The Witch

The Witch is a member of the hordes of the Infected, and the only one initially passive to the Survivors. It is also the only non-playable Special Infected, deemed to be "too dangerous" by Valve. It resembles the average female Common Infected, but instead of standing around and idling, it is usually slumped on the ground and making loud noises which resemble sobbing, which can be heard long before it's ever seen, allowing the player a chance to prepare a plan to deal with it.

Meet the Witch


A Witch will only attack upon being Startled, which is easy to do. There is a long list of things that she does not appreciate.
 * Bright lights
 * Being too close
 * Shooting
 * Setting her on fire
 * Explosions near her

Notice the first two will cause her to growl threateningly and stand; if left alone she will eventually return to kneeling and sobbing. If any of the rest occur, or failure to leave her alone, she will become "Startled," homing in on specifically the character who startled her.

She can and probably will appear on every difficulty and levels. Her first strike on any Survivor will incapitate the character which is followed up by tearing them to shreds, except for on Expert where she instantly kills instead. Needless to say, great care is vital on expert.

After it has killed its target, the Witch begins to run around and scream, seeming to try and escape further hostility. It will still attack anything in her way, pushing Survivors back if they run into her. Eventually, it can get away from the Survivors, mysteriously disappearing once she's completely out of sight.

It is a widely-held belief that it is never, ever worth it to start a fight with a Witch. That said, everyone has fought one. The Director seems to like putting them in the way, particularly at the bottoms of ladders, or in front of an invitingly open door to a safe house, and realistically every group of Survivors finds they absolutely must come into conflict with the Witch, which usually results in 4 stages of emotions felt by a Survivor: Boldness, Confidence, Denial, and Self-Hate.

Extent of Mutations
The Witch has been heavily mutated by this strain of the Infection. Though resembling a typical female infected, it has gained a massive increase in strength, though this is not visible via muscle growth. Its fingers have developed sharp claws, making its hits even deadlier. It is known to cry when not aware of the Survivors, though the exact reasoning behind it is unknown. It's possible that the Witch may also have some memory or real emotions, unlike what the other Infected seem to portray. For example, she is sometimes found near a dead body, making it a possibility that she perhaps knew this person, giving her a reason to cry, or that the infection causes extreme pain in the infected, which would explain why the common infected are sometimes seen sitting down holding their heads and leaning against walls holding their heads. Even though its mentality is largely similar to that of the typical Infected, it's not distracted by things like the flashing lights and beeps of a pipe bomb, nor is it apparently attracted by things such as car alarms going off, though this will alert her of the Survivors' presence.

Survivors
Avoid confrontations with Witches whenever possible, especially on expert difficulty.

If sobbing is heard, it means a Witch is around, but this does not mean you should switch off your flashlights yet. Only until you hear the distinct Witch music does it mean she is very near by, and this music will get louder the closer you get to her. You should alert your team once you hear crying, then again when you hear the music, so turn up your volume. If seen, tell the other Survivors exactly where it is. It helps a great deal to know they cast a red glow on their surroundings. If there are Common Infected blocking your alternate path, try to snipe them from a distance or move through quickly using melee attacks, and avoid landing rounds anywhere near the Witch. Should the Witch be inside a room, the best solution is to shut the door and notify your teammates to not open that door.

Inevitably, though, Witches will be provoked. The Director loves to put a Witch at choke points, such as outside the doorway of a safe house or underneath a Panic Event trigger, and it often places them in areas where Hordes arrive due to Panic Events. If the Witch is obstructing a choke point and must be startled, set up a defensive line and throw explosives before opening fire. If the Witch is accidentally startled (for instance, when a Smoker is choking an ally and you must shoot, or during a Horde attack), backpedal away from it while firing. The Witch pursues and will incapacitate (kill on expert difficulty) the Survivor who startled it if she reaches him/her.

The Witch cannot break through the safe house door like a Tank. One tactic if the Witch is close to the beginning of the level would be for 3 Survivors to hide in the safe house with the door open and for the survivor with the most health to startle the Witch and get inside the safe house before the Witch incapacitates/kills them and close the door. The Witch will run away after a few seconds, and as soon as she does, it is safe (relatively) to leave the safe house again. Tip: Normal doors can slow the Witch down, it will claw a hole in the door that you can shoot through for a short period of time.

Preparing for a Witch

 * It is smart to have at least one person on the survivor side armed with a shotgun or a Hunting rifle, that way, if you have no way of sneaking past her, you will have a better fighting chance against her.
 * Potentially dangerous, but useful, it is smart to locate the witch first, that way, if you are retreating or need a place to hide during a Crescendo Event, you will know where not to go.
 * Turn off your flashlight, this way she is less likely to be startled.
 * Even without the flashlight, she can still be seen; watch out for her glowing red eyes!
 * Make sure you are reloaded and stocked with ammo, you don't want to upset her and have nothing to back you up.

