Witch Hunt

Witch Hunt is a game developed by Godseed. It revolves around a witch who's laid claim to a powerful crystal full of magic, and must defend it from hordes of monsters trying to steal it for themselves as she brings it across the land.

Controls[]

Click: Shoot projectiles
Q: Toggle Blaze Rune
W: Toggle Frost Rune
E: Toggle Storm Rune
Space Bar: Turn Autocast On/Off
1, 2, 3, 4, and 5: Use Arcane Spells
M: Mute/Unmute
P: Pause/Unpause

Plot[]

The story begins with a group of goblins preparing to steal a giant magical crystal sitting out in the open, but they're wary because they smell a human nearby. Eventually they decide to go for the crystal anyway, only to be stopped by a witch who glamorously introduces herself as Lucrea Quarta, the rune sorceress. Her spectacle is lost on the dimwitted goblins, though, and they begin to mock her by calling her a witch, much to Lucrea's displeasure. They keep taunting Lucrea with witch-related jokes and insults, until she finally loses her temper and dares them to say the word "witch" one more time. Just then, another goblin emerges from the bushes and offers his comrades a sandwich, only for Lucrea to strike him with a lightning bolt due to the word "sandwich" sounding like "witch". The dead goblin turns into a gold coin, which excites Lucrea as she realizes that the legend she heard about the magic crystal containing the Lord of Greed is true. She tries to warn the goblins that anyone who dies within the crystal's range turns to gold, but they are busy fighting over the coin left over from the one goblin she killed. Annoyed, Lucrea leaves the goblins and sets forth on her quest to bring the magic crystal to the Sky Tower, a sacred floating tower watched over by the gods, battling all kinds of monsters along the way...

Ending[]

After clawing her way across the land and kiling off the last of the monsters in her path, Lucrea finally reaches the Sky Tower, where the true reason behind her journey is revealed. Upon reaching the Sky Tower, Lucrea is greeted by a legendary wizard, Talzaurs the Azure, who congratulates her on her amazing feats and offers to let her live in the Sky Tower where she will become immortal. However, Lucrea turns down the offer and declares that she did her research on Talzarus. She explains that many moons ago, Talzarus defeated the Lord of Greed and sealed him inside the very same crystal that Lucrea has been lugging around throughout the game. Afterwards, the people of the kingdom decided to reward Talzarus by offering to let him live in the Sky Tower, but it turned out to be a trap...in reality, the people just wanted to "sacrifice" him to the gods in exchange for wealth and prosperity. Thus, although Talzarus was granted the gift of immortality, he was forbidden by the gods from leaving the Sky Tower and could do nothing but spend his days absorbing sunlight to sustain himself. Thus, Talzarus made this same offer to Lucrea to try and bait her into taking his place so he could be free. Devastated that the ruse didn't work, Talzarus frantically asks who's going to take his place and free him from the Sky Tower. When Lucrea suggests using the crystal, Talzarus believes the idea won't work, but changes his tune after Lucrea playfully drops a hint that the crystal she has is indeed the same one that Talzarus used to seal the Lord of Greed, causing him to finally recognize it. So, the crystal is left at the Sky Tower while Lucrea and Talzarus leave to freedom.

Meanwhile, the kingdom's rulers are angry because Lucrea's actions created chaos across the land and deprived the kingdom of its biggest source of wealth, as the rulers had been relying on the crystal's ability to generate gold before Lucrea stole it. Frantically seeking a way to restore order, the rulers decide to label Lucrea as a traitor and unite the townsfolk by organizing a witch hunt against Lucrea...

