Witch Doctors are an enemy introduced in Spelunky 2.
Witch Doctors are uncommonly found throughout Jungle, are spawned from coffins summoned by Anubis II, and appear from Generators as a part of the Sun Challenge.
Behavior[]
Effigy[]
A Witch Doctor spotting a Spelunker, preparing to attack them by stabbing its effigy.
Witch Doctors initially walk around aimlessly, turning around if they see a ledge, Thorny Vines, or a Spear Trap in their path.
If the spelunker is in front of a Witch Doctor and within their attack range of 5 tiles, the Witch Doctor pulls out an effigy in one hand and stabs it with a pin, dealing 1 HP of damage to the spelunker, flinging them backwards, and stunning them for roughly 3 seconds.
This attack takes 3 seconds to perform, and can only be cancelled by stunning/killing the Witch Doctor, Being picked up by another Spelunker, or entering a door. During the charge time, a small skull icon appears above the target's head, indicating that the Witch Doctor has momentarily bound the effigy to their victim.
Skull[]
A Witch Doctor's skull.
Witch Doctors also have a small skull orbiting them in a counter-clockwise motion. This skull can pass through all tiles with impunity, and slowly drifts towards the spelunker if they get too close. For as long as the spelunker remains within 3 tiles of it, the Skull will continue following them, regardless of distance from the Witch Doctor it is bound to.
If the Skull touches the spelunker, they will become cursed, reducing them to 1 HP and disabling all sources of healing, until they are cured of the ailment.
Similar to his effigy attack, stunning a Witch Doctor causes his skull to fade away for the duration of the stun. The skull cannot harm the spelunker while it is fading in and out. Attacking the skull itself with a Camera is possible, and doing so causes the skull to vanish for 10 seconds, regardless of whether the Witch Doctor is stunned or not.
Other Behaviors[]
After meeting a fellow Witch Doctor, Tiki Man, or Caveman, they seem to exchange a few words, with the Witch Doctor's words consisting of soft groaning and moaning. After enough time is passed or one of the speakers is interrupted, they return to their standard behavior.
Witch Doctors are worth twice as much as normal enemies at a Kali Altar, worth 4 favor when sacrificed live and 2 favor when offering the corpse of one.
Witch Doctors never spawn on the first level of the Jungle, and become more common the deeper the player travels into the area.