly – to improve the pacing the vortex during this calamity now spawns close to the player instead of seed defined position[/p]
[p]Shieldbearer Calamity has been reworked slightly – to improve its flow on Velmorne and make it more survivable. Shieldbearer’s capture-bubble radius has been doubled[/p]
[p]Fixed several procedural spawn issues in Velmorne related to enemies spawned by Calamities and Warden. They shouldn’t spawn in the canals while the player is above[/p]
[p]Castle and Village Boss should now properly mark as complete on the map after killing the boss[/p]
[p]Fishermen’s area in Scarlet Coast (the one Galley Slave spawns at) has been reintroduced into the arena pool and now can have Manifestation scenario in it[/p]

[p]MISC[/p]

[p]Lowered the amount of cursed treasures that spawn in Velmorne.[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug that removed Treasure Chests from the minimap[/p]
[p]Melee Charge Bead cooldown penalty reduced from -50% to -30%[/p]
[p]Iron Cross now disables affected enemies’ dash and jump abilities[/p]
[p]Added weapon switching tutorials after equipping new weapons[/p]
[p]Added 10 new achievements[/p]
[p]Misc Velmorne performance optimizations[/p]
[p]Velmorne minibosses have proper map descriptions[/p]
[p]FSR crash fixed – FSR1 & 2 reeneabled[/p]
[p]Sewer grates in Velmorne are added to the map when player finds them[/p]
[p]Fixed Climbing Gear pickup not disappearing when already have the item[/p]
[p]Town mirage in sewers no longer requires payment every time[/p]
[p]Fixed Gnosis book objective and achievement requiring opening mirages – all mirages should now be counted towards those[/p]
[p]Fixed FOV scaling on non 16:9 displays[/p]
[p]Fixed Effigy of Plague not affecting enemies[/p]
[p]Opening Menu screen rework so the preyer always looks proper[/p]

[p]
AUDIO[/p]

[p]Designed and implemented sounds for the Creeper[/p]
[p]Applied some minor tweaks to Psychopomp’s shooting sound[/p]
[p]Tweaked part of the UI sounds that trigger together with the hint, during the Prologue[/p]
[p]Enriched the soundscape of the Prologue’s first arena, adding more winds, foliage and wildlife (mainly in the surrounding areas)[/p]
[p]Lowered the loudness of the acid pool in the Prologue’s jumping tutorial section[/p]
[p]Lowered the loudness of the music that plays in the Witch Mountain’s Labyrinth section[/p]

Echoes on the Streets of Velmorne

Preyers!
The Webgrave Update has been out for a few days now, and the response has been nothing short of amazing - so amazing, in fact, that before we dive into the sizeable Hermitorium Archives (Webgrave Special Edition), Adrian wanted to say a few words.

Raising from the Webgrave

It might be a bit early to reflect on the reception of the Webgrave update, as we're still in the support phase with a nice fat patch coming early next week. However, I can't contain my joy over its performance, so let's take a look anyway.

This chart shows our daily concurrent players since the Steam release nearly a year ago. It's very much what you'd expect: a big spike on release, smaller spikes during updates. But then, at the end, the Webgrave spike. Two to three times bigger than any previous update, almost rivaling our launch numbers.

Now, while I'd love to attribute this anomaly entirely to the quality of the update, we need to consider two other important factors.

First, this was our first 20% discount. I do believe the game is priced fairly, but the promo obviously made it more appealing to some players. It also triggered an email from Valve to over a million Steam users who had wishlisted Witchfire -- Valve sends out such emails whenever there’s a discount of 20% or more.

Second, we were prominently featured on Steam's front page in the Weekend Deal section throughout the weekend. No matter how good your own marketing is, exposure from Steam -- via the front page and algorithm -- is infinitely more powerful.

Does that mean Webgrave was just like any other update, and its great performance was simply due to price and exposure?

Luckily, not quite.

It seems you genuinely liked the update enough to spread the good word about it.
Because otherwise, how do you explain the steady, consistent growth of our Discord community (now over 16K members!) and the explosion of activity on our subreddit?

And how do you explain the fact that Witchfire continues to sell well even days after the promo ended? The Steam algorithm helps (a lot) with exposure but it's not forcing anyone to buy the game.

