One of the things that Witchery allows you to do is make custom brews, which can have effects ranging from growing flowers to damaging demons to changing biomes. The process is fairly obtuse and not well documented (actually the ingame documentation does a pretty good job of explaining things, but there’s still plenty of things one could trip over). Here I’ll metion some of the custom brews that you might end up having a use for
Duration Boost Combustion Endless Water Floating Grow Flowers Reflect Arrows Regeneration Resizing Shifting Seasons Speed Part Lava
So how does one go about creating these (and other) brews? As said the ingame documentation is actually pretty decent, but can still trip people up because of two words the book adheres to far more strictly than one might expect: In order. What this means is that, for example, you want to craft a potion with six Capacity using Nether Wart and a Nether Star. Adding the Capacity items is the first step, but even within this step items must be added in order. If you throw in the Nether Star and then Nether Wart the potion will fail, but throw in Nether Wart and then a Nether Star and you’ve got a functional base for a potion with six capacity. The same applies to everything else - if you want to increase your potion’s Power you’d throw in Glowstone dust, than Blaze Rod, than Attuned Stone (Charged), in that order
Another thing to mention is that you cannot use the same item twice. You cannot use two Mandrake Roots to get a potion up to two Capacity, you must use one of the other capacity items that yields +2 capacity by itself in order to get a potion up to at least 2 Capacity Similarly, you cannot use two Blaze Rods to give a potion +2 power. You could use a Blaze Rod and an Attuned Stone (Charged) to do so, skipping the Glowstone Dust, but why would you ever want to do that?
For the sake of ease of reading and this tab of the spreadsheet looking like it has some actual content I’ll list the items you have to throw into a witch’s cauldron, in what order, to achieve what effect. The number in parenthesis is how much altar cost adding the ingredient adds as a brew/ritual
Capacity Mandrake Root (+1 capacity, 0 altar cost as a brew/0 altar cost as a ritual), Nether Wart (+2, 50/70), Tear of the Goddess (+2, 100/140), Diamond Vapor (+2, 150/210), Diamond (+2, 150/210), Nether Star (+4, ?/?), Pentacle (unlisted, +6, ?/?)
Capacity determines what the Effect(s) of the brew can be. Each Effect has a listed level, and for the brew to work the sum of every Effect’s level must be equal or less than the brew’s Capacity. Note that adding capacity to a brew is a one-and-done deal, so prepare enough capacity ahead of time
Modifiers Gold Nugget (removes particle effects, 50/70), Fermented Spider Eye (modifies some specific brew effects to yield the opposite result, 25/35), Nether Brick (skip block effects, 50/70), Brick (skip entity effects, 50/70)
As it says on the tin. Note: The book lists Fermented Spider Eye here, and says to repeat from step 3 when adding multiple effects. This is incorrect: You can repeat from step 2 when adding multiple effects, at least for the purposes of using Fermented Spider Eye to modify the brew’s effects
Power Glowstone Dust (50/70), Blaze Rod (100/140), Attuned Stone (Charged) (150/210)
Modifies the power of the next effect you’ll add, though not all effects benefit from this. Each item added increases the brew’s power by 1
Duration Redstone Dust (50/70), Obsidian (100/140), Minedrake Bulb (150/210)
Modifies the duration of the next effect, though of course not all effects will benefit from this. One item doubles duration, two triples it, and all three quadruple it
Effect (Far, far too many items to list)
Reference the book for a full list of effects, their level, and their brew/ritual altar power cost (hover over an item to see the altar power cost listed in the tooltip). Also keep in mind that altar costs vary wildly depending on ingredients - Grow Flowers requires 0, but Shifting Seasons requires 5000