Gameplay[]

The game consists of a series of levels unlocked in linear fashion. In each level, you play as Lucrea and must defend the magic crystal from waves of incoming enemies. The enemies enter from the right side of the screen and slowly make their way over to the crystal to try and break it down with their attacks. To win the level, you have to use Lucrea's magic to destroy all the enemies and prevent them from destroying the crystal; if the crystal is destroyed, you lose the level. Lucrea has three different elemental attacks, each with different properties. You can also buy upgrades to enhance these attacks, as well as other gameplay attributes, using gold coins that drop from defeated enemies. After progressing far enough into the game, you also gain access to Arcane Spells and the Goblin Merchant, both of which can help you become even more powerful. Arcane Spells allow you to use special abilities in battle, while the Goblin Merchant gives you access to powerful buffs.

Runes[]

The Runes are Lucrea's source of magical power, allowing her to use elemental attacks on her enemies. Each Rune embodies a different element and provides Lucrea with a magic attack that has its pros and cons. The Runes can be upgraded by spending gold to enhance their base stats; however, doing so also gives you Alter Seeds, which are basically skill points that can be used to upgrade other attributes of the Runes' attacks. You earn one Alter Seed every time you upgrade a Rune. Initially, each Rune can be upgraded to Level 10, meaning that you can earn a maximum of 10 Alter Seeds for each Rune. However, after defeating the final boss, the level cap increases to Level 25, allowing you to earn enough Alter Seeds to completely max out all Alter Seed upgrade categories.

Blaze Rune[]

Attack Spell: Flame Orb - Shoots a fireball which staggers enemies and knocks them back, and has a chance to burn them, dealing damage over time.

Alter Seed Categories[]

Spell Force: Increases the spell's attack power.
Proficiency: Slightly improves the spell's overall stats.
Repel: Increases the spell's stagger impact and knockback power.
Velocity: Increases the speed at which the Flame Orbs travel when fired.
Combustion: Increases the chance of enemies being burned on impact.

Frost Rune[]

Attack Spell: Cold Spikes - Shoots a volley of three icicles which can sometimes slow down or freeze enemies on impact.

Alter Seed Categories[]

Spell Force: Increases the spell's attack power.
Proficiency: Slightly improves the spell's overall stats.
Impale: Allows the Cold Spikes to pierce through enemies, and increases their slowing power.
Swarm: Increases the number of icicles per volley, but also reduces the spell's casting speed.
Stasis: Increases the Cold Spikes' freezing power.

Storm Rune[]

Attack Spell: Chaos Bolt - Sends a lightning bolt to strike where you clicked; it hits hard and can stun enemies, but it's not very accurate. Stunned enemies take extra damage and are more vulnerable to status effects.

Alter Seed Categories[]

Spell Force: Increases the spell's attack power.
Proficiency: Slightly improves the spell's overall stats.
Precision: Increases the spell's accuracy, making the Chaos Bolt strike the correct spot more often.
Aftershock: Increases the chance of a Chaos Bolt summoning another Chaos Bolt after it strikes. Summoned Chaos Bolts can summon more Chaos Bolts, too.
Stun: Increases the Chaos Bolts' stunning power.

Lucrea Tech[]

Lucrea Tech is a set of upgrades for Lucrea herself. These upgrades serve to enhance various other elements of the game that don't involve directly improving the Runes.

Crystal Link: Increases the crystal's max HP.
Spell Tinker: Increases the mininum damage of Lucrea's attacks, allowing them to deal more damage overall.
Motormouth: Increases Lucrea's attack speed.
Witchcraft: Increases the chance of inflicting status effects on enemies, as well as the duration of the effects.
Greed Aura: Makes enemies drop more gold when killed.
Arcane Mastery (Unlocked after beating Level 4): Increases the maximum number of Arcane Charges Lucrea can store, and grants access to higher tiers of Arcane Spells.
Arcane Surge (Unlocked after beating Level 4): Makes Arcane Charges regenerate faster.

Arcane Spells[]

Arcane Spells are a feature you unlock after beating Level 4 of the game. These are powerful special abilities that you can use in battle to turn the tables on your enemies, but they have to be bought with gold first in order to be unlocked. There are 15 Arcane Spells in total - 5 for each of the three Runes - and they're divided into different tiers; in order to access higher tiers of Arcane Spells, you need to upgrade the Arcane Mastery skill.