What startles the Witch?

 * Being within the Witch's "anger" proximity. In other words, if one survivor makes the Witch start growling, another survivor standing stock still and outside the Witch's usual personal space (read: totally innocent) may startle her.
 * Touching the Witch (too close!).
 * Shooting/burning the Witch (if you don't actually hit the Witch, shots can land quite close to her without disturbing her).
 * Staying within the Witch's proximity too long.
 * Dropping any item near the Witch (such as a propane tank).
 * Medium proximity with a flashlight pointed at the Witch.
 * According to in-game cvars, see console wiki for details, one discovers that z_witch_personal_space 100 and z_witch_flashlight_range 400
 * In other words, a flashlight will startle the witch at exactly 4 times the distance mere proximity would.



Hit & Run
One strategy for defeating the Witch relies on her established tendency to attack ONLY the person who startled her. Have a designated runner to disturb the Witch from afar while the other Survivors form a defensive line between the runner and the Witch. The runner should attack the Witch, preferably with a Molotov cocktail or a Gas can detonated by gunfire to ignite the Witch. While the runner is being chased, all the other Survivors must concentrate fire on the Witch, who generally moves in a straight line towards her target. If the runner is sufficiently far away and the other Survivors are sufficiently competent at aiming, then the Witch would be unable to inflict any damage. Keep in mind, however, that the Witch can switch targets if a survivor other than her initial victim blocks her movement for too long (i.e. she shoves you back but you are on a narrow catwalk and continue to block her path).

Cr0wn the Witch
(Also see achievement)

The achievement is surprisingly "easy" (if nerve-racking) to do if you have a Pump shotgun, but slightly easier with Auto Shotgun.

"Simply" approach her; you should preferably enter her proximity fairly fast, to give you a chance to do something while she starts moving to get up. Point your shotgun from point-blank range at her head. Typically, she has just a tiny brief moment where she seems to be invulnerable, but once she's started moving you can plow away.
 * Lights off!
 * The feat is impossible with any other weapon but Pump shotgun or Auto Shotgun.
 * If you have the Auto Shotgun, you can perhaps blow off a whistling 3-4 shots, which is likely to kill her whether the first one did her in or not. With a mere shotgun you can get in 2 shots if you're godly, but you'll want to be sure your teammates are still there to get her off of you before you try this, unless it's Expert difficulty (you'll be dead then if she isn't).
 * Practice will easily teach you when to and when not to shoot.
 * Notice that a CR0WND doesn't "Startle" the Witch (it'll be dead, so how could you startle it?).

Other Witch killing tactics

 * Using Hunting Rifle, you can kill a witch at long range, getting head shots, can bring a Witch down with little trouble, having survivors help you also helps.
 * Use obstacles like subway cars, escalator ramps, office partitions, etc. to slow her down such that she never catches up with you.
 * One survivor with a hunting rifle at a suitable distance empties their clip at the Witch's head.
 * All four survivors get in "firing squad" positions, then open fire simultaneously at the end of a countdown (requires suitable distance from the Witch).
 * In close quarters, consider throwing a pipe bomb and then making a run for it. The Witch is only startled when the pipe-bomb goes off, so if the other survivors kill it while you bravely run away, you live to see another day.
 * On Expert difficulty, it is possible to avoid the Witch's instant-kill attack by being incapacitated by a teammate. The Witch will try to shred the incapacitated survivor, allowing the others a chance to kill her before she kills someone. Only attempt this if the Witch has already been startled.
 * Throw a Molotov at the witch from as far away as you can, then run back towards the beginning safe room while your allies open fire on the Witch. If you are near the beginning of the level, make sure you close the safe room door behind you.
 * Using machine guns if they're nearby. They have the power to kill a witch quickly even if there not startled. This is rare, however.
 * Running up directly behind the Witch will cause her to glitch, and she will not be able to hit you (Xbox 360 only).

On easy difficulty
The Witch can be killed with one head shot from an Auto shotgun from close range or a Hunting rifle. The Witch will also succumb to a point blank shotgun head shot on any difficulty. Another viable option is to have at least one Survivor armed with an auto shotgun to sneak up behind her. The initial shot startles the Witch but also pushes her back, making her a fairly easy kill. Also, The Witch will not take damage until startled, so don't think a rifle shot to the head will kill her at first.

Non-violent tactics

 * Without touching the Witch, survivors file past her one-by-one, each waiting for her to go from growling back to the "safe" crying state before making their move.
 * Startle the Witch then run behind a safe-room door and shut it tight.
 * Alternatively, you can simply abandon the poor soul who startled the Witch to his fate. A very viable solution, particularly when the team is near the end of the level on Expert.