Repeat/Bottle/Proceed At this point you’ve got a few options. If you wish to add another effect (though keep your brew’s capacity in mind), return to step 2 (the book says step 3, but you will need to return to step 2 if you want to add an effect that requires a Fermented Spider Eye modifier). If your brew is ready and something you’re intending to drink yourself, grab enough empty bottles to take out however many brews you’re able to craft given your experience level (and/or the Brew Bottling effect). If you’re brewing Combustion/Endless Water wait for the cauldron to spit it out - don’t try to take it out with empty bottles or you’ll end up with a dud brew instead (not sure why it works like that, but it does, so…there you go). Finally, if you want to turn your brew into a splash potion (either a regular splash potion, a gaseous potion, a liquid potion, or a triggered potion) proceed to step 7
Extent Wood Ash (50/70), Cocoa Beans (100/140), Wispy Cotton (150/210)
Changes the size a splash potion effects. Note that not all brews are effected by this - most notably Shifting Seasons brews gain an increased area of effect based on their effect’s Power, not based on Extent
Lingering Belladonna Flower (50/70), Lapis Lazuli (100/140), End Stone (150/210)
Increases the amount of time that a splash potion’s effect will stay around. This effect is separate from Duration - a low Duration/high Lingering splash potion will apply a short lived effect for a long time, whereas a high Duration/low Lingering effect with briefly apply a long lasting potion effect
Dispersal Method Gunpowder or Water Artichoke Globe (vanilla splash potion, 0/0), Wool of Bat (splash potion creates a lingering gas cloud, 0/0), Wormwood (splash potion creates a liquid which vanishes after some time, 0/0), Zombie Head (creates a trigger for the potion, basically setting a trap, 0/0)
Determines what kind of splash potion your brew will be, since Witchery has more types than just the vanilla version. What type of splash potion a brew is will be listed in the tooltip after the brew is ready. The Zombie Head trigger method is an ordeal in and of itself which, frankly, I don’t think has any practical use except in multiplayer. Which I never play, so…can’t really comment too much on that one
At this point all that’s left to do is either take out your brews with empty bottles, or prepare to cast it as a ritual. Note that based on my (very limited) testing there doesn’t seem to be a benefit to ritual casting save for the ability to target remote places/players, which in single player I can’t imagine a practical use case for, so for the moment I have no idea if there’s a point in casting brews as a ritual (in SP)
Brewing Expertise, or “how to get 2-10x the Shifting Seasons output for less than 2-10x the effort” (15 and 30x is also available, but citation needed on that taking less than 15/30x the effort)
One potentially important mechanic which is mentioned in the Witches’ Brews guidebook, but otherwise is not plainly visible anywhere, is a player’s expertise at creating complex witches’ brews. Based on (admittedly limited) testing every 30 brews you bottle that is of a greater complexity than your level of expertise you gain an expertise level, made clear by a chat message telling you as much, which reduces the amount of brew required per bottle. This may not (yet) affect particularly complex brews, or may only enable the Witches’ Hat and Witches’ Robes to have a noticeable impact, but either way it means you’ve become more skilled at creating complex brews
Witches’ Hat/Robes are not chance based when making complex brews. The “chance at a second brew” bit listed in the tooltip refers to the simple brews made in a Kettle. Complex brews made in a Witches’ cauldron will always benefit from wearing Witches’ gear You gain expertise experience per brew you bottle, not per brew you complete in a cauldron. Getting triple the yield out of a particularly complex brew will likewise triple the experience you get towards the next level of brewing expertise Only the actual level of the brew’s effects determine whether it contributes to your expertise. I.E. an extended Speed IV brew contributes as much as a regular Speed brew
