Hexe Marie (Black Witch) Boss Guide: Chapter 9 Strategy and Drops

Hexe Marie — the quest calls her the Black Witch — is a Chapter 9 main-story boss fought at the Hexe Sanctuary in Demeniss, during the “Veiled Witch” sub-chapter of “The Sage of the Desert.” She is a caster boss: crows, teleports, and summoned minions — and the counterintuitive trick is that the correct answer is aggression, not defense.

How do you reach her?

• Progress the main story through Chapter 9 and finish “Pursuit Beyond the Veil” — the follow-up quest “Black Witch” drops you directly in front of the Hexe Sanctuary, no travel needed.
• Destroy the four totems around the area first — the boss fight is locked behind them.
• Once the totems are down, use the Wait function at her area to trigger the encounter.

Her toolkit

• Crow projectiles — straight-line shots, easy to sidestep laterally.
• Teleportation — her most annoying trait; she relocates after taking hits, breaking your attack windows. Watch for the visual indicator of her new position.
• Minion summons — Urn Soldiers and Urn Swordsmen. Each dies in a single hit, but they pile up fast — clear them immediately and refocus.
• Phase 2 — Crow Storm: a massive area attack — sprint to the edges of the arena when it starts.

The winning loop: stay aggressive

The biggest mistake is playing defensively — trying to dodge everything gives her breathing room, and a teleporting caster with infinite space never lets you swing. Instead:

1. When she stands still, dodge her first attack to get behind her.
2. Land 4 heavy attacks immediately.
3. Follow with light attacks until she teleports — then repeat.
4. Tank her lighter hits and heal while attacking rather than backing off to recover. Heal on the move; food works mid-fight.
5. When minions spawn, kill them fast — one hit each — then straight back to her.

Heavy attacks also build her stagger bar — stunning her opens a huge Turning Slash punish, and stagger-cancel skills like Blinding Flash Finisher (5 Spirit per use) can interrupt her casts outright.

Rewards

Reward	Type
Earring of Dark Magic	Accessory
Crow Whisperer	Two-handed weapon

For the stagger and Turning Slash mechanics this fight rewards, see the skill tree guide; for healing-on-the-move, the cooking and crafting guide; more encounters in the bosses overview.