How to unlock Gnosis in Witchfire

Gnosis is a stat that was added to Witchfire in January 2024 to help with the game's balance. To unlock it, level it, and use it, you will need to complete a big checklist of items.

Where to find Gnosis unlock in the Hermitory

After returning to the Hermitorium, turn right from the portal that takes you out into the world to fight the witch. Just inside the door of the building where your armory and mirror are, turn left. There will be a new hallway here that is lit up in red. Take the stairs down into the church, and there will be a large table with a big book on it. This is where you can learn Gnosis. You will need to pay 2,500 Volatile Witchfire to open this area.

What is Gnosis?

Gnosis is an unlockable that grows "your understanding of dark magic..., revealing hidden paths and events," according to developers The Astronauts. You will need to complete a list of items for each level of Gnosis, which will get progressively more difficult as you get to higher levels. This is separate from your other stats, and while level ups aren't required to complete Witchfire, Gnosis levels are.

The player's level, since Gnosis was added, no longer changes the difficulty of forays into the witch's territories. When you raise your level, the witch will reorder her defenses, but the difficulty level only ascends when you raise the Gnosis level. With each Gnosis level, you will add new enemies, new traps, and enemies will be more challenging.

When should I level my Gnosis?

Since the Gnosis level makes all enemies harder and adds new, very scary things to the maps, you will want to make sure you are prepared before leveling it up. Once you have leveled up your Gnosis, you cannot go back to a lower Gnosis level. This means if you are low level with few weapons and no upgrades, you will struggle a lot with the world outside the Hermitorium. Basically, you should level until you find the content easy, then move to the next Gnosis level. Here are some recommendations I have for leveling Gnosis.

• Level 1: Leveling to Gnosis 1 made a pretty big difference in the difficulty, at least to me. You can probably do this whenever you have the Volatile Witchfire available to get it done.
• Level 2: I would suggest being at least level 20, have a couple of Mysteriums unlocked on some weapons, have a fetish you like, and both a big and small spell unlocked. You also want a leveled long-range weapon for some of the bigger, flying baddies that come at you.
• Level 3: I think getting to level 28-30, making sure you put some points into Luck. You should have a favorite weapon upgraded to Mysterium III, have a set of rings you are comfortable using, have a fetish in each of your three slots, and have a demonic weapon you like unlocked as well. We've got a list of all weapons you can unlock with your mirror in Witchfire for your convenience. Also, make sure to unlock Arcana before you go to level 3.
• Level 4: You will want to be at least level 40ish, distributing some points into health, extra healing flasks, and three fully upgraded weapons (demonic weapons can't be upgraded, but you should be comfortable with it), fully upgraded fetish, relic, and ring, and some high-end spells.

After you level your Gnosis, I suggest always going back to the Scarlet Coast and messing around for a bit. This will give you a good idea of the new enemies, traps, and everything else you have unlocked before you dive into the harder content. This isn't necessary, but some of the traps and things are really sneaky, and figuring out their tells in a safer space is usually a good thing to do.

All levels of Gnosis in Witchfire

There will eventually be 10 Gnosis levels in Witchfire. In update 0.4, there are currently four total levels available of the 10. Since each level raises the difficulty of the world outside the Hermitorium, you will need to interact with the new maps you unlock while playing.

Level 1 Gnosis

To unlock Gnosis level 1, you need to be carrying 12,000 volatile Witchfire; you won't spend the 12,000 Witchfire on this unlock, you just need to have it in your inventory when you head to the book. The second thing you need to do is find the Shipwrecks in the first two maps.

Locations of the shipwrecks on the Scarlet Coast

There are two total shipwrecks you need to see to unlock the first level of Gnosis:

• The first shipwreck can be found on the southeastern part of the Isle of the Damned; head to the south and east until you hit the cliff that overlooks the sea. There is a massive ship there that sticks up over the edge of the cliff, so it's very difficult to miss.
• The second shipwreck is located on the Scarlet Coast, again in the southeastern part of the map. There is a beach that is littered with small boats, and a massive barge further out to sea. To get these to count, you just need to look out over them from the shore; you can't swim so you can't actually get on the boats themselves.

What can you do with level 1 Gnosis?

Gnosis level 1 mostly just makes the map harder. You don't unlock much with Gnosis 1 out in the world, but it does allow you to unlock several new weapons, fetishes, and other objects in the mirror. There will be some locations on the map that now glow, you will be able to spend Volatile Witchfire to unlock them. They have treasure, lore, and shortcuts behind them.

Level 2 Gnosis

Unlike unlocking Gnosis level 1, you only need two of the three items on the list to unlock level 2. The three things on the checklist are:

• Be carrying 30,000 Volatile Witchfire
• Force Manifestations
• Defeat the first Shieldbearer Familiar

How do you Force Manifestations?

To Force a Manifestation, you need to find an area on the map that is labeled Dangerous. When you kill an enemy in a location that has red Witchfire floating around in the air, you will find Force Manifestations by killing enemies. This will force other enemies into being, and you will have to kill them as well.

Where to find the Shieldbearer Familiar (and how to defeat it)

The Shieldbearer is the main enemy on the Scarlet Coast. You need to have Gnosis level 1 to break into its cave; go to the location marked on the map with a skull with a cross on its forehead. Go down inside by paying Volatile Witchfire.

The Shieldbearer is a pretty easy enemy to kill, even on Gnosis 4; you just need a very good gun to study its moves. A good way to get it down is to freeze it; keeping a big and small ice spell in your back pocket will make this battle a lot easier. I would recommend a Mysterium III Hunger, a high-level Echo, and Frost Cone to help you get through this fight. Ring of Excreta on Mysterium III can also be really helpful.

Phase 1

The Shieldbearer will attack with a faster, amped-up version of the jump attack that the Swordsman does. It will jump in and out, and melee if you get too close to it. You can dodge with the dash or with a jump as it always lands on the ground, but watch your stamina.

Phase 2

Depending on which Gnosis level you are on, the Shieldbearer will bring in Revenant enemies to attack you at around 70 to 80% health. These are melee-only attackers that can be kited pretty easily,

Phase 3

Once the Shieldbearer is at 50%, it will turn into a green Swordsman with a shield. It will be able to attack with the slow-moving green goopy attack balls like the shielded Swordsman can, and it will have a bubble of poison around itself. To not take continuous damage, you need to be inside the bubble of green the Shieldbearer makes. Kill enough of the Revenants to make room for yourself and get nice and close to the Shieldbearer. Frost Cone or other stuns will make this part easier.

What can you do with Gnosis level 2?

Gnosis 2 unlocks the Prophecies, which are additions to the Arcana you get when you absorb Witchfire Manifestations. Prophecies are added onto specific lines of Arcana, and are all different depending on which ones you choose and which line they are on. This level also unlocks the ability to get into the basement of the Wailing Tower in the center of the Isle of the Damned, several locations on the Scarlet Coast, and allows you to start getting the Irongate Castle stuff ready to switch to Gnosis 3.

Level 3 Gnosis

Kind of like level 2, level 3 Gnosis requires you to get three out of the four requirements for getting to the level. The list of things to choose from are:

• Have 35,000 Volatile Witchfire
• Have 30 Gold
• Unlock all Arrival Portals in the Castle
• Kill a Faithful in the Castle

Where to find Gold in Witchfire

Gold can be found in Ammo chests, unlocked chests, and locked chests around the maps. Usually, you only find small stacks at a time, but you can also pick up relics around the map that will have some value to them. These can be found by looking for bags on the map or by following a lost spirit.

Arrival Portals in the Castle in Witchfire

Arrival portals in the Irongate Castle work a little differently than they have so far in other locations. You always spawn at the same portal when beginning this map. However, if you take one of the several green or yellow portals back to the Hermitorium, you will start at that location from then on. This is unlocking an Arrival Portal; there are a total of three on the Castle Map.

Where to find Faithful in Irongate Castle

The Faithful in the Irongate Castle is in the back, eastern-most part of the Castle. It's marked with a skull that has a cross on its forehead.

Level 4 Gnosis

Again, you only need three of the four requirements to unlock level 4 Gnosis once you have completed level 3. The list of possible requirements are:

• Have 50,000 Volatile Witchfire
• Open four mirages
• Kill the Castle's Familiar
• Unlock Mysterium III on any weapon (which you should have done before getting to Gnosis level 3, or the enemies will probably be way too hard).

How to open Mirages in Witchfire

Mirages are the walls in Witchfire that are locked with Gnosis and can be unlocked using Volatile Witchfire. The four Mirages that will count for level 4 Gnosis will only be the four in the Irongate Castle. I am not 100% sure on this, but the locations seem to be randomized.

The Irongate Castle's familiar location

The Familiar is in the northwestern-most part of Castle Irongate. You'll need to make your way through the front door of the castle to the south and push your way into its throne room.

Gnosis Levels 5-10

As of update 0.4, Gnosis levels 5 to 10 don't exist yet. Since Witchfire is still in early access, The Astronauts are still hard at work making the content that will go along with these upper levels of Gnosis, as well as a whole bunch of really difficult enemies, I assume. More information will be added as patches add these levels.

For more Witchfire, check out Best Stats to Upgrade in Witchfire on Pro Game Guides.