Using Arcane Spells during a level costs Arcane Charges, which Lucrea automatically generates over time - higher tiers of Arcane Spells require a higher number of Arcane Charges to use. The number of Arcane Charges that Lucrea can store and the speed at which she generates them can be increased by upgrading the Arcane Mastery and Arcane Surge skills, respectively.

Blaze Rune's Arcane Spells[]

Charged Blast (Tier 1): Shoots a giant Flame Orb that explodes on impact, knocking enemies back and burning them. Costs 1 Arcane Charge to use.
Fire Sigil (Tier 2): Places a Fire Sigil where your cursor is currently positioned; the Fire Sigil floats in place, dealing fire damage to and burning any enemies that come in contact with it. Costs 2 Arcane Charges to use.
Pyro Pengu (Tier 3): Summons a Pyro Pengu to assist you; the Pyro Pengu attacks by floating around the screen for a while and shooting fireballs that home in on enemies. Can't be used if a Cold Collector is already in the battle. Costs 3 Arcane Charges to use.
Nova Burst (Tier 4): Generates a concentrated fire blast that covers a wide range and continuously damages and burns enemies. Costs 4 Arcane Charges to use.
Dragonfall (Tier 5): Causes giant fireballs to randomly rain from the sky for a while as long as you're attacking enemies. Costs 5 Arcane Charges to use.

Frost Rune's Arcane Spells[]

Cold Crunch (Tier 1): Generates a frost vacuum where your cursor is currently positioned, freezing enemies and dealing heavy ice damage to them. Costs 1 Arcane Charge to use.
Striker Pengu (Tier 2): Summons a Striker Pengu to assist you; the Striker Pengu attacks by kicking several soccer balls made of ice at enemies, which freeze and deal ice damage to enemies on contact. Costs 2 Arcane Charges to use.
Frozen in Time (Tier 3): Freezes all enemies. Costs 3 Arcane Charges to use.
The Cold Collecter (Tier 4): Summons a Cold Collector to assist you; the Cold Collector targets frozen enemies, killing them with his magic blasts and giving you bonus gold. Can't be used if a Pyro Pengu or Frigid Angel is already in the battle. Costs 4 Arcane Charges to use.
Frigid Angel (Tier 5): Summons a Frigid Angel to assist you; the Frigid Angel regenerates 2% of your crystal's health per second until either the crystal's health is full or the crystal is damaged. Can't be used if a Cold Collector is already in the battle. Costs 5 Arcane Charges to use.

Storm Rune's Arcane Spells[]

True Strike (Tier 1): Makes an extra-powerful Chaos Bolt strike where your cursor is currently positioned; this Chaos Bolt always stuns any enemy that gets hit by it. Costs 1 Arcane Charge to use.
Mjolnir (Tier 2): Generates a massive electric blast that covers a wide range and stuns all enemies. Costs 2 Arcane Charges to use.
Static Debris (Tier 3): Temporarily makes your Chaos Bolts release electric sparks when they hit the ground. Costs 3 Arcane Charges to use.
Storm Pengu (Tier 4): Summons a Storm Pengu to assist you; the Storm Pengu attacks by dashing across the ground, ramming into and dealing heavy electric damage to every enemy in his way. Every time he hits an enemy, the Storm Pengu also summons a Chaos Bolt which can hit airborne enemies. Costs 4 Arcane Charges to use.
Chaotic Trance (Tier 5): Temporarily massively buffs your attack speed and damage output. Costs 5 Arcane Charges to use.

Gobuffs[]

Gobuffs are a feature you unlock after beating Level 8 of the game. Provided by a friendly Goblin Merchant looking to get his hands on some gold, Gobuffs activate powerful effects that can make you significantly stronger. They come in two different forms: Charms and Potions.