| Diamond | Expertise 1 | Expertise 2 | Expertise 5 | Final Expertise | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Witches’ Gear | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| One Witches’ Gear | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| Both Witches’ Gear | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | |
| Gear + Bottling I | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | |
| Gear + Bottling II | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | |
| Gear + Bottling III | 1 | 1 | 6 | 6 | |
| Gear + Bottling IV | 1 | 1 | 6 | 6 | |
| Gear + Toad Familiar | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | |
| Gear + Toad + BT I | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | |
| Gear + Toad + BT II | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | |
| Gear + Toad + BT III | 1 | 1 | 8 | 8 | |
| Gear + Toad + BT IV | 1 | 1 | 8 | 8 | |
| Baba Yaga Gear + Toad | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | |
| BY’s + Toad + BT I | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | |
| BY’s + Toad + BT II | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | |
| BY’s + Toad + BT III | 1 | 1 | 10 | 10 | |
| BY’s + Toad + BT IV | 1 | 1 | 10 | 10 |
| No Diamond | Expertise 1 | Expertise 2 | Expertise 5 | Final Expertise | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Witches’ Gear | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | |
| One Witches’ Gear | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | |
| Both Witches’ Gear | 1 | 3 | 5 | 5 | |
| Gear + Bottling I | 1 | 3 | 6 | 6 | |
| Gear + Bottling II | 1 | 3 | 8 | 8 | |
| Gear + Bottling III | 1 | 3 | 10 | 10 | |
| Gear + Bottling IV | 1 | 3 | 10 | 10 | |
| Gear + Toad Familiar | 1 | 3 | 5 | 5 | |
| Gear + Toad + BT I | 1 | 3 | 6 | 6 | |
| Gear + Toad + BT II | 1 | 3 | 8 | 8 | |
| Gear + Toad + BT III | 1 | 3 | 15 | 15 | |
| Gear + Toad + BT IV | 1 | 3 | 15 | 15 | |
| Baba Yaga Gear + Toad | 1 | 3 | 5 | 5 | |
| BY’s + Toad + BT I | 1 | 3 | 6 | 6 | |
| BY’s + Toad + BT II | 1 | 3 | 8 | 8 | |
| BY’s + Toad + BT III | 1 | 3 | 30 | 30 | |
| BY’s + Toad + BT IV | 1 | 3 | 30 | 30 |
The expertise levels refer to the level of brews that will no longer contribute to gaining experience towards the next level of brewing expertise. I.E. you need to brew level 2+ brews to go from 1 to 2, level 4+ to go from expertise level 2 to 5 (which needs level 6+ brews to advance), etc.
Note that every Shifting Seasons brew you bottle will require the full amount of power from a nearby Witches’ Altar, and Shifting Seasons Brews are pricy in that regard. If you’re suddenly not able to bottle your Shifting Seasons brews you’ve likely ran out of altar power
Unfortunately the above should be taken as a guideline moreso than anything else, as the mechanics behind brewing expertise are not clearly documented and it doesn’t take much to get conflicting results. The general idea that investing time into becoming more skilled at brewing, to get more out of your complex brew making, however, stands. If you are diving into Witchery with the intent of cooking up Shifting Seasons brews than investing some time into levelling up your brewing expertise first will pay dividends in short order
| Witchery Altar | Power | Limit | Origin Mod | Item ID | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dirt | 1 | 80 | Vanilla | 3 | Podzol also works |
| Farmland | 1 | 100 | Vanilla | 60 | Needs hydration to stay farmland |
| Mycelium | 1 | 80 | Vanilla | 110 | |
| Water | 1 | 50 | Vanilla | 8 | Can be flowing water or source blocks |
| Blood Poppy | 2 | 10 | Witchery | 2186 | |
| Bluebells | 2 | 4 | Natura | 1084 | |
