The Witch-Bride of Achriman is an enemy who uses her powerful psychic abilities to attack her targets from a distance. She is first introduced as an enemy and miniboss in Serious Sam 3: BFE, and then later appearing in Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope, Serious Sam 4, and Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem. Her attacks vary depending on what game she appears in.
Overview[]
The Witch-Bride is a female humanoid alien with six tentacles protruding from her back. She wears a metallic bikini not dissimilar to that worn by the Scythian Witch-Harpy, and she has long fingernails. She doesn't appears to not have any feet, but instead stubs where her they used to be.
Originally sorceresses of the Great Council, the Witch-Brides were faced with destruction at the hands of the legendary evil known in their language as "Khad Shain".[1] So they agreed to an alliance with Lord Achriman, ruler of the Shadow Plane, but were deceived and overwhelmed by his dark powers.[1] Having lost all independence and being molded into nothing more than puppets for their enemy's will, they are now known as 'Witch-Brides of Achriman'.
After being made to serve in Mental's army, the Witch-Brides became trapped in an eternal semiotic limbo between the physical world and the Shadow Plane. They shift between these limnial states, using their pyschokinetic abilities to attack their opponents.[2][1]
Application[]
Witch-Brides usually serve as support units in Mental's Horde, assisting their fellow troops by distracting the opponent and thus forcing them out into the open where she can unleash her powerful psychic attacks onto the target. The Witch-Bride is usually spawned far away from the player, but she can easily close in on them by teleporting.
Appearances[]
Witch-Brides are not very common throughout the games they appear in. When they first appear, they serve as a boss. After the player kills the boss version, they will soon be encountered as regular enemies later in the levels, often to distract the player while they are busy attacking other enemies.
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
In Serious Sam 3, the Witch-Bride is first fought as a boss in the eight level of the game, "The Dark Bride". Later, she often appears one or two at a time. Many Witch-Brides are encountered in the later levels, most notably in "The Last Man on Earth" and "The Guardian of Time".
Serious Sam 4[]
The Witch-Bride first appears as a miniboss in the third level, "Gates of Hell", and then later on scattered through the levels. She is about as common in this installment as she is in Serious Sam 3. When Witch-Brides are encountered, they either appear alone or in groups of two to three.
Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem[]
The Witch-Bride is first introduced at the end of the Hide and Seek side quest in "Siberiade". Later on, she appears scattered throughout the levels, following the same spawning and attacking mechanics as in Serious Sam 4. She is more common when playing on Serious difficulty and New Game+.
Behavior and skills[]
A Witch-Bride demonstrates her powers by lifting up and shattering bricks with her psychokinetic abilities.
As Witch-Brides are trapped in a limbo between material reality and the Shadow Plane, they have to shift between liminal states in order to use their psychokinetic abilties. As such, they can only be damaged when fully visible to the naked eye.[1] The Witch-Bride's spells allow her to warp space in order to protect herself, hurl projectiles or crush her enemies.[2] In order to use her spells, however, she has to temporarily shift into physical existence, which makes her momentarily vulnerable.
Between attacks, a Witch-Bride will phase out of reality and teleport to a different location nearby. She can also use her psychic abilites to deflect incoming projectiles, including bullets and even explosives, which detonate harmlessly in front of her.
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
Upon spawning, the Witch-Bride will remain idle, floating in mid-air. Upon sighting the player, she will randomly teleport around the area, eventually closing in on them until she is within a suitable range to use her attacks. If she is unable to find a suitable opening (her path is blocked by obstacles such as buildings or other obstacles), she will teleport elsewhere in the player's vicinity. Her range from the player also has an impact on her attacks; from afar, her attacks deal minor damage over a short period, but at closer range, she can use them to deliver a powerful ranged grab that will pick the player up and crush them, doing moderate damage, restricting the player's aim speed, and preventing movement.
In the Serious Sam Fusion version of the game, the Witch-Bride's health has been reduced to 350, making her slightly less challenging to deal with than before.
Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope[]
The Witch-Bride's behavior is a lot different and she does not have invulnerability or block attacks. Instead, she will toss several projectiles at the player and teleport around more frequently.
Serious Sam 4/Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem[]
Witch-Brides behave differently in contrast to the previous games, behaving similarly to her incarnation in The Last Hope, in which she will pick up and throw random debris at the player to attack. Rather than instantly disappearing and reappearing in another location, she will move around in the form of a stream of particles, leaving behind a smoky trail of black and purplish particles when she moves. This can allow the player to easily track her movements. When attacking, the debris she hurls at the player can be easily shot down mid-air. However, compared to the Witch-Bride in Serious Sam 3, her projectiles are much harder to avoid, as, like the Lava Golem, her AI predicts the direction in the player will be moving towards.
Like other enemies in these titles, the Witch-Bride can be dealt more damage when she is shot in the head; a single round from the RAPTOR Sniper Rifle, A-24 Devastator or TCC-2 "Perun" Crossbow to her head will result in an instant kill. She also has less health than in the original version of Serious Sam 3, instead having the same HP (350) as she does in the Serious Sam Fusion version of the latter game.
Tactics[]
General[]
- Ideally, the best weapons to use against Witch-Brides is the A-24 Devastator or RAPTOR Sniper Rifle. The Devastator fires projectiles fast enough that the Witch-Bride doesn't have time to teleport to dodge the projectile(s) and they will hit her almost instantly. The high damage output of these weapons are guaranteed to kill a Witch-Bride in just a few hits. Thanks to the Devastator's properties, it is a very effective weapon to use against groups of Witch-Brides and should be used whenever possible.
- The sniper rifle is also an effective option, as only a few shots are needed to kill one. Ammunition for the sniper rifle is scarce in the Serious Sam 3 campaign, so it is best used for quick elimination of Witch-Brides or as a last resort.