We poured our hearts and souls into Webgrave. The final month was hard, with long days and nights. But it all feels worth it when we see you're enjoying the game. This is why we do it.
Thank you for buying Witchfire and thank you for playing. Special thanks to everyone who writes Steam reviews (these are incredibly impactful), rates us on EGS, helps new players on Discord, or discusses the game on various forums, including Steam and Reddit. Hats off to everyone talking about the game on YouTube, both content creators and commenters.

Now get ready for that new monster next week.

Hermitorium Archives

[h3]On the topic of performance…[/h3]

Let’s start with one of the most frequently mentioned aspects of Webgrave - or rather, Velmorne: performance. A number of posts on Steam, Reddit, and Discord pointed out that the new map doesn’t run as smoothly as the previous ones. The reason? Velmorne is significantly larger than any other level in the game, so naturally, there’s going to be a performance hit.

It’s not a huge hit - and to offset it, we’ve actually hired a programmer whose sole job is to optimize the game. Thanks to that, we’re already seeing a 5% performance boost compared to previous updates. So you lose some, and you win some.

That said, why should you care, right? You shouldn’t. It’s our job to make sure all maps run with the same supersonic speed. The good news is, thanks to some particularly clever witchcraft, you should already see an improvement in Velmorne’s framerate in the next patch.
We’ve always taken great care in optimizing Witchfire, and that’s something we’ll continue to do throughout development.

And on that note - FSR should be back online next week, too. If you were using this frame generation technique, you’ll be able to do so again soon. Apologies for the inconvenience!

[h3]Difficulty spike?[/h3]
There have also been quite a few posts mentioning that the game feels harder after the update - potion slots missing, reduced health and stamina, and a generally less forgiving experience.
We understand why it might feel that way, but these changes don’t actually stem from balance tweaks. Instead, it’s down to the introduction of the Rosary. Some of the perks that were previously granted through your level progression have been moved and now require bead-slotting in the new system.

We understand that this may initially make you feel less powerful than before, but please remember: Witchfire is in Early Access (with 1.0 dropping next year). Rearranging systems and introducing new mechanics won’t always translate to a feeling of increased power. Balance doesn’t mean pushing you toward being OP AF and one-shotting everything. It’s about - well - balancing the experience.

(Adrian: Yes, this is crucial. I’ve played Webgrave myself, from scratch, for over 30 hours. The overall difficulty is the same as before. But the progression, pacing, and even some features have changed, and that requires re-adjustment.

This can give the impression of heightened difficulty for veteran players, simply because of the unknown. It’s like with Velmorne: when I was at Gnosis 2, I wondered if we’d made the town too hard… But now, at Gnosis 6, I’m clearing this cursed place with no problem. Just because the unknown became known.

That said, smart play and clever builds can still result in…

[h3]Massive damage![/h3]

8667 damage - or to put it more dramatically, eight thousand six hundred and sixty-seven damage - from a single bolt. That’s really demonic. And you can watch it either on our website or in the original reddit thread.

To be honest, this one made us scratch our heads, and it led to the discovery of a particularly peculiar bug. It’ll be fixed in an upcoming update. But don’t worry - you’ll still be able to replicate the scenario posted by FilthmasterRich in the video above. You’ll just need to count your bullets.
Of course, depending on your playstyle, you might opt for something very different. If agility is your thing, you can still achieve some seriously impressive results, as proven on our Discord by Hypnosis Goblin:

(Video available on our website or in the original reddit thread.)

[h3]To infinity and beyond![/h3]

Velmorne is the biggest map we’ve ever made. It’s multi-layered and packed with secrets, but some of you (naming no names, but maybe a certain Preyer whose name begins with “L” and ends with “abonski”) decided it wasn’t quite big enough. We’ve seen exploration go beyond the map’s edges before - but this? This is outer-outer limits.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

(For reasons known only to Steam themselves, the embed does not work, sorry!)

And that’s not the only case! of you getting where you shouldn't really be. Hypnosis Goblin decided to hike back to the newly added Outskirts (where the prologue takes place) and explore alternate paths toward the Hermitorium. While air travel might seem like a good idea, it can also take you to places not suited for player presence.

(Video available on our website or in the original reddit thread.)

The FAA may be in touch with you soon.

[h3]Randomizer updated[/h3]

A few months ago, we were blessed with the Witchfire Randomizer - a handy tool created by BananenKlaus that allowed you to plan builds wherever you were (as long as you had internet).