| Critter Snare | 2 | 10 | Witchery | 2184 | |
| Glint Weed | 2 | 20 | Witchery | 2179 | |
| Grass Block | 2 | 80 | Vanilla | 2 | |
| Grassper | 2 | 10 | Witchery | 2185 | |
| Redwood | 2 | 50 | Natura | 1091 | Redwood Bark, Wood and Root |
| Vines | 2 | 50 | Vanilla | 106 | |
| Wood | 2 | 50 | Vanilla | 17 | Oak/Birch/Jungle/Spruce Wood |
| Wood | 2 | 50 | Vanilla | 162 | Acacia/Dark Oak Wood |
| Wood | 2 | 50 | Natura | 1090 | Eucalyptus/Sakura/Ghost/Hopseed Wood |
| Wood | 2 | 50 | Natura | 1092 | Willow Wood |
| Wood | 2 | 50 | Natura | 1093 | Blood Wood |
| Wood | 2 | 50 | Natura | 1094 | Maple/Silverbell/Amaranth/Tiger Wood |
| Wood | 2 | 50 | Natura | 1095 | Dark/Fuse Wood |
| Wood | 2 | 50 | BoP | 1213 | Sacred Oak/Cherry/Dark/Fir Wood |
| Wood | 2 | 50 | BoP | 1214 | Ethereal/Magic/Mangrove/Palm Wood |
| Wood | 2 | 50 | BoP | 1215 | Redwood/Willow/Dead Wood/Giant Flower Stem |
| Wood | 2 | 50 | BoP | 1216 | Pine/Hellbark/Jacaranda/Mahogany Wood |
| Cactus | 3 | 50 | Vanilla | 81 | Must have air blocks horizontally adjacent |
| Cocoa | 3 | 20 | Vanilla | 351 | Referring to Cocoa pods on Jungle logs |
| Grass | 3 | 50 | Vanilla | 31 | Fern also works, Tall Grass does not |
| Leaves | 3 | 100 | Vanilla | 18 | Oak/Birch/Jungle/Spruce Leaves |
| Leaves | 3 | 100 | Vanilla | 161 | Acacia/Dark Oak Leaves |
| Leaves | 3 | 100 | Natura | 1096 | Redwood/Eucalyptus/Hopseed Leaves |
| Leaves | 3 | 100 | Natura | 1097 | Sakura/Ghostwood/Blood/Willow Leaves |
| Leaves | 3 | 100 | Natura | 1098 | Maple/Silverbell/Amaranth/Tiger Leaves |
| Leaves | 3 | 100 | Natura | 1099 | Darkwood/Fusewood Leaves |
| Leaves | 3 | 100 | BoP | 1217 | Yellow Autumn/Bamboo/Magic/Dark Leaves |
| Leaves | 3 | 100 | BoP | 1218 | Dying/Fir/Ethereal/Orange Autumn Leaves |
| Leaves | 3 | 100 | BoP | 1201 | Apple Leaves |
| Leaves | 3 | 100 | BoP | 1202 | Persimmon Leaves |
| Leaves | 3 | 100 | BoP | 1219 | Origin/Pink Cherry/Maple/White Cherry Leaves |
| Leaves | 3 | 100 | BoP | 1220 | Hellbark/Jacaranda Leaves |
| Melon Seeds | 3 | 20 | Vanilla | 362 | Melon seeds/stems planted in farmland |
| Mushroom | 3 | 20 | Vanilla | 39 | Brown Mushroom |
| Mushroom | 3 | 20 | Vanilla | 40 | Red Mushroom |
| Mushroom | 3 | 20 | Vanilla | 99 | Large Brown Mushroom blocks |
| Mushroom | 3 | 20 | Vanilla | 100 | Large Red Mushroom blocks |
| Pumpkin Seeds | 3 | 20 | Vanilla | 361 | Pumpkin seeds/stems planted in farmland |
| Spanish Moss | 3 | 20 | Witchery | 2180 | |
| Sugar Cane | 3 | 50 | Vanilla | 338 | Use Fertilized Dirt to not need water nearby |
| Wispy Cotton | 3 | 20 | Witchery | 2187 | |
| Wood | 3 | 100 | Witchery | 2175 | Rowan/Alder/Hawthorn Wood |
| Belladonna Seeds | 4 | 20 | Witchery | 7369 | |
| Carrot | 4 | 20 | Vanilla | 391 | Carrot planted in farmland |
| Dandelion | 4 | 30 | Vanilla | 37 | |
| Ember Moss | 4 | 20 | Witchery | 2183 | |
| Flower | 4 | 30 | Vanilla | 38 | Non-Dandelion vanilla 1 block flowers |
| Leaves | 4 | 50 | Witchery | 2176 | Rowan/Alder/Hawthorn Leaves |
| Mandrake Seeds | 4 | 20 | Witchery | 7370 | |
| Melon | 4 | 20 | Vanilla | 103 | Full melon blocks, not melon slices |
| Potato | 4 | 20 | Vanilla | 392 | Potatos planted in farmland |
| Pumpkin | 4 | 20 | Vanilla | 86 | Jack o’Lantern does not work |
| Sapling | 4 | 20 | Vanilla | 6 | Oak/Birch/Jungle/Spruce/Dark Oak/Acacia |
| Sapling | 4 | 20 | Natura | 1088 | Maple/Silverbell/Amaranth/Tigerwood/Willow |
| Sapling | 4 | 20 | Natura | 1089 | Redwood/Eucalyptus/Hopseed/Sakura/Ghostwood/Blood/Darkwood/Furewood |
| Sapling | 4 | 20 | BoP | 1222 | Apple/Yellow Autumn/Bamboo/Magic/Dark/Dying/Fir/Ethereal/Orange Autumn/Origin/Pink Cherry/Maple/White Cherry/Hellbark/Jacaranda/Persimmon |
| Sapling | 4 | 20 | BoP | 1223 | Sacred Oak/Mangrove/Palm/Redwood/Willow/Pine/Mahogany/Flowering Oak |
| Sapling | 4 | 20 | Witchery | 2174 | Rowan/Alder/Hawthorn |
| Seeds | 4 | 20 | Vanilla | 295 | Wheat seeds planted in farmland |
| Snowbell Seeds | 4 | 20 | Witchery | 7372 | |