Witch tactics that fail

 * No weapon but the shotgun will or even can kill the witch instantly. Attempting to use the assault rifle in narrow space with little means of escape will get you incapitated.
 * Melee usually fails against a Witch, but if you're backing away and she's closing fast, it's worth a try. Do it earlier than you think you should; she has a long reach.
 * Startling a Witch from several roof tops away (such as on the Dead Air campaign) and expecting the Witch to have difficulty reaching you.
 * Molotovs don't always work, also keep in mind how close you have to be to a witch to get the Molotov to hit.
 * If the survivor who attacked the Witch is dead, DO NOT SHOOT AT HER IF SHE IS FLEEING! This will just waste ammo, and it IS possible to startle the same Witch multiple times, especially if you use molotovs.

Infected
Although you cannot play as the Witch, you can "use" her:
 * Smokers can drag Survivors to the Witch
 * Hunters and Boomers can crouch in front of the Witch, obscuring her from the Survivors sight.
 * Experienced Hunter players normally crouch just out of sight near the witch waiting until a player runs up to attack the witch pouncing them just before they get a chance to fire as this gives the witch the potential to do the most damage possibly even killing the survivor if timed properly.
 * Most experienced Survivor teams will have 3 players take up defensive positions while one goes up to crown the witch. As a smoker, you can strangle the player who was tasked with witch killing just as he/she is about to crown the witch. The witch will be startled and the humans' plan will go to ruins.

Cr0wnd

 * Kill a Witch with a single head shot.

- Contrary to popular belief, this achievement CANNOT be earned with a Hunting Rifle. Thus, the weapon to use is a shotgun, preferably an automatic. With this weapon in hand, several tactics may be used, all of which require dousing your lamp. With flashlight off, it is possible to close within arm's reach of the Witch without startling her, provided one steps softly. If the Witch is approached from behind, she will even present her face as a prime target by looking over her shoulder. From there, a single blast from the shotgun will defeat her (though as a cautionary measure, always shoot more than once). If feeling particularly audacious, another tactic involves running at the Witch and shooting straight downward into her face while jumping over her. Make sure the Witch is still kneeling before attempting this, however, because if she is standing, the only thing this tactic yields is a freshly-opened chest cavity.

Do Not Disturb

 * Sneak past all Witches in a campaign without disturbing one.

Witch Hunter

 * Kill a Witch without any Survivor taking damage from her.

- This is more difficult than Tankbusters (a similar achievement for the Tank), but the easiest way is to do it in levels with platforms, like No Mercy. Just try to get above the Witch, then have everyone unleash hell on her. It'll take her a while to reach you. Likewise, you may also single-handedly kill the witch by arming yourself with a semi-auto shotgun and unleashing all Hell on her. This requires long open space behind you, however; you will wish you hadn't attempted such a stunt if you hit the back of a train, or a gate, or wall.

Burn the Witch

 * Light a Witch on fire with a Molotov.

- Just like Witch Hunter, try to get onto a platform above the Witch, just for the easiest shot, since she'll be immobile, and you can take aim. If there's no platforms, just get at the closest range you can without her reacting, and Hail Mary.

Infected
There aren't exactly that many tactics to use with the Witch, especially considering that she's on your side, but you can help in making the Survivors rile up the Witch. For instance, standing incredibly close to her, especially if you conceal her from sight, might cause a trigger-happy Survivor to shoot at you, thus startling the Witch.

Trivia

 * It's possible to kill a Witch—and startle her without her chasing anybody down—by closing a door on her.
 * Witches have a quite a long reach due to their long arms and claws that have been known to incapacitate survivors in mid-air leaving them flying through the air on their back until they land. This can cause witch victims to find themselves incapacitated in hard to reach areas unable to be picked up by fellow survivors.
 * Witches occasionally glitch and freeze on ladders; if she incapacitates a Survivor on a ladder, she will climb down to attack them on the ground, but may freeze and not be able to move off the ladder for the aforementioned reason, setting up an easy 'Cr0wnd' Achievement
 * Music Cue: The Witch
 * Sometimes on No Mercy, if the witch spawns around the elevator, you can startle her, and run right into a small group of common infected. Then the normal infected most likely won't attack you, and the Witch will attack you instead, but she will not be capable of killing you.
 * In one campaign, writing on a wall states "Watch out for the ones that cry; I saw one RIP APART 10 people; listen for their crying and WALK AROUND!"
 * On any difficulty, though this is more useful on Expert, it is possible to funnel a startled Witch into a small hallway, trap it using one or two players (not the one who startled it), and this should slow it down enough for the Survivors to shoot her to death, nullifying the threat she poses. However, if the hallway is too narrow and the Witch has absolutely no room in which to move in at all, not even enough to shove the other Survivors out of the way, she'll lash out at those responsible, killing them instantly or incapacitating them, depending on the difficulty.
 * It is possible for a Witch to spawn on top of the crane's container in the second level of Dead Air after the Crescendo Event associated with it has finished.