With the Rosary system introduced, it briefly fell out of date… but not for long! The Randomizer has already been updated. You can once again plan the perfect build to rain destruction upon the Witch’s minions.

Speaking of destruction - it’s absolutely possible, even if you…

[h3]… don’t bring any weapons[/h3]

Melee weapons have been on our roadmap for a while. We’re working on them - but until then, here’s something to think about:

(Video available on our website or in the original reddit thread.)

Just joking about questioning the inclusion of melee weapons, but, clearly, even if you decide to follow the Path of the Bat, you can dish out serious damage. Dimacher seems to retain his title as Chief Punching Bag, so not everything has changed since Webgrave. But maybe you just need a bit more practice before Widow gets put in her place - at an extreme pace.

[h3]Pockets ain’t empty, cuz.[/h3]

While Witchfire’s economy might be safe from inflation, until you hit the level cap, it can feel like there’s never quite enough WF at your disposal. And since the game is set in an alternate 1900s, you won’t be seeing “Bankers hate him!” banners taking you to questionable websites with even more questionable crash courses on how to get rich quick.

Luckily, where there’s a will, there’s a way - and Barry was kind enough to prepare a guide on how to earn one million WF in a single run. It’s not easy, but it works:

Click here to visit the thread on reddit.

(Adrian: I almost asked Spajk not to include this link -- it clearly breaks the game’s economy. But I left it in, because it shows just how much you can achieve with the right build and setup. Earlier you saw a boss one-shot; now here’s a nearly game-breaking money maker -- all thanks to smart build choices. And there’s so much more in Witchfire if you take this approach. Decay spreaders, unite!)

[h3]There’s a photographer in town![/h3]

We’ve seen a surge of screenshots since Webgrave dropped (thank you - it means the world to us that you’re enjoying the environments), but there’s someone among you going beyond the routine of simple point'n'shoot. So, here is a link to a reddit thread with a few stunning captures from Nuubi, who’s been showing us what Witchfire looks like through their lens.

Click here to visit the thread on reddit.

The screenshot artist who’s already created many Witchfire shots for us has just delivered a new batch, too - and here’s a little glimpse of select moods…

[h3]And to wrap it up…[/h3]

Something the more seasoned Preyers will feel in their bones:

(You see, it’s especially funny because Koschei aka. Kościej is made of bon...)

(...)

(I’ll see myself out.)

A new patch with an array of new things, updates, improvements and bugfixes is planned for early next week. If all goes well, it will be the last one for a while as we retreat to the darkness of our tech-caves to work on the next update.

More on that in due time - but that's it for now.

See you around, and keep shooting!

Witchfire Patch 0.7.2 is live!

[p]Patch 0.7.2 is live! Mostly buffs and improvements, you can find the details below.[/p][p]Unless a hotfix is needed, this is our last patch for a while. We're working on one more juicy patch (new enemy included!) coming at the end of next week at the earliest. Enjoy the Webgrave Update, and keep that feedback coming! ːdemonheartː[/p][p][/p][p]P.S. And here's a miniFAQ that was attached to the hotfix 0.7.1 info, in case you missed it:[/p][p][/p][p][/p]

Patch 0.7.2 Notes

[p][/p][h2]Changes to weapons and gear[/h2][p][/p][h3]Changes to Koschei[/h3]

[p]Stamina cost added to swarm launch[/p]
[p]Diminishing M1 projectile base damage for multiple hits of the same target[/p]
[p]Fixed looped Koschei’s reloading animation when no ammo can be inserted to the magazine[/p]
[p]Designer notes: Koschei is overperforming right now, mostly because of its unique M1 mechanic. We want to bring it in line with other weapons, while keeping both its basic functions and unique capabilities fun and powerful, so we’re apllying a careful, steady approach to changes. It’s possible that this is not the last change we make to Koschei.[/p]

[h3]Changes to Iron Cross[/h3]

[p]Significantly increased the range of Iron Cross[/p]
[p]Reduced the range of Iron Cross Mysteria 3 from 200% to 150% of base range[/p]

[p]Designer notes: the initial range reduction wasn’t motivated by the spell outperforming. Because it was so massive, it had a significant impact on performance. At the same time, after performing necessary checks on enemies in range, the furthest of them still weren’t affected by the spell, because there was no clear line of sight between them and the Cross. So we basically wasted resources on nothing. We tried to reduce the range so it performed the same in most situation, but overshot quite a bit and nerfed it in the process. This is an attempt to remedy that.[/p]