| Water Artichoke Seeds | 4 | 20 | Witchery | 7371 | Planted on water source blocks |
| Altar | 16 | 5 | Witchery | 2237 | Does not include the “core” altar block |
| Demon Heart | 40 | 2 | Witchery | 7284 | Shift-right click to place. Regular right click will cause you to eat the heart instead |
| Dragon Egg | 250 | 1 | Vanilla | 122 | |
| Infinity Egg | 1000 | 1 | Witchery | 2223 |
Above is a (more than likely incomplete) list of what blocks give how much power to a nearby Witchery Altar, up to how many blocks. Note that a Witchery altar will check a 31x31x31 cube centered on the last altar block placed for these blocks. For ease of reference let’s call that the “core” altar block. Note that each row is it’s own seperate list of items. You can use 80 dirt, 40 dirt and 40 podzol, or 80 podzol to get the same effect. Similarly 50 Oak/Birch/Jungle/Spruce Leaves in any combination maxes out that row, but this will not contribute to the number of I.E. Dark Wood/Acacia Leaves row. I have tested other blocks which seem like they should work, but don’t actually contribute to altar power - things like Lilly Pads, Nether Wart, Wormwood, etc. It’s possible they do contribute to altar power in other versions of Witchery, but in GTNH they don’t appear to have any effect. That said I’ve obviously not tested every single item in the entire pack, so chances are there’s more blocks that contribute to altar power that I simply didn’t test or that slipped through the cracks. In any case the above list should be sufficient for a supremely powerful Witchery Altar, though
Specific items can be placed on a Witchery Altar to further increase it’s power, recharge rate, and effective area (meaning how far away items that need Witchery Altar power can be from the altar. The 31x31x31 range for valid altar blocks does not change). Only one of each catagory, though. They are: Skeleton Skull | Wither Skeleton Skull | Player Head Increases the Altar’s power and recharge rate. Player Heads can be crafted in single player through a Botania recipe that is not listed in NEI (check the Lexica Botania, though note it is Elven Knowledge) or as a one-time questbook reward Torch | Candelabra Increases the Altar’s recharge rate Pentacle Increases the Altar’s recharge rate. Note that Kobaldite Dust is a rare drop from Twilight Kobolds, although you’ll still have to refine it the normal way Chalice | Chalice (Filled). Increases the Altar’s power Arthana Doubles the Altar’s range, meaning it can power rituals and devices from further away. It will not look further for blocks that increase altar power, however Infinity Egg. Massively increases the Altar’s power and recharge rate. Usually Creative mode exclusive it does have a crafting recipe in GTNH…though it costs about as much as you’d expect a normally Creative exclusive item to cost
What you cannot accomplish with custom brews you can sometimes accomplish with circle magic. I won’t list every circle magic ritual here because there’s a ton of them and not all are useful, but I’ll mention a few outliners Note that you can fully automate circle magic. Giving the heart glyph a redstone signal will activate it, and various forms of item droppers can be used to automatically supply the necessary items to start a particular ritual
Summons a thunderstorm. It’s worth noting because Lightning Rods, as a power source, are not a joke when there’s a thunderstorm going on, and this is (to my knowledge) the only way to fully automate generating thunderstorms whenever the sky is clear
Sets the time to midnight. Useful? Not particularly in a pack without Astral Sorcery (and with Blood Magic’s Imperfect Ritual Stone for that matter), but it’s an option if you need it to be midnight
Brews of Shifting Seasons allow you to place down biomes you wouldn’t normally find in the overwold, and those biomes are able to spawn mobs you wouldn’t normally be able to encounter. If those mobs happen to have interesting drops, well, you can see where this is going
