The heroes of Shadowstone all share the same responsibility to survive, but each are equipped with unique abilities that can be enhanced the further you delve into the biomes of the Sunderlands.
Hexer, healer, and master of mushrooms
The Witch is a support-focused Hero that has a wide array of tools for any situation. While healing can be their main focus for helping their party, they can also help control the map with a careful use of mushrooms and Spell Cards (more on that below), apply a random debuff with the form of a Curse, and mass produce any item from their pocket.
The Witch’s Arsenal
Each Hero in Shadowstone is equipped with Spell Cards— the main abilities that are exclusive to each class. Each Hero starts with one Spell Card unique to them, which you gain and upgrade by progressing through each area and by defeating each Act Boss.
The Witch’s starting Spell Card is Germinate, granting 3 Move and 3 base damage from a range of 3. Once you start leveling up your Witch during a run, they’ll be able to upgrade it to include:
Add random Mushrooms to spawn near the target
Include a Curse as an additional modifier
Gain additional damage or movement
You can customize each of your Spell Cards to the type of build you want (as long as you run into the Spell Upgrade rooms) to ensure your Witch has an answer to any obstacle.
Nothing says you HAVE to choose Witch spells, either. Be free
The (Pocket of) Possibilities Are Endless
The Witch’s passive, Pocket of Possibility, does two things: at the start of a Round, they create 1 random Mushroom within 2 hexes of themselves. If they step on an object during their turn, they can then duplicate that object twice and place it within 3 hexes.
This applies to ANY object. Mushrooms? You bet. Vines? Get in there. Fire? Store it in your pocket, it’s fine.
But wait, there’s more! You’re also immune to damage and debuffs from mushrooms you step on, so go ahead and stomp on them. They like it.
With these wide array of possibilities, you can set up your turns how you’d like. Storing Healing Mushrooms is always a plus, but you can cause a lot of chaos and damage by lining up Boom Mushrooms along your path and dealing damage to anything in your way. This does include allies, though.
If the “support” part of the Witch’s kit doesn’t appeal to you, never fear. They have plenty in their arsenal to make any enemy quiver in fear of a curse.
Or maybe they just quiver when the curses go above 30.
Curses and You
A witch with no hexes is not a witch at all. The Witch in Shadowstone can hex enemies with Curse, a debuff that will apply another random debuff once the cursed enemy takes damage from any source.
Any Hero can apply a Curse with Potions (one-time use items that can be used at any point during the Hero Turn) or select Talismans (rare items that you can pick up that passively apply buffs to your character), but only the Witch has several Spell Cards dedicated to throwing out as many as possible. Curses also stack, allowing for multiple debuffs to hit an enemy at once if you time it correctly.
If you want a more damage/debuff focused Witch build, be on the lookout for these upgrades:
Spell Card | Vexing Hex: Move 2, Attack 4, and inflict 2 Curse debuffs.
Spell Card | Unending Curse: Move 2, and inflict 1 Curse to all enemies within the targeted area of effect.
Spell Upgrade | Available for Germinate to apply Curse after dealing damage.
Select Talismans | Certain talismans allow you to apply Curse when pushing, attacking, or after applying other debuffs.
Most of these upgrades are available after you’ve completed a run or two, so don’t sweat if you don’t see these during your first attempts!
Mushroom Mayhem
What fire is to a Pyromancer, mushrooms are to a Witch. As you progress through your first rooms as a Witch, you’ll be intimately familiar with your fungi arsenal, which includes:
Heal Shrooms: These will give 2 heal to anyone who steps on them, but only the Witch can spread that healing to others with the use of Shroom Salve.
Boom Shrooms: As the name implies, these go boom. They’ll deal 2 damage to all adjacent characters, including teammates.
Poison Shrooms: These will apply the Decay debuff, which will deal 1 damage per movement. The more stacks of Decay a character has, the longer they’ll have to walk to remove it. Ouch.
Bounce Shrooms: Walking on one of these beauties will allow you to Leap 2 hexes to a new location. You can increase the amount by using different Talismans or Spell Upgrades.
Time in create a new wave of mycophobia in the Sunderlands
Together with your passive ability, spawning mushrooms with Spell Cards, Talismans, and Potions can weave a field of explosives, pure healing, or a combination of it all. The more mushroom spawning you can add to your build, the more you’ll fill the field with helpful and harmful mycelium.
Building With Your Team
No hero can solo the horrors of Shadowstone, and the Witch is no exception. You’ll need to work with your party to bring out the best in everyone, and oh, does the Witch excel in teamwork.
Not only can they apply Curses for mass debuffs, but they can help with positioning, healing, additional hexing, and area-of-effect damage with the wide array of mushrooms they can spawn.
Like all heroes, the Witch gains an exclusive Ritual, Ritual of Spores, that will turn each mushroom on the map into a helpful fungi friend who’ll buff your party at random. The more you can spawn, the more buffs you’ll receive!
So many buffs…
Now you’re all set to survive and claim victory over your mysterious circumstances. Right?
Right???
We'll see you for the next hero feature, focusing on The Ranger!
The Secret Door Team