Witchfire News

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?



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.



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…



…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:



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?



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.



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.



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.



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).



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:



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 [redacted] 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!

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…

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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.



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…

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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).



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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
  

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.
  

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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.



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.

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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.



Yours soon, if you can earn it.

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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.

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.

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.

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!

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.




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.



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!

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.

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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.

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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.

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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:

Filter off

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.



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.



We’ve also replaced the cursive font with something that’s maybe 5% less atmospheric but 100% more readable.

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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.



Now back to Spajk…

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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

[h2]Hermitorium Archives[/h2]

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!

[h4]“I know what I’m doing”[/h4]

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.

[h4]A new application for existing technology (/magic)[/h4]

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.

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…

[h4]No ammo, no problem.[/h4]

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.

[h4]Look, ma, I’m a Preyer.[/h4]

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.

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.

Click to see it in action.

[h4]Immersion is immersive.[/h4]

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:

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.

Click to visit the thread.

[h4]It comes with a built-in mushroom atlas.[/h4]

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.

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:



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!

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.

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…



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.

[p]Preyers,[/p][p]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.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Seven updates behind us, three more to go — with the third one being 1.0. It’s happening.[/p][p]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.[/p][p]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.[/p][p]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.[/p][p]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.[/p][p]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.[/p][p]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.[/p][p]Oh, and the alternate name for The Reckoning update was Blood and Tears. We heard you wanted a challenge?[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]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.[/p][p]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.[/p][p]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.[/p][p]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![/p][p]And now, let’s get down to having a look at what you’ve been up to in the past two weeks.[/p][p][/p][h3]Consensus Has Not Been Reached[/h3][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]…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.[/p][p]That said, Gnosis is by no means in a final state, and there is some wiggle room and potential to unlock new challenges.[/p][p][/p][h3]Knowing the ins and outs pays handsomely[/h3][p][/p][p]To illustrate what I am on about, we have a couple of new videos posted to our Reddit:[/p][p]The power of Echo[/p][p]
Gnosis 6 Foul Stimulant Velmorne All Bosses Spells Only, No Guns No Melee [/p][p]Angelus + Ammo Preservation Bead + Crown of Fire[/p][p][/p][p]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…[/p][p][/p][h3]Beauty of the Harsh World[/h3][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]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![/p][p][/p][h3]Food for thought…[/h3][p]Click to visit the thread displayed on the screenshot above. [/p][p]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.[/p][p]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.[/p][p]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.[/p][p]Cheers![/p]