The old magics of the coven are fading in Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree, a Soulslike search-action offering from Primal Game Studio. The lands of Faelduum are beset by danger on all sides, including the threat of Entropy's ever-encroaching darkness. As an Inquisitor tasked with enforcing the orders of the King Priest, it’s up to you and your allies to stave off a cataclysmic disaster.

Our Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree guide contains tips to help you survive your journey through Faelduum. Below, we discuss Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree's playable classes and unlockable abilities, as well as recruitable companions and other matters related to exploration and combat.

 

Choose from six unique classes

Before you start Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree's campaign, you'll choose from six playable classes, each with its own starting skill. Classes include the following:

• Vanguard: Defensive specialist who can Uppercut foes to make them bleed.
• Flameweaver: Spellcaster who can launch a Fire Bolt at enemies.
• Spellbinder: Master of magic who can channel a Chaos Beam that deals damage per second.
• Nightshade: Duelist with the Envenom skill, which coats their dagger in corrosive poison.
• Wyldwarden: Guardian of nature whose Wyld Vines rip through the ground to push back targets.
• Vindicator: Holy warrior whose Smite ability damages all evildoers in the vicinity.

Each class has their own starting gear and attributes, such as physical damage, magical damage, toughness, and more. Select a class depending on your preferred playstyle and unlock more abilities and perks as you progress.

 

Make a hybrid class by learning new skills, spells, and perks

One of the most important tips to remember in Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree is that you’re technically not locked into a single class for your entire playthrough.

Most skills can be acquired from enemies or skill books. These include the abilities of other classes, which you won’t be able to use by default. You can use your talent points to obtain passive perks that boost your overall capabilities in combat. For instance, the Wyldwarden has bonuses to their rooting effect (i.e. crowd control and immobilizing hostiles).

Once you reach level 25, you can also put a Mastery point into other talent trees. These allow you to equip items usable only by a specific class. For example, Combat Mastery grants defensive skills and lets you use larger shields like a Vanguard, while Assassination Mastery lets you wield daggers and use perks only available to the Nightshade.

You decide which path to take. Do you want to focus on the class that you started with, empowering its perks and abilities as you go along? Or would you like to try a hybrid class, with the flexibility to try different kinds of skills and weaponry?

Even better: If you don’t like your current build, you can fully reset your allocated talent points.

 

Approach the game as a Soulslike, not a hack-and-slash

Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree is a Soulslike, not a traditional search-action game where you can hack-and-slash your way to victory. Indeed, mindlessly spamming your attacks is an easy way to get your character killed.

Try to take a more methodical approach. Most of your actions—from attack swings and casting spells to sprinting and dodging—cost stamina. If your stamina is low, your attacks will be slower, too. You can block blows if you have a shield, but it’s often better to dodge instead.

Both you and your foes have a Poise value, which means you can get staggered or temporarily stunned. Enemies that cause explosions, do tremor stomps, or brace their shields can stun you for several seconds if you’re not careful. You'll need to learn the attack patterns of enemies, especially certain “tells” when they’re about to do a powerful move.

 

Look before you leap and beware of traps

Monsters and fierce beasts aren’t always the biggest threats you'll encounter. Sometimes, it’s those careless missteps that happen as you’re roaming around various zones. There are innumerable traps and hazards in Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree.

Several dungeons contain insidious arrow, poison, and spike traps. Some even have bottomless pits and swinging pendulums. As such, you should always tread carefully. Wait and see the pattern of traps before you make a move, and if you're going to jump off a ledge, pan the camera downward first to see if there’s a ledge that you can land on.

To be clear, some of these hazards don’t just deal damage. They might outright kill your character, leading to a quick game over.

 

Use Witch Stones, Altars, and your handy map to aid in exploration

Witch Stones are akin to bonfires or waypoints in other Souls games. These allow you to fast travel to other landmarks that you’ve discovered. You can also rest and replenish your health and potions—though regular enemies will respawn, too. And if your character perishes, you’ll respawn at the last Witch Stone that you interacted with. You must return to where your character fell to their doom to retrieve Essence, the resource used to level up.

At Altars, meanwhile, you can offer an item to receive a boon, such as additional talent points.

Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree has a pretty handy map with markers for any doors, chests, and landmarks that you’ve discovered. You can place your own markers as well, making it easy to revisit earlier areas once you’ve acquired new traversal methods.

 

Recruit more companions to obtain their services

As you progress further into Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree’s campaign, you’ll meet all sorts of vagabonds and adventurers, all seeking to survive the end of the world. You can have them join you at the Witch Tree, a small campsite that acts as your main hub.

Companions offer numerous functions and services. For instance, Ulfar the Blacksmith can smelt ores and craft heavy armors, Shirin the Tailor handles gear made of cloth and leather, and Yrsa the Jeweler has a variety of accessories for you.

These companions can also be upgraded if you give them resources or diagrams. This process adds new functions, vendor wares, discounts, and other perks.

 

Save your lockpicks for the most valuable treasure chests

Dungeons in Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree hide many secrets, including an abundance of treasure chests. Many won’t be accessible at the start, since you need to acquire powers like the Double Jump or Glide. Some are especially well-hidden, and you might need to destroy walls with your weapon just to find them.

That said, a lot of treasure chests are also locked, and you can only open them if you have lockpicks in your inventory. While it might be tempting to open every chest that you stumble upon, it’s not a good idea if you still don’t have a lot of lockpicks. Instead, we suggest saving your lockpicks for more valuable gold chests, which contain better goodies.

 

Venture deeper into the Corrupted Portal

A few hours into Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree, the Inquisitor meets a woman named Branween, who sheds some light on the state of the world. Entropy is encroaching upon Faelduum, and it’s looking like the darkness can't be stopped.

Branween then asks you to enter the Corrupted Portal, showing you a world that has been broken and shattered by Entropy. While this future has yet to happen, you can nevertheless venture into this version of the world with protection from the Witch Lantern. This mystical device is denoted by a meter that’s gradually depleted the longer that you stay in the realm. You'll need to avoid hazards, traverse platforming sections, and bring down corrupted foes in hopes of finding ways to restore the Witch Lantern’s protection and continue your journey.

That does it for our Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree guide. We hope these tips help you on this near-40-hour journey to save the land of Faelduum.

Those eager for Soulslike action wrapped in dark fantasy themes of fae magic and occult corruption should pick up Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree, available now on the Epic Games Store. Check out the Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree - Digital Deluxe Edition, which includes the base game, original soundtrack, digital artbook, deluxe armor transmogrification effect, and deluxe pet follower.