| Biome | Mob | Drop(s) | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| asteroids | Evolved Galacticraft variants | Various GC oxygen equipment | The good drops are all at very low odds, so a Cursed Earth setup with enchanted Diamond Spikes will help a lot in getting the stuff you actually want |
| Toxic Everglades | Staballoy Construct | Staballoy ingots/plates | Staballoy Constructs will attack nearby mobs, which will cause explosions and all kinds of mess. Farming these guys using an Extreme Extermination Chamber is highly adviseable |
Tips and tricks: Infusion of Otherwhere allows you to (effectively) Mark/Recall interdimensionally at a minor cost. This requires an EV PLE for Manyullyn Crystals for Otherwhere Chalk and doing the Witchery Spirit World for Brew of Flowing Spirit You can also accomplish the same with Waystones, however they require two Otherwhere Chalk per waystone (which are single use) and carting around a Cricle Talisman (or Otherwhere and Golden Chalk) to place down a small circle of Otherwhere to use Bound Waystones
The Spirit World can be tackled in three different ways. One is following the (very poorly laid out, at times misleading) questbook and amassing 30 “spirit 100” coins to “buy” Witchery items in the Spirit World. The other ways involve cheesing stuff into the Spirit World in a different way One cheese method is the Vethea Gambit: Complete as many quests that yield IV lootbags without claiming them, and instead claim them in the spirit world. Inside open up the lootbags until eventually(/hopefully) one yields an Ender Chest/Pouch. From there you can shuffle stuff back and forth The other cheese method is crafting a Player Interface from Random Things, and setting it on a delayed timer to have it send you an ender chest/pouch (and the rest of your inventory) right before you go to the Spirit World. This requires Iridium for the expensive IV components, so a T2 rocket helps here
Minedrake bulbs have a very obnoxious recipe, though you thankfully only need to do it once. First place down a water source block, and place a Cobweb above it. Plant Mandrake seeds directly north, east, south and west of the cobweb, and ensure they’re fully grown. Next place Grasspers to the north-west, south-west, south-east and north-east of the cobweb and give them two Mutandis Extremis, an Attuned Stone (Charged) and a Focussed Will. Order doesn’t matter. Next lure a Creeper (which doesn’t necesarrily have to be a vanilla creeper) and a Mandrake into the cobweb, then right-click the Cobweb with a Mutated Sprig. The items on the Grasspers will be consumed, and the fully grown Mandrake plants will be mutated into Minedrakes
Right clicking most passive animals (including spiders) with a Polynesia Charm allows you to trade with those animals. Animal trading is very limited, very few animals have good deals and their very limited number of trades never reset as far as I can tell, but it’s one way to get poisonous potatos, vanilla saplings, mushrooms, or other very basic vanilla/witchery stuff
If you’re looking for Podzol to craft a Book of Biomes, the Twilight Forest has Podzol in the troll mountains. Which, yes, means either completing most of Twilight Progression or enduring acid rain. There is a questbook reward for beating the Twilight bosses and getting the Lamp of Cinders, though
Brews of Endless Water have durability to measure how many uses they have left, but they can be “repaired” in Thaumic Restorers. This likely isn’t an intended interaction, but given how many ways one can place down infinite water it’s very difficult to call it “overpowered” (or even just “powered”, really)
Messed up a brew and now the Witch’s Cauldron is full of mess? Toss in a piece of Witchery Gypsum to delete the content of a Witches’ Cauldron. There’s a shaped crafting recipe to turn GT Quicklime into Witchery Quicklime so you can craft Witchery Gypsum in the distillery