When the next big update for Witchfire Early Access hits your hard drives on August 14th, it will bring many new features to the game. Among them, a feature we call the Fallen Preyers.

A couple of hundred years ago, The Order of the Broken Mirror was transporting a legendary artifact for the Pope; an artifact that was supposed to turn the tide of war between the Church and the witches. The flotilla of the order’s ships was its own small army, and among the soldiers were seven preyers: sinners turned witch hunters.

Due to a mistake, or perhaps the work of more sinister forces, the ships first lost their way, then crashed against the edge of a territory of a powerful witch. We know this now, after the Church finally found the wrecks, but the location of the flotilla and the fate of the order were unknown for two hundred years.

To understand what happened exactly, and especially what happened to the artifact, the Pope has sent one of the best preyers to ever work for the Church: you. This is your final mission before the Pope forgives your unforgivable sins and relieves you of your contract. Your orders are clear: learn what happened, find the artifact, and kill the witch.

But how can you achieve alone what seven preyers could not?

Everyone is dead. The order is dead. The priests and the nuns, the generals and the foot soldiers, the cooks, and the seven preyers. Were they no match for the Witch of the Black Sea, or is something else going on here? Whatever the answer, today there is only one of you against the witch’s undead hordes.

During those two hundred years, the Vatican’s Workshop that supports the preyers with magical gear has grown and improved. The weapons are deadlier, the spells more advanced. Thanks to the mirror portal, you can use the Workshop to your advantage. But is this enough?

Probably not.

Luckily, as it turns out, you are not alone.

Realizing the witch’s powers, the seven preyers executed a ritual ensuring that even after their deaths, they would be able to help any other preyer who arrives to investigate the fate of the flotilla and retrieve the artifact.

Enter the Fallen Preyers, a new Witchfire feature coming with the TWT update.

You will not be able to understand the ritual until your Gnosis level in the game is II (2). When you reach it, a Vestal Flame will ignite in the Hermitorium, its warmth connecting you to the spectral imprints of the Fallen Preyers. You will be able to collect Preyer Echoes, traces of their activities in the land of the witch, and shards of their masks.

Once you awaken the spirits, they become your companions, available from the Map menu. Each Fallen Preyer has a unique set of Passive and Active Skills. For example, here is the Fallen Preyer Goliath…

His Passive Skills increase the damage of your uncharged melee attacks and [redacted]. His Active Skill, is that his spectral form attracts all enemies in the area.

Literally attracts, and literally all. Use some witchfire to call the preyer, and then you can keep headshotting an enemy, and they will still prefer fighting the ghost rather than dealing with you. It’s like you no longer exist.

Use this to your advantage. And be smart about this, as during an expedition you can summon each Fallen Preyer only once…

That’s not all. Increasing Gnosis and collecting Preyer Echoes allows you to increase the intensity of the Vestal Flame, which makes the Fallen Preyers stronger. Their passive and active skills improve.

So that’s the idea. Gather a crew of dead preyers, and with their help, fight the witch.

To be clear, this is not the main attraction of the TWT update. It’s a feature that we wanted to have but weren’t sure if we could squeeze it in. Luckily, with one more programmer on the team, we could and we did.

The initial release will have three preyers out of seven. Before expanding the feature, we want to learn what works and what does not, what you like about it and, if that happens, what you do not. I know for sure that Fallen Preyers are a great storytelling opportunity, and we will definitely invest in that soon. But first, let’s see what your opinion is on the feature in general.

Expect a TWT trailer on Monday, August 12th, and then something extra on the release day, Wednesday, August 14th.

Question of the Week

There’s been so many changes since the Ghost Galleon Update, that I’d dare to say it’s a pretty significant rebalance. The whole game flows differently, as you no longer start at the Scarlet Coast… The level up curve is different, the research flow is different, enemies have been updated and fixed, etc.

Your save will be safe but as always with such an update, we recommend playing from scratch for the full experience. But there is a lot of new for you to enjoy even if you are a vet with dozens of hours and Gnosis IV.