- A single uncharged shot from the SBC Cannon is enough to kill a Witch-Bride, which can make it useful when there are several Witch-Brides at once. The player should charge the cannon slightly before firing, though, as the cannonball may likely miss.
- When not having a cannon, the aforementioned Devastator is the second best option.
- In most situations, a Witch-Bride should be considered a high-priority target and killed as soon as possible, as they can easily distract the player and prevent them from attacking should they happen to encounter dangerous enemies such as Major Bio-mechanoids, Khnums or Scrapjacks.
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
- Despite her low-damage attacks, Witch-Brides are one of the most difficult enemies to kill in the game, especially in the original version. Because she is only vulnerable as she is preparing an attack (which is visible by the glow effect that surrounds her changing from purple or invisible to a bright yellow, her tentacles will begin flailing quickly, and the crosshair starts to show her health), there is only a small window to inflict damage and force her to withdraw before the player can cause damage.
- In addition, Witch-Brides teleport randomly around the battlefield and can appear without warning anywhere she sees you. This makes it difficult to combat them if they are amongst other enemies and the player cannot pay enough attention to look out for them. On her own though, it is easy to combat this problem; simply move into a corner or other area with restricted view to reduce the area she has to watch. Witch-Brides have to teleport into open air and have line-of-sight to attack their target, so this way you can reduce the area they can teleport to and can take quick action.
- The Devastator is an excellent weapon to use against Witch-Brides, as the projectiles fired from the weapon are fast enough to make contact with her before she can teleport away.
- The weapon is even more useful against her in the Serious Sam Fusion version of Serious Sam 3, taking only 3 shots to kill her.
- The player can interrupt her attack by either breaking line-of-sight or shooting her, causing enough damage for her to retreat; usually one rocket or Devastator round is enough. Because she will immediately defend herself and withdraw the player can only hit her once with an explosive before she disappears. When the player's crosshair changes colour from white to green/yellow/red when aiming at her, she is vulnerable.
- When paired with other enemies, the player should try to harm the Witch-Bride with a rapid-firing weapon like the M29 Infantry Assault Rifle long enough that it forces her to retreat, so that the player can focus on clearing out other enemies. When the other enemies have been eliminated, the player can finish off the Witch-Bride, if they haven't already.
Serious Sam 4/Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem[]
- The Witch-Bride isn't as dangerous in this installment due to her lower health (still, her attacks can be dangerous to an unsuspecting or distracted player), along with her lack of telekinetic choking ability. She is also much easier to find as, when she moves around, she leaves a purple trail of black particles behind; follow the trail to find her when she reappears.
- Strong weapons such as the MK III Grenade Launcher and XPML21 Rocket Launcher are good weapons to use on her, especially if the player has acquired the Multirocket upgrade for the rocket launcher. This upgrade works great for when faced with several Witch-Brides if the player can lock onto more than one.
- Like other enemies, the Witch-Bride will take triple damage when she is shot in the head; ideal weapons to use are the Devastator, TCC-2 "Perun" Crossbow, or RAPTOR Sniper Rifle. A single headshot will instantly kill her.
- As a last resort or if playing on Serious difficulty and/or New Game+, the cannon and FRPCL are very effective weapons to use against the Witch-Bride, especially when several of them appear at once.
- If the player is daring enough, they can toss a C-4 Demolition Charge onto the Witch-Bride and quickly detonate it, resulting in dealing severe damage to her if not killing her outright. This is always a gamble, however, as the player needs to get close enough to initiate such an action and puts them at risk of the Witch-Bride's attacks. Additionally, she may fly away before the player can react.
- When paired with other enemies, Witch-Brides are medium-priority targets. Their attacks can be avoided but are dangerous when left unchecked. This is especially true when playing on higher difficulty settings.
Behind the scenes[]
- Early Serious Sam 3 concept art of the Witch-Bride looks somewhat different when compared to the one seen in later media. She has the Serious Sam 1 Scythian Witch-Harpy's helmet and a more slender figure. It could be that the old Witch-Bride image was an edited Harpy.
- Early Serious Sam 4 design concepts show the Witch-Bride in different outfits and having more pointed tentacles.
Related achievements[]
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
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| Kill a Witch-Bride of Achriman. |
Serious Sam 3 VR: BFE[]
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| Kill a Witch-Bride of Achriman. |
Serious Sam Fusion[]
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| Kill a Witch-Bride of Achriman. |
Serious Sam 4[]
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| Kill a Witchbride using C4. |
Trivia[]
- The Witch-Bride is one of four enemies that does not appear in the Jewel of the Nile campaign. The others are the Cloned Soldier, Technopolyp, and Sandwhale.
- The Witch-Bride is called "psykick" in Serious Sam 3 and Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope's game files.
- In the original version of Serious Sam 3, if a Witch-Bride kills a player in co-op, an on-screen obituary message reading "[player name] married a Witchbride." will appear on-screen.
- She is one of the few enemies that the Sirian Mutilator has no effect on.
- The achievement "Veni Vidi Witchy" is a play on Veni, vidi, vici (I came; I saw; I conquered), a Latin phrase popularly attributed to Julius Caeser.
- In the original version of Serious Sam 3, Mordekai the Summoner's death sound is used as the Witch-Bride's death sound, with her actual death sound being used as an Explode sound scheme. Her actual death sound is used as a sound event for her death animations with the puppet source set to Mouth, which prevents the Mordekai death sound from playing.
Gallery[]
Artwork[]
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
Serious Sam 4[]
List of appearances[]
- Serious Sam 3: BFE (first appearance)
- Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope
- Serious Sam 3 VR: BFE (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam 4
- Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Serious Sam 4 NETRICSA description
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Serious Sam 3: BFE NETRISCA description
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