Witchfire early access gets its first major title update: New classes, boss fights, weapons, and more

Early access first-person shooter from developer The Astronauts, Witchfire, recently got its first major title update. Dubbed the Ghost Galleon update, the new patch brings a host of additions including new classes, weapons, boss fights, balance changes, as well as a plethora of bug fixes for the game, bringing it closer to its final release version.

With the Ghost Galleon update, developer The Astronauts aims to give players more options when it comes to their playstyle and choice of weapons. The biggest new highlight of the update is easily the new classes added to the game, which provide a well-needed variety to Witchfire's combat system.

Here's everything you need to know about Witchfire's latest title update, the new classes, the Calamity event, and more.

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Everything you need to know about Witchfire's first major title update

The update also brings some careful redesigns of the game's level progression and Calamity systems, based on player feedback on the early access version. The early access for Witchfire was released back in September 2023 on the Epic Games Store. On the surface, it's a standard first-person shooter, but with some clever twists.

The game mixes roguelike, and souls-like elements within its FPS gameplay loop, delivering a rather unique experience. While the early access release version of the game had a strong foundation, it was lacking in a few key areas, including the rogue-like elements as well as giving players choice of different playstyles.

With the latest Ghost Galleon update, The Astronauts added not only new classes to the game but also a fresh Calamity event, after which the update has been named. Here's everything that has been added to Witchfire with the Ghost Galleon update:

• 3 New Calamities (including the Ghost Galleon)
• New Activity: Vault Raiding
• 6 New Classes
• 5 New Weapons
• 4 New Spells (plus 4 redesigned spells)
• New Shop Vendor
• 7 New Magical Items (fetishes, rings, relics)
• 10 New or Variant Enemies
• 5 New Events
• 6 New Traps
• Calamity Redesign
• Gnostic Knowledge & Level Progression
• Quality of Life Updates & Bug Fixes

The new classes include Slayer, Berserker, Hunter, Shadow, Saint, and Penitent. Additionally, the update added a new feature called Gnosis, which essentially allows you to slightly over-level your in-game character, without increasing enemy difficulty, akin to Dark Souls 2's bonfire ascetics.

Talking about the newly added Calamity event in Witch as well as how the new update makes the game more accessible to new players, Adrian Chmielarz, Creative Director and Co-Founder of The Astronauts states:

"The Witch launches Calamities at preyers as they venture further and further into her realm. The threat of a Calamity is immense, but so is the reward. The witch tends to launch these assaults when players are wounded, at their weakest— which hasn’t always been well-received by players— but this design still feels exciting to me."

Talking about how players can potentially trick the Witch into submission if they play their cards right, Chmielarz mentions:

"So we’ve kept the soul of it, but redesigned it to feel more fair. It’s a feature that both teaches you how to play by pointing out mistakes, and motivates you to do better. Yet it’s also an element great players can abuse: trick the Witch into thinking you’re losing, then strike back and reap the rewards. This supports two main pillars of our design philosophy: Competence and Autonomy.”

Witchfire's latest update is now live on the Epic Games Store, with The Astronauts set to confirm a full release soon.