Charms[]

Charms are a set of six trinkets with magic powers that you can toggle on or off while on the world map. You can have as many of them active as you want, but if you use more than three at a time in a level, the Goblin Merchant will take some of the gold you earn in the level as payment - if you have four Charms active in a level, you earn 10% less gold than normal; five Charms active, you earn 20% less; six charms active, you earn 30% less. If you have three or less Charms active while playing a level, you earn the normal amount of gold. The Charms and their effects are as follows:

Magimug: Grants a 5% chance for an attack to generate a huge amount of gold when an enemy is damaged. The higher the damage dealt from the attack, the more gold you receive when this effect is triggered.
Kinetic Charm: Grants a 5% chance to instantly gain an Arcane Charge when you kill an enemy.
Tranquil Charm: Makes your Arcane Charges refill faster when you're not attacking.
Jade Leaf Charm: Restores 20% of the crystal's health after every wave.
Arcane Charm: Makes you always start with at least three Arcane Charges at the start of every wave.
Trance Charm: Grants a 5% chance for attacks to deal critical damage; critical hits can do up to 300% damage.

Potions[]

Potions are consumable items that improve your Runes and can be bought multiple times; once bought, they immediately take effect. There are three types of Potions, one for each Rune; the first one of each Potion is free, but their prices increase by 550 with every purchase.

Blazing Brew: Permanently increases the base damage of the Blaze Rune by 1.
Gelid Gourd: Permanently increases the base damage of the Frost Rune by 1.
Thunder Tonic: Permanently increases the base damage of the Storm Rune by 1.

Zones[]

Goblin Forest (Tutorial and Levels 1-10): A lush forest area populated by goblins and a few other low-level enemies. The game's tutorial is also situated here.
Haunted Wasteland (Levels 11-20): A spooky barren area overrun by the undead, which are mainly mid-tier enemies.
Volcano Valley (Levels 21-30): A volcanic range inhabited by demons and many other powerful monsters.
Sky Tower (Level 31): A magic floating tower that serves as the game's endless mode. The longer you play, the tougher the enemies get and the more gold they drop.

Enemies[]

General Tips[]

Enemies take more damage and are more susceptible to status effects when staggered or stunned.
Electric attacks are extremely effective on frozen enemies.
Freezing a flying enemy will cause it to fall, dealing massive damage to itself and any enemies it lands on.
Enemy projectiles can be destroyed by hitting them with your own attacks.

Forest Enenies[]

Goblin Grunt: A basic goblin warrior that carries a dagger and uses melee attacks on the crystal. He has no outstanding abilities.
Goblin Stoner: A goblin who carries a bag full of stones, and is able to throw stones at the crystal from far away to deal light damage.
Goblin Batrider: A spear-carrying goblin that rides on a giant bat. Uses melee attacks on the crystal.
Goblin Wizard: A goblin who uses magic attacks which have unlimited range, allowing him to attack the crystal no matter where he is.
Goblin Sorcerer: A more powerful Goblin Wizard that behaves identically to his weaker counterpart but has much more health.
Green Spider: A weak but fast-moving woodland spider that deals very light damage with its melee attacks, but has a high attack speed.
Stump Treant: A tree monster that moves somewhat slowly but has fairly high health and deals heavy damage with its melee attacks. It's particularly weak to fire attacks.
Red Spider: A slightly stronger spider that is mostly the same as a Green Spider but can also heal itself or buff its defense against a random element.
Goblin Flyer: An armored goblin equipped with a jetpack and a missile launcher. Attacks by launching missiles at the crystal to deal heavy damage.
Blue Spider: A stronger spider that moves more slowly but has higher health. It's highly resistant to fire attacks, but extremely weak to electric attacks.

