Witchfire purposely keeps players in the dark about several of its mechanics. The idea is to have them figure out everything on their own. When launching the game for the first time, one of the first questions you will likely have is about getting Gnosis. This is because some of the features in the Hermitorium (your player hub) are locked behind specific Gnosis levels.
So what is Gnosis? It is a critical in-game mechanic rooted deep within Witchfire. It manages your experience and changes the world around you for the better and the worse. However, do not just start upgrading Gnosis blindly. Here is what you must know before increasing your Gnosis levels.
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What Happens When You Increase Gnosis in Witchfire
Witchfire handles difficulty scaling differently from other rogue-lite or rogue-like games. There are no traditional difficulty settings to choose from before starting, and increasing your character's stats does not make enemies harder. The only way to increase difficulty in Witchfire is to level up a system called Gnosis.
Gnosis acts as a gateway to access new content. Every time you level up Gnosis, you unlock new and tougher enemies, bosses, traps, events, challenges, hidden areas, maps, and other dangers. You also unlock new features and gear with each Gnosis level to become stronger, and farm more witchfire crystals to level up your stats faster in Witchfire.
Witchfire has four Gnosis levels at the time of writing but is expected to add six more levels before leaving early access in 2025.
Gnosis is purely optional though. You can keep playing at the default Gnosis 0 for dozens of hours, but will eventually have to max out Gnosis to beat Witchfire.
For example, a higher Gnosis is required to solve the Wailing Tower puzzle on the Island of the Damned. Why bother with the Wailing Tower? It contains the Rotweaver weapon, unlocks more Prophecies, and hosts one of the main familiar bosses.
Similarly, a higher Gnosis is required to upgrade your gear to the Third Mysterium. The Burning Stake, one of the best spells in Witchfire, and other magical items are hidden behind barriers that can only be removed at a higher Gnosis. Irongate Castle and future maps, including the Witch herself, are all locked behind specific Gnosis requirements.
It is impossible to unlock, upgrade, and complete everything in Witchfire without leveling up Gnosis. This, however, is a choice for you to make whenever you think you are ready.
Best Time to Increase Gnosis in Witchfire
One of the biggest mistakes beginners can make in Witchfire is to level up Gnosis as soon as they meet its requirements. Gnosis is permanent. You cannot undo or reset Gnosis after it has been increased. This makes it all the more important to be careful about hitting the next Gnosis level, because you might end up dealing with powerful packs of enemies with an underpowered (and underleveled) Preyer.
You should only increase Gnosis when Witchfire starts to feel too easy and beating enemies becomes a grind. This means you can over-level before upgrading to the next difficulty level.
While there are no set character-level requirements, you will want to hit Gnosis 1 and 2 around levels 15-20 and 25-30 respectively. Jump to Gnosis 3 and 4 around levels 40-50 and beyond. These levels ensure the difficulty spike is still manageable, and you gain the most witchfire crystals because every ascension increases in cost. If you remain at Gnosis 0, it will take twice (or thrice) the number of successful expeditions to amass enough witchfire crystals for a single stat upgrade, or enough gold for the next research.
Upgrading the Metanoia stat lets you assimilate more witchfire crystals from every source.
That said, you can go to Gnosis 4 as quickly as level 30 after becoming familiar with the combat and movement mechanics. You will, of course, need the best weapons, spells, and items—all upgraded to M3.
Witchfire
- Released
- September 20, 2023