[h3]Changes to Nemesis[/h3]

[p]Fixed Nemesis wisps targeting wrong enemies from across the level[/p]
[p]Increased Nemesis wisps travel speed[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Other changes and tweaks[/h2]

[p]Changed the way how the player stats are displayed[/p]
[p]Designer notes: Easier now to understand if you are under base (100) or total max for the given stat (200). Exception: HP and SP, that are basically points.[/p]
[p]Hermitorium arrival (short) cutscene added[/p]
[p]Watch Commander health significantly lowered[/p]
[p]High Executioner health slightly increased[/p]
[p]Velmorne miniboss icons should follow their position now[/p]
[p]Spiderwoman is now less susceptible to stun damage[/p]
[p]Tweaked Blackened Salt and Corpse Wax drop rates[/p]
[p]Tweaked the attenuation settings of the Gatekeeper’s power sources, to make them easier to locate[/p]
[p]Velmorne undergrounds, esp. boss area, render significantly faster[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Bugfixes[/h2]

[p]Fixed “mission complete” SFX not playing after killing Town minibosses[/p]
[p]Fixed potential progression blocker in Hermitorium (Sanctuary door not interactable)[/p]
[p]Fixed “Free Arcana Bead” incorrectly consuming required items[/p]
[p]Fixed Stigma Diabolicum critical damage multiplier[/p]
[p]Fixed an issue with incantations’ incorrect icon and type displayed in the Workshop[/p]
[p]Fixed cutscenes breaking sounds when leaving to main menu when they are playing[/p]
[p]Fixes to Crossbowman and Watch Commander behavior[/p]
[p]Fixed Effigies and Totems trap spawning[/p]
[p]Designer notes: these traps have been present in the game since early access launch, but their spawning logic has been broken for quite a while. For Steam players, it might be the first time they see them outside of the Duel event.[/p]
[p]Numerous visual fixes across all of Velmorne[/p]

[p][/p][h2]UI changes[/h2]

[p]Added notification star on portal in the Hermitorium which is displayed when there’s new destination available[/p]
[p]Made hotspots in the Handbook more snappy. They should now feel better to use, especially in cases when two hotspots are close to each other[/p]
[p]Fixed an issue with incantations having incorrect icon and type displayed in the Workshop[/p]

First Webgrave Hotfix out now

First and foremost, we’re overwhelmed by the response Webgrave received - thank you! And thank you for your feedback, it means a lot and helps us improve the game. We have identified some things which require a fair amount of tinkering, but there are also smaller fixes and fine-tunes which we can perform already, so, without much ado, here is a change list for the first Webgrave hotfix, aka. what we have been working on since yesterday:

Fixed Arsenal stat to correctly affect reload;
Increased base reload speed for Hypnosis and Ricochet;
Fixed Chronoclast's black screen issue;
Added reminder explaining Chronoclast;
Temporarily disabled FSR due to stability issues - a permanent fix is in the works;
Less flytraps per arena;
Town minibosses now drop either Incantation 2 or 3;
Koschei's auto reload speed now ramps up slightly slower;
Shadow Orbs are now instant pickup, like all other enemy drops;
Fixed an incorrect Gnosis 6 description that suggested you get a 6th rosary slot;
Tweaks to herb spawns;
Fixed The Oracle not consuming charges on M1.

Additionally, we have prepared a mini FAQ which may answer some of the questions you have been asking across all the communication channels:

That’s it for today - we will be back with another batch of fixes and updates soon, please stay tuned and keep the feedback coming.

Cheers!

Dark fantasy FPS Witchfire adds whole new region in early access update

Dark fantasy FPS Witchfire is expanding its early access offering with an entire new city to explore. There's a whole lot of content dropping with the Webgrave Update, including the opportunity to explore Velmorne, a twisted city which my Warhammer-pilled mind immediately imagines as a digital Mordheim. I'll take any excuse to load up my flintlock pistol and take aim at a demonic beast of yore, and this is the perfect opportunity to get on board the Witchfire train and trundle headfirst towards salvation station. Whether you're new to the world of witch hunting or a seasoned pro with the blessing of the Pope himself, there's no better time to jump in.

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