Wasteland Enenies[]

Zombie: Slow-moving but durable enemy that emerges from underground, allowing him to pop up from any point in the field. Uses melee attacks on the crystal, and is weak to fire attacks.
Skeleton Soldier: Fast-moving but fairly weak enemy that uses melee attacks on the crystal with his sword. Emerges from underground, just like a Zombie.
Winged Zombie: Flying enemy that has high health and uses melee attacks on the crystal, but is weak to fire attacks.
Skeleton Archer: A skeleton equipped with a bow and arrows, capable of shooting the arrows from far away to deal medium damage to the crystal.
Flame Treant: A more powerful version of the Stump Treant whose body is on fire, rendering it immune to fire attacks but more vulnerable to the other two elements.
Bone Pillar: A giant pillar made of bones that emerges from the ground to block your shots, making it harder to attack and kill other enemies.
Zombie Titan: A giant zombie carrying a pickaxe. Has very high health and deals heavy damage to the crystal with his melee attacks.
Zombie Slicer: A zombie that throws knives at the crystal from far away, dealing medium-light damage.

Volcano Enenies[]

Demon Lizard: A small demonic lizard that moves quickly but has fairly low health and uses weak melee attacks on the crystal.
Demon Brute: A big, muscular demon that moves slowly but uses stronger melee attacks on the crystal.
Evil Eye: A one-eyed flying demon that has decent health and uses melee attacks on the crystal. It can also teleport to dodge your attacks.
Bomber Lizard: A Demon Lizard carrying a bomb. If it reaches the crystal, it'll self-destruct to deal massive damage. However, it also explodes when killed, and the explosion can also damage nearby enemies.
Flaming Skull: Flies in a straight path towards the crystal and deals medium damage on contact with it, but can be killed in one hit.
Dark Knight: A haunted suit of armor that moves slowly but carries a shield and has very high health. If hit with a strong attack, it loses the shield and takes more damage from your attacks, but moves faster. It's extremely weak to electric attacks.
Succubus: A cute demon girl who constantly generates heart-shaped projectiles that fly across the screen in various patterns. The hearts can deal medium damage to the crystal on contact with it, but they can also affect enemies; on contact with an enemy, the hearts can heal the enemy or buff its defense against random elements.
Minotaur: A huge axe-wielding beast that has very high health and deals massive damage to the crystal with his melee attacks.
Dragon: A giant flying creature that has extremely high health and can shoot huge fireballs that deal massive damage to the crystal. The fireballs are immune to fire attacks.

Bosses[]

King Gobu: The king of all goblins, encountered in the last Goblin Forest stage (Level 10). Contrary to his underlings, Gobu is a gigantic, hulking goblin who has a tremendous amount of health and slowly advances towards the crystal while other low-level and mid-level enemies (namely Stump Treants, Spiders, and various types of Goblins) constantly enter the battle to aid him. Upon reaching the crystal, King Gobu uses a couple heavy-hitting melee attacks on it to deal massive damage, and then jumps backward to repeat the process. As with most normal enemies, King Gobu can be impeded with status effects like slow, freeze, and stun, so try to slow him down with ice or electric attacks so you can get in as much damage as you can before he reaches the crystal.
The Bonelord: An enormous skeleton made of the bones of hundreds of smaller skeletons - and presumably the lord of the undead - encountered in the last Haunted Wasteland stage (Level 20). Much like King Gobu, the Bonelord is a titanic enemy with a copious amount of health but very slow move speed as he marches towards the crystal. However, the Bonelord is able to constantly throw giant balls of bones at the crystal, which deal heavy damage on impact. Plus, the Bonelord is also accompanied by an army of undead enemies that endlessly enter the battlefield as he presses onward. Thankfully, the bone balls can be destroyed with enough damage, and the Bonelord himself is also vulnerable to movement-hindering status effects - though it may not be necessary to use them against the Bonelord since he moves even more slowly than King Gobu. Instead, your best bet is to use fire attacks (the Bonelord is weak to this element) and alternate between destroying the Bonelord's projectiles and dishing out damage to the boss himself.
Greedling: A gargantuan demon that once served the Lord of Greed, encountered in the last Volcano Valley stage (Level 30). He is the final boss of the game. Unlike the other two bosses, the Greedling himself never advances towards the crystal; he sits in the background and sometimes uses one of his attacks while demonic enemies perpetually rush into the fray. Initially, these enemies only consist of weaker grunts such as Demon Lizards and Evil Eyes, but as the Greedling's health dwindles, stronger enemies including Dark Knights and Succubi will start to show up. Compared to the other two bosses, the Greedling has vastly more health; he has so much health, in fact, that his health bar extends all the way across the bottom of the screen as opposed to hovering above his head! On top of that, damaging the Greedling is a challenge in and of itself; his only weak point is the beating heart on his lower abdomen, and most of the Greedling's body is covered in scaly armor which makes it harder to hit the heart since the armor can block your shots. With enough damage, you can destroy the armor on the Greedling's chim, chest, and shoulders, but it takes a lot of damage to do so. The Greedling's attacks are no laughing matter either; he can use two different attacks - both deal extremely massive damage but can be interrupted. The first attack has the Greedling lean backwards, preparing to smash the crystal with his fists; this attack can be stopped by hitting the Greedling's heart enough times. In the second attack, the Greedling conjures a ball of energy and then eventually releases a huge magic blast if he's not stopped. This attack can be prevented by simply shooting at the energy ball enough times.

