The Wailing Tower stands in the middle of the Island of the Damned, the first map you embark on in Witchfire. The monstrous structure hides a terrible secret, a multi-layered tomb that stretches deep beneath the Island of the Damned. Manage to reach the final floor, and you will find the Prophet, one of the familiars (bosses) of the game, and the opportunity to unlock the Rotweaver weapon.
However, reaching the Prophet is not that easy. You must prove your worth first by solving the Wailing Tower puzzle to open the way forward in Witchfire. This is a multi-step puzzle that requires you to reach certain milestones before returning to the Wailing Tower in a typical rogue-lite progression fashion. Here is what you do.
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How to Unlock the Wailing Tower on the Island of the Damned
The entrance doors of the Wailing Tower will be initially locked behind a red, magical barrier. If you approach the doors, a defensive mechanism will trigger to spawn endless waves of enemies. The only way to deactivate the security barrier and unlock the Wailing Tower in Witchfire is to find Saint Albert's Scepter.
The rogue-lite progression of Witchfire does not force you to enter the Wailing Tower on your first expedition. Level up a few times to become stronger by clearing all the enemies on the Island of the Damned before returning to the Hermitorium.
Interact with the statue on the right to place Saint Albert's Scepter in its hands, and then clear the enemy wave to open the doors. You will also have the option to spend your volatile witchfire crystals to immediately purge all enemies in the area. Just be quick to hit the on-screen button prompt after interacting with the statue before the enemies reach you.
Saint Albert's Scepter Location
Saint Albert's Scepter can be looted from a corpse in yellow robes that spawns in the large area overlooking the Wailing Tower doors, or the northeastern part of the map. Its location, however, changes for each player. In the image above, Saint Albert's Scepter was looted near the edge of the cliff in Witchfire. Another location is near the stairs, right when you turn left after coming up the steep path from the north.
It is unclear if you have to do something to spawn Saint Albert's Scepter in Witchfire. The item, fortunately, is always marked on your map. So keep exploring the Island of the Damned until the Scepter appears.
Saint Albert's Scepter has to only be looted and used once. The doors stay open even if you die afterward.
How to Solve the Wailing Tower Puzzle in Witchfire
You will find seven braziers around a skeletal sarcophagus inside the Wailing Tower. You have to activate the flames in the correct order to solve the Wailing Tower puzzle and open the entrance to the floors beneath. However, there are a couple of things that must be done beforehand in Witchfire.
Do not forget to pick up the Firebreath spell and the Scarlet Coast Chart after entering the Wailing Tower. The former unlocks a free elemental spell. The latter unlocks the second map in Witchfire.
Unlock the Seven Shrines
There are seven shrines called "Ceremonial Obelisks" scattered in the northwestern part of the Island of the Damned. You have to interact with each obelisk to unlock it on the map in Witchfire. Their locations are shown in the image above.
The description of each Ceremonial Obelisk contains a hint about the correct order in which the fires must be activated inside the Wailing Tower. Since the shrines only need to be unlocked once, and in any order, you can read all of their descriptions from the map by simply hovering your cursor on each obelisk icon.
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Upgrade to Gnosis 2
Gnosis is a separate leveling system, loosely tied to difficulty, that determines what content you can access. The flaming braziers in the Wailing Tower are locked behind Gnosis 2, so you must upgrade your Gnosis level twice from the Hermitorium before solving the puzzle of the Island of the Damned.
Upgrading Gnosis is permanent. You are meant to clear the Scarlet Coast, beat its boss, and then return to the Wailing Tower. This gives you enough time to become stronger by unlocking and upgrading the best weapons in Witchfire.
Return to the Wailing Tower and Activate the Fires
The skeletal sarcophagus in the middle is like a combination lock of a safe. It will rotate in the direction of the fire you activate like a dial.
Open your map and read the text of the first Ceremonial Obelisk (they are all numbered) and match it to the name of one of the braziers. Do this for all seven flames to reveal a flight of stairs that will take you deep under the Island of the Damned.
The Wailing Tower puzzle solution is as follows:
- Embrace Cleansing Fire
- Commune With Spirits
- Reach Beyond Reality
- Conquer Inner Demons
- Complete Rite of Descent
- Become Covenant of Darkness
- Eclipse Insanity
Witchfire
- Released
- September 20, 2023
