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This subject appears in Serious Sam 3: BFE. This subject appears in Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope.  This subject appears in Serious Sam 4.  This subject appears in Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem.  This subject is from the Mental War era. 

 
"Ladies, ladies, calm down. You'll all get a piece of me."
Sam Stone[src]
 

The Witch-Bride of Achriman is an enemy that uses her powerful psychic abilities to attack her targets from a distance. She is first introduced as an enemy and boss 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 many tentacles protruding from her back. She wears a metallic bikini not dissimilar to that worn by the Scythian Witch-Harpy. Originally sorceresses of the Great Council, the Witch-Bride were faced with destruction at the hands of the legendary evil known in their language as Khad Shain.[1] So, her race arranged an alliance with Lord Achriman, Ruler of the Shadow Plane, but were deceived by him and overwhelmed by his dark powers.[1] They were manipulated and toyed with by Achriman and forced to work for Mental against their will. As a result of this twisted fate, 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]

Application[]

Witch-Brides usually serve as support units in Mental's Horde, and assist her fellow troops by distracting the opponent and leaving them vulnerable to her psychic attacks. 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 Dark Bride. Later, they often appear 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[]

In Serious Sam 4, the Witch-Bride first appears as a miniboss in 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 or three.

Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem[]

The Witch-Bride is first introduced at the end of the Hide and Seek sidequest 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[]

Witch-Bride boss SS3

The Witch-Bride's first appearance in the Serious Sam 3: BFE campaign.

As Witch-Brides are trapped between both the real world and the Shadow Plane, they have to shift between limnial states in order to use their psychokinetic abilties. 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 randomly teleport around the area upon sighting the player, eventually closing in on them. If she is within range of the player, but cannot find a suitable opening (her path is blocked by obstacles such as buildings), she will teleport elsewhere in the player's vicinity to a more suitable place to attack form. 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[]

The Witch-Bride will pick up and throw random debris at the player to attack. The debris she throws can be shot down mid-air. Unlike her previous appearances, she leaves behind a smoky black and purplish trail when she teleports, which can allow the player to track her movements.

Compared to before, the Witch-Bride's projectiles are much harder to avoid, as, like the Lava Golem, her AI predicts the direction in which the player will be moving in.

Like other enemies in these titles, the Witch-Bride can be dealt more damage if she is shot in the head; a headshot from the RAPTOR Sniper Rifle or TCC-2 "Perun" Crossbow is a guaranteed one-shot kill.

Tactics[]

General[]

  • Ideally, one of the best weapons to use against Witch-Brides is the A-24 Devastator. It 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 after the weapon is fired. Its high damage output is 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.
  • 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.
  • The RAPTOR Sniper Rifle is also an effective option, as only a few shots are needed to kill one. Ammunition for the sniper rifle is scarce though in the Serious Sam 3 campaign, so it is best used for quick elimination of Witch-Brides or as a last resort.
  • In most situations, Witch-Brides should be considered high-priority targets 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 or Scrapjacks.

Serious Sam 3: BFE[]

  • Despite their low-damage attacks, Witch-Brides are one of the most difficult enemies to kill in the game. Because they are only vulnerable as they are preparing an attack (which is visible by the glow effect that surrounds them changing from purple or invisible to a bright yellow, their tentacles will begin flailing quickly, and the crosshair starts to show her health), there is only a small window to inflict damage and force them to withdraw before they cause damage.
  • The Devastator is an excellent weapon to use against Witch-Brides, as the projectiles fired by the weapon are fast enough to make contact with her. In the Serious Sam Fusion of Serious Sam 3, the Devastator can dispatch a Witch-Bride in three shots.
  • 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.
  • In addition, Witch-Brides teleport randomly around the battlefield and can appear without warning anywhere they can see the player. 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 their own though, it is easy to combat this problem. Simply move into a corner or other area with restricted view to reduce the area the player has to watch. Witch-Brides have to teleport into open air and have line-of-sight to their target, so this way the player can reduce the area they can teleport to and can take quick action.
  • 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, along with her lack of telekinetic choking ability. She is also much easier to find as, when she teleports, 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 alternate fire modes for them.
  • 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.
  • 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[]

Achievement Painful Divorce
Painful Divorce
Kill a Witch-Bride of Achriman.

Serious Sam 3 VR: BFE[]

Achievement Painful Divorce SS3VRBFE
Painful Divorce
Kill a Witch-Bride of Achriman.

Serious Sam Fusion[]

Achievement Painful Divorce SSF
Painful Divorce
Kill a Witch-Bride of Achriman.

Serious Sam 4[]

Achievement Veni Vidi Witchy
Veni Vidi Witchy 20 Gscore Ps 3 bronze
Kill a Witchbride using C4.

Trivia[]

  • The Witch-Bride, along with Cloned SoldiersTechnopolyps, and Sandwhales, are the only enemies that do not appear in the Jewel of the Nile campaign.
  • The Witch-Bride is called "psykick" in Serious Sam 3'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.
  • The name of the level, The Dark Bride, is a reference to the Witch-Bride and that she appears as a boss exclusively to this level.

Gallery[]

Artwork[]

Serious Sam 3: BFE[]

Serious Sam 4[]

List of appearances[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Serious Sam 4 NETRICSA description
  2. 2.0 2.1 Serious Sam 3: BFE NETRISCA description
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