Achievements[]

This game has 30 achievements in total; each one you earn gives you a permanent 1% boost to your damage output and gold drops from defeated enemies.

First Blood!: Kill an enemy for the first time. (Note: This is a throwaway achievement; you earn this automatically during the game's intro cutscene when Lucrea kills one of the goblins.)
Executioner!: Kill 100 enemies.
Slaughterer!: Kill 1,000 enemies.
Vanquisher!: Kill 10,000 enemies.
Crispy!: Ignite 100 enemies.
Chill!: Freeze 100 enemies.
Stunning!: Stun 100 enemies.
Cold Gravity: Freeze a flying enemy and have it hit and kill another enemy as it falls.
Deflect!: Destroy 100 enemy projectiles.
Interception!: Destroy 500 enemy projectiles.
Arcanoob: Get your first Arcane Spell.
Arcanist: Buy all the Arcane Spells.
Sapiosexual: Max out all Lucrea Tech upgrades.
Rune Master: Fully upgrade all three Runes.
Defeat King Gobu!: Self-explanatory.
King Slayer: Defeat King Gobu without letting the crystal take any damage.
Defeat the Bonelord!: Self-explanatory.
I Need a Bigger Closet!: Defeat the Bonelord without letting the crystal take any damage.
Talzarus the Azure: Defeat the Greedling and finish the game.
Break It Down!: Destroy the Greedling's head, shoulder, and chest armor before killing him.
It's a Trap!: Witness the Greedling execute a bluff with a fake magic attack.
Rekt Greedling!: Defeat the Greedling without letting the crystal take any damage.
Dragon Slayer!: Defeat 100 Dragons.
Have 100 Gold: Self-explanatory.
Have 1,000 Gold: Self-explanatory.
Have 10,000 Gold: Self-explanatory.
Have 100,000 Gold: Self-explanatory.
Milyonarya!: Have 1,000,000 gold in total.
Rune God: Upgrade all three Runes to Level 25 after defeating the Greedling.
Trophy Collector: Get all the achievements.

Trivia[]

This game has a few running gags:
- The goblins refer to themselves and each other as "Gobu". This is likely in reference to their king, whose name is Gobu.
- Lucrea despises being called a witch, so much so that the word "witch" angers her no matter what context it's said in. This is reflected in-game in multiple ways:
  - Goblin enemies constantly hurl insults at Lucrea, calling her things like "filthy witch". Whenever they do this, Lucrea becomes enraged and her attacks become more powerful for a few seconds.
  - In the game's menus, any word that contains the word "witch" in it has the W crossed out.