Witcher 3 Water Hag Redesign
Why the Redesign?
A core issue in Witcher 3 enemy design is the fact that all enemies behave very similarly.
- They engage on proximity, surround the player and, for the most part, just do a series of melee attacks.
- The player response to these behaviours is usually
Light Attack, 
Dodge and 
Quen shield to avoid damage. Despite having a vast array of abilities, players often have few meaningful opportunities to use them. - Due to enemy similarity, combat encounters also rarely mix up enemy types.
I did a breakdown on many of the Witcher 3 Combat issues in another blog post.
The Water Hag is also a culprit of this pattern. If the player wants to kill her, they have to get in close range to which the creature usually responds with the ever-so familiar melee attacks.
However, the Water Hag also has a very interesting, unique behaviour – when at range, she grabs a piece of mud and throws it at the character, smearing mud across players’ screens.
With that in mind, I would take the Water Hag reduce its reliance on melee behaviours and capitalize on this unique Mud interaction.
Water Hag - "The Lady of Mud"
Goals
- Give her a more distinguished role, breaking from the repeated melee attack patterns of all the enemies.
- Create opportunities for players to showcase other abilities beyond the Light Attack, Dodge, Quen.
- Allow her to be combined with other enemies to create opportunities to diversify combat encounters.
Values
- Lean on her distinguishing qualities –Â Mud!
- Keep her simple, but challenging and fun.
- Make the player feel like a Witcher, planning and outsmarting enemies.
Abilities
Current Abilities
Currently, she has the following abilities:
- Melee Attacks → hitbox based attacks (mostly claw sweeps).
- Mud Ball → thrown projectile. When it hits the player, it damages and smears their screen with mud.
- Submerge → she disappears underwater and reappears elsewhere.
This leads her to fall in the following archetypes:
- Fighter → from the melee attacks.
- Shooter → from its projectile attack.
- Blinder → from the secondary effect of the projectile hitting.
I didn’t consider the Submerge ability as an archetype-defining feature, since it merely breaks the pace of battle, but the player can just close the distance and return to the fighting state.
New Abilities
In my redesign approach, I’d giver her the following abilities:
- Mud Ball → thrown projectile. When it hits the player, it damages and smears their screen with mud.
- Muddy Submerge → she submerges immediately when the player gets close, splashing mud in an area around her, and then reappears elsewhere.
My ideas is to move her completely away from melee attacks (which the game has more than enough). That would give her a specific niche as a ranged shooter, on top of having the unique interaction of blinding the player with mud.
New archetypes:
- Shooter → from its projectile attack.
- Blinder → from the projectile hit effect and the splashing mud effect when submerging.
- Evader → Submerge would now be an ability to get away from the player. This would have players reconsider how they could counter this elusive behaviour.
Combat Dynamics
Mud Ball
The Water Hag now tries to keep her distance from the player and throw Mud Balls against them.
- If the Mud Ball hits, the player takes damage and the screen gets muddy.
- The player has the option to dodge beforehand.
This is similar to how it is implemented right now.
Muddy Submerge
If the player gets too close, she submerges, splashing mud all around her and blinding the player.
She then reappears in another position, ready to start throwing mud balls again.
Player Strategies
Currently, the Water Hag has four weaknesses listed in the in-game bestiary:
- Northern Wind Bomb
- Necrophage Oil
- Quen
- Igni
From these I’d keep the following:
Northern Wind Bomb – Freezing Bomb
- Range: Long
- Uses: Limited Charges
- Effect: The freezing effect, stuns and stops the Water Hag from submerging allowing the player to get close and land a few hits.
- Duration: Long
Igni – Magic Sign
- Range: Medium
- Uses: Unlimited
- Effect: The burning effect causes her to panic (as it already does). This also disables her Mud Ball and Submerge behaviours temporarily.
- Duration: Short
Necrophage Oil – Sword Oil
- Applied to the player’s sword, a simple damage boost against the creature.
Between the Northern Wind Bomb and Igni, the bomb is the superior choice. However, it is harder to use and has limited charges so it keeps some trade-offs against Igni.
I’d also remove Quen as part of the creature weaknesses. Currently, it protects from damage and the mud screen effects. I’d keep the player protected against damage (in line with the rules of the combat system), but the player’s screen would still get smeared with mud.
Other skills that could gain usefulness include:
- Crossbow → the player is so reliant on melee combat, that with this redesign, the crossbow could have an opportunity to gain relevance against an enemy that is always evading close contact.
- Axii and Aard Signs → both signs can also have crowd control effects. Axii can stun enemies briefly and Aard knocks them down. This could also be a strategy to stop the Water Hag from getting away. Nonetheless, I’d make it less effective than the Northern Wind Bomb and Igni since these are the creature’s main weaknesses informed to the player.
Recovering from Crowd Control
After she takes a few hits and recovers from player’s crowd control – be it from Northern Wind Bomb, Igni or any other less effective abilities – the Water Hag screams, warning the player about an incoming Muddy Submerge, and then return to her old routine.
Combat Dynamics Wrap-Up
The fact that she is constantly on the move, forces the player to reconsider their approach, and breaks them from the Light Attack, Dodge, Quen strategy.
Players can use both Light Attacks and Heavy Attacks, but must first create an opportunity to do so. This aims at making the player outsmart their enemies and feel like a Witcher.
The fact that the Water Hag stays far away, throwing Mud Balls might open the possibility for the player to just ignore her. On the other hand, this sort of deterministic enemy could be cleverly employed with level design, creating unique combat situations:
- Having Water Hags in tight spaces that limit player actions/dodge space.
- Position Water Hags on high ground pressuring players from above and limiting their tactical options.
Finally, these creatures can also create interesting encounters when combined with other enemies.
Combining with other Enemies
So, how would the Water Hag combine with other enemies?
Turret Enemy
If the player ignores her, she basically becomes a static turret.
- The player has to constantly be aware of their own positioning and surroundings.
- They also need to direct the camera in a certain way to keep track of incoming Mud Balls.
The player may chose between dealing with her first or the rest of the enemies in the encounter, keeping in mind that she will do the Muddy Submerge if the player gets close.
Players might be spamming the Light Attack, Dodge, Quen as they are fighting the regular “melee-attack patterned” enemies. But now:
- They must choose to use other abilities to deal with the Water Hag first.
- Or they can just endure the Mud Ball pressure and deal with her at the end.
Mud Balls on Enemies
Another interesting combination dynamic is the fact that now Mud Balls could also damage enemies.
- The enemy takes damage and is staggered for a few frames.
- The damaged enemy then turns against the Water Hag!
- The player can try to use positioning more deliberately to turn the tide of battle.
- This allows players to nullify the Water Hag and another enemy(for a few moments at least) as they would be fighting each other.
- And best of all: this would make players feel smart and resourceful – like a Witcher!
Permutations
This final section will simply list some alternatives to a Water Hag redesign or even permutations of stronger versions of the enemy that capitalizes on lessons learned by the player.
Permutation #01 – Mud Wave
Instead of a Mud Ball, this version of the Water Hag could create a Mud Wave.
- This would require more spatial awareness and movement from the player.
- It could also create an opportunity to use the Roll ability that covers more distance than Dodge (on my Witcher 3 Combat Issues post, I analyze why the player hardly has any reason to Roll).
Permutation #02 – Mud Healing Ball
A different type of Water Hag, with a different type of Mud Ball that now heals the target. This projectile would travel slower and have a different aspect.
- This could lead players to target the Water Hag first as she now has the archetype of Healer.
- However, it could also lead players to cleverly intercept the Mud Ball and snatch the heal to themselves (mud wrap treatments are good for your health).
Permutation #03 – Mud Splash
Another form for a mud-based Attack could be an area of effect splash. The Water Hag plunges her hands into the ground, creating a mud explosion on the player’s location.
- Players could move away from it. But they could also stay in it with enemies.
- The damage taken could be worth, to have enemies turn against her.
- Alternatively, Quen could be used cleverly:
- Players usually use it to prevent damage that they did not mean to take.
- Here, they would use it to prevent damage that they meant to take.
Permutation #04 – Healing Splash
If we take inspiration from the healing permutation and combine it with the splash, we get an area of effect healing that heals both player and enemies.
- A healing splash that affects both player and enemies, can have players situationally decide if it’s best to move out or stay.
- If the player health is low and enemies are still high, it can be beneficial to stay.
- If enemies are almost dead